Stateline Speedway (NY) to open July; renovations under way this week

[NickHolt]

STATELINE SPEEDWAY TO OPEN IN JULY; RENOVATIONS HIGHLIGHT 59TH SEASON

BUSTI, N.Y. (May 14)—Short Track Management, LLC, (STM) owned by Bill and Dr. Lynne Catania formerly of Westfield, N.Y., have come to an agreement with Seamen’s Speedway, Inc., owner and operator of Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., to operate the 58-year-old one-third-mile dirt track beginning in July and continuing through the month of October. The parties have also executed a letter of intent which will allow STM to purchase the facility, which is expected to close during the third quarter of 2014.

STM has planned an 18-month-long renovation plan that will begin this week and will continue through the balance of the 2015 racing season. Renovations for the July 5th opening include:

· Complete replacement of the front straight away grandstands (Pennsylvania Side)

· Increased seat size from 10” width to 12” width

· Repair of the back straight away Grand Stands (New York Side)

· Fresh paint on Track Wall, Buildings, Press Tower, Grandstands

· Excavation and drainage improvements in the fan and pit parking lots and walkways

· Asphalt millings on heavily trafficked walkways

· Addition of a “Kid Zone” playground

· Dedicated alcohol and tobacco free Family Seating

· Application for liquor license and sale of alcohol on both sides of the facility

· Addition of Pit Grand Stands

· Expanded areas for Billboard signage and Value-Added Marketing Partnerships

· High volume Corporate Sales & Hospitality Events

Bill Catania Jr. is no stranger to the region or to racing in the tri-state area having began his racing career at Eriez Speedway in 1993 in the Street Stock division and competing from 1994-1999 at both Stateline and Eriez in the Limited Late Model class where he claimed one feature win and numerous top-10 point honors. Catania’s grandfather, Marion Catania, began fielding cars at Stateline Speedway with driver Don Strain in 1960 in the Jalopy class. Catania’s father, Bill Catania Sr., began competing at Stateline and Eriez in 1974 and is a two-time track and circuit champion. The elder Catania will serve as President and General Manager of Stateline Speedway with a strong emphasis on operations, competition and facility management.

“Our investments will be focused first and foremost on improving the fan experience and making sure our drivers—who are also our customers—feel they have a safe, affordable and competitive environment to race,” stated Catania Jr. “When I was growing up, Stateline was the undeniable “crown jewel” track in the northeast for dirt late model racing and we will be very aggressive at restoring Stateline’s reputation as a track that hosts major national dirt late model events in which our local drivers have a great shot at winning.”

Class structure will remain the same for the duration of 2014 and will be reevaluated after a series of competitor meetings for 2015. STM officials plan to meet with competitors throughout the 2014 racing season, and no later than October, to finalize 2015 rules.

“As a racing competitor, I know how valuable the off-season preparation time can be; be it preparing for rules changes, gearing up to run a different class or securing sponsorship dollars. If we do make changes in 2015, we want to give our teams the maximum amount of time to prepare and retool,” Catania added.

While the schedule is still being finalized and will be announced in the coming weeks, the Julian Beusink Memorial event will highlight the 2014 schedule. The super late model event will be run in honor of local NASCAR champion team owner Julian Beusink. In 2015, Stateline will feature a “Triple Crown Legacy” series with three major super late model events, including the Julian Beusink, Lloyd Moore and Billy Rexford Memorial events. A separate “Triple Crown Legacy” championship points fund will be paid for the top-10 points scoring drivers in this mini-series.

On June 26, one week prior to opening, Stateline Speedway will host an open practice and “Night of Champions” honoring our racing champions and top-10 in points from the 2013 racing season. Competitors will be presented with cash and trophies for their accomplishments. Race fans will be admitted free in the grandstand area and can observe practice, enjoy the concessions, win door prizes and explore the new and exciting renovations.

Short Track Management has retained the services of Nitroquest Media Group to develop a new fan-interactive website, which will be launched prior to opening night. Stay tuned to Facebook for the track’s 2014 schedule and sponsorship announcements, as well as photos of renovations, fan/driver surveys and improvements.

Bill Catania Jr. Professional Biography

Bill Catania is a 1994 graduate of Westfield (N.Y.) High School. Upon graduation, Catania was elected to serve as New York State President of Future Farmers of America followed by his term as National Eastern Region FFA Vice President. He is a graduate of Cornell University where he majored in Economics and Business Management. While a senior at Cornell, Catania founded his first company, RaceFan, Inc., where he built a leading online motorsports network with websites WhoWon.com, RaceFan.com and HotLaps.com which produced more than 20 million unique page view each month at its peak. RaceFan also delivered syndicated motorsports news content to leading publishers such as FOX Sports and Primedia for its over 40 automotive magazine websites including Stock Car and Circle Track Magazines. In addition to its online content and promotions, RaceFan sold and executed customer acquisition programs at over 650 race tracks across North America for Valvoline, U.S. ARMY, Ford, MBNA, Lincoln Electric and many other leading brands. After selling his interest in RaceFan, Catania joined leading regional hotelier Nick Scott as Director of Marketing of Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park Resort, where he established and executed an annual marketing plan for the leading regional family fun destination. Catania led the marketing efforts of Splash Lagoon including all facets of marketing, including direct mail, digital, television, radio, print and local partnerships. Catania returned to his formal education of food and retail marketing in 2005 with his role as Account Director at leading regional strategic marketing firm BENSUR Creative Marketing Group, where he led the creation and launch of Country Fair’s “Roaster Cup Coffee” brand and new product roll-out. While at BENSUR, Catania led projects for notable clients such as Cott Beverage, Carriage House and Dean Foods, as well as other local, regional and national product companies. In 2006, Catania, Dan Bensur and Warren, Pa., native Kevin Seeker teamed up to start a high-tech company, M-Dot Network, which was based at the Erie Technology Incubator on the campus of Gannon University. M-Dot enabled shoppers to clip coupons online or on their mobile phone and redeem them at the store by typing their phone number in on the payment terminal or by swiping their shopper card at check-out. In 2010 M-Dot won the Amazon Global Start-up Challenge, besting 1,400 companies from 23 countries. In May 2011 M-Dot was acquired by Inmar, Inc., in Winston-Salem, N.C., employing over 4,500 employees. Catania led M-Dot as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) until its sale to Inmar in 2011. After selling his company to Inmar, Catania was appointed Vice President of Digital Solutions and led the Inmar Digital Promotion Network business unit with profit-loss, operations, product and sales responsibilities. During this time, Inmar built a national retail network of 17,500 stores and millions of shoppers. Upon the acquisition of Inmar by Boston private equity firm ABRY Partners, Catania left his post at Inmar to seek new opportunities within both technology and motorsports. Catania and his wife, Dr. Lynne Catania, own a race team based in Salisbury, N.C., which competes in the Menards ARCA Racing Series and Pro All Stars Series (PASS) for super late models. Catania will make 12 starts with ARCA during 2014, including events at Toledo, Pocono, Michigan, Chicago, Kentucky and Kansas Speedways, all of which are televised on FOX Sports 1.