Rick Lindner is the newest addition to Virginia Motorsports Park and he will be an integral key to the fulfillment of the vision of Tommy and Judy Franklin to revitalize VMP and make it one of the greatest Motorsports facilities in the country.
Coming in as assistant General Manager, Rick’s main focus will be to work along side current G.M. Allen Carpenter and the VMP team to “Take the venue to the next level, entertaining people and making sure all visitors to VMP have a great time”- Rick Lindner
Rick brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the marketing, event planning, promoter liaison and sponsorship fields. His previous appointment was as the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at MDIR, where he spent the past four years. During this time Tommy and Judy admired his work ethic and skill sets when they worked with him to bring the PDRA tour to Maryland.
Previous management roles in fields such as Indoor Arena Football and minor league basketball give Rick a broad spectrum vision of what entertainment and sporting events need to succeed both for the spectator and the facility. “I want VMP to be a destination the people want to spend more and more time at.” Rick explained.
It’s no secret that Tommy and Judy Franklin have been “Fire Drill Crazy” with the facility improvements at VMP this year. After purchasing the property in October last year the immediate plan was to address the racing surface and lighting issues that their new purchase was encumbered with. This saw approximately 1400 feet of new concrete being poured and polished and new Musco LED lighting for the entire racing and shutdown areas. With the opportunity to hold a NHRA National event in June, after Englishtown closed down overnite, the plans for the renovation of the tower and all other amenities was fast tracked to meet this new event’s requirements. The standout result from this event was even though the track temp approached 140 deg, the new flat surface stood up to the test and the racers and crew-chiefs alike raved about the surface.
This “World’s Best Practices” approach by the Franklin’s was a major factor in the hiring of Rick and together with the ongoing facility upgrades, teamwork with the existing staff and new exciting events on the horizon, VMP is on target to achieve the goal of becoming one of, if not the best Motorsports facilities in the country. Tommy Franklin explains “Rick brings the structure and planning experience we need to promote not only the existing schedule, but also all of the exciting new events that we will be bringing to the area.”
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