Fisher To Direct Tri-County RacingBy TERRY FLYNN Enquirer Sports ReporterWEST CHESTER, Ohio - Tri-County Speedway, long identified as one of the best half-mile asphalt race tracks in the Midwest, will have a new promoter when the 1976 season of stock car racing opens.Woody Fisher, operator of a Cincinnati beverage distributing firm and a successful newcomer to auto racing, has assumed the role of promoter at the Butler County track. Fisher, who drove a stock car In the Auto Racing Club of America last season and ran the Fisher Brothers racing team, has leased the track for five years from Bill Redwine, the man who opened the track in 1967.Among Fishers immediate plans for the track are increased purses to attract more drivers, and lower admission fees to attract better crowds. "We've been in racing for two years now, and I think we know what the people want," Fisher said. "We wont charge more than $3 for adult admissions and that will hold for all races, whether they are regular shows or specials."High admission prices for special races at the asphalt oval was seen by many local drivers as the prime reason for a drop-off in attendance in the past three years. Fisher said he anticipated some changes in rules, "primarily to help the driver," including alteration of the weight limits in the late model stock car class.The track will be known as Woody Fisher's Tri-County Speedway. Fisher said he planned to continue driving on the ARCA circuit in addition to operating the track. Rumors had persisted for nearly a year that the track would be sold or would have a new promoter.Fisher said he had been working on the lease arrangement "for about two months." "We plan to operate the track to attract more cars and fans," he said, "but we also expect to make a profit"

Fisher Upgrading Tri- County Oval For New Racing SeasonBy TERRY FLYNN Enquirer Sports ReporterWhen Woody Fisher recently assumed the operation of Tri-County Speedway, he stated he would move to improve the half-mile race track in several areas with an eye to attracting better crowds. He wasted little time in upgrading Tri-County's image.When the asphalt oval opens for the 1976 racing season in March it will carry a sanction from the Automobile Racing Club of American (ARCA). "The sanction can only help to strengthen the racing at Tri-County," said Fisher, who also operates a beverage distributorship in Cincinnati. The sanction will involve the drivers at Tri-County in ARCA's national point fund as well as the local points race," Fisher explained. "Many of the drivers will want to compete in the overall point competition which means they will have to travel to other ARCA tracks." This will make the drivers more professional. They will have good competition all the time and that will improve the racing at Tri-County."Drivers wishing to compete at Tri-County this year now must become ARCA members. This means a $25 annual fee for drivers and owners and $20 for mechanics. In defense of this fee, ARCA president John Marcum pointed out that in the past, drivers paid a fee to the track to compete. The only difference now is the fee goes to the sanctioning body. "A driver would have to be crazy not to join," Marcum insisted. "The membership enables them to come under our insurance policy for all drivers. This is the same policy used for races at Daytona Speedway and it's the best you can get."Tri-County joins four other tracks under the ARCA banner. They include Toledo Speedway and Dayton Speedway in Ohio, and a pair of Michigan racing plants Mt. Clemens Speedway and Flat-rock Speedway. Tri-County's ARCA sanction will be for late model stock cars. However, Fisher stated that he planned to hold several ARCA new car races during the season, including a race early in the 1976 season, probably at the conclusion of the spring series in March.Marcum pointed out that the sanctioned tracks are situated in such a way that a driver could compete at an ARCA track from Thursday through Sunday without having to travel a great distance and be right in the thick of the points race. Marcum also hinted that he is currently attempting to bring Indianapolis Raceway Park into the ARCA fold, giving area drivers another option on weekends.Fisher, who will have a new Petty Enterprises prepared stock car ready for ARCA's 250-mile race at Daytona in February, will continue to compete on the ARCA new car circuit. For obvious reasons, he will not have a car running at Tri-County. He does plan, however, to have Ron Hutcherson driving a Plymouth Duster on the United States Auto Club (USAC) stock car circuit this year under the Fisher Brother's Racing Team colors.