{ PROMOTER OF THE YEAR }
Victor Alvarez
Since taking over as the owner and promoter at Bradenton Motorsports Park in April of 2018 , Victor Alvarez has taken a racers-first approach to putting on events and running the historic Florida Gulf Coast track . It seems to be working , as the track hosts some of the most popular outlaw Pro Mod and radial races , sport compact events , bracket races , and other events . It ’ s also a hotbed for testing .
“ I just put myself in the racers shoes , which isn ’ t difficult since I do some racing myself and I love racing and I grew up in the sport ,”
Moving forward , Alvarez has some tricks up his sleeve to make the 10th annual FL2K extra special , while he also plans to continue offering huge payouts in Pro Mod at the Snowbirds and U . S . Street Nationals . He also hints at another big-money race in 2023 .
In the long-term future , he envisions further upgrades for the track , which first opened in 1974 as DeSoto Memorial Dragway .
“ We have dreams of revamping this place in the next couple years ,” Alvarez says . “ I want to repave and do all concrete all the way down . I want to add more paved parking for racers and continue to upgrade and improve our equipment , which we ’ ve done really well on . I want this to be a world-class facility . Not that it isn ’ t now , but I want it to be a memorable place .”
– NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
ANDY CARTER , TYLER CROSSNOE , BILL BADER JR .,
AND SAM KORKIS
PHOTO : CHRIS SEARS
Alvarez says . “ It all starts there for me . What ’ s going to make the racers happy , what ’ s going to bring in racers , what ’ s going to make people really want to compete ? Nobody wants to go to a race and it ’ s a BS payout and nobody ’ s really fighting for it , they ’ re just racing and having fun . We want you to have fun , but we want it to be competitive .”
Alvarez has enhanced longtime Bradenton races like the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals and the U . S . Street Nationals , while also adding to the BMP legacy through his own races like FL2K , which he started in October 2013 .
Alvarez is quick to credit his staff , including track prep guru Wade Rich , for the track ’ s success . He also says he ’ s looked to promoters like Peter Blach of TX2K and Jason Miller of the World Cup Finals for inspiration .
“ Another one that was not just an inspiration but always really there for me in the beginning is Tyler Crossnoe ,” says Alvarez , 32 . “ Tyler ’ s a young guy like myself . He didn ’ t really know me very well , but he was open arms and always willing to offer support and always had my back . He ’ s a great guy , great promoter , and someone who ’ s great for the sport . I like to think that guys like Tyler and myself are the future of the sport . It ’ s really cool that we have the relationship that we have .”
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