BLADENSBURG — Anyone looking for a fun family evening might want to take a trip to Jug Run Road in Knox County.
Just bring $5 per person, and ear plugs.
Situated on slightly more than 10 acres, the one-eighth-mile dirt track is located off of Route 541 at Knox County’s Bowstring Bridge which spans the Wakatomika Creek.
The Jug Run Raceway plays host to go-kart drivers of all ages every Saturday night, weather permitting. Seven-year-old Carter Banik said that running his go-kart is not scary, and finds benefits besides just driving 35-40 miles an hour.
“The thing I enjoy the most is seeing my friends and making new ones,” Banik said.
Whether the track is banked or not is a matter of some conjecture.
“It depends on how much rain we get and how much grading I have to do,” owner Byan Elswick said, watching the cars warm up.
“It is not straight up and down, it is semi-banked.”
Safety first
Driving through the gate to the parking area, participants and spectators alike are greeted with a hello, a request for $5 per person (under 12 are free), and an injury waiver must be signed.
As for the waiver, is the track dangerous for spectators?
“Not as long as you don’t get hurt,” the greeter said with a smile.
The venue is family-friendly and safe, with volunteers stationed every few yards, including paramedics, just in case.
In the event of a mishap, drivers are instructed to remain in their car until help arrives.
“We want it to be very safe and family-friendly,” Elswick said. “We have a lot of kids who are just here to run around and have fun.”
How does one open a race track in their yard? Elswick had the land and the energy.
“I’ve always been a diehard tracker, and everything I ran just kept getting more and more expensive, so I had to keep going down classes until there wasn’t anything left,” he explained.
The idea for the track was a collaboration with a friend.
“This buddy of mine said he had a go-kart he wanted me to race, so I raced it and two weeks later, I was building my own track,” Elswick sasid.
Initially, the track was more of a hobby than anything else.
“At first I didn’t charge anybody a penny, I just paid for it all out of my own pocket,” Elswick admitted.
Before long, the popularity of the course began to increase.
“We started having 40 or 50 cars every weekend, and more people wanted to come in.”
Overhead costs such as hundreds of tires that serve as safety buffers, lighting to extend racing into the evening hours, and even a garage for repairs eventually forced Elswick to look at minimal charges.
“We try and keep it real cheap for families to be able to come out.”
The cars, constructed primarily of fiberglass and plastic, can be purchased relatively inexpensively.
“If you find the right person on the internet, for $1,200 to $1,500 you can be racing out here every weekend,” Elswick said.
One car that races has particular interest for the owner.
“We have been together since high school, I’m right here with him racing every weekend. He keeps my car in tip-top shape,” explained Kathy Elswick, Bryan’s significant other.
It may not be on a bucket list, but a visit to Jug Run Speedway with a picnic or plans to visit the food trailer continues to draw families interested in racing every weekend.