It’s quiet at Lanier National Speedway.

Once a local hub, drawing large crowds to see exciting races and special events, it has become more landmark than event venue.

And it’s never been as obvious as this weekend, which should have seen the return of SpeedFest to the 3/8-mile track in Braselton. Instead of packing people into the grandstands, the race was moved to Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele.

“One thing’s for sure,” current track owner Donnie Clack said. “We won’t lose any money this weekend.”

That’s about where the track is in its existence right now, struggling to stay afloat in a bad economy.

Already, in addition to SpeedFest’s change of venue, the 2012 weekly schedule for the track has been canceled. The Ice Cold Shriner Bowl, which had originally been scheduled for January, has been moved back to March 31, leaving the schedule blank all month.

“It’s been interesting,” Clack said. “That’s a good way to put it.”

Changes were made in May to help salvage the facility’s future, including reduced payouts when rain was in the forecast and a rain-or-shine race policy. Nine months later, the improvement they had hoped to see has not come, and the track has been listed for sale.

Clack blamed the poor economy and the lack of disposable income for fans as the main reasons for the track’s struggles.

“I think disposable income is the biggest problem,” Clack said. “The uncertainty of the economy, especially when it comes to gas. But the fans understand that, from a financial standpoint, we have to be selective of our races.”

Fans and racers alike are in agreement about their love for Lanier National Speedway. They spoke in great detail about the history of the track and their desire to see it survive.

Dwayne Buggay, a frequent driver at the track since 1994, said he considered it one of “the finest tracks” and would hate to see it go away.

To help give the track a better outlook, Buggay singled out one thing that was needed.

“Change,” he said. “Change of ownership, change of management. I have nothing negative to say about anybody, but I think a change would rectify a lot of the situation.

“Change without money doesn’t fix anything, though. It’s going to take a lot of changes and a little money.”

One frustrated fan singled out the management of the track as one of the main reasons for its decline.

Kevin Michaels has been attending races at the track since 1987 and was even involved with Rusty Davis Racing in the mid-90s. He lives less than two miles away from the track.

“When there are cars on the track, I can hear them from my front porch,” he said.

He rented track-side seats beginning in 2001, attending a race nearly every week until his seats became too expensive in 2007.

“I do think that the economy does have a large part to do with the decline in attendance,” he said. “But when you have the cost go up for racers and fans, you can not also have a subpar product. That’s where the spiral began.”

Michaels added that, as a fan, it was difficult to watch the facility’s decline.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” he said. “I’ve done about as much as I can over the last 18 months in promoting the place via Facebook and all that.”

The frustration could be a symptom of fans’ migration to other tracks around the area, most notably Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, which used to compliment the track in Oakwood.

Michaels noted his preference of the management at the former.

“They’ve done a great job with that facility,” he said. “They’re very professional and have their act together.”

Both Michaels and Buggay both offered suggestions for increasing the track’s draw.

“You can do a lot of different things that don’t cost a lot of money that can bring more action to the fans,” Buggay said. “Anything to bring back the fun for the fans. The long, drawn out races — it can get boring. People don’t have long attention spans. We’ve got to get them in and out.”

Michaels offered the idea of having races every other week, with the other weeks filled by a concert or some other special event.

“There are so many ways you could change the program there,” he said.

While the racing won’t be that frequent, Clack did offer the possibilities of scheduling more races or special events, as Michaels suggested.

“We’re just going to look at the races on a case-by-case deal,” he said. “And we’ve got some things that could be looked at as special events.”

And there is still the potential of a buyer coming in to revamp the facility.

Buggay has expressed interest in gathering a group of investors to make a purchase, but said that he wouldn’t do it on his own.

“The best scenario for every racer would be a company, team or group of investors to come in and purchase the track,” he said. “They could put some money into the facility and get it going again. All the track needs is some management and funding. And it needs someone with a passion for racing.”

Michaels said he hoped that’s what would happen.

“I’m in sincere hopes that someone will buy the track that actually has a vision,” he said. “Somebody who is aware of the history, and can put together a real business plan. I would really hate to see such a wonderful facility with such a grand history disappear.”

There are two events on the schedule for 2012 at present: The Ice Cold Shiner Bowl in March and an Independence Day celebration on June 30.

Former general manager Stan Narrison rented the track for the latter and said he expects a big turnout.

“We’ll have fireworks and a demolition derby,” he said. “It’s really a great event, because non-race fans can come enjoy themselves as well.”

For now, though, that is all for the track’s schedule. But Clack stressed that the track wouldn’t go away.

“The track’s going to be there,” he said. “It’s going to carry on. We’re not going to shut it down.”