Biography

    

    John Slack owned a logging and road building business for 30 years when the environmental movement started shutting down the forests in the late '80's. He was having a tuff time keeping his employees working when a friend of his, Gene Fincher, suggested he build a racetrack. So in 1990 John put his crew to work building Montana Raceway Park an engineering marvel with it's high banked, wide turns which was unlike anything in the Northwest. Now, John Slack is an exceptional road builder but he is not a promoter. However his wife Sharon is and with the help of the rest of their family turned a racetrack in Kalispell Montana into  the centerpiece of stock car racing in all of the Pacific Northwest and a listing by USA Today as one of the top 10 racetracks in the country in 2000. They changed the stereotype of racing from beer swilling, rowdy crowds to a friendly, family oriented, safe atmosphere where kids could ride in a stock car, compete in a bicycle race or win a bike at intermission. They instituted a family section in the stands where no drinking was allowed and started a renaissance in the popularity of racing amoung both the fans and competitors.

    Part of the way they achieved this was by going to other racetracks all over the country and observing what worked well for them and incorporating this experience at their own track. "We noticed for instance at some tracks the show was always going on with almost no down time between races so the fans never had a chance to get bored. If people pay their hard earned money and get bored, they won't be back" says Sharon. As far as the racers they created a good mix of car classes, raised the payouts from the previous tracks, started running fast & slow trophy dashes so everyone had a shot at bringing home a trophy and raised the bar with an elegant banquet at the end of the season.

    While visiting another track that was holding a big race, Gene Fincher again tickled John's ear. "We should have a big race too" he said. And that is when the premier race with the biggest payout in all of the Pacific Northwest was born. The Montana 200 draws racers from all over the US and Canada and many past participants can be seen racing in NASCAR today. This year is the 25th anniversary of the Montana 200. They also acquired a national qualifying race for the NASCAR Legend cars known as Legend Thunder and instituted the Rumble In The Rockies race for Late Model Nascar type cars. Nascar has held 8 sanctioned races at the track.

    But for all the glitz and glamour of these high profile races the Slacks and their family are most proud of being a part in the most prolific time in the lengthy history of racing in the Flathead. The local racing scene was so popular in the '90's and early '00's that they had to limit to 24 the number of cars on the track in a race at one time. This resulted in running many B Mains just to get the fastest 24 to run the Main event. And the spectator section had to be expanded to accomodate the crowds.

John and Sharon Slack and their family are excellent examples of "small town" entrepreneurs succeeding on a national level. Their contributions to stock car racing in the Flathead Valley are unequaled and deserving of their induction into the Hall Of Fame.