More than 30 people have been arrested after a wave of social media videos encouraged trespassing at Kentucky Speedway. The trend started earlier this summer when a YouTube creator filmed the track like an “abandoned places” video.
That video went viral on TikTok and the NASCAR community online and others started copying the stunt and breaking in.
Gallatin County Sheriff Bud Webster said the first video in June opened the floodgates. “Those guys posted to social media about an abandoned speedway and since then it’s been one group after another coming in there from all over,” he told WLWT.
Why and How the Trespassing Happened
According to investigators most of the Kentucky Speedway trespassers hopped fences or cut through security barriers. Once inside they filmed themselves walking through the grandstands, pit road and infield often leaving behind vandalism and damage.
More than 30 people have been charged with trespassing and burglary and Webster said the sheriff’s office has increased patrols, installed cameras and hired private security to stop it from happening again.
Despite how the videos make it seem the speedway is abandoned, it’s not. NASCAR hasn’t raced there since 2020 but the facility still hosts smaller events, the Richard Petty Driving Experience and even leases property to companies like automakers for storage and testing. “They still maintain the property, they still operate and they have staff on hand,” Webster said.
Kentucky Speedway opened in 2000 with hopes of landing a NASCAR Cup Series race and finally did in 2011 with the Quaker State 400. For nearly a decade it was part of the Cup calendar with Brad Keselowski winning a record three times.
But attendance struggles and criticism of the racing product led NASCAR to drop the track after the 2020 season.
