AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CEO MICHAEL LOCK: PART 1
P84
Interview
with the sport brought to a global
audience via a series of hour-long
weekly primetime telecasts streamed
on NBCSN. Together with AFT's own
livestreaming of every round, the
spectacular appeal of this uniquely
American race series is now being
enjoyed by a worldwide audience.
The man responsible for fine-
tuning the ongoing transformation
of AFT remains 54-year old Brit
Michael Lock, who three years
ago was delegated with the task
of revitalising it by NASCAR boss
Jim France. After interviewing him
in each of the two previous years
about the AFT story so far, catch-
ing up with him again after year
three brings it all into perspective.
Michael, year three has come
and gone for AFT under your
direction. What's your evalua-
tion of where the series stands
at the moment?
2019 was both thrilling, and exhausting. We suffered from three rain-
outs, plus a couple of other events that were rain delayed, so effectively,
we went from 18 events to 22 with very little breathing space. Particularly
in the second half of the season, it was pretty much non-stop all the way.
"And the
pyramid should
narrow at
the top, where
the elite are
competing
only against
themselves, and
this has not
traditionally
been the case in
Flat Track."
