Keith Hoffman has officially announced that he will in fact be returning as Mahoning Valley Speedway promoter for the 2021 season.

Hoffman, who took on the role as promoter at the end of 2019, had conveyed at the close of this season that he was not sure of his immediate plans. However, after deliberating his possibilities over the past few weeks, he has confirmed that he is excited to stay onboard with speedway owners Jack and Rebecca Carlino.

“I’m very eager to get back to business at Mahoning Valley Speedway. I feel we did some great things in our first year, especially with the Mahoning Valley Speedway Hall of Fames Series (MVSHoFS), as well as a number of other key promotions such as initiating the Rookie Hobby Stock class, and just trying to improve the whole show in general each week,” said Hoffman.

“I’m very grateful for the many compliments, and I feel we can really build on the success that we have started.”

Keynote to Hoffman’s Mahoning presence was the introduction of the MVSHoFS, which became an unqualified success. The series paid tribute to past track icons, and the response was overwhelming from both the pits and grandstands.

“The Hall of Fame Series was amazing, and it was bigger than we could have imagined,” said Hoffman.

“I’m happy to say that we will be bringing back the Series for 2021, and we’ve already picked out our five Hall of Fame selections that we will pay tribute to. The 2020 Series will be a hard act to follow, but we think what we’ll be presenting very soon ... everyone will be pleasantly pleased with our next edition.”

Another positive item brought to the table by Hoffman was the Rookie Hobby Stock class, which saw double-digit car counts each week. The primary intent behind the division was to help ease would-be drivers into the world of stock car racing - many of them moving up from quarter midgets and Go-Karts.

“The Rookie Hobby Stocks were everything we expected it to be. Watching those young talents progress after each race built their confidence level tremendously, and many of them held their own nicely as they slowly worked their way into the regular Hobby Stocks,” said Hoffman.

Hoffman added that moving forward, there will be some tweaks in place, all with good intent.

Keeping downtime to a minimum, while maintaining an efficiently-run show quickly became Hoffman’s hallmark as well.

“We closed out 2020 with a nice burst of momentum, and I feel that we can only continue to get better from what we started. What I saw last year was an extremely enthusiastic fan base, and a very dedicated group of racers, and that really helped make my decision to come back all the easier,” said Hoffman.

Hoffman explained that he expects the 2021 schedule will be ready by mid-January, and will look to release that during a special gathering not long afterward that will pay tribute to the top finishers from the recent season, while laying out his plans for the upcoming year.