CALLAWAY -- On Saturday nights in a small portion of Franklin County, bright lights turn the focus of hundreds of people to a 3/8-mile oval of local racing history.

A history that many might have forgotten.

Franklin County Speedway has been there for decades, bringing its fans the sounds of thumping engines, the thrill of victory and the minuscule errors that can result in defeat.

In recent years that fan base decreased, and so did the amount of drivers who wanted to race there. Along with them went the sponsors.

But things are changing.

New management has brought in sanctioning by the American Speed Association, new sponsors, more drivers and the track is reintroducing the world of short-track racing to a new generation of fans.

And nobody may be more pleased than the head of public relations, Kenny Lang.

"This place, it means a lot to me," he said. "I started watching races here when I was younger than my son. This is where I learned to love racing."

And if things keep going the way they are at the track, it will be where a lot more people learn to love racing.

The changes began to happen when Richard Gluth came on board as promoter in January of 2007. For those that felt treated unfairly in the past, Gluth brought equality, and for those that wanted to see the track conditions improve, well, he's doing that too.

So how did he go about changing the culture at Franklin County Speedway?

"Well, I put in a zero tolerance policy," he said. " And everything that I told them I was going to do, I did.

"It's growing every week. The car count's getting there. The fan count's getting there. I just look for big things [in the future]."

And big things are happening now.

According to Lang and various drivers, the Late Model races are averaging around 17-18 cars, up from 6-10 a year ago.

This year, all but two of the 25 races have sponsors.

Jimmy Mullins is the defending Late Model track champion. He's been racing on and off at Franklin County since 1991 and is upbeat about the turnaround he sees.

"Richard and them had took the track over and I tell you they've done a fantastic job on it," he said. "I mean it's just unreal what they've done to turn things around."

Rick Sigmon started racing at the track in 1984 and has seen it through the ups and the downs.

"The level of competition just gets better and better here," he said. "There were 19 Late Models here a couple weeks ago. That's the most late models that have been here in many years."

And some of that competition is coming from drivers at other tracks, a change from recent years.

"When [their home] track has a night off they tend to come to us and race where in the past they would not even think about coming here," Lang said.

The turnaround hasn't been quick and it hasn't been by just one or two people.

"It's just a group effort anywhere from the sales team to promoter Richard Gluth to the people working in the concession stand," Lang said. "It's what's bringing the track back to its heyday.

"Back in the early '80s this place was packed on a Saturday night. You couldn't shoehorn anybody in here. And it's getting better."

Little by little, things are being fixed and improved, from concessions, to patching up the stands, to better purses for the winners.

The big project, it seems, will be updating the actual track.

"This place is 40 years old," Lang said. "The asphalt is 40 years old. It's never been repaved."

And while that is a lofty goal, one that anyone associated with the track would be excited about, the progress is bringing about a lot of enthusiasm itself.

"It's a work in progress," said Sigmon. "I hope [Gluth] hangs onto the track and I hope he makes it a good place for everybody to race.

"It's heading in the right direction, I know that."