Osage Casino & Hotel’s role as the naming rights sponsor of Tulsa Raceway Park will continue through 2022 and beyond, as the track announced today a multi-year extension. The partnership began as a trackside advertising deal in 2012 and expanded to include naming rights in 2013.
“Not many tracks have the luxury of a naming rights sponsor, so to have one for nine years and counting is unbelievable,” said Keith Haney, who co-owns the track along with fellow Pro Mod racer Todd Martin. “They still believe in us and they believe in the product. They’re a huge organization with a major impact in our community. To have them believe in us is a big thing.”
Haney was first introduced to the Osage Casino group in 2011 by Jamie Wright, the president of CityScape Productions, a marketing agency that worked with Haney’s car dealerships at the time.
“In 2011, Jamie, Todd and I put together this big presentation and presented it to the [Osage] board,” Haney said. “We shared our vision for the track, how we planned to grow it and bring in big events. They liked what they heard, they believed in us, and they’ve continued to believe in us as we’ve renewed our partnership every few years.”
“It means everything,” added Wright, who’s continued to foster the relationship between Tulsa Raceway Park and Osage Casino. “It shows that they trust us to treat them right and take care of them and promote them like we agreed to. Over the course of 10 years, we’ve become friends with everyone at Osage. There’s not much we don’t do for them because we really appreciate their support.”
Through the Osage Casino partnership, the track started to offer free tickets for one of its marquee events, the Throwdown in T-Town. Held every spring and fall, the Throwdown in T-Town races attract tens of thousands of fans and racers to the Tulsa area.
“Osage Casino gives back to the community in many ways, and one of those ways is through their support of Tulsa Raceway Park,” Haney said. “The races also have a huge economic impact on the area when we host big events. We had as many as 50,000 people come through the gates at Throwdown one year. They’ve become big, nationally recognized events. I can’t say enough about what Osage has done for the community and in helping Osage Casino & Hotel Tulsa Raceway Park become what it is today.”
The track also provides free tickets to Osage Casino & Hotel employees and their families so they can take in the action at any of Tulsa Raceway Park’s dozens of events.
“If an employee wants to come out to the track, we make sure they have all the tickets they need,” Wright said. “We don’t just take care of the decision makers, we also take care of their employees and their families. We want everyone to come out and enjoy the track.”
Wright has watched as Haney, Martin, and the Tulsa Raceway Park team have built up the track since the Tulsa area businessmen took over the track in 2011. They’ve since added Tulsa Speedway, next door to the dragstrip, to their portfolio.
“The support that Osage Casino gives Tulsa Raceway Park allows us to continue to grow the events and grow the facilities,” Wright said. “That’s important because we’re an entertainment venue. We’re here to entertain, whether it be drag racing, mud runs, or the speedway now. We’re all about improving the facilities to continue to grow the business.”
The partnership extension is validation for Haney and Martin. They’ve accomplished many of the goals they set in place a decade ago, and they have even more plans for growth in the future.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done to bring recognition to Osage Casino & Hotel,” Haney said. “There’s so much that goes into it – the live feeds, MAVTV coverage, social media, viral videos, and media coverage. Osage Casino has become synonymous with Tulsa Raceway Park. They’re an entertainment venue just like us, and we’re always encouraging our fans to go to the casinos. We try to go above and beyond.”
“Keith and I committed to breaking boundaries when it comes to the entertainment at this facility,” Martin said. “With Keith’s deep roots in this community and our passion for drag racing, we are both happy to be here and we plan to keep drag racing alive in Tulsa, Oklahoma.”
Osage Casino & Hotel Tulsa Raceway Park’s upcoming events include the spring Throwdown in T-Town, May 6-7, which will feature the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service.
This story was originally published on April 26, 2022. 
