Thompson International Speedway marketing coordinator Jonathan Hoenig confirmed Monday evening that Mike Kun has resigned his position as chief steward at the track.
Kun oversaw technical officiating at the track.
“He made a decision to move on and take a different path,” Hoenig said. “He’s still a great friend of the family and a friend of the organization. There’s no hard feelings with anything. It was time to go in a different direction and we respect that. He’s working closely with us to help us fill that position and move in the next direction. … Nobody left on bad terms.”
Kun’s son Andrew Kun also resigned as a track official, along with fellow official John Andrade. Andrew Kun and Andrade are both listed as “assistant inspectors” on the staff list posted on the track’s website.
“Nobody was mad internally at each other,” said Hoenig, who is the grandson of track owner Don Hoenig. “Things happen in management, in the structure, that it comes a time that it’s time to make a change.”
Attempts to reach Mike Kun and Andrew Kun were unsuccessful Monday.
Hoenig said the track is working hard to improve overall on officiating the track.
“At the track we do understand that there have been people that have had some concerns about the officiating and we’re working to improve that. This week we’re working on getting some more spotters at the track, get some more eyes on the ground.
“We’re working through things right now. We’re trying to really work together as a team to get things a little bit better organized. … We’re working hard at it. We want this to work.”
Low car counts in numerous divisions have plagued the track this year. The premier NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified division has been attracting around 12 cars weekly. The Thompson Modified division and first year SK Light Modified division have been getting 5-7 cars weekly.
But Jonathan Hoenig said rumors that the track might stop running weekly events or even close are just that, rumors.
“Stuff is down all over the place,” Jonathan Hoenig said. “We have less Modifieds. But you know we have a huge Mini Stock division. The Limited Sportsman [division] is great. The Late Models, they’re down, but it’s been worse. It’s a sign of the times. Right now we’re the ones that have a little bit fewer Modifieds and we’re going to work really hard to get that straightened out. … ”
“It’s a tough time everywhere. We’re fine. There’s so many rumors about us going out of business, the track’s not going to be there next year, there’s not going to be weekly racing, they’re all just rumors. It drives me crazy because people start to believe them. The Hoenig family is committed to being there and providing great racing to fans and trying to provide a better experience for our competitors. And we’re going to work hard at it. We have a great team and we’re going to work together with them to get through this change in management right now.”
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