There was one question which seemed to echo throughout the weekend at the Rockingham Speedway.

It had nothing to do with which driver was going to win the race or the ARCA points title, it had to do with how long can Andy Hillenburg and company continue to put on races at “The Rock.”

According to Robert Ingram, general manager at the Rockingham Speedway, the number of fans at the October ARCA RE/MAX events was nearly identical to the April race weekend. Ingram estimated the attendance to be 5,000 on Saturday and 12,000 on Sunday.

The media from around the country who converged on ‘The Rock’ were staring at mostly empty bleachers with the occasional cluster of fans from the exit of turn four all the way across the track to the exit of turn two.

Hillenburg did his best to answer the question like only a great politician could, answer without really answering the question. He told the members of the media this was only his third major race at the Speedway since he reopened the track. He added he has plans to add a dirt track, which will more than likely be dubbed “Dirty Rock.”

Of course the logical follow-up question was raised — will you try for a NASCAR event?

This is the problem facing the Speedway, how to attract local fans without having a NASCAR event, rather it be the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series or the truck series.

Hillenburg had one of the best promoters in the motorsports industry at the track Sunday in Humpy Wheeler. Hillenburg said he was writing down the ideas as quick as Wheeler could spit them out.

Promoting is Hillenburg’s Achilles Heel and he admits it. Hillenburg knows the people in the industry and in just his second year was able to secure two dates on the ARCA RE/MAX schedule, including the season finale. People from around the area should have been lining up to watch two young gun drivers in Justin Lofton and Parker Kligerman battle for the points title.

Instead there seems to be indifference.

After a long Friday when the USAR cars had practice and qualifying, as well as the arrival of the ARCA teams, a Speedway employee went into a local business on his way home. The employee noticed his Rockingham Speedway shirt and didn’t realize there was a race going on over the weekend.

Some would say Hillenburg doesn’t advertise enough to get the local fan to the race, but he did put billboards up, advertised in the Daily Journal, as well as television and radio. But when it comes down to Hillenburg spending money to attract fans, he has to turn his attention to the Charlotte and Raleigh markets because more people live there and may make the trek to Rockingham.

Even across the street at the Rockingham Dragway, owner Steve Earwood has learned the majority of people attending his events are from outside the county. The Rockingham Dragway hosted the All Harley Drag Racing series finale over the weekend and very few cars in the parking lot bore North Carolina license plates.

Unlike the Speedway where it is difficult to put on an event without a national organization, Earwood and company have been successful putting on local events or specialty events — like the MOPAR event in April or the Civil War event earlier this month.

Earwood believes turning his attention to these types of events will help him weather the storm of the economic turmoil of the country.

“They all have their own following, it’s kind of like a cult,” he said.

This may be the last year when the Rockingham Dragway hosts two IHRA events during the season. Earwood said it is difficult for him to attract a large crowd to his event because of the number of events in the south, including two NHRA events in Concord.

“It’s going to be easier for us to focus on one national event,” Earwood said.

Although Earwood would lose a major weekend off his 2010 calendar, he said he expects to add a large sportsman event to compensate for the loss of the IHRA World Finals.

No matter what Earwood and Hillenburg attempt to keep their businesses afloat, they want to have a local presence in the stands.

“We are part of the community,” Ingram said. “We get support from the local government and businesses, but we need it from the community too.”