Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park Event Fills Local Hotels

Every hotel room in Lake Elsinore is sold out.

That was almost the case this weekend. Calls Saturday afternoon to five local hotels situated near the were brimming with guests in town for Rounds 3 and 4 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.

on Casino Drive and on Canyon Estates Drive were both filled to capacity; on Casino Drive along with the on Malaga Drive only had two rooms left between them as of 3 p.m. Saturday. The on Auto Center Drive had vacancies, but few, according to the front desk.

“We’re trying to put this city on the map. Gas stations, hotels – they are all slammed this weekend,” said Chad Azevedo, general manager of the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park, who was busy playing host Saturday

The nationally televised off-road truck-racing event is expected to draw 10,000 to 12,000 people to Lake Elsinore before Round 4 of the Series wraps up Sunday afternoon, Azevedo said. The event began Friday at the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park and marks the first off-road truck race at the newly reopened facility.

The Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series culminates with a championship final later this year in Chandler, Ariz., but the promoter

Azevedo said the Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park is getting notice due to the owners’ networking skills, but also because of the facility’s reputation.

“The Lucas Oil people said they were very impressed with the park,” Azevedo said.

“The accommodations at this track (are) like no other,” said Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series director Tony Vanillo in a news release earlier this month. “Working with the Nanci family -- who are the new owners of the new motocross park – (is) a delight …. They have built the New Lake Elsinore MX Park to an unprecedented level like we have never seen before ... It's a great fit for Lucas Oil and how we like to do things. You will be seeing us there a lot with the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, The Lucas Oil Regional So. Cal Series, and The Lucas Oil AMA Outdoors Series all being there."

“We want to make the park a destination,” Azevedo continued. “We like to call ourselves ‘Disneyland in the Dirt.’”

The facility is home to a motocross track that The owners are working on expanding the area to include amenities like a water park and a concert area, according to Azevedo. He even pointed to a large dirt field near the corner of Mission Trail and Corydon and said, “We are trying to get a hotel there.”

Traffic near the Motorsports Park was jammed Saturday. Motorists attempting to enter the facility backed up onto Corydon from Cereal Street. Parking at the Motorsport Park was plentiful, but fans who didn’t want to fork over the $10 parking fee packed the nearby industrial park lot.

Traffic snarls are something park operators may need to smooth over in the months to come if the facility becomes everything they are hoping for.

“We are getting riders to come from all over the world,” Azevedo said. “We’re trying to brand the city: