Because of the hard work and emotional stress associated with operating a speedway, the average career of a promoter is three to five years. Gene Adamcik promoted racing here at the Heart O' Texas Speedway for 32 consecutive years. He started working here in the early sixties parking cars while his mother worked in the concession stand. Near the end of the sixties, Gene raced hobby stock #81, the Bohemian Bandit, at the speedway.
Upon graduation from Baylor University, Gene and his wife (high school sweetheart, Mary) moved to the Dallas area where he became a District Sales Manager and later an independent distributor for Pepperidge Farm Inc.
In the late seventies, the Adamcik family moved back to Waco to settle and raise their family. Prior to the 1981 racing season, Gene and his first partner, Richard Rogers, leased the speedway. Opening in May 1981, with twenty-one total race cars and less than three hundred spectators, they struggled mightily to keep the gates open. As a testimony to Gene's commitment to the sport, by 1985 the speedway averaged eighty-five cars per night and over twenty-five hundred spectators, while becoming a member of the North Texas Racing Association (NTRA). Due to Gene's enthusiastic leadership and the fantastic growth, Heart O' Texas became the first speedway in Texas to receive a Winston Racing Series sanction from NASCAR.
Gene was awarded state and national awards including the Laney Edwards Promoter of the Year Award from the Texas Motor Speedway in 1998 and the Gulf South Promoter of the Year Award from the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) in 2011. He was also the co-founder and race director of the Texas All Star Modified Series for several years. His thirty plus years at the speedway illustrated Gene's total dedication to the success of the Heart O' Texas.
His loves included his family, many lifelong friends, fast race cars, his Catholic faith, small children, TV shows -"MASH", "Perry Mason", "Gun Smoke", and "Murder She Wrote", the musical "My Fair Lady", the movie "Titanic", singer Celine Dion, and the Baylor Bears.
On January 22,2016, Gene passed away after a long battle with diabetes. His legacy of honesty, fairness, and generosity lives on. We all miss you Gene. You were truly the racer's friend.