On Saturday night, Broad Street in the small city of Salamanca on the Seneca Nation’s Allegany Territory was consistently riddled with traffic, requiring law enforcement to direct the flow of vehicles coming and going.
Anyone familiar with Salamanca, or the Southern Tier of NY as a whole, knows how uncommon traffic of any sort is there. For most of the year, the Southern Tier is home to its residents and only them, but occasionally the area is host to an event that the rest of the country deems worthy of their presence.
Friday night’s Snocross races at Salamanca’s Seneca Allegany Casino had the small city of Salamanca comparatively abuzz.
The casino’s 8 floor parking garage and overflow parking lot were filled with patrons, forcing additional show-goers to park their vehicles down the road at the nearby Seneca Nation Administration Building and Cultural Center Museum. License plates of parked cars revealed that people from as far away as Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Ontario and Virginia made the trek to Salamanca to watch the races.
As the snowmobiles zipped around the snowy track to the delight of the thousands of viewers braving the crisp 30 degrees winter air, ESPN production crews streamed the event live for the entire country to see.
Some of Salamanca’s local establishments, who rarely see outside business, reaped the benefits of the area’s increased traffic.
“We had to increase our delivery staff because of all the traffic,” said Brandon Woodmancy, Salamanca resident and delivery driver for local pizzeria Marino’s. “Late at night after the races, our dining room was full, too. And we delivered to all the hotels way more than we normally do.”
Attendees from the Southern Tier, while enjoying the races and the area’s unusual attention, felt the abundance of outsiders was beneficial.
“I thought it [the snocross event] was pretty cool for something I’m not usually into or know a lot about,” said Limestone, NY resident Morgan Gleason. “I think it probably brings a lot of business to local businesses, especially the casino, for the weekend because there’s a ton of people who come here for the races from far away.”
The Seneca Allegany Casino is hosting the touring AMSOIL Snocross Championship for the 8th consecutive year, but has no involvement in the event itself, according to Christian Printup, Special Events Director for Seneca Gaming Corporation.
“We actually have no involvement with snocross, other than supplying a couple of our guys to help them work cameras and make sure it’s streamed in the casino,” said Printup. “Our Hotel Sales Department sells snocross the space for the event. Snocross is very self contained.”
While the Casino only rents out its east parking lot and events center for the snocross races, the casino’s gambling floor, hotel, restaurants and bars see a large increase in business the two days the championship is in town.
Salamanca was the 6th stop in the eight-event series and is the furthest east city to host the races. With a population of roughly 5,500, Salamanca is the second smallest city on the tour, behind Deadwood, S.D. with a population of roughly 1,300. The next stop for the championship is Grand Rapids, Mich. on March 13 and 14 before concluding in Lake Geneva, Wis., March 20-22.
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