The Flat Track: How a Cat Customer Helped Pave the Way

By Edgar Sandoval, Contributor | Updated: May 3, 2023

New Hampshire has a long tradition with motorcycles, and we’re pleased to have had a hand in building on that tradition. It is home to world’s oldest motorcycle rally – the Laconia Motorcycle Week. For nearly 100 years, the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) has hosted the Loudon Classic, the oldest motorcycle race in America. More recently, NHMS built what is known simply as “The Flat Track” to host an annual American Flat Track (AFT) event. Caterpillar and The Cat® Rental Store are proud sponsors of AFT.

The Flat Track is the first to be built in New England in the last 25 years. Crews turned roughly 186,095 square feet of ground and 3,000 tons of clay to build the 0.25-mile track. Much of the surface work was done initially by long-time Cat customer Greg Fillmore.

“Greg has been doing business with Milton Cat since 1982,” said Mike Courchane, New Hampshire Sales Manager for Milton Cat. “He owned thirty pieces at one time. His pit was just down the road. I believe he was using a brand-new track skid steer he bought from us.”

Before retiring, Greg was president of Fillmore Industries Sand and Gravel. He says this project was a lot of fun.

“The speedway built basically the facility, got it prepped, did the walls,” Fillmore said. “Then it was time to build the track itself, and went looking for some materials, I owned a sand and gravel company a couple miles down the street, so I was the logical choice… as well as I had been doing work up here for 20 plus years. But we brought some gravel in, then load after load of clay material for the finished top. We started in the fall, and through the winter, it froze, and springtime they want to get going, the frost was coming out, and it was nothing but mud. So, I grabbed a couple pieces and came up here and started just to help out for a couple of days, and three weeks later, it was done.”

The first race at The Flat Track was held in 2019 and, with a pause during the pandemic, started back up this year. The new track is making quite the impression. In fact, the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce chose The Flat Track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It was awarded the Business Inspiration Award for its impact on the tourism economy.

Bryan Smith works in Industry Relations for AFT. He was on the track for that first race.

“A lot of the tracks we go to it’s very cool cause there’s a long, long history and legacy of tracks we go like Peoria, Illinois… Springfield, Illinois… they’ve been there for a hundred years," Smith said. "But it’s just as cool coming to a facility that built a special track for motorcycles and to be some of the first-time racers to ride on it… hopefully, in a hundred years, people are talking about us motorcycle racers that rode out here for the first time.”

Smith travels the country with AFT and says that when they need help, The Cat Rental Store is always there to help.