Back in April, Kyle Koretsky had no idea how much his racer mindset would change once his family secured the purchase of Maple Grove Raceway. 

The first lesson he learned was how much more challenging being the one who puts on drag races is than being the one who participates in them. 

"We're getting there, slowly but shortly," Koretsky said. "Working out some of the kinks, trying to get new equipment. Like everything else, you can't buy anything. Trying to buy new tractors, and it's just tough."

Koretsky admits the lessons have been plentiful along the way. What was the first one to really get his attention?

"How much grass I have to cut every week," Koretsky responded. "Figure out the weed whacking and weed spraying and the weeds that grow under the bleachers; it's every week. We're constantly spraying the weeds. That's all we do is spray weeds. It's a lot. It's a lot more than I ever thought. Track owners, I take back everything I ever said and give them a lot of credit."

With this said, Koretsky can no longer think just as a racer when it comes to affairs of the track. Case in point when he's at an NHRA event, and there are challenges with the racing surface, let it be known that Koretsky understands. 

"There's no more bitching [from me] and complaining about the little things," Koretsky said. "I see it every week, going in and out bracket racing, people complaining and trying to figure it out. It's a lot. The racers need to understand that it's more than just spraying the glue and blah, blah, blah. It's a lot of preparation during the week, not even on the racing weekend, that goes into it. 

"Everyone goes home at the end of the night, and our crew's out there scraping, dragging, and prepping for the following day. It's a lot of work. It definitely caught me off guard. I've been there seven days a week, 16, 18 hours a day. 

"If I'm not Pro Stock racing, I'm trying to learn every different thing, down from the weed-whacking down to the track prep, down to the financial side of it. So, I know the insides and outs, but owning the track now, I don't ever really complain too much about tracks." 

The track, its racing surface, in particular, Koretsky, all too well knows it's not the only focus one can have. 

"The track surface is really hard to make sure it's right and safe every time," Koretsky said. "There's more that goes on. You got to have the right team behind you. You have to have the right crew and equipment. It's one big circle. Our track, I feel, is one of the best on the east coast, surface-wise. That does nothing if you don't have the crew behind it to prep it and maintain it during the week and keep up on everything. 

"I think the crew, we're putting together a good team right now. We have our few hiccups here and there, but the team is coming together as one. Everyone sees that we're reinvesting every penny plus into the facility to try to make it the best facility on the east coast."

Finding the right balance of knowing when to push forward and when to take a break is the balance Koretsky still seeks. 

"There's always something to do," Koretsky said. "There's always something you can make better. That's definitely a downfall of us as a Koretsky family. We try to make everything perfect. We're never satisfied. We think that we can do better. I paint a wall. Second day, I'm like, 'Man, that needs another coat of paint." 

"But, you walk up and ask somebody else like, 'Oh, you put brand new walls up." 

"We find the little things, but it's the little things to us that make the place exciting and want the fans to come because it's not just about the racers. The fans need to have the experience, too, because they're coming to watch us."