Officials at the New Heartland Park Topeka 
announce recent hiring of Jeff Lacina in a dual role as Director of Marketing & Communications for the entire facility as well as serving as the Director of Road Course Operations for the facility’s 2.5-mile, multi-configuration road course.
“Jeff brings years of motorsports experience as well as a unique combination of marketing, communications, editorial, performance driving education and racing knowledge to our team at Heartland Park,” says Todd Crossley, co-owner of Heartland Park Topeka and Shelby Development LLC.
“His passion for grassroots and professional motorsports is unmistakable. Combined this with his professional marketing and communications skills and experience, we are proud to have him be a part of the team that will re-establish this facility as one of North America’s premier, multi-venue motorsports vacility."
Prior to joining the New Heartland Park Topeka, Lacina served as Marketing & Communications Manager at Castle Creations, Inc. in Olathe, KS as well as Manager of Marketing Communications for John Deere Financial in Johnston, IA and Marketing Manager for Accessible Technologies, Inc. / ProCharger in Lenexa, KS. He opened Lacina Marketing & Communications Group in 2011 and worked for numerous automotive and motorsports clients and helped relaunch for Fun Ford Series events that same year. Lacina has also served as a free-lance writer for a number of automotive and motorsports magazines and websites.
Lacina has been driving Heartland Park’s road course since 1992 and began his in-car instructing career at the track in 1997. In 2002, he founded Track Guys Performance Driving Events and was contracted by Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (SVT) to develop and conduct performance driving clinics for Ford SVT owners across North America. In 2012, Lacina competed in and won his class in the grueling One Lap of America, an eight-day event contested on consecutive days on race tracks across the United States. He is also a licensed Instructor for the National Auto Sports Association (NASA) and has won regional championships competing in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Solo II events. To date, Lacina has driven or instructed on 79 different race tracks across North America.
“I’m really looking forward to bringing my professional experience to work as part of the management team at the New Heartland Park Topeka,” says Lacina. “It’s rather surreal to be coming daily to a track that really launched my performance driving career and business. Now I get to be a part of providing a world-class road course facility and experience to new and experienced drivers while also developing a comprehensive marketing, communications and events plan for the entire facility.”