Thunderdome off-road racing venue unveiled at Leatherwood Park in Hazard

Leatherwood Offroad Park's new Thunderdome put Hazard at the center of Ultra4's East Coast push, with the unveiling framing the course as more than a racing attraction. Built inside a repurposed high-wall mining site, the venue was presented as a purpose-built stage for off-road competition and as a test of whether Perry County can turn motorsports traffic into sustained spending.

The timing matters for local business. Ultra4 Racing announced its Kentucky partnership with Backroads of Appalachia and the State of Kentucky in August 2025, saying the goal was to expand the series' footprint, create development and training opportunities, and stimulate tourism and economic development in the Appalachian region. The first Kentucky race was described as a fall 2026 event, and Ultra4's official schedule now lists Nationals for Oct. 14-18, 2026. Backroads of Appalachia has called the Leatherwood stop part of a multi-year partnership and a season finale, which suggests repeated traffic rather than a one-off spectacle.

That repetition will matter in Hazard, where hotels, restaurants and gas stations will be watching to see whether race weekends bring in outsiders often enough to justify the buildout. Leatherwood Off-Road Park already markets itself as Kentucky's premier off-road destination, advertising 50,000 acres and 250 miles of trails in the Appalachian Mountains. It serves ATVs, 4x4s, side-by-sides, dirt bikes and off-road buggies, giving Ultra4 a base with an established riding audience before the new national events even arrive.

The broader investment picture stretches beyond Perry County. A 2025 report said Ultra4's East Coast headquarters was planned for Booneville, with a 200-acre test-and-development facility, a 1.4-mile test track and a 60,000-square-foot building targeted to open in mid-2026. That would deepen the sport's footprint in Eastern Kentucky and tie Hazard to a larger off-road corridor that could draw racers, crews and fans through the region.

The unveiling itself included a meet-and-greet with drivers Dustin and Dave Cole and a track reveal video, with sponsors such as SuperATV helping spotlight the new venue. But Perry County's off-road story also carries a safety caution: a fatal ATV crash was reported at Leatherwood in June 2025. As the Thunderdome opens the door to bigger events, local leaders will be balancing tourism gains against traffic, noise and the risks that come with drawing more machines and more people into the hills.