Twice a year, Melvin Crawley Jr., owner of Crawley’s Funeral Home on Meadowbridge Road on North Side, opens his business parking lot and an adjoining property to NASCAR fans, where they park their vehicles for race weekends at Richmond International Raceway.

He’s among dozens of African-American property owners who will cash in by allowing NASCAR fans to park at their homes, businesses and churches this weekend when Richmond International Raceway hosts its annual spring races at the Laburnum Avenue racetrack in Henrico County.

The Toyota Care 250 is scheduled to get a green flag start 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, in the Infinity Series. The Toyota Owners 400 is scheduled to start 7 p.m. Saturday, April 25, in the Sprint Cup Series, which is NASCAR’s highest level of racing.

Last year’s spring events drew tens of thousands of people to the racetrack that has a current capacity of roughly 71,000.

“It’s a great twice-a-year economic boost,” Mr. Crawley told the Free Press on Wednesday morning. He declined to provide details on how much he makes during the weekend race fans.

“I’ve been welcoming the same people here for the past 25 years,” he said. “We even had children of people who used to come here coming to us now. We have two or three generations of customers.”

He said he expects 60 to 70 vehicles to be parked on his properties this weekend. “I’ve had up to 100 vehicles here at one time,” Mr. Crawley said. “They love it here because we have a lot of space where they can cook out and socialize. We have bathrooms inside they can use and we have security cameras on the property.”

In that time, Mr. Crawley said, “we haven’t had any problems, fights or misunderstandings. They’re some of the nicest people you’d want to meet.”

The Free Press spoke this week with Mr. Crawley and other African-American property and business owners in the largely black community surrounding RIR to assess what economic rewards they reap when NASCAR comes to town.

While track officials claim they want to draw a more diverse fan base to the largely white sport, it appears African-Americans are engaging most from outside the gates.

Corey Holeman, an African-American who owns the McDonald’s franchise across from RIR on Laburnum Ave., declined to discuss the economic spike his business gets on race weekends. A vendor setting up to sell race merchandise in the McDonald’s parking lot Wednesday said he pays to use the space through race weekend.

Campers, RVs and other vehicles were parked early this week at Faith Life Tabernacle International, an African-American church behind Essex Village.

Kenny Dail said he and his wife and other fans have parked on the church property for the past 10 years. “I pay $150,” he said late Monday afternoon.

On average, community members said they charge NASCAR fans about $20 per car per day and from $150 to $175 for campers for the weekend.

“The most I ever made was $300 in one weekend,” said Shirley Burgess, who lives near an entrance to the raceway on Richmond-Henrico Turnpike.

She estimates that she will have about eight vehicles in her front and back yards this weekend.

Ms. Burgess said the only rules she sets for the fans is “no fighting, no loud profanity and to clean up after yourselves.”

Bobby Dunn, who lives about a quarter mile from the track on Delmont Road, said he expects to make about $600 this weekend from fan parking.

“I just tell them, ‘Come, enjoy yourselves,’ ’’ he said. “You couldn’t find nicer people. When they come here, it’s like they’ve been living here all their lives.”

His next-door neighbor, George Moore, said he has welcomed fans onto his property for the past four years.

“As long as they treat me with manners and respect, I’m going to treat them with manners and respect,” he said.

“I’ve never had any problems with any of the people who come here,” added Illean Byrd, who lives nearby on Crawford Street and has allowed fans to park on her lot for the past nine years. “We don’t look at color here.”

Richmond International Raceway hasn’t produced a report since 2008 on the economic benefits its two race weekends generate in the greater Richmond area, according to track spokesperson Aimee Turner. However, estimates are that $400 million is generated in Virginia by the two RIR race weekends, as well as separate annual races in Martinsville and Bristol, she said.

How much of the economic pie RIR shares with the African-American community is unclear, but it appears to be miniscule compared to RIR’s generous financial investments within the white community.

RIR has been hosting NASCAR Sprint Cup races since 1953. However, unlike with white-owned media outlets, RIR never has advertised its race weekend activities in African-American-owned print media in Richmond.

John Moreland, vice president of sales and marketing at RIR, said since the recession in 2008, RIR has concentrated its outreach efforts on fan retention and creating a more fan-friendly experience at the track.

While again snubbing Richmond black-owned print media for this weekend’s races, he said RIR would spend most of its advertising budget on TV, radio, digital and billboard ads.

“We try to reach a wide range of constituents and fans,” Mr. Moreland said.

A Free Press reporter pressed Mr. Moreland to provide specific examples of how RIR reaches out to the African-American community.

He said RIR supports NASCAR’s “Drive for Diversity” program that seeks to identify and provide support for up-and-coming minority drivers.

In Friday’s Toyota Care 250, fans can watch Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., a diversity program participant who has excelled in the Truck Series and now competes in the Infinity Series driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang.

Mr. Moreland said RIR provides 500 Henrico County students with two tickets to the Infinity Series race.

He said officials meet monthly with a neighborhood committee to discuss their concerns, but he could not say how many are African-American.

Mr. Moreland also said RIR has sent representatives for the past two years to a leadership forum at Virginia State University to provide a better understanding of NASCAR to staff and students.

And RIR hosts a “National Night Out” event each summer to promote better relationships between the community and the police, he said.