NINE YEARS OF NASCAR
Payoff big for stock-car enthusiasts
It’s nearly a decade since Saskatoon’s heavy-footed stock-car enthusiasts flashed their wares to the wider world.
They had this great little track, sitting on Saskatoon’s northern outskirts, and they opted to bring in what was then the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series — a national circuit, with brighter lights.
Nine summers later, NASCAR’s still around — now as the NASCAR Pinty’s Series — and while the work is hard, the payoff remains.
“It’s paid off,” says Andrew Clewes, who presides over Wyant Group Raceway. “It’s a lot of work, and there’s a lot of optimism, and skepticism — do we, or don’t we? It’s a big risk, but now that we’re established ... other than getting the track ready, the pieces fall into place.”
During Wednesday’s event, Quebec native Alex Labbe took the first race of the doubleheader after starting in second position, with veteran D.J. Kennington and last year’s Saskatoon event winner Cayden Lapcevich coming second and third, respectively. Lapcevich faired better in the second race, managing to nab the top spot, followed by Kennington in second and Labbe in third.
The track puts up $100,000 every year to make the event work, and recoups that investment through ticket sales and sponsorships. Numerous volunteers take holidays in the days leading up to the race, getting everything ready — free labour Clewes estimates to be worth up to $35,000.
It’s “a big investment,” Clewes says, but it generates revenue. And there could be a second race on the way. Track executives met Wednesday with investors looking at Saskatoon as a potential landing spot for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, which has stops across the western United States.
In 2009, then-track president Trent Seidel predicted a long run for NASCAR in Saskatoon. “Once we get through this year,” he said then, “we’re going to look back in 10 years’ time at the history we created today and we’re going to say ‘that was amazing.’ ... we’re going to keep them coming back.”
So far, his prediction holds up. “Saskatoon’s one of the best race tracks in Canada, as far as I’m concerned — high-banked, you can run two wide,” longtime Ontario-based series veteran D.J. Kennington, who recently ran at the Daytona 500, said this week. “In some places, it’s hard to find room to pass, and that’s where you get the bump-and-run, a lot of roughhousing. Saskatoon’s a place where you can run two wide, race hard ... I love coming here.”
So far, local track members are willing to make it work. It’s not easy, says Clewes — though it was more difficult in the early stages, when the sponsor search was in full swing and everything was new.
“Now,” says Clewes, “our biggest competition is there’s always something going on in Saskatoon during the summer. It’s so diverse — your entertainment dollar is stretched so thin. And it’s a lot of work to get the track ready. Lines painted, everything tidy, it’s a hard three weeks. It takes a lot, being just a volunteer-run event.” On the other hand ... “We’re in the top three racing tracks in Canada; this puts us on the map in the racing world.”