Race staff has setting up down to an art

LANCASTER — Call it Lancaster’s answer to the swallows returning to Mission San Juan Capistrano every March 19, St. Joseph’s Day.

Every first day of autumn, the hay bales and the waterfilled barriers and the K-rail and the fencing shortly thereafter return to Lancaster BLVD.

It’s not St. Joseph’s doing. Try the Lancaster city staff, led by John Belcher and Efrain Carrera Jr.

“There’s a process to our track build every year that we try to follow,” Carrera, an erstwhile Recreation Supervisor, said as he surveyed his handiwork on the eve of the 11th Annual Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix powered by Toyota of Lancaster. “If you miss one step in the process, it could be one giant hiccup.

“So we have open lines of communication to make sure the fencing goes in first, then we’re following that with the barriers, then we’re following that with the K-rail and we’re following that with the hay.

“Then we run the track to make sure everything is okay.

Every year, there’s something new to consider.”

This year, the Grand Prix will include a Saturday night concert by Everclear.

The professional shifter Karts are outfitted with more powerful engines this year, meaning there could be a lot more kinetic energy coming the way of the barriers.

Coming the way, that is, of 1,015 Scribers Plastics barriers and 416 hay bales.

This is Carrera’s eighth year of constructing the Grand Prix course.

Now, he admits be can’t do it in his sleep.

Heck, once the build begins, he’ll get about 18 hours sleep before the awards presentation Sunday night.

But when he hears that Lancaster has become the biggest Karting street race in America, and SKUSA President and CEO Tom Kutscher calls it his personal favorite, all the hard work is worth it.

“If I remember correctly, we had someone from Australia win here last year,” said Carrera. “As a city we like to put on world-class events, and to know we have people here from all over the world definitely states something positive about what we’re doing here.”

The Grand Prix and Minor League Baseball with the JetHawks and The Hangar were definitely two outside-the-box investments with potentially mortal risks.

Instead, Lancaster enjoys a sterling reputation within the Baseball and Karting industries.

“It all starts at the top with our leadership,” Carrera said. “The amount of trust they have in us, and the amount of customer service we’re able to show people, with the freedom that they do allow us to explore a little bit with our events?

“I think it gives us a real sense of pride in what we do.”

That pride is a carpet that covers downtown this weekend.