Submitted by Terry Guest
It was 30 years ago when the first race was raced at Saratoga Speedway, and the upcoming 2011 season will continue the legacy of Saratoga Speedway.
Last year's 2010 season saw the progression of many young drivers and the growing popularity in all of our classes. The upcoming 2011 season will see many new faces and many previous champions trying to retain their titles. This year will see all of our last year's classes returning, except for the figure 8 cars, due to lack of interest. These classes are: Hornet cars, Bomber cars, Crash to Pass cars, Roadrunners, Dwarf cars, IMCA Modifieds, Island Mini Stocks, Old Time Modified Stock Cars (O.T.R.A), Wilroc Sprint Cars and the Wilroc Lite cars. The 2011 will also see the return of Motorcycle class, and the newly formed ASA BC Late Model Tour, which was previously called the Katana Sportsman Tour. Our Hornet car class will have some minor rule changes for the upcoming season. First of, the hornet class will not be split, however, we will award an 'A' division championship and a 'B" division championship. The 'A' division will function based on our normal points model, the 'B' championship will be based on 'B' Main event finishes, as well as heats and qualifying. Another new rule change will be that drivers may choose the colour of their car, but you cannot have any solid dark colours (black, brown, dark blue etc.).
The new year will feature 23 different race nights at the Black Creek oval in the upcoming season. Every night at Saratoga is a special night, but we have some very special race nights on our schedule.
May 7th will be our opening night with the always amazing fireworks extravaganza, accompanied by the Crash to Pass cars, Hornet Cars and the Roadrunners.
May 21st and 22nd will mark our first Monster Truck show of the year, with Crash to Pass cars, Hornets, Bomber cars, Roadrunners and the return of the Tough Trucks.
June 25th will be the first showing of the fastest class on the island; the Wilroc Sprint cars, along with the Wilroc Lites and the IMCA Modifieds.
Returning this season are the speedway motorcycles after a years absence, and to help create more interest in this very challenging style of oval track racing, there will be a racing clinic this Saturday from 11am until 4pm with a cost of $50 per person with more information available at Speedway Road Racers which includes contact names and a clinic registration form.
July 2nd will feature are first ever “Eve of Destruction” which will include a Limo jump, the jet dragster funny car, Fireworks, IMCA Modifieds, Dwarf Cars, and Bomber Cars.
July 9th is our first Boat Race of the year and our only car tossing competition of the year, these two main features will be accompanied by the Crash to Pass cars, Roadrunners and the Hornet cars.
Next up on July 16th is our 150 lap ASA BC Late Model Tour race, which is our longest race of the year. This special night will also include the Bomber cars and the Island Mini Stocks.
July 30th and 31st is our last Monster Truck show of the year, along with the Crash to Pass cars, Bombers, Hornets, Roadrunners and Tough Trucks.
August 6th is our last show of the Wilroc Sprint cars. The sprint cars will be accompanied by the Wilroc Lites, Dwarf cars, and the IMCA Modifieds.
August 20th marks our third annual Bikini Contest and our last Boat race of the year. Also on this night will be Crash to Pass cars, Roadrunners and Hornets.
September 3rd and 4th is our very popular Canadian-American Demolition Derby. Alongside these “maniacs” will by our Hornet cars, Crash to Pass cars, and our Roadrunners.
September 17th marks the last race night of the 2011 season, with our spectacular Fireworks show, Crash to Pass cars, Roadrunners and Hornets.
For more information on our race nights please visit the Saratoga Speedway website and mark your calendars for all of these special race nights! The 2011 season will once again be another exciting season, with many new faces and many new memories. Make sure to watch out for all of our past season champions as they make another run to capture their previous championships! The first pre-season practice for all classes will be held this Saturday beginning at 5pm and is open to the public with no admission charge giving the race fans a chance to see the cars that will make up the 2011 season.