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Well here we are again, setting out on another
season, a journey that will lead to our Golden Anniversary in 2001. This
season, we will see many highlights, some of which I'll detail. Our first
presentation night will be on May 27, 2000, when the St. Catharines Standard will host the
Mel Swart Spring Championships. The winner of the Modified Feature that
evening will be presented the John Spencer Memorial Award, which originated
in 1953, the oldest award at Merrittville Speedway.
The big event for
those of us, who are alumni of Merrittville Speedway, is of course, our
49th Anniversary Alumni Reunion on July 22, 2000 with the Vintage racers
of the Canadian Motor Racing Historical Society in attendance and the
presentation of the Jerry Winger Memorial to the Modified Feature Winner.
Other dates to remember will be the Victoria Day Nationals – presented
on May 22nd by toolneeds.com featuring a 50 lap 358 Syracuse and Fulton
Qualifier, Skoal Inc. and Avondale Food Stores will present the Empire
Super Sprints on June 10th with Modern Landfill bringing them back on
August 26th.
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| Jerry
Winger #10 In The Late 50's |
Our friends at Inside Track Motorsport News will present
the ESS a third time – September 16th. Of course our biggest night of
the year will be our annual 358 Modified Syracuse Qualifier. For the first
time in many years a 100 lap Modified event celebrates the new century
of Dirt Racing sponsored by Performance Racing News and Pete Cosco Haulage
in memory of Trevor Wilkens. Our newest division, the Nostalgic Dwarf
Cars will bring an International Event to Merrittville Speedway. On July
3rd – Central Collision will sponsor the International Dwarf Car Championship
where competitors will compete on Merrittville's clay coming from all
over the U.S. and Canada. Also on the card with similar appeal will be
a tour stop for the DIRT Pro Stock Series in addition to a Mimi Stock
event and the 358 Modifieds for a great Monday Race Card presented as
well by Rubber Recovery Specialists. Another fun event involving the Dwarf
Cars will be the Celebrity Media Challenge on TRW Employee Recognition
Night. Possibly, Bruce Bonham, Gordie Wilson and myself can have some
fun again.
All of our nights of racing this year would not be possible
without two key ingredients, the fans and the sponsors. To all of you,
whether you support a night of racing at Canada's oldest dirt track or
as a sponsor of a race car, we thank you. And to you the fans, the competitors
and track owners owe you a debt of gratitude for helping to make Merrittville
Speedway the success it is.
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| Pete Bicknell #42 |
To all the fans – the Merrittville Speedway
Social Committee would like to invite you to attend and support the Budweiser
Big Rig Pit Party after the races on July 1 and again on august 19th for
the annual Corn Roast. No matter how serious the racing is on the track,
these point fund-raisers give everyone an opportunity to socialize and
relax after the races. So as you can see, there is a lot to look forward
to entering our 49th year, however on a sad note one of the founders of
the Merrittville Speedway, George Cullen, passed away this winter, a true
gentleman and friend to john Marino, as well as the founders of Speedway
Park (Hamilton) Ken Kavanagh and Bill Russell. So with a couple of events
in the record books we continue to celebrate the start of the 49th season
at Merrittville and the 99th year of Automobile Racing in Canada – we
remember George Cullen as we gaze over this racing facility and say in
his honour … Gentlemen and Ladies, Start your engines! Sincerely, Rick
Kavanagh. |
