Time to rev those engines as the race season is back in Merritt

MERRITT – As residents are filling their tires and tuning their engines, race season is firing back up at the Merritt Speedway.

“I’m quite excited,” said Sean Dandy, President of the Merritt Stock Car Association. “It’s always a long winter working on cars, getting everything organized, and everybody is always happy to get back to the track.”

The opening weekend is this weekend (May 20,21) and Dandy breaks down all the events taking place.

“We will have Late Models, we are looking forward to Mini Stocks showing up this year., we will have our 4 Cylinder Jr. and 4 Cylinder Sr., and our new Quarter Midget Sprint Class.”

Diving deeper into the new Quarter Midget Sprint Class, Dandy said the idea came last year and they are excited to work out the knots and kinks and get the event running.

“It’s for little kids, so we are just starting this year and it might be an interesting watch at first while we are getting everything figured out and organized for them on the track, but I know we have five or six kids who are really excited to get out there and put on a show for the crowd. There was a family from the Pemberton speedway that came up last year and put on a little demonstration and lots of people thought it was really cool, so some of the parents got together and started finding cars.”

While tires are burning and the smell of oil is in the air, it’s the comradery that is the main attraction for some.

“Honestly, I think that’s one of the better aspects of the season opener is getting back to all of your good race track friendships,” added Dandy.

This weekend, the races are Saturday (May 20) and Sunday (May 21) with the gates opening up at 10:30 a.m. and racing at 1:00 p.m.. It is cash only at the gates and the concession as the debit reader isn’t running yet. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and kids under 10 get in free with adult supervision.

For more information, visit the Merritt Speedway website.