The Estevan Motor Speedway is gearing up for another racing weekend, this time featuring a new class of racecar hitting the track. This Saturday is the S&S Piling Equipment Solutions Ltd. Western Renegade Non-Wing Sprintcar Series, first for the speedway.
Speedway Board Member Aaron Turnbull talks about the new cars and the usual races.
"We have all our regular classes running, and we also have the Western Renegade non-wing sprint cars. They're new to the Estevan Motor Speedway. We've never had them before. Most of them are based out of North Dakota. We have probably at least two or three Canadian cars as well, from both Manitoba and Saskatchewan. So we're expecting a decent car count for those guys, and it'll be kind of cool to offer something a little different to the fans."
Sprint cars haven't been seen in Estevan for several years, with non-wing sprint cars not even making it onto the track in years past.
Turnbull says the new type of car hitting the dirt might result in some more excitement as it'll be a different style of racing to watch.
"The biggest difference with these is they don't have the big wing on the top, so they slide around a little bit more, and they're kind of a more economical version. They're not the big 900 horsepower that a normal sprint car would have. These are a little bit lower horsepower, but without the wing, they don't really need all that horsepower."
"The biggest thing is they don't have the wings, so they slide around a little bit more, which in turn can create a little bit more exciting racing and a little more passing. It should be a good show for the fans."
For the Speedway, being able to bring in new types of races that excite fans is a big opportunity.
The only factor still to watch is the weather heading into the races, which Turnbull says they're keeping a close eye on.
"We're keeping an eye on the weather, but as of right now, everything's good to go. Our track prep crew keeps an eye on the weather as well, and we'll plan accordingly, and hopefully everything's all good for Saturday. We know there's a little chance of rain, but that could disappear any minute, so the little bit of rain we're getting here today, if anything, should help us and just save us from our general watering of the track as the week goes on."
While there's a lot of attention on the new race coming into town, Turnbull says that the usual class of races is also heating up as the season starts to close.
"This is the second last of our points races for our regular classes, and some of the classes have very tight points races, so that's going to be exciting to watch coming down to the wire."
The races begin on Saturday with a 7 p.m. start time. Kids 14 and under will also get into the races for free.