From Cheryl Pelkie
Ohswekent, ONT — Race teams, Families, Fans and Sponsors are reminded to mark Saturday, November 13th on your social calendars as Ohsweken Speedway will host their Annual Awards Banquet in the Marritt Hall located at the new Ancaster Fairgrounds. The top 10 in Championship point chases from each of the four regular classes that compete weekly on the fast 3/8 mile clay oval will take center stage. Along with a tribute to sponsors and crowning of the Champions, other special awards such as “Rookie’s of the Year”; “Most Improved Drivers”; and “Teams of the Year” will be announced.
Cocktails will be available at 5:30PM with dinner set for 6:30. The awards ceremonies will get underway at 8:00PM with a dance to follow. Tickets are $30 each and are available until Monday, November 8 the following ways:
– They can be purchased at the Speedway Gas Bar in front of the track; or
– By contacting Tina Styres at (519) 770-9268 or email to tina.styres@sympatico.ca and pay by sending a cheque to:
Tina Styres
2011 Chiefswood Rd;
R.R. #2 Ohsweken, ON
N0A 1M0; or
– By calling Cheryl Pelkie at (1-888) 720-7223 for Credit Card purchases and picking your tickets up at the door.
Work is underway at the speedway on a couple of projects that will provide greater fan comfort and convenience in the future. First of all, a restructuring of the seating on the front stretch spectator area is underway. The lower seats that have made up Sections K, L, & M in the turn four area are being dismantled. They will be replaced with all of what was Section A from turn one and half of Section B and be renamed Sections J & K. These seats along with the remaining ones from Section B and Section C in turn one (now renamed Sections A & B) will lose the bottom five rows as they were in the “Mud Zone” and not very comfortable to view the action from. All seats in the front stretch viewing area will be reconfigured to 22 inches wide from their current 18 inch width. When complete, approximately 5,100 seats will occupy the front stretch viewing area. Sounds confusing but the bottom line is that in the end the comfort level for the Reserved Seat nights of racing should be a whole lot better. A new seating map will show up on the website shortly.
And an expanded and elevated area is being reworked for our disabled guests who require a wheelchair accessible viewing area. The current area at the bottom of Section G is being expanded and elevated in order to provide this.
All of the seats removed from the front stretch will then be moved Pit Side to the fenced in area directly behind the orange Tech Barn. A pedestrian bridge will be installed over the exit road from the racetrack to access this seating area for the wife’s and kids of competitors and the general public. This will allow children under 12 close proximity to the Hot Pits where they can be near their fathers who are part of the program. A Pit Pass will not be required to access this area however extra security will be in place to insure that no one without a Pit Pass is allowed access out of the fenced in compound and into the Hot Pit.
Speedway Management is pleased to announce that following a pair of practice nights on May 6th and 13th, the gates will swing open to greet race fans on May 20th for the 16th season of “Friday Night Thunder”. 360 Sprint Cars will headline the weekly program for the fourth year with the backing of Corr/Pak Merchandising Inc. Also returning to the regular program will be the Thunder Stocks and Mini Stocks on a weekly basis along with our entry level “Bombers” who will once again compete on the smaller inside oval.
A couple of the major events that appear on the 2011 schedule which is being prepared for release in its entirety in early December includes a return visit of the World of Outlaw Sprint series contesting the “Six Nations Showdown”. After trying a weekend double header of Outlaw 410 Sprint action in 2010, management heard the fans and returned to the single day, mid week format that was so successful. The stars of the World of Outlaw sprint series will invade this year on Wednesday night, July 27th with a full program of time trials, heat races, Dash along with an “A” and “B” Main.
Closing out the racing season on the 3/8 mile will be the 7th edition of the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals”. Three nights of Sprint car action will highlight the program on September 15th , 16th, and 17th featuring a 35 lap feature event on Saturday night paying a whopping $11,000 of the posted $100,000 weekend purse to the winner of the 30 car feature field.
Please take note that the “Loyalty Policy” for fans who held reserved seat tickets for either of the above two special events in 2010 will have until December 31st to renew the same seats for 2011. PLEASE CALL (1-888) 720-7223 or email Cheryl at pelkiekj@ebtech.net FOR ASSISTANCE.
Remaining Reserved Seat tickets will go on sale to the general public January 4th on a first come, first serve basis.
Several other specials including the inaugural “Monster Mash” crash fest and enduro are in the planning stages for the fall of 2011 and will be announced as soon as dates and details are confirmed.
For the first time in several years, “Season Passes” will be offered for sale for both the Pit and Spectator areas. Details on how to purchase these will be released by mid November so people will have the opportunity to purchase these in advance. Along with the return of the popular 2 Seater Ride Along program, Racing DVD’s, Speedway Tee Shirts, Die Cast Cars, and Jackets; Ohsweken Speedway offers unique options when you look for that special gift this holiday season.
2011 rules for all classes will be posted on the official Ohsweken Speedway website at www.ohswekenspeedway.com by early December. Ohsweken Speedway will also be participating in several off season shows including the Canadian Motorsports Expo, January 21, 22, & 23 and Performance World, March 11, 12, &13 in Toronto at the International Centre along with the Speed and Custom Car Show, March 25, 26, & 27 in London at the Western Fair Grounds. Be sure to visit the website often for all of the latest news on these and other happenings as work continues toward opening day on May 20th. Any questions should be directed to Ken Pelkie at (1-888) 720-7223 or email to pelkiekj@ebtech.net.