(July 17, 2016) The Capital City Auto Parts ENDURO 200 scheduled for this past weekend was cancelled. That came on the heels of the cancellation of an ENDURO back in June. In both cases not enough cars pre-registered for those races and Speedway 660 cancelled the events rather than have fans come out and be disappointed with a small field.
I can’t remember exactly when ENDURO racing started at New Brunswick International Speedway, now known as Speedway 660. We didn’t have it in the first couple of years, but when it was introduced the first few races had perhaps 15 or 20 cars, but this brand of racing caught on quickly and in its heyday there were close to 50 cars!
ENDURO cars took a beating. Those mid 1980’s rear-wheel drive cars have pretty much gone to the scrap yard.
I remember we used to start ENDURO races three-wide and the field stretched from the start-finish line all the way back through turns three and four and part way down the backstretch. It was impossible to see all of the spin-outs and flips because the action was happening all around the track at the same time.
Fans loved it and it seemed to me at least, that ENDURO racing attracted a different crowd than our Saturday night racing events. I know some folks came out to see both brands of racing, but some ENDURO fans rarely came out for weekly racing and some weekly fans weren’t overly enthused with ENDURO racing.
Things always got “a little crazy” when the ENDURO events were held in the Geary Woods.
In the last few years the car count dwindled and last season we were down to about a dozen cars per race. I believe that was due partly to the difficulty in finding those old mid 1980’s eighty rear-wheel drive cars that were used in ENDURO racing. Another factor is possibly the emergence of the Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooter Division. This entry level, inexpensive form of racing may have attracted folks who in the past might have gone ENDURO racing.
This year Speedway 660 made an effort to convert the ENDURO divsion to newer, smaller front-wheel drive cars. But so far only five or six have registered to race and that is just not enough to put on a show for our fans.
ENDURO racing was not for the faint of heart. Sometimes it was really hard for drivers to keep the rubber on the pavement.
So that brings us to the point where the future of this brand of racing is up in the air. There is one more ENDURO on the schedule for Speedweekend Monday and we’ll have to wait and see what transpires between now and then.
ENDURO racing has given us some great memories over the years. And the drivers were some of the real characters of our sport. Pat Sharp and his mighty pit crew from up Woodstock way won the championship five or six times. Ed Vallis won it a couple or three times and always put on a great show for the fans. Some of the other names that come to mind are: Benji Ruff, Dale Hathaway, Justin & Rheal Kenny, Steve & Tyler Seveck, Carmen McKeen, Kenny, Kim & Courtney Barton and Andrew Betts who liked to drive his car around Speedway 660 in reverse!
Pat Sharpe was the KING of ENDURO racing at Speedway 660. Pat was a pretty good driver, but that burly pit crew of his always found a way to get Pat back on the track after an altercation!
It’s too bad if this turns out to be the end-of-the-line for ENDURO racing. If it is, we’ll long remember the fun everyone always had at these events. Hats off to all of the ENDURO teams we’ve seen over the years and thanks for the memories!
So Speedway 660 sits idle this coming weekend. On Saturday, July 23rd we’ll be back with the Clark Chevrolet Firecracker 150. Fans love sportsman racing and this will be one of this division’s best races of the season. We have the upcoming long holiday weekend off and then will be back for an incredible stretch run which includes a weekly championship point race on August 6th, followed by the Sharp Shooter 40 the next Saturday, Fan Appreciation Night on the 20th, the Night of Champions of the 27th and SpeedWeekend on the weekend of September 2nd.
The autograph session on Fan Appreciation Night is always a hit with fans and race team alike. This year it happens on Saturday, August 20th.
If you are interested in seeing some racing this weekend and are up for a road trip you might consider heading down to Antigonish. Our friends at Riverside International Speedway are putting on the IWK 250. Lots of their fans come up our way for SpeedWeekend and some fans from our neck of the woods travel down there for their big event.
While we take this week off, I want to remind everyone that we’ll be back in action on July 23rd for the Clark Chevrolet Firecracker 150. We all love sportsman racing and the Firecracker is always one of the best shows of the year.
The Clark Chevrolet Firecracker 150 is certainly not an ENDURO, but you can bet the drivers will go all out for the win and we just might see a couple of dust-ups before the winner heads to victory lane!
Enjoy your week off, drive carefully if you are going to road trip and be safe out there.
We’ll see you at the races!
