(Aug. 8, 2017) Speedway 660 resumes action this coming Saturday night with its 2017 edition of Fan Appreciation Night. It’s a special night with an on-track autograph session, followed by the second last point race of the season. Fans and drivers alike enjoy Fan Appreciation Night and in this week’s Conversation we have comments from several of Speedway 660’s drivers.

Fan Appreciation Night Conversation

Richard Atkinson: The fans make this sport brother and without the fans we wouldn’t have racing. All of the drivers at 660 love putting on a great show for our awesome fans. Personally I love interacting with the fans, meeting them, saying hello, signing autographs and talking about racing. Sometimes just giving a kid one of your hats is all it takes to make a new fan. On Fan Appreciation Night we go all out for the fans and everyone tries hard to get to victory lane or land on the podium.Richard Atkinson is a big kid at heart. This veteran Sportsman driver loves hangin out with the kids and making them laugh. Fan Appreciation Night is this Saturday, come early for the on-track autograph session.

Justin Cole: Fan Appreciation Night is always a fun night. I remember how much fun it was as a little kid and as a driver I love it too. I always wanted to be a driver back when I was a kid cheering for Bradley Logan. My Dad sponsored him and I used to go to the shop and paint the letters on the tires and do other little stuff, it was fun just hanging around the shop and seeing that side of racing.

It was pretty special working on the car and then coming to the track to see Bradley race. If a driver lives in your area, why not see if you can help out in the shop, there’s no pay, but it’s a lots of fun. Seeing all of the cars parked on the front stretch and having the fans come out on the track on Fan Appreciation Night is pretty special. If it wasn’t for the fans we wouldn’t be here, so we always want to put on a good show for them.It wasn’t that long ago that Justin Cole used to come to the races with his Mom and Dad to cheer for Bradley Logan. Now Justin is a racer at Speedway 660 and  brings his family out for some awesome entertainment.

BJ Gillespie: I grew up in racing, so I’ve been to a lot of Fan Appreciation Nights. As a kid it was always a thrill to see my Dad out on the track and he was always so successful winning seven championships at 660. And as soon as I was old enough to come into the pits and help out on the crew I enjoyed that part of it too. I always wanted to drive a race car and am glad I’ve got a chance to do that. It’s fun racing here because we always get good fan support and I want to thank everyone for coming and cheering for us. BJ Gillespie loved coming to the races as a kid to watch his Father Brian dominate the Sportsman division. Now he drives a Sharp Shooter and looks forward to Saturday’s Fan Appreciation Night.

Roger Slocum: The fans mean everything to me. We have such good fan support at Speedway 660 and that makes it a lot more fun for the drivers when you get to race in front of such a terrific crowd. Having good fan support also makes it possible for the drivers to go out and get sponsors because those sponsors know they’ll get some good exposure at 660. There is always a lot of great racing here and that’s why we get the crowds.

We’ve got a lot of good cars in our Street Stock division and drivers try to keep them looking good for the fans and the sponsors. It’s always fun winning a feature or getting a podium and looking up into the crowd and seeing a lot of fans. Now with kids 15 and under getting in free hopefully that will attract even more families to the races.Roger Slocum, one of our “old-school” Street Stock drivers, loves puttin on a show for the fans. Roger says the fans, especially the kids at Speedway 660, are the ones who keep him coming back every year to race!

Brent Roy: It’s always really cool seeing our youngest fans and meeting them at events like Fan Appreciation Night. I remember as a kid when the old CASCAR series came here and we got to go on the track and meet all of those drivers. I remember how thrilled I was to meet Scott Fraser. He took a bit of extra time with me and the other kids and it made me feel really good to have the chance to talk with one of the best drivers. As a driver I never forgot how much that meant to me and I try to follow Scott’s example and spend as much time as I can with the kids. Next thing you know you might be racing with one of two of them. Brent Roy remembers what it meant to him as a kid to meet his favourite drivers and now he always has time to spend with our youngest race fans.

Matt Martin: The fans are everything. I’ve got three little girls and I see how excited they get on race day. They love coming to the track and watching everybody race. It’s all about the family here at 660 – the racing family and your immediate family – it’s all just a big family here. It’s just a good environment for everyone here. It’s great for the sponsors too. Me and Dad used to go around to tracks when I was a kid and then when this place opened in 94 we came every week and have been coming ever since.Family means everything to Matt Martin. Matt loves to put on a show in his little Sharp Shooter for his immediate family and his much larger racing family!

Destiny Enkel: Fan Appreciation Night is one of my favourite nights of the year. It’s really fun to meet the kids, our weekly fans and some of the new fans too. You want to put on a great show for the fans and get them to come back. When I was a kid, Fan Appreciation Night was my favourite event because you got to meet the drivers and they were so nice to us kids and gave us candy and we always made new friends too.Kids always line-up to get Destiny Enkel’s autograph. When she was a kid, Fan Appreciation Night was her favourite event on the Speedway 660 racing schedule. Now that Destiny is one of our most popular drivers, this special night is still her favourite!        

Fan Appreciation Night is this Saturday at Speedway 660. The racing gets underway at 6:30PM, but everyone is encouraged to come early for the on-track autograph sessions which begins at 5:30PM.