Everyone loves a good fireworks show, but I also like firecrackers, especially when Sportsman race teams are involved! This Saturday night at 7PM, Speedway 660 will host one of the most anticipated Sportsman races of the season. It’s the Martin’s Home Heating Firecracker 150 and it’s going to be a blast!

Remember earlier in the season when the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman 100 got washed out? I sure do. Fans always like the longer Sportsman races and everyone was disappointed we got rained-out on June 23rd. But Speedway 660 officials and Richard Martin put their heads together and came up their version of the Big Bang Theory.

The Martin’s Home Heating Firecracker 150 is scheduled for 7PM this Saturday. Sportsman racing at Speedway 660 is always exciting but this weekend’s race should take that excitement to a whole new level.

That theory will unfold this weekend with the Martin’s Home Heating Firecracker 150 which will see one of the biggest paydays in Sportsman history. Richard has topped up the purse and the winner of the Firecracker will take home three grand! An extra hundred dollars has also been added to the pay-out for every other driver in the top ten.

So Saturday will be a lucrative night at the old Speedway 660 pay window! That’s great news for our Sportsman drivers. A big pay day will help off-set some of the bills race teams rack up during the course of a season.

But don’t count your chickens before they hatch – or in this case don’t spend the winner’s share before you get to Victory Lane. Three thousand dollars to win has got Sportsman teams, all over Atlantic Canada, texting up a storm. Don’t be surprised if they hook up their GPS units and try to find the Geary Woods this weekend.

And don’t be surprised if a couple of pro-stockers don’t dust off their Sportsman cars to make a run for the green-backs. Dave O’Blenis and Kenny MacKenzie were both ready to compete in the Martin’s Home Heating 100 back in June. And remember Lonnie Sommerville won the 150 lap Sportsman race at the 2011 edition of SpeedWeekend.

But wait a minute – all of you Sportsman drivers can breathe a sigh of relief. I just checked the Pro All Star Series Schedule and Lonnie is scheduled to be down in New Hampshire at the White Mountain Motorsports Park this weekend!

Our weekly Sportsman drivers are loyal to Speedway 660. They put on a great show every Saturday night and I know most of our fans would like to see one of them win the Firecracker. But it won’t be easy because the big pay-out is bound to increase the level of competition.

But that doesn’t bother most of our Sportsman drivers, because they have more than held their own when visiting teams have ventured into the Geary Woods. Last year Glyn Nott won the Firecracker and he is just one of several Speedway 660 regulars who have their eye on the prize. We’ll post a Conversation with Glyn on the Speedway 660 website later this week.

If you see Richard and Anne Martin around the track this weekend, I encourage you to thank them for being a great corporate sponsor and making the Firecracker 150 such a big event. I know the race teams appreciate what they have done for this sport and the rest of us should too.

Well, I’ve used up most of this space talking about the Martin’s Home Heating Firecracker 150, but the Sportsman teams aren’t the only ones seeing action this weekend. Our four other divisions are all running for points, so it’s going to be an exciting night down at Speedway 660.

Those BandoKids are unbelievable – they have no fear. The four-bangers are as competitive as anybody. The Street Stocks are old school and the Pro Stocks are faster than fast!

So tell your friends, tell your neighbours, tell everyone that Speedway 660 is the place to be this Saturday night. Bando and four-cyl heats get underway at 6:20PM and the rest of the show starts at 7. We’ll see you at the races!