The 2015 Irving Blending & Packaging SpeedWeekend will be remembered as one of the best in the history of the event. Our sport is weather dependent and the weather was phenomenal on SpeedWeekend and the racing was pretty phenomenal too! 

 What a Weekend!

 

Folks, who roll into the Geary Woods every Labour Day Weekend for the biggest racing event in our region, tell me they are impressed with how organized and prepared Speedway 660 is for SpeedWeekend. But that doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a lot of hard work, from the ownership group to a volunteer who might be asked to cut some grass the day before SpeedWeekend begins.Everybody was busy on SpeedWeekend. There were lots of things to do leading up to the weekend and it got a lot busier, especially for the Ladies in the ticket office, once folks started arriving for the races.

And there’s a lot of last minute things to do. Wanda Campbell, Speedway 660’s Office Manager, has a “To Do List” a mile long and somehow it all gets checked off  in time for SpeedWeekend. So thanks to all of the folks, particularly those who do a thousand little things behind the scenes, for making this year’s event a smashing success.Everybody knows Wanda. She spent almost the entire SpeedWeekend in the office serving race fans. Her buddy Jeff was a real trooper too, he stayed at Wanda’s side the entire time! 

Friday night was incredible. I don’t think you’ll find a better kick off to a racing event than the Harvey Farms Family Corn Boil & Infield Party. Everyone raves about it and it just gets bigger and better every year. The bonfire, Tristan Horncastle concert, corn-on-the-cob and the opportunity to hang out with race fans is unique. And did I mention the whole thing is free?The Friday night infield party has become a huge part of SpeedWeekend. There was an incredible crowd to take in the Tristan Horncastle concert. Now that’s a great way to kick off our region’s biggest racing event.

When it comes to racing, SpeedWeekend is the best. The Saturday show-stopper is the Irving I24 Sportsman 250. The energy builds all day Saturday and you can feel the electricity in the air when we get close to race time. Dave O’Blenis did win the Sportsman race for the third year in a row, but the way he did it made the race pretty exciting.

O’Blenis started up front but couldn’t get around Lonnie Sommerville for the lead. The 48 started backing up a bit and Dave’s daughter Alexandra blew by her Dad. After a pit stop to adjust his car, O’Blenis started at the tail end of the 30 car field and methodically worked his way back toward the front, took the lead and the victory!Even if you were cheering for other drivers, you’ve got to admit the way Dave O’Blenis  won the Irving I24 Sportsman 150 was pretty amazing.

Sunday’s Irving Blending & Packaging Pro Stock 250 was equally exciting. Cassius Clark had the dominate car, but he had to stave off strong challenges from DJ Shaw, Austin Theriault, Craig Slaunwhite and Johnny Clark. It was the second 250 win for Cassius who also crossed the finish line first in 2012.

We had lots of Contingency Awards in 2015 and all 250 laps of the big race were sold out before SpeedWeekend arrived thanks to a massive effort by Wanda and her helpers! There were three one thousand dollar laps in the Pro Stock race and lap money totalled more than $15 thousand!For the second time in four years Cassius Clark won the Irving Blending & Packaging 250. This time he set a record with winnings of more than $30,000.00!

The undercard for SpeedWeekend was pretty awesome too. From the Bandos to the Atlantic Modified Tour and the Sharp Shooters to Street Stocks and let’s not forget the ENDUROs. All of these brands of racing were great and we want to thank all of the drivers, their race teams, friends, families and sponsors for doing their part to make SpeedWeekend a rip-roaring success.Fans were treated to excellent racing all weekend long. The DMR Auto Sales & Service Street Stocks put on a great show during their 50 lap feature on Sunday afternoon.

Irving Blending & Packaging has been involved in racing in our region for years and they have been the title sponsor for the Saturday night Sportsman race at SpeedWeekend for some time. But this year, this world-class New Brunswick based company became the number one marketing partner presenting fans with the entire weekend.Irving Blending & Packaging invited a lot of customers, business associates  and their families to SpeedWeekend. Everyone enjoyed the races and the hospitality.

The folks from Irving B&P were incredible to work with and everyone in the racing community is extremely happy that they are helping Speedway 660 grow and enhance the biggest racing event in Atlantic Canada. Hopefully this will be a long-term partnership that will continue to make SpeedWeekend a “must-attend” event on the Canadian and northeastern North America short-track calendar.The pre-race, on-track autograph sessions on Saturday and Sunday were a huge hit with fans who got to meet their favourite Sportsman and Pro Stock drivers.

We started off this “Weekly” with words about Speedway 660’s volunteers and staff. On Monday afternoon, when the ENDURO wrapped up, I saw a lot of weary people. They worked hard and it was a long weekend with long hours. But everyone was happy, because the 2015 Irving Blending & Packaging SpeedWeekend was a success. Not only that, the future is bright and the time and effort everyone put into this SpeedWeekend will build the legacy and history of the event and raise the bar for future SpeedWeekends. Shawna and Max Roy worked hard to make Irving Blending & Packaging SpeedWeekend a success. The Roy’s and their Speedway 660 co-owners, Debbie and Gary Foley, appreciate the dedicated volunteers and staff who helped make SpeedWeekend a great event. 

That’s it for this week. Come on back to the web site because we’re working on one more “Weekly” to look back at some of the highlights of Speedway 660’s 2015 season.

We’ll see you at the races! (next May)