The 23rd Season: A Conversation with Max Roy
(May 17, 2016) For more than two decades Speedway 660 has provided stock car racing fans with incredible entertainment. With the 23rd season set to begin this weekend, fans can expect to be treated to another awesome summer of racing. Wade Wilson recently spoke with Speedway 660’s Max Roy about the new season.
Wade: Hey Max I hope you got lots of rest over the winter, because the 2016 racing season is about to get underway and the hard work is just beginning.
Max: Even though the racing season runs from mid-May until early September, owning and operating a race track keeps you busy most of the year. After racing ends in September we take a little breather, but then sit down and review the season and take the lessons learned and apply them going forward. Then it’s time to prepare for the awards banquet. During the off-season we also work to maintain and enhance current marketing partners as well as attract new ones. Then before you know it winter winds down, spring rolls around and it’s time to do some work around the track and get ready for the new season.
Max Roy (right) and Race Director Brent Dunphy are committed to providing the best weekly racing program in the Maritimes to the great Speedway 660 fans.
Wade: This is your fourth year as an owner in the racing business. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you look back over the past three seasons.
Max: Racing is about people and everyone is passionate about this sport. From the drivers, their race teams and sponsors to the fans and our corporate marketing partners to our staff and volunteers, everyone has one thing in common and that’s a love of racing. It’s like a big family. There are lots of opinions and there are times when some folks don’t agree with each other or some of the decisions that we make. But when someone has a mechanical issue in the pits or is battling a disease or injury, it’s amazing how everyone pulls together and supports each other. So I would have to say that all of the people involved in racing is the first thing to come to mind when I think about our sport.
Working closely with all of our corporate marketing partners is a key responsibility of Max Roy and the Speedway 660 ownership group.
Wade: Right from the very first race back in July of 1994 we’ve had pro stock racing at Speedway 660. The RE/MAX Group Four Realty Pro Stock weekly division really sets us apart from every other race track in Atlantic Canada and beyond.
Max: We sure are proud of our pro stock division race teams. They always put on a great show for our fans. Over the years the car count has varied a bit, but we’ve always been able to offer Speedway 660’s fans the top level of racing on a weekly basis. We’re really excited about the RE/MAX Group Four Realty Pro Stock division this year. We’ve got an amazing group of established racing teams and the current crop of rookies is the most we’ve ever seen come into this division at one time. That’s going to make for some fantastic racing all season long.
Lonnie Sommerville (#23) and Cassius Clark “go door to door through three and four” during last year’s Best of the Best 150. A Weekly Pro Stock Division has set Speedway 660 apart since we started racing here back in 94!
Wade: We’ve seen a lot of young drivers move up from go-karts to bandoleros to the higher divisions including pro stock. But that has emptied out the bando stable and as a result we aren’t going to see those little cars and drivers this season.
Max: We really wanted to see bandolero racing continue at 660, because it provides great entertainment for our fans, gives kids a chance to race and is a fantastic feeder system for our other divisions. If you look at our current driver roster you’ll see several former bando drivers in street stock, sportsman and pro stock. Obviously we wanted that feeder system to continue producing drivers, but we just didn’t have enough drivers register in that division to be able to race this season. But we’re hopeful, in the near future, that a new generation of drivers will come along and help us bring bando racing back to 660.
Ashton Tucker won lots of races in his little bando car in the past few years and claimed a championship last season. This weekend Ashton will be racing a pro stock car and will join several other youngsters who have graduated from bando racing to our top three divisions.
Wade: How about the future of racing at Speedway 660 and Atlantic Canada?
Max: Well the future is now and with the Riverview Ford Season Opener and Kid’s Day this weekend our immediate focus is on providing our fans with an incredible season of racing. Coming right up on the 4th of June we’ve got the Best of the Best Pro Stock 150. We expect our weekly racers to be in the running for the two Provisional starting positions for the Irving Blending & Packaging 250. But I think they’ll have some strong competition from teams from the Pro All Star Series and the Maritime Pro Stock Tour. We’ll continue to work hard all season to prepare for SpeedWeekend, but our schedule is packed with many exciting events between now and then.
Long-term, we want to continue to grow the Speedway 660 brand and attract new fans, race teams and marketing partners. We also want to continue making improvements at the track. But the most important thing is to continue giving our fans great entertainment when they come to the races and we are always anxious to introduce more folks to the exciting sport of stock car racing.
Racing is a fan friendly sport. Speedway 660 has a great atmosphere for fans and delivers awesome racing action in four exciting divisions. The 2016 season starts this weekend and runs until Labour Day in September.
Wade: Thanks for doing this Max and best of luck in 2016 and beyond.
Max: On behalf of the Foley and Roy families, I want to thank all of our drivers, their race teams and their families. They are the ones who put on the show every week and they are the ones who bring the fans out to 660. I also want to acknowledge all of our marketing partners, including those who have been a part of the racing community for many years and the new ones joining us for the first time in 2016. I want to thank our incredible staff who love the sport and put in countless hours to make it possible for us to go racing every week. And most of all, I want to thank our fans who come out each week to see the best racing in our region, if not the entire country!
