Track owner Doug White’s experiment with Sunday racing starts this weekend at Wiscasset Raceway.

White is making the switch from Saturday nights to Sunday afternoons this season in hopes of luring more young fans to the three-eighths mile track.

“I’m trying to get the next generation of race fans to come to the race track,” he said.

Toward that end, opening day at Wiscasset Raceway will be Student Day. Admission is free for all students. However, children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

White hopes the change also will help the raceway compete with Maine’s other tracks.

“I just wanted to try something different,” he said. “All the other tracks run Saturday nights, and I’m just trying to provide an alternative for the fans.”

The move also could provide another option for the drivers.

“I try to keep a couple of my divisions in line with some of the divisions at the other tracks,” White said. “If an event gets rained out at another track on a Saturday night, maybe the drivers can haul their cars here Sunday.”

Last Sunday, about 35 cars showed up for an open practice session at the high-banked oval.

“It was a mixture of cars from every division,” White said. “It made me feel pretty good that we had cars from every division.”

The track will run weekly feature races for Late Models, Super Streets, Street Stocks, Outlaws and Mini-Stocks as well as new Enduro divisions.

White is excited about the Enduros, an introductory division for four-and six-cylinder cars and minivans.

“I wanted to start an introductory division that is affordable to run,” he said. “These cars are right off the street.”

White said cars and vans can be set up to race in the new division for under $1,000.

“You take the interiors out of them. You take the lights off them. The glass. Anything that can be broken on the track, and you add the safety equipment,” he said. “Most of them are high mileage. The majority of them are automatics. It’s what you drive on the street.”

White has been trying to get the track on firmer financial footing ever since he purchased it three years ago from Dave “Boss Hog” St. Clair and his wife, Sandra.

“I had to try to think out of the box,” he said. “What I saw last season wasn’t working.”

Post time is 2 p.m. Sunday.

 

OPENING NIGHT for weekly racing at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway still is a weekend away, but a few of the regulars from the Scarborough track will haul their cars to North Woodstock, N.H., Saturday to run in PASS North’s 150-lap race for Super Late Models at White Mountain Motorsports Park.

Drivers from the Ridge who have already entered PASS North’s second event of the season include Aaron Ricker of Tamworth, N.H., Donnie Whitten of Wells and Trevor Sanborn of East Parsonsfield.

Other Maine-based drivers expected to run in the race include reigning PASS North champion Johnny Clark of Hallowell, four-time PASS North champion Ben Rowe of Turner, Kelly Moore of Scarborough, Richie Dearborn of Hollis, Scott Chubbuck of Dresden and 2009 ACT Rookie of the Year Joey Doiron of Berwick.

 

THE CURTAIN goes up Saturday night on the weekly Championship Series and Acceleration Series at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford.

The schedule calls for racing in the Ladies, Outlaw, Mini-Stock, Strictly Stock and Late Model divisions.

The front gate opens at 5:30 p.m. Racing starts at 6:30 p.m. with qualifying heats in the mini-stocks.

 

REIGNING CHAMPION Frank Moulton of Burnham opened his title defense by winning the 40-lap Late Model feature in the season-opening event at Unity Raceway last Sunday.

 

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com