Wiscasset Raceway owner Doug White has no plans to open the track this summer, but he does intend to reveal the future of the facility in the next two or three weeks.

“I’m trying to sell the place and I’m in the middle of negotiations,” White said during a telephone interview Thursday. “I can’t talk about it now. Call me back in early April.”

For the past several months, there have been signs White would not be opening the track this summer. He purchased it nearly four years ago.

The 2011 schedule of events has not been posted on the Wiscasset Raceway website. Maine’s five other racetracks — Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Unity Raceway, Speedway 95 in Hermon and Spud Speedway in Caribou — posted their racing season schedules months ago.

Some track operators have noticed an increase in the number of cars registering to race at their tracks.

“We’ve have eight or 10 drivers from Wiscasset who have already registered,” said George Fernald, who manages Unity Raceway.

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Fernald said drivers planning to make the switch to Unity race in the Super Streets, Late Model, Wildcat and Mini-Stock divisions.

“We’ve picked up a couple of drivers, but I can’t say it is due to what may be happening at Wiscasset,” said Andy Cusack, the Beech Ridge owner, who added he doesn’t put much stock in preseason registrations.

“In our business, what signs up and what shows up usually are two different things,” he said.

Generally, the track operators expressed concern about the impending closing of Wiscasset.

“I don’t want to see any track close because I want to see everybody be able to race,” Fernald said. “The reason why I run Unity is I raced there for 21 years and it closed. It was my home.

“I’m sorry to see Wiscasset close, if that is what is going to happen, because it’s their home.”

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“For the folks who have raced there and the fans who have watched there for a long time, it’s sad,” said Bill Ryan, owner of Oxford Plains Speedway. “It’s the economic realities of rural Maine where (auto racing) has become more expensive for both the racers and the fans.”

The racetrack, located on West Alna Road, was built by Wilford Cronk of Wiscasset in 1968 and opened under its original name, Wiscasset Speedway, in 1969.

Dave “Boss Hogg” St. Clair of Liberty purchased the track in 1991 and changed its name to Wiscasset Raceway.

White bought it in 2007.

The paved, 3/8-mile track has banked corners ranging from 10 to 12 degrees, the highest-banked corners in Maine.

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

pbetit@pressherald.com

 


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