Back on track: Tisdale Speedway's 17th season begins

The 17th racing season at the Tisdale Speedway has begun – despite the best efforts of vandals and the weather.

“This season’s going to be dirty – in a good way,” said Lloyd Muntain, who’ll be the announcer at the races this season. “There’s going to be more competitive cars coming in from Yorkton, Swan River, Outlook and there’s going to be some great door handle-to-door handle racing.”

Muntain added there were a few fender benders at June 11’s races  – and he expects more as the season unfolds.

Yet because of the vandalism at the track – the destruction the vandals wreaked included windows, toilets and the sound system –  the beginning of the season was almost delayed, said Casey Randall, the speedway’s president.

“When we first found out about it, checked it all out, we didn’t think we’d be able to get everything in order,” he said. “Luckily, we have a lot of good members and a lot of people put in a lot of extra hours. There’s a few nights we were out until 11 o’clock at night, just fixing stuff.”

Businesses from all over the Northeast donated materials so that the speedway could be fixed up and operate again.

The weather was a bit more successful in delaying the race. Because of the rain, it had to be bumped from June 10 to the next day.

Dustin Randall won the street category with 57 points, and Ken Wicks won the hobby category with 60 points.

The speedway will have two races in July, in the second and fourth weekends.

“In August, we’ll have our first night race. We’ll have light towers; Tisdale Rentals is supplying us with the light towers,” Casey Randall said. “We’ve never done it before because it’s hard to get the lighting in.”

September will see the demolition derby, followed by the invitational races at the end of the month.

Also new to this season, compared to the last few seasons, is Muntain as the race announcer.

“He’s always been a big supporter and he’s a great announcer, so we’re very happy to have him announcing for us,” Randall said.

Muntain started volunteering at the track in 2010. He got bitten with the race bug, buying a car for himself and racing competitively for two years.

“This is something I’ve wanted to be involved with since I was 12 years old,” he said. “If it’s not helping a race team in the pits, changing tires, working on the car and that, I’ll find another way.”

The announcer also helps out with races in Saskatoon.

Both Muntain and Randall said that in the end, the races are about having fun.

“Our goal is to keep racing in a safe, controlled place and encourage it to stay off the street. Just bring the sport for everyone to enjoy,” Randall said.

Results - Hobby

Results - Street