PETERBOROUGH, ON (May 27, 2022)- After having the word ‘pivot’ as part of their vocabulary for last couple of years, officials at Peterborough Speedway were once again forced to make a last minute change to the posted schedule.
On what had been lined-up as this year’s first night of racing, a fierce storm – with high winds and driving rain – blew in, necessitating a shift to Saturday, May 28th for the venue’s 2022 Pure Country 105 Season Opener.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a storm like that before,” track owner/promoter J.P. Josiasse explained. “The sky got dark and then the wind picked-up. After that, all we could do was watch things develop and wonder when it was going to stop and how much damage there would be.”
Josiasse says once things settled-down, he and a few members of the track promotional team took a walk around the property and tried to make some mental notes on the scope of the destruction. Right off the bat, the call to postpone the night’s racing activity was the first decision to be made.
Next, it was time to start planning the site clean-up and look at options for when the 2022 schedule could get rolling.
“Even with the amount of damage that the storm caused, we have to look at things in a positive light,” Josiasse offered. “With free grandstand admission, opening night is always one of the most popular events on our schedule. We were about an hour away from opening the spectator gates and the place would have been filled with fans. We’re very fortunate that no one was injured.”
Luckily, the weather since the storm has been relatively calm. That has allowed a team of staff and volunteers to work on cleaning-up the grounds and making some necessary repairs that will lead to the reopening. The Saturday, May 28th show will feature free spectator admission and racing with a 50 lap main event for the Jiffy Lube Mini Stocks, plus the hometown Battlefield Equipment Rental Bone Stock, Trent Lakes Complete Plumbing Renegade Truck and KOD Disposal Super Stock divisions. Also on the calendar will be the season opener for the GEN-3 Electrical Ontario Modifieds Racing Series and the debut of the Junior Late Model class. Pit gates will open at 1:30, with the spectator grandstands unlocked at 3:00. Racing starts at 5:00.
Be sure to visit www.peterboroughspeedway.com or follow the track’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social media platforms for the latest news and information on the 2022 season at Canada’s Toughest 1/3-Mile Oval.
By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media
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