Riverside International Speedway is set for the ’23 season finale this Saturday with a Back-to-School Spectacular event that promises affordable fun for the whole family with memorable pre-race activities and high-octane stock car racing action from three of the Maritimes top series.
For this special Back-to-School event everyone 17 & under will be admitted free to the grandstand. Fun activities will include an opportunity for kids to ride in a real racecar, a photo booth for pictures with a Bandolero race car and the new track mascot – a beaver – whose name will also be revealed on Saturday. Fans can also see some of the top finishers in last weeks Youth Singing Competition at the Eastern Nova Scotia Exhibition as they perform in the midway area pre-race. Plus, the Pit Stop Canteen will offer End of Season specials including a $2 hot dog.
The fun starts at 2, kiddies rides at 3, and racing – the last of ’23 – starts at 4.
Cars and stars of the East Coast International Pro Stock Tour (PST) will contest the Modern Pump & Metals 150, round 10 of 11 en route to the ’23 championship. Point leader Craig Slaunwhite (Terence Bay) is a two-time and defending champion and looks to pad his 49-point advantage over Jarrett Butcher (Porter’s Lake) who is hunting his first series title. Russell Smith Jr. (Lakeside) sits third overall just 18 markers behind Butcher. Nicholas Naugle (Dartmouth) and Mike Rodgers (Moncton, NB) round out the top five with Naugle trailing Smith by a mere seven points and Rodgers 16 behind Naugle. The series champion will take home a cool $15,000 of the $48,000 payout for the top 10 in final point standings.
Butcher has three wins on the season, most recently at Riverside on August 19. Slaunwhite has one win this year, also at Riverside in the prestigious IWK 250. Naugle has two wins this year, one of which came at Riverside in June. Both Smith and Rodgers are searching for their first checkered flag of the ‘23 season. The entry list also includes Danny Chisholm (Port Williams) in the #89 car as part of the Nova Racing Driver Development program. An accomplished Legends Cars driver with wins all over North America, the 18-year-old has two PST starts this year including a third-place finish in his debut; this will be his first series start at Riverside.
Austin MacDonald, part of the legendary racing MacDonald family from Pictou, will be there, too. Son of David and grandson of Canadian and Maritime Motorsport Halls of Fame Inductee Rollie MacDonald, Austin has been blazing his own trail in the racing world scoring big wins in the United States with both the New England-based Pro All Stars Series (PASS) Tour and with the North Carolina-based CARS Pro Late Model Tour.
Fans will also be excited to see Greg Proude (Springvale, PE) return to Riverside this Saturday. Proude is the 2022 IWK 250 champion along with multiple other wins and is always a contender on the high banks.
The balance of the field will be hungry for their first win at Riverside – as well as scoring valuable points in this penultimate race for 2023.
The Auto World Allstar Sportsman Series is back in action after an extended break with the NAPA/Henry’s Autopro 100 for round five of seven for the season. The point standings see a tie at the top between Brady Creamer and Dylan Dowe. Dennis Nickerson is third (-23 from second), Deven Smith fourth (-37 from third) and Ronald MacKay rounds out the top five (-7 from fourth). Only 27 markers separate sixth to 10th. Between stored up enthusiasm to get back on track and positioning in the home stretch run for the title, the on-track action is sure to be exciting.
The Dulux Paint Street Stocks finish their inaugural season Saturday and will see its champion leave with the unique Battle of the Banks wrestling-style belt. Cars are expected from the three Maritime Provinces. The street stock division made its comeback at Riverside in June after almost two decades absence. They are a fan favourite.
One driver will do double-duty on Saturday, Dennis Nickerson from nearby Marshy Hope.
ENTRY LISTS / ALL DIVISIONS
TICKETS* / PIT PASSES
Advance adult tickets & pit passes are available at www.riversidespeedway.ca or at the Riverside office in the Post Road Plaza (Antigonish, M-F, 8:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m.). Tickets will be available at the gate on Saturday starting at 2 p.m.; free tickets are available at the gate, only.
There is plenty of free spectator parking on-site. Free (unserviced) camping is also available for the weekend (Section C/D).
*Adult grandstand and pit passes; free tickets for 17 & under available at the gate (only).
HOPE TO SEE YOU SATURDAY!
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