The facility currently known as St. Thomas Raceway Park will become part of the Motorsports division of Spriet Investments Inc. and be operated in conjunction with its sister operation Grand Bend Motorplex. The facility will be going back to its original name St. Thomas Dragway and to bring this historic facility up to date it will undergo substantial improvements/upgrades beginning this coming spring.
“There are only 3 dedicated/operational drag racing facilities in the province and with the way regulations are going the chance of any new facilities being approved/built is extremely unlikely, so we need to invest in the ones we have “ says Paul Spriet C.O.O. of the Motorsports division.
“The plan is for the racing surface to be repaved (to the ¼ mile) as soon as the asphalt plants open in early May, and the shutdown area will be ground flat/smooth at the same time,” Paul added. “In addition the PA system will be upgraded, washrooms improved, including an overall facility cleanup. We will install new concrete guardwalls in April from just past the starting line to 100ft past the ¼ mile.”
“The existing metal guardwalls meet all insurance requirements but are not optimal in terms of racer safety so we are adding the concrete barriers to the facility.” Paul continued. “For this part of the refurbishment, we are looking for help from the community*. We have launched a help refurbish St Thomas Dragway program where for $300 (tax included) individuals or companies can purchase a section of the guardwall to be installed which will benefit the safety of all the competitors who come to the facility. In return your name or company logo (12 inch by 12 inch section) will be included in signage to be erected at the facility showing your support for the renewal of Canada’s famously old drag strip (opened operations in 1962).”
*Please contact pspriet@sprietinvestments.com if you have an interest in supporting this part of the program.
The 2020 schedule is on the current St Thomas Raceway website — and the race program will continue to be an 1/8th mile program other than the Street class and Friday night Test & Tunes which will be ¼ mile. Paul’s son — Jarret Spriet — will be coming on board to help oversee the St Thomas operation.
“One of the benefits of controlling the two operations is in working with the RCSS points program at TMP,” Spriet added. “We have been able to make all but one weekend non-competitive between the 3 series allowing racers the opportunity to run more than one series if they so choose. We are all looking forward to a very busy 2020 season.”
For more information and updates visit: www.sttracewaypark.com
RPM Magazine is a proud supporter of St. Thomas Dragway and it’s guardwall program. Show your support and contact Paul today.
