Get it? “BC Speedway Turns a Corner?” OK, corny jokes aside…on to this good news story!
Meet the new President of the Boulder City Speedway, Sonny Wahl. He’s a super nice guy, so we’re super excited to support and welcome him and the kids who love to race their Quarter Midget Flat Karts and other similar classed race cars. The track is located at 1101 Quail Drive, Boulder City, out past the Veteran’s Cemetery, just off of Buchanan Blvd. (For more info on that, you can visit their Web Site.)
The track has been open for the past few years under a previous owner. But this fall, Sonny decided he would take over the management of the track, to help things run a little better than maybe they had been in the past. He was motivated to step up, since his 5 year-old granddaughter had gotten into racing, and she really loved it!
Some of you may have attended previous events out here, and with the new management, things are changing rapidly! There are new plastic barrier walls (the previous ones were cement – Ouch!) and they’ve now cleaned up the area and have new sponsors.
Another change will be that spectators can now come for FREE! (Previously there had been a $5 charge to come and watch an event.) Now, they are doing fundraising through a 50/50 raffle that folks can choose to participate in or not. But everyone seems to enjoy it more this way.
But, let’s get back to the kids, as that’s the most important part of this! Ages of the racers run from 5 to 15 years old, with about 25 racers in all from our area. The kids love it, and so do their parents and families. Of those 25, 7-9 of them are girls and among them, 4 are champions in their various classes! #GoGirl
Sonny is an electrician by day, but this has become a complete passion project for him. He wanted to really thank Jill Lagan, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce who helped him sort out the lease with the City, along with Parks & Rec Director Roger Hall.
Sonny hopes to open a dirt track next to the cement one, and that apparently would make our little racing spot unique, as apparently no other track combines the two!
He also has dreams of someday creating a major racing event for Boulder City, saying that he thinks they could develop to handle a crowd of up to several hundred racers. Currently, they’ve had racers come from Salt Lake City, Arizona, California and even down from Washington State.
They believe this could grow into being another diverse tourist attraction here in town. But in the meantime, it’s all about the kids. It’s a sport for all to like: the kids are safe, outside, active, learning, and clearly having a blast!
They’ve got a Racing Event starting this weekend. Today, Friday, February 22nd will be practice runs from 3-7 pm. Saturday the gates open early with races getting underway from 10-3pm, roughly.
After that, the next event will be March 30th, and again you can find out more info on their web site.
