Staff Writer
CARIBOU— Troy Haney, the New owner of Spud Speedway since Aug. 6, remembers what it was like going to the races when he was a child. “It was standing room only, people standing in between the seats, people down there on the grass, the stands were always full,” he remembered.
Troy and Jen Haney have been the new owners of Spud Speedway in Caribou since Aug. 6.
Recognizing the potential of the speedway and the need for entertainment in Aroostook County, Haney is looking to restore Spud Speedway to its former glory and beyond.
The first thing he and his wife, Jen, have done was bring back night racing. According to Haney, racing used to take place every Saturday night and that’s what he intends to do next year.
Spud Speedway is also going to showcase various tours, including the Vintage Race Car tour and the Northeast Mini Stock tour on Sept. 13, followed by a demolition derby and Monster Truck Show on Sept 20. Special events will also include the regular racing division participants.
According to Haney, he’s received ample public support. A local business even gave him a check to increase the winners purse because they were just happy that the track was going to be kept open and that Haney is looking to continuously improve Spud Speedway.
Throughout the open house the speedway held on Sept. 5, race fans stopped Haney to say thanks or compliment him; one race fan even told him attending the open house was the first time he’d been to the track in 25 years.
Brooke Haney and Alisha Guimond, both 9, enjoyed a day at the races during the Sept. 5 Open House at Spud Speedway, chipping in to help sell popcorn.
Haney and Staff ares looking forward — working to schedule snowmobile racing, concerts, truck pulls, and even a number of renovations. Currently, the restrooms at Spud Speedway are undergoing renovations and Haney is looking to also renovate the concession area in the future and the possibility of creating a restaurant overlooking the track where race enthusiasts and snowmobilers could enjoy dinner before the race or live music and refreshments after the race.
While there are many different ways Haney is working to spruce up the track, each project is building off of another, toward one major goal: to continually improve for the benefit of the race enthusiast.
“We've got plans for the future here,” stated Haney, “building new concessions and continually improving the overall fan experience.”
“[This race track can be brought back to what it used to be], and I think it can be brought back to more than what it was through proper planning, marketing and management,” he said. “The speedway has always been just a race track, but there's so much more potential here. We have seats and a venue to house things like truck pulls and concerts.”
While the race track has historically had a good base of league racing, the one thing the track has really been missing in the past 15 years are the big cars.
“People want to go to the races, hear the noise and feel the thunder of the big race cars,” he said.
More information about Spud Speedway and upcoming events can be found by visiting www.spud-speedway.com.
