CARIBOU, Maine – Community members turned out to Spud Speedway this weekend to cheer on their favorite racers and celebrate the start of autumn.
The second annual DustBowl got off to a later start, as rain forced organizers to move Thursday fair rides and family activities to Monday. Saturday’s snowmobile grass drags also were delayed, but that did not stop people from coming out and eagerly waiting.
As they sat on the speedway bleachers before the grass drags Saturday, father and son Bruce and Connor Roy, 13, of Frenchville enjoyed french fries from one of the over 20 food vendors. They were there to watch Bruce’s brother-in-law, Scott Corriveau of Frenchville, compete.
It was the family’s second year taking part in the DustBowl, and well worth the trip, Bruce Roy said.
“We don’t see many snowmobile races, so that’s exciting,” he said. “We like everything – the food, the racing, the demolition derbies.”
Speedway co-owner Troy Haney said that several obstacles delayed the grass drags by several hours. First, paramedics scheduled to be on call showed up later after tending to an emergency.
Then, there were technical issues with the electronic lights meant to signal when racers could take off, so they relied on a volunteer to wave a flag instead.
“We went back to old-school racing and got all the races in as planned,” Haney said.
After that, the dust was flying as racers took off down the 500-foot track, including 60 feet of hard-packed clay. Racers competed in 18 classes, including two designated for children ages five to 12.
While at the speedway, families also enjoyed fair rides and games from Smokey’s Greater Shows and a Fall Fun Zone, where they could paint pumpkins or climb the hay bale pyramid.
Sunny skies brought many families to the speedway Monday, including Danika Bourgoine and her daughters Lexi, 6, and Taegan, 5, of Caswell. The girls had fun painting miniature-sized pumpkins.
“It’s nice to have fair rides back to the area,” Danika Bourgoine said.
Seven-year-old Michael Cyr of Caribou enjoyed the high-flying swing ride but said the bumper cars were his favorite.
As of Monday, Haney did not have an official tally of how many people attended throughout the weekend but that all events were well attended, including a Garth Brooks tribute concert from The Garth Guy, the demolition derby and car races.
