Del Merritt, co-owner of Hermon’s Speedway 95, said it has been a profitable year at the track.

The track will conclude its season on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. with the Wacky Wednesday entry-level divisions, half-size Winston Cup cars, and a special little enduro figure-8 feature.

“All in all, we’ve had a good year,” said Merritt. “I think Wednesday night played a big role in it. We also had a couple of PASS [Pro All-Stars Series] races and they did well for us.”

He said the Saturday night race cards had “a good field of late models, limiteds [sportsmen] and super streets,” but the support divisions weren’t as successful.

“We usually had 12-13 pro stocks, our limiteds started off strong with 16-18 but fell off to 10-12 and we had 14-16 super streets,” pointed out Merritt.

“And I think we’re on the right track building our support divisions,” added Merritt. “But any time you do two programs [Wednesday and Saturday], it is bound to affect your Saturday night races.”

The entry-level Wacky Wednesday racing is much cheaper for the drivers and fans alike and the program is shorter than the Saturday night program.

He acknowledged that “we’ve lost a lot of our support division cars to Wednesday night. In the long run, we hope it will go back the other way with the Wednesday night drivers moving on to Saturday night.”

Two of the Saturday night classes he considered “disappointments” were the mini-trucks and sport-fours.

“We had anywhere from four or five to nine mini-trucks. I really thought Americans were in love with trucks,” said Merritt. “We’re going to make a few rule changes that might make a difference next year. The worst-case scenario is we have them race with the sport-fours.”

“We owe it to the fans not to have six-car races,” added Merritt.

He said they had between 14 and 20 sport-fours, “but that’s not where I like to see us. I’d like to have 30.”

He said there isn’t that much of a difference between the sport-fours and Wednesday night little enduros, so some of the sport-four drivers went to the Wednesday night card.

Merritt said there will be some minor changes for next season, but he doesn’t envision anything major.

“We’ll let the super streets use the 350 engines instead of the 305s. It’s cheaper to build the 350 than it is the 305,” said Merritt.

Spud still for sale or lease

Ralph Nason of Unity said there is “definitely some interest” in Caribou’s Spud Speedway but nothing in the way of a contract.

Nason, who owns Spud, Unity Raceway, and Montmagny in Quebec, is asking $125,000 for the Caribou track, but he is also willing to lease it.

The track hasn’t had racing in three years, but Nason said it’s still in good shape.

“It would take a week’s worth of work and it would be ready to run,” said Nason.

He admitted that he is “totally surprised” he hasn’t been able to sell it or lease it.

“There aren’t any entrepreneurs up there. Nobody has the vision to go do it,” complained Nason.

He isn’t worried about the lengthy period of inactivity.

“It isn’t worth any less than it used to be. The longer it’s closed, the better it’s going to open,” said Nason about his 60-acre property.

He said a potential owner or lessee should run entry-level divisions to keep the expense down for the drivers and the fans.

“You don’t want exotic purses and you don’t need racing tires. If it’s inexperience, the place will be hopping,” said Nason, noting that the Caribou Lions Club is willing to sponsor events and cover the insurance, which saves ” a ton of money.”

He said Montmagny could also be sold.

“There are four or five people looking to buy it, and they all have the capability financially,” said the 63-year-old Nason.