Spud Speedway in Caribou will open for racing at 1 p.m. July 15 after a practice scheduled for the previous day.

Newburgh’s Greg Veinote, who with his wife Becky recently purchased the track from Ralph and Nancy Nason of Unity, announced the opening date Wednesday.

Financial aspects of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but the last price listed was $75,000 in 2003.

There hasn’t been racing at the 48-acre facility since 2000, and Veinote and several volunteers have been preparing it for the opening.

“It’s pretty exciting. It has taken us a little extra time to get it ready. Once we started working on the grandstand, we realized there is a lot more work than we had planned on,” said Veinote. “We stripped everything down to the bare metal. We want to do it right.”

Veinote said they are working on the planking and had to remove a lot of brush from under the grandstand.

“I don’t care if I ever see another piece of brush in my life,” quipped Veinote, who added he will spend $15,000 to $20,000 to upgrade the facility.

The Veinotes are also rebuilding the track announcer’s tower/judge’s booth and are painting the facility. They have repaired the fencing and added new fencing, and Veinote has purchased advertising to promote the re-opening.

The electrical contractors have restored power to the track.

Veinote said work will continue on the facility until the opening.

“We’re lining up a massive crew to work on it this Saturday and Sunday,” said Veinote.

The track will undergo a series of inspections beginning next week, according to Veinote.

Veinote said the response to the pending opening has been terrific, and Coca-Cola and the Caribou Lions Club already have come on board as a primary sponsor.

Spud Speedway will host auto racing every other Sunday with moto-cross, motorcycles, and ATVs on a dirt track held on the other weekends.

There will be three classes of autos: Young Guns for youngsters ages 12-16 driving four-cylinder cars, Northern Lights for adults driving four-cylinder cars with 101-inch wheelbases or less, and Street Stocks for V-6 and V-8 cars.

Veinote also plans to have one race this summer involving vintage cars from the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, and there will be pickup truck races Aug. 18-19.

Racing will conclude in mid-September and Veinote hopes to have snowmobile races this winter.

There will be concession trailers this year, he said.

Veinote said he also intends to bring former Nextel Cup driver Ricky Craven – a fellow Newburgh native and Hampden Academy graduate – to Spud Speedway for a special night. He and Craven are longtime friends.