The economy is certainly putting a hurt on the auto racing industry.

Unity Raceway owner Ralph Nason curtailed racing for the 2005 season in early September that year due to the rising fuel costs and, this past April, decided not to open for the season with fuel costs being one of the primary reasons.

George Fernald Jr. has since leased it and plans to open it next month.

And Oxford Plains Speedway, Hermon’s Speedway 95, Unity Raceway and Wiscasset Raceway have all dropped the Pro Stock class over the past five years, the most expensive of all the racing divisions, although Wiscasset has resurrected the class under new owner Doug White.

But Jeff Taylor, owner of Distance Racing Products in Fairfield, said he is weathering the storm.

Taylor and his staff at Distance Racing Products build and repair race car chassis and bodies, particularly for Pro Stock and Late Model cars.

“We had a very busy winter and, last year, was the busiest year we’ve ever had. But the spring has been a little slow. Money is tight for everybody. That’s just the way it is,” said Taylor.

“But we have enough cars all over New England to keep us busy enough,” added Taylor.

He also said it is too early to tell what kind of impact the economy will have on racing in the state “because nobody has raced much yet because of the rain.”

But he expects it to survive.

“It’s really a toy business. People have their snowmobiles, boats and campers. If you’re into racing, that’s your toy. People will still race. But [economical issues] may weed out some of the newer drivers,” said Taylor. “People who have been at it a long time know it costs a lot of money anyway. They’ll survive longer because they’ve always done it.”

He said it’s possible local tracks could see an attendance increase because of escalating travel costs.

“Instead of going to Loudon [New Hampshire Motor Speedway] for two Sprint Cup races every year, they may go to local Saturday night racing half a dozen times instead and watch the Cup races on TV,” said Taylor.

He assumes the classes that will be hit the hardest are the lower ones “because they don’t get anything back [money-wise]. If you have to travel any distance at all, it’ll cost you at least $100 or $150 to just walk through the gate [to race].”

The purse money is considerably less for drivers in the lower classes, but routinely, the car counts are high because the cars aren’t that expensive and are cheaper to maintain.

“The promoters love them and all the people love them. The promoter doesn’t have to give much back and it enables [him or her] to earn enough money to pay the Late Model or Pro Stock classes. How long can they live that way? That’s the question,” said Taylor.

PASS Outlaws eliminated

Pro All-Stars Series president Tom Mayberry has ditched his Outlaws class for Pro Stock cars due to low car counts.

This was the division’s third season.

Mayberry started the class to fill a void left when Maine’s tracks and other tracks began eliminating the Pro Stock division.

Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough and Wiscasset Raceway offer the Pro Stock class.

Mayberry explained they didn’t want drivers to be forced to travel from Connecticut to the Maritimes to race their Pro Stock cars.

“But now they have places to go [to race on a weekly basis],” said Mayberry, who pointed out that several tracks in New Hampshire have Pro Stocks along with the two in Maine.

He pointed out that PASS had nine and 12 cars in its first two of eight scheduled Outlaws races and had commitments from just eight drivers for the May 31 race at All-Star Speedway (N.H.).

“We probably would have gotten two or three cars from [All-Star Speedway], but it isn’t fair to the fans unless you have 14 cars,” said Mayberry.

He said the other PASS classes – Super Late Models North and South, Modifieds and Sportsmen – are all doing well.

Busy weekend of racing set

The Memorial Day weekend will feature plenty of racing across the state.

Caribou’s Spud Speedway will open for the season at 1 p.m. Sunday with racing in five classes, including a 50-lap Sportsman feature.

Beech Ridge will have a double card with its regular Saturday night card highlighted by a 100-lap Sport Class Budweiser Spectacular feature followed by a special Sunday night Day of Destruction Series card that will include backward racing among several offbeat events. The Saturday racing will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Sunday’s card starting at 6 p.m.

Oxford Plains Speedway will have its weekly classes running on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. with a fireworks display to follow.

Speedway 95 will have its regular racing card on Sunday at 2 p.m. with a 35-lap Sport-4 series race highlighting the card.

lmahoney@bangordailynews.net

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