THUNDER BAY – The biggest event of the season at Thunder City Speedway is happening this weekend.
The 11th edition of the Thunder Bay Truck Centre Dirt Track Nationals gets underway on Friday afternoon, with the second and final day of racing slated for Saturday afternoon.
If needed, a rain date is scheduled for Sunday.
Track manager Chrissy Swanton-Simpson said that the weekend is a busy one, but everyone at the track is always excited to host the event.
“We were involved when it started 11 years ago at Mosquito Speedway and it’s sort of been like watching a little baby grow up over the years,” Swanton-Simpson said.
“By the sounds of it, we’re going to have quite a few visitors coming to our track over the weekend and that’s going to be awesome. We’re looking forward to showing everyone what we do here.”
Although the exact car count won’t be known until the weekend, Swanton-Simpson expected the pits to be packed for both days of competition, especially with competitors coming from Manitoba, the United States and across Northwestern Ontario.
“Our average car count on a Wednesday is about 120 cars, so we’re assuming that we’re going to have quite a few more cars coming up here,” Swanton-Simpson said.
There have been some changes to the schedule for this year’s event.
In addition to having just two days of racing instead of three, the Hornets and Street Stocks divisions are having their events spread out over the weekend.
The Super Stocks, Midwest Modified and Modified classes will have two full shows each night.
“That’s something that’s very similar with a lot of events that are done at tracks at the end of the year,” Swanton-Simpson said about this year’s format.
“As we’re still a new track, we look at ideas that are done at other tracks that have been running for 40 to 50 years. It seems to work well for those places so we’ll try and learn and grow from those other tracks and see how that works for us.”
This weekend’s races will also mark the end of the 2024 campaign at Thunder City.
Swanton-Simpson has called this year a phenomenal one in terms of the number of cars and spectators that have been at the track.
“It’s been great to watch this grow and become better and better,” Swanton-Simpson added.
Renee Kannegiesser, who works for event title sponsor Thunder Bay Truck Centre, said that the continued growth of dirt track racing in Thunder Bay has been awesome to see.
“There are so many local businesses that are supporting the drivers, the track and everything that’s involved with it,” Kannegiesser said.
“You got the high school kids that are just getting started in the Hornets and moving up to the Street Stocks and the family dynamic is truly special.
“You have families that have been involved in the sport since the old Riverview Raceways days and to see those legendary names back here at Thunder City is just wonderful.”
Friday’s racing program begins at 5 p.m.
Saturday’s competition, which will include the 50th and final edition of the Whisky Row Classic for the Street Stocks division and the annual Midwest Modified/Super Stocks showdown, starts at 4 p.m.
If Sunday’s rain date is required, the start time for the event will be posted on the track’s social media pages.