THUNDER BAY -- Before Saturday it had been 11 years since the revving of a race car engine could be heard on a local track.
If the first day of the Thunder Bay Dirt Track Invitational is any indication, it was sorely missed.
Drivers took the green flag on Nolalu’s Mosquito Speedway dirt track Saturday for the first racing in the city in more than a decade, with thousands of fans filling the bleachers and standing area outside the track.
For the Simpson family, who was involved with resurrecting dirt track racing, seeing the community embrace the event made it worth all the work.
“It’s a pretty amazing turnout for something that hasn’t been around for 11 years,” promoter and driver Rick Simpson said.
The support of the event could be seen by anybody attempting to get to the track once races started at 3 p.m., as overflow parking extended at least a kilometre from the gates.
It’s a good problem to have, organizers said.
There were four different classes of cars taking the track on Saturday with fields of super stocks, Midwest mods, street stocks and ice racing cars.
The event program lists 69 entries with most from Thunder Bay but there were also a host from Minnesota, Manitoba and the surrounding Northwestern Ontario area.
For homegrown drivers, such as 18-year-old David Simpson, this weekend is a rare opportunity to race for the checkered flag in front of family and friends.
He played a pivotal role in approaching the Hari family, who own the track, and convincing them to bring back racing.
“It feels pretty good for my family and everyone who has helped out,” he said. “This is a bigger crowd than what we get in the (United States).”
Having the local track convinced a few new faces to take their first laps around a dirt oval.
Mike Jacques was making his dirt track debut and it didn’t go quite as smoothly as he had hoped.
“It’s been awesome. One of the coolest feelings ever,” Jacques said. “You have to know how and when to give it throttle and if you give it too much you’ll spin out like I did.
Either way, it was a valuable opportunity for him to get seat time and get an introduction to running on the quarter-mile.
Getting that experience will enable him to enter more races in the future.
“We’re planning on going to the (United States) and racing but I need seat time just to learn. It’s a good experience,” he said.
The racers will hit the track again Sunday with the grandstands scheduled to open at 1 p.m. with hot laps beginning at 2:15 p.m. before races start at 3 p.m.
