The deafening roar of stock car engines zipping around the Petty Raceway hasn’t been heard for 11 years, but the track is set to come to life once again.
MONCTON – Drivers will put the pedal to the medal once again as new owners Craig McFetridge, Brett Benoit and Wayne Smith reopen the raceway in River Glade, N.B. this Saturday.
The quarter-mile track was in terrible shape when the trio took over, but a whole lot of elbow grease has transformed it into a state-of-the-art facility.
“The place was tore up pretty good,” Smith says.
It definitely wasn’t love at first site for him, but when McFetridge and Benoit showed interest in refurbishing Petty, Smith got on board.
There was a bit of personal interest, for Smith, in the restoration: He was the last man to win a race on the track, in twin 100-lap feature races.
They expect the grandstands will be filled with about 3,000 people, but they’re aiming for 5,000 when the pro-stock tour revs up on the weekend.
“I think it just nice to have something in the Moncton area,” says competitor Shawn Tucker, of Fredericton.
“I think it will be big. I think they’ll pack the place.”
Trials are set to begin at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, and then drivers will be off and racing at 6:00 p.m.
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