When stock car racing resumes next weekend at PGARA Speedway, sipping a cup of tea behind the steering wheel won’t be on the list of things to do for drivers once the green flag drops on another race season.
But they just might be able to get away with it, considering the smooth sailing they’ll encounter now that a layer of fresh pavement that been laid down on the three-eighth-mile oval track.
Paving crews from Lafarge have been taking advantage of the sunshine and warm conditions the past three days to give the track a $350,000 facelift and it will be ready in time for the WESCAR Rolling Mix 100 season-opener on Saturday, June 11.
“It’s definitely been needed for 20 years for sure, everyone’s talked about it for a long time,” said Jamie Crawford, president of the Prince George Auto Racing Association. “It was a goal I set five years ago when I became president that I wasn’t leaving until the track was paved, so I guess 2022 is my year.”
Crawford says he has no plans to step down anytime soon and he’s encouraged by the sponsors who have stepped up to supply materials, labour and equipment to make the necessary track improvements. Before the track was paved a concrete wall had to be repoured and that was all handled by a crew from Williams Lake that donated its time on a weekend to build the concrete forms.
“The direct cost out of our pocket, by the time we’re done fixing walls and fencing and paving this year its going to be close to $350,000, but above and beyond the cost are our sponsors, they’re unreal,” said Crawford. “Twin Rivers Development, Rolling Mix Concrete, TC Electric, P.G. Auto Wrecking, The CAT Rental Store, those places have stepped up and made this all happen together. The help and the sponsors is above and beyond the actual money that we spend. Westcana Electric is doing all our lighting, it’s just things we don’t have to worry about. They’re just stepping up. This can’t happen without the sponsors.”
The three-eighths mile oval track at Aitcheson Road north of the airport opened in 1985 and the existing asphalt showed the scars of 37 years of racing and winter frost heaves. It got to the point where some race series such as big rigs and sprint cars refused to come to Prince George. The high cost of oil on the world market pushed the cost of paving to $300,000.
All told, 1,800 tonnes of asphalt delivered in 110 truckloads will be needed to pave the track. The third-wettest May on record made it difficult to find a three-day window of opportunity without rain.
Grass and weeds were poking put through cracks in the pavement and paving crews on Tuesday sprayed herbicide and filled the cracks with asphalt before the paving began on Wednesday. A one-inch layer of level course was then applied over the entire track surface to fill in any holes or grooves and paving was to be completed on Thursday with a two-inch layer of asphalt. Rain showers are forecast for the weekend, which will help the new pavement cure.
“It’s good that we’re waiting a week We’ll get it done today, and it s good that it gets to sit with some cooler weather that we’re going to be getting,” said Jason Garneau, the Lafarge operations manager in charge of the projects. “When it’s a warmer day you’ll see a lot more marking, so it’s good they’ll have a week to sit.”
Garneau said a couple of his paving crew members worked on the original paving project at PGARA Speedway in 1985 when they worked for Columbia Bitulithic. The Prince George Auto Racing Association formed in 1952 and the legacy of being part of the team that repaved the Playground of Power, as the home of stock car racing in Prince George, was not lost of the crews.
“We’re pretty excited about it, it’s kind of cool,” said Garneau. “The guys are pretty happy, it was obviously in bad shape. Hopefully this will last another 20 years for them.”
Two of the drivers bringing loads of asphalt from the company’s plant on Otway Road, Lee Trenholm and Brook O’Donnell, used to race at PGARA.
“It’s going to be a huge benefit, this is a great thing, it’s going to be so much better for the racers out here and better for the public too,” said Trenholm, 59, a former mini-stock racer, whose brother Dale and sister-in-law Jan and their kids also raced at the track.
“I’m happy to see it, it needed paving 10 years ago when I raced. It’s going to be a much nicer, smoother track and I’ll bet you see the (lap) times speed up.”
Crawford said he’s fielded inquiries from the West Coast Sprint Car series about coming to Prince George and the first big-rig race event in 18 years at PGARA is already booked for Aug. 20-21.
The club also has plans to pave the infield pit area with recycled asphalt sometime in the next few years.
