Only a couple weeks before Oct. 15, the odds seemed stacked against Wiscasset Race Day organizers Tony True and Dale Chadbourne.
The Wiscasset Raceway owners were bankrupt. The track was marred by months of neglect, and a major facelift was needed before any race could be staged. Not even Hurricane Irene, which caused extensive damage to the Raceway, could stop Race Day from happening, however. According to True, the event exceeded all expectations.
“It was awesome,” True said. “It was the biggest turnout we’ve seen there in a long time.”
A race had not been held at the Wiscasset Raceway since November 2010. True and Chadbourne feared that if a race was not held this year, and the Raceway was not used for an extended period of time, the Town of Wiscasset would vote to amend the noise ordinance for the area around the track, effectively banning racing at the site.
Race Day was labeled as a “non-profit event with a twist.” The event depended on sponsorship money to cover necessary expenditures, including liability insurance, a state permit to hold the race, advertising, and repairs to the raceway.
Sponsors were to be reimbursed their money relative to the amount of tickets sold at the gate. Should the ticket sales cover 100 percent of the money invested by sponsors, the profit would be split evenly among all racers.
According to Chadbourne, 2200 people purchased tickets to the day-long event. All sponsors were ultimately reimbursed for their donations. All vendors sold out.
“We weren’t expecting anything near that,” Chadbourne said.
When The Lincoln County News spoke to True a couple weeks before Race Day, he had set a goal of attracting 120 racers the event. True now says that he believed around 160 racers participated on Oct. 15. Estimates by racers at the event put the number closer to 180.
“It worked out much better than I hoped,” True said.
Chadbourne said a previous owner of the track told him that the Raceway had not seen so many guests in almost 20 years.
Race Day also appeared to have attracted potential purchasers of the property: Chadbourne reported that several perspective buyers visited the Raceway the very next day, including a NASCAR representative from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
Chadbourne said he was pretty confident the Wiscasset Raceway would find a new buyer.
Beyond the high turnout and the financial success, the excitement of the day was most felt by the racers.
Don Peavey, who assisted Dale Chadbourne’s son Adam getting Adam’s car onto the track, said he was glad to finally have the opportunity to race.
“I’m very happy,” Peavey, a mini-stock driver, said. Peavey said he wasn’t expecting to win, but that he was there “to just have fun.”
Peavey’s sentiments were echoed by Chad Binette, of Arundel, who took his son Cole, 2, to see the races. Binette, who was planning to race before his vehicle broke down in practice, said he was elated to finally see the Raceway open.
“I’m really glad they did this for us,” Binette said.