Popular Barrie Speedway Attracts New Ownership
Barrie ON, September 7th, 2007
Barrie Speedway, a 1/3 Mile, paved tri-oval located north of Toronto between Barrie and Orillia, has been sold to a new ownership group.
Barrie Speedway has been growing in popularity. The racetrack has been running regular Saturday night racing for over 40 years and has quite a history of popular drivers and loyal fans. With the growth the track has experienced in the last few years, including the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series events, there has been growing interest in the facility.
“It was time for us”, states previous owner and track President, Brad Moran. “My partner, Steve St. Onge and I, after being approached by the new owners, decided that maybe it was time to bring some new energy and experience to the track. I think we’ve done a pretty good job with it. I’ve been working at it for 7 years now and I’m pretty proud of what we’ve created here. We believe in change and we know the track is going to be in pretty good hands with the new owners”, he added.
“As a racer, I wanted to make sure the track went into the hands of a management team that will remain committed to providing a great facility from the drivers perspective. Not just the quality of the facility, but of the racing organization as well. We also know it’s important to provide cost effective programs that make racing affordable for new drivers to get into. After spending time getting to know the new ownership team, they understand that the real products are the cars and the drivers and crews behind them. They also know business, and racing is a business. I think it’s a great step forward for the Speedway”, stated Steve St. Onge.
The new owners are three experienced businessmen from Barrie and Orillia: Dave Simpson, Jim Payetta and Mark Hayter. “We’re very excited about this deal”, says Jim Payetta, the spokesman for the group. “It was one of those things that came together quite quickly. Dave, Mark and I have all run successful businesses and we see opportunity with the Speedway. With the NASCAR Canadian Series and the weekly NASCAR Whelen Series, we’ve got a solid foundation on which to build. There’s been lots of rumors floating around and we wanted to let everyone know who we are and what our plans are. We do have plans, which we will share over time, but we want to make sure people don’t expect things to happen too fast. We’re just getting our feet wet. Right now it’s business as usual”, said Payetta. “We will be making some improvements right away, but we’ll be taking things one step at a time”, he added.
The track has undergone many improvements in the last few years, including being re-built as a 1/3 mile tri-oval from a 1/4 mile oval. Barrie Speedway has a solid and loyal fan base, which was an important consideration for the new owners. “We visited a number of racetracks that ran regular Saturday night programs and we were most impressed with Barrie. The fans and drivers are great and there is a real history to the place. This track belongs to the fans, the drivers and their crews. We view our role as being the next custodians of the Speedway and to do what we can to help Barrie Speedway realize it’s potential”, stated Jim Payetta.
An official ‘handing over the keys’ ceremony will take place on Saturday September 8th when the NASCAR Canadian Series visits Barrie Speedway for the ATTO 300.
For more information contact:
Jim Payetta
705-791-6665
jimp@barriespeedway.com
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