The final race day of the season at Kinross Speedpark is always a special one and Saturday will be no different.
The weekend will see the track hold its annual Memorial Invitational in honour of Randy Dewitt and Ted Brooks, an event that routinely brings out the best in competitors and fans alike.
“It’s very special when you consider that people on both sides of the border know who Randy and Ted both were,” Kinross Race Director Gerry Liscumb Jr. said. “It’s an honour to be able to hold an event in their honour and to continue to have their families blessing to have such and event.
“That’s what makes it so special,” Liscumb added. “You see the amount of people that camp and that come and race from different towns, it shows you that it has the makeup of something that’s more than racing.”
Dewitt was one of the founding members of the track while also operating an air service called Midwest Air. Brooks was a well-known local businessman and served as co-owner of the Eazy Racing team which includes five cars in the Late Model and Modified divisions.
“This weekend just exemplifies and exudes that fact that it’s a year-end show and it’s about what happens on the track, but it’s moreso what happens off the track in honouring two great individuals who had a very instrumental part in racing and in the business community on both sides of the border,” Liscumb said.
The ability of the sport to bring competitors together is something Liscumb said is not like anything he’s seen in competitive sports.
“From my experience, racing is like no other sport,” Liscumb said. “Until you’re a part of racing and a part of the community that’s into motorsports, you don’t realize it.
“Whether it’s the camping off the track or the racing on the track, everybody seems to have each others back,” he added.
Practice is set for Friday with time trials set for 1 p.m. on Saturday and racing to begin at 4 p.m. Divisions set to race at the event include modifieds, template late models, ABC stock cars and mini-stocks.