Atlantic Racing News
SETTING SIGHTS ON SYDNEY, NS NEXT CHAPTER IN SYDNEY’S STOCK CAR RACING BEGINS IN JULY By Tim Terry
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FTER A TWO YEAR HIATUS, STOCK CAR RACING WILL RETURN TO NOVA S C O T I A’ S C A P E BRETON ISLAND IN 2019. As was the case about five years before, social media was ablaze in January with the rumor mill churning that the quarter mile oval track on Grand Lake Road in Sydney had been sold once again. Since opening in 1976, the facility has gone through several reincarnations and ownership groups. This time, it was announced that Greg Dowe, a local Nova Scotian businessman and race fan, would be trying his hand at track ownership. Dowe purchased the oval from Bill
Vasil, who operated the track for three seasons from 2014 to 2016. Vasil also operates the NAPA Sportsman Series, which promotes Late Model Sportsman division racing at Riverside Speedway outside of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The two had began talks in early 2018 before the deal finally closed in the opening month of this year. When it comes to stock car racing, Dowe has done about everything except for steering the ship at a race track. Dowe has driven race cars, he owns Bandolero and Legend cars for his daughter Brooke and son Dylan and has sponsored the sport through his company, PPM Inc. His business keeps him on his toes, but his love for racing and the opportunity to revive racing in Cape Breton was strong enough to pull the trigger on purchasing the oval. Since the announcement of the acquisition on January 16th of this year, Dowe has seen a steady stream of messages
from those wanting to congratulate him on purchasing the facility, to those willing to help out at the speedway, those who wanted to enter cars, advertisers wanting to put themselves in front of the dedicated motorsports community to individuals wanting to give advice and suggestions on what they want to see. Liken it to a driver getting introduced to a crowd before a race, if the fans are making noise, it is a positive because they are reacting to what was announced. With the purchase of a speedway that has set silent since the end of October 2016, there is plenty to do to get the facility up to racing condition. Most of the buildings and structures were still solid, except for the officials tower that needed some new boards and the grandstands that will need new lumber. The grass needed cut and some of the trees that had overgrown needed to be trimmed, as would be the case with any property that hadn’t been maintained in over two
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