Opening night at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park did not go according to plan for promoters Mike Parillo and Ray Sefrin.
The track came up dusty and rough in spots and the track lights shorted out just before the start of the 602 crate modified feature.
“Every track seemed to have opening-night glitches,” Parillo said. “Passes were given to the people in the grandstand on opening night because we were not proud of the show we gave them with it being dusty and all the other problems we had. I believe they are good for the June 2 show.”
Since then The Ridge management has been hard at work trying to correct the situation.
In the days after the opener, Reclamation was brought in to churn up the racing surface.
“Basically because we put fresh clay down we thought it would be best to use Reclamation to mix the old and new clay. The machine also brings the rocks to the top and we went back and forth getting the rocks out. We wanted to do it before the season but the track and grounds were too wet to get on it.”
Former Fonda Speedway promoter Ric Lucia used Reclamation on the racing surface at the Track of Champions and it resulted in a smoother, racier, multi-groove track.
Last week’s rainouts at Fonda and the Ridge may have been a double-edged sword.
Yes, the fans, drivers and promoters all wanted to race, but it also gave the tracks a chance to continue getting the bugs out.
“We cancelled last week because the track and grounds were too soft,” Parillo said. “We probably could have tried to get it in but with the work we did, we thought it would be better to wait and get it right instead of rushing.”
Fonda was scheduled to hold a mid-week practice session Tuesday but the management team of Pete and Matt Demitraszek opted to cancel after the wet weather on Monday to give the track an extra day to dry out.
“With all the rain we have received since Saturday the grounds and Speedway are too wet to open for practice,” the Demitraszek’s said in a press release. “We instead plan to work on the grounds to be ready to open our gates on Saturday.”
“The lights are all good now,” Parillo said. “Thing was we worked for two days under the lights and put the generator through a full cycle and had no problems. We think what happened was the wind storm the night before loosened a bolt that allowed a terminal to rest against one of the hoods. It has been fixed and we are all good. I just got off the track with our new roller.
The Reclamation seems to have smoothed out the surface and it looks like it could be multi grooves out there.”
The King of Dirt Sportsman race that was scheduled for last Sunday at Glen Ridge has not been rescheduled as of yet.
“Hazer [Series promoter Rob Hayes] wants to get the race at Fonda [May 12] in first then go from there to start looking for a new date.”
Glen Ridge is scheduled to host a regular show this Sunday along with double features for the 602 crate modifieds and Fonda Speedway will also host a regular race card.
Both tracks will switch to their regular starting times with Fonda dropping the green flag at 7 p.m. on Saturday and Glen Ridge at 6 p.m. Sunday.
