CHANGING OF THE GUARD? BRIGHTON SPEEDWAY FOR SALE
By Greg Calnan – OntarioOval.com – At the conclusion of a big event at any speedway, the talk usually centres around what happened on the track. That certainly wasn’t the case during Applefest Weekend at Brighton Speedway.
After the dust settled and the last checkered flag had been handed out on Saturday, September 25th, track promoter Mark Rinaldi announced that the speedway was for sale. The news was shocking to many, and has been a hot topic of conversation ever since. After 30 years at the helm of Brighton Speedway, the Rinaldi family decided to explore the possibility of moving on.
“It’s been a long time and the speedway could use some new blood,” explained Mark Rinaldi. “The track however will not be sold for any other purpose other than to remain a speedway,” he added.
Located on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, the Brighton Speedway has been home to great weekly crowds and packed stands at special events for many years. Because of the success of the track, it made the announcement even more of a surprise.
The commitment needed to operate a venue of this nature though is far beyond one night a week. It takes nearly the entire calendar year to plan and orchestrate each event on the schedule. The added equation of dealing with the wet summer weekends Ontario has been plagued with for the past three or four years makes operating a track stressful to say the least.
The decision to seek new ownership was not out of a desire by the Rinaldi family to completely back away from the sport or the track. In fact, both Mark and Angie stated their willingness to work with any potential buyers to help promote the speedway, but on a more scheduled basis.
In the wake of the announcement, a few interested parties have stepped forward and talks are said to be continuing. The encouraging note in all of this is that the track will remain in operation both in 2011 and beyond. There are no plans to sell the track to developers, and the Rinaldi family is committed to operating the track next season if a suitable buyer can’t be found.
Needless to say, eyes will be focused on any news that comes out of Brighton Speedway over the next few months. Competitors and fans alike will wait with keen interest to see who will be operating the track going forward. Regardless of the outcome, the positive in all of this is that race cars will continue to compete on the 1/3 mile clay oval for many years to come.