Racers, volunteers working to revive Clearwater's dirt racetrack

Photo: Dale Calder

From left to right: Denis Smith, Dale Calder and Jake Mills.

Right now, there are two active dirt racetracks in B.C.

Next year, there will be three.

The Merritt Stock Car Association (which runs one of the two current dirt tracks) will begin working on reclaiming the Clearwater Speedway from nature this weekend.

Association president Dale Calder says they plan to hold a couple of weekends of classic dirt track races in 2021 and do even more in the future.

The Clearwater track has been closed for around 15 years, Calder tells Castanet, following hard times. The racers remained in the town, she says.

Interest in reopening the track ramped up recently, thanks to a young group of racers.

"We’ve got a couple of young gentleman (from Clearwater) who’ve been racing since they were 15 (in Merritt)," Calder explains.

Whenever they wanted to race, they (and their families) had to travel the 2.5 hours between towns.

"When they started winning championships in Merritt, a lot of talk started in Clearwater about reopening that track."

Now in their late teens and early 20s, Kayden Clark, Brant Settle and Gregory Sorenson have been a driving force behind plans to reopen the Clearwater track.

In addition, the current owner of the property was easy to convince, Calder says. After the association made a single call to Brian Feir, he was on board. He even recalled his time at the track as a kid.

Now, they've received access rights and have lined up insurance to cover the Clearwater Speedway, meaning it's just a matter of preparing the site for racing. Since it's a dirt track, it's an easier process than pavement.

Once the track is prepared, Calder expects to host a couple of race weekends, with racing during the day, onsite camping and evening activities.

"We’ll be holding potluck dinners and get-togethers around the fire pit," she says.

If successful, she wants to see more dirt tracks open. One near Kamloops is three-quarters finished, Calder notes, but when hard times hit it was left as is.

She'd like to see it revived and a racing series created for the Interior. Since there are just two tracks in the province (the other is in Pemberton), drivers wanting to try out dirt tracks come from all over. She says dirt track racing is a more driver-based type of racing, compared to pavement.

"The track changes all the time; every lap, there’s a different rut or hole," she explains.

That means straight power is less important and a driver's ability to adapt is essential. It also means it costs less to build a car and participate.

"There’s no natural high like it," Calder says.

Those interested in helping with the track or just learning more are invited up to the Clearwater Speedway this weekend. Members of the association and volunteers helping to clear and prepare the track will be on hand around noon on Friday and will work through Saturday (and maybe Sunday), Calder says. Once on site, the association would like people to sign a waiver, since it's an active work site.

Calder will also have rule books and information about how to build a racecar for a dirt track.

For more information, Calder can be reached at 250-682-4872 or [email protected]. The Clearwater speedway Facebook group is also active.