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name change?". Chris quickly responded "Some of the people that have been here since day one needed a complete explanation to understand the Track's name change from one that has been loved and supported. Afterwards they understood and support us in this endeavour. The track has been
here for 15 years, with us operating it for the past 12 of them. We felt we had a great racing product but needed to change some things. We have great crews, officials and drivers that work hard but what we were lacking was on the entertainment side for the family that is looking to be entertained."
Chris continued "So we got a mascot "Speedway Moose", a second announcer that will be going through the stands engaging the fans in questions, games, jokes and giveaways. We got a cannon to throw T-shirts up into the stands and a few extras like that ..... a lot of "neat" stuff.
"With this improved package, now we have to get the message out to those who don't normally attend the races. Those are the families that are looking for entertainment. Our name was strong in the racing community but it was difficult to market because of its length. The way the logo was laid out, "Speedway was the smallest word on the logo. We need people to see the word "Speedway". People would look at our display at the mall or elsewhere and say "NB what?" It took us 12 years to realize that this was a problem" Chris stated.
" We decided that "Speedway" should be the first thing you see. We tried to keep the "New Brunswick International" but it just didn't flow. With the track already very successful, we decided to change the name totally, making it easier to read and market. The message will be easier to get out and the experience aspect will become clearer."
Johnston elaborated "Another thing we're looking at is a playground where the kids will be safe and the parents can watch the racing. This is not a "baby-sitting" service, it's just entertainment for the kids."
As to the new selected name, Chris explained "660 ... As we decided it necessary, "Speedway" had to be the first thing you saw. What came next we wanted to be short and simple. Since we were on route 660, maybe that was the hitch. We used the NS route sign symbol of a shield as the NB one was a rectangle. The designer was able to tie in the Canadian flag. The name was available to register as a company name and it put "Speedway" out front.
"Last year we moved the start time from 7pm to 6pm and we were very concerned at first. For this reason we are adding different options for meals like spaghetti and chili or a "meal of the week". The racers and pit crews will also enjoy it." Chris said.
Chris then went on to say " If we're not careful, we're going to lose a whole generation of young people. Once kids become teenagers, parents can no longer bring them to the races if they're not interested. We have a Go-Kart club here and some have moved on to Stock cars. Young racers will attract their friends to come and we are trying to gear up some stuff with the "Shop" classes in the high school, building street stocks or hobby stocks or maybe something like "tuner" cars. This will bring them and their friends to the track as it would be considered "COOL".
The racing program will stay the same ..... the difference will be in the down time. We need entertainment between races and yellow flag cautions. One thing we're trying this year is a "Faster Pastor" race with clergy from the area and already we have them from as far away as PEI entering the race. It's like a "media" race .... it's going over very well. We have between 8 and 12 entries so far. During the yellow flags, there will also be entertainment, which will cease as soon as the green flag drops. We still want to finish the show around 9pm most nights to get the families safely on the road."
Chris concluded "Many have asked us to pave the pits. We haven't been able to do it in 12 years and without making changes, we never will but hopefully these changes will afford us the opportunity to get this done as well."
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