Well, well, well, ... the new owners of Cayuga Speedway, - oops that is Cayuga International Speedway now - have gone and done it. They are building it in hopes they will come. What they are building is an entirely new race track similar to Richmond (another cookie cutter D-shaped oval), and who they are hoping for is NASCAR.
Don't get me wrong, if NASCAR is going to make a stab at the Canadian market then Cayuga is a good place be. If you have read some of my other rants regarding NASCAR in Canada you will know that I said the best place for a track would be in Southern Ontario (the heaviest concentration of population in all of Canada and close to two major U.S. cities; Buffalo, and Detroit) near a place called Guelph, well Cayuga is about an hour and half Southwest of Guelph. I rest my case. I just hope that it isn't a case of "if we build it they will come" syndrome like Kentucky. The new track will most likely get a Busch race date as well as a truck date, but depending on who you ask there are already too many Cup dates on the schedule and no one is about ready to get rid of one either. I'm almost positive though that if there is strong enough support for these two series it would be just a matter of time before you would see a cup race there.
If you go to http://diecast-dude.com and check out the Dude's latest musings you will see an artist's concept drawing of the new facility and a link to a Canadian Racing Magazine Blog with another concept drawing. I had problems downloading them, that is why I don't have them here. Instead, I have a picture of the soon to be not-so current configuration of the existing 5/8 oval there.
Completion of the new facility will be done, hopefully, for the 2008 racing season. Just in time for NASCAR to make its decision about whether or not to stay in Canada after the Busch race in Montreal. The timing for all of this seems to be too coincidental - NASCAR announces plans for a race in Canada, and then it is announced that Cayuga is going to become NASCAR-like in its facilities. Hmmm .... some back room dealing going on here? I don't know, but it is such a coincidence isn't it? What do I care though, if NASCAR comes to the new Cayuga Speedway, (oops forgot the International part, I'll get used to it I'm sure) I'll be there. And I won't even care if it is another cookie cutter D-shaped track either because NASCAR is in Canada baby, and I'm goin' to see me some good racin' at a state of the art facility. Too bad it won't be a Cup race right away, but I'm patient and I will offer my support to the other series in the mean time. I must adimit, I lament the passing of the old track, I've had some good times there, but I cheer for the success of the new facility.