In most Canadian communities, the idea of hosting an outdoor racing event in late October would seem far-fetched.
But the Penticton Speedway recently made sure the show would go on — in true Okanagan fashion.
On a cool October day with Halloween top of mind, the Speedway closed out its 2023 race season on Saturday, Oct. 28, by recording its highest attendance in six months.
The Speedway Spooktacular event returned to the track after not proceeding in 2022 due to staffing shortages.
Those cancellations from 12 months ago seemed like a distant memory last weekend, as several hundred race fans visited the venue to take part in all the Halloween-themed festivities while watching the hit-to-pass championship race and always thrilling pumpkin-smash extraordinaire.
“Our team decided it was important because we know the community really wanted to see it all happen,” said Jennifer Metituk, events and marketing coordinator at the speedway.
As the speedway’s Halloween event comes to a close, so does its race season every year.
Metituk says that most tracks in Canada would be lucky to even host events through September, amid yearly concerns over weather.
Not in Penticton, though.
“Our season is extremely long compared to other places,” Metituk said. “We end our regular-season racing at the end of September, so we get a lot of diehard racers from all over who come to take part and that’s the advantage we have with being in the Okanagan.”
Events that returned to the track this season after multi-year hiatuses included a drifting competition on Canada Day weekend. That was joined by the addition of Legends, a class of racing Metituk says was a fan favourite.
“There were also some nuances with the hit-to-pass that we never did before and we’ll continue to evolve what we’re doing moving forward.”
The speedway recorded its largest attendance on Saturday since it hosted the Malicious Monster Truck Tour in May, Metituk said.
“Everyone had fun…the drivers, staff, fans and that goes into everything that we’re trying to achieve,” she added.
“I think we’re going to see a lot more high-level racing next season and I think people are pretty excited about what we’re going to accomplish over the next few years.”
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