LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Speedway is canceling its Friday and Saturday races – including much-anticipated championships – because the county fairgrounds currently are housing the incident base camp for a wildland fire on Cow Mountain.
David Furia of the Lakeport Speedway management team said he received confirmation that the Lake County Fairgrounds, located on Martin Street in Lakeport, won’t be available in order for the weekend races to take place.
Cal Fire returned last week to locate its base camp for the Scotts Fire at the fairgrounds. Last month the agency also had been based there during the Wye Fire incident.
Lake County Fair Chief Executive Officer Richard Persons said Cal Fire had not given him a firm date for when it would be vacating the fairgrounds with regard to the Scotts Fire.
“The prediction this morning was that they would be here through Saturday and possibly into Sunday in some capacity,” Persons said Tuesday.
Cal Fire has estimated the Scotts Fire would be fully contained this Saturday. Incident Commander Eric Hoffman told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that Cal Fire was planning to keep the fairgrounds available to firefighters as a place to rest, since many of them have been on fire lines around the state for weeks.
“There’s enough activity that it was clear there would be no way to have a race on Friday night, and the possibility of having one on Saturday night was pretty sketchy,” said Persons.
Furia said Friday’s Bomber points race had been meant to make up for a race that was canceled on Aug. 18 during the Wye Fire.
On Saturday, the speedway had been set to host the 10th annual Marlene Baker Memorial Bomber, which Furia said brings a lot of cars to town from all over Northern California.
The $2,500 Bomber Bash purse is the largest in the state, according to Furia. The evening of racing also was set to include Bandoleros, Legends and boat races.
He said it’s the biggest race of the year. “It financially supports the track itself,” Furia said, adding, “It’s devastating for us personally.”
Person said that the fairgrounds is being used entirely by firefighting operations, with the exception of the area used by the Konocti Christian Academy.
He said that for the Wye Fire there was approximately 9,000 square feet of indoor space used in two buildings; the Scotts Fire operation is using 23,000 square feet in five buildings.
Both operations have used the entire Baldwin Pavilion, which is 25,000 square feet, Persons said. For the Scotts Fire, there also has been expanded use to include the infield of the race track and the south lot, which was used for RV camping during the Lake County Fair.
Furia, who now also runs Ukiah’s speedway, had considered moving the race there, but said in the end it didn’t pencil out financially.
That’s mostly because the Ukiah fan base isn’t as large or devoted as Lakeport’s. Furia said Lakeport’s attendance is more than double Ukiah’s. Lakeport averages between 1,000 and 1,400 attendees during the season, with July racing events seeing attendance closer to 3,000 people per night.
Persons said the fairgrounds is going to work with the speedway to try to reschedule the weekend races, but Furia didn’t think it was possible due to the potential for rain as the fall advances.
With the the weekend race cancellations, Furia said the season is over for the Bombers and for the Modifieds.
Furia said the October Classic still is set to take place Oct. 13-14, and a rock crawling show is set for Oct. 29.
Persons said this was the first time in his 16 years with the fair that races had to be canceled for emergency circumstances. In the past weather has caused race cancellations.
Persons thanked the community for its support and patience while the fair fulfills its “community emergency relief role.”
Visit the Lakeport Speedway online at www.lakeportspeedway.com .
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