By Jessica Jones
Start your engines for an array of motorsport events at Central Alberta Raceways this summer.
Rimbey’s raceway, a full motorsports facility, is located northeast from the town, drawing competitors and car enthusiast alike from all over Alberta and western Canada.
Hosting more than 20 events this summer, Central Alberta Raceways, built in the early 2000s, is able to hold many races of different types, such as drag races, oval races, demo derbies, mud bogs and motocross, just to name a few.
“If you know any local people, friends who are racing, come along and support them,” said Rod Schaff, Central Alberta Raceway director, marketing.
The raceway first started with a dirt oval, but now features an eight-mile paved concrete drag strip in order to hold many unique races throughout the summer.
Schaff says that Central Alberta Raceways, run in conjunction with the Rimbey Kinsmen Club, has been ran and organized by a dedicated group of volunteers from it’s infancy. He is looking forward to a busy summer of races at the motorsport park, but also excited for an unique event next summer that has never happened before at the raceway — a wedding.
“Maybe we will become a new wedding venue,” Schaff jokingly said. In all seriousness, however, a couple from Grande Prairie will be looking to take their wedding nuptials on the track and alongside fast cars. They will be racing before the wedding takes place, and after their meal of hotdogs, hamburgers, and tacos in a bag.
“When I got the call for this, I was shocked,” Scaff said. “This is the first time we will do something like this, I thought, ‘Hey, that’s unique.’”
It goes to show that the facility is family-friendly and is looking to the future. Central Alberta Raceways is currently revamping its current website, but has posted an entire list of 2019 events at www.caraceways.ca.