Ken’s Photos & Recap: Winter Enduro at Sydney Speedway

by Ken MacIsaac

SYDNEY, NS – Amid negative temperatures and a cold winter breeze, Sydney Speedway held their inaugural Winter Blast Enduro on Sunday afternoon.

Over 40 cars entered the event with heat races setting the lineup for the main attraction.  

Windsor N.S.’s Richard Salter made the long haul to Sydney and bested the large field to take the feature win. 

“Wayne Miller from Miller Bros. Racing was talking about the enduro and it got me thinking of putting a car on it.  It looked like it would be a lot of fun. I’d only heard about the Brass Monkey race that Scotia Speedworld used to have back in the day. I wasn’t around for that. So I put an ad on Kijiji looking for a car. There was one for sale in Clayton Park in Halifax. It was a Toyota Solara and the guy said the engine was bad.  Turned out the alternator was gone. So I bought it, rebuilt the alternator, and put a new battery in it. Everyone I talked to about the race said the same thing…get yourself good tires and make sure they’re Blizzak. So I got those too. It was such a blast. Everyone in the pits was happy. It was a great time and I can’t wait to come back.”

Antigonish County’s Dennis Nickerson finished second. 

“My car is a 2007 Chevy Malibu and I took it straight from our junkyard. When the post was made about the race my wife shared it with me, and I knew it was game on from there. I always wanted to race on snow and wanted to race in Sydney,  so this was perfect. I tried to get to Sydney last year with my Sportsman car but it didn’t work out.  The racing was fun and a little crazy at times. Turn 1 was snow-covered then switched to ice in n corner 2. I had to try and catch the bottom edge to turn the car. Turns 3 and 4 were somewhat dry but we had to be careful where it changed back to snow. I’d like to thank Kody and Greg and everyone involved for the opportunity.  Also, Kevin and Wendy Morse not only for their support but also for transporting the car to the track. Congratulations to Richard Salter and all the drivers who took part.  It was a lot of fun and I look forward to the next one.”

One of the winningest drivers at the track finished third. Glenn Cooke, from Gardiner’s Mines, who in recent years has turned his attention to the cheap enduro racing, ran up front all day.

Track owner Greg Dowe was pleased with the event.

 “The enduro was an idea we had, but Kody (Quinn) pushed the idea along and took the lead to coordinate the plan. We needed to watch the weather as we couldn’t have a snowstorm a day or two prior. We needed to plow the track and the parking areas, watch covid restrictions to get the required grouping numbers. We think it was a success.  People need to get out in the winter and everyone needs some entertainment and laughter and we think we provided that.” 

Plans are underway for another Enduro soon.