Major Improvements Underway At The Outlaw Speedway

Story By: KENNY SHUPP / OUTLAW SPEEDWAY – DUNDEE, NY – Since taking ownership of the Outlaw Speedway four years ago, track owner Tyler Siri continues to make much needed improvements at the Yates County New York speedway.

“When I purchased the facility I knew that there were certain areas that would have to be addressed. In addition to general cleanup, paint and polish, freshening up the tracks concession areas and menus, updating existing track preparation equipment and adding to our track prep fleet there were also additional improvements that needed to be completed. I’m pleased to announce that work is currently underway to make much needed repairs to the front straight a way wall and catch fencing plus several loads of new clay are being laid down on the 4/10 of a mile oval. Since the wall and fencing were originally constructed in the mid 1990’s by then track owners, Lin and Cindy Hough it has taken a beating. A few cars got into the fencing this past year including the final event of the season and we made some quick repairs to get us through the night. It is almost impossible to do a major construction project during race season, but now is the time to make the necessary upgrades. We had hoped to make these changes last spring, however the months of February and March included some very harsh weather coupled with record rainfall in March and April which curbed our plans to do the work during that time frame.”

With the addition of much needed new clay a couple years ago it raised the track up 3 feet or more in places thus lowering the existing front straight concrete wall. This in turn made the safety fencing and wire rope cables that protect the main grandstand seating area extremely vulnerable. Jersey barriers were placed inside of the existing concrete wall for extra strength. However, the Jersey barriers have been removed and the track surface has been lowered allowing for the original concrete wall to do its job. By adding more height to the concrete wall coupled with the repair work on the fencing and cables it will add stability as well as extra fan and driver safety.

“We had several days of some really nice and dry weather around Thanksgiving, so we were able to address the trouble spots on the racing surface in turns one and three. The track was dug up in those areas and several new loads of clay were put down and cleated in with a dozer. The entire racing surface was also worked in and sealed up for winter. Mother Nature will now do her thing over the next 5 months with the freeze/thaw which will settle things down and we should be all set for our spring opener in April of 2020. That according to Siri.

Other upgrades that were made during last winter’s shut down included a face lift of the existing announcers and scorer’s rooms as well as many of the sponsor towers.

“Like many of the upgrades that were originally made at the track by the Hough’s some 25 years ago the announcer and scorer towers needed a face lift. Likewise, we made the VIP Sponsor Rooms even more comfortable for our marketing partners with necessary improvements.” Most VIP rooms already included closed circuit TV, but Siri indicated that several other amenities were put in place to greet sponsors when they arrived this past year.

In addition to the visible work that passersby will see during the upcoming outside construction, behind the scenes work continues at a brisk pace including communication with current as well as any potentially new marketing partners. Weekly press releases as well as continual updates as to track activity on both the speedway’s website and Facebook page are ongoing.