HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Jukasa Motor Speedway (formerly known as Cayuga Speedway and the Cayuga 2000 Speedway) was an auto racing track located near Cayuga in
Haldimand County Haldimand County is a rural city-status single-tier municipality on the Niagara Peninsula in Southern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Erie, and on the Grand River. Despite its name, it is no longer a county by definition, as all mu ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada. Famous stock car drivers including
Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...
,
Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and the current competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he raced part-time in the Superstar Racing Exper ...
,
Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (December 3, 1937 – November 9, 2024) was an American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant ...
, Benny Parsons, Don Biederman and Dick Trickle have participated in racing events at Jukasa Motor Speedway on a professional level.


History


Origins

Cayuga International Speedway opened in 1966 as a -mile D-shaped dirt oval, by an owners group consisting of Frank Mashell, Wayne Conroy, Milton Chesterman, and Jack Greenaigh. Cayuga International Speedway was also increased slightly in size to when it was paved but it was still a "D"-shape, the back stretch maintaining a slight but noticeable curve. A smaller flat oval was built inside the track and used for some race divisions like mini stocks and Can-Am TQ (three quarter) midgets. The smaller oval used part of the big track's front straight-away and the same start finish line. It also doubled as the pit road for long events that required teams to make pit stops. The small track was removed in the early 1980s so that a straight pit lane could be built, and the infield pit area benefited by gaining some space. Racers, fans and sponsors have regarded Cayuga Speedway as Canada's premier racing and entertainment facility. Set on 300 acres (120 hectares) of land, Cayuga offers
campground Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...
s with electricity, concession booths, and free parking. In 2002, track owners Bob and Leone Slack were inducted to the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame for their dedication to the Speedway.


Major events

The track has held a variety of different racing groups including the
American Speed Association The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt a ...
,
CASCAR The Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (CASCAR) was an auto racing sanctioning body for amateur and professional stock car racing in Canada. The company was founded in 1981 and was headquartered in Delaware, Ontario. In 2006, NASCA ...
,
NASCAR Pinty's Series The NASCAR Canada Series (NCS, ) is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. It is the top NASCAR touring series in Canada. History In September 2006 NASCAR purchas ...
, the
American Canadian Tour The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) is an independent regional stock car racing series based in the northeastern United States, and Eastern Canada. The American-Canadian Tour was founded in 1979 and conducts professionally-run stock car racing event ...
, NASCAR Busch North, Hooters Pro-Cup, USAC,
International Supermodified Association The International Super Modified Association (ISMA) is a sanctioning body of Short track motor racing, short track auto racing in the United States. It is the largest sanctioning body of supermodified racing, super modified racing, an Open-wheel ...
(ISMA), DIRT Modifieds and the
ARCA Menards Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car racing, stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into ...
(formerly the ARCA Re/Max Series, which is considered to be one of the developmental milestones to the NASCAR Cup Series). On June 8, 2006, a group of developers from
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
purchased the -mile track from Bob and Leone Slack and made improvements for the 2007 season, hoping to attract
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
(formerly called the Busch Series, currently the Xfinity Series) to have a race at Cayuga Speedway. Instead, the race went to Montreal (
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, also spelled ''Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve'' (), is a motor racing Race track, circuit on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the venue for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Form ...
) due to its larger population and recognition in the international community. Cooper Construction of Oakville was announced as the vendor to re-build the track. Cayuga International Speedway Park hosted the first
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series The NASCAR Canada Series (NCS, ) is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. It is the top NASCAR touring series in Canada. History In September 2006 NASCAR purchas ...
(Now the Pinty's Series) race in series history on May 26, 2007. Jukasa continues to grow substantially in size every year. For the Canadian Short Track Nationals (CSTN) the payout for the drivers has continued to increase; in 2019 the total purse was $300,000, in 2020 the purse was $500,000 and the plans are set in motion to have the purse for 2021 to be $1 million. Alex Nagy in 2017 was asked to be the general manager at the newly rebuilt Jukasa Motor Speedway, and still occupies this title in the year 2021. Previous to this position Nagy used to be a driver himself, was part of the crew for Alex Tagliani in IndyCar racing, and a series director of NASCAR Canada and it is because of these many accomplishments that Nagy has been inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. Co-owner of Jukasa Speedway and Six Nations businessman Ken Hill died on January 18, 2021, in Miami Florida and the suspected cause of death was a heart attack.


Closure

In the late 1990s former racers Brad Litchy and Garry Evans had gained ownership to the speedway, the two new owners had hopes of bringing larger events to Cayuga. In the mid-2000s the track had not been attracting as many fans as it previously in what has been described as the "golden years" of the Cayuga Speedway (1970s). Due to this a group of investors had the idea of upgrading the facilities in order to attract the NASCAR Nationwide Series (now referred to as Xfinity); however this event was given to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Since Cayuga was not given the Nationwide event they had to settle for the Canadian Tire series. The final NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race to be held here was the 2008 Coke Zero 200. The last race held at the speedway was in July 2009 featuring the ISMA Supermodifieds; which was won by Mark Sammut of
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. This event would earn Sammut his first ISMA win. Along with the ISMA Supermodified racing action were the Canadian Vintage Modifieds; which was won by Phil Shaw of Orangeville, Ontario and followed by Steve Trendell. July 2009 Cayuga Speedway was closed and the future of the track was marked as unknown.


Reopening

In March 2014, photos surfaced on the Lost Speedway's Facebook page showing the speedway in a state of severe disrepair. In May 2014, the track was sold to local businessmen Ken Hill and Jerry Montour of the
Six Nations of the Grand River Six Nations (or Six Nations of the Grand River) is demographically the largest First Nations reserve in Canada. As of the end of 2017, it has a total of 27,276 members, 12,848 of whom live on the reserve. The six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy ...
. By September 2014, sand blasting had started on the walls to take off old paint, and in November 2014 the old asphalt was being removed. New paving started in November 2016, after new walls had been poured. Plans for the track were for the same size, but with progressive banking in the corners. It was announced in December 2016 that the track would reopen on August 26 and 27, 2017. Renamed Jukasa Motor Speedway, the APC United Late Model Series headlined its reopening weekend. Since 2017 Jukasa Motor Speedway has hosted the season finale for the
NASCAR Pinty's Series The NASCAR Canada Series (NCS, ) is a national NASCAR racing series in Canada, and is a continuation of the old CASCAR Super Series which was founded in 1981. It is the top NASCAR touring series in Canada. History In September 2006 NASCAR purchas ...
known as the Pinty's Fall Brawl 200 The track received fresh asphalt and a redesign that now features turns up to 8.5 degrees, with the previous flat straightaways now showing 3.5 degrees in banking and a racing surface that is 60 feet (18.28m) wide. The track also features over 1000 campsites for fans. Jukasa plans to replace the current grandstands, raise the main tower following the grandstand and install a spectator crossover bridge to the infield to improve the track even further. Jukasa continues to gain more attention and due to this many people within the racing industry are beginning to look at this track as potential to host one of NASCAR's top three national series in the future.


Music

Concerts have been held occasionally at Cayuga Speedway; usually conforming with either the
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
or the heavy metal genre. Rock bands such as The Sheepdogs and the Georgia Satellites have performed at the speedway the night before major racing events.


Closure

Jukasa Motor Speedway permanently closed its doors for auto racing in November 2021.


References


External links


Official WebsiteJukasa Motor Speedway Official Facebook pageJukasa Motor Speedway race results
at Racing-Reference
Canadian Racing Archives ProjectCanadianRacingOnline
{{CARS Pro Cup racetracks 1966 establishments in Ontario 2021 disestablishments in Ontario Defunct motorsport venues in Canada Motorsport venues in Ontario CASCAR NASCAR tracks ARCA Menards Series tracks Paved oval racing venues in Ontario Buildings and structures in Haldimand County NASCAR races at Jukasa Motor Speedway