San Antonio Raceway has been given a new lease on life following the purchase and revitalization of the track by new owner, Iain Grae. Grae is a successful motorsport entertainment business owner of Cycle Ranch Motocross Park & Events Center in nearby Floresville, Texas. Large scale plans for revitalization of the dragstrip are in place with an eye on its long-term viability. "It's really exciting to see the community rally behind San Antonio Raceway," said Grae. "We intend to fully restore the facility and give San Antonio the high-quality track it needs and wants." Grae continued, "San Antonio is a major city and deserves a high-caliber raceway. If the doors had remained closed, it would have left this market without another track within 100 miles, leaving fans of this sport empty handed. I didn't want that to happen."
Upcoming events at San Antonio Raceway include a “soft opening” test & tune weekend events on June 12th-13th and 19th- 20th. The grand opening will commence the weekend of June 26th- 27th with a test & tune on Friday and the IHRA Summit Super Series bracket racing event on Saturday with a variety of festivities and vendors.
IHRA President, Scott Gardner comments on the fresh relationship between the IHRA and the new San Antonio Raceway, “S.A.R. will host a Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am this season on August 14 to 16th. This is a big boost for the IHRA Division 4 Renegades Pro-Am series presented by AMSOIL. The track will also take part in the Summit Super Series bracket racing points program where the San Antonio Raceway team is the defending track champion from the 2014 IHRA Team Finals event at Pine Valley Raceway. Additionally we are working on trying to bring the Nitro Jam back this year and will be making some announcements on that event as soon as they are finalized."
Grae and his team plan on extensive renovations to the track, seating, and concession areas. In addition, a GoFundMe.com crowdfunding campaign was launched to assist in the rebuilding efforts. To date, it has already eclipsed its goal of raising $30,000, reeling in over $33,000 in just under a month. Along with financial support, many area racers, fans and businesses have contributed clean-up labor and use of heavy machinery to restore and update the facility prior to opening.
For more information on San Antonio Raceway, visit www.fb.com/sanantonioraceway. And for a complete list of IHRA member tracks, visit www.ihra.com.