PLACERVILLE, Calif. — Placerville Speedway has had numerous improvements over the last 11 years to greatly dress up the quarter-mile facility.
The pits, the dirt track and the grandstands have all benefited from multiple projects that are not close to ending.
It seems once an improvement has been completed, it is not long before another project is underway.
Two people are primarily making this all happen. Promoters Scott Russell and Kami Arnold became the track promoters in 2016 and since then it has been a steady stream of making Placerville Speedway one step better with the conclusion of the latest project.
With support from many people Russell has been able to make numerous improvements at the fairgrounds oval. But he is not done yet.
Russell used to drive his sprint car on the quarter-mile oval, then he retired and became a car owner. Stephen Allard and Andy Gregg drove his car and when promoter Alan Padjen was ready to focus on other activities, Russell took over the task of promoting a race track.
The 2016 season opened with the new promotion team and thinking about how the facility looked then compared to now points out the changes that have been made.
Placerville Speedway has a very nice concession area with the significant improvement of putting up a large shade. Changes have been made within the concessions to promote quicker service. A space was created within the concession area to have a place for live music to be played during the early part of the evening.
New restrooms were built in the pit area, a project that very much needed to be done, and the backstretch had a wall built which led to more stands being placed to offer new views of the track.
Turns 3 and 4 had a couple small stands parked on the hill overlooking the track, and occasionally for special events Russell rented very large stands. When he had a chance to buy the stands, he did so and now every race has a great place to watch from in the pits. In front of these stands, K-rails were placed with fencing on top.
The PA system has been overhauled and one installed in the pit area. The pit area is twice as wide, along with improved lighting.
An important improvement came when K-rails were added to the infield to replace some large tires. Some additional equipment now speeds up track prep and when the track needs some tuning up during the evening it is a short process.
Russell is thinking about adding a big TV board on the backstretch but some technical issues will need to be handled. Whether it is a TV board or something else, one thing for certain, track improvements will continue.
For those wondering what happened to Russell’s winged sprint car, he explained.
“I sold everything the winter of 2015 when I got the contract for the speedway,” recalled Russell. “Two years later at my own swap meet at Placerville the car was there for sale. It hadn’t been raced and I bought it back.
“I had a friend take it to his shop and hide it for me for three months because I didn’t tell Kami that I bought my old car back. She wasn’t too happy when I told her that we were going to have a sprint car in our garage again.”
A driver who has been racing at Placerville since 1993 is Andy Forsberg. He has seen the changes to the track over the last 33 years and finds it refreshing to have the new things.
“Scott and Tami saw the necessity to make a better product,” Forsberg said. “We need more tracks to do more to make a better facility with more amenities.”
The changes to the facility have made the track look much better. This is my 25th year of being a Placerville regular and I very much appreciate what has been done. Something that is a big thing to me is Placerville runs an efficient program.
That is something other tracks need to do and there is no cost.
