“I drove over the bridge one day and there were cars, RVs, trucks, and motorcycles and I went down to talk to the track owner, asking how he was doing this,” Gage said. “The owner had met with the Yuba County under sheriff, found out the health department limitations and implemented all the things he was asked to do.
“They came down and inspected things and said he was doing a good job. So I took his plan to the race track and opened it up to rentals, keeping the limit to 10 people. We did that for two or three weeks and one time a deputy sheriff came by and I showed him what we were doing. He said we were doing all the right stuff.”
The health officer for Yuba and Sutter counties has plenty of experience in dealing with diseases that spread and took a progressive approach to the pair of counties. Her plan on reopening Yuba and Sutter counties was ahead of any other county in the state, and a checklist of how to reopen was followed by Gage for his track.
“It was announced last week that any of the enforcement people were there to help with understanding the rules,” Gage said. “We followed the procedures, put the signs up, trained staff, bought infrared thermometers and all the tools necessary to follow the guidelines.
“The many types of business were put into four categories of risk. In the low category, and there are many options in that category, was athletic events and the congregate equivalents, which I have no idea what that means. But I figured that’s good enough for me.
“They got used to this in Yuba County because the motorcross track was running in March. One of those Sundays he had 500 riders down there. It’s a big deal and you drive over the E Street bridge and you can see it all. He was the trendsetter because he took on the responsibility and he’s real aggressive, having people on four wheelers going around yelling at people to separate.”
As to racing with closed stands, Gage noted, “If everyone opens up we’re going to delete the market pretty quick, Speed Shift is not going to need to pay, and racing numbers are going to diminish and we’re going to be back to where it is not financially feasible to race without a crowd. Maybe we can do this for a month or two, depending on who gets opened up; we’re in a tenuous spot.”
Marysville Raceway is set to race the next two Saturdays after which it is a wait and see situation to see what is going on elsewhere.
Dixon Speedway is a micro sprint track located in the country south of town. Also on private property, it is promoted by Prince and he took a slightly different route that did Marysville.
“We’re fortunate we are in Solano County, and I used the argument that they are allowing four people in a group to play golf,” said Prince. “My argument was why couldn’t we have four people in a pit spot so we can go racing. Once I explained how we do things at the track, the county officials were more open to it.
“Ultimately the health department agreed although we were stuck with four people per pit spot. It was a bit of a battle to get hold of the right people and get an answer out of somebody. They were concerned about how many cars are on the track, but I explained they have helmets, gloves, etc. When I talked to enough people that they understood what we were doing they couldn’t argue it too much.
“We had gotten the OK from the county and health department to race ongoing but until the restrictions are lifted I can’t do anything differently. I was scared on race day that some people would be out there poking around to see if we were abiding by the rules, so it was kind of a stressful situation that everybody would respect what we were trying to do.”
All the effort and concern Prince faced became worthwhile when he had a smooth race Saturday and he noted how pleased everyone seemed to be to once again race at Dixon Speedway.
Gage and Prince put in the work and time needed to make a race happen, and both were awarded with a good car count and successful evening, even without grandstands being open. Dixon will race again on May 23-24 for a special event.