The grass grew to 4 feet tall, covering the first three rows of the bleachers. Some bulbs on the light towers were broken when Tropical Storm Irene blew through the area in late August. The toilets, some of them anyway, weren’t working properly and the public address announcement system was all but shot.

Wiscasset Raceway, which went dark this summer after owner Doug White failed to sell the track, transformed into a quiet eyesore with each passing weekend.

“It was a mess,” said Tony True, 49, of Wiscasset, who grew up at the track and raced there until 1988. “It needed a lot of work.”

Thanks to True and about 50 volunteers, the track will re-open Saturday in a last-ditch effort to make an impression on potential buyers.

The track, which opened in 1969, is in the process of foreclosure through the Bank of Maine.

True, along with Dale Chadbourne of Woolwich, secured a one-day lease at no cost to put on a show they hope will ultimately save the track.

“The track is in limbo,” True said. “The bank is foreclosing on it. There are a few buyers who may be interested in buying it from the bank, so we’re putting this on to try and save it. We also found out that if the track went a whole year the noise ordinance would be subject to change. And if there were a noise ordinance, this place would never get sold.”

Rick Lang, Wiscasset’s code enforcement officer, said there is no noise ordinance that pertains to the track.

“Right now we don’t have a noise ordinance in Wiscasset in place,” he said. “I think they somehow got afraid that if it wasn’t used for one year it wouldn’t be allowed to re-open. I don’t think that would be the case here. The race track is actually in the rural zone, which is the most liberal zone in Wiscasset. Somewhere along the line, somebody got the idea we had a noise ordinance. We don’t. We don’t even have one on the books we are working on. But I think they’ll have fun anyway. Hopefully, it won’t rain on them.”

Countless hours of volunteer work were needed to prepare the track for racing.

“The grass was 4 feet tall because it hadn’t been moved,” True said. “You couldn’t see the first three rows of the bleachers. We’ve been out burning grass out of the cracks in the track. We had a crane come in and replace light bulbs from (Irene). We got the lights working and fixed all the toilets. We re-wired the (public address) system.

“We replaced 21 bleacher planks. The state fire marshal had to come in and approve planks. Every five years the bleachers have to be inspected by an engineer, and this was the fifth year. So we had company come in and do that. You name it, we’ve done it. The place looks good now.”

True added expenses totaled about $4,000, which included insurance and permits, to host a day of racing. Several sponsors defrayed the costs, although they would be re-paid through the proceeds. Admission is $5.

“Any money that is left over will be divided evenly with every car that shows up,” True said.
True added the race is expected to attract about 140 drivers from a variety of classes.

There will be a Late Model race that will feature about 27 drivers.

Maurice Young, a seven-time track points champion at Wiscasset who raced at Unity this season, said he is looking forward to the race.

“This just seems right to go,” said Young, who won the Wildcat points title at Unity. “It’s home. It felt right to go. I want to try to help keep the place alive. I want to go and give them my support. Hopefully, we can give a prospective buyer a good show.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com