Location | Cayuga, Ontario, Canada |
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Capacity | more than 7,000 |
Broke ground | 1966 |
Opened | 1966 |
Closed | 2010 (suspended operations indefinitely) |
Major events | None (on hiatus) |
Pavement oval track | |
Length | .625 mi (1.00 km) |
The Cayuga Speedway, also known as the Cayuga 2000 Speedway, is a racing track located near Cayuga in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada.
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It was opened in 1966 as a dirt track, but was paved the following year when the vehicles started to become too dangerous fast for the dirt tracks. It was considered to be one of Canada's premier racing facilities. It is a ⅝-mile oval similar in size to Martinsville Speedway. The track has held a variety of different racing groups including CASCAR, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, the American-Canadian Tour, NASCAR Busch North, Hooters Pro-Cup, USAC, ISMA Supermodifieds, DIRT Modifieds and the ARCA RE/MAX Series (which is considered to be one of the developmental milestones to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series). Set on 300 acres (1.2 km2) of land, Cayuga offers campgrounds with electricity, concession booths, and free parking. In addition to racing, there are also occasional concerts held at the facility - usually conforming with either the country or the heavy metal genre.
On June 8, 2006, a group of developers from Toronto purchased the ⅝ mile track from its original owners and made improvements for the 2007 season, hoping to attract NASCAR Nationwide Series (formerly called the Busch Series) to have a race at Cayuga Speedway. Instead, the race went to Montreal (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve) due to its larger population and recognition in the international community. [1] 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 race in series history on May 26, 2007.
As of 2010, the track sits dormant due to economic concerns. The last race held was in July 2009 featuring the ISMA Supermodifieds; which was won by Mark Sammut of London, Ontario. This event would earn Sammut his first ISMA win.