By Allison Kennedy

When the new CMRC Monster Energy Motocross National schedule was announced for 2008, there was one new addition to the list of venues: Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. On July 20, following the Nanaimo, BC round, the series will make it's first visit to the Castrol Raceway facility. We caught up with facility owner Rob Reeves to find out how the CMRC Nationals ended up at this popular drag race and dirt track facility.

RXC: How did Castrol Raceway first hear of the Canadian National series?
Rob Reeves: They contacted us. We've had a motocross track here for four years now. We mainly use it as practice track. It's kind of our third venue. We run an IHRA drag strip and a World of Outlaws event on our dirt oval, and I hate to say it, but our motocross was sort of third on the list. With our facility, we can only run practices on Tuesday and Thursdays; we couldn't run on weekends because of the dust factor with the other venues. The Alberta Oldtimers Association has been running it for the last two years and they've done a really good job, and the track has improved immensely since they've been putting more time into it. So somehow, somewhere, Mark Stallybrass found out about us and called us, looking for a venue in Western Canada. Our venue is large, so it's easier for us to host a national than it is for us to host a regional, because we have all the facilities already, and in order for us to give up a weekend, it would have to be a big race, otherwise we are running on the oval or on the drag side. So with this opportunity, we kind of decided that we would give him that weekend-give him the whole venue-for that weekend to run the National motocross.

So what did you folks know about Canadian National motocross when you got the call? What did you first think?
I had to do a little research (Laughs) I can honestly tell you I am not a motocross guy, but I'm a race guy and I'm a facility owner so anything new and exciting, we are interested in. We are also looking at doing a national drifting event. Anything that is new, it's fun to see how it works and I know that a lot of the motorcycle shops in the area are enthused about doing it. I think it's a good thing for everybody. I think there's a real need for northern Alberta to have something like this.

You hold a very successful IHRA drag race a few weeks prior to the national event, tell me about that?
It's part of the Rocky Mountain Nationals. It's the largest, most-attended event that the IHRA has. We get at least 35,000 people for the weekend. With that being two weeks before the motocross, obviously we are going to do some cross promotions and displays, to help promote the motocross race a few weeks later. It will be a good opportunity for us. It's the biggest drag race in Canada, so it should help in promoting the motocross race.

The motocross track at Castrol is not well known. Can you describe it?
We are flat. (Laughs) They are going to come in a week ahead of time; we've got some material to work with. There are some parts that are just fine, and some parts that need to be upgraded to bring it to the national level. We've got the equipment and the manpower and we've lined up the people now to make it into a national track. We have a lot of dirt. The facility is 360 acres, so it's not that I don't have any fill. So we're going to move it from A to B, and basically rebuild the track. From what I understand, it's about a two-minute track right now.  There's not a lot to do but there is some stuff to do.

Who will be helping re-build the track?
The National guys and Mark Stallybrass has got a crew as well as the Alberta Oldtimers, and a lot of volunteers. I have had tons of offers from volunteers already.

What will the pit area be like?
There will be tons of parking on flat grass areas for the rigs. We've got plenty of room so we are not going to be having any trouble parking the rigs.

As far as access to the rest of the facilities, what can people expect?
We are going to have a manufacturers midway set up, so the dealers and the different factories can have displays in the concourse. It's all paved. There is a full set of washrooms and concessions and everything else we need and those will be used for the motocross event as well.

Cool. People actually seem to be fairly excited about the prospects of real toilets…
Yep, they are real toilets. (Laughs) The motocross is just beyond the oval so it's not even 100 feet from the rest of the facilities. It's not a long trek across the property.

What kind of crowd does the raceway draw on an average weekend? Do you expect to be able to bring in some of those regular spectators for the MX national?
At an oval race, on an average weekend, we get 1000 to 1500 people a night. For our World of Outlaws show, we'll have 10,000 for the weekend. Our regular Saturday night race, 1500 is about our average attendance. I am sure we are going to be able to draw on that crowd. Being our first one, we want to make sure it's a good one. First impressions, they'll always remember those.

Well, we're looking forward to seeing the facility. Thanks for your time, Rob.
All right, well, hopefully we'll have it looking all nice and pretty when you get here.

For more information on Castrol Raceway, visit http://www.castrolraceway.com/