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Resurfaced Georgetown Speedway Ready When Racing Gets the Green Light

GEORGETOWN, DE – When the time comes to go racing, a
resurfaced Georgetown Speedway will be ready.

Less than 12
hours after the final Sunoco checkered flag flew on the Melvin L. Joseph
Memorial weekend March 7-8, the first dump truck arrived full of clay. Over the
next two weeks time, nearly 200 loads were spread on the historic half-mile
oval as part of a complete resurfacing project.

The speedway
now is covered from top-to-bottom with gray, sand-free clay and – after a few
more grading and packing sessions – will be ready to race on as soon as the
current COVID-19 situation allows.

“Resurfacing
the track has been on our mind since the middle of last year,â speedway
promoter Brett Deyo said. “But we also didnt want to put the same type of
material back on the track. Our neighbor Jay Baxter from Baxter Farms tipped us
off to this clay over on the Delaware-Maryland line. It checked out to be
exactly what we needed.â

The First
State business community rallied to assist in the process. Dump trucks from
Melvin L. Joseph Construction, Chesapeake Paving/J.W. Brown Trucking, Baxter
Farms and Kruger Trailers hauled the clay over the approximate 50-mile round
trip.

“We are very
fortunate to have so many friends of the sport and Georgetown Speedway who
stepped up to make this happen,â Deyo said.

Over the season-and-a-half,
the track crew has battled a sandy clay that required significant water to
avoid high abrasion on tires. Instead of getting slick, the surface became abrasive
as the track blackened up.

“We are optimistic
the new surface will ‘shine up and get slick, wide and racy without burning
tires,â Deyo said. “Thats our goal. And the quality of the material looks to be
ideal for those type of conditions, while limiting dust for our fans.â

Lou Johnson
from the Georgetown Speedway track crew has been busy: first knocking down the
clay piles, then grading the clay repeatedly and packing to get the surface
ready for race cars.

Now, like the
rest of the motorsports industry, Georgetown management awaits the “green lightâ
to return to racing.

The next
scheduled event is the ‘Battle of the Bay on Thursday, April 16 featuring the
RUSH Late Model Series ($3,000 to win) plus the Sunoco Super Late Models in the
Mark Williams Memorial ($3,026 to win), Southern Delaware Vintage Stock Cars,
Delaware Super Trucks and Delmarva Chargers.

Speedway
management is in frequent contact with RUSH Late Model Series directors Vicki
Emig and Mike Leone. Any changes to the planned schedule will be announced via
a press release and posted to the speedway website and social media avenues.

“We are
taking a wait-and-see approach,â Deyo said. “This situation changes every day.
As we get closer to each event, we will make a decision and announce our plans.â

Make-up
events, if needed, could be added to the second half of the Georgetown 2020
race schedule.

Georgetown
Speedway, originally constructed by Melvin L. Joseph in 1949, is located at the
intersection of Route 113 and Speedway Road in Georgetown, Del., just miles
from the Delaware beaches and less than a 40-minute drive from Ocean City, Md.

A website is
live for the speedway at www.thegeorgetownspeedway.com. Like Georgetown Speedway on
Facebook, follow @thegtownspdwy on Twitter, e-mail georgetownspeedway@gmail.com or contact the speedway hotline at
302.563.GTWN (4896).

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