More than five years after the engines went silent at San Antonio Speedway, two men are hoping their tireless work over the past seven months will lead to a rebirth of short track racing in South Texas.
"You hear it takes a village to raise a kid. It takes a village to raise a race track also," said operations manager Brian Bohlen, who has poured in countless hours restoring the track back to its original condition.
Bohlen's business partner Chris Saathoff has also played an instrumental role in getting the half-mile oval off Highway 16 ready for its first race weekend since 2007.
Bohlen says he started attending the races at San Antonio Speedway in the early 1990's, but does not know why the track shut down.
"Its a real, real strong racing community in the area," says Bohlen.
Short track racing fans in San Antonio currently have to travel to Kyle or Corpus Christi to watch live racing.
Local business owner Julian Navarro welcomes the reopening of the track.
"As long as their is more traffic through here, more visibility. They see my sign, they see my location," says Navarro, whose manufactured home business is about a mile north of the track.
The speedway originally opened in 1977.
NASCAR legend and Texas native Terry Labonte was one of the track's first champions.
Bohlen says drivers from as far away as California and North Carolina have already registered for the races, which include seven categories ranging from late models to trucks.
Practice sessions will be held October 18th.
Qualifying is scheduled for the next day, then the finals under the lights on October 20th.
