While the Edmonton Indy lost the city millions of dollars over its brief history, Castrol Raceway has quietly been drawing thousands of race fans to a venue that’s widely considered top class.
Rob Reeves is the president and co-owner of Castrol Raceway and a passionate race fan.
Reeves has owned the track for 13 years and is now the only game in town.
Reeves said he gets about 200,000 in attendance every year and only sees that number increasing now that the Indy is gone.
“We have some weekend events when we get 20,000 or 30,000 people out there,” he said.
“When you host that kind of race (Indy), it just takes so much away from all the other racing you do. We run 66 events a year and they run one.”
Reeves has had conversations with the city in the past about moving the Indy to Castrol but nothing came of it.
“The problem with temporary venues is they can’t make money,” Reeves said. “Just to build it up every year and tear it down costs a couple million (dollars).”
Castrol Raceway holds events between May and September.
