News Director 
Story By: KENNY SHUPP / OUTLAW SPEEDWAY – DUNDEE, NY – Since taking ownership of the Outlaw Speedway three years ago, track owner Tyler Siri continues to make much needed improvements at the Yates County New York speedway.
“When I purchased the facility I knew that there were certain areas that would have to be addressed. In addition to general cleanup, paint and polish, freshening up the tracks concession areas and menus, updating existing track preparation equipment and adding to our track prep fleet there were also additional improvements that needed to be completed.
I’m pleased to announce that beginning in mid-February we will start construction of a higher concrete front straight away wall complete with upgraded catch fencing and new pa speakers. Since the wall and fencing were originally constructed in the mid 1990’s by then track owners, Lin and Cindy Hough it has taken a beating. Not only has harsh winter weather played a factor in the deterioration of the catch fencing and speaker system a number of hard crashes into the wall and fencing have made it brittle in places.
A few cars got into the fencing this past year and we made some quick repairs to get us through the season. It is almost impossible to do a major construction project during race season, but now is the time to make the necessary upgrades.”
With the addition of much needed new clay a couple years ago it raised the track up 3 feet or more in places thus lowering the existing front straight concrete wall. This in turn made the safety fencing and wire rope cables that protect the main grandstand seating area extremely vulnerable.
By adding more height to the concrete wall with a few additional feet of all new concrete coupled with the repair work on the fencing and cables it will add stability as well as extra fan and driver safety. All new state of the art public address speakers will round out the front wall and fencing project.
Other upgrades that will be made during the next few months will include a face lift of the existing announcers and scorers rooms as well as many of the sponsor towers.
“Like many of the upgrades that were originally made at the track by the Hough’s some 25 years ago the announcer and scorer towers need a face lift. Likewise we will make the VIP Sponsor Rooms even more comfortable for our marketing partners with necessary improvements.” Most VIP rooms already include closed circuit TV, but Siri indicated that several other amenities will greet sponsors when they arrive in 2019.
“Anything we can do to make the jobs of our announcers as well as the scorers, race director and their support cast easier, I’m all for. Like many of our officials these folks have pretty high stress jobs and have to remain focused on what they are doing sometimes for long periods of time without much of a break. With added improvements hopefully it will make their jobs somewhat easier.” That once again according to Siri.
Once work begins it will be all hands on deck and full speed ahead for the Outlaw Speedway maintenance crew as they will have a small window of opportunity to get everything completed in time for the two practice sessions which are scheduled for April 5 and 12, 2019. Then Outlaw Speedway will swing the gates on Saturday, April 13 for the rescheduled Dutch Hoag Memorial as it will mark the 4th season lid lifter under the tutelage of track owner, Tyler Siri.
In addition to the visible work that passersby will see during the upcoming outside construction, behind the scenes work continues at a brisk pace including communication with current as well as any potentially new marketing partners.
Weekly press releases as well as continual updates as to track activity on both the speedway’s website and Facebook page are ongoing.
