When it comes to a Saturday at Flamboro Speedway, there’s nothing that contain the excitement from track announcer Gary Colling, who finds himself at the track beginning at 6am for his daughter’s go-karting, followed by the night of racing.

Last season, Flamboro Speedway was able to put together an impressive season which saw some top-notch highlight events, like Frostoberfest and the Gold Rush, draw in the crowds and high car counts.

“Last year it was a great year for us,” Colling said. “The Gold Rush – we had 3000 people in the main grandstand and probably double that amount pit side, and there were guys at the track that I hadn’t seen in probably 38 years. It’s been fun watching it grow the past couple of years.”

With momentum on their side, they’re focused on making this upcoming season just as awesome, including some changes made during the off-season. The track has hired Doug Leonard as the new race director, which bringing in electronic timing and scoring.

“Just with those two little things that have been done, we have 20 pro late models already registered for this year, 22 pure stocks, 18 mini stocks,” Colling said. “So the numbers are starting to come up. Last year, our super stocks – we only had six, but we have 18 already signed up this year. We’re building and trying to get better. We’re doing the Gold Rush again on a Monday night. It’s a heck of a show.”

The Gold Rush, a $5000 to win invitational for the Super Late Models, saw a full field of 22 cars last year. Colling expects the field to grow this year with “seven to 10 guys calling from the (United) States wanting to know the date, and what’s happening.”

Beyond that, the track will be hosting a pair of events for the APC Auto Parts United Late Models of Ontario Tour, one OSCAAR show each month including the Don Biederman Memorial, the Canadian Vintage Modiifeds, among other touring series throughout the year. The season will kick off on April 29 with $10 admission for opening night.

“I was shocked when I looked at the schedule,” Colling said. “I was like what, ‘$10?’ and then looked at John and said, ‘Are you sure?’ and he said yes. So I better shut up so I don’t screw up too much. I could be fired after this. I think Flamboro has things coming together. With Doug Leonard stepping in as race director, it gives the Casale brothers a chance to just watch the races and go around and see the fans and maybe talk to the drivers a little more – and not be upset or grumpy. I know John and this year I haven’t seen him as happy as in 20 or 30 years so it seems to be working in taking some of the stress off him.”

On top of the typical racing schedule, there’s also some Enduros schedule, including the Halloween Enduro which was a hit last year.

Though beyond the racing, perhaps you should just attend to see the crazy antics that Colling gets himself into as the track announcer.

“I rode in the trunk of a car, I rode in the backseat of something else, I rode in a casket in a hearse – this year, I’m planning on riding on the top of a car with some skis but my mom at the track is not too sure about that,” he said. “It gets the fans excited. We’re trying to bring the fun back to Flamboro and have fun. One night, we gave away like 300 hats and another 300 shirts.

“We’re trying to get back to that situation where we just have fun, promote with the other tracks, and go check out Full Throttle (Motor Speedway), Sauble (Speedway) – you’re going to come back, but the other tracks have great racing.”

Part of having the fun is also doing a driver’s night, where “he kids can get in the cars and ride with them around the track slowly so they can feel it, smell it, see what it’s like.”

“We get the little kids involved as we do dancing, prizes, giveaways – and I can bring in some announcers that have done IndyCar and NASCAR, or even Clinton, but they can really drop the knowledge that they have and the passion that they have,” Colling said. “When they get up there, they’re like going 300 miles per hour, like little kid in a candy store. We just have a good old time getting the fans involved and enjoying the show. It’s fun. It brings the atmosphere up and interesting.”

Last year’s interesting highlight? The night they burnt down a car on the frontstraightaway using a jet engine on the back of a truck.

“We turned off all the lights and the kids were making a bunch of noise,” Colling recalled. “I’m running around going, ‘Holy moly….’ Literally, I don’t think John let the fire department know it was happening because six fire trucks showed up saying there’s a blaze – ambulance, police department. It took awhile to put out so we had some nice roasted marshmallows on it.”