2024 Spring Smash Season Opener

With only a few days over 2 weeks left before the start of our '24 racing season, it's time to get the ball rolling at Speedway Miramichi! While our local drivers and regular travelers are knocking the winter rust off their cars and speedway staff are hard at work getting everything ready to kick off the season, it's time to take a moment and talk about our upcoming event.

The Spring Smash will be the first contested points event of the 2024 season and you can expect drivers across all classes to give it their all on the track to secure a healthy start in the points battle! Starting off the day will be the rock 'em sock 'em sliding sideways thrill show, the Bomber class. Over the last couple seasons this class has made a name for itself with some high action racing, large car counts and tight finishes. Johnathan Dickson will be a driver to watch as he comes into 2024 with the confidence of being last seasons point champion after some closely contested battles with the 13 car of Axten MacLean. Some notable drivers looking to make their way into that top spot early on will be the 11 of Alex Duguay, 8 of Randy Girouard & the 17 of Kevin Kinney amongst several others. Along with past seasons top drivers, some veterans of the sports are also registered to participate and are sure to put on a show to fight their way up the rankings such as Adam Plourde and Riley Harris.

An always popular class to watch will forever be our Mini Stocks. 2023 saw legendary Mini Stocker JR Lawson earn yet another season championship in his class after some high adrenaline action with some of the greatest 4 cylinder racers in the maritimes such as Ryan McKnight, Rob Poirier, Chantel Lawson & many others. We will see who, if anyone, has what it takes to top JR's Honda and take away his crown at Speedway Miramichi, a title his name is engraved in at this point!

The Street Stock class will be rolling in at the Spring Smash with some new blood this season, making for a lot of unknowns coming into the seasons first race. Last year saw the 28 car of Tom Nichols and shared with Brodie MacQuarrie battle it out with the best in the business and come out on top once again in Miramichi. Veteran racer Jason MacCallum powered his 77 car to a 2nd place points finish, we'll see if he can keep the momentum rolling into 2024. Local star and east coast favorite Brad MacLean in the black 13 finished 2023 in 3rd position after a couple strokes of bad luck throughout the season, but he will always put on a show to watch on the track. This year, Bomber stand-out Axten MacLean will be behind the wheel of the Championship 28 car after piloting it to a podium finish in his first ever SS race at the end of the 2023 season. With other local and traveling rear-wheel racers registered to make an appearance, we're expecting high-octane action from the 2024 Street Stocks!

The 2024 Spring Smash will be the first stop on the years schedule of the Atlantic Modified Tour, and they will be bringing the thunder to the track to top off the stock car portion of the day. Local driver from South Esk, Chris Wilson rose to the top of the 2024 season after an emotional hometown win for the motorsports veteran. The AMT always put on great action as they throw their open wheeled beasts down the track and race hard for that checkered flag. Miramichi great Doug Matchett, Yves McCray, Joe Hoyt, Zean Dutcher are amongst the most experienced out there doing what they do best alongside up-and-coming drivers such as Braxton Stafford & Conrad Murphy and several more, all looking to trample over the competition as they bring the thunder down McKinnon Rd!

Following the Stock Car portion of the day, we'll be kicking off the Demo portion of the 2024 Spring Smash. No stranger to Championships in Miramichi, Tyler Chamberlain will be back behind the wheel of the number 24, making the trek down from Bathurst with his teammate Jeremy Faulds in the 61, the two finished 1st and 2nd place in points last year respectively. But Demo events being the bread & butter at Speedway Miramichi, they will have a long list of hungry drivers looking to get through them for 2024. Veteran demo drivers and newcomers alike will be smashing and bashing their way through the field of derby cars against the most entertaining drivers in the country at the demo capital, fighting their way through the Dash for Cash, Reverse Race, Kidney Race & The Figure 8 in order to qualify for the 2024 Spring Smash Demolition Derby Finale!

In the midst of the demo action, we will of course have the ever popular burnout competition, so if you have some rubber worth burning at home, bring it on down to the track on the 25th for your 45 seconds of glory as the roaring crowd cheers you on to victory!

And lastly, while the Demo drivers take a quick break between races to set some crooked parts straight again, the women of the Powder Puff division will take to the track to begin their points battle for 2024. '23 saw the Derby Queen Hailey Waugh dominate the competition, winning all except 1 race last year. This season she will be back with a new car hoping to keep that momentum going! But behind her are no slouches, as Monique Benoit and Melanie Bastarache consistently earned podium finishes throughout the season, they will surely be looking to dethrone the '23 Champ this year. We're sure to see some returning names in Michelle Leclair and Jennifer Mills, as well as some new names registered this season with Jocelyn Murdock and Tori Boudreau. The Powder Puff points are stand-alone once again this season, but the race DOES count as a demo qualifier. So if any women are looking to try their hand at racing, talk to some of the demo guys and see if you can take a car out on the track for the Powder Puff to help them qualify for the Demo finale.

All that being said, we all look forward to seeing drivers and fans alike in 17 short days and to have a great day at the track to kickoff the 2024 Racing Season, Speedway Miramichi style at the '24 Spring Smash!