Valentine Speedway at standstill

The rumble of engines and the roaring of crowds may forever be silenced at the Valentine Speedway.
The fate of the speedway became tenuous July 31, 2016 when land owner and supporter Dale Valentine passed away.
As beloved as the track is, Dale’s commitment to the sport was only matched by Faye and Ray Nash, a husband and wife team who have put their blood, sweat and tears into the races.
Ray is president of the Valentine Speedway board of directors and Faye is the Coordinator and Promoter for the track.
But after Dale’s passing, the track is at the mercy of the new land owners, Dale’s heirs.
“We spoke with CB and Rena (current landowners) a week ago, and they are wanting to sell the place. They are wanting to sell everything,” Faye said Sunday.
Although the possibility has loomed over the track organizers since Dale’s passing the reality of the intent to sell came as a blow to Faye who stated the news brought her to tears.
“It’s like I’ve been mourning another loss. We owe a lot to the community and the races are a big part of the community,” Faye said, pointing out the speedway is one of the counties last remaining ongoing events.
After the announcement was made to speedway’s board of directors, several people have offered to buy the 40-acre section the track sits on to keep the races alive.
“We have spoken to people that want to step up and buy the 40 acres, but he (the landowner) won’t talk. They want to sell everything together,” Faye said.
For now, the future of the Valentine Speedway is on hold as hundreds of racers and thousands of fans wait in limbo for the family of the track’s founder to decide the fate of the venue.
“We are just on hold,” Faye said. “He said ‘not to call him until December and he would know then.’ He supposedly has a couple of people interested in buying the whole thing. We don’t know if those people will let us lease the track.”
In the meantime Faye is fielding calls from racers around the country already vying to get on the 2018 race card. Each time she has to explain the unknown state of the races.
“It’s really sad,” Faye said. “We knew that it could happen but we hoped the family would know how important it was to Dale, the community and the families that are involved. But they just want out.”
“I can understand why they are wanting out, the track doesn’t mean anything to them. Not like it meant to Dale”
Despite Dales’s passing in 2016, the success of the track continued in 2017 and attendance of racers and fans continued to grow. The passing of the speedway would certainly be noticed in the area.
Faye and Ray announced Monday that they will be operating the Casper Speedway, a process that has been in the works for months.
Races take place Fridays in Casper and Saturdays at Valentine Speedway allowing Faye and Ray to manage both tracks.
Faye pointed out that if Valentine Speedway ends, so does one of the few ongoing family activities in the County.