West Lebanon
It’s 50th season will largely feature more of the same: five divisions, including nationally sanctioned Sportsman modified, Coupe Modified and Midget classes.
A consistent outlet for racing — with the occasional demolition-derby-style Enduro event thrown in for flair — has been Bear Ridge’s trademark since the gates first opened in mid-summer 1968.
“We’re not going to do anything too fancy (to celebrate the 50th season),” said Bear Ridge co-owner April Preston during Saturday’s Upper Valley Car Show at the Fireside Inn. “It’s always a tricky balance, because you want to entertain fans, but you don’t want to overwhelm them (with gimmicks or special events), and you don’t want to overwhelm the staff. I think we’re just planning to do what we do every year, which is to provide the best show we can every week for the drivers and the fans.”
Apparently, that’s been enough. In an era when professional auto racing is experiencing dips in attendance and television ratings, Bear Ridge has managed to increase its breadth over the last decade.
According to Preston, average attendance is around 1,500, up from 500-600 when she came aboard 11 years ago. Driver participation has also risen steadily, she said, currently registering around 100 total cars per week.
“Auto racing has always ebbed and flowed, and I would say it was ebbing (in the mid-2000s),” she said. “We’re excited with the direction we’ve been headed. … The only plan for the future is to keep going.”
That appears to be the plan for many of Bear Ridge’s drivers, some of whom have called it home for 30 years or longer and are now introducing their offspring to the competition.
Fifteen-year-old Tanner Siemons, of Orford, raced in the Mini Sprints a year ago and will be back in the Coupe division for Bear Ridge’s season opener next Saturday. The Rivendell Academy sophomore’s father, Gary, has been racing there since the 1980s and captured three consecutive modified series titles from 2008-10.
“I’ve raced all over New England, and Bear Ridge is one of my favorite tracks,” Gary Siemons said. “It’s good competition, and I’ll tell you this: They have the best food of any track I’ve been to.”
Another father-son tandem is Richard LaMotte Sr., now retired, and Richard LaMotte Jr., the latter 52 years old and racing in Mini Sprints this year.
LaMotte Sr. said he started racing at Bear Ridge during its first season.
“It’s come a long way since then,” he said. “The clay there used to get so hard, like dry Play-Doh. You would spend a good half-day cleaning your car the next day just to get to the nuts and bolts. I don’t know where they get their clay now, but it’s much better.”
For racers and fans who live nearby, Bear Ridge is a commodity not to be taken for granted. Richie Simmons resides on Waits River Road (Vt. Route 25), and his home connects to Bear Ridge via trails and an old logging road.
“I just took my truck up there the other day (through the woods),” said Simmons, whose No. 34 Sportsman Modified has a simple, but slick, black-and-orange paint scheme. “That’s about as local as it gets, and what more do you want? Some guys like to move on to asphalt, but pretty much anyone who races (at Bear Ridge) likes racing there. It’s tight, slick and fun.”
Simmons’ crew chief, Greg Smith, grew up in Piermont and has been attending Saturday races at Bear Ridge since he was a toddler.
“Pretty much my whole life,” said Smith, 27. “If you love racing and working on cars, it’s a great way to stay busy.”
Bear Ridge has become the defacto home course for some who formerly raced at Canaan Fair Speedway, which closed in 2013. Among that contingent is Walt Hammond, a Canaan resident and Modified driver who will race on dirt for the first time this season at Bear Ridge.
“I think it’s an awesome course up there; you can tell they do a good job,” said Hammond, a Mascoma High graduate who also plays baseball at New Hampshire Technical Institute. “It’s a 45-minute drive (from Canaan), but it’s my home track now.”
Many competitors within Bear Ridge’s circuits double as friends. Tom Chaffee, of Bradford, and East Corinth resident Melvin Pierson both race in the Coupe division and often help one another make repairs and tweaks to their rigs — sometimes into the late hours of the night, such as during recent preparation for the season.
“My car wouldn’t be ready to go without him,” said Chaffee, 44.
Added Pierson: “We all get along pretty well, except maybe on race day.”
Bear Ridge’s rural location renders it a “hidden gem” among regional dirt-track enthusiasts, though it has become a more popular destination since its Modified and Midget divisions became sanctioned by national governing bodies DIRTcar Racing and the United States Auto Club, respectively, seven years ago.
“We’re on all the lists for those organizations now, so more racers are finding out about us,” Preston said. “Being a hidden gem is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because you love that community feel, but you also want people to know about you so you stay (viable).”
Preston’s partner, co-owner C.V. “Butch” Elms III, enjoys Bear Ridge’s intimate setting. His father, C.V. Elms II, was a manager when the track opened in 1968 and owned the track from 1972 to 1990.
“We’re never going to be a Daytona, or even a Thunder Road,” said Elms, the latter referencing Barre, Vt.’s quarter-mile asphalt track. “We don’t need to be.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.