Prestigious NASCAR-style event will launch NW’s newest raceway in Tri-Cities

It was only a matter of time that there was going to be another NASCAR-style race at Tri-City Raceway.

After all, the group that heads up the Red Mountain Event Center — Eric Van Winkle, Jesse Brown and Greg Walden — had been working toward that goal for the last few years.

Last summer, they had drivers race their cars around the track to check on the asphalt.

And this year, after West Richland Mayor Brent Gerry, city staff and the city council gave the group their blessing in May to develop the facility, there has been plenty of work going on.

Fencing has been erected. Lights have been put into place. Land has been cleared, things have been painted, bathrooms and concession stands fixed up.

Maybe it came as no surprise that the group made the announcement this week on the Motorsports Monday Facebook video show — the announcement was so big, the show moved to Wednesday this week — that the first race was coming.

What was surprising was the prestige of the event: It’s the Fall Classic, set for Oct. 2-3.

For 33 years, the Fall Classic had always been a major Northwest racing event at Yakima Speedway, bringing triple-digit numbers in cars from all over the region.

But Yakima Speedway closed earlier this year when a developer purchased the track and the land that sits right next to I-82, leaving the event in limbo.

But not anymore.

Laci Walden, the Tri-City Raceway public relations director, said in news release that the RMEC group was excited to hold an event that should bring in 2,000 tourists for the weekend.

“Such an iconic facility hosting the Northwest’s largest motorsports event will be a fitting re-opening to the facility that was basically left for dead.”

It’s been about 17 years since a race was held there.

Paul Alderman, who then owned the facility, sold it to the Port of Kennewick in 2004. The Port had planned a wine facility.

But over the years, the Port kind of let the plan go to the backburner while it dived into other projects.

Meanwhile, the old light standards were taken down while almost everything else of value at the track was stripped away.

Except the track itself and the wall — the base of a good racing venue.

And in 2019, Gerry was looking for a spot to build a new police station. He talked to the Port into selling the land — 92 acres — to the City of West Richland for $1.87 million.

The new police station will be 5 acres, and the RMEC is 65 acres, including the race track, which is officially called Tri-City Raceway at Red Mountain Event Center.

The remaining acreage is up for development.

Gerry has been clear that no tax dollars would go towards running the facility, and in fact the lease RMEC has signed with the city — five years at $26,000 a year — includes money going directly into the City of West Richland’s park maintenance.

RMEC has held some test events — such as drive-in movies. And the Sand and Sage Sports Car Club, which has been using the asphalt for its races the last 20 or so years, continues to hold events there.

But it’s no secret that local race fans have been eagerly awaiting the news that came out Wednesday night.

Brown announced on the show that the posted purse for the event is $83,600.

At least 140 cars total are expected to compete in the following divisions: Super Late Models; Tri-State Challenge Series Pro Late Models; West Coast Modifieds; Tri-State Challenge Series Hobby Stocks; and the Northwest Mini Stock Series.

Ticket sales details — and more details of the event — will come out Aug. 25 on redmountaineventcenter.com.

The RMEC guys emphasize that there will be other events there — swap meets, wine tastings, bicycle races, maybe even the Hogs and Dogs event could move there.

But for racing fans, this announcement was music to their ears.

This story was originally published August 19, 2021 at 1:31 PM.