EDMONTON, AB – Another season of oval racing is coming to an end in the province of Alberta. Race tracks in Wetaskiwin and Drayton Valley will be bringing their seasons to a close on October 1st and 15th. Back on September 9th, Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, wrapped up its 27th consecutive season. Rimbey’s Central Alberta Raceways wrapped up its 13th consecutive season with a two-day show on September 23rd and 24th. Unfortunately, the seventeenth consecutive season of Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series race action did not take place in 2017. Back in May the entire season was cancelled by NPP Series officials due to a low car count and a sour Alberta economy. “The decision to cancel the season was the right decision,” says NPP Series announcer Gord Craig, “our largest car count at any one race this season would have been six cars and that is not acceptable by our standards.” For years the NPP Late Model Series saw double digit car counts for all its scheduled events.

“We used to have fifteen to twenty teams in the pits but that’s not the case anymore.” From entry fees to car repairs and upkeep, racing costs have skyrocketed over the years. “We are not the only class to see a decline in the number of teams,” says Craig, “I did attend a few events this year (as a spectator) and saw several classes that had only five or six cars in the field.” The last double digit car count for a NPP Late Model Series event was July 4th, 2015 when 10 teams showed at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. “The state of the Alberta economy is a little better now but an expected car count bump (for all classes) did not happen.” NPP Series officials are into the early planning stages for the 2018 season. “Yes the 2017 season was cancelled. It’s a bit of a black eye. At the same time its forced us to face some things that we probably have ignored for far too long. We want to get things right in time for 2018.” The NPP Late Model Series has competed at 11 different race tracks since its inaugural season back in 2001. A majority of the race events have been held in Edmonton.