Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
The old saying is, ” persistent pays off. ”
That adage might apply to Jeff & Tina Cassidy from Ayr who recently bought into the ownership structure at Sauble Speedway.
Sometime back in the Fall, Jeff Cassidy who is the General Manager of Highway Western Star Trucking, made a casual inquiry as to whether Sauble Speedway was for sale. He’d heard rumours.
Cassidy was told through the vine that ” no “, the current owner Paul Gresel had no intention of selling the track or any part of the operation.
A little time went by and Cassidy apparently called again and asked if the speedway was available for sale since the rumours were persisting.
Again Cassidy was told the rumours were false, but as another adage goes, ” everything is for sale…at the right price “.
Sometime after the first two forays, Cassidy took a lengthy site tour of Sauble Speedway with General Manager Joe Chisholm and then approached Gresel about becoming an owner or part owner.
This time, hand shakes were exchanged and I assume documents were signed and Sauble Speedway is now jointly owned by the Gresels and the Cassidys, 50-50.
Naturally there are questions.
One, can two equal owners co-exist equally well ? I don’t see why not
And two, based on the landscape we now find ourselves in, is a seasonal operation with built in obstacles already not a risky proposition ?
I doubt that too, since reports indicate Gresel had everything in place for when racing returns to Sauble Speedway plus the addition of Cassidy provides multiple layers of both race experience and highly successful business experience to the enterprise.
I’m Fred Wallace