South Bruce Peninsula council is modifying the regulations for Sauble Speedway.
Co-owner Mark Dilley appeared before council to request additional operating hours, including allowing pre-race practicing to begin an hour earlier on Saturdays, with 3pm start times approved.
Dilley also requested and received five specific early start times of 1pm on long weekends, including the August 4 Battle at the Beach, which is planned to be nationally televised in Canada on Sportsnet, as well as in the United States on MAVTV.
Dilley says it's a big opportunity, not only for the race track, but for Sauble Beach.
"It'll go to a million, over a million, viewership between Canada and the United States, which is big, it's big for Sauble, I don't know, I don't think they've ever had a televised race out of here," says Dilley. "They usually, on the openings, if everything goes as planned, they'll shoot the beach area and the front area and pump it up as a real destination."
It wasn't all victories for Dilley, as council turned down his request for additional practice hours, opting to keep mid-week practices to four-hour afternoon slots on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Mayor Janice Jackson says council heard quite a bit of feedback from residents around the track who did not want the track operating beyond its current limits, and they had to draw the line.
"I think when they kind of wanted to push the envelope as far as time is concerned, then the community stepped forward and just said, 'Listen, I think we've been really patient and supportive of the race track but we don't necessarily want to suffer through a 50% of an increase in noise,'" says Jackson.
A requirement of Sauble Speedway's operating license mandates that noise testing is carried out at the track and on selected neighbouring properties this year, to determine if noise mitigation measures are needed.
Dilley says they are more than willing to work with their neighbours.
"Our intention is to try and work with everybody we can, we're here to run a business, not try and drive everyone crazy," says Dilley. "We'll work and do what we can to try and make everyone happy."