CRA Announces SpeedFest 2015 Dates at Watermelon Capital Speedway
Area Businessman Wayne Lyle Takes Over Track Ownership and Promotion
August 19, 2014
Salem, Indiana (August 19, 2014) – Champion Racing Association officials and the new
management at Watermelon Capital Speedway have released the dates for SpeedFest
2015. The prestigious pre-season event featuring Super Late Models and Pro Late
Models will be held on Saturday, January 24th and Sunday, January 25th. As is tradition,
this event is held the weekend prior to the Super Bowl every year. This will be the 4th
straight year that SpeedFest has been held at Watermelon Capital Speedway, which is
located in Cordele, Georgia.
“We are very excited to have SpeedFest at Watermelon Capital Speedway again and to
work with new Promoter Wayne Lyle,” remarked R.J. Scott, managing Partner with CRA.
“He is taking over the reins for Marvin Ragan down there, and we are very pleased to go
back to Cordele and interact with all the great staff, racers and fans.”
Lyle, a local business owner with interests in farming, trucking and logistics, sees the
acquisition of the track as an extension of his passion for racing. “I first drove a race car
on an asphalt track at Cordele three years ago,” noted the father of three and grandfather
of six. “I liked it, so I bought the track. I currently drive #20 Super Street and own or
sponsor an outlaw late model, super street, enduro and bandolero cars that compete at
Watermelon Capital Speedway.”
In his early years, Lyle served as an engineer for both GM and Ford. He has been married for 42 years to his wife Flo…conveniently a NASCAR fan.
The new track owner has laid out plans for the future of the facility, to go with some improvements they have already started. “I am pleased with the progress so far,” Lyle commented recently. “I plan to make the facility into a multi-event complex which will benefit the people of this area, especially the youth. We have started upgrades on the tower, plan on increasing seating, adding new washrooms, upgrading the concession areas and possibly adding a mud bogging, go-cart and ATV courses. We are also considering concerts to showcase the many talented people from our area. We will be updating our website very soon and adding a marketing consultant. We hope to bring renewed enthusiasm back to short track asphalt racing in our area and we certainly look forward to hosting CRA’s SpeedFest for many years to come as a kick off to our yearly season.”
SpeedFest 2015 will once again consist of an ARCA/CRA Super Series Powered by JEGS special non-points event and a JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance special non-points event. Additional information about SpeedFest 2015 will be released at a later date.
Additional Track information can be found at www.watermeloncapitalspeedway.com
Additional information on all the CRA Series can be found at www.cra-racing.com
Watermelon Capital Speedway TRACK FACTS:
The track is a D shaped banked paved oval situated on 100 acres located along I-75 at exit 104, near Cordele, Georgia. The manager is Eddie MacDonald, a former racer who has been associated with the track since it was converted from dirt to asphalt 20 years ago. His phone # is 229-938-8814.
There is a population of 15,702,081 with 5,930,252 households within a 200 mile radius, and the track is centrally located between Atlanta, Montgomery, Birmingham and Jacksonville, providing travel times less than 4 hours. The climate is conducive to year round activities.
