The wildfires on the island of Maui resulted in Paradise Speedway Maui cancelling its race on August 12 and its King of the Dirt event held during Labor Day weekend. Instead, the staff of the Kihei, Hawaii, dirt oval is focusing on helping their neighbors in need.
“We are thankful that there is no loss of life for our racers, but a few drivers lost everything,” said Christopher Seeley, of Paradise Speedway Maui. “One lost his business. Others lost all their cars and trailers. There are so many others doing so much worse. The loss of vehicles does not compare to loss of life.”
FEMA has taken over the area where the speedway is located to stage the relief effort. Part of that relief effort includes the racing community.
“Tim Nay [the director of the speedway] has been on the frontline running heavy equipment in Lahaina,” Seeley said. “All of our motorsports ohana [family] are doing whatever they can in any way they can to help others.”
The racing community’s urge to help others reflects the spirit of Paradise Speedway Maui.
“At the track, our motto is, ‘Racing to be kind to others,’” said Seeley. “We are humble people. That is the way Hawaii works. Everything is a communal effort.”
Prior to the wildfires breaking out, Paradise Speedway Maui enjoyed unprecedented growth this season.
“Car counts were up, and lots of cars were in development,” Seeley said. “Now, we are beholden to more important things than racing.”
That includes a loss of life that Seeley expects to grow to staggering numbers.
“Responders have only found bodies of people outside,” said Seeley. “They haven’t entered buildings yet.”
When the wildfires wind down and the local community begins to rebuild, Paradise Speedway Maui expects to be right there.
“We will regroup in the future,” Seeley said. “Then, we will be competing with a heavy heart the rest of the way.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
