Memorial race brings kart racing community to Regina

WATCH: The Cody Grimes Memorial Race took place over the weekend at Regina’s WF Botkin Raceway.

In recognition of a key volunteer in the kart racing community, the Cody Grimes Memorial Race took place over the weekend at Regina’s WF Botkin Raceway.

Organized by the South Sask. Kart Club, the event brings in drivers from across Saskatchewan and Manitoba who participate in different levels of races, while paying tribute to Grimes.

“Cody Grimes is one of our founders of the club. He obviously invested his time and money into building the track we see here today,” shared Braden Masse, member of South Sask. Kart Club.

“He passed away a couple of years ago, sadly, after a failed transplant. He was a big pillar of the club and every memorial weekend is Cody Grimes memorial weekend to honour his legacy, put on the stickers, race in his honor. It’s an important weekend for the club.”

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The former racetrack was located near Lumsden.

Since being built in 2017, Masse said the 1.2 km track has opened up many opportunities for the community of kart drivers.

“This allowed us to choose the weekends we want to race, when we want to race, how we want to race,” he explained.

“The garages around us enable the drivers, the mechanics and all the members involved to bring out their cars, have their carts easily accessible, kind of reduces that accessibility risk and making sure that we can be involved in the sport.”

A longstanding member of the club and former president, Sam Ferris, said he’s proud of the community’s growth over the years.

“Before we moved [to this track] we were on the order of 25 members. I think we’re up to the order of 65 members,” he said. “We usually get about 40 out at any time for driving. We’ve got a number of drivers from Winnipeg area and some from Saskatoon this weekend because it’s a two-day race.”

Although the memorial race has wrapped up, more races will be happening at the track this season.

More details can be found on the club’s website.