<\/p>\n
Del Merritt admitted that it was \u201cemotional\u201d at first when he decided to sell Hermon\u2019s Speedway 95 to former NASCAR Cup Series winner Ricky Craven this summer.<\/p>\n
He knew it was bringing an end to a 57-year relationship\u00a0with the auto track,\u00a0which began when friend Dana Crockett invited him to be an assistant flagman there in 1968.<\/p>\n
Merritt had never even attended a race but said he liked being involved with the sport \u201cright away\u201d and still has passion for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone had told me 57 years ago that I would still be doing it, I would have told them they were nuts,\u201d said Merritt.<\/p>\n
He has come to terms with his decision to sell to Craven. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel more comfortable with it now,\u201d said Merritt. \u201cI\u2019ve seen what he has done out there. I see his interest in it so I\u2019ve relaxed some.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merritt will be involved in his final race weekend as the owner on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the annual Paul Bunyan Speed Weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a super weekend. We always do,\u201d said Merritt. \u201cI think I\u2019ll go out with a bang. Rick\u00a0will do a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has nothing but positive thoughts about the ownership change. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf I thought something\u00a0different, I never would have sold it,\u201d said the 80-year-old Merritt, a 1964 graduate of Bangor High School.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid I want to sell it? No. Did I have to sell it? No. But I think it\u2019s time. Everything has its time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
After serving as flagman and working in the pit area, Merritt eventually became a part-owner when he, Maynard (Red) Baker Sr. and wife Alice Baker, John Michaels and some minor investors bought the track for $200,000.<\/p>\n
Michaels would eventually sell his share to the Bakers and Merritt and, when Red Baker died in 1991, Merritt and Alice Baker co-owned it until she sold her share to him in 2011.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been fun. If I didn\u2019t enjoy it, I wouldn\u2019t have stayed in it as long as I have,\u201d said Merritt, a Maine Motorsports Hall of Famer. \u201cI enjoy the people and the racing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Del Merritt is selling the Speedway 95 race track to former NASCAR driver Ricky Craven from Newburgh. Credit: Linda Coan O\u2019Kresik \/ BDN<\/p>\n
Merritt also owns two restaurants, Judy\u2019s in Bangor and Cap\u2019s Tavern in Brewer, along with several apartments. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it has never been a big profit item,\u201d Merritt said about the track. \u201cI have other businesses that do far better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a hobby,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
And he knows he will miss it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I will be able to go there any time until Ricky throws me out. And I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to,\u201d Merritt said about Craven. \u201cWe talk every day. I\u2019m just going to try to keep him out of trouble. Or get him in trouble.\u201d <\/p>\n
Craven, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner from nearby Newburgh, has a long history with the track.<\/p>\n
\u201cDel is a wonderful human being,\u201d said Craven, who raced at Speedway 95 as did his mother, Nancy, and late father, Alan. \u201cHe has been a tremendous guardian and asset to me. We talk every morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alan Craven raced in the track\u2019s debut on July 3, 1966.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is 100 percent behind me,\u201d Ricky Craven said about Merritt. <\/p>\n
Craven said the most enjoyable part of making the purchase has been getting to know Merritt and confiding in him.<\/p>\n
Kim Baker Allen, Red and Alice\u2019s daughter and the track\u2019s long-time office manager, said Merritt has put \u201cblood, sweat and tears into this thing. Literally.\u201d <\/p>\n
Baker Allen called Merritt \u201can amazing guy.\u201d <\/p>\n
Unity Raceway owner Ralph Nason, who is the only driver to ever win three consecutive Oxford 250s (1998-2000), said Merritt has done an \u201cexcellent job\u201d running Speedway 95 and pointed out that he had several offers from construction companies who wanted to buy the track to use the land.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he was adamant that he wanted it to remain as a race track and he stuck to that,\u201d Nason said about Merritt. <\/p>\n
Craven has promised to keep it as a track for at least the next 10 years.<\/p>\n
Baker Allen said drivers and other people who enjoy Speedway 95 \u201chave come out of the woodwork\u201d to thank Merritt for keeping it a race track by selling it to Craven.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been amazing,\u201d Baker Allen said. \u201cHe cares deeply about the track.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nason said Merritt has always been reputable to deal with. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe has always done what he said he was going to do,\u201d Nason said. \u201cHe\u2019s a good guy. I\u2019m glad for him and I\u2019m glad for Rick.\u201d <\/p>\n
Racing is a passionate sport and tempers can flare.<\/p>\n
When Merritt was inducted into the hall of fame in 2022, Baker Allen said that he has taken his share of abuse from drivers, but never holds a grudge and will always welcome them back if they leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t have employees and drivers, we\u2019re nobody,\u201d Merritt said at the time. \u201cYou have to have thick skin. Everybody loses their temper once in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merritt admitted this week that the track has \u201chad its ups and downs,\u201d with both bad years and good years along the way.<\/p>\n
But he said he has no regrets.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot one,\u201d said Merritt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Del Merritt admitted that it was \u201cemotional\u201d at first when he decided to sell Hermon\u2019s Speedway 95 to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":291617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[149492,149494,104,728,1406,10814,149493,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-291616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-after-57-years-at-speedway-95","9":"tag-bangor-daily-news","10":"tag-breaking-news","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-nascar","13":"tag-newsbreak","14":"tag-owner-del-merritt-is-ready-to-pass-the-torch","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115349210413621264","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}