With another season set to start at the Estevan Motor Speedway, President Brad Pierson says he's excited to once again welcome back the fans to the track.

"Auto racing really isn't a huge thing in Saskatchewan or Canada, especially dirt track racing," said Pierson, who is busy preparing for the first race of the season on Saturday night. "But our fans have seen it for decades and decades at many different venues in Estevan, and we just have very diehard fans."

"Great fans from Estevan and great fans from all of our supporting communities."

Pierson added that the COVID-19 pandemic had lingering effects on their operation and they're hoping they can put all of that in the rear view mirror this season.

"It's been a really tough I think three full seasons. Anywhere from being restricted on our fanbase, to not having U.S. drivers, all those sorts of things," Pierson said. "We're proud of everyone and all of our fans from the speedway for getting through those last three years. Not only keeping a quality show on the track, but also for not going broke."

"We're just looking forward to normalcy again and couldn't be more excited about getting a lot of our U.S. drivers back in the saddle. And by the sounds of it, the numbers are going to be huge for them coming."

Pierson said the popularity of the Estevan Motor Speedway stretches far beyond just southeast Saskatchewan.

"When you go outside Estevan, whether you're in Minot, Mandan, Williston, Boone Iowa...people know and love this track. Racers, it's one of their favourite tracks," Pierson said. "That's what's going to propel us so far this year, is with people being able to get back here and they're taking advantage of it."

"I think the more people we can get out, then they see the quality that we're putting on out there, our fanbase will just continue to grow," Pierson said. "I honestly believe it's Estevan's, southern Saskatchewan's, and Canada's best kept secret."

Saturday's first race starts at 7 p.m.