New motorsports race track set to open this summer near Carstairs

It's been almost a decade since southern Alberta had a motorsports race track, but that will change this summer if all goes according to plan.

Race City Speedway, located next to a Calgary landfill,closed in 2011 and Rocky Mountain Motorsports has been trying to build a new one for six years.

It now hopes to start paving the privately funded$25 million project near Carstairs in the spring.

CEO Dominic Young says the project will run on memberships, and also be rented out.

"So 50 per cent of the track time will be dedicated exclusively to the membership, in terms of the other 50 per cent that'll be available for rental to different groups," he said.

"So I mentioned performance driving schools, that's a very important part of what we want to do is to have facilities that allow people to become better drivers. In addition to that you'll have clubs like the BMW club or the Corvette club or the Mustang club."

The track as laid out has been rated as formula two.

Drivers in southern Alberta have been forced to travelin order to get their racing fix over the past nine years.

"There is a track in Edmonton on the airport property, but it's a 600 kilometre drive, round trip obviously, and the next closest track is in the southern interior of B.C." said driving enthusiast Doug Hall.

He's so excited about the track that he recently drove over the roughly constructed course in his SUV to check it out.