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JULY 2017
DIVERSE SKILLS GUIDES COURSE AT FAST TIME GRAND PRIX “We met with the right Meeting the Right People, Creating a Complete Business Model and Staying Focused on the Prize Led to the Creation of Dream Race Track
people at the RDN who understood what we were trying to accomplish.” NORM SPANN OWNER, FAST TIME GRAND PRIX
P
A R KSV ILLE - Over the cou rse of thei r ca reers Doug McLean and Norman Spann have amassed a diverse set of skills and experience. McLean painted aircraft and worked in automotive collision repair; Spann in sales and management for a building supply company. On first look, it doesn’t seem like they would have much in common. But four years ago, the two men joined forces, combining their considerable expertise in the creation of Fast Time Grand Prix Outdoor Naskart Experience. It started 11 years ago at the Saratoga Speedway i n Black C re e k . S p a n n a n d h i s s o n , Aaron, who was racing a figure eight stock car were pitted next to McLean and his crew. When the Spann’s car developed some mechanical issues, McLean asked if he could help. “People at the track are always willing to help out,” McLean explained. “If you’re having trouble, there is always someone who is more than happy to give you a hand.” Doug helped Aaron get the car up and running again and later invited them up to his house to review the videos of the races with a group of friends. That started their friendship. After that it didn’t take the two men long to put their heads together and start etching out plans for what would eventually become Fast Time Grand Prix. “It ended up taking a lot longer than we thought it would,” said Spann. “There was a lot of political red tape and the Regional District of Nanaimo said no to the indoor concept.” “We almost gave up,” added McLean. “We just wanted to get started.”
They even looked into getting the indoor facility located in the City of Nanaimo. “A property in Nanaimo was advertising enough space for what we wanted. But it needed seismic upgrades and sprinkler systems so we asked the realtor for the blueprints. When we asked permission to access them, the owner wasn’t interested in leasing to us. It got to a point of feeling like someone was constantly putting up roadblocks,” said McLean. But although the roadblocks for putting together their dream indoor facility were plentiful, both men emphasized that there were some strong positives. “By the time the RDN approved the outdoor facility, we had put together a very thorough and complete business model,” said McLean. “We were constantly redoing it and taking it back in to the RDN so the plan was flawless. We had everything we needed.” Of course, they also had to build a scale model of the facility, pointing out that it had to look professional. On a sheet of plywood they added buildings, match box cars and, for the rubber tire crash guards lining the track, McLean cut individual pieces of an old fuel line to the size of tires. “One day Doug called me over to show me what he had built. It was pretty impressive and very close to scale.” McLean and Spann eventually changed their vision to satisfy the District’s requirements, altering it from a year-round facility to seasonal and from indoor to outdoor. “We met with the right people at the RDN who understood what we were trying to accomplish and though it was frustrating and a long process, they did come
The go-carts are momentum style - maintain your momentum, and you maintain your speed. CREDIT:FAST TIME GRAND PRIX
Last year, a group of about 15 Lamborghinis doing a fund raiser for kids and youth in Vancouver stopped by the track for a visit CREDIT:FAST TIME GRAND PRIX
through,” Spann said. “We got approval from the Regional District on March 26. Our goal was then to get the track up and running by May 31,” said McLean. “We did everything ourselves working 16 hour days. We hired some guys to help out and we hit our target. It took us 76 days.”
Congratulations Fast Time Grand Prix!
“When we first started, we had to bring in a bulldozer and it took a week of levelling, pushing off two feet of topsoil and then laying down gravel so the track would have proper drainage.” An existing portable building shell was turned into space for office, washrooms and customer area; two large shipping
Jason Kirouac, RD Full-Service Denture Clinic
containers were brought in for storage and a canopy installed in-between them for working on the go carts. “It has a carnival-like atmosphere,” said Spann. For the track design, McLean and Spann took very different routes to come up with the perfect track, with just the right curves,
Congratulations From all of us at Speedy Glass
Two Island Locations: Courtenay-
250-897-1884 250-723-1811
Port Alberni-
(250) 248-2220 716 Island Hwy E, Parksville www.speedautoglass.ca