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Dave and Joyce Mack named speedway Volunteers of the Year

Dave and Joyce Mack were inseparable in their love of local racing and as such, were inseperable when it came to choosing the Estevan Motor Speedway’s Volunteers of the Year.
Macks volunteers
Joyce and Dave Mack accept their award Saturday night.

Dave and Joyce Mack were inseparable in their love of local racing and as such, were inseperable when it came to choosing the Estevan Motor Speedway’s Volunteers of the Year.

The Macks accepted the award Saturday at the speedway’s annual awards night and banquet.

“Joyce and I are there together every race day, and I guess it wouldn’t be any other way,” said Dave Mack. “They told us they couldn’t recognize one without the other, so we’re very appreciative of that.”

The Macks have quite separate fields of expertise when it comes to what they’re doing on any particular race night.

“It’s anything from looking after the grounds and making sure the facilities are clean and functional,” said Dave Mack. “Joyce looks after the concession so she looks after the ordering of the food and getting her groups organized for setting of the food, and cooking and prepping.”

On race day it’s not uncommon for them to be there from 8 a.m. to whenever they’re done their tasks.

When it comes to the enjoyment of the experience, the track gives back every year.

“The real feel good moment … is our biggest race of the year when the Dakota Mod tour comes,” Dave Mack said. “We get to show off our facility. We have a world-class facility and we get people from every state in the U.S. and (province in) western Canada come in and they tell us. We’re very proud of that. We helped build it and help run it.  Nineteen years later we’re still accomplishing what we want to do.”

Joyce said that they will sometimes go to Minot, N.D. to watch the Dakota Mods tour stop there and come back home to turn the lights on at the EMS track so the haulers can find their way in the dark.

“It’s dark when they come and sometimes it’s one or two in the morning and it’s a way to welcome them to our racetrack,” Joyce Mack said. “It’s that feeling of camaraderie and spending time with people like (stock car driver) Joren (Boyce) who come and race every week. We know when he’s pulling into the yard… and everyone’s a team in that job.”

What keeps them going year after year – next year will be their 20th at the track – is the opportunity to work with people in the community and the chance to work together as a couple.

“(We like to see) all the fans, and all the people that come from the U.S., Canada and everywhere that come to see our race track,” said Joyce Mack. “And to have a good show for the people in our community.”

Dave Mack said the track is always trying to improve on how they do things.

“Everyone at the facility, we want it to run like clockwork,” he said. “We want everything done right. And it starts from days ahead right through the whole evening.”

Despite winning the award, they have no plans to stop helping out at the track in their various capacities.

“This is where we live, this is what we love to do and we volunteer to keep it going,” Dave Mack said.