Races resume at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville

The sound of fast cars and loud engines may be a disruption for some neighborsliving nearthe Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville, but for Emanuel Chavez, the vibrationsemanating fromthe Ocean Speedway bring back memories.

“My grandpa used to take us when we were little go check out the races,” said Chavez.

A car ethusiast, Chavez said the noise doesn’t bother him and if he wants peace and quite he just goes inside.

“As soon as you open the door you can hear them. But when all the windows are closed you can’t hear anything,” said Chavez.

But not everyone agree. In 2011, a neighborhood group sued the fairgrounds and Ocean Speedway over noise and traffic issues.

Last year, a settlement was reached and both sides had to give a little.

“We have a10 o’clock curfew – used to be 11 o’clock. And we’re down to 25 events -we used to run 30 events. And we’re at 90 decimals opposed to 95 that we were in the past,” said John Prentice, track promoter.

It’s the second week into the race season and so far speedway staff said fans are adjusting.

“I think they’re happy the lawsuits over. And I think they’re happy they know the speed way is going to be here,” said Prentice.