Thunder in the Thousand Islands

As a direct descendant of the famed Watertown Speedway, the Can-Am Speedway was built in 1974 by an Evans Mills, NY real estate broker, Leslie W. Brown. The track lasted one year under this ownership and Brown filed for bankruptcy.

Early in 1975, a group of Watertown NY investors purchased the track — Bob Thurston Sr., Douglas Atkinson, and Thomas Coughlin. In 1981, Bob Thurston Sr. bought out the other two and became the sole owner.

The Thurston family owned the track during the glory years of the '80s and '90s. Thurston was responsible for bringing Can-Am under the DIRTcar Racing banner during the winter of 1982-83. The Thurston family did a remarkable job with the speedway, rebuilding the VIP towers after a vicious storm hit the track in 1995. With the help of many people around the racing community, the track was back up and running in just three weeks.

John Wight, of Baldwinsville, NY purchased the track in the summer of 2000. Wight had big plans for the speedway and introduced the Big Block Modifieds as the top class at the speedway. Wight eventually sold the track to Charlie and Billy Caprara from the F.X. Caprara car companies late in the 2003 season. The track would now be known as Caprara Bros. Can-Am Motorsports Park.

Just a couple of months into the 2009 season, the Capraras sold the track to long-time racer and Rochester businessman Tiger Chapman and his wife who currently still own it.