By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Briney Motorsports is celebrating its new expanded location Friday and Saturday with a grand opening.
The business, which is now located a 1000 E. Highway 40 bypass, carries UTVs, ATVs, personal watercraft, and racing parts and accessories.
Owner Billy Briney said the business outgrew its former location on Eighth Street in Hays when the company became a Can Cam ATV and UTV dealer.
The building on Eighth Street was about 5,000 square feet compared to the 18,000-square-foot-building the Brineys are now leasing on the bypass.
Briney is also now a Sea-Doo dealer. The company provides sales and service for both brands and service for all UTV, ATV and personal watercraft models.
Briney will rent Sea-Doos and trailers this summer. You can also pick up watercraft accessories, such as lifejackets, towables, tubes and tow ropes at the business.
“We do the winterizing and the service of the (Sea-Doos), and now we can offer storage for the winter,” Briney said. “So we can put together a whole package, drop it off at the end of the year when you’re done with it, forget about it until it is time to go back on the water and we will have it ready for you.”
The business also can do high-performance upgrades for UTVs and ATVs.
“We are a full dealership,” Briney said. “We want everyone to know we do work on everything. No matter what it is. Bring it in here, and we’ll take care of them.”
Billy, who grew up in Ness City, was an off-road racer who converted his hobby into a career. He and his wife, Jodi, travel to local tracks to offer parts, fuel and tires to racers up and down Interstate 70. The couple opened their first brick-and-motor store in Hays in 2015.
“We have expanded. It went from me sitting there by myself every day in the store to we have my wife here full time now. … Alongside that, we now have four full-time employees,” Billy Briney said.
The mobile portion of their business will continue. However, the new building will allow Briney to expand his racing parts inventory. Briney is also ramping up his online business for people who are used to working with the mobile store at the track but might not be able to make it to Hays in between races.
“We are going to keep that same service,” he said. “I know I have heard people say people get bigger and the service goes away. That’s not going to happen here. I pride myself on everyone being happy when they leave here, and that is how it is going to stay.”
In addition to working with racers at RPM Speedway on a regular basis, the Brineys sponsored two UTV races at Bunker Hill this year. They hope to sponsor another event in 2019.
The grand opening will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday with a Hays Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting at 4 p.m. Friday.
The store will have 10 percent off storewide and $300 toward accessories if you by a new machine during the grand opening. People can enter both days for a drawing at 2 p.m. Saturday. Some of the prizes include action cameras, free service and a watercraft rental. The business will also give away T-shirts.
The store has expanded its regular hours to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. The service department is closed on Saturday. Contact the business at 785-301-2678.