Dells Raceway Park

Last updated
Dells Raceway Park
Panorama from turn 1 in 2015 Dells Raceway Park Panorama 2015 Falloween.jpg
Panorama from turn 1 in 2015
Panorama from turn 1 in 2015
LocationN1070 Smith Rd., Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin 53965
OwnerJerry Auby
Opened1958
Former namesDells Motor Speedway
Major eventsLyle Nabbefeldt Memorial, ARCA Midwest Tour Jim Sauter Classic 200, Icebreaker 100, Falloween 150, Dairyland 150, Badger State 125, Dick Trickle 99
oval
Surfaceasphalt
Length0.333 miles (0.536 km)
Turns4
Banking9 degrees (corners), 6 degrees (straights)
Race lap record13.080 seconds (Ty Majeski, , 2018, Super Late Model)

Dells Raceway Park (DRP), formerly known as the Dells Motor Speedway, is a car racing raceway located in the town of Lyndon, in Juneau County, north of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin just off of U.S. Route 12/Wisconsin Highway 16. It is a 1/3 mile asphalt track that is used for stock car racing. [1] The track has hosted races featuring the ARTGO Challenge Series, the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series, the ARCA Midwest Tour, the Mid-American Stock Car Series, the Wisconsin Challenge Series, the Must See Racing.com Xtreme Sprint Car Series, Alive for Five Series, TUNDRA Super Late Models, and the Central Wisconsin Racing Association. The track, which opened in 1958, sits on 38 acres (150,000 m2) of land.

Contents

The track closed during the middle of the 2006 season over a bank fraud case, but the track was purchased during the following off-season by a group of three investors led by Chicago businessman Joe Graziano, and that included one-time NASCAR driver and Dells area native Frank Kreyer. It reopened in 2007. [2] In 2012, Graziano sold the track to Rockford, IL businessman and race car builder Wayne Lensing. Lensing divided the property and built a campground to the south of the track. The track was sold to Jerry Auby on March 26,2021

Howard Johnson, one of the original track owners, like to call the track "Home of the Biggies". [1] The track has a reputation of being "what a short track should be." [1] Dick Trickle described driving the track, "You drop low in the corners and then drift high on the straights. You try to make the track into the roundest oval possible." [1]

Track shutdown in 2006

Bryan Severson, the owner of 5 County Towing in Reedsburg, bought the track from then owner Luke Herring in 2002. During the 2006 season, the track was having financial difficulties with paying the drivers, and by mid-July Severson shut down the track after his arrest on federal charges of bank fraud. Further investigation found that in 2002 and 2003, Severson had received bank loans from Mark Hardyman, the president of the First National Bank of Blanchardville, and used his towing business and Dells Raceway Park as collateral. To cover up the loans from the bank's board of directors, Severson had written several worthless checks worth millions of dollars. The bank eventually did collapse in 2003. Severson was sentenced in February 2008 to nearly 12 years in federal prison after being convicted of 28 felony counts. Severson was ordered to repay the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation about $6.4 million that he was responsible for in the intended loss to the bank, less about $700,000 the FDIC received from another bank that bought some of Severson's loans which used the track as collateral.

Lyle Nabbefeldt Memorial and special events

On May 26, 1973 Wisconsin Rapids driver Lyle Nabbefeldt lost control of his car entering turn one during time trials, crashed into the outside wall and was killed instantly. The Lyle Nabbefeldt Memorial began in 1974 as a tribute to the driver, and it became the Dells' annual marquee event until its last running in the late 1990s. The first running of the event was a 100-lap feature, but the feature format was changed the next year to running two 55-lap features with an overall champion being declared. The change was made to reflect the number 55s that Nabbefeldt ran throughout his racing career. Another unique part of the Nabbefeldt Memorial was the winner's trophy, known as the Nabbefeldt Traveling Trophy. The overall champion of the Nabbefeldt Memorial was allowed to keep the trophy until the following year's running of the race. If any one driver was able to win the Nabbefeldt Memorial three years in a row, that driver would take permanent possession of the trophy and a new one would be introduced. Dick Trickle won the event two years in a row on two occasions, but Rick Wateski is the only driver to have won the event three years in a row (1991/1992/1993). Wayne Lensing, the current owner of Dells Raceway Park, announced that The Nabbefeldt Memorial was being revived for 2015, as part of a series of CWRA Challenge Series races.

The track also announced two new marquee Super Late Model events in 2015. The first event was the Icebreaker 100, an event held in April before other tracks opened. The second event was the Falloween 150, which was held in late October after all other late model events in the state of Wisconsin had concluded.

In 2020, the Joe Shear Classic, normally held at Madison International Speedway, was held at Dells in September as a result of pandemic restrictions in Dane County that restricted Madison to one race in late August with spectators only on the hillside in vehicles. In September of 2021 the ARCA Midwest Tour stop at Dells Raceway Park became the Jim Sauter Classic, a 200-lap feature named in honor of the late veteran Necedah, Wisconsin racer.

In 2024, the National Short Track Championship moved from Rockford, IL after the track there was closed.

Track records

Notable weekly drivers

Images

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Grubba, Dale (2000). The Golden Age of Wisconsin Auto Racing. Oregon, Wisconsin: Badger Books. p. 173. ISBN   1-878569-67-8.
  2. ↑ Frandsen, Nate. "LOCAL AUTO RACING: 'New' DRP set to go". Portage Daily Register . Archived from the original on 2013-01-11. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  3. ↑ "2015 Super Late Model points". Dells Raceway Park. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2015.

43°40′34″N89°50′43″W / 43.67611°N 89.84528°W / 43.67611; -89.84528

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