Huset's Speedway

Last updated
Huset's Speedway
Location Brandon, South Dakota, United States
Time zone UTC -6 (UTC-5 DST)
OwnerTod Quiring [1]
Broke ground1953
Opened1954
Major events All Star Circuit of Champions
World of Outlaws
$100,000-to-win 410 Sprint car show
$250,000 Gold Cup
Surface dirt
Length0.375 miles
Turns4
Upper grandstands Badlands Motor Speedway grandstands.jpg
Upper grandstands
Entrance while named Badlands Motor Speedway Badlands Motor Speedway entrance.jpg
Entrance while named Badlands Motor Speedway
The flagstand, lower grandstands, and infield Badlands Motor Speedway flagstand lowergrandstands infield.jpg
The flagstand, lower grandstands, and infield
Ticket booth Badlands Motor Speedway ticket booth.jpg
Ticket booth

Huset's Speedway (formerly known as Badlands Motor Speedway) is a 3/8-mile dirt oval racetrack located in Brandon, South Dakota, United States. Its name was changed to Badlands in 2015 when it was sold to Chuck Brennan, the owner of the Badlands Entertainment Group. [2] [3] The track opened in the 1950s. [3] In the 2016 season, the track was also used as a concert venue as well as hosting monster truck, tractor pulling and Endurocross events. [4] [5] The track hosted a 2015 World of Outlaws Sprint car tour race. [6] In 2016, the tracks hosted a $100,000-to-win 410 Sprint car show [7] and a $250,000 Gold Cup sprint car race. [8] The track closed in 2017 and reopened in 2020.

Contents

History

Huset's Speedway (1953–2014)

The track was carved from a soybean field by farmer / businessman Til Huset in 1953. [9] The track opened in 1954 and ran in 1955 before he shut it down for 1956 and 1957. [9] The track reopened in July 1958 after Huset sold the track to the Sioux Falls Stock Car Association. [9] The association was formed by drivers who were boycotting the nearby Soo Speedway track. [9] The track began running sprint cars weekly in 1980. [9] The World of Outlaws national tour ran their sprint cars at the track in April 1983 and it was won by Sammy Swindell. [9] The association ran the races until it sold the track in 1988 to Clarence Rubin and his sons Greg and Steve. [9] When NASCAR driver Tony Stewart came to race a sprint car in 2013, the track was sold beyond grandstand capacity and fans had to sit on a hill or pay for infield passes with an estimated attendance well over 10,000. [9] Stewart needed a police escort to get into the facility. [9] The Rubin family ran the track until 2015. [9]

Badlands Motor Speedway (2015–2017)

In 2016, Badlands Speedway underwent a $6 million renovation including new suites, concession stands, restrooms, updated seating area, HD video boards and lighting system. Tom Savage was hired as one of the track's assistant General Manager in 2015. He was later promoted to General Manager in 2016. [10] Bryan Clauson won his final sprint car race at a July 31 All Star Circuit of Champions race at Badlands before he died one week later. [9]

Badlands hired the owner and manager of the I-90 Speedway near Hartford, South Dakota, which had closed. Lyle Howey, its owner for the last 10 years along with his wife Dawn, has become assistant general manager of facilities at Badlands instead. Howey will handle track preparation and Dawn will also be an employee. He was rookie of the year at Huset's Speedway in 1995. [11]

According to long-term owner Steve Rubin, "All of the senators have been here, the governors, many dignitaries" have attended races or other events. The raceway hosted big concerts in the 1970s and 1980s. Per Rubin, "When we had the Beach Boys here in 1982, we had over 14,000 people then. Willie [Nelson] drew 12,000 and there were over 10,000 for Ricky Nelson". [2]

The youngest winner in the track's 60+ year history is Jayden Larson, who won a B-Modified feature race in September 2015, as a 12-year-old. He had obtained clearance from the United States Racing Association to race without having a driver's license. [12] [9]

Closure (2017–2020)

Badlands Motor Speedway was shut down as of May 18, 2017 [13] and on June 11, 2018, Minnehaha County Planning and Zoning informed Brennan that the conditional-use permit that allowed the racetrack to operate over the years had expired, which would have hindered the ability to sell the track to a new owner. [14]

The zoning issue was resolved, but by late 2018, the owner of Badlands Speedway announced plans to demolish the racetrack if a sale agreement was not reached by the end of the year. Those plans were put on hold to give the previous owner, Steve Rubin, time to try and secure the needed financing to reacquire the racetrack. In the meantime, Lyle and Dawn Howey reopened I-90 Speedway in 2019 under new management. In 2020, Brennan announced that he wanted to host a two day show "if permitted by various government entities. We do not care if it is in June, July, August, or September, whenever we get the all clear from local, state, and federal authorities." [15]

Huset's Speedway (2020–)

The track was sold in mid-July 2020 to Tod Quiring, [1] the owner of the Jackson (MN) Motorplex; he announced an August reopening date as well as restoring historic Huset's name to the track. [1] The first race at the track was a $20,000-to-win All Star Circuit of Champions race on August 2, 2020. [1] The All Stars circuit returned for the first time since 2014 and the fifteenth time overall. [1]

National Tours Racing at the Track

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte Motor Speedway</span> Motorsport track in North Carolina, USA

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, 13-mile (21 km) outside Charlotte. The complex features a 1.500 mi (2.414 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, and the Bank of America Roval 400. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports with Greg Walter as track president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Auto Club</span> Auto racing sanctioning body in the United States

The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. Today, USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprint car racing</span> Auto racing with small, high-powered vehicles

Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Motor Speedway</span> Motorsport track in the United States

Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all-concrete surface, two pit roads, Different turn radii, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speedway Motorsports</span> Motorsport venue owner and operator

Speedway Motorsports, LLC is an American company that owns and manages auto racing facilities that host races sanctioned by NASCAR, IndyCar Series, NHRA, World of Outlaws and other racing series. The company was founded by Bruton Smith and has its headquarters at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in Concord, North Carolina, just north of Charlotte. Speedway Motorsports owns nine racing facilities with a combined seating capacity of approximately 885,000. In addition to operating racetracks, Speedway Motorsports owns Performance Racing Network (PRN), U.S. Legend Cars International, and co-owns Motorsports Authentics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohsweken Speedway</span>

The Ohsweken Speedway is a 3/8 mile dirt track in the village of Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada. Ohsweken’s weekly Friday night racing program runs from May to September each year, featuring 360 Sprint Cars, Crate Sprint Cars, Thunder Stocks, and Mini Stocks, while the season finishes each year with the annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals. Ohsweken Speedway also hosts weekly Micro Sprint racing on Thursday nights, and hosted the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series from 2007 until 2017.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058-mile (1.703 km) oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.600-mile (2.575 km) road course, which includes much of the oval.

Concord Speedway was a motorsports facility located in the town of Midland, North Carolina, southeast of Concord, North Carolina. The complex featured a 12-mile asphalt tri-oval and a 14-mile asphalt oval.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennerstown Speedway Complex</span> Auto racing venue

Jennerstown Speedway Complex is a racetrack in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania. Built on land that was once home to the Jenners Fair the track had its start in the 1920s as a flat, half-mile dirt track. After several changes, advancements and owners the track closed in 2009 until early 2014 when it was reopened. It is a NASCAR certified track, racing greats such as Dale Earnhardt, Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader, and Darrell Waltrip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iowa Speedway</span> Motorsport track in the United States

Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately 30 mi (48 km) east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretch. The premiere event of the track is the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend held yearly in July since its inaugural running in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Lasoski</span> American sprint car racing driver

Danny "The Dude" Lasoski is an American sprint car racing driver from Dover, Missouri.

The 4-17 Southern Speedway is an asphalt, 3/8th mile racetrack located in Punta Gorda, Florida, United States. The track was built in 1990 by LeRoy Davidson who operated it until 1995. It started off its life playing host to Super Late Models, late models, sprint cars, sportsmen, open wheeled modified, FASTRUCK, FASTKIDS, and several other types of racing. It sported one of the largest fields of late models in the South. The track was featured several times on the cover of Circle Track Magazine as one of the top circle tracks in the South Eastern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford Plains Speedway</span> 3/8 mile racetrack in Oxford, Maine, USA

Oxford Plains Speedway is a 3/8 mile racetrack located in Oxford, Maine. Established in 1950, the track was originally a half mile before being shortened to a 3/8 mile track. With 14,000 seats, the speedway has the largest seating capacity of any sporting venue in Maine. The main race held there is the HP Hood Oxford 250, which has run under various sanctions over the years; in the early 1990s, the race was a combination race between the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Busch North Series, but it later became an American Canadian Tour Late Model race, and now a Pro All Star Series Super Late Model race. The 250 green flag lap race has often featured stars from NASCAR's three national series, even when it was not an Xfinity championship race in the early 1990s, as it is currently held during the NASCAR late-summer off week. Among the NASCAR stars who have raced the annual Oxford 250 are 17 drivers who have won NASCAR Cup Series majors, with eleven of them Sprint Cup Series champions, and five of those are now NASCAR Hall of Fame members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macon Speedway</span>

Macon Speedway, located in Macon, Illinois is one of Illinois's premier dirt ovals. It is also one of the longest continuously-operating racetracks in the state.

<i>World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars</i> 2010 video game

World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars is a racing video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was developed by Big Ant Studios and published by THQ. It features 12 Tracks from the World of Outlaws schedule and 20 drivers such as, Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz. It features 8 player online racing with 5 multiplayer modes. In the US it was released for Xbox 360 on February 9, 2010 and the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store on May 11, 2010. In Australia, it was released on June 21, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rico Abreu</span> American racing driver

Rico Emanuel Abreu is an American professional dirt track and sprint car racing driver. Abreu won the 2014 USAC National Midget Series championship, and previously competed in the K&N Pro Series East in 2015 scoring one win.

Doug Wolfgang is a retired American racing driver. He holds 140 World of Outlaws sprint car series wins, 37 All Star Circuit of Champions wins, and is a five-time Knoxville Nationals champion and two-time Kings Royal winner. He finished second in the Outlaws standings four times and had four seasons with over ten wins.

The 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series season is the 39th season of the winged sprint car series in North America. The season began with the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park on February 17, and will end with the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway on November 4. Donny Schatz entered the 2017 season as the defending series champion. Schatz won the series championship for the 9th time in 2017.

Shane M. Golobic is an American professional dirt track racing driver. He competes in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and United States Auto Club (USAC) National Midget Series for Matt Wood Racing. Prior to racing nationally, much of his dirt racing participation came in his home state of California, which included winning track championships and the California Sprint Car Civil War Series in 2014.

Michael "Buddy" Kofoid is an American professional dirt track and stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the USAC National Midget Series and POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series, driving for Keith Kunz Motorsports. He is the 2021 and 2022 USAC National Midget Series champion. He also competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 51 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports, and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 15 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports. He also has competed with the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint car Series. He collected his first Win at Husets Speedway on June 23rd 2022.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Truex, Tim (July 14, 2020). "ASCoC To Headline Huset's Reopening With $20k-To-Win". FloRacing . Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Huset's Speedway ends 60-year run in Brandon". Argus Leader. April 27, 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Huset's Speedway Sold". KELO-TV. April 21, 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  4. "Weezer, Panic! At The Disco to play at Badlands Speedway". Argus Leader. January 15, 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  5. "Badlands Speedway promises big bucks, monster trucks". Argus Leader. September 13, 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  6. "The Down & Dirty: Huset's Speedway". World of Outlaws. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  7. Cody, Ricky. "Badlands Motor Speedway Yields Mixed Reactions". KDLT. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  8. Clark, Cat (21 May 2016). "Badlands Motor Speedway Preparing For Grand Opening". KELO. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Savage, Tom (August 22, 2018). "The Fast and the Curious: Best-ever moments in Huset's Speedway history". Argus Leader . Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  10. "Badlands Motor Speedway Promotes Tom Savage to General Manager | Performance Racing Industry". performanceracing.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-09.
  11. David Nicholson and Gale Pfifer (April 1, 2016). "I-90 Speedway near Hartford ceasing operations". Argus Leader and Madison Daily Leader.
  12. Jill Johnson (September 8, 2015). "12-Year-Old Makes History At Huset's Speedway". KDLT News. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  13. "Badlands Motor Speedway Suspends Racing | Badlands Motor Speedway". Archived from the original on 2017-09-02. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  14. "Badlands Motor Speedway No Longer for Sale". 11 June 2018.
  15. Savage, Tom (April 20, 2020). "South Dakota speedway plans racing event with 700 spectators; Gov. Noem urges fans not to attend". Argus Leader . Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  16. AMSOIL Championship Snocross Announces the 2022-2023 Season Schedule

Coordinates: 43°34′14″N96°35′00″W / 43.57059°N 96.5834°W / 43.57059; -96.5834