The Vault
1985 SEYMOUR SPEEDWAY RECAP
Posted on: Monday October 20, 2025
A REVIEW OF N.E.W. DIRT’S 1985 RACING SEASON
(Editor’s note: Although there is no byline listed, this story was most likely written by Dave Panske. Dave handled the club’s public relations, and wore many hats for the Sunday night show at Seymour, including serving as the track photographer.)
1985 dawned as the second year of operation for N.E.W. DIRT, the driver operated club that promotes the weekly stock car racing here at Seymour Speedway. Unlike the 1st season in 1984, this year’s officers went into the season much more organized and with specific goals in mind. Looking back on that first year, it was amazing that the club was still around to try for a second year.
The season opener was set for Memorial Day weekend, May 26, and all of the hard work was dampened by an all-day rain that forced officials to wait until the very last minute to try to get the show in. With everything else all weekend long rained out, the move turned out to be a good one, with both fans and drivers ready to go racing.
Defending 1984 late model champion Pete Parker of Kaukauna came through a tough feature field to claim the first feature win of the season. It was the only visit to the feature victory circle of the season for Parker, but he came through to place 4th in the final point standings. Shawano’s Jon Treptow picked up the first sportsman feature victory with Kelly Hafeman of Green Bay collecting the IMCA modified division main.
The following week, one of our regular competitors from the Milwaukee area had the thrill of his career. Bob Saleans won the feature event that night, and it was the first late model feature win of his career. That may not seem like much, but when your career spans over 22 years, it can be quite a thrill. Bob was a regular competitor during the entire season, and despite problems that kept him from a repeat win, he placed 10th in the final point standings. Larry Faucher of New London won his first sportsman main of the year, and former late model pilot, Chris Kollross of Green Bay, put his new IMCA racer into the victory circle for the first time.
The third night saw M.J. McBride of Shawano put his Miller Beer, John J. Mayer Insurance-sponsored Firebird into the feature win column for the first of what would be four trips there during the season. Treptow and Hafeman repeated their opening night feature wins.
Seymour Speedway was the sight of another first for the late model division when Chuck Buckbee of Shawano won the first feature race of his career since moving up to the late models ranks the year before. The June 30th crowd voiced their approval for a hard fought win. The sportsman feature once again went to Treptow, and it was the start of a five race string of wins for the Shawano driver. It enabled him to pull away to a comfortable lead in the point standings that carried throughout the remainder of the season, and to the season point championship for that division. Kollross picked up another win in the modifieds, the first of two back-to-back wins.
McBride came on to win his second feature of the year to close out the July 4th holiday weekend on July 7. He picked up another win July 28, but the string was interrupted on July 14 when Terry Anvelink of Navarino won his second feature of the year. Dave Ritchie of New London won his first IMCA modified feature of the year and managed to put together a string of three in a row to close out the season for that class.
Five special events spiced the season for fans and drivers alike throughout 1985. The popular IRA sprinters made their first of what was supposed to be a three-race series on Sunday night, June 16. The second race of the series took place July 14 and it was also their last race because the programs were not profitable enough for the sprinters, the final race was canceled by IRA.
Not to be outdone, the Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Association was contacted, and arrangements were made to run a dual program with their winged Super Modifieds August 18. The entire program was put together in less than two weeks, and despite a few problems that popped up during the program, a good show was put on by both groups.
One of the best nights of the year was on August 11, when the track hosted an NDRA series qualifying race. Several new drivers came to the track to race that night in the 30-lap feature, with Tom Steuding of Eau Claire edging out Terry Anvelink for the victory.
The final regular season program of the season was rained out which sealed track championships for the three divisions. McBride took top honors in the late models, Treptow had already sewn up the sportsman crown and Hafeman won the IMCA mod title.
The final event of the season was a first of its kind in northeastern Wisconsin. With the ever-growing popularity of enduros, N.E.W. DIRT officials decided to schedule an event for the big ½ mile track. This would be the first time one of these events was run on such a large track. Another twist, the race would be run at night, under the lights. 108 cars signed in to race in the 100 lap or two hour event. The success of the program made the final records for the season look very well, and a decision was made to start the 1986 season off with an enduro.
Many changes in the local racing scene took place over the long winter months. New proposals from NDRA would change the way the racing programs would be run. A decision was made to drop qualifying from the weekly events here in Seymour. Track packing was always a problem here, and the changes would keep the track in better shape for the racing program.
All races would be lined up by the draw, with the top three finishers in each heat making the feature lineup. This progressive-type racing program has been used for years in Iowa, and only time will tell if the system will work as well here.
So, with all of the plans made, it’s time to get ready for the finest in dirt track racing every Sunday night, right here at the Seymour Speedway. We hope you will tell your friends about the racing action here, and share your weekends with us in 1986.