The Scoop
PRE-SEASON BRAT FRY’S – THE SHEBOYGAN-AREA RACING TRADITION CONTINUES IN ’22
Posted on: Friday February 11, 2022
Flyers like this one for MSA 360 driver Brandon McMullen help promote the popular brat fry’s which are common in the Sheboygan area prior to race season.
The tradition of pre-season brat fry’s for Plymouth and Sheboygan area-based race teams remains strong heading into the 2022 season.
And with Sheboygan being known nationally as the ‘home of the bratwurst’ many of these race teams parlay that local tradition into events that include everything from raffles, race car unveilings, cornhole and miniature bowling tournaments. It’s a party to kick off the racing season and build excitement and showcase their sponsors as they raise money for their respective racing programs.
Some teams, mainly open wheeled sprint cars, have been hosting brat fry’s regularly for a couple of decades now. But the tradition of hosting brat fry’s actually began even earlier than that. “The tradition used to be that Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car (EWSC) would host a brat fry that coincided with a huge pre-season car show every year when they ran the weekly races at Plymouth,” said veteran track announcer Eric Mueller. “When Eastern stopped doing their annual pre-season one around 15 years ago or so a lot of teams kept the ball rolling by doing their own and raising money for their racing programs. They’ve done a good job with them.”
Random Lake late model veteran Brad “J.J.” Mueller added “I remember a time when there used to be three of them every weekend in the Sheboygan area from February to May. Dave Enders was pretty much the ambassador of the brat fry’s and his sisters got really involved with it. The open wheel guys still do it a lot.”
Mueller “flipped the script” a bit and hosted a “wing fest” a year ago where he sold over 3,100 chicken wings at Greg’s Tap.
“2022 will mark our team’s 21st year hosting a brat fry,” said sportmod racer Sheboygan’s Brad Lubach. “When we started doing them, we had a very minimal profit and now in these later years it’s quite successful.”
Lubach contributes that to the hard work of his family and numerous donations that pour in.
The business plan is simple. In some cases, the meat you grill can be donated by a sponsor. The bar, bowling alley or other establishment can provide the venue for hosting an event. Raffle prizes are rounded up and tickets sold. Proceeds raised at the brat fry’s go to help fund the racing teams.
Different activities have been built into each brat fry – which makes each one slightly unique. Most drivers use these brat fry’s as the perfect opportunity to unveil their new rides for the season,
“We’ve been doing our brat fry’s now for about ten years,” said third-generation racer Brandon McMullen, a Plymouth native who now resides in Oshkosh. “For us it’s a no brainer. We’ve got a lot of family and friends who step up to help with it. Our sponsor Antonio’s pushed to do it and while it’s a lot of work, we generate enough money that boosts our racing program for our (Midwest Sprint Association) MSA 360 program. It makes it very worthwhile.”
According to McMullen it takes a lot of manpower to host a brat fry. “We probably have anywhere from 25 to 30 people working the brat fry,” McMullen explained. “It’s a pretty strong core of family and friends who step up to help.” McMullen’s team includes people who man a cornhole tournament, a food stand, raffles and bar tenders. A sponsor of his Hopf Farms donates a good portion of the meat.
“We really do well with our bucket raffles,” McMullen pointed out. “It helps that we have good stuff including some Kyle Larson autographed items and NASCAR things. We use the brat fry to unveil our new sprint car and the new paint scheme. It’s a fun way for our fans and sponsors to get involved. We’re right in downtown Plymouth and we usually get over 500 people to roll through and stop in that day. Some of these sponsors were with my dad (Tim McMullen) over the years when he raced, too.”
Fellow 360 sprint car racer Brandon Berth of Cascade saw the revenue McMullen’s brat fry generated and decided to begin hosting his own starting in 2016. “For us we discovered it was an easier way for fans to support your racing program,” Berth explained. “Not everybody can afford to shell out $500 or $1,000 or more than that to sponsor a team. But they can come out to our brat fry’s and walk around the raffles and have a fun day with some drinks and food. Our goal is to get as many folks out there and it’s worked out well for us.”
The chance to win numerous door prizes draws folks to the pre-season brat fry’s.
The unveiling of the race cars paint scheme for the year is a big part of the brat fry for Berth’s racing program. “A couple of years ago we did a tribute to all first responders, and we incorporated that into the paint scheme and that was very well received,” said Berth, himself a volunteer fire fighter for the village of Waldo. “We get after it pretty hard promoting it though. We have a large team of family and friends who go around town and put up posters for this event. And with the raffles a lot of people go home with something pretty cool at the end of the day.”
The traditional pre-season brat fry’s like Brandon Berth’s from 2021, draw several hundred race fans hungry to get the season started.
To save a little money and personalize the prize pool a bit, Berth calls upon his dad to make customized bean bag boards as one example of the upping the ante for the raffle prizes. “We beat the bushes asking for donations but these customized things like the beat bag boards are a big hit with our brat fry too,” Berth explained. “I’ve actually picked up a couple of smaller sponsors who discovered us through the brat frys. So, it’s a win-win deal and a fun tradition we keep doing every spring.”
Want to support a racing team and have some food, fun, drinks and have a chance to snatch some cool door prizes? Check out some of the brat fry’s scheduled in the Plymouth area scheduled for the spring of 2022.
2022 EASTERN WISCONSIN BRAT FRY CALENDAR
Saturday, February 19 87A Hartmann Racing
Racer’s Hall & Charcoal Grill Plymouth, Wisconsin
Activities include Food, Drink, Raffles and $400-to-win cornhole tournament
Party starts at 11 a.m.
Saturday, February 26 Ben Schmidt Racing #35
Miniature Bowling Tournament & Brat Fry
Odyssey Fun Center Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin
Saturday March 5 Team 3K Brat Fry
1501 Union Avenue Sheboygan, Wisconsin
(held at the bag bar – party begins at 9:30 a.m.)
Saturday March 12 Brad Lubach Racing Brat Fry
The Gravel Pit Sports Bar & Grill
(party begins at 11 a.m. Activities include a mini bowling tournament)
Saturday, March 19 Brandon Berth Racing
Odyssey Fun Center Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin
Food, drink and raffles begin at 10:30 a.m.
Saturday March 26 McMullen Racing Brat Fry
Antonio’s Sports Bar & Grill Plymouth, Wisconsin
32 team cornhole tournament with a 100 percent payback bucket raffles Walk around raffles Begins at 10 a.m.
Saturday April 9 Frank Motorsports Racing Brat Fry
Odyssey Fun Center Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin
Bowling Tournament included which begins at 12:30 p.m.