The Vault
1999 – RACING RETURNED TO OSHKOSH AFTER 21 YEARS AT THE ZONE
Posted on: Sunday March 6, 2022
Editor’s note……..I recall covering some Winnebago County board meetings while a journalism student at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh back in 1990 and the talks about building this race track in Oshkosh were already in the works.
This welcome letter penned by Dave Panske appeared in the souvenir program from the track’s inaugural season in 1999. The track closed in 2017 and the events that led up to that will likely be for a future story or podcast. Way too many angles to cover here right now.
Times were different and one of those points was that in 1999 the daily newspapers were still a vital part of how folks received their news. The Oshkosh Northwestern reporter Doug Zellmer was sort of the unofficial “racing beat” reporter for the paper and provided ample coverage of the track (at least in the early days) of the track’s existent.
Evidence of that was the reprinting in the program of a pair of feature stories from the Northwestern on a pair of Oshkosh racers who were coaxed out of retirement with the new Oshkosh oval – Rick Amundson and Charlie “Tuna” Ewald. Enjoy………..
Oshkosh Speed Zone souvenir program from 1999.
WELCOME TO SUNNYVIEW SPEED ZONE RACEWAY
By Dave Panske
Welcome,
On behalf of Odyssey Productions Inc. I would like to welcome you to the opening of the new Sunnyview Speed Zone Raceway, and the start of a new era of stock car racing here in the city of Oshkosh and Winnebago County.
Stock car racing has not been a part of our city since the old Leo’s Speedway closed its doors back in 1978. Now, here we are, almost 21 years later, with a brand-new facility that is second to none in the state.
When the current plans were put into place two years ago for this latest attempt to get the racetrack built, I contacted several people to form Odyssey Productions Inc. to help get the plans put together, and then had to bid on running the track if we were successful in getting the project off the ground. In March, 1998 the county board approved the project and a bonding issue was set in place for the construction of the facility before you now.
We had the opportunity to build, from scratch, a facility for racing. Many of the tracks in the state were converted from horse racing when racing cars started in the 1950s. The sport has seen many changes in the 40 years since then, and it is more exciting than ever.
Part of the Rick Amundson story in the 1999 program.
We are proud to present to you a weekly racing program unlike any other. We will bring two divisions weekly, the close competition and speed of the IMCA modifieds. This division is credited with “saving” racing in the early ‘70s with a set of tight rules that eliminated the high cost of racing. It enabled the average person to build a car and compete with the “high dollar” racers.
This division has gotten to almost 200 registered drivers within a 60-mile radius of the Zone. Along with modifieds, the Zone street stocks will provide the open competition for a beginning class and the excitement that the “rookie” drivers provide.
In our efforts to bring in different competition, the members of Odyssey decided to alternate a third division to not only give more drivers a chance to try the track out, but more importantly give you, the fans, a different show every week.
The high-powered UMP late models, IMCA stock cars and open class cars from Beaver Dam will each make five appearances here this season. For the open wheel fans, the IRA sprinters will take to the track for two special Sunday night races on July 18 and September 12. The Badger Midgets will invade the track during this year’s county fair for a special event Saturday, August 14. The Pro 4 mini stocks and MSA sprint cars are also included in this year’s schedule.
Odyssey Productions would like to thank all the many people involved in this project, too many to chance missing someone. We will be doing several things throughout the season to make their contributions known.
This has been a labor of love for us, one that we have been encouraged to pursue over the past few years.
We hope you enjoy the beautiful, new Sunnyview Speed Zone Raceway, and hope you will make this a part of your weekly racing schedule.
Welcome and thanks again,
Dave Panske, president of Odyssey Productions Inc.
Both editions of “Life In The Past Lane” cover extensively the history of racing at both Leo’s Speedway and Oshkosh Speedzone. Both books are for sale at this website. Click on the upper left corner of the website on the “books” tab.