The Scoop
CODY HUDSON – YOUNG BLOOD LEARNING SHAWANO’S TRACK PREP
Posted on: Tuesday June 17, 2025
Cody Hudson makes laps, prepping Shawano Speedway in the Sundrop-sponsored water truck.
If you look across the Midwest, most of the people handling the preparation of a dirt track typically tend to be an older demographic – often 50-plus.
Shawano’s Cody Hudson is out to break that mold. The 34-year-old last raced himself in 2022. In 2025, Hudson has stepped up, attempting to learn the often tricky task (or some may even consider it an ART) of dirt track prep.
For the past couple of seasons, Hudson has soaked up as much knowledge as he can from others who have put in long hours, making hundreds of laps with graders, water trucks, sheepsfoot, and other track packing equipment. It’s a task most youngsters will shy away from. Not Cody.
Cody’s a member of both the Shawano Ag Society and also the Shawano Speedway track’s racing committee. He’s part of a team that has faced significant adversity lately, as new clay was added yet this sprint at the half-mile, clay oval.
“Basically, I decided to help get involved with this because I don’t see anyone in our younger generation doing this stuff,” Hudson admitted. “I want to see this succeed at Shawano Speedway. It’s my home track. Hopefully down the road, some of us younger guys can also learn this craft and make it work.”
According to Hudson, the racing enthusiasts on the racing committee would have much preferred to get that new clay laid down on Shawano Speedway last Fall compared to this Spring. “We wanted to put the clay down last Fall, but there was a combination of reasons why that clay couldn’t be laid down when we wanted to do it,” Hudson explained. “The money wasn’t there. It was too wet. Combine that with the time frame and the planning aspect. Last Fall, unfortunately, it just didn’t add up for us at Shawano.”
What Hudson got when he raised his hand and agreed to take on a role assisting in track prep was a true eye opener. Granted, Hudson knew it was much more than simply showing up on race day and throwing some water on the track to go racing. “I truly had no idea the amount of time and effort that goes into track prep,” Hudson admitted. “I followed Bobby Reiter around, and he would always explain to me what it takes. I never would have thought it would have taken this big of an effort. It’s not nearly as easy as one would think.”
One of the problems, according to Hudson, is most involved with trying to make the speedway better have full time jobs. Hudson himself works for the government in Shawano. “To make this track a great surface with two racing grooves, you’ve got to work it up pretty much all week long,” Hudson explained. “We all do our best to get out after it after our real jobs are done for the day. It takes a lot more work than maybe the average race fan realizes.”
Hudson is part of a bigger crew that chips in. Late model racer Troy Springborn has also logged a lot of laps prepping the track. Tom Postl has also chipped in. And recently while Hudson was away on vacation, Reiter came back to prep the track along with longtime race director Dale Hodkiewicz, who got called out of the “retirement bullpen” to help. Unfortunately, when it looked like they may have had the best racing surface yet of the 2025 season, Mother Nature had other plans, washing out the program a week ago.
“One of the biggest problems we have with the half-mile here at Shawano is that by the time you are about done putting that first load of water on, it’s almost already drying up,” Hudson explained. “You’ve got to stay on it and water it regularly. But we’ve had water trucks breaking down, and other good people like the Holtger family and others who keep borrowing us equipment. It’s been a true struggle at times, but we always keep after it.”
An aerial shot of Shawano Speedway. (DIstinct Aerial Shotz photo)
So what provided Hudson with more headaches – figuring out the prime setup on an IMCA modified or track prep? “Without question, doing this track prep thing gives many more headaches than racing will ever provide,” Hudson said. “Because no matter how we prep the track, it seems you’ll never make everyone happy no matter what you do. Some guys will say it’s too fast. Yet, others will maintain it’s too dry. Too rough. Too tacky. You name it. At the end of the night, most times it seems the only driver who was genuinely happy was the race winner who winds up in victory lane.”
Thus, a thick skin is most certainly a requirement for anyone involved in dirt track prep. That includes Hudson. “For me personally, I try not to let that stuff bother me much at all,” Hudson said. “I’ve been on both sides of the fence as a former racer. I get that. So, I can feel their frustration sometimes. One of the issues we’ve had with the new clay this year is that it started to peel up in a few spots. One of the bright spots, though, with the new clay is that it has hardly any rocks in it. So that’s a positive.”
Some nights, Hudson and the rest of the track prep crew can often be seen at the track until midnight or 1 a.m. even on a weeknight. But that’s what it takes to get the job done sometimes. Hudson has always watched the weather when he raced. Now, being involved in track prep at Shawano, he’s turned into a weather junkie of sorts. “I watch the weather non-stop, several times a day now,” Hudson said. “In a perfect world, you’ve got overcast skies when you are watering. But after it rains, you want that sunshine out to dry it out. That wind can be a friend or foe. And it will dry a track out very quickly, whether you want it to or not.”
Hudson has a thirst for learning – and that goes beyond just his circle within Shawano Speedway. “I know a majority of the guys who prep tracks at other facilities, and we talk,” Hudson said. “I’ve talked to the folks at Seymour, and I talked to Merle (Lisowe, 141 Speedway) a little bit last year. I’ve also been in touch with the guys who prep Cedar Lake and Mississippi Thunder Speedway, too. You can’t learn enough about this part of the sport.”