The Scoop
THE FUTURE OF RACING IN LUXEMBURG, WISCONSIN
Posted on: Monday October 30, 2023
Last week we chronicled the fact that Door County officials are actively seeking a new promoter to ‘keep the lights on’ and keep racing alive at John Miles Park in Sturgeon Bay.
As many know Sturgeon Bay isn’t the only county facility in northeastern Wisconsin that is actively seeking a stock car racing promoter for the 2024 season.
Like the group in Door County that has decided to pull the pin, the organization Kewaunee County Racing Association (KCRA) that has promoted the weekly, Sunday night races at the Kewaunee County Fairgrounds has also decided after four years it was time to bail out.
The challenges of running a racetrack as of late have been well documented in recent years. The hardcore fan base of avid race fans that local and regional racetracks enjoyed for many decades has shrunken. Drawing new blood into the sport of stock car racing has been a challenge.
Opinions vary as to what is the best ‘recipe’ if you will on the future of racing at Luxemburg. Many keyboard warriors opine that they should return to their original night of Fridays. The Friday thing got switched when KCRA, upon taking over the reins at the fairgrounds, decided NOT to race against Outagamie Speedway in Seymour.
Up until a handful of years ago Seymour was a Sunday night program continuously since 1975. However Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car (EWSC), which took over promoting the track at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds, switched to Friday nights. At that time they switched there was not a promoter in place at that time in Luxemburg and they swiftly moved to the more popular and potentially profitable Friday night slot.
When KCRA took over, they opted for the open Sunday night show and kept the IMCA sanctioned program. The switch from Fridays to Sundays for the most part shook up the apple cart a bit, and while the back gate remained with fairly solid car counts on Sundays the grandstands took a hit with often slimmer-than-normal crowds.
The Sunday night show had some benefits without question. Getting done early when most folks have to work the next day was a plus. One of the downsides was with a 5 p.m. start time, keeping moisture in the racing surface at times proved to be a challenge. And from the concession standpoint you’re obviously not going to sell as much beer as you would on a Friday night.
The theory about Friday night racing from the promoter’s standpoint was that you get the consumers ‘first money’ essentially heading into the weekend. KCRA opted to ‘play nice’ and not buck up against Seymour for that Friday night slot.
Those who are calling for Luxemburg to return to Fridays are quick to point out on the lack of ‘crossover’ with drivers in the divisions between both tracks. Both Outagamie and The ‘Burg Speedway ran essentially the same divisions with a few exceptions on specials. And for the record the distance between Luxemburg and Seymour is 30.9 miles.
I took the liberty of checking the top twenty finishers in points at Luxemburg and at Seymour. In five divisions (IMCA modifieds, stock cars, northern sportmods, Unified dirt street stocks and four cylinders (IMCA sanctioned sport compacts at Seymour) Out of the 100 drivers only 21 drivers wound up in the top twenty in points at both tracks. That’s just over 20 percent.
The class that had the most racers place in the top twenty in points at both were the IMCA modifieds with seven. The next highest division with the most drivers in both classes was the division dubbed “too-tough-to-tame” IMCA stock cars with six. The next highest class were the Unified street stocks with three and both the sportmods and four cylinders each only having two drivers apiece who placed in the top twenty in points at both tracks.
So, what does that mean? The way I see it there are enough cars to go around. But are there enough hardcore race fans left? My answer is an emphatic NO. But the successful promoters will market aggressively to get those average sports fans or non-racing families to the track to see what type of an affordable, entertaining venue we have in short track racing.
Joe Orsini was one of the members of KCRA. He served as the track announcer, public relations guy and also chipped in doing track prep. He was essentially the ‘face’ or the spokesperson of the track. He opines below on the challenges the group faced:
“We originally signed a one-year contract in the fall of 2019 to promote the track, our first year was successful and we signed a 3-year contract after that to promote through the 2023 season. We decided to see how we all felt as a group whether we would do another year after the season, but the majority of the group was in favor of stepping aside and letting another group or individual take over the track.
A couple of us would potentially be in favor of continuing on with another promotions group but even if that doesn’t work out, we are more than willing to work with the next promoter to ensure a smooth transition. In addition to that we are looking to donate much of our track prep and kitchen equipment we have accumulated over the last 4 seasons to the next promoter to help ensure racing continues in Kewaunee.
We never got into this to make money; it was truly a labor of love from the beginning. It required a lot of sacrifices on all our parts to do as much of the work the five of us could to keep costs down. After 4 years that has worn many of us down and a break was needed. It was not an easy decision to make but we think the track has a bright future in front of it.
We hope whoever steps up to run the track sees it is best for the health of the sport in the area to remain on a Sunday night, or any night other than Friday or Saturday. When we took over the track and switched to Sunday nights the county said the track could operate on any day of the week and they did not dictate that.”
Kelly Hafeman was part of Luxemburg Tri-Star Speedway. Kelly, along with wife Debbie and Ralph Aschenbrenner promoted the weekly racing starting in the late 1980’s into the very early 2000’s. “I would return racing to Friday night if I was a new promoter jumping into it,” Hafeman said. “But filling the grandstands takes continuous innovation.
People aren’t going to come to see the same show every week, especially if that same show is also at several neighboring racetracks.”
Hafeman suggested that its many of the ‘non-racing’ activities that are vital to bringing the entertainment to the racing program. “I think things like Bozo the clown racing a street stock would be a draw, for example. A Ford and a Chevy truck in front of the grandstand, put a brick on the accelerator and see which one blows first. Fireworks. Spectators have a one lap foot race around the track at intermission. Pay money or concession stand vouchers to the top three.”
For many years, Tri-Star boasted a three-division show which often drew 110-120 cars weekly. All three classes enjoyed enough cars to field a B main, which made all the heat races meaningful. “I’d still run three classes weekly and draw in a fourth guest class each night – one that might rotate,” Hafeman pointed out. “In addition, I also would race every Friday April 15th through September 15th. And I would never cancel based on the weather forecast. People need to know that unless there’s water dripping off the brim of your hat that we are racing.”
When it comes to track prep, Hafeman is insistent upon doing everything possible to keep the dust down, including the use of calcium chloride if need be. In summary, Hafeman suggested that the ‘elephant in the room’ per se was the fact that promoting the track likely was not a truly profitable venture in recent years.
Eric Mahlik
Longtime racer Eric Mahlik has the benefit of being on both sides of the fence in the game of stock car racing. Mahlik was a partner in promoting the track at Luxemburg from 2016 thru 2018. “You need a good team around you that all specialize in certain areas,” Mahlik admitted. “You need a marketing/media guru, you need a salesperson who can go out and sell to potential sponsors, you need a good track prep/race director type person, you need someone who specializes in food, and probably the most important thing you need to attract fans is money! If you don’t have a big budget to advertise, put on race day promotions…. it makes it really hard.”
Another fact with the promoting aspect of things is that most promoters are racing enthusiasts who still work a 40 hour-a-week job in addition to juggling the multiple challenges of running a racetrack. “Honestly to do race promotion and do it effectively it essentially needs to be a full-time job during the race season,” Mahlik explained. “And that’s tough. As far as the Sunday night deal versus the Friday nights, honestly the crowds and car count weren’t too much different between those two nights. The problem with Sundays if a promoter was to stick with that night, you’d almost have to start at 6 or 6:30 p.m. to combat the dust factor somewhat. The angle of the sun hitting the track around that time seems to not want to suck out the moisture as much.”
At the end of the day though, it still comes down to having money to advertise and actual promotion.
“I think the three biggest things any racetrack promoter needs to be successful is money, passion, and promotion,” Mahlik said. “Money is the life blood of our sport. Without it we won’t have racing. Any promoter needs passion and a love for the sport. That passion will get a promoter through the tough times. Finally, promotion. Great promotion attracts fans, racers, and most importantly sponsors. The more sponsor dollars a promoter can drum up, the more money you have. That’s the circle of the ‘race promoter’ life.”
So where do things currently stand? Kewaunee County is accepting bids for a promoter until December 5. Interested parties can contact the county’s Promotions and Recreation Director Dave Myers at (920) 388 0444 or email him at myers.david@kewauneeco.org for information on submitting a proposal.