The Scoop
WHAT’S IN A NAME? – THE CHANGE TO ESCANABA SPEEDWAY
Posted on: Tuesday February 14, 2023
The folks running the dirt track in Escanaba, Michigan felt a change was needed within their program – and it began with a new name.
Following the conclusion of the 2022 racing season the quarter-mile clay oval located at the Upper Peninsula state fairgrounds in Escanaba was still called Upper Peninsula International Raceway (UPIR).
The name doesn’t necessarily roll off the tongue nor does it include the name of the city the track is located. The program hosts regular Saturday night dirt track races. The club that promotes the show was also called Upper Peninsula International Racing Association – again, sort of a mouthful.
“The conversations started maybe eight to nine months ago,” said Chris Perryman, president of the club that promotes the races. “As several new board members came in the one critique we always heard was that we were one of the only race tracks who’s name was of the city was not included in the name of the track. The track’s former name didn’t direct people to where we were and yes, the title itself was a bit cumbersome.”
Most of the feedback that occurred amongst board members remained positive. Fans often posed questions via Facebook Messenger and through email asking where the track was located. “Let’s face it the U.P. is a beautiful place and not having Escanaba in the name was truly a detriment,” Perryman pointed out. “We had to go through with this.”
Once the name change was engaged, board members rolled up their sleeves and went to work. “Kaitlyn Maki helped get the design of our new logo and we wound up changing up our Facebook page and also our MyRacePASS account,” Perryman said. Other board members include Lonnie Dalgord, Pat Richer, Jeff Iverson, Jeff Solomon, Paul Wagner, Beth Ammel and Dean Bloniarz.
Out of respect to the past board members who came up with the original UPIR name, Perryman reached out to them and explained his reasons for the suggested change. “I had some one-on-one conversations with them, and they were very positive in nature. They indicated we were headed on the right path. We did this because it was a tribute to our roots, and it was very important to me to talk to the people who got this track back up and running.” Those original members included Tom Dubord, Cathy Winling, Dalgord and Boyd Widdes who according to Perryman came up with the UPIR name.
The group hosts several different classes during their Saturday night show, and it remains affordable for the race fans. For a long time, a $5 adult admission was welcome to race fans in Esky. In 2023 they’ve reluctantly raised that adult ticket to $10 which in 2023 remains a great bargain compared to tracks to the south. “Our rent and insurance have gone up same as other tracks,” Perryman said. “We are still a good bargain we feel compared to tracks to the south and we try to stay low on the front end with hopes our fans will buy some more beers, hot dogs, or popcorn. As a club to remain solvent we need to move forward and purchase more equipment. Our club needs to remain financially sound to keep the lights on. We’ll see how the fans react.”
In ’23 Escanaba will host (hang on to your hats) nine weekly classes! “We’re added a ninth class which will be an LS motor class for the street stocks,” Perryman explained. “The racing being those big block engines continue to be difficult to find. We’re going to give it a trial run this year and hopefully it brings some new people to the track.” Even with a nine division program, Perryman vows the goal is always to wrap up the show in three hours.
One of the strengths of the Escanaba program remains its open wheeled divisions, in particular their junior sprint program. The class features kids ages five through 12 and continues to grow exponentially from year to year. “We went from 10 to 11 of them weekly then closer to 15 to 18 junior sprints weekly last season,” Perryman explained. “This year it’s looking like we should average closer to 20 of them weekly. We have some interest from some ice racers up towards Gwinn that plan on coming down by us.”
Junior sprint drivers ages 5-12 all take part in a mandatory program focused on safety at the quarter-mile, clay oval. (photo courtesy of Escanaba Speedway FB page)
The folks at Escanaba host a mandatory educational program of sorts they conduct with the young junior sprint racers – even if a driver is a “veteran” of the class per se. “We put the kids on the bus and take them around the track as more of a safety type deal,” Perryman said. “Our goal is to get these kids ages 5-12 as much seat time as possible and fewer on track incidents. They are the future of the sport.”
The other weekly classes provide a garden variety including sportsman micro sprint, 600 winged and non-winged micro sprints, IMCA style B modifieds (non-sanctioned), street stocks, sport compacts, U.P. vintage winged modifieds and U.P. vintage supermodifieds. “We’ve got something pretty much for everyone,” Perryman pointed out. “We love to point out the fact that our driver roster’s ages range from five to 85 years old. You don’t get that kind of advertising too often. I mean an 85-year-old can’t play football but he or she can race.”
The vintage modified racers like Don Benoit provide excitement on Saturday nights for fans young and old alike. (photo courtesy of Escanaba Speedway FB page)
Perryman is an Escanaba native who served as the club’s treasurer for 10 years. He’s not afraid to travel to other tracks to see how things are done. “I’m always looking for us to improve our program,” Perryman said. “We went to the Labor Day weekend special at Eagle River Speedway last September, for example. I remain hyper-focused on our organization putting out the best product out there. We need to make sure we strive to put out a grade A product every week.”
The season opener is June 4 with racing getting underway at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. You can learn more at the track’s website escanabaspeedway.com.
UPPER PENINSULA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY 2022 TRACK CHAMPIONS
Griffin Iverson, Escanaba (youth micro sprint)
Carson Artley, Escanaba (sportsman micro sprint)
Kevin Warm, Escanaba (600 winged microsprint)
Charles Peterson, Rapid River (U.P. vintage modified)
Jesse Denome, Escanaba (U.P. super vintage modified)
Paul Wagner, Gladstone (street stock)
Lonnie Dalgord, Escanaba (sportmod)
Trevor Cronick, Faithorn (sport compacts)
Tony Beauchamp, Escanaba (600 non-wing)
