The La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway is a semi-banked asphalt oval racetrack in

West Salem, Wisconsin West Salem is a village in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, along the La Crosse River. It is part of the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,277 as of the 2020 census. History West Salem w ...

. The outer track is 5/8 mile and the inner track is a 1/4 mile. The speedway has progressive banking in the corners, from 5 degrees on the bottom to 11 degrees on the top. The track was built at the fairgrounds for

La Crosse County La Crosse County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the county's population was 120,784. Its county seat is the city of La Crosse. La Crosse County is included in the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropol ...

. It used to host an event on the

American Speed Association The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt a ...

(ASA) and the

ASA Late Model Series The ASA Late Model Series was an American stock car racing series. Founded by Ron Varney in 2003 as the "USPRO Cup Series", it was renamed "ASA Late Model Series" when it was purchased by the American Speed Association in 2004. After financial d ...

before the demise of the series. It currently hosts annual touring events on the

ARCA Midwest Tour The ASA Midwest Tour (known between 2012 and 2022 as the ARCA Midwest Tour) is a pavement Late model, Super Late Model auto racing series based in the Midwestern United States with its headquarters in Oregon, Wisconsin. It was a developmental se ...

and Mid American Stock Car Series. It hosts weekly

stock car races Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion t ...

which are sanctioned by the

NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (formerly the Whelen All-American Series, Winston Racing Series and the Dodge Weekly Series) is a points championship for NASCAR-sanctioned local short track motor racing, short-track motor racing in th ...

. It was the first NASCAR-sanctioned race track in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Track history

The track opened as a half mile dirt track in 1957 in

as part of the relocation of the La Crosse Interstate Fairgrounds from the site of Veterans' Memorial Stadium on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus. It originally ran a single annual

International Motor Contest Association The International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) was organized in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan, and is the oldest active auto racing sanctioning body in the United States. IMCA is headquartered in Vinton, Iowa, and features several classes and ...

(IMCA) event and it was known as the La Crosse Inter-State Fairgrounds. The event featured IMCA "Big Car" (now known as sprint cars), midgets, and "New Model"

stock cars Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

(similar to stock cars raced by USAC cars and

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (the top NASCAR series, known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 and 1970, then the NASCAR ...

). The event ran until 1966, and numerous notable drivers competed in these events, including

Johnny Beauchamp Johnny Beauchamp (March 23, 1923 – April 17, 1981) was an American NASCAR driver from Harlan, Iowa. He is best known for finishing second in the 1959 Daytona 500 in a photo finish after being declared the unofficial winner. In 23 starts, he ...

Jim Hurtubise James Ernest Hurtubise (December 5, 1932 – January 6, 1989) was an American racing driver who competed in American Championship Car Racing, Championship Cars, Sprint car racing, sprint cars and stock cars. Hurtubise enjoyed much success in spri ...

Dick Hutcherson Richard Leon Hutcherson (November 30, 1931 – November 6, 2005) was an American businessman and a former stock car racer. A native of Keokuk, Iowa, Keokuk, Iowa, Hutcherson drove in NASCAR competition from 1964 to 1967. He won 14 races, finishin ...

Ramo Stott Ramo Stott (April 6, 1934 – August 19, 2021) was an American stock car racing driver from Keokuk, Iowa. He competed in NASCAR Winston Cup, USAC stock car, and ARCA. He was a 2011 inductee in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame. Career ...

Parnelli Jones Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones (August 12, 1933 – June 4, 2024) was an American professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race, and ...

Johnny Rutherford John Sherman Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 314 start ...

, and

Tom Bigelow Thomas Allan Bigelow (born October 31, 1939, in Elkhorn, Wisconsin) is an American former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. Racing career Midget car racing He began his racing career at the Badger Midget Racing Association a ...

. The track was paved in 1970 as a half mile, with the track's current banked grandstand being built at the same time.

Jim Sauter Jim Sauter (June 1, 1943 – October 31, 2014) was an American stock car racing driver from Necedah, Wisconsin. He formerly raced in all three of NASCAR's national series, and is best known for having been a test driver for the International Ra ...

won the track's first event on July 14, 1970. Robert Morris and Larry Wehrs were the promoters for the first two seasons before Wehrs became the sole promoter in 1972. Racing alternated between Friday and Wednesday nights for the first five seasons before permanently running on Wednesday nights in 1975. The Central Wisconsin Racing Association (CWRA) Late Models were the featured division at La Crosse from 1970 until 1991. Following the 1986 season the La Crosse County Agricultural Society, the owners of the racetrack, decided to make a change with the promoter. Instead of renewing with Wehrs, the La Crosse County Ag Society went with Midwest Motorsports Management as the new promoter. Longtime

ARTGO The ARTGO Challenge Series was a late model short track racing series that ran in the Midwestern United States from 1975 until 1998. Many race car drivers used the ARTGO series as a stepping stone to get into ASA, ARCA, and NASCAR. Art Frigo cr ...

Challenge Series president John McKarns and

Rockford Speedway Rockford Speedway was a 1/4 mile Short track motor racing, short track high banked asphalt oval located in Loves Park, Illinois on Illinois Route 173. Up until its demolition in 2023, Rockford Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, and World Wide Technol ...

president Jody Deery headed up the new promoter group, with Deery's youngest son Chuck named the track manager. In 1989 La Crosse became the first track in Wisconsin to become a part of the NASCAR Winston Racing Series (now the

), NASCAR's national weekly short track program. The track would run the NASCAR shows on Saturday nights, which would become the main race night starting in 1992. Five drivers (Kevin Nuttleman, Paul Proksch,

Charlie Menard Charlie Menard (born 1972) is the nephew of Menards owner John Menard Jr. He was the chief operating officer of the Menards home improvement store chain until late 2007. He moved to head up the Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Menards Distribution Cente ...

, Steve Carlson and Nick Panitzke) would go on to claim either a regional, divisional or state championship. Carlson would capture the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship in 2007, the first for a driver from the state of Wisconsin. Nuttleman would become the first driver in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series history to claim a championship under all three formats (Great Northern Region in 1989, Division III in 2005 and Wisconsin State Championship in 2009), and is one of the 25 greatest drivers in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series history.

Weekly racing

LaCrosseFairgroundsSpeedwayGrandNationalSportsman8

LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway hosts weekly stock car races on Saturday nights which are sanctioned by NASCAR. The headline division at the track is the NASCAR

late model Late Model stock car racing, also known as late model racing and late models, refers to a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other primarily on oval tracks. This type of racing was early-on ...

s. Other classes include Sportsman, Hobby Stocks (formerly Thunderstox and Beer Stox), Hornets, Street Stocks, Mini-Vans, plus several novelty events are scheduled throughout the season. Starting in 2008, the track featured Friday Night Street Drags the second Friday of the month from May to September. Starting in 2009, the Street Drags concluded with the 300' Bracket Nationals the Saturday following the Oktoberfest Race Weekend.

Special events

Eve of Destruction

The track hosts an annual "Eve of Destruction" event the first Saturday after Labor Day. It features a trailer race where the last car with a trailer left wins, along with Doug Rose's Green Mamba Jet Car, hornets, skidders, monster trucks, and motorcycle stunt riders. A similar event called the "Smash-O-Rama" takes place the third Saturday night in June.

Oktoberfest Race Weekend

Since 1970 the track has featured the annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend as its season finale, usually the weekend after La Crosse's Oktoberfest celebration concludes. It began as a two-day event, then expanded to three days in 1975 and expanded to its current four-day format (Thursday through Sunday) in 1998. Touring series that race at the event include the Mid American Stock Car Series, the Big 8 Late Model Series, the Midwest Truck Tour and the

Dick Trickle 99

The Friday night headliner in the

Dick Trickle Richard Leroy Trickle (October 27, 1941 – May 16, 2013) was an American race car driver. He raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin, winning many championships along the way. Trickle competed in the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All ...

99, a 99 lap

super late model Late Model stock car racing, also known as late model racing and late models, refers to a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other primarily on oval tracks. This type of racing was early-on ...

event, patterned after the Vermont Milk Bowl at

Thunder Road International SpeedBowl Thunder Road International Speedbowl, more commonly known as just Thunder Road, is a high-banked, Road surface, paved short track motor racing, short track speedway located in the town of Barre (town), Vermont, Barre, Vermont. The track was fou ...

, with three 33 lap segments. Each driver scores one point for first, two for second, three for third, and so forth based on the finish of each race, and the winner of the meet is the driver with the lowest total score after the three 33-lap races. The length is taken from Trickle's #99 that he had raced in Wisconsin before moving to NASCAR. Past winners include: *2024 Ty Fredrickson *2023 Ty Majeski *2022 Ty Majeski *2021 Ty Majeski *2020 Dan Fredrickson *2019 Nick Murgic *2018 Johnny Sauter *2017 RAINED OUT *2016 Dan Fredrickson *2015

Ty Majeski Tyler Brad Majeski (born August 18, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 98 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing, as well as in late model racing. He ha ...

*2014 Dan Fredrickson *2013

Erik Darnell Erik Louis Darnell (born December 2, 1982) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the grandson of former United States Automobile Club, USAC and NASCAR driver Bay Darnell, who also started three NASCAR races (including one for ...

*2012 Skylar Holzhausen *2011 Neil Knoblock *2010 Dan Fredrickson *2009 Chris Weinkauf *2008 Nathan Haseleu *2007 Steve Holzhausen

Main event

The sanctioning body for the main event for the weekend has varied through the years. It began using the Central Wisconsin Racing Association rules between 1970 and 1986. The

touring series took over sanction from 1987 until 1997. ARTGO was sold to NASCAR and the

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

took various names between 1998 until 2006. The 2006 main event was a Wisconsin Late Model event even though NASCAR ran its final Elite Division race that Friday night. The

took over the main event in 2007 and has held it ever since.

Joe Shear Joe Shear, Sr. (May 8, 1943 – March 6, 1998) was an American stock car racing driver from Clinton, Wisconsin. He won an estimated 350 races in his career, including four of his last five races. Fred Nielsen, Shear's car owner from 1975 to 1 ...

is the only driver to have five main event wins; Travis Sauter and Dan Fredrickson are second with four victories. *2022 Andrew Morrissey

*2021

Casey Johnson Robert Wood Johnson IV (born April 12, 1947) is an American businessman who is co-owner of the New York Jets and was formerly the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, ...

*2020

*2019

*2018 Andrew Morrissey

Morrissey actually finished 4th, but due to the disqualifications of winner Ty Majeski (intake height), second place finisher Johnny Sauter (left side weight) and third place finisher Jacob Goede (intake), Morrissey was declared the winner. *2017

Johnny Sauter Jonathan Joseph Sauter (born May 1, 1978) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing. He has also driven in the NASCAR Cup ...

*2016

*2015 Dan Fredrickson

*2014 Travis Sauter

*2013 Nathan Haseleu

*2012 Travis Sauter

*2011 Travis Sauter

ASA Midwest Tour The ASA Midwest Tour (known between 2012 and 2022 as the ARCA Midwest Tour) is a pavement Super Late Model auto racing series based in the Midwestern United States with its headquarters in Oregon, Wisconsin. It was a developmental series of the ...

(

was the original winner of the race, but two weeks later ASA Midwest Tour officials revealed that Sauter's car had parts that were not from ASA Midwest Tour-approved vendors. Sauter had all points and purse money taken away, but he was allowed to keep the win. La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway officials felt differently and stripped Sauter of the win and being the overall Oktoberfest champion, which was given to Travis Sauter.) *2010 Dan Fredrickson

*2009 Travis Sauter

*2008 Dan Fredrickson

*2007 Dan Fredrickson

*2006 Steve Holzhausen (Wisconsin Late Model; The Wisconsin Late Models were the headliners of the 2006 Oktoberfest, even though the NASCAR AutoZone Midwest Series ran on Friday of Oktoberfest weekend. This was the NASCAR AutoZone Midwest Series' final race ever.) *2005

Tim Schendel Tim Schendel (born May 10, 1979) is an American professional stock car racing driver. A past winner of the Toyota All-Star Showdown and champion of the NASCAR Midwest Tour, he has also competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the ASA Midwest ...

( NASCAR AutoZone) *2004 Brian Hoppe (NASCAR AutoZone) *2003

(NASCAR ITEMS) *2002 Brian Hoppe (NASCAR Re/Max) *2001 Eddie Hoffman (NASCAR Re/Max) *2000 Steve Carlson (NASCAR Re/Max) *1999 Eddie Hoffman (NASCAR Re/Max) *1998 Eddie Hoffman (NASCAR Re/Max) *1997 Terry Baldry (ARTGO Challenge) *1996

(ARTGO Challenge) *1995

(ARTGO Challenge) *1994

(ARTGO Challenge) *1993

Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and the current competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he raced part-time in the Superstar Racing Exper ...

(ARTGO Challenge) *1992 Tom Carlson (ARTGO Challenge) *1991 Tom Carlson (ARTGO Challenge) *1990 Scott Hansen (ARTGO Challenge) *1989

(ARTGO Challenge) *1988

Ted Musgrave Theodore David Musgrave Sr. (born December 18, 1955) is an American former stock car racing driver. Pre-NASCAR Musgrave's father, Elmer, was a famous short-track racer in the Midwest who raced for over 25 years at Soldier Field, O'Hare, Waukega ...

(ARTGO Challenge) *1987

(ARTGO Challenge) *1986

Rich Bickle Richard Allen Bickle Jr. (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Now retired from NASCAR racing, Bickle, who never completed a full season in the NASCAR Cup Series, had a long history in Short track motor r ...

(CWRA) *1985 John Ziegler (CWRA) *1984 Bryan Reffner (CWRA) *1983 Tom Reffner (CWRA) *1982 Jim Back (CWRA) *1981 Junior Hanley (CWRA) *1980

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford Motor Company, Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career. From 1989 to 2009, Martin wo ...

(CWRA) *1979 Butch Miller (CWRA) *1978

Dave Watson David Watson (born 20 November 1961) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a centre-back from 1980 to 2001. He played his entire career for Norwich City and Everton. With the Toffees he played in ...

(CWRA) *1977 Larry Detjens (CWRA) *1976 Larry Detjens (CWRA) *1975 Tom Reffner (CWRA) *1974 Jerry Makara (CWRA) *1973 Marv Marzofka (CWRA) *1972

(CWRA) *1971

(CWRA) *1970 Tom Reffner (CWRA)

Track records

Rick Beebe—19.451 on 6/6/98 *

—18.476 on 10/9/21 *Area Sportsmen Brian Back—20.836 on 10/6/06 *ARTGO Challenge Series Steve Holzhausen—18.903 on 10/7/95 *ASA Late Model North Series Chris Eggleston—19.151 on 6/27/09 *Big 8 Late Models

—19.676 on 10/8/16 *Bandit Big Rig Series Justin Ball—26.348 on 7/28/18 *Central Wisconsin Late Model Blake Horstman—19.064 on 10/6/06 *CWRA

—19.537 on 6/22/89 *Grand National Sportsmen Nick Clements—20.869 on 5/14/16 *Great Northern Sportsmen Series Scott Luck—21.088 on 10/5/18 * Mid American Racing Series George Schultz—20.481 on 10/9/04 *Mid American Truck Series Terry Marzofka—20.810 on 10/10/98 *Midwest Dash Series Scott Ciesielski—22.183 on 10/8/22 *Midwest Truck Series Levon Van Der Geest—19.989 on 10/4/19 *

Late Model Dan Frederickson—19.374 on 5/28/22 * NASCAR Midwest Series

—19.076 on 10/8/05 *Pro Four Modifieds Mel Walen—20.828 on 10/7/94 *Super Late Model-The Knight Dalton Zehr—18.498 on 10/6/22 *Super Late Model-Trickle 99

—18.405 on 10/8/21 *Super Sportsmen Colin Reffner—20.952 on 10/9/09 *TUNDRA Super Late Models

—18.786 on 6/30/17 *USAC National Midgets

Kody Swanson Kody Mykel Swanson (born March 3, 1988) is an American professional sprint car racing driver. Swanson holds the record for most championship victories in United States Auto Club, USAC national series, with eight championships in the USAC Silver Cr ...

—18.177 on 5/16/08 *Wisconsin Late Models Mark Eswein—18.997 on 10/7/06

1/4 Mile

*Bandits Nick Schmidt—16.542 on 10/4/18 *High School Racing Association Mitchell Berg—17.205 on 8/8/20 *Hornets Cheyanne Stanfield—15.650 on 5/18/21 *Junior Motorsports Shane Poenhelt—16.552 on 10/4/01 * INEX Legends Colin Stocker—14.347 on 7/20/22 *Mini Cups Sean Eurick—15.447 on 7/2/22 *Mini Vans John Huebner—16.847 on 5/21/22 *Outlawz Cory Kemkes—13.814 on 10/4/18 *Street Stocks Chris Larson—15.897 on 7/2/22 *Hobby Stocks Mike Krueger Jr.--15.210 on 5/28/22

Images

File:LaCrosseFairgroundsSpeedwaySignOktoberfest.jpg, Sign during Oktoberfest File:LaCrosseFairgroundsSpeedwayTicketBooth.jpg, Ticket booth File:SteveCarlson66LateModelLaCrosseFairgroundsSpeedway.jpg, Steve Carlson's 2009 late model File:La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway Field in turn 4 at start of 2013 Dick Trickle 99.jpg, Super Late Models in Turn 4 starting the 2013 Dick Trickle 99 La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway 2013 Scoring tower.jpg, Scoring tower LaCrosseFairgroundsSpeedwayTurn1.jpg, Turn 1 La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in the evening.jpg, In the evening

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial Oktoberfest Race Weekend websiteLa Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway race results
at Racing-Reference {{USAC Stock Car racetracks Motorsport venues in Wisconsin Buildings and structures in La Crosse County, Wisconsin NASCAR tracks Tourist attractions in La Crosse County, Wisconsin 1957 establishments in Wisconsin Sports venues completed in 1957