HAMMOND, IN: After spending Independence Day weekend at Angell Park Speedway in beautiful Sun Prairie, WI for a two day USAC midget show, one thing became clearly apparent: a “Prairie-Burger” is a terrible thing to waste!
Angell Park is widely know as the home of several important things: the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame; perhaps the finest dirt track for midgets on the planet and…of course…the world renowned “Prairie-Burger”. Tasty? Oh, Lord yes! (Just let’s not tell my cardiologist, OK?)
I’m sure by now most of us are aware of the conflict that exists between the Angell Park Speedway owners and their long-time sanctioning body, the Badger Midget Auto Racing Ass. Sadly this stupid split has resulted in the consolation of the weekly Sunday night midget races that has been a highlite of summer for so many die-hard racers and fans alike for so many decades.
Apparently, history has taught those people responsible for the split very little. Especially given the weak economy, the last thing you would want to do is split your house and divide your resources, but that’s exactly what has happened here. Surely we’ve all seen this before; the CART/IRL war immediately comes to mind. If anyone can explain how the greed and ego-driven conflicts end up doing ANYONE any good, I’d love to hear about it…
Fortunately, there just may be light at the end of the tunnel. A group called C.W. Promotions has recently entered into an agreement with the current management to explore opportunities for racing at the famed speedway. The head of the new promotional group is Chris Wilke of the legendary Wisconsin racing family. And, in many quarters, there is optimism that Chris has foresight and common sense to unravel this mess and get on with the business of midget racing.
Angell Park Speedway is owned by the Sun Prairie Volunteer Fire Department and has hosted midget racing since 1946, and remains one of the country’s oldest continuing operating race facilities. We hope…
But, until this thing gets resolved, many of us are left wondering what to do with our summer Sunday evenings. Follow the recent elimination of the normal racing schedule, long time Angell Park racer Kurt Mayhew wondered aloud, ” Just what the hell DO other people do on Sundays?”
Good Question…
John AtlasThe Dirt GuyUSAC