Members of the Shawano Area Ag Society were tentatively given the green light to shorten the Shawano Speedway from a half mile to three-eighths of a mile.
The county’s public property took a straw poll of its members Dec. 11, and all agreed to move forward with the proposal once a few more hurdles are cleared.
Now, ag society members will contact Hunter Hoffman, the county engineer for the Shawano County Highway Department, to see if he can draw up formal plans for the shorter track. That will provide organizers a better idea of what the project entails, which will help them in getting bids for the work.
Holtger Bros. Inc. has already provided an estimate of $73,830 to shorten the track, and another firm estimated the work at about $92,000.
County Board Chairman Tom Kautza wanted to know who would pay for the work and asked what happens if the track still loses money after the improvements are made.
“This isn’t a try thing,” Supervisor Randy Young said. “Once you do it, it’s done.”
The new clay installed last year can be scraped and reused, so it won’t be wasted, said driver Troy Springborn. Most likely, the project would be completed after the 2026 Shawano County Fair.
Nick Hesse, the county’s facilities management director, said a lot more work needed to be done before the work could move forward.
“At this last (ag and extension meeting) … there was no real details, there was no blueprints ever drawn what it was supposed to look like in the end game, there was no contracts, liability if something goes wrong,” he said. “There’s none of those details ever even talked about. It was a four-minute conversation, and it was passed. I think there’s a lot more details that need to be hammered out before you pull the plug on it.”
Springborn said Holtger Bros. would draw up a specific contract when the plan gets formal approval, but a contract now is like putting the cart before the horse when you don’t have approval to make the change yet.
He also said an Antigo construction company has offered free equipment use and 40 hours of labor.
“We didn’t pursue that yet, because we don’t really know where we’re going,” Springborn said.
Also, Fairchild Equipment offered to help when it comes time.
Hesse still wasn’t convinced.
“Even what you guys are doing, I still don’t see that fixing the whole problem with the program, with the cars in and off, and safety of two guys having to come across that track back and forth,” he said. “And even that could be changed with it as a half-mile yet. It wouldn’t cost you an hour or two of highway’s time with a payloader.”
Supervisor Lynn Tober-Steinke is a member of the ag and extension committee.
“Racing has changed from when my families were in it,” she said. “The half-mile track, everybody’s going too fast. My first thought was, ‘How can racing be too fast?’ But, the cars have changed, and the speed, and when they wreck, it’s like a horrible, horrible crash. The cars aren’t built the same as they used to be years ago.”
A survey of drivers showed 57% favored a shorter track, 32% wanted it to stay the same and 11% had no preference.
“That’s something that I learned that shortening the track is going to make it safer as far as racing,” Tober-Steinke said. “One of the things we brought up from the extension board is that we didn’t want a ghost racetrack like they have in Antigo. We felt that the shorter track was the way to go.”
Springborn added that the shorter track would open up about 5 acres of land that could be used for vendors at the county fair.
“Last year, we had six vendors that we had to turn away, which costs us money, too,” said Alyce Welk, office manager for the track. “We always need room for camping for vendors that are exhibiting.”
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