The Madison International Speedway has a cozy feel to it. The Madison International Speedway has a cozy feel to it. Don’t get me wrong when I describe it that way. When compared to Speedways in other states that are situated among large stretches of pavement and acres of parking lot, the Madison Speedway is instead situated past several cornfields, beyond a quiet suburban-rural neighborhood, and on the other side of a large tree shrouded lane. All speedways are loud, naturally, but the sound about the tracks in states southeast of here – in urban sprawl neighborhoods, let’s say – has more of a buzz-saw against metal quality. Hard anvil hitting feels. Which is great in its way. The hill, the slope, and the scoop of the Madison International Speedway has a backdrop of thick tall trees that form a barrier around the back half of the track and frame behind the long wall of track sponsor billboards. Tall trees also surround the ample sized public parking lot, and they border the side lot where cars muster before getting on the track.
I’d estimate this landscape muffles half the noise and makes things that much more family friendly. In other words: your ears will be less punished here than they would be in an Ohio parking lot.
In September, the Madison Int’l Speedway said goodbye to the 2024 season with a Street Drag sponsored by Morrison’s Auto Parts. The 200-plus entries and drivers put their machines through their paces in a near constant run of drag races. Contestants were separated into 23 amateur brackets within a program that ran from warm-ups to a grand finale promenade, between the hours of 6pm to 10pm, give or take. Attendance seemed to land around 1000 plus. Both the brackets themselves and their house sponsors included: The Lion’s Club, Morrison’s Auto Parts (deserves several mentions), RotoRooter, NOS, Sunoco, JE Pistons, Sea Foam, Cardinal Heating and AC, Harley Davidson, Bobcat, Kunes RV, Pellitteri, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Crown Lift Trucks, RC Cola, Dr Pepper, Budweiser, Fink’s Paving, and Zimbrick… to name a few.
The Track is located on Sunrise Road, in Oregon, Wisconsin. Proudly owned and operated by the McKarns Family since 2015. Camping is allowed in the track’s parking area during some designated events and on summer nights (naturally, no open flame campfires). Their website is “misracing.com“ and they have a very comprehensive history of the half-mile track, its ownership, racing-world celebrities who have appeared here, notable events and records that have been broken.
Early on, the track announcer and MC, Matt Verde, informed those in attendance that although Morrison’s Auto Salvage Yard had a fire just a few days prior, no one was injured, the damage was manageable, and they would certainly be back in the 2025 season as head sponsor for these Thursday Night Street Drags.
There is an admission fee for drivers and the audience but I believe kids are free. Many contestants entered their cars in several brackets as their vehicles qualified in several crossover categories. Brackets included: Two-Wheel (powered) Trucks, Family 4 Door Sedans, Motorcycles, Detroit Iron (1979 and Older Models,) Electric Cars, 4WD Gas, 4WD Diesel, High Schoolers, Domestic Performance (USA gas cars 1980 to present), NOS/ Forced Air Injection Engines, and Powder Puff.
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the rule was: $10 bought you several warm-up laps (or grudge matches if you have some beef with a buddy that needs working out pre-show). It also bought you one entry into one of the brackets. If you got beat in round one, you exit and have no obligation to return – but still allowed to drive in the final parade. If you won in your initial bracket, then you were thrown into ‘best 2 out of 3’ drags against others in your bracket until, finally, a bracket winner would emerge. This driver and car got a trophy and $100 prize.
Full Disclosure: My son entered. He is 24 and owns an old Corvette that he’s been working on. He did not win, nor was his intention to win. He just wanted to be out on a track and feel what that was like. Another half dozen or more cars were out there doing the same thing: just dipping their toes in the waters (or motor oil), so to speak. So, I recorded with my phone camera, as many did. The venue has rules about recording images and posting them on the internet, but I think they are more flexible during drag nights. Official races would and will be more strict about recording. Indeed, many of the dragsters had passengers who were filming themselves and their competition during their runs. Not to mention some cars had car-mounted web-cam recorders going. I have a feeling that much footage was shared (forgive my oldness – many gigs of files were shared) with and between fellow racers for their Grams, TicToks, and Tubes. And for their parents on Facebook.
If you are a lover of Wisconsin Corn fests, Oktoberfests, Apple fests, and general carnival vibes, as I am, the stands served french fries, walking tacos, cheese curds, nachos, mini donuts, and the like. I love that. I had an Orange Gatorade and a Curd Burger, added pickles and diced onions from the square plastic tubs on the condiment table. It was good. As befitting the last night of the season, merch was 30% off. Hoodies, winter hats, and ball caps with the Speedway Logo were on sale. The Lion’s Club had a raffle. The Raffle prize got up to $200 cash.
When it was time for the race to begin everyone stood for the Whitney Houston Star-Spangled Banner. The flag and flagpole stood solemnly in the center of the track. Behind it rose a scoreboard displaying the classic blue on white RC Cola logo. The track announcer talked everyone through the process as well as served somewhat as coordinator for the staff and cars off track who needed to get ready and get on deck. As each racer came to the line, the official gave them a few seconds to acknowledge each other and give each other a mutual “Good Luck!” … or give each other stink eye … or talk trash. Then: yellow light, followed by a deep rumble of engines charging up, and then green light/ROAR!! Periodically throughout the evening the track announcer cautioned everyone to leave any animosity on the track, don’t take it into the parking lot, and certainly don’t take it out onto the roads in the nearby town of Rutland or city of Oregon.
My son and his girlfriend sat by me for some of the evening. There was a graybeard driver on the track in a Detroit Iron jacked up muscle car who was just eating everybody’s lunch. I joked to my son that he looked like Gandalf. “Here comes Gandalf again,” I’d nudge him. Then I went on a riff quoting Gandalf the Drag Racer: “Yo-o-u Shall Not Pass!” I nudged him again. “Get it? Get it?”
“Yeah. Funny,” he responded flatly. Impressed with myself, I think I just got inspired to make some Gandalf-Drag Racing memes… or t-shirts… or something. Well, if someone beats me to it, you heard it here first.
There were families gathered together in clusters. Some high school girls in a bunch here, some high school guys in pairs over yonder. Late 50 and early 60-year-olds brought their own seats and seat cushions. One woman tasked with keeping watch over a herd of nine-year-olds. The kids were too jazzed by the cars to be distracted by anything else. They sat obediently in a row, wearing blue, orange, yellow, and red plastic child-sized headphones. They pointed in unison as cars sped by.
There were dark low-rider trucks, project cars still in development, a blue 57’ style Chevy Bel Air going b to the w, several Dominic Toretto inspired cars (2Fast2Furious), Corvettes, a souped-up Honda, Cameros, Chargers, all the “C” cars.
The event was indeed rock concert loud at times. As I left later, I had that post rock-concert buzz that you get after your senses have been overloaded for a few hours.
Now to do a little fence mending, if you bear with me here. First, about the phrase “Powder Puff.” Women have been breaking into racing for decades now, but it has been a long and generational process. “Powder Puff” (the term) currently seems like more of a fond throwback to the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s when women were barely in the sport. It feels like a piece with “Sadie Hawkins Day” and “Ladies Night Thursday” at the corner bar. If there comes a day when the women of any age – the women of high school age through late middle age – the women who love this sport and take part in it wholeheartedly – if they think it’s time to retire the phrase “Powder Puff,” then it will be done. It’s completely their call. Sometimes phrases hang on simply because no one has changed them yet on the Xerox machine. Wink emoji.
Then there’s the Diesel Truck Drags. Man-oh-man, they blast out some black smoke. But I suppose that if you have Gandalf in the driver’s seat and “One Ring to Rule Them All” (Get it? … The track is the … I gotta go make some t-shirts) then there also must be an appearance by Smaug. If I recall correctly, there were six entries this night. You might see a similar blast of exhaust at a tractor pull or coming from a Destroyer in the Atlantic in 1938. I couldn’t help but picture some trees that rim the edge of the venue coughing. But the thing is: six entries. I’m sure that’s down from ten entries a while back. And down from two dozen entries a few seasons before that. Look, there aren’t any sponsors rubbing their hands together evilly and plotting the big return of massive smoke belching trucks. These drivers and mechanics know they are at the end of an era. Heck, that’s part of the appeal. It’s counterculture in its way, and people, guys, craftsmen, all want to do it as hardcore as possible until it’s gone. I can appreciate that. And as anyone who creates art in a hardcore aesthetic will also hopefully appreciate, it is that I, as a viewer of said art, may both observe and admire their hard work and also have the opinion that they must be nuts. If humans had no duality, we’d be kinda dull. That’s it. Sermon over.
And after all, the event had a Tesla entered (everyone wanted a piece of the Tesla), not to mention a whole electric car bracket. They know change is coming. Auto race tracks change and adapt to the times. The Madison International Speedway used to be a dirt track and was named Impact Speedway. Seventy years ago, at its creation, the track was “Oregon Legion Speedway” named after the local American Legion post – they ran go-carts and rat-rods before people knew to call them rat-rods.
Ten years from now there will probably be six electric car brackets and a new one for full sized RC cars, and another new one for Mag Lev Vehicles. Who knows? Maybe the cheese curds will be fried in healthier oil in 2035, but I hope they still taste as good.
Until then, the 2025 season starts in April. The track MC was fond of saying, “It’ll be here before you know it.” They do Thursday night Street Drags and regular races on Fridays.
Parking was easy. The walk wasn’t far. Exiting was fine too. Everyone was polite. It was a school night. The whole place is wheelchair accessible. I sat in several spots and had no trouble going up and down steps.
Thanks for reading. Madison Speedway has a great website with wonderful photos and a fascinating history page. Whoever writes the racing recap play-by-plays is top notch.
Writing and Photos by: Matt Schumann
