With Chateau Speedway Ownership Settled Races Resumed Friday Night Until Rains Cut It Short

August 11, 2023

The 2023 Racing Season was to get underway Friday Night at Chateau Speedway in Lansing, albeit three and a half months late. Four heat races into the opening show a brief shower interrupted the night. Crew and drivers spent a half hour getting the surface back into shape only to have another brief shower end any hopes of getting any more racing in. Brady Krohnberg of Walters and Gavin Bartel of Kasson had Heat wins in the Power 96 USRA Hobby Stocks washed away while Hunter Kennedy of St Ansgar Iowa and Michael Johnson of Rose Creek saw heat wins in the Double M Transport USRA B Mod’s go down the drain as well.

The opening of The Track was scheduled for the first weekend of May but was put on hold as ownership of the facility was part of Marriage Dissolution Proceeding. Papers were signed the end of July giving Mark Wytaske Sole-Ownership. Wytaske then started a hectic two weeks to put the facility back in race shape. Several items that would have been attended to before the season started had to be addressed before the gates could be swung open for fans and drivers alike. With all of that in the rear view mirror the attention is now straight ahead for everyone. A good field of cars and a solid fan base roared there welcome back to racing on the banks of the Cedar River where cars have been making noise since 1956. Some had suggested just scrapping the next 6 weeks or so but Mark felt it was important to let everyone know that The Track was back and drivers especially could be confident in having cars built and ready for next spring.

The hope is running these races puts a summer of rumors on the future of The Track to rest and prevents a winter full of the same gossip. Wytaskes tenure at Chateau has seen its share of bumps along the way. When he took over The Track in 2018 the purchase was made after it had been shut down and its future was in doubt. The season started late and over two months of racing was lost that year with the opening that year not happening until July. Than the COVID debacle messed up parts of two seasons for Mark with much of the first year of it was lost. Hoping all the potholes are behind them, the Chateau Crew, Drivers, and Fans are hoping for a smooth ride the rest of this season and into next and on from there.

With just the few weeks left to the summer Mark made the decision to go unsanctioned the final weeks of the year but still base the rules for the classes on what would be his normal sanctioning’s: USRA A Mod, B Mod, Stock Car and Hobby Stock, WISSOTA MW Mod, and The Tracks Hornet rules. There will be allowances for any IMCA or WISSOTA Cars that might fit into those classes as well with cross sanctioning being allowed. Those six classes will basically run the remainder of the season with the exception being on September 8th when the Mini Mods will take the place of the Hornets for a night. As of now races are scheduled to run Friday Nights through September 15th but Wytaske is leaving that open ended depending on the weather. An Enduro with SMP Promotions will run as well at the facility but that date has not been finalized yet. Among all the changes was also a change in The Chateau Speedway Web Page. The page has changed from a “.com (dot com), to a “.net” (dot net). The New page web address is now ChateauSpeedway.Net, and fortunately all the old content from the previous page was able to be saved and transferred over. Facebook remains the same at Chateau Speedway.

Action is scheduled for next Friday Night at Chateau Speedway with the first Green Flag scheduled to fly at 7:15.