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Jefferson Speedway eyes sizzling season

JEFFERSON — Jefferson Speedway bills itself as "Wisconsin's Action Track."

Last year, the quarter-mile bull ring turned out to be "Wisconsin's Drama Track" as Jason Erickson captured the Late Model championship with a pass on the final corner of the final lap of the season to edge Steve Dobbratz by two points.

"Last year was an exceptional thing," said Terry Tucker, the track's director of competition. "That finish was right up there with winning the Super Bowl on the last play. I don't think anybody was sitting down for the last five laps."

The chase for championships in five divisions starts Saturday night as the track opens its 2009 season with the Spring Sizzler, a 50-lap late model feature. The opening-night action will also include racing in the International, Sportsman, Bandit and Hobby Stock divisions.

All five track champions return from 2008—including a pair of Janesville drivers—and all five will stay in the classes they ruled last year.

Janesville's Tom Reents will be pushed by Tory Bagley in the Sportsman division. Reents won the title by 44 points last season. Janesville's Mark English dominated the International Class, beating Rodney Mundt by a whopping 466 points.

Jimmy Robinson captured the Hobby Stock title while Roy Pfeifer won the Bandit championship.

"All of our top competitors are coming back," Tucker said. "Doug Hahn, Dobbratz, Erickson will be strong contenders. We'll have 30 late models at the track every week and I would say 14 to 16 will have a chance to win.

"I think we're going to have the strongest and most competitive field of cars we've ever had."

Nearly 100 drivers have participated in open practice sessions at the track and put their cars through preseason technical inspections.

Jefferson Speedway's 58th season will run from Saturday night's opener until the end of October.

Highlights on the schedule include:

-- Three of the popular "Tournaments of Destruction" nights.

-- An autocross in which a road course will be created using the track and the infield. That event will be open to high-performance streetcars.

-- A "Destroyed in Seconds" thrill show.

-- The Stateline Challenge, which pits drivers from the Rockford Speedway against their Jefferson Speedway counterparts.

-- The annual Wisconsin State Championships are set for September.

Tucker said the ailing economy hasn't impacted the Jefferson Speedway.

"Everybody's working harder to maintain what we've got and what we've done over the years," Tucker said. "We've even found some new sponsors. I know the drivers are still finding local sponsors to support them.

"The primary thing we're doing this year is to get new and exciting ways to get people interested in the local races."

John Ovadahl Jr. captured last year's season-opening Spring Sizzler, leading the last half of the race and hanging on during two late-race restarts to hold off Dobbratz.

Bret Schmidt won the season-opening feature in the Sportsman Division.