Dells Raceway Park (DRP), formerly known as the Dells Motor Speedway, is a car racing raceway located in the town of Lyndon, in Juneau County, north of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin just off of U.S. Route 12/Wisconsin Highway 16. It is a 1/3 mile asphalt track that is used for stock car racing.[1] The track has hosted races featuring the ARTGO Challenge Series, the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series, the ASA Midwest Tour, the Mid-American Stock Car Series, the Wisconsin Challenge Series, and the Must See Racing.com Xtreme Sprint Car Series. The track, which opened in 1958, sits on 38 acres (150,000 m2) of land.
The track closed during the middle of the 2006 season over a bank fraud case, but the track was purchased during the following off-season by a group of three investors that included NASCAR driver and Dells area native Frank Kreyer. It reopened in 2007.[2]
Howard Johnson, one of the original track owners, like to call the track "Home of the Biggies".[1] The track has a reputation of being "what a short track should be."[1] Dick Trickle described driving the track, "You drop low in the corners and then drift high on the straights. You try to make the track into the roundest oval possible."[1]
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Bryan Severson, the owner of 5 County Towing in Reedsburg, bought the track from then owner Luke Herring in 2002. During the 2006 season the track was having financial difficulties with paying the drivers, and by mid-July Severson was forced to shutdown the track after his arrest on federal charges of bank fraud. Further investigation found that back in 2002 and 2003 Severson had received bank loans from Mark Hardyman, the president of the First National Bank of Blanchardville, and used his towing business and Dells Raceway Park as collateral. To cover up the loans from the bank's board of directors, Severson had written several worthless checks worth millions of dollars. The bank eventually did collapse in 2003. Severson was sentenced in February 2008 to nearly 12 years in federal prison after being convicted of 28 felony counts. Severson was ordered to repay the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation about $6.4 million that he was responsible for in the intended loss to the bank, less about $700,000 the FDIC received from another bank that bought some of Severson's loans which used the track as collateral.
The only fatality in the track's 50 plus year history occurred on May 26, 1973 when Wisconsin Rapids driver Lyle Nabbefeldt lost control of his car entering turn one during time trials, crashed into the outside wall and was killed instantly. The Lyle Nabbefeldt Memorial began in 1974 as a tribute to the driver, and it became the Dells' annual marquee event until its last running in the late 1990s. The first running of the event was a 100-lap feature, but the feature format was changed the next year to running two 55-lap features with an overal champion being declared. The change was made to reflect the number 55s that Nabbefeldt ran throughout his racing career. Another unique part of the Nabbefeldt Memorial was the winner's trophy, known as the Nabbefeldt Traveling Trophy. The overall champion of the Nabbefeldt Memorial was allowed to keep the trophy until the following year's running of the race. If any one driver was able to win the Nabbefeldt Memorial three years in a row, that driver would take permanent possession of the trophy and a new one would be introduced. Three drivers were able to win the Nabbefeldt Memorial two years in a row, but no one was able to the win the race three straight years.