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‘Fest is Best with Austin Wells · Midwest Racing Central Today

• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, everybody, and welcome to this week's edition of Midwest Racing Central.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Today, here at Midwest RacingCentral.com, I'm Pete Pistoni.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's the end of the season already, and one of the biggest races in the Midwest in the country is right around the corner up at Lacrosse Fairground Speedway.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's Oktoberfest, and let's bring in from Lacrosse Austin Wells with us here on Midwest Racing Central today.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Austin, how are you?
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Doing well.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's a busy, busy week here at uh lacrosse speedway, getting everything situated.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's all the small details that we need to put together to obviously make the big event happen.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: So a little rain in the forecast today.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, it gets it out of the system.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh hopefully we have a great week next week to get ready for the big event.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we look forward to it.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: All right, let's just back up for some of our viewers and listeners who don't know about the racetrack and what you do there on a regular basis, and then we'll get to Octoberfest.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Let's start there.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Lacrosse Bear Ground Speedway.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Give everyone a little thumbnail what goes on up there on most Saturday nights throughout the summertime, Austin.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so thumbnail that we do weekly racing through the NASCAR weekly racing series.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we run weekly racing on Saturday nights, May through about the middle of August.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: We get a five-eighths mile big track, and then on the inside we have a quarter mile action track, we call it.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: So run all the six shooters, minivans, hornets.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: We do all that on the quarter mile.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh we also do Thursday night street drags once a month.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we set up a 300-foot drag strip on the front stretch, and uh, that's a great way just to get any anyone out here so they can try lacrosse speedway and have a little fun.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: So let's uh kind of get a barometer of your season to date.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: How did it go?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Car counts, competition, fans in the stands, all those things, as we know.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Short track promoting, and you're the general manager there.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Not an easy thing, but it feels like things are going pretty well, lacrosse.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: How would you look back at this past season?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Our late model competition is top tier.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think we had 10 different winners this year, so obviously we love seeing that.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, a season still of its own to come here, though, at Oktoberfest, because four races that's like a half a season for us.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: So our late model competition's always been awesome.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we've we loved that.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh our sportsman class, we reworked that a couple years ago, so it's based on a breakout time.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: So we're able to bring in a lot more different cars from that.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: That competition's always always fun to watch.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: You got six different cars fighting for the lead.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: So hard to complain about that.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Then our Hornets, those are always we're in probably the mid-20s.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think we almost had 31 nights, so no complaints there.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then our our other classes are just really fun to watch.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, where else can you watch a minivan go around a quarter mile racetrack?
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that that division just puts a smile on your face every time you see them.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, then our street stocks and six shooters, those guys are just out here having fun, and it's it's really cool to watch.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, apart from that, we do a couple destruction shows, so that you know, we always keep it different.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we do a lot of the weekly racing and we always try to spice it up a bit.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Keeps the fans entertained, and we get a couple different people in here as well, so that's always good.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: That is good stuff.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I was gonna ask you that.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: So, what's your philosophy when someone buys a ticket to come to one of your events?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: What do you hope that they go home with at the end of the night after a night at Lacrosse Fairground Speedway, Austin?
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, our biggest thing is making sure we stick to a schedule.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Jeff Garbers, our race director, has been doing it for over 30 years.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: So he is uh he's awesome at what he does.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And our biggest goal is getting done by 9:30.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, because we want those kids and the families going down into the pits afterwards.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: They can see the cars, you know, make connections.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's the biggest thing.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: If they they got their favorite competitor, their favorite late model driver, they'll come keep coming back week after week.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's something we always strive to do, and that's something when they buy a ticket, we want to make sure they get out of here at a decent time.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the show, there's no dead air, dead time.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: We don't like any of that.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just we like pushing the show through, you know, obviously still putting out a quality product, but you know, just providing that family entertainment where they can go home with a smile on their face before 10 o'clock.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: So what about around the racetracker on the property?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I was up at Madison a few weeks ago.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: They've got the playground there, the Sue McCarn's playground that that Greg has there, and those kinds of things for fans and uh families.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: What about you guys up there at La Crosse, Austin?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Chuck Deary has a very special playground over there.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh a couple concrete tubes, I think, that were bought on surplus, and then a couple old uh, I think playground equipment pieces from schools that he's purchased over the years.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it's uh it's kind of a lot like the old Rockford Speedway playground.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of history there, and it's you know, it's it's all it needs to be.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: You go over there on any given Saturday night, and the kids are they're crawling through the tubes and they're just having the time of their lives.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: All right, I want to talk about the back gate a little bit.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned the competition, and when you talk to your competitors, what's that in a conversation conversation is like?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what what are the competitors saying?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: How are you trying to make sure you bridge that gap to you know give them what they need to be out there every Saturday night?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: But again, bottom line, put on some really good racing on your racetrack every weekend.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think the biggest thing is like, especially with our late model guys, the the affordability of it.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we our tire program is one tire a week.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we try to, you know, it keeps it simple for everyone.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: One tire a week.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: They don't have to go out by four new tires every week.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we try to keep us keep it simple on that front.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: They all love that.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's a good program.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's on the same platforms, so it uh it keeps and then mainly it's just small things for them.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: We do like like doing the driver appreciation nights, give them tickets they can give it to their sponsors, and just it's it's the small tokens appreciation we can do for them to you know hopefully keep them coming back week after week.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because obviously, for them it's a lot.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, just being here on a Saturday night's one thing, but you know, how much time are they spending at the shop?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: How much is it taking away from family and friends?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: So we just anything we can do to help them, we want to do that.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So any resources, or even if it's just giving them practice time, if they had, you know, a bad night, they want to come out here during the week, you know, we'll we'll help them out with some practice time.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just trying to trying to do those small tokens of appreciation to make sure they keep coming back because obviously we love them and they're the show, so we need them, so that's very important.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: So you mentioned part of the NASCAR regional racing series and and being under that umbrella.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: What does that mean for your track, for your competitors, and just kind of overall?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: So the awesome part of that is it puts us on a national scale with other NASCAR weekly tracks.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: So the guys that compete here on a normal Saturday night, they're on that national scale and regional scale as well.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: So they're competing with other guys in other states.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it's really cool to watch the national point standings.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: We have a couple drivers, uh, the Dells to the south and Elko to the north, they're on the same platform.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of our guys will cross over between those tracks so they can actually get a little more competitive in those standings because it's all based on a I can't remember the exact number, but you get X amount of features that's counted into that.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: So the more features they're on, the better chances they have of getting more points, of course.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's always fun to have that national scale, and you can play into it a little bit too, you know, as far as announcing, social media posts.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's fun to play with that as well.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, and you had Jacob Gady, and when he won it last year, we had him on Sirius XM NASCAR radio.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: So that gave you a little more exposure.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta think that goes a long way for your race team.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, for sure.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Having Jacob Gady here every week is awesome.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, especially if he's the national champion, that how cool is that?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, racing here every week at La Crosse Speedway, and then you go down to Charlotte and he's up on the stage.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's it's the one of the coolest things ever.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: So you mentioned a couple other tracks in your area, the Dells, you've got Elko and Minnesota to to the north.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: As you know, lots of racetracks in in the Midwest and in the Wisconsin area.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Austin, do you how much do you guys collaborate with one another to kind of work together on rules and scheduling and those kinds of things throughout the course of a season?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we we have obviously maintaining connections is very important, having just contacts in your phone so you can shoot someone a message.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's huge.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, as far as Wisconsin goes, we actually have a promoters of Wisconsin Auto Racing Group that we meet twice a year.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that that's just a great open forum to you know talk to other tracks, kind of you know, get the scheduling along the same lines and just collaborate.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what worked for you this year, what didn't work for you this year?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because we're we're all fighting the same fight here.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, using using all the resources we have is huge.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: And uh obviously we want to put out a better product, get more people here, so anything we can do to do that, we want to make sure we're we're putting our best fork forward.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: All right, last point before we get to Oktoberfest, a lot of tracks, televisor races, streaming, and those kinds of things.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: What's sort of your view about that at lacrosse?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: We we do it actually right now.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, so back it, we actually we had someone doing it back in the 90s.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he's still here to this day, and we actually we're on lacrosse speedway.tv.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a pay-per-view single event, and we also have a monthly package available, it's all through us.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but basically we like doing that because we do have a lot of Minnesota competitors, and it lets those family, those friends, they can see those competitors on a weekly level, you know, obviously keep up with them because it might be tough for them to make it every week, and we understand that.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we like putting that option out there just as another tool to uh make it so they can keep up with the action here.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: I say it all the time.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: Big fan of streaming.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing beats putting your butt in a seat, though, and being out there in person uh for sure, no matter what racetrack we're talking about here.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: All right, let's talk about Octoberfest.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: As I mentioned, obviously one of the biggest end of the season short track races, I think, in the country.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Give us a little sneak preview for the 2026 version of it.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, I can't see behind you.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Are there people already lined up camping there at lacrosse?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta think there might be.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, not quite yet.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: We don't let them in until Monday at noon.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: So we try to keep that uh keep that ruled with an iron fist.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but basically, what what is there to say?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's uh it's the biggest event in the Midwest for the end of the season.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Four days of racing, four days of fun.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Camper Village is open for seven days.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it it's it's like a giant family reunion.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I I don't know how else to say it better than that.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone comes here at the end of the year, they've been doing it for a long time.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: You get to see those people you don't see all the time.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: You get to see obviously great action on the track.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, hundreds of laps of feature racing, super late models every day, all of our weekly classes, we crown a lot of different champions.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: It it's just, I don't know how else to put it, but it's a big event and it's awesome.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: As we say, Fest is best.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's it's hard to summarize it all all at once because it's just it's such a such a great racing event.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we know the main event on Sunday is the ASA Midwest tour.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: So we got that, the big eight series on Saturday.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: But leading up to it, first of all, how how many divisions are you guys gonna have up there next week?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think we have about 18 different divisions this year.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then in terms of how how it gets broken down, it starts what on Wednesday, sort of walk us through a little bit of the schedule that we'll see when we're up there.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: And again, whether we're there or not, we're being able to watch it on, I believe it's on track TV, right?
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Leading up to everything next weekend.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: So we have practice that starts this Saturday, just an open practice for any guys to come out here, uh, 11 to 3 o'clock.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: They can leave their haulers here if they're participating on Thursday night or if they want to open practice on Wednesday.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so practice this Saturday.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Camper Village, of course, opens Monday, and then next Wednesday we'll also have an open practice 2 to 6:40.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then Thursday is when our first racing event takes place.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: So practice in the mornings, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then racing at night, and then Sunday.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's a brief practice session in the morning, and then racing at noon.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it's there's always something going on the track.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: You'll hear if we are from the campground or anywhere on the property, most any time of the day.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: So there's there's nothing like it just walking around and just hear race cars all day.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: So uh we'll ask about the Midwest tour.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: They were down my way last weekend at Grundy County Speedway.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: I had I think 25 cars in the main event, which is great.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Polly Schaefer won the race.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: What's that looking like in terms of here we are?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: No, we have some time in the entry list for the final for the ASA Midwest tour coming up a week from Sunday.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the cool part about that is obviously they can race all four days.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of things can happen from a competitor standpoint, Thursday and Friday, if they compete those days.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, whether they're using the same car or not, you know, if something happens Thursday night, that could affect anything that happens as far as the Midwest Tour Oktoberfest 200 goes.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um and it sounds like there's a pretty good points battle in the Midwest Tour as well.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: So having that showdown be the pinnacle of the Oktoberfest 200 is huge.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it'll be fun to play along with that, obviously, through qualifying on Saturday and the preliminary events, then obviously the the 200 lap watching that all play out will be awesome to see as well.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: So having all that build up into this event is really cool because you got you got all that coming into one.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: So it's fun to watch and obviously great from a fan's perspective.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: So another one event I want to ask you about uh that's on part of the schedule, the trickle 99, right?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's part of what you guys do next week.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: So we got the milk bowl up at Thunder Road this week, which I think is a sort of along the lines.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: How does the how does the trickle 99 work in terms of those 99 laps?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: So at the trickle 99, it's a race inside of a race, as we always say.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it's three 33 lap segments.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and then it's it's basically like a golf score.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: So lowest score wins, it goes one, two, three, four.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: So just as they go through the three events, we always hand out scorecards for the fans so they can follow along as well.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the lowest score wins, so you don't you might have a guy who gets first in the first one, and you know, maybe second in the second event, then you know you got some some guy who was maybe third or fourth consistently and he'll end up winning the deal.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's really cool to watch all that play out just because it all it intertwines, and there's obviously the action on the track and then the points that kind of keep tally of uh who the overall champion's gonna be.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's a fun one to watch.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I know you got a lot coming up.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Before I go, I'll ask you one other question because it never ends.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: How's 2027 looking?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Are you already looking at the schedule for next season?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we haven't made it that far.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: We gotta get past the next two, three weeks here.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of work before the event.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, the event itself, then it's it's two to three weeks of cleanup here for us.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll start looking at that maybe the beginning of November.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Fair enough.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I appreciate the time.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: I know how busy you are.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: We look forward to it again.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's Oktoberfest.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Get up to La Crosse Fairground Speedway.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: And if you can't get up there, Track TV is your destination to take it all in.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Austin, thanks.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Have a great weekend.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: You bet.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's Austin Wells, Lacrosse Fairground Speedway.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Again, one of the best tracks here in the Midwest, one of the biggest events in the Midwest in short track racing coming up.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: All right, keep it here at Midwest RacingCentral.com.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: We've got a lot going on this weekend.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: We've got the Tundra Series up at Marshfield Speedway, round two of the Wisconsin State Championships at Jefferson Speedway, and of course, next week we will count you down to Oktoberfest.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Pete Pistoni, thanks for watching.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you next time on Midwest Racing Central today.