Tri-Oval Speedway returns to WISSOTA
roots, joins organization for start of '07 season

By Kirk Holmes
Reprinted With Permission From All The Dirt! Racing News

COCHRANE, WI (March 22) - Tri-Oval Speedway returned to one family last year and recently rejoined another.

“It sat idle for several years and I tried to buy it several times. I think it’s the most exciting track I have ever watched racing at. I always wanted to have it, decided to buy it and I finally got it,” said Jeff Duellman, who in 2005 purchased the property from longtime owners and original WISSOTA members Sue Emmons-Lloyd and Harold Lloyd in 2005.

Duellman’s parents, Louie and Nancy Duellman, were part of a promoters group at the speedway in 1972-74 that renamed the facility River Raceway. Duellman hosted unsanctioned events at the revamped facility in 2006 and last month signed a contract with the WISSOTA Promoters Association, Inc., the group that sanctioned racing at the track until it closed up shop in 2001.

Tri-Oval Speedway, which originally opened on September 4, 1968, was the site where Duellman watched racing, raced and cheered for drivers behind the wheel of cars he owned.

After the Lloyds moved their regular events from Friday night to Saturday night in the spring of 2001 - due in large part to competition for fans and racers with a new race facility nearby - Tri-Oval Speedway officially ceased operations in June.

After purchasing the facility in 2005, Duellman and his volunteers toiled endlessly that fall to wipe away nature’s control of the grounds and set the facility on course for the future. New clay, retaining wall, grandstands, private boxes and a scoring booth are just some of the many improvements the group made before reopening the front gates in May of 2006.

This year the facility will sanction Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds and Street Stocks with WISSOTA. They will also race USRA Modifieds, local Hornets and a new line of Slingshot karts, the latter of which will race on a new small tri-oval in the infield of the historic track.

“We are going to go about doing things the way we were doing them last year,” Duellman said. “We’re just trying to tighten the reins down, run things more efficiently. We learned a lot last year, how to run things. Being a promoter is tough; you have a lot to learn.”

Adding Tri-Oval Speedway to the list of nearly 50 WISSOTA-sanctioned facilities is a plus for not only the speedway but also its fans and competitors, Duellman said.

“I think WISSOTA has a lot to offer,” he said. “We looked into both groups, went back and forth and weighed it all out. I think WISSOTA has more to offer, with more tracks and more cars.

“We felt it was the right move for the track. It was a business move and the right thing to do. I think things are going to be great running with WISSOTA.”

According to an article written by freelancer Sandy Erdman, the unique shape of the speedway was derived from a trip that founder Belmont Krause and his wife, Virginia, made to the Daytona 500 in 1967. Oddly enough, tri-oval is the shape of today on the NASCAR circuit but a rare breed indeed in today’s dirt track world.

In fact, for whatever reason, former WISSOTA member Seymour Speedway reshaped it’s tri-oval track a couple of years ago.

Duellman said he doesn’t see any changes in the future of his facility.

“It’s the uniqueness of it,” he said. “You take the drivers that race here all the time, when you run a special one night and bring in new drivers, they have their hands full with our drivers,” he said. “It’s not the average oval track.

“Turn three is quite a corner, I don’t care how good of a driver they are. Our drivers are excellent drivers and many have said, ‘Once you can race on the tri-oval, the other tracks come easy.’ I call it a driver’s track. It’s not about money, it’s not about motors. It’s about handling on the track. That’s what makes it unique; it’s a hard track to drive.”

Duellman said he’s put in additional new lighting at the track and the pits have been expanded. They also built a smaller tri-oval in the infield - 40 feet wide and 957 feet around - that will give officials the opportunity to race the Slingshots even if they have to work on the main track.

“We are going to tighten up the racing,” he said. “We took out the dash for cash, which should help us get the people in and out of there.”

Tri-Oval Speedway - one of the original WISSOTA tracks - is a clay surfaced, 3/8 mile tri-oval race track located three miles north of Fountain City, WI on Hwy. 35. To reach Duellman, you can call (715) 495-0200. The track phone is (608) 687-3282.

To learn more about Tri-Oval Speedway, log on to www.triovalspeedway.com. For more information regarding WISSOTA, log on to www.wissota.org