SODA continues oval track season openers at Wisconsin International Raceway in 2023

As the name suggests, the Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA) primarily races off-road tracks. But in back-to-back years, it will begin a season at a track mainly known for stock car pavement racing as the 2023 calendar kicks off at Wisconsin International Raceway.

Located in Kaukauna, WIR is a four-track speedway with half-mile and quarter-mile ovals, a figure 8, and a drag strip. Grassroots racing dominates the track and it is one of the many Midwestern circuits that future NASCAR stars have used to build their name: 2003 Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth won the 1994 and 1995 Super Late Model track titles, while 1992 Cup titlist Alan Kulwicki did so in 1979 and 1980. The decorated Sauter family is a household name at WIR, as are 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Mark Martin, 2022 Truck Series Championship Round contender Ty Majeski, and the late Dick Trickle.

Of course, a short course off-road series is a far cry from the aforementioned. While the premise of off-road trucks jumping ramps and plowing through the grass at a stock car track is certainly an oddity, SODA has a weekend of experience after beginning the 2022 season at Slinger Super Speedway. Slinger, which is slightly over an hour’s drive away from Kaukauna, has a figure 8 that SODA used in addition to much of its main quarter-mile oval; SODA’s track layout also included an over/under jump at the figure 8’s intersection and a series of kicker jumps.

In an interview with The Checkered Flag in May, SODA President Willie Freshour said he and Slinger owner Todd Thelen were initially skeptical of the idea, but “figured it out” and “it was a lot of fun.” Freshour explained visiting asphalt courses in addition to the usual dirt tracks is a boon for Wisconsin’s racing scene as it allows SODA’s drivers to stay within the area while providing a unique racing experience for fans accustomed to stock cars. This was especially the case as most asphalt tracks host an “Eve of Destruction” night where they invite drivers to race bizarre vehicles in events like demolition derbies and stunt shows; such an event is one of WIR’s most popular, while Thelen told TCF that Slinger’s Slamfest was the genesis for the SODA round.

“[The asphalt tracks] don’t make a ton of money on their regular show, and then they’ll have a destruction-type show where they pack the house every year,” said Freshour. “What kind of our hope is that basically within three years or something, we’re competing with these tracks. We’re competing with those numbers of their destruction shows where we can pack the place once a year for these tracks. Our circuit can tour around this area of Wisconsin and really bring the fans out. It’s just good for the whole sport because then those fans are going to come to the regular races too at those circle tracks and/or follow our circuit around.

“Obviously, with the overhead that’s happening in the last couple of decades with race tracks, they kind of need these heavy shows to keep on operating and there’s nothing worse if a track closes their doors, they generally don’t reopen. These guys all need to make money to pay their bills. Tracks are huge, huge investments and they need a big influx of income to come in. Everybody seemed to love the races that came out, the racers and the fans and everything was super positive, and anybody that was worried about us running on asphalt and dirt kind of got over it real fast.”

Further details like a specific date were not immediately revealed.

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