Culture of Speed

Thousands of race fans will flock to downtown Detroit June 2-4 to witness the rebirth of IndyCar racing on the city’s streets during the Detroit Grand Prix. In August, meanwhile, tens of thousands will converge on the Michigan International Speedway (MIS) in Brooklyn to watch the stars of NASCAR loudly orbit the two-mile, D-shaped oval in the scenic Irish Hills.

IndyCar and NASCAR events stand at the top level of professional racing and take place in Michigan annually. Many more grass-roots events are conducted as often as weekly at paved and dirt short tracks at little-known venues as far south as the M-40 Speedway in Jones, near the Michigan-Indiana border, to as far north as the Sands Speedway, in the Upper Peninsula.

“I’ve always had fun racing in Michigan,” says Tony Stewart, a former IndyCar and NASCAR champion who now owns race teams in several motorsports disciplines. “There are some really cool racetracks there.There are obviously different states that have a greater influence in motorsports, but to have as much influence as (there is) in Michigan with sprint cars and late models, and Michigan International Speedway, and the Detroit Grand Prix — all of the different things in Michigan — it’s important to motorsports that the state of Michigan is that active in the industry.”

Some of the smaller tracks in the state have histories that include providing the start for drivers like Brad Keselowski, who went on to win the 2012 NASCAR Cup championship with Team Penske and now is a driver and co-owner of RFK Racing, along with fellow Michigander Jack Roush.

“I just remember being really nervous (when I first started racing as a teenager), just feeling like I was really young, in way over my handlebars,” Keselowski, a native of Rochester Hills, recalls of his early racing on Michigan’s short tracks. “Then, the little bit of success I had felt like (I had conquered) the world. Especially when you got to the west side of the state, the competition level there was absolutely incredible. I remember teams pulling in with big haulers, while I had a little trailer. It’s quite a scene.”

The west side of the state will be the focus of the racing world Aug. 3 when Stewart brings his SRX Racing all-star series to Berlin Raceway in Marne, near Grand Rapids. He’ll be joined by other big-name drivers like Keselowski, Kyle Bush, Kevin Harvick, four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves, Hailie Deegan, Bobby Labonte, and Ryan Newman.

“When SRX was first announced two years ago, we knew it was something we wanted,” says Jeff Striegle, general manager of Berlin Raceway. “It’s been an ongoing work in progress between their team and ours, and we’re fortunate to be one of the six tracks selected for 2023.”

All 10,000 seats quickly sold out for the event, and Striegle is anticipating excellent exposure for his facility from 9-11 p.m. that Thursday evening on ESPN, which broadcasts the SRX Racing series nationally.

“I’ve raced at Berlin before,” Stewart says. “It’s a real technical and unique track, but the great thing is every event that I was ever at up there, the fans are super passionate about Berlin. The fact that it’s already sold out tells us what to expect when we get there — about how excited everybody is that we’re going there, first of all, but what the level of excitement will be for us as the drivers. We feed off that energy, so having a packed house there already makes me smile.”

As the capital of the auto industry, it should come as no surprise that Michigan is a hotbed of racing. Cars have been racing in Michigan since the early part of the last century, and helped instill confidence in the burgeoning automotive industry. On Oct. 10, 1901, when Henry Ford defeated established driver Alexander Winton at the Grosse Pointe Racetrack behind the wheel of his Sweepstakes racer, the contest helped stamp Ford’s reputation as a serious automaker.

Initially, most car races were run on converted horse tracks. Organized racing in the state began in earnest in 1939 when the Owosso Speedway opened for business in Ovid, north of Lansing. It was followed by Norway Speedway, just east of Iron Mountain in the U.P., in 1942.

Many more followed — Tri-City Motor Speedway opened in Auburn, east of Midland, in 1947, as did Galesburg Speedway, located between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo. Birch Run Speedway, north of Flint, debuted in 1948 as Dixie Motor Speedway, while Kalamazoo got its own track, Kalamazoo Speedway, in 1949.

Larger series like IndyCars raced on dirt at the Michigan State Fairgrounds at Woodward Avenue and Eight Mile Road in Detroit from 1949 to 1957, while NASCAR ran there in 1951 and 1952.

The grandstands at the fairgrounds track, which eventually became unsafe, were dismantled in 1971. Plans to resurrect the facility in more recent years were scuttled due to noise concerns expressed by neighbors, and today the former fairgrounds is being built out as a logistics center.

The 1950s and 1960s saw the acceleration of track openings including Berlin Raceway; Mottville Speedway, in White Pigeon; Silver Bullet Speedway, in Michigan’s Thumb, which drew future Indianapolis 500 champions A.J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones; and the Waterford Hills Road Racing Course, in Clarkston.

In 2000, Keselowski was Rookie of the Year at Auto City Speedway and Dixie Motor Speedway (now Birch Run Speedway) behind the wheel of a factory stock car run by his father’s K-Automotive Motorsports team. “I wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t get to race at tracks like Auto City up in Flint, Owosso, and Toledo Speedway,” Keselowski says. “Those were three of my favorite tracks growing up. I learned a ton there.”

The lessons learned on the short tracks included “being smooth, not letting things fall off your race car, communicating with your team, and being able to manage a race event from start to finish. Those carry on at every level.”

A staple in California since the 1930s, drag racing took hold in Michigan during the 1960s. US 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, north of Kalamazoo, debuted in 1962. Milan Dragway opened its gates south of Ann Arbor in 1967, while Ubly Dragway was unveiled south of Bad Axe in 1967.

Tri-City Motor Speedway, a quarter-mile dirt track in Auburn, was founded in 1967, and Sands Speedway in Gwynn, in the U.P., opened two years later.

The state’s largest track, MIS in Brooklyn, opened the same year.

Due to its proximity to Detroit, MIS became a prime arena for local automakers competing for high-performance supremacy. Over the years, NASCAR Cup drivers powered by Ford, Mercury, Dodge, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Toyota have taken the checkered flag at MIS. More recently, Ford has dominated, winning the last eight races. Since 2010, the winning manufacturer has been presented with the Michigan Heritage Trophy.

Wood Brothers Racing, the oldest team in NASCAR, won two out of the first three stock car races at MIS with legendary driver Cale Yarborough.

“It’s always been important,” says Eddie Wood, president of Wood Brothers Racing. “It’s kind of viewed as the manufacturers’ race. That’s where Ford is and GM is. But there’s no extra pressure to run well or win at Michigan. You want to win every race, no matter where it is.”

MIS also hosted IndyCar events annually from 1968-2007.

MICHIGAN RACEWAYS

Since 2008, IndyCar, now operated by local businessman Roger Penske, has focused on street racing in Detroit, first taking over the downtown street circuit in 1989 from Formula 1, which ran in the Motor City from 1982-88. The race moved to Belle Isle from 1992-2022, with a three-year hiatus between 2002-2006, and another between 2009-2011. Series officials decided to return downtown to race on a temporary track around General Motors Co.’s world headquarters at the Renaissance Center.

In addition to the IndyCars, support races for the 2023 Detroit Grand Prix include the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, INDY NXT, and the Trans Am series.

According to a University of Michigan study, the Grand Prix will generate some $77 million in economic activity among local hotels, bars, restaurants, and other businesses. Race organizers say approximately 50 percent of the 1.7-mile temporary street circuit will be visible to fans free of charge.

While having a racetrack in one’s backyard can be an economic boon, it also can be a detriment. Such is the case at Cherry Raceway in Fife Lake, near Traverse City. One neighbor was so disenchanted with the unmuffled racing noise that he bought the 40-acre property in 2015 just to close it down, according to the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

When Fife Lake resident Stephen Batzer purchased the track, he quickly became a villain among the local racing community and a hero to his other serenity-loving neighbors.

“I’m glad it’s gone and I have my peace and quiet back,” Karol Kroupa, whose property lies between the track and Batzer’s house, was quoted in the local newspaper as saying at the time. “I thank my neighbor.”

Although Michigan’s IndyCar and NASCAR races attract national attention and network television time, the majority of the racing activity around the state takes place at smaller dirt and paved short tracks like Birch Run Speedway, where 24 different classes of racing machines compete every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from April 22 to Oct. 28.

Flat Rock Speedway hosts a variety of races every Saturday starting in May, while Kalamazoo Speedway runs modifieds, late models, semi-trucks, and other speedy vehicles every Friday and Saturday between May and November.

The schedule at Owosso Speedway, north of Lansing, is busy from April 15 through September. It hosts stock modifieds, pure stock, sport compact, trucks, street stocks, dwarf cars, late-model sportsman, mini wedges, and other racing classes.

In 1944 and 1945, the facility served another purpose: It was used as a prisoner of war camp for captured German soldiers. Camp Owosso was one of 25 POW camps in Michigan. On May 30, 1944, 200 veterans of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps arrived at Owosso. By July 1944, 375 prisoners were held there.

Today’s racing enthusiasts have the option of belonging to private clubs, complete with their own racecourses. M1 Concourse in Pontiac opened in 2016 on the former 87-acre site of General Motors’ former Pontiac West assembly plant. It features a 1.5-mile twisty, paved circuit surrounded by some 250 private garages.

MAJOR UPCOMING RACES IN MICHIGAN

SRX SERIES/BERLIN RACEWAY
Date: Aug. 3
Series: Tony Stewart’s Superstar Racing Experience (SRX)
Track: 7/16-mile paved oval
2022 Winner: NA
2022 Season Champion: Marco Andretti

FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400
Dates: Aug. 4-6
Series: NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, ARCA Menard’s Series
Track: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, 2-mile D-shaped oval
2022 Winner: Kevin Harvick

The facility also has an events center that hosts numerous programs each year, including the American Speed Festival, and it’s building the Prefix Performance Center, which will offer racing fuels and service for high-performance cars. The center is expected to be finished this summer.

Coming soon, a bit farther to the west, is Motorsports Gateway Howell, which began construction in January. It sits on a 273-acre plot near I-96 and Highway D19, one mile from downtown Howell. Phase 1 of construction, expected to be completed by summer, will include a 2.2-mile performance driving circuit, a paddock, a members clubhouse, track-fronting private garage condos, and a public nature trail. Two additional phases include an automotive innovation park and a mixed-use entertainment zone.

The bottom line, whether someone is driving their expensive car on a club track or just watching a race, is entertainment. According to the Berlin Raceway’s Striegle, there’s no shortage of people in Michigan who look to racing to accelerate their adrenaline.

“There’s something about the fan base in Michigan that makes racing in the state thrive,” Striegle says. “They’re a passionate group of people. They’re loyal. They want to go to a clean, family-friendly facility, and they want a good show when they get there. I think most of the tracks in the state are able to provide that.”