Slinger Speedway
World's Fastest 1/4 Mile Oval
LocationSlinger, Wisconsin
Capacity10,000
Opened1948
Major eventsSlinger Nationals
Oval
SurfaceAsphalt
Length0.25 miles (0.40 km)
Turns4
BankingTurns: 33°
Race lap record9.908 seconds (Jeff Bloom, , 2010, Xtreme Sprint Series)

The Slinger Speedway (also known as Slinger Super Speedway) is a quarter-mile paved oval automobile race track with 33-degree banked corners located in Slinger, Wisconsin. The track is billed as the "World's Fastest Quarter Mile Oval." The current track record was set by Jeff Bloom in a 410 extreme winged sprint car on August 21, 2010 at a time of 9.908 seconds.[1] This is the first lap record under 10 seconds on a quarter mile oval track of any type, breaking Anderson Speedway's 10.28 second lap record.[1] Bloom's lap eclipsed the track record set by USAC midget car driver Tracy Hines on May 17, 2008 at an elapsed time of 10.845 seconds.[1] The lap was the fastest ever midget car lap on an asphalt quarter mile track.[2] He eclipsed the long-standing mark of 11.095 seconds set by Tony Strupp's late model on June 12, 1994.

Track history

The track opened in 1948 and continued with a clay surface through the 1973 season. When it opened for the 1974 season on June 2, track promoter Rollie Heder had the track converted from a flat 1/5 mile dirt track to a 1/4 mile high-banked asphalt track.[3] The track hosted modified and sportsman classes on the new surface.[3] At the end of July 21, 1974, the classes were switched to late models, sportsman, and road runner stocks.[3] As the modified points leader, Larry Ninneman was named the track's modified champion.[3] Joe Shear won two late model special races and another three of five regular season late model races to be named the track's 1974 late model champion over his teammate Dave Watson.[3] Watson won the 1975 late model championship.[4] The track had a paved "X" infield added in the late 1970s, allowing for figure 8 racing at the end of the weekly Sunday night race events. In 2021, track owner Todd Thelen brought the then all-new Superstar Racing Experience (SRX series) to Slinger Speedway.[5] The July 10, 2021 race was won by Marco Andretti.[6] It was the first time in the track's history that an event was broadcast live on national television (on CBS).[6]

Weekly divisions

There are seven divisions running for points in a weekly program:

Notable drivers to appear at the track

Entrance

Rich Bickle, Erik Darnell, Ryan Mathews (2001 Late Model Rookie of the Year), Robbie Reiser, Joe Shear, Lowell Bennett, Dick Trickle, Dave Watson and Scott Wimmer competed at Slinger before they moved to NASCAR. Several NASCAR Cup Series champions including, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace , Bobby Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott have competed at the track.

Slinger Nationals

The track's biggest race of the year is the Slinger Nationals. The 200 lap super late model stock car race occurs in the middle of summer. The winner wins the Larry Detjens Memorial Trophy, which was named for the 1980 winner who died in a racing incident at another Wisconsin track later in the season. The 2023 Slinger Nationals will be the 44th running of this event.

The event is usually held on a Tuesday night in order for the nationally and regionally known drivers to participate in the Nationals. NASCAR stars frequently come to the circuit for a one time drive in a local car owner's car in the signature race.[7] Non-local NASCAR drivers frequently race in the event. The 1987 event featured Davey Allison, his father Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Alan Kulwicki, Mark Martin, Ted Musgrave, and Butch Miller. Kenseth was already a Cup regular when he won his second Nationals in 2002. Three Roush Racing drivers, one from each of the three national series, raced in 2006. The 2007 event had ten drivers with experience in at least one of the three major NASCAR series: Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Erik Darnell, Dick Trickle, Rich Bickle, Scott Wimmer, Chris Wimmer, Lowell Bennett, Kelly Bires, and Brad Mueller.[8][9] Other notable drivers who have raced in the Slinger Nationals include Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, Kyle Petty, Rusty Wallace, Ken Schrader and Michael Waltrip. In 2021, by virtue of his win in the Nationals on Tuesday, Luke Fenhaus was granted an automatic invitation to compete in the SRX series race that Saturday as the series' "Local Ringer".

List of Slinger Nationals winners

2019 Slinger Nationals field

List of Slinger Nationals winners by driver

Driver Total Years Won
Matt Kenseth 8 1994, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2019
Lowell Bennett 5 1997, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2010
Dick Trickle 4 1982, 1983, 1985, 1989
Joe Shear 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993
Rich Bickle 1992, 1996, 2003, 2013
Ty Majeski 3 2018, 2020, 2023
Butch Miller 2 1988, 1995
Larry Detjens 1 1980
Alan Kulwicki 1981
Mark Martin 1984
John Ziegler 1986
Tony Strupp 1998
Conrad Morgan 1999
David Prunty 2001
Nathan Haseleu 2005
Kyle Busch 2011
Chris Wimmer 2014
Dennis Prunty 2015
Bubba Pollard 2017
Luke Fenhaus 2021
William Byron 2022

References

  1. 1 2 3 Paul, Gregg. "Slinger Lays Claim To Be World's Fastest Quarter Mile Oval". Xtra Laps.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  2. ↑ Auto racing: World midget speed record set at Slinger; May 18, 2008; Capital Times; Retrieved May 18, 2008
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Theisen, Mark (December 12, 1974). "Shear Dominant at Slinger in Year of Major Changes". Midwest Racing News.
  4. ↑ "Auto racing: SE Wisconsin Short Tracks Hall of Fame adds Madison International Speedway legends". Wisconsin State Journal.
  5. ↑ Taranto, Steven (July 11, 2021). "SRX at Slinger results: Marco Andretti outduels Luke Fenhaus to win thrilling green-white-checkered finish". CBS Sports. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Pryson, Mike (July 11, 2021). "How Marco Andretti Covered the SRX Field at Slinger Speedway". Autoweek. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
  7. ↑ Scott Wimmer And Erik Darnell Added To Miller Lite Slinger Nationals, racingwisconsin.com, Dated June 28, 2007, Retrieved July 15, 2007
  8. ↑ Scott Wimmer And Erik Darnell Added To Miller Lite Slinger Nationals, June 28, 2007, Retrieved July 18, 2007
  9. 1 2 Lowell Bennett Bests NASCAR Drivers To Win 28th Annual Miller Lite Slinger Nationals; Steve Zautke July 17, 2007, Retrieved July 18, 2007
  10. ↑ "Slinger Nationals:1980-03". Third Turn. Retrieved 26 March 2006.
  11. ↑ "Kenseth sets record: Driver wins event for the fifth time". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  12. ↑ Kallmann, Dave (July 12, 2010). "Slinger Nationals results: Bennett's fifth victory". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  13. ↑ Kallmann, Dave. "Steve Apel disqualified; Rich Bickle named winner at Slinger Nationals". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
  14. ↑ Kallmann, Dave. "Matt Kenseth wins seventh Slinger Nationals title". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  15. ↑ Kallmann, Dave. "Ty Majeski's second Slinger Nationals title comes a lot harder than it looked". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  16. ↑ "Luke Fenhaus to Race in SRX After Slinger Nationals Win". 7 July 2021.
  17. ↑ Kallmann, Dave. "NASCAR star William Byron's debut Slinger Nationals victory is tinged by doubt". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  18. ↑ White, Brandon. "Ty Majeski earns third victory in Slinger Nationals". NASCAR. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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