Familiar face returns to promote Door County race track; Kewaunee County track still in limbo

STURGEON BAY AND LUXEMBURG - A familiar face is returning with a new partner to promote stock car racing at The Hill Raceway at the Door County Fairgrounds next year, while the search for a new promoter for The 'Burg Speedway on the Kewaunee County Fairgrounds is extended for another month.

The Door County Highway & Facilities Committee voted to award the right to run races at the third-mile clay oval in Sturgeon Bay to Sternard Motorsports, LLC, in its Dec. 13 meeting. The agreement between the county and Sternard is for one year, so it does not need full County Board approval, so the award is final, contingent on Sternard submitting insurance forms for the 2024 season.

Sternard Motorsports is led by cousins John Sternard and Adam Sternard. John Sternard was one of the partners in PKS3, the group that promoted a regular schedule of racing at The Hill since 2017 but chose not to return in 2024 because they collectively decided the effort involved in running a track successfully was becoming a burden after seven years. Sternard described it as "a labor of love" in an interview with the Advocate last month.

But after the county initially struggled to get bids from prospective promoters for 2024, and knowing that weekly racing wouldn't happen if no qualified promoter was found, Sternard said he fielded calls from a number of interested parties ‒ racers, sponsors, fans and his cousin Adam ‒ asking if he'd possibly be interested in continuing at least one more year.

"I had no intention of it," Sternard said Wednesday after learning he was back in the race promotion game. "But I got calls from people asking if I was interested in doing it again, got a call from my cousin. That just kinda rejuvenated me."

John Sternard said while Adam wasn't one of the partners in PKS3, they worked closely together during the seven years PKS3 ran the track, calling Adam "more or less my right-hand guy." He noted Adam has been involved with various tracks in the region since around 2006.

That experience and track record of success ‒ fan attendance rose from 400 to about 550 to 600 a week during PKS3's tenure while car counts, the number of entered racers each week, steadily averaged around 70 ‒ is a big part of why Door County Facilities and Parks director Wayne Spritka recommended the committee award the bid to the Sternards. Spritka also noted the county usually brought in Sternard and PKS3 to help prepare and run the track for other motorsports events during the week of the Door County Fair.

"I had made the recommendation for Sternard Motorsports based on the last seven years," Spritka said. "The relationship between him and the county was pretty good."

Another factor was money. PKS3 paid the county $750 rent for each night of racing the past two years, after paying $600 a night before that, but for 2024 Sternard Motorsports will pay $1,000 a night. The only other bid the county received was from Denil Auto, which proposed $600 a night, also on a one-year deal.

Sternard said he offered to pay that much more rent as a nod to the improvements the county and its parks department have made to the track and its grandstand in recent years to make it a better and more attractive place for racers and fans, such as remodeling the grandstand, updating the sound system and installing LED lighting and fiber optic lines.

"We really do recognize what Wayne and the county have been doing as far as capital improvements," Sternard said in explaining the reason for the higher rent.

So, what's happening in 2024?

Sternard said the plan calls for 11 or 12 races in 2024. All will be on a Saturday night except for a May 26 date (the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend) and the traditional Thursday night of racing during the county fair.

Four classes of cars will run each week: Stock Car, Sport Mods, Street Stocks and a fourth division to be determined. Sternard said he'd like to run that division for 4-cylinder cars, as the track has in the past, but car counts in that class have dropped dramatically.

And the track already has a number of sponsors lined up for next season, Sternard said, notably with Quietwoods RV of Sturgeon Bay "stepping up in a huge way" to be its title sponsor.

Sternard also is looking more deeply into something he and PKS3 hadn't done in their tenure ‒ acquiring sanction for their races from the International Motor Contest Association.

Racing under the IMCA banner, as do most weekly short tracks across Wisconsin and many across the country, does offer racers the chance to race for points toward state and national championships and sometimes can help bring in more cars from outside the area for bigger races, but the track would pay sanctioning fees to IMCA for the privilege.

And, Sternard noted IMCA has criteria that must be met and there's no guarantee it would sanction The Hill just because the track might want it ‒ for one thing, nearby tracks 141 Speedway in Francis Creek and Shawano Speedway also run Saturdays and already are IMCA tracks.

"For years, we've just had a line of communication open with (IMCA)," Sternard said. "The biggest thing is, what benefits the drivers? It benefits the drivers more than the track. If this can benefit the drivers, then we're gonna go for it."

Outside of that possibility, racers and fans shouldn't expect many changes for the 2024 season, Sternard said.

"I think we've always done a great job with fan and driver relationships," Sternard said. "We're not looking to change so much as enhance."

Still seeking in Kewaunee County

Meanwhile, the Kewaunee County Promotions and Recreation Department has approved a new due date of Jan. 9 to receive requests for proposals (RFPs) to run The 'Burg Speedway in Luxemburg in 2024 and hopefully beyond.

That comes after no one submitted a bid by the previously set deadline of Dec. 5 to operate a racing schedule next year on the third-mile clay oval on the Kewaunee County Fairgrounds.

As with what looked like was going to happen in Door County, Kewaunee County is facing the loss of a promotional group that ran successful programs for several years. The Kewaunee County Racing Association began running the track in 2020 and saw average attendance rise into the mid-600s and average car counts to the low 100s during their tenure. The group also changed the track's regular racing night from Fridays, when dirt tracks in Seymour and Chilton were among a number of tracks in the state holding their weekly shows, to Sundays, so there would be more opportunity to draw racers, and that move appears to have accomplished its goal.

The RFP to promote and operate racing at The 'Burg Speedway on the Kewaunee County Fairgrounds in Luxemburg is due by 5 p.m. Jan. 9 at the Kewaunee County Promotions and Recreation Department, E4280 County F, Kewaunee. The Promotions & Recreation Committee will consider the bids at their subsequent meeting before a recommendation goes to a County Board vote.

To get an RFP, go to the department office or visit kewauneeco.org, click on the "News" tab at the top, then click on the Oct. 20 news release about the county seeking a promoter. For more information, call 920-388-0444 or email myers.david@kewauneeco.org.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County hires 2024 race track promoter for The Hill Raceway