TURN LEFT! TURN LEFT! Hundreds of spectators fill the Red Cedar
grandstand every Friday night.

Menomonie has its own racetrack right in town. The Red Cedar Speedway offers races every Friday night from April to August. Volume One chatted with the Speedway’s market director, Tara Prochnow, about the track and racing in the Chippewa Valley.

How’d you get involved with racing and Red Cedar Raceway?
Well just growing up, my dad raced until I was 10 and my brother raced go-karts at the track south of Menomonie in Elk Mound. Growing up, you go to the races every Friday and Saturday and in the summers you travel every weekend and there’s specials during the week. So that’s what I grew up doing. And then the Red Cedar Association is all just board members donating time, so last year is when I really started helping with the board and before that I did promotional stuff at the track like being a trophy girl and that stuff.

Now I’m marketing director and my brother still races. He races the biggest class you can the late models. He races Menomonie every week and we go down to Rochester every Saturday and do specials throughout the Midwest too.

Why do you think fans are so drawn to racing as a sport?
I’d say just the excitement and the lifestyle of it, I guess. You know, going and watching – most people know at least one person that’s racing – but if they keep coming they get certain drivers that they like. Just the competition and excitement I think. It’s different from others sports. It’s not a team. You’re running what you’ve brought, trying to get the fastest car and the best set up. I think that’s why drivers get so involved in it because they want to just keep getting better and get their car set perfectly. And it’s hard, because Menomonie is known to have a difficult racetrack to get used to just because it’s a shorter track and it’s pretty fast. So setting up for Red Cedar takes a lot of figuring out to do.

It seems like you’ve been around a lot of drivers growing up. What attracts them to the sport?
I think a lot of it has to do with tradition. Racing is kind of hard to get into if you don’t have a dad who does it or a cousin or an uncle. A lot of racers I know, it’s passed down in tradition. To get into it you have to have people to help you out because you can’t do it on your own. There’s so much that goes into it, building the motors and having the right set-up and everything.

I think the competition attracts drivers, and the adrenaline. They get going around 100 mph at Menomonie’s track at least. And you can keep advancing. You can start out in the beginner’s class, which is less expensive and keep moving up and competition gets harder and the cars get faster. The thrill of it is definitely a lot of he reason drivers get involved.

What’s the atmosphere of a race at Red Cedar Raceway?
About 10:30, people start flooding in, and usually on the grandstand side there’s a line to get in. You get your beer, you get your food, you get ready and sit down. We do hot laps just about every night, where people are out testing the cars. It’s a family environment at Menomonie, it’s not 21-plus. It’s a lot of families and kids that come and watch whether it’s a dad or brother out there. The excitement on Friday night; just unwind and have some beers and watch some exciting races. It’s not like you have one person from each class who wins every week, it’s always a pretty fierce competition between the drivers and it gets heated sometimes. Lots of crashes too, mostly in the beginner’s classes, but we probably average one rollover every two weeks at least, if not more. Then the more cars you have, the more heats you have.

Any tips for a first-time fan?
First of all, don’t wear any kind of nice clothes because it’s a dirt track. Be prepared to get get dirt in your hair and your eyes. If you really  don’t want to get dirty, sit up high. You don’t have to come early to get a spot. We have a nice grandstand, so just come and remember to bring a can coozie and be excited for the races! Afterwards, people can walk across the track to go talk to the drivers and get autographs. Almost all the drivers have driver cards, with a picture of the car that they’ll sign. It’s family fun on a Friday night, something out of the norm locally. It’s kind of hard to explain because I’ve grown up around it, but it’s something different to do and it’s pretty cheap to come and drink beer and hang out with friends. And you’ll see some heated battles and see how much goes into it.

For more info and a full schedule of events, go to RedCedarRacing.com or call the track phone at 235-6318.