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The 2023 racing season was to get underway Friday night at Chateau Speedway in Lansing, albeit three and a half months late. Four heat races into the opening show, a brief shower interrupted the night.  

Crew and drivers spent a half hour getting the surface back into shape only to have another brief shower end any hopes of getting any more racing in. 

Brady Krohnberg, of Walters, and Gavin Bartel, of Kasson, had heat wins in the Power 96 USRA Hobby Stocks washed away while Hunter Kennedy of, St. Ansgar, Iowa and Michael Johnson, of Rose Creek, saw heat wins in the Double M Transport USRA B Mod’s go down the drain as well. 

Track owner Mark Wytaske’s tenure at Chateau has seen its share of bumps along the way.  When he took over the track in 2018, the purchase was made after it had been shut down and its future was in doubt. The season started late and over two months of racing was lost that year with the opening that year not happening until July.  Then the COVID-19 pandemic affected parts of two seasons. 

With just the few weeks left to the summer, Wytaske made the decision to go unsanctioned the final weeks of the year, but still base the rules for the classes on what would be his normal sanctioning’s:  USRA A Mod, B Mod, Stock Car and Hobby Stock, WISSOTA Midwest Mod, and the tracks Hornet rules.  

There will be allowances for any IMCA or WISSOTA Cars that might fit into those classes as well with cross sanctioning being allowed. Those six classes will basically run the remainder of the season with the exception being on Sept. 8  when the Mini Mods will take the place of the Hornets for a night.   

As of now races are scheduled to run Friday nights through Sept. 15, but Wytaske is leaving that open ended depending on the weather. An enduro with SMP Promotions will run as well at the facility but that date has not been finalized yet. Among all the changes was also a change in The Chateau Speedway website. The New page address is now www.ChateauSpeedway.net, and fortunately all the old content from the previous page was able to be saved and transferred over. Facebook remains the same at Chateau Speedway.

Action is scheduled for Friday night at Chateau Speedway with the first Green Flag scheduled to fly at 7:15 p.m.