Former Dells Speedway finally sold

Trio of new owners will operate the historic Wisconsin Dells' track in 2007 as the Dells Raceway Park.

Lyndon Station, Wis.-- On Friday afternoon, February 9, 2007 the Wisconsin racing community was finally able to breathe a long sigh of relief as Lance Fielitz, Joe Graziano, and Frank Kreyer completed their purchase of the former Dells Motor Speedway.

For the trio of racing enthusiasts their purchase of the track was a stressful and drawn out process that began when the Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company finally finished a nearly three-year long legal battle to foreclose on the track's defaulted mortgage.

After legally obtaining the track in late October of 2006 (following a Juneau County Sheriff's auction), the Louisiana Bank then listed the property for sale with a Wisconsin Realtor. Fielitz, Graziano, and Kreyer began negotiations through their own Realtor and soon had an accepted offer in late November, with hopes of taking possession before Christmas.

Anxious to complete the sale and begin the process of preparing the track for the 2007 season, required inspections and necessary repairs twice delayed scheduled closings. Despite their best efforts, the soon to be new owners saw their occupancy postponed from mid December to February 16th, when the keys were officially turned over to them.

"I have never experienced any thing like this before," said Kreyer, adding "the entire process was a roller coaster ride of emotion for me, my new partners and all our friends and families." Kreyer, a former racer at the track, credits many of his friends, fans, and fellow racers for their support during the complicated purchase.

Echoing the sentiments of Kreyer as to the support he and his family received, Graziano was quick to also thank Greg Borcherding and the Bank of Wisconsin Dells. "The work that went into the closing of this very complex transaction, took 60 days longer than we would have liked. In the end, The Bank of Wisconsin Dells was instrumental in making this transaction possible."

Agreeing with both Kreyer and Graziano, Fielitz also offered thanks to several individuals for the roles they played, including Joel Daste of the Gulf Coast Bank and his Wisconsin attorneys Daryl Diesing and Dan McGarry.

Fielitz continued, "So many people played a part in the sale of this historic Wisconsin sports icon, including our attorney Paul Polacek, our Realtor Ron Marohl, their Realtor Suzy Favor-Hamilton, and the bank's agent Bob Blaschke. The three of us are all very appreciative of all the help and support we received, especially from our wives and families."

Following their purchase of the Dells Raceway Park, the new owners also expressed their gratitude to the approximately 450 interested parties and well wishers that turned out for a DRP informational meeting the trio hosted during the first week of February, when Wisconsin was hit by the harshest winter temperatures to cross the Badger State in over a decade.

"We were really leery about the turn out", recalled Fielitz. "Especially as we worked behind the closed doors of an empty banquet hall, that was set up to seat 400. When the doors opened it was just like a concert as the venue quickly filled to a standing room only crowd! It was wonderful to know that so many racers and fans are as excited as us, to kick off a new era at DRP. "

Normally never short of words, Kreyer summed up his reaction to the turnout and response from those in attendance as simply, "Overwhelming!"

"We were all floored by the standing room only crowd. More than anything so far, that night showed us all that the racers want to return and race at DRP," added Graziano.

Originally billed as an informational meeting, the second postponed closing (just days before the Chula Vista meeting) caused the format to truly become one of introductions of key DRP personnel. Still confident they could jump through all the hoops tossed their way; the snarl of legal troubles connected to the past ownership prevented the meeting from covering specific plans for 2007.

With most in the room already knowing Kreyer, from his years of racing in Wisconsin (including the last several years as the driver of the No. 99 Culver's Late Model), the Poynette native kicked the meeting off.

As each of the new owners took turns addressing the large crowd, they introduced themselves and spoke about their excitement, entering into their new partnership to purchase the Dells track.

Fielitz introduced himself as the owner of the Mauston Culver's and quickly put to rest the inaccurate rumors that Culver's was involved with the purchase or operation of DRP. He explained that through his long-time friendship with Kreyer and newly formed relationship with Graziano, the group had combined their interest and desire to buy the troubled track and restore it to the place it once held within Wisconsin's famed racing history.

Graziano introduced himself as another racing enthusiast and Illinois businessman, also wanting to save the track and build it into something special. He honestly spoke to those at the meeting, about his attempted investment into the track during the spring of 2006 and admitted he made a mistake when he invested with the previous owner. Graziano told the crowd that along with Fielitz and Kreyer, the trio formed the legs of a very solid three-legged stool and that together they were going to turn DRP into a special place.

According to Graziano DRP's goal, will be "to consistently improve the facility and the fan experience."

Following the introductions of the owners, several members of the DRP staff were introduced and spoke briefly at the meeting. Those included Ray Kreyer (Frank's father) as the Manager of Competition, Scott Sauerbrei as the Head Tech Official and Reed Powers as a Tech Official.

Also addressing the large turnout was Chris Tully, who is handling the marketing for DRP and Bob Blaschke, handling DRP's media relations and serving as the webmaster for the track's new website. Blaschke thanked everyone for coming out in the dangerous weather and those who had added their emails to DRP's electronic news service. He told the crowd that by the end of January, over 95,000 hits were already recorded on the track's website, which itself was less than two months old.

Also announced as DRP staff were Pat (flagman) and Linda Barrett (scorer) along with Mike Barrett (track announcer).

A brief discussion on the five divisions (Super Late Models, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks, Limited Late Models, and Bandits) that will run the inaugural 2007 DRP season followed, after which the race night schedule was explained.

As the meeting wound down, Kreyer spoke about a number of contingency awards that will be offered in 2007 and DRP's plans to promote better interactions between the track's racers and fans.

Those in attendance were informed that DRP wanted to hold separate drivers' meeting for each division where specific questions concerning rules and formats would be addressed. Announcements for the dates to these meetings will be posted on DRP's website and those on the email list will receive direct email notifications of the upcoming meeting.

When the meeting ended, each of new owners were surrounded by well wishers and those just wanting to thank them for buying the track and keeping a Wisconsin racing tradition alive. The historic racetrack has long been one of Wisconsin's favorite racing venues. Both fans and racers alike have long enjoyed Saturday night trips to Wisconsin Dells and its famous one-third mile asphalt oval.

To learn more about the Dells Raceway Park, visit www.dellsracewaypark.com. The tentative 2007 schedule can be found on the website along with DRP driver information forms and DRP employment applications. All three can be downloaded as PDF documents. To receive electronic news releases from DRP please send an e-mail request to Bob Blaschke through drpnews@dellsracewaypark.com