The Short-course Off-road Drivers Association hoped to begin the 2023 season by racing at Wisconsin International Raceway on 29 April, but snags in construction have forced plans to be called off for the year. SODA hopes to try again in fall 2024.
Wisconsin International Raceway is an oval pavement speedway that primarily hosts short track racing and is a popular grassroots site for those aspiring to compete in NASCAR. While certainly not a type of circuit that one might see off-road racing take place, SODA had prior experience after kicking off 2022 at Slinger Super Speedway. SODA announced the WIR date in December.
However, SODA President Willie Freshour revealed Sunday that track construction has not gone to plan as crews were unable to produce dry enough clay, which is used for the off-road surface. The matter was further compounded by worries about the weather with rain and thunderstorms in the forecast over the next week.
“Things aren’t coming together for the WIR race. We can’t get dry enough clay and other big issues with track building and weather are arising,” he explained. “We will run the WIR race in the fall for 2024 so we don’t run into these issues again. An updated 2023 schedule should be out by the end of next week.
“There are more issues then just the tacky clay. Another big issue is the ground under the track being too soft for dump trucks. It’s unfortunately just way too early in the year to put on a event like this for this facility.”
With WIR shelved for 2023, the series will try to find a new date. The second round of the season will be at Tigerton MX on 8 July.
