Slinger Speedway facts for kids
| World's Fastest 1/4 Mile Oval | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Slinger, Wisconsin |
| Capacity | 10000 |
| Opened | 1948 |
| Major events | Slinger Nationals |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 0.25 mi (0.40 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
| Banking | Turns: 33° |
| Race lap record | 9.908 seconds (Jeff Bloom, , 2010, Xtreme Sprint Series) |
The Slinger Speedway (also known as Slinger Super Speedway) is a quarter mile paved oval automobile race track with 33-degree banked corners located in Slinger, Wisconsin.
The track is billed as the "World's Fastest Quarter Mile Oval." The current track record was set by Jeff Bloom in a 410 extreme winged sprint car on August 21, 2010 at a time of 9.908 seconds. This is the first lap record under 10 seconds on a quarter mile oval track of any type, breaking Anderson Speedway's 10.28 second lap record. Bloom's lap eclipsed the track record set by USAC midget car driver Tracy Hines on May 17, 2008 at an elapsed time of 10.845 seconds. The lap was the fastest ever midget car lap on an asphalt quarter mile track. He eclipsed the long-standing mark of 11.095 seconds set by Tony Strupp's late model on June 12, 1994.
Contents
Track history
The track opened in 1948 and continued with a clay surface through the 1973 season. When it opened for the 1974 season, it was an asphalt, high-banked oval, as it remains to this day. In 1974 and 1975, the premier division was supermodifieds, and the first track champion of the paved track was Larry Ninneman. In 1976, the track featured late-model stock cars as its premier division, and it remains so. It also had a paved "X" infield added in the late 1970s, allowing for figure 8 racing at the end of the weekly Sunday night race events.
Weekly divisions
There are seven divisions running for points in a weekly program:
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Super late model
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Late model
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Midwest sportsman
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Slinger Bees - 4-cylinder cars
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Figure 8
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Spectator eliminator - non-points race between fans' street cars
Notable drivers to appear at the track
Rich Bickle, Erik Darnell, Matt Kenseth (1991 Late Model Rookie of the Year), Alan Kulwicki (1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion), Ryan Mathews (2001 Late Model Rookie of the Year), Robbie Reiser, Joe Shear, Lowell Bennett, Dick Trickle, and Scott Wimmer competed at Slinger before they moved to NASCAR.
Slinger Nationals
The track's biggest race of the year is the Slinger Nationals. The 200 lap super late model stock car race occurs in the middle of summer. The winner wins the Larry Detjens Memorial Trophy, which was named for the 1980 winner who died in a racing incident at another Wisconsin track later in the season.
The event is usually held on a Tuesday night in order for the nationally and regionally known drivers to participate in the Nationals. NASCAR stars frequently come to the circuit for a one time drive in a local car owner's car in the signature race. Non-local NASCAR drivers frequently race in the event. The 1987 event featured Davey Allison, his father Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Alan Kulwicki, Mark Martin, Ted Musgrave, and Butch Miller. Kenseth was already a Cup regular when he won his second Nationals in 2002. Three Roush Racing drivers, one from each of the three national series, raced in 2006. The 2007 event had ten drivers with experience in at least one of the three major NASCAR series: Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Erik Darnell, Dick Trickle, Rich Bickle, Scott Wimmer, Chris Wimmer, Lowell Bennett, Kelly Bires, and Brad Mueller. Other notable drivers who have raced in the Slinger Nationals include Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, Kyle Petty, Rusty Wallace, Ken Schrader and Michael Waltrip.
List of Slinger Nationals winners
- 1980 Larry Detjens
- 1981 Alan Kulwicki
- 1982 Dick Trickle
- 1983 Dick Trickle
- 1984 Mark Martin
- 1985 Dick Trickle
- 1986 John Ziegler
- 1987 Joe Shear
- 1988 Butch Miller
- 1989 Dick Trickle
- 1990 Joe Shear
- 1991 Joe Shear
- 1992 Rich Bickle
- 1993 Joe Shear
- 1994 Matt Kenseth
- 1995 Butch Miller
- 1996 Rich Bickle
- 1997 Lowell Bennett
- 1998 Tony Strupp
- 1999 Conrad Morgan
- 2000 Lowell Bennett
- 2001 David Prunty
- 2002 Matt Kenseth
- 2003 Rich Bickle
- 2004 Lowell Bennett
- 2005 Nathan Haseleu
- 2006 Matt Kenseth
- 2007 Lowell Bennett
- 2008 Matt Kenseth
- 2009 Matt Kenseth
- 2010 Lowell Bennett
- 2011 Kyle Busch
- 2012 Matt Kenseth
- 2013 Rich Bickle
- 2014 Chris Wimmer
- 2015 Dennis Prunty
- 2016 Matt Kenseth
- 2017 Bubba Pollard
- 2018 Ty Majeski
- 2019 Matt Kenseth
- 2020 Ty Majeski
Images for kids
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Super Late Model (2019)
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Late model (2019)
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Sportsman (2013 Bill Prietzel)
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Slinger Bees (2019) - 4-cylinder cars
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Figure 8 (2019)
