Davenport Speedway Ramping Up For 2024
February 25, 2024
By: Psycho Billy
Me and Davenport Speedway go way back. Way, way, way back. Like 40 years. Once I got a taste of regional touring at Sunset Speedway and Adams County Speedway, I started to travel all over the Midwest following that series. It was the only one around. In late March, Mom, Dad, and self would drive from Norfolk, Nebraska to Davenport, Iowa to catch Jim Wilson's tour. It was always our first race of the year.
I had an errand to run in Davenport. When I woke up this morning, I thought, I should give Davenport Speedway a call. Simply because they have a new promoter. I did. Jeff Struck answered the phone.
Jeff has taken on promoter duties there. That was my first stop once I pulled into town just prior to high noon. I took a bunch of photos. Jeff agreed to an interview. Here it is.
Tell everyone who you are you. "My name is Jeff Struck. I'm with SR Promotions Davenport Speedway. We're gonna be the new promoters for the 24 race season coming up at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. And it just happens to be the 105th year of this racetrack. I'm excited about that!"
What's your background in racing, dating way back? "It's just something me and my dad always did. I was always coming up here to the racetrack. Sitting on the grandstand side just watching. Then we were able to get together a dirt car ourselves. We had some success racing Street Stocks here locally. Then just had the opportunity to step in and try my hand at promoting. I'm gonna give it a go!"
I exclaimed, drivers always love it when a former driver takes over a racetrack. Jeff adds, "I live close by. It's pretty much always been my home, so to speak. I've spent every Friday night up here since I was 4 or 5 years old. We had a little break where we ran on Wednesdays for a little while. But yeah, I'm excited to be in the shoes I'm in now. It is going to be an exciting season!"
The Kay family, they really rebuilt this smaller track and had some great racing here. Do you feel any pressure to equal what they did or even make it better? "Yeah. It's gonna be hard to top them. But I mean it's the same ol Davenport Speedway. The wheel wasn't invented here. We've got the same grandstand. The equipment is a little older. We still got a lot of guys that's got a lot of drive in them. So we're gonna continue and keep plucking away."
I've got some history here, too. Dating way back to the Busch All-Star Tour. I'm probably one of the few fans that loves the big ol half mile that doesn't exist anymore. Jeff chimes in, "I mean, it's still here. Nobody wants to race on it anymore. Some of the crowd wants to see the half mile back going. Really, for the teams, it's hard on equipment. They get spread out. It seems like there's better racing on the quarter-mile." I added, With today's Late Models, there's more side-by-side racing on 1/4 and 3/8 mile ovals.
Let's talk about Davenport Speedway 2024. What have you got lined up? "Our opener for weekly racing is April 12th Kohler Electric season opener. Then we got the SLMR Malvern Bank Late Models. On May 24th, they'll be here. Then we have a Lucas Oil MLRA 2-day show coming up on September 13 & 14. That's what we're doing for SR Promotions wise."
It's cool that you're keeping Late Model racing going. XR has a double-header. Is that a case where they lease the track or do you help with track prep, concessions, and so forth? "No. Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds are doing something with that." Psycho sez, we hope to make it here several times this year. It's just a hop and a skip from Burlington, Iowa, where our home base is.
Well hey, I appreciate you giving me some time. Beautiful day here. You guys are actually working on the track today. "Oh yeah! It's nice weather, man. It's hard not to. Just making sure the equipment that we acquired over the winter is gonna hold up all season long and all that good stuff."
Earlier, we were talking about the ground. You say it never got frozen. Even after that big snowstorm we had. "Nope. Nope. We never even got any frost here in Iowa. In the Quad City area, anyway. We ended up with like 26 inches of snow before it ever got cold enough to freeze anything. It kinda gave us a blanket." PB chimes in, that's pretty awesome. Hopefully this weather continues on once we get into April. Jeff states, "I've seen some strange things happen here in the Midwest. We'll see what happens!"
* The VIP booths are good to go. The grandstand beams are currently under renovation. Jeff also told me that they will be getting new signage and a new scoreboard.
* The Summer Nationals Hell Tour will run here June 18 promoted by Sixteens Race Promotions
* The XR Super Series will run here on July 22 & and 23, promoted by XR.
February 25, 2024
By: Psycho Billy
Me and Davenport Speedway go way back. Way, way, way back. Like 40 years. Once I got a taste of regional touring at Sunset Speedway and Adams County Speedway, I started to travel all over the Midwest following that series. It was the only one around. In late March, Mom, Dad, and self would drive from Norfolk, Nebraska to Davenport, Iowa to catch Jim Wilson's tour. It was always our first race of the year.
I had an errand to run in Davenport. When I woke up this morning, I thought, I should give Davenport Speedway a call. Simply because they have a new promoter. I did. Jeff Struck answered the phone.
Jeff has taken on promoter duties there. That was my first stop once I pulled into town just prior to high noon. I took a bunch of photos. Jeff agreed to an interview. Here it is.
Tell everyone who you are you. "My name is Jeff Struck. I'm with SR Promotions Davenport Speedway. We're gonna be the new promoters for the 24 race season coming up at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. And it just happens to be the 105th year of this racetrack. I'm excited about that!"
What's your background in racing, dating way back? "It's just something me and my dad always did. I was always coming up here to the racetrack. Sitting on the grandstand side just watching. Then we were able to get together a dirt car ourselves. We had some success racing Street Stocks here locally. Then just had the opportunity to step in and try my hand at promoting. I'm gonna give it a go!"
I exclaimed, drivers always love it when a former driver takes over a racetrack. Jeff adds, "I live close by. It's pretty much always been my home, so to speak. I've spent every Friday night up here since I was 4 or 5 years old. We had a little break where we ran on Wednesdays for a little while. But yeah, I'm excited to be in the shoes I'm in now. It is going to be an exciting season!"
The Kay family, they really rebuilt this smaller track and had some great racing here. Do you feel any pressure to equal what they did or even make it better? "Yeah. It's gonna be hard to top them. But I mean it's the same ol Davenport Speedway. The wheel wasn't invented here. We've got the same grandstand. The equipment is a little older. We still got a lot of guys that's got a lot of drive in them. So we're gonna continue and keep plucking away."
I've got some history here, too. Dating way back to the Busch All-Star Tour. I'm probably one of the few fans that loves the big ol half mile that doesn't exist anymore. Jeff chimes in, "I mean, it's still here. Nobody wants to race on it anymore. Some of the crowd wants to see the half mile back going. Really, for the teams, it's hard on equipment. They get spread out. It seems like there's better racing on the quarter-mile." I added, With today's Late Models, there's more side-by-side racing on 1/4 and 3/8 mile ovals.
Let's talk about Davenport Speedway 2024. What have you got lined up? "Our opener for weekly racing is April 12th Kohler Electric season opener. Then we got the SLMR Malvern Bank Late Models. On May 24th, they'll be here. Then we have a Lucas Oil MLRA 2-day show coming up on September 13 & 14. That's what we're doing for SR Promotions wise."
It's cool that you're keeping Late Model racing going. XR has a double-header. Is that a case where they lease the track or do you help with track prep, concessions, and so forth? "No. Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds are doing something with that." Psycho sez, we hope to make it here several times this year. It's just a hop and a skip from Burlington, Iowa, where our home base is.
Well hey, I appreciate you giving me some time. Beautiful day here. You guys are actually working on the track today. "Oh yeah! It's nice weather, man. It's hard not to. Just making sure the equipment that we acquired over the winter is gonna hold up all season long and all that good stuff."
Earlier, we were talking about the ground. You say it never got frozen. Even after that big snowstorm we had. "Nope. Nope. We never even got any frost here in Iowa. In the Quad City area, anyway. We ended up with like 26 inches of snow before it ever got cold enough to freeze anything. It kinda gave us a blanket." PB chimes in, that's pretty awesome. Hopefully this weather continues on once we get into April. Jeff states, "I've seen some strange things happen here in the Midwest. We'll see what happens!"
* The VIP booths are good to go. The grandstand beams are currently under renovation. Jeff also told me that they will be getting new signage and a new scoreboard.
* The Summer Nationals Hell Tour will run here June 18 promoted by Sixteens Race Promotions
* The XR Super Series will run here on July 22 & and 23, promoted by XR.