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2007 Season Set At Thunderhill
April 17, 2007 - Sturgeon Bay, WI - Entertainment is the focus this year as
the Potawatomi Thunderhill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay prepares for its 2007
season opener Saturday night, April 28th.
That’s the word from Bryan “Woody” Wodack, now in his fifth year of
promoting stock car racing at Door County’s John Miles Fair Park.
“We're going to concentrate on the fans – make it entertaining for
them,” he said. “Without the fans, we can’t do anything.”
The Raceway will once again feature a solid six division show, racing Saturday
nights through August 25th, with four special events also on the
schedule.
“I believe we have a really good show here,” Wodack continued. “We
should average about 100 cars a night this year, including some of the best
racers in the nation. Plus we have this beautiful facility – we’re
not lacking quality, that’s for sure.”
The six weekly divisions include three classes sanctioned by the International
Motor Contest Association (IMCA): the Modifieds, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks.
Street Stocks, Bombers and 4 Cylinders will once again complete the
card.
The goal this year is to include value-added events specifically for the fans
whenever possible. Planned events include a coin-drop, buck burger
night, free T-shirt night, autograph night and a Christmas in July. An
early Fan Appreciation night is slated for May 12th, with adult admission
dropped to $5.
“We’re working on some contests we’ll be running during downtimes –
during long incident clean-ups, that type of thing,” Wodack added.
“We want to keep the show fast paced, cut intermissions down, and have
something for the fans to see or do continuously. Get done early –
give the fans a chance to mingle with the drivers – that’s what we’re
shooting for.”
Powerful Late Models will return to the Raceway for two events, the annual
Door County Fair opener on Wednesday night August 4th, and a “Pre-Boone”
special on Saturday night September 1st. The United States Modified
Touring Series has been dropped this year in favor of an IMCA sanctioned
special Friday, July 20th, an off-night for racing at Luxemburg. The
season will conclude with a two-day special September 21-22.
All four specials will include appearances from a relatively new class in the
area - the IMCA Northern Sport Mods. The class, a budget-minded version
of the popular Modifieds, made its Wisconsin debut last year at Shawano, with
Antigo and Luxemburg picking it up this season. It will be a precursor
of things to come at Thunderhill, as the class is slated for weekly
competition in 2008.
Another key to the season is the return of the Potawatomi community as the
Raceway’s title sponsor. “All of our sponsors are important to
us,” Wodack said. “But we really need the title sponsor to make it
go. They’re a big supporter of not just dirt track racing, but racing
in general.”
Even though the Potawatomi operations are based outside of the area, the
pairing with a track in Door County is a natural fit. The county is very
much a part of the Potawatomi heritage, as evidenced by many things including
Potawatomi State Park.
Once again this year, shows will begin at 6:00pm. Sturgeon Bay radio
station WDOR will host season opener for the 15th straight year. For
complete details on the 2007 season schedule, or more information about the
track, visit the Raceway’s website at WWW.racethunderhill.com.
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