Brennan on Badlands Speedway: 'It's going to blow everyone away'

The totally revamped Badlands Motor Speedway in Brandon hosts its first races this weekend, as part of what owner Chuck Brennan called essentially a brand new speedway.

Brennan bought the former Huset’s Speedway last year and has made an estimated $10 million in improvements.

“When people see it they’re not going to believe it,” he said. “The whole track looks brand new, because the whole infield has been redone.”

Weather slowed down construction, but Brennan put a crew of 200 people on the site this week to get it ready for Saturday’s first race.

Improvements include new lighting, fencing, video displays and all new buildings including 18 luxury suites, a VIP suite tower, new restrooms, concession stands and main concourse.

New food options include Pizza Ranch and Cedric’s Outdoor Barbecue.

“Every building has been replaced or redone,” Brennan said. “It’s really just going to totally blow everybody away.”

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The city of Brandon hopes Brennan's hopes are fulfilled, for the sake of the economic boost the track could provide.

"Any time you've got a venue of that nature that's going to bring in quite a large crowd, we would hope and anticipate that we'll see some of those people shopping in our local restaurants, gas stations, stores" Brandon City Administrator Bryan Read said. "We should hopefully see an uptick in sales tax revenue."

Saturday’s race is dubbed the $100,000 Silver Shootout and has drawn sprint car racers from across the country, he said. Drivers will collect their winnings in 10-ounce silver bars melted at Badlands Pawn, Gold & Jewelry in Sioux Falls. The winner receives 166 bars, totaling $25,000. The bars can be exchanged at Badlands Pawn for cash.

“The excitement from the fans and the drivers and the whole racing community is overwhelming,” Brennan said. “We have drivers coming from Canada who have never been here before, from Pennsylvania, people committed to coming from all over the country because it’s created such a buzz in the racing world.”

When the bars were melted they were worth $100,000, but the price of silver has gone up making them worth more than $120,000, Brennan said.

“So the purse has gone up. It’s the biggest single purse the track has ever had.”

An event in August promises a total payout of $250,000 for winged and non-winged sprint cars.

Tickets are being sold in advance for the first time at the 62-year-old track. Fans are attracted to a guarantee that if a Saturday race is cancelled it will be moved to Sunday, Brennan said, and any races cancelled for season pass holders will be credited to next season.