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By Matthew Grage

For the Austin Daily Herald

The excitement had been building for the return of racing and the season opener at Chateau Speedway in Lansing, but unfortunately heavy rains early Friday Morning and into the afternoon made it appear the likelihood of that happening was slim.  

The decision was made to postpone the season opener for a week.  Even more unfortunate was the fact that that second big wave of rain never arrived and it turned out to be a beautiful Friday Night with no fans in the stands and no cars in the pits. Track officials were disappointed and vowed to wait a little longer next time before making the decision to cancel.   The track was plenty wet and muddy through the afternoon but as officials looked at it closer to what had been race time they agreed that they probably could have had the track ready in time. Fans will have to wait a week to see all the improvements and changes made at Chateau since last fall.

The season opener will now be July 3 at 7:15 p.m. and the Track will be serving up Root Beer Floats for all the kids as they file in Friday Night.

Chateau will host Special Kids Night on July 10 with the popular bicycle giveaways and rides in the Stock Cars. The track always puts up a few bikes for the kids and drivers and fans alike get into the spirit by bringing out extra bikes. Before long, there is a long row of bicycles for the kids to enjoy for the summer. The track has already been contacted by a local bike group that wants to add to that night’s giveaways.

Despite losing some of the early shows of the season, the track still has plenty of exciting nights and activities on the schedule. Two traditional sprint shows are on the schedule and the “Spirit of 83” Memorial” which was postponed back in May will be rescheduled.  The popular USMTS Modifieds are also on the schedule for Labor Day Weekend.  The date has not been set for that yet but should be announced soon. 

Seven classes of cars will be filling the pits each and every Friday night for the rest of this summer and into the fall with the third Annual Chateau Speedway Autumn Extravaganza still scheduled for the first weekend in October.   

The Track will be featuring five WISSOTA Sanctioned Classes this year with Super Stocks, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, Hornets and Midwest Modifieds, and two USRA Sanctioned classes with the A and B Mods.  First Green Flag flies at 7:15 p.m. every Friday night at Chateau Speedway.