Fascinating racing is coming back to the Eagle River Derby Track this weekend, August 28-30, but don’t worry, you won’t need to stand on a snow-covered hill or pay big bucks for a “hot seat” to take it all in.
Instead, the famous banked oval in the Wisconsin Northwoods is hosting its first-ever UTV/ATV World Championship Derby. The event has a $60,000 total purse, and that is drawing in racers from across the country to compete. There will be oval races on the same course that hosted victories from guys named Trapp, Eastman, Thorsen, Hulings, Villeneuve, Loritz, Wahl, Houle, Wanderscheid and many more – except, of course, without the ice. There will also be bumps racing and a mud hole in the infield – because you know how some of those ATV guys like to get dirty.
Best yet, it’s a full summer motorhead celebration, with a power run, a swap meet, a freestyle show, live music and all sorts of things going on. Plus, there will be a huge display area, with about 50 vendors including 13 manufacturers of ATVs and UTVs, some including demo rides, according to track patriarch Dick Decker.
It kicks of Friday night with the Firecracker program including an “Extreme Free Style Show,” according to track officials. Racing Saturday starts at 8:30 a.m. on the MX course and then moves to the oval at 2:30 p.m., where competition runs through through to the pro finals Saturday evening. But even if racing isn’t your thing, there’s a lot to see and do, as the evening including a huge bonfire, live music and happy-hour prices on hot dogs, beer and soda.
The action continues Sunday with some of the so-called World Championship finals. In the top pro classes, the ATV World Championship on the MX course is at 2 p.m., with the UTV title race at 3 p.m. In all, there are about 80 classes of competition available, from youth to women to men to seniors, stock to mod, small stock ATVs to big, highly modified UTVs.
Click here to get more details off of the Derby Track website. The event’s title sponsor is Trig’s Smokehouse.
