HURON — Stock car racing will continue to be a part of the Wheel Jam festivities.
Orville Chenoweth, who spent the past 22 seasons as the track promoter at Dakota State Fair Speedway before announcing his retirement at the end of the 2017 season, has announced plans to hold a pair of racing events during the 2018 Wheel Jam.
The Iverson Dakota Challenge, which will pay $5,000 to win, will be held Thursday, May 31, with the Challenge Cup XVIII presented by Prostrollo Motors, which will pay $10,000 to the winner, to follow on Saturday, June 2. Both are part of the 2018 WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series, which begins with a swing through South Dakota.
“I have been here since the beginning (of Wheel Jam) and think this is a very worthwhile event to see,” Chenoweth said. “There’s always a lot of campers on the State Fairgrounds during this event, so people are going to get to see two good nights of racing. We’ve always attracted 40-50 cars in the late model division for these shows.”
South Dakota State Fair manager Peggy Besch, who has been looking to find promoter to take over the 3/8-mile oval since Chenoweth stepped away last fall, is also ecstatic about the two-day event being part of the 2018 Wheel Jam lineup.
“The racing programs have always been a big part of the Wheel Jam celebration and we’re glad Orville has decided put on these shows this year,” she said. “Besides being two big nights of racing, it shows that we still have a viable opportunity available for someone to step into at the track.”
Joining the WISSOTA late models for the the Thursday night event will be the WISSOTA street stocks and WISSOTA modified. The WISSOTA Midwest modifieds will be part of Saturday’s program along with the late models.
“I decided the go with the modifieds this time because there are a lot of late model drivers who also drive modifieds,” Chenoweth said. “Also, most of your races around the country have been using the modifieds and late models.”
Chenoweth says fans and drivers can expect the same quality of program that they became accustomed to during his tenure as track promoter.
“I’ll go over in May to get stuff set up and by May 31 we shouldn’t miss a beat,” he said. “It looks to be that a good 90 percent of my former employees are all going to be back. We’ll have the same flagman and the dirt people will be the same so we shouldn’t miss a beat.”
In addition to providing a pair of high-quality racing events, Chenoweth is hoping the two shows might also serve as a potential stepping stone to finding a promoter to take over the track for the 2019 season and beyond.

“With the second phase of the grandstand renovation project, which includes new bathrooms, not being completed until May it would have made it tough for any new promoter to come in this season,” Chenoweth said. “Then with the rodeo starting right after Wheel Jam, they will start bringing dirt and stuff in, so with that there is 4-5 weeks of down time. Then you only have a few more weeks and you’re almost at State Fair time again. For a guy who is just going to start promoting, it would have been a rough, rough year for him.”
The National Junior High Finals Rodeo, which attracts more than 1,000 contestants from across the nation, Canada and Australia, is scheduled to be held June 24-30 this year on the South Dakota State Fairgrounds and then again from June 23-29 in 2019.
The third and final phase of the grandstands renovaton project will be completed before the start of the possible 2019 racing season, thus lending a better situation if someone should step forward to take on the promoting duties at the speedway.
“I feel that if I ran a couple races this year it will keep racing in Huron and we might eventually find someone to take it on for 2019,” Chenoweth said.  “In 2019 someone would be able to start in April again and pretty much run all of the events except for during the rodeo again next year.
“If people are going to come out to a racing event, they need to come out now and show a potential new promoter that could be there that there is a possibility here,” he said.
More information on both of the racing programs scheduled during this year’s Wheel Jam will be available at www.dakotapromotions.com.
More information on the 2018 Wheel Jam or securing a camping location for the event can be found at www.sdstatefair.com.

MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN FILE PHOTO
Don Shaw of Ham Lake, Minn., (42s) battles Curt Gelling of Aberdeen in a WISSOTA late model heat race during last spring’s Dakota Challenge at Dakota State Fair Speedway. Former track promoter Orville Chenoweth, who retired at the close of the 2017 racing season, announced this week that he will be involved in hosting the two Challenge Cup events at the track during Wheel Jam this spring.