I-90 Speedway is ceasing operations, according to Badlands Motor Speedway founder and CEO Chuck Brennan. Published reports also indicated that owners Lyle and Dawn Howey are joining the Badlands Speedway staff.

Lyle Howey didn’t rule out an eventual return of racing to the Hartford, South Dakota-area track, but said his focus now is on joining Badlands.

“We’re going to leave it closed for now,” Lyle Howey said. “We have a three-year contract that it will not be a race track.”

Howey said he met Brennan “only a week ago,” when the millionaire racing enthusiast reached out to see if I-90 Speedway would consider moving its Saturday night races to Friday.

“I just didn’t think that made sense (for the track). But then he decided with all of the experience that I’ve had, that he’d like me to come work for him.

“He has a lot of good ideas, and showed a lot of energy when he approached me,” Howey said, “and I felt that was exciting.”

Howey, who has owned the Hartford oval for the past 10 years, will be assistant general manager of facilities at BMS. He will assist with track prep and help oversee operations.

“There’s a lot of big shows over there,” Howey said of Badlands, “and I’m excited to be a part of the new menu.”

The former sprint car driver who was named rookie of the year at Huset’s Speedway in 1995 will be in charge of track preparation at Badlands. He joins Darlo Mulder, who was hired late last year and will be in charge of the tech area at the speedway. Howey’s wife, Dawn, who has worn numerous hats at Hartford, will also be a Badlands employee.


The announcement reportedly comes as a surprise to modified drivers in the area, as several had planned to run I-90 this year. Earlier, Hartford had announced a racing schedule for this year, beginning with a car show and test and tune session the end of this month. Besides modifieds, the track was to run IMCA Racesaver Sprints, Limited Late Models, USRA Hobby Stocks and super chargers.

"(Lyle) told all the drivers at (an October) banquet that he'd be there for us the next season and everything, so we all took that into consideration," said local driver Josh Lien. "He even set out a schedule back in February. So we were like, 'Oh yeah, we have this many days to get ready.' A few buddies and I have been putting together three other race cars over the winter, spending all our hard-earned money. Pretty much every paycheck, every week has been going to our cars. Then we get told 30 days before the season gets here that Hartford's pretty much closed and we're left with nothing but a waste of money and a waste of time. He dropped everybody that's been there for him."

With the announcement of Hartford’s closing, the modified racers will have to look at either Rapid Speedway in Iowa or the Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron or beyond for a place to run. Rapid Speedway’s schedule, which calls for a car show and test and tune session April 16, will run the mods weekly, as will Huron. Rapid Speedway’s modifieds will run under the USRA banner while Huron will run Wissota’s rules.

Badlands Speedway is undergoing a $6 million renovation complete with new suites, concession stands, restrooms, updated seating area, HD video boards and a new lighting system.

Racing begins this season at Rapid Speedway on April 22 with an appearance by the National Sprint League 360 sprints. Also joining the opener will be sportsman, hobby, stock cars and modifieds.

The season opener at Huron is set for April 30. The track will run late models, super stocks, street stocks as well as modifieds.

Badlands season gets underway on May 21 with the $100,000 Silver Shootout.