The rise and fall of Chuck Brennan’s Badlands Entertainment Empire has been an entertaining thing to watch over the last few years.
For those not in-the-know, local impresario turned payday-loan tycoon Chuck Brennan leveraged his ill-gotten gain on a string of Badlands-themed businesses around Sioux Falls a few years back, hoping to cash-in on South Dakota’s outlaw-biker-meets-family-fun-destination reputation.
Nevermind that the Badlands are a long four-hour drive away, or that Sturgis is another notch past that. His theory seemed to be that if you put up enough billboards along 29 & 90 you should be able to siphon off enough traffic to make any dream come true, even if your dream revolves around pawnshops, grey-haired rockstars, and free tattoos.
A rebranded Huset’s Speedway — an institution just outside of town in Brandon — was to be another jewel in the Badlands Crown. He dumped $18 million into renovations and then found himself without a business plan to earn it back. (Shockingly, fun as it is to catch a race once-a-summer, there’s just not a ton of money in minor-league motor sports.) They did host Weezer for an outdoor concert, but the expected synergy between Nerd Rock and NASCAR failed to turn things around.
Fortunately the story ends well.
According the their website:
“The long-awaited sale of Huset’s Speedway has been finalized with Minnesota businessman Tod Quiring acquiring the 3/8-mile dirt track along with its assets. Quiring also owns Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., which he purchased in late 2015. Huset’s Speedway will continue its storied tradition of Sunday programs with 410 Outlaw Sprint Cars as the featured division. The first event under the new ownership will be Sunday, Aug. 2, during the C & B Operations Grand Reopening presented by Folkens Brothers Trucking. A $20,000 top prize will be awarded to the winner of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions main event, which also pays $1,000 to start. The Late Model Street Stock Touring Series is also on the program. All Star Circuit of Champions owner Tony Stewart and Kyle Larson, who both rose to fame in NASCAR, will be racing against many of the sport’s best sprint car drivers.”
So it sounds like this guy knows what he’s doing!
We hope so. We haven’t had a chance to see what $18 million worth of renovations looks like, but maybe, God-Willing-and-the-Covid-Don’t-Rise, we’ll get our chance later this summer. It’s big kicks to squeeze some cotton in your ears and wash the dust down with a few Lite beers. Everyone should give it a shot!
Also, we do kinda miss Badlands Radio. They knew how to mix deep cuts with classic rock staples. It was a good driving-around-town soundtrack for a summer’s day. Maybe we’ll get to that story next time…stay tuned!
