Adrian Speedway has been a landmark of the Midwest for almost a quarter of a century. Back in the days of the early 80’s a fella by the name of Charlie LaFollette purchased a parcel of property just west of 71 hwy between the towns of Adrian & Archie MO. Being a racer himself, he turned this property into a playground for himself & a few close friends to do a little pre-race testing. Before you knew it, people were gathering on the hillside to watch the boys in action. It was at this time LaFollette decided to build a full fledge racetrack. LaFollette would run Adrian Speedway for two years in addition to building another track in Pleasanton KS. This proved to be too much & LaFollette would lease out both tracks from that point on. Promoters were in & out over the years trying to revive both racetracks. They would change the nite; the tracks would run from Sundays to Fridays & then to Saturdays. There was absolutely no consistency & fans & racers never knew what to expect. Rules were changed, purses were changed & even the nites of running were never certain. In 1995 the Portzen & Nolan families moved from Northern IL. & Southern WI. to join forces & revive the closed up Adrian Speedway. After just a few months the Nolan family sold out to the Portzens & from that point on Glenn & Colleen Portzen put their hearts & souls into rebuilding the facility to make it one of the Midwest’s finest prepared & one of the most family oriented racing facilities around. New modern bleachers, grandstands & concession stands were built along with all new lightning on the racetrack, even changing the configuration of the track by making it a little larger & putting a lot of banking into it to improve the racing & competition. In order to maintain the speedway the Portzens felt it necessary to build a house & live right at the speedway their first year after the move. In Jan. of 2006 a major fire at the speedway leveled the Portzens home, the race parts shop & the maintenance shop along with many vehicles, equipment, even the road grader used to maintain the racetrack. With very little insurance for this type of problem many thought this would be the end of Adrian Speedway but with their love for the fans, racers & the sport the Portzen family never quit, they just jumped right in & slowly began to rebuild. Making a few improvisions the speedway never missed a race & continues to grow day after day, season after season. With a history like this there is proof you can revive anything if you have the willpower & the support of the good people around you. And there is no doubt in my mind Adrian Speedway is & always will be a genuine survivor. In the Portzens 14 years at the speedway prices have only gone up two dollars. With the economy the way it is the Portzen family has stepped up to try & help families with children by taking $5.00 kids (6-12) tickets & throwing them out. New this year all children 12 & under are FREE. It’s now time to open Adrian Speedway Sat. April 12. So don’t forget to bring the whole family down & enjoy everything the Portzen family has done to bring you some of the best racing in the Midwest. With your continued support your local racetracks will be around for years to come.
Racing every Sat. nite: gates open @ 5:00, hot laps @ 7:00 & the first race @ 7:30. General admission: $10.00, seniors: $8:00, kids 12 & under: free. Great refreshments & great racing all nite long.
Racing every Sat. nite: gates open @ 5:00, hot laps @ 7:00 & the first race @ 7:30. General admission: $10.00, seniors: $8:00, kids 12 & under: free. Great refreshments & great racing all nite long.
