Luxy Raceway 2025 season to kick off after rain delays

LUXEMBURG – Luxy Raceway hopes to kick off their racing season Friday, May 2 after their first two races were rained out.

Tracy Thrun, a local racing enthusiast, is the main promoter of the raceway as of two years ago.

“People around here know who he is in the racing scene, so it was kind of his goal to [revive the raceway]. He knew Luxemburg didn’t have a promoter, and I grew up here,and my husband’s been here with me quite a few years, and [Thrun] knew I retired last year, so he asked if we would help him,” Sue Ingebretsen said.

The raceway held Sunday races for some time, but switched from Sunday to Friday night races to revive local tradition.

“We do have three Sunday specials this year,” Ingebretsen said. “They’re called our preludes, and 141 down in Francis Creek has big races during the week, and what we do is that Sunday before we try to have the race so that people that are coming from out of town will come up by us first.”

The raceway has achieved a new milestone this year with races sanctioned by the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA).

Established in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan, the IMCA holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating auto racing sanctioning organization in the United States.

“This year, we are what is called IMCA sanction. That just is a governing thing of the racing circuit, and you kind of have to follow certain guidelines, but it kind of adds a prestige to your name with the track being IMCA sanctioned,” Ingebretsen said.

There are several different divisions for competitors at Luxy Raceway, including IMCA sport mods, IMCA stock cars, IMCA sport compacts, dirt series, street stocks, Midwest legends and vintage mods.

To qualify for the championship in August, racers must tally a certain number of points throughout the season.

“if you win, then you get 40 points. And it goes down the line. So then you add up your points as you go each week to determine the championship at the end of the year,” Ingebretsen said.

Along with regular heats and feature races, Luxy Raceway holds special events to celebrate the community.

“Thursday, July 3 is our veterans night. So that’s a Thursday night that we run. In August, our championship night is actually going to be on a Saturday, August 16. And then last year our big night was in October, our Spooky Showdown,” Ingebretsen said.

Luxy Raceway will hold the Spooky Showdown again this October, making it the second annual occurrence. Ingebretsen said the event was more popular than they had anticipated.

“Last year we had cars, the stock cars came out in the pit area and gave out candy. We thought we would have about 15 cars participating. We had 53 and lots of kids,” she said.

Ingebretsen said none of the racing would be possible without local sponsors, who are investing in the community.

“So that’s what we appreciate, is the local businesses supporting us,” she said.

The raceway is supported not only by business sponsors, but also volunteers with a passion for racing.

“Our crew this past year, and now this year again, like me and my husband, are not money invested in it at all, just our love of racing and keeping racing in Luxemburg,” Ingebretsen said. “And Tracy is the main promoter, you know, he’s the man in charge. But there’s so many other people behind the scenes that make it go. All the track workers, they all have families, but those guys are here sometimes in the morning, after work or before work, even so.”

Some nights the racers are paid for their participation thanks to local sponsors.

“We pay the racers that participate, but it depends on who’s sponsoring the night. How much is usually determined by who the sponsor is of that night — they put up the money,” Ingebretsen said.
It’s been 13 years since the Luxy Raceway hosted the county fair, but Ingebretsen said they plan to bring it back this year.

“They always said that the setup would be too hard with the fair and the races and stuff, but this year, the board approached us and asked us if we wanted to try it. So we are going to try it Sunday, July 13. People are excited about that one.”

Ingebretsen highlighted the wide-ranging appeal of racing to all ages.

“He doesn’t race here on a regular basis, but Jerry Muenster is still racing, and I believe he’s 83,” she said. Jerry Muenster’s son Eddie Muenster was inducted into the Luxemburg Hall of Fame in July 2024, proving the love of racing can be passed down for generations.

Ingebretsen also said most of today’s youth start their racing careers in go-karts, which the track cannot host, but she hopes their passion for racing will continue to grow.

The next race is scheduled for Friday, May 2, followed by a race on Friday, May 9. Reach out to Sue Ingebretsen at sue@luxyraceway.com or (920) 609-1355, or the raceway at info@luxyraceway.com for more information and a full schedule.