
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — Pieces of the Rockford Speedway are headed to racetracks, fairgrounds and other venues around the country as the decades old motorsports stadium is dismantled after its final days.
Large chunks of the short track stadium were sold at auction earlier this summer, and the speedway has a stripped down look now with its main grandstands removed.
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Buyers have until Sept. 17 to remove their purchases. After that, the speedway’s owners plan to assess what’s left and hold a last chance sale this fall.
“Once we get to Sept. 17, we’ll start evaluating on what’s left and begin the process of removing, recycling or disposing of the different pieces,” said Tom Deery, part of the family that ran the Rockford Speedway for decades. “We’re in no hurry, so we’re going to be very calculated about it.”
Where did some big items go?
The main steel and aluminum grandstand was purchased by Owosso Speedway in Ovid, Michigan, which is adding to its own grandstanding seating. They wrapped up much of the removal in the last two weeks, with the suite towers still remaining as of Sunday.
The back stretch of the southside bleachers, meanwhile, were removed a week ago to head to the Kenosha County Fairgrounds in Wilmot, Wisconsin.
The old scoreboard at the front of the straightaway was won at auction by Mark Numbers, the owner of Kar Korner in Loves Park, which also has the signature yellow Chevrolet Supper Sport Roadster that served as a pace car on its lot.
The other scoreboard is headed to Slinger Speedway in Slinger, Wisconsin.
Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisconsin, bought the lighting, and the track stop lights were purchased by Swainsboro Raceway in Georgia.
Several items were purchased for a track being build in Kentucky, Derry said, and other buildings on the Rockford Speedway property were purchased for their contents such as electrical systems, air conditioning units and other materials.
In all, 98% of the items on auction received a bid from the more than 400 bidders, Derry said.
“It made us all feel good to know that those pieces of Rockford Speedway are now in somebody’s business or their garage or man cave, and it’s going to be a fond memory of what happened there at the corner of 173 and Forest Hills Road,” he said.
The speedway closed in fall 2023 after its 76th and final season. It’s due to be developed into a mix of businesses.
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What’s next?

There are no development plans yet for the main racetrack site, but work is on the horizon on the property in front of the stadium. Belle Tire and Club Car Wash both submitted plans to the city earlier this year to build on the frontage property. A timeline for construction hasn’t been released.
Unless a buyer comes in and pushes for a faster timeline, Derry said there won’t be any rush to demolish the rest of the speedway property.
“If an interested party comes in, we can accelerate any demolition we need to do,” he said. “Without a need to do it in a quick fashion, we’re going to do it very calculated. Honestly, we’re trying to salvage and recycle as much as we can.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas