Rick Mastell and Ron Bernhagen announced today they have completed the purchase of the former Kopellah Speedway in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. For the past dozen years, the quarter mile dirt oval racing facility has been owned and operated by Marguerite Lindblom. Mastell and Bernhagen completed the transfer of ownership on Monday, July 18, 2011.
Along with the new ownership, a new name has also been announced – the track has been rechristened as the St. Croix Valley Raceway.
Rick Mastell is the owner of Mastell Brothers Trailer Service near Forest Lake, Minnesota, the largest trailer service company in the state. Serving the area for over 20 years, Mastell Brothers offers trailer sales, rentals and service in their massive twenty bay service shop. Mastell has been involved in racing for a handful of years as both a car owner and sponsor. Ron Bernhagen is a life-long racer. The sprint car enthusiast currently operates the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) and is a former co-owner of the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin. It was during his time at Cedar Lake that Bernhagen honed his track preparation skills under the tutelage of the venerable Bob Cook – one of the most widely respected dirt track artisans in the country. Together, Mastell and Bernhagen bring an abundance of energy, enthusiasm and passion for the sport to their racy bull-ring of a track.
Scheduled to reopen on Friday, July 29, the track will once again host racing on Friday evenings during the summer months. The grand re-opening event will be a UMSS special event. Racing divisions in competition that night will include 500 cc Pro Open Karts, Future IVs (hornets), Pure Stocks, Pro Modifieds (Midwest/B-Modifieds), UMSS Micro Sprints, UMSS Traditional non-winged sprints, and the headlining UMSS Sprint cars. The grand re-opening will also be kids’ night – with all fans ages 16 and under receiving FREE ADMISSION.
On August 5th, the regularly scheduled classes of cars will be in competition: Future IVs, Pure Stocks, Pro Stocks, Pro Modifieds, UMSS Traditional Sprints and UMSS Micro Sprints. Regular admission prices are $10 for adults, $5 for students (ages 6 – 16) and children 5 years old and younger are free.
Events are planned for every Friday night through Labor Day, as well as one or two special events on Saturday evenings. UMSS will sanction the sprint events at the facility, and competitions in the non-sprint classes will not be affiliated with any national or regional sanctioning body for the remainder of the 2011 racing season. More complete details will be available on the track’s new website, www.SCVraceway.com, set to launch on or about July 20.