Great Lakes Edition: I-96 Speedway’s Unlikely Savior

Cars in the pit area last Friday at I-96 Speedway. (T.J. Buffenbarger Photo)
Cars in the pit area last Friday at I-96 Speedway. (T.J. Buffenbarger Photo)

By T.J. Buffenbarger

LAKE ODESSA, MI (August 20, 2025) — In a time when racetracks are being swallowed up to urban sprawl, a usual situation came to light at the end of 2022. Throughout that season it became apparent that I-96 Speedway, a fixture on the Michigan sprint car scene for almost the track’s entire existence, could be ending after that season.

Commercial real estate signs on both sides of the property and multiple corporations were looking at buying the piece of property.

Then an unlikely hero appeared and saved the speedway in Larry Curtis.

Fans may recognize the last name Curtis when they drive to I-96 Speedway from the east on Portland Road. The Curtis family has owned the farm just northeast of the racetrack since 1964. People that have attended races at I-96 Speedway may not know the Curtis name, but they would know the smell from their farm if the wind blew east towards the grandstands.

Curtis’s father still lives in that farmhouse where he grew up not only and followed in his father’s footsteps into farming and grew the family business and now owns most of the land surrounding the racetrack.

Longtime employee of Curtis and now the manager of I-96 Speedway Mike Betts explained that Curtis was not enamored with the prospect of new neighbors to the family farming operations.

“We had heard that there were some aggregate companies and a scrap metal business were interested in it, said Betts potentials buyers of the Speedway property. “Larry was not going to spend the rest of his life looking across the street at some concrete factory or scrapyard. So that’s why he bought it. He bought it to protect the neighborhood.”

Going into 2023 the man that grew up with a racetrack in his back yard became it’s lifeline. To get through the first season, Curtis leased the track to Barry Marlow from the Great Lakes Super Sprints before handing the promotional duties over to Betts in 2024.

Over the past two years Curtis and Betts have jumped in headfirst trying to learn more about running their racetrack. After going to the PRI show last year to get more exposure to the industry, the duo plans on a return trip to PRI this fall along with attending the upcoming IMCA SuperNationals in Boone, Iowa later this summer.

The new aluminum bench seats at I-96 Speedway. (T.J. Buffenbarger Photo)
The new aluminum bench seats at I-96 Speedway. (T.J. Buffenbarger Photo)

The facility had fallen into a state of disrepair when Curtis acquired it. Rather than taking on the monumental task of revamping the facility or shutting it down, Betts started leading his team to chip away at some of the most important items.

“You could drop endless amounts of money into this place and still have something to do,” said Betts of the monumental task of rehabbing the facility. “We wanted to do the important things for the fans, and that was replacing the original bleacher seats and then upgrading the bathrooms. The bathrooms weren’t even usable when we he bought it.”

Slowly other improvements have taken place over the past two years such as new aluminum grandstands, improved handicap parking, an operational scoreboard, and other smaller things that race fans may not notice right away, but over time see the small upgrades start to stand out.

Those upgrades are starting to be noticed with fans that are coming back after staying away from the track for several years, and the feedback fans are giving to Betts has been largely positive.

“Every week I have people coming up to me here at the track telling me they have not been here in 10 or 15 years. They’re coming back finally. I think they were hesitant, because of the last few years before Larry owned it because of how it was run, and not by any fault of the old owners. This place is not easy to run, but they’re seeing improvements. They’re seeing all the social media that we’re now putting out, and they’re coming back and giving them another chance, so that that’s awful nice.”

Friday night Betts leads his team as they hold the largest paying event since taking over the race track featuring the All Star Circuit of Champions paying $7,500 to win along with a dirt late model program on the same card that was originally scheduled to pay $5,000 to win, but got a boost from Dave’s Dry Dock in nearby Clarksville, Michigan, upping the late model winners share to $6,000.

Betts feels the show is worth the risk due to the success of the sprint car programs since purchasing the facility but still has butterflies about the biggest program they have hosted to date.

“The sprint fans come out in droves,” said Betts. “In the back of my mind I’m nervous, but we’re hopeful. In the end it’s going to be what it’s going to be.”