Plymouth Dirt Track opens for 2025 racing season

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

May 5, 2025

PLYMOUTH – Start your engines and buckle up: the Plymouth Dirt Track is back open – revving up for its 2025 racing season.

Bill Weinaug – director of marketing, sales and promotions – said the Plymouth Dirt Track (229 Fairview Drive) is a nonprofit race venue that falls under the purview of the larger Sheboygan County Fair Association, which was founded in 1851.

“We don’t receive county funding at all,” he said. “That’s a big misconception. People think because it says Sheboygan County Fair, we are a county entity, and we are not. So, what we do is we rely on sponsorships, donations and stuff like that to support our race program, as well as all the other events that go on at the fairgrounds.”

Supported by the fair association’s shareholders, community philanthropy and local business sponsors, Weinaug said the Plymouth Dirt Track can host races of all levels, bringing in tourists and race-enthusiasts alike to Wisconsin’s Lakeshore – which in turn supports the local economy.

Local track, national races

With direction from the Sheboygan County Fair Board – and its subsequent dirt track committee – Weinaug said the Plymouth Dirt Track regularly hosts local, regional and national races.

“Those two groups pretty much control what happens at the race track,” he said. “When we bring in, (for example), the IRA Sprint Cars, we co-promote those events (with the IRA Sprint Car Series)… Basically, they run the show, but we’re still manning concession stands and providing a support division to race that night. So, it’s usually a combination of either a regional or a national series that comes in that runs their event in conjunction with us (or a locally run race).”

Local races at the track, Weinaug said, include the Plymouth Dirt Track’s own weekly program.

“We run a weekly race program that (runs) roughly 14 nights (a season),” he said. “The weekly races are entirely (organized by) us.”

Weinaug said the races – whether local, regional or national – draw crowds from not only the dairy state, but from across the country.

“Our average attendance for our regular weekly show is about 1,800,” he said. “When we bring in the national series, it’s probably around 4,000. And (for) the regional races, it’s probably in the neighborhood of 3,000.”

Though it’s not a for-profit business itself, Weinaug said the Plymouth Dirt Track plays a crucial role in the Lakeshore’s tourism revenue.

“(Recently), I signed a sponsorship with the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, and when I sat down with the chamber director, she wasn’t even aware of how many people we bring into town,” he said.

Drivers and spectators from as far as New Zealand and Australia, Weinaug said, have traveled to Northeast Wisconsin to drive in races hosted at the Plymouth Dirt Track.

“The World Outlaws (Sprint Car Series will be) here in June,” he said. “That’s a national series that hasn’t been here in 20 years. So, they’re coming back this year, but they race from February through November from Florida to the West Coast, and there’s international drivers from New Zealand, Australia and all over the place that show up here for that race.”

Community, historical significance

When the fairgrounds – where the race track is located – were first built, Weinaug said the dirt track was originally designed and constructed for horse racing.

“It was a half-mile horse racing track,” he said. “In the early ’50s, it was converted over to cars and motorcycles. Then over the years, it went down to a third-mile (track) and fences and concrete walls were added.”

For years, Weinaug said the dirt track was open for people to use with whatever mode of transportation they could get.

“It used to be that you went and bought a car off the junkyard and came out and raced it,” he said. “Well, now everything is made specifically to race, with the safety issues and everything else. So, that’s been a big change over the years.”

Every year, during the Sheboygan County Fair, Weinaug said part of the track’s concert barrier is removed to allow for tractor pulls and demolition derbies.

“The community really backs both the fair and the race program, because we’re pretty vital to the area,” he said.

Weinaug said the dirt track has a great relationship with Road America, located just five minutes down the road

“We do have one motorcycle race that an outside promoter comes in and promotes in conjunction with the motorcycle races over at Road America,” he said. “(We also run) a sprint car race during the IndyCar weekend at Road America, over here at night.”

During the race season, Weinaug – who is also a Road America season ticket holder – said it’s fun to see the cross-population between events.

“It’s really fun on the major weekends… just to sit and watch our grandstands at night,” he said. “(To see) how many of the Road America guys come over here to watch racing at night because they’re looking for something to do, too.”

As a fully donation- and sponsorship-funded organization, Weinaug said it’s typical to see not only community members but business leaders regularly attend races.

“The Plymouth area, and really the City of Plymouth, is really (supportive),” he said. “My boss asked me, ‘How many of these sponsors show up on a weekly basis?’ And a lot of them (do). They want to be part of a program. They want to be part of the racetrack and a community event.”

For the full schedule of races set for this season, visit plymouthdtr.com.