For nearly 80 years, racers and fans have traveled to Rockford Speedway in Loves Park, Illinois for quality racing entertainment. Recently, the Deery family announced that 2023 will be the final season for the speedway. HJS Development has taken ownership of the property and will begin commercial development soon.
Dubbed the Last Lap Season, Rockford’s schedule is packed with over 50 events running from March 18th to October 29th. The season opens with a Shamrock Beer Run & Brew Fest in March. Cars hit the track on April 8th with open practice and tire sales before the 46th Spring Classic on April 22nd. From there, races and events take place every weekend until the season culminates with the championships in September and October. A special “Grand Celebration” weekend event will be announced soon, giving fans of the Speedway and all the events they’ve hosted over the past seven decades an opportunity to bid the track farewell before demolition.
Generations of drivers and fans have come to Rockford Speedway for the quality racing and entertainment. Thousands of race events have taken place at Rockford over the past 75 years. Rockford played host to tens of thousands of drivers, including many future NASCAR legends. In the 70s and 80s, the speedway hosted Dick Trickle, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Darrell Waltrip, Kyle Petty, Jim Sauter, Bobby Allison, the Venturini family, and more. The 90s made way for Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt, and Kenny Schrader to make their mark on the racetrack. Brett Moffitt, Erik Jones, Ty Majeski all took turns leading laps in the early 2000s.
What could make a family decide to sell after providing racing entertainment for three-quarters of a century? According to the Deery family, it was a combination of several factors. When all the land around the track had been developed as much as possible, all eyes turned to the 50 acres housing Rockford Speedway. What was once farmland and timber now holds hundreds of homes and businesses.
Jody Deery, the owner of Rockford Speedway and the speedway grounds, rejected the idea of selling to developers for years. She began to entertain offers once the Covid pandemic hit the country and threatened the future of the Speedway. Though Rockford recovered and is hosting events through its final days, expenses continue to mount. Property taxes were over $65,000 last year. Upgrades to the facilities and to make overall capital improvements would be upwards of $2 million. Maintaining the speedway under current economic conditions seems more unlikely. When Mrs. Deery passed away last year, it fell to her heirs to make the final difficult decision to close Rockford Speedway.
HJS Development will begin making changes to the grounds surrounding the Speedway in the coming months. Initial plans indicate the Speedway itself will remain in tact for the vast majority of the development. Basic infrastructure installation comes first, including some underground utilities and a new access road that takes out the fairgrounds, all starting this summer.
While decisions have been made and contracts have been signed, many people are still trying to intervene in the speedway’s closure. The announcement was just made public on February 8, 2023, with the news going viral just a few hours later. Social media posts flooded the internet; people shared memories and well-wishes for the Deery family. Soon after, public outcry against development began.
While most seem to understand why the Deery family made the difficult decision to sell Rockford Speedway, none are happy with the decision. A petition to preserve the racetrack was posted on change.org the same day the news broke and has over 3,500 signatures as of 10:30 pm EST February 9th. There have been calls on social media for Dale Jr. to rescue and revive Rockford like he did with North Wilkesboro. Since the track will be the last thing torn down, there is the tiniest sliver of hope that the track could be saved. Considering all the development that is slated for the area surrounding the track, there won’t be a lot of ground around the track for race event management. Whatever happens with Rockford Speedway, hundreds of thousands of racers and fans have been impacted by the track and will remember it fondly.
