By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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LOVES PARK — The owners of the Rockford Speedway are preparing to auction off everything on the 76-year-old site to further prepare it for future development.
The Deery family expects the everything-must-go sale to attract everyone from collectors and fans looking for a slice of memorabilia to business owners who may want food and concession equipment or other fixtures.
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The auction will run online from May 27 through June 3 with an in-person preview of lots for sale at the racetrack, 9572 Forest Hills Road, on May 22. Buyers will be responsible for removing their purchases.
“It really is an auction of everything you see above the ground at Rockford Speedway,” said Tom Deery, one of eight children of late Rockford Speedway owners Hugh and Jody Deery. “In a perfect world, it would be everything down to the ground would find a new home to be used someplace else.”
Collectible items include things like signs, pictures and trophies, according to the Speedway website. Everything else from grandstand bleachers to coolers, two-way radios, tech equipment, fencing, tire shop equipment and the scoreboard will also be sold.
“We’re talking about the collectible items whether it’s a sign or something else there, down to the fences, to the grandstands to the buildings to the fixtures inside those buildings, and all the equipment that’s been accumulated over the last 75 years,” Deery said. “From our mind, every piece that we sell to somebody else is part of Rockford Speedway going into another person’s home or another person’s business and that legacy will continue on that way.”
The Deery family decided that the 2023 season would be the 76th and last for the Rockford Speedway, and the 50-acre property has been transitioned to HJS Development. It’s been an emotional year of goodbyes for the Deery children, all eight of whom had worked at the track at one point or another in their life.
“Everything that you’ve put your life into is being sold, but then you also have that tinge in your heart about, ‘should we really sell this item or that item,’ something that in your mind might have sentimental value,” Tom Deery said. “That’s the popcorn machine I spent half my life at, do I really want it to go to somebody else? You just have to come to that comfort point, shut your eyes and pray that it’s going into somebody’s hands that’s going to appreciate its legacy.”
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Hugh and Jody Deery bought an interest in the Speedway in 1959 and gained sole ownership in 1967. Hugh died in 1984 and Jody in June 2022 at age 97. The Speedway was run by David and Susan Deery the past few seasons.
Family members previously said they were on the brink of needing to invest millions of dollars into upkeep at the property or sell. Business growth around the site had increased the property’s value, and tax burden, and it had also garnered a lot of interest from commercial developers. The combination of factors led to the decision to develop the land.
So far, we have learned about two businesses coming to the seven lots in front of the racetrack: Belle Tire and Club Car Wash. There have not been any announcements for the other five lots of the track property itself.
“It doesn’t happen overnight, but we’re in the marketplace and I know they’re talking to people every week about interest in the site,” Tom Deery said.
About | Rockford Speedway Auction
When: Monday, May 27 through Monday, June 3, 2024
In-person preview: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 22
Where: Online at rockfordspeedway.com
Contact: Chris Richard of Steffes Auctioneers, 319-217-0657
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