City of Decorah, Upper Iowa Speedway to sign "Memorandum of Understanding"

It's not a contract, but the City of Decorah and the Upper Iowa Speedway have agreed to put down in writing their understanding of how the races should be held in Decorah.

The two sides discussed the memorandum Monday night.  Decorah City Administrator Chad Bird and Upper Iowa Speedway owner Wayne Smith will sign the agreement soon and it will be reviewed on an annual basis, starting with a review next March.

The memorandum calls for Upper Iowa Speedway to hold races only on Saturday nights from June through September of this year.  There will be no racing on Sundays and no racing in the afternoons.  The agreement also calls for the races to be finished by 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays unless a rain delay or other interruption happens.  Finally, because the Winneshiek County Fair has been cancelled because of the coronavirus, there will be no racing the week of July 13th.

The Upper Iowa Speedway will continue the practice of requiring mufflers on all racing cars in all classes of racing at the speedway.  The track is the only race track in Northeast Iowa that requires mufflers or baffled exhaust pipes on all cars.

The memorandum is non-binding, but the city's noise ordinance also gives the city enforcement power if issues arise.  It's anticipated that if the memorandum works out, the city and race promoters will sit down in the early spring each year to negotiate a new memorandum of understanding.