By: Kevin Ramsell

West Salem, WI – The first night of the 56th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, WI will kick off honoring a legend on Thursday, October 1st.

Tom Reffner, the legendary Blue Knight #88, will be honored on opening night with four 22-lap feature events.

The Rudolph, WI driver passed away at the age of 82 on October 20, 2023. With nearly 400 feature wins and will always be known as the first ARTGO feature winner, Reffner was a stable competitor at Fest, including racing his famous Javelin in 2015.

In the latter years of his life, Reffner was heavily involved in the Dick Trickle Memorial Project, a great personal friend and competitor.

To honor Reffner on the opening night, the La Crosse NASCAR Kwik Trip Late Models will have two 22-lap feature events. The Super Late Models Futures and Knights events will also be 22 laps each, for a total of 88 laps of late model feature racing.

The La Crosse TDS Sportsmen division will decide their champion with a 20-lap feature event.

The quarter-mile track will be in action on Thursday night with the Auto Value Street Stocks/6 Shooters in a 20-lap championship feature along with the Skyline Fireworks Hornets 20-lap feature.

The opening night will conclude with the ever-popular Double-O race.

There will be plenty to do during the day, especially if you are camping at Fest.

The track will open at 9:30 a.m. for practice for all divisions.

The Big Red Barn will host a cornhole tournament starting at noon.

The on-track action gets underway at 2:45 p.m. with qualifying followed by racing at 6 p.m.

After the races, head on over to the Exhibition Hall for the 2025 La Crosse Speedway Champions reception with a live DJ.

56th Oktoberfest Fan Guide: https://oktoberfestraceweekend.com/go/fan-guide

56th Oktoberfest Competitor Guide: https://oktoberfestraceweekend.com/go/competition-guide

Oktoberfest Race Weekend is a tradition in the Midwest since 1970! Four Days of Stock Car Racing, Legendary After-Race Parties, Special Challenge Races, Super Late Models, The FAMOUS Camper Village, and over 700 laps of feature racing action! Make your plans now to attend!

The Oktoberfest Race Weekend Camper Village officially opens at noon on Monday, September 29th.

The track will be open for practice on Wednesday, October 1st from 2 p.m. to 6:20 p.m.

For more information, please visit oktoberfestraceweekend.com.