A need for speed
The former Mineral City Speedway south of Fort Dodge has been purchased by the firm that owns Fort Frenzy, representatives of the business announced Monday morning.
The 150 acre property is now named Frontier Sports Park and the half-mile oval race track is called Frontier Speedway. The new owner, TJK Entertainment LLC, plans to add a restaurant and other features to the property over the course of about 10 years.
Shimkat Motor Co., of Fort Dodge, is the premier sponsor of the new park, and will promote it with things like a specially decorated 2015 Ram pickup displayed Monday.
Todd McCubbin, the vice president and managing partner of TJK Entertainment LLC, said the firm bought the property from Kit Hovey, of Fort Dodge. He declined to reveal the purchase price.
TJK Entertainment LLC also owns Fort Frenzy, the family entertainment center at 3232 First Ave. S.; Creative Cakes and Northwind Travel. The firm was established by Tim and Kellie Guderian, of Fort Dodge, after they won a $220.8 million Powerball lottery jackpot about eight years ago.
The Guderians weren’t at a Monday morning press conference announcing the purchase.
”They did want to tell what a great city Fort Dodge is and how much they love this community and how much they wanted to share and make it better,” McCubbin said.
Jerome Moulds, the newly hired director of operations and promoter of Frontier Sports Park, said racing there will begin in mid-February and continue throughout the year.
”We will have something going out there all the time,” he said.
Moulds said the width of the track will be reduced and its slope will be changed.
”In the past, Mineral City Speedway has always been what they call a horsepower track,” he said. ”That means it’s real wide, and then it becomes whoever has the most money to put a great engine in. We’re going to bring the edges of the track down and make it a driver’s track.”
The park at 2298 S. River Road is near the Des Moines River, and Moulds said he wants to make it a ”pit stop” for people paddling on the water. He said a canoe and kayak rental business will be set up there.
McCubbin said the site is about midway between the little dam in Fort Dodge and Dolliver Memorial State Park.
Other plans for the park include a restaurant and saloon featuring wine and beer produced in Iowa, according to Moulds. He said the restaurant will have an ”open pit-type grill.” He said he hopes the restaurant and saloon can be built on a hill overlooking the race track.
The canoe rental and the restaurant are just the first things planned for the site, Moulds said.
”There’s a lot more stuff coming down the pike,” he said.




