VETERAN'S SPEEDWAY OWNER MICHAEL INGLETT PASSES AWAY

Topics:  Michael Inglett, Veteran's Speedway

Mid American Stock Car Series
December 29, 2013

American weekly short track racing has a tradition of family ownership. And the Tomah, Wisconsin area has a tradition of close links to the American military. Both traditions came together with the Inglett family's ownership of the Veteran's Speedway in Tomah.

That family story took a sad turn on Chistmas Eve with the news that Mike Inglett, 64,the race track's patriarch had passed away.

Mike Inglett, a US Army veteran, joined with his son, Marine veteran Jonathan Inglett in 2012, to purchase the Tomah 3/8 mile paved oval and help bring it back into business. Their military connections led them to rename the track that had been called the Excalibur Motorsports Speedway. To honor the Tomah area's history with the nearby Army Fort McCoy, the Ingletts renamed the track Veterans Raceway Park. That name has been slightly changed now to Veteran's Speedway.

While the father and son team guided the track through a successful season that saw several standing-room only crowds, Mike Inglett was quietly fighting a battle against cancer.

Only a handful of close family friends knew that Mike Inglett had been diagnosed with the ailment. Near the end of the 2013 season, Mike Inglett discreetly traveled to Madison, Wisc. for extensive surgery, which at first seemed to have eliminated the disease. However, a recovery was not in the hands of God and fate. On Christmas Eve, Jonathan Inglett simply noted his father's passing on his Facebook page, "This is the saddest day in my life! I love you, dad!!"

A brief obituary that appeared in the Lacrosse Tribune says Mike Inglett died Tuesday at the Tomah Veteran's Affairs Medical Center. Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Monday at Dickinson Family Funeral Home, Onalaska, and burial with military honors will be in Onalaska City Cemetery. Family and friends may call two hours prior to service Monday at the funeral home. Mike Inglett's passing joins 2013 losses in the Veteran's Speedway family that include the death of Stevie Jorgenson, daughter of long-time racer and track maintenance worker Steve Jorgenson, and the death of Eugene "David" D. Frodin, a cook at Smitty's Overtime Inn, a restaurant popular with racers.

PS. Edited from Veteran's Speedway news release.