Savage Words: Plenty to do in Brandon this weekend

If you’re bored this weekend in Brandon, you’re not looking very hard.

At least not if you’re a sports fan.

No matter where you look this weekend, folks will be kicking balls, tackling others, scoring touchdowns and goals, and driving the wheels off race cars throughout Brandon.

It actually starts on Thursday when the girls soccer team plays host to Sioux Falls Washington at 5 p.m. The boys follow with a 7 p.m. start time against the Warriors.

On Friday, the Huset’s Hustle – the opening night of the big-money High Bank Nationals – begins. That event is sanctioned by the famed World of Outlaws, and the top sprint car drivers from coast-to-coast will embark on Brandon. 

On Saturday, it’s Night 2 of the Huset’s High Banks where the World of Outlaws drivers will be going at it again. Just down the road, Brandon Valley welcomes Sioux Falls Washington for a No. 3 vs. No. 5 matchup in Class 11AAA football.

That game – known as the Pigskin Classic – is arguably the gateway to the fall season in Brandon. The Lynx haven’t won a home opener since a 33-21 win over Sioux Falls Jefferson in 2021. Preseason polls this year has Brandon Valley as one of the teams to potentially nab a state title, which would be their first since 2020.

Getting an early look at the Lynx against a much-improved Washington team should be a hot ticket and the grandstands at BVHS will be bustling.

As for the racing, it all culminates on Sunday, for the finale of the Huset’s High Banks. That sucker pays $100,000 to the winner, a mountain of cash for someone who can tame the 3/8-mile oval.

The racing that night will also be the final for Huset’s in 2024. But more importantly, it’s the chance for Huset’s to perform a redo from the High Banks event that was postponed earlier this year when the Splitrock Creek came outside of its banks and flooded the facility. The flooding made national news in the motorsports world as emergency officials performed boat rescues for stranded campers beginning early in the morning on Friday, June 21.

After the event in June was postponed, Huset’s and World of Outlaws officials announced it would be rescheduled for this weekend. However, the format would be adjusted and instead of the winner taking home $250,000, it would be reduced to a paltry $100,000.

Reduced to $100,000?

There was some grumbling from around the country when the updated payout amount was released. But c’mon, that’s still a huge amount of money for a sprint car team to win.

Other than the famed 63rd running of the Knoxville Nationals that paid $190,000 to win earlier this month, and the $175,000-to-win Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway in Ohio last month, this weekend’s winner at Huset’s is the largest payout of the season in sprint car racing. Last year’s $250,000 to winner Logan Schuchart at Huset’s was the largest payday in World of Outlaws history. 

I’d say Huset’s and the World of Outlaws are being more than generous with this weekend’s entire purse totaling almost $400,000. Heck, it’s $2,500 to finish dead last in Sunday’s feature event.

The amount of money Huset’s owner Tod Quiring is doling out each week in payouts is staggering. Race fans in the Brandon and Sioux Falls area should be forever thankful for both the payouts and the incredible facility that’s nestled into the hillside south of Brandon. There’s only a handful of race tracks remaining in the country that hosts weekly 410 sprint car shows. Huset’s is one of them.

I recall at the 1985 Knoxville Nationals when the Public Address announcer made an astounding announcement that the 1986 winner of the Nationals – the 25th anniversary of the historic event – was going to pay $25,000 to the winner.

$25,000 to win a sprint car race. Even as a teenage kid running around Knoxville, that announcement caught me off guard 39 years ago.

I recall getting in our van after the races that night and my dad, who had a popular regional motorsports radio program, put his hand to the bridge of his nose and continuously rubbed his face.

“I can’t believe somebody’s going to win $25,000 to win a sprint car race,” he said.

I think of that moment often when I see the huge payouts these guys and gals are running for now.

$100,000 to the winner on Sunday night to cap off a sports-filled weekend. 

Not a bad way to spend four days if you’re a sports fan in Brandon.