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Shaw sells I-94 Speedway to Trantina, who also operates Granite City Motor Park

Submitted By FYE Motorsports

FERGUS FALLS, MN - The I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minnesota will transition to new ownership at the start of the 2026 racing season.

Don and Brenda Shaw purchased the facility from the Johanneck family in early 2020 and since then, they grew the facility into one of the nation’s premier racing destinations. During their six-year tenure, they hosted the World of Outlaws, several yearly stops by the WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series, the Dick Johanneck King of Dirt, the Bob Gierke Memorial, several stops by the NLRA Late Model Series, and they are the home for the annual WISSOTA 100 and the new end-of-year Scott Engfer Memorial Gopher State Showdown.

Of course, they’ve also held many weekly events from early May throughout late October each season.

Late last season, Shaw chose to take a step back from racing, selling his Late Model inventory to focus on his family and his Shaw Trucking business. Along with that decision, talks began to potentially sell the property to someone who had as much passion for the sport as he did.

Those talks became a reality during the past several weeks, and Saint Joseph, Minnesota businessman and racer James Trantina III has just completed the purchase of the facility. He will take over operations immediately, heading into the 2026 season.

Trantina, who also owns Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, is no stranger to owning and promoting racing. He purchased Granite City back in late 2020 and has been hands-on at the central Minnesota track since the purchase.

Trantina also owns Collins Brothers Towing of St. Cloud, a sprawling business that encompasses 18 towing and automotive companies across Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota. He is no stranger to hard work and a vision to grow his businesses into successful ventures. He is a longtime racer as well, with plans to get behind the wheel of a Late Model this season, with a WISSOTA car and an open competition race car at his disposal.

“Don and I have been talking for a while about it and with changes in his life, he wanted to see it go to someone with a lot of passion for racing and someone who will do as good or better with it and felt I was a good candidate,” Trantina said. “I’m excited for the opportunity to own such a beautiful facility and work with the team that makes it work week in and week out.

“Nothing will really change,” he added.

He also stated Shaw will be staying on to help throughout the 2026 season with track prep, Deb Engfer will remain as the go-to person at the track, and the same great group of employees will remain as well. The 2026 schedule will remain unchanged, so fans and racers should expect the same great racing program they have come to expect over the years.

“Don and I have some plans to keep making it better and we plan to work as a team in 2026 to do just that,” Trantina continued. “Don has already spent quite a bit of money and many man hours this off-season with upgrades to the facility. This place is capable of premier events and that’s something I’ve always wanted. Plus, having a Friday and a Sunday night track within close proximity will allow us to have some fun and different events at both tracks.”

The current season is scheduled to start at I-94 on Friday, May 8, weather pending. Weekly classes on Friday nights all summer long include WISSOTA-sanctioned Late Models, Modifieds, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks, and Hornets, plus Scott’s GenX Late Models, with special appearances by the WISSOTA Super Stocks, IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Sport Mods. There will also be visits from the World of Outlaws Late Models, Northern Lights Modified Series and High Limit Sprint Cars.

For more information on the track, visit www.I94Speedways.com.