The Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota was hammered late Sunday night by a severe storm that blew through the area causing extensive damage to the facility in a short amount of time. On Monday, the entire facility was still without power and all online ticketing services had been frozen due to their computer servers being without power. BIR is a multi-faceted facility that is highlighted by their NHRA national event, the Lucas Oil Nationals, which is scheduledin in just six weeks on August 20-23rd.

The storm that damaged BIR was clocked having straight line winds of excess of 70 miles per hour which toppled and twisted a section of the grandstands onto the drag strip. In addition, the press box and the primary maintenance shop had their roofs ripped completely off, and at least two RVs in the campground were tossed and flipped over as if they were small toys. Numerous signs and dumpsters have also been scattered throughout the facility, far from their original settings, and hundreds of trees have been uprooted and laid over on their sides.

To the racing fan outside of the Brainerd area, one thing that always stood unique to BIR has been “The Zoo,” where all the fans gather to have a great time, enjoy live music and throw a huge party after the racing was over. There are numerous trees down and other damage in “The Zoo,” but with the racing family and employees of BIR, the Minnesota facility will be back up and running quickly.

The track has posted on their social media outlets and their website that they’re looking for volunteers to come in and help get the facility cleaned up as quickly as possible to carry on with their existing schedule on tap for the racers and race fans in the Minnesota area. Officials have also stressed that the facility is closed for people wanting to view the damage, as portions of the facility are still very dangerous. BIR has only officially canceled one event, their Wednesday Night Street Drags, and hope to be cleaned up enough by the weekend for the scheduled CRA Superbike racing event. We hate to see the Brainerd facility, employees and area rocked by these storms and hope they’re able to get everything back together and in working order before the NHRA rolls into town.