Wadena drag racer wins NHRA National Open division in Wisconsin

WADENA — Chad Dickey Sr. is quite possibly the fastest man in Wadena on four wheels.

The 66-year-old husband and father of two drives a semi-truck for a living and owns a car wash in town but drag races part-time as a hobby. Dickey won the Rock Falls Raceway National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) National Open – West Central Division Five in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

“This was actually my first race of the season — first race I entered all season,” Dickey said of the July competition. “It’s very satisfying. It gives me a big boost in confidence for upcoming races.”

The West Central Division spreads from the west in Colorado to the east in Missouri and north to Manitoba and is the largest by land of all seven NHRA divisions.

“I think after round one — after I won round one — I said, ‘I can win this race,’” Dickey said of the quarter-mile drag race. “Round one is always the toughest because that decides whether you continue on racing or if you trailer up and go home.”

Depending upon the weather, Dickey reaches speeds of more than 140 mph in his 1955 Chevrolet two-door sedan dubbed the Suicide King. He said his children came up with the nickname because they were playing cards and one card had a king with a sword to his head.

“It was my first time on the track,” he said of Rock Falls Raceway. “They recently did a lot of renovation. They spent millions of dollars to make this track a national quality track. And they finally got a big race at their facility. And I was fortunate enough to race there and win there.”

Dickey took a chance on entering, loaded up his vehicle and made the four-hour drive to Eau Claire from his home in Wadena.

“I’ve never been to that track and I always wanted to go there because I heard a lot about it,” Dickey said. “I heard that they did a lot of renovations on it and a lot of upgrades to the track. The track is very smooth, no bumps, so me and some other friends wanted to race there.”

Dickey received $1,500 in prize money for winning the Rock Falls Raceway NHRA National Open – West Central Division Five.

“That race car — I bought that when I was a junior in high school. I was 17 years old when I bought that car,” Dickey said of the modified vehicle he drove to win the race. “It evolved over the years from a street-driven car to a full-blown race car.”

The Wadena High School graduate said he bought the car in 1974 for $100. He said he always had the aspiration to drag race in the Lucas Oil drag racing series.

“I was just kind of a car nut from when I was really young in high school,” Dickey said. “I loved the ‘55 Chevy and I just never thought I would ever get rid of it. … I’ve always been a drag racing kind of guy, not much for round track racing.”

Dickey said he has never been in any serious accidents related to his drag racing hobby and that preparation before the race has a lot to do with that.

“If you have any broken steering components, anything broken in your suspension, it can cause you to have an accident,” Dickey said. “If you have any oil leaks or any water leaks coming out of the engine, a little bit of water, a little bit of oil will make you spin out.”

Dickey had said earlier he saw a need for more services on the south side of Wadena and took matters into his own hands when he decided to purchase land there and build a car wash. But it’s hard to compare that with drag racing.

“It’s a lot of fun. It keeps me out of the bars,” Dickey said of his love of motorsports and drag racing. “In town, I drive pretty slow actually … compared to my wife.”

FRANK LEE is the features writer for the Wadena Pioneer Journal. He may be reached at 218-631-6470 or at [email protected] .