Loves Park Looks to Crack Down on Rockford Speedway Events

Loves Park, IL - "Any kind of concert like this, in today`s world, there is a mosh pit and there is body surfing," says Jody Deery, CEO of Deery Co., the holding company for the Rockford Speedway. Deery is on the defensive for her facility. It hosted the Wing-Ding concert, a metal music festival that drew a crowd of over 12,000 people, over the Memorial Day weekend. It was a full-blown day to night show. But because it was such a hot day, reaching 97 degrees in the afternoon, authorities say the crowd got a bit too rowdy. As a result, the Loves Park City Council is looking into toughening up the special events permitting process. "The special event permit is designed to be a review process for large gatherings that cause possible potential security problems or traffic problems, things like that," says Loves Park Mayor Darryl Lindberg. The Rockford Speedway has always been exempt from that process in its more than 50 year history. The Speedway has in-house security, uniformed policeman at their events, their own medics, and ambulances on scene. "This place was built in 1947 and they`ve always had racing, concerts, circuses, and other activities, and now all of a sudden we`re going to be restricted?" says Deery. "To bring it to the council and get the approval after doing it the other way for 50 years, it`s silly," says Susan Deery, Vice President of Deery Co. "We`ve had such a long-standing good relationship with the Speedway, we want to work with them and make sure that if they have a large event like Wing Ding that was held there, that all of the necessary precautions are in place," says Lindberg. Lindberg says the Loves Park City Council will have a proposed amendment to the special events permitting procedure in the next couple of weeks.