Sig Haugdahl

[1] Sig Haugdahl was born on the Tiller farm in Verdal Municipality, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway and migrated to the United States in 1910 making his home with an uncle in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

The car was named after its 836 cubic inch Wisconsin Airplane 6-cylinder motor, which was directly connected to the rear wheels.

Haugdahl is credited with winning the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) sprint car national championships in 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1932.

[3] Haugdahl is reported to have set a world land speed record of 180 miles per hour in his Wisconsin Special car at the Daytona Beach Road Course on April 7, 1922.

World land speed record attempts moved from Daytona to the more consistent surface at the Bonneville Salt Flats with Campbell's Blue Bird in 1935.

Not wishing to lose the valuable visitor trade, Daytona Beach officials asked local racer Haugdahl to organize and promote an automobile race along the 3.2-mile (5.1 km) course.