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It was an odd race, with yellows flying after both three and four laps—and then, the last 36 laps went green to checkered. Seldom are there such long green flag runs in the Modifieds and with Wagamon being so strong, he was lapping cars in rapid fashion.

By the halfway point of the race, Dave Cain had moved to third and he and Uotinen had a battle for second.

With a full straightaway lead, there were only 11 cars on the lead lap at the finish. Wagamon was a machine on the track, never faltering or letting up. Cain nipped Uotinen for second, while Anderson was DQ’d and it cost him $1,000 and fourth to Nelson.

Sabraski was involved in another strategic battle in the Late Model feature and once again, he came out on top. After Ashley Anderson led the first 17 laps of the race, he was squeezed against the fourth turn wall, with Kyle Peterlin taking over the top spot. Sabraski moved past Dave Flynn for second by the halfway point and for the second time of the night, it was the same kind of race for Sabraski. He tried different lines and continued to work on the leader, either looking for a faster route around the track or a mistake from the leader.

As the laps ran down, Sabraski knew it was time to go and he threw several sliders at Peterlin, with Peterlin successfully defending them all. Finally, Sabraski made a plant and was able to edge past and into the lead. Two smooth contests, two nail-biters with plenty of close racing and no contact that I saw. Each time, Sabraski topped the field.

The consolation for Peterlin and all of the second-place finishers was that due to the “bridesmaid” activities Thursday, those who wore the garb earned an extra $1,100, not small change by any means.

Dan Bargender made a late rush and was certainly a factor to the end, placing third. Jeff Massingill came from the fifth row to get fourth, and Jake Redetzke came from the sixth row to complete the top five.

The last two laps were completed just in time as the fog rolled in and shut things down. For the club, it was another successful Red Clay Classic with large and enthusiastic crowds, a good car count and some good feature action to complete the weekend. Thanks to all the officials and track workers in what must be a long and grinding weekend.

As usual, I must extend special thanks to Ray and Steve Stuart and everyone from the Stuart-Ferguson skybox for the seats.

Sunday, September 29

During the final Sunday of September, I drove to Redwood Speedway in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. It was the last race of the 2024 racing season at Redwood, and since it was another beautiful day and I had not been to “The Big House” in at least a couple years, it seemed like the perfect thing to do.

In June, Velvet and Ricky Dostal worked things out with the fair board of Redwood County to reopen the track there, which has been sitting idle for a period of time. The Dostals facilitated things at Princeton Speedway in recent years for Cliff Sasker and also helped him at North Central. When Princeton went in a different direction for 2024, this became the perfect time for them to hook up with the folks in Redwood.

They run a mixed sanctioning program at Redwood, with WISSOTA Street Stocks part of the weekly program. They also added WISSOTA Mid Mods to the program for Sunday. I did not find out if this was a trial run for 2025 or just a one-night stand for the Mid Mods, but based on the tracks in the area and what classes they run, it would actually make a lot of sense.

It always seems I am able to find someone to talk to wherever I end up, and such was the case again Sunday. I found out that Jake Smith will be completing the season running just his Mid Mod; his Mod has been sold to the Georges racing team out of Rapid City. I believe Smith has ordered a new car from Mars for 2025 and they will decide then what direction their racing program takes.

I also heard that the Fouquette racing team picked up their new Longhorn Late Model this week and they hoped to have it ready heading into Ogilvie.

A lady from Siren, Wisconsin won the MB Modified that was raffled off by the folks at Red Cedar Speedway recently. Matt Randt, father of Landyn and Levi, made an offer on the car, which was accepted, so they will have a new car for 2025. I believe they are going to have MB convert it over to a Mid Mod for Landyn to race in that class one more year at least.

Redwood Speedway used to be a half-mile track but it was shortened at some point. It’s still a big three-eighths mile oval, with the pits off turn four. It races like a big track but is tricky, because it does get quite slick and the corners are a bit narrow. Interestingly, from the grandstands, it almost looks like the drivers race right under neath the “Golden Arches” of the McDonald’s, which is just outside the fairgrounds’ entrance.

In the two WISSOTA classes offered, there were four Street Stocks and six Mid Mods on hand to race. While those numbers look kind of slim, their two feature races were both fairly interesting.

In the Street Stocks, while there were only four cars entered, the 15-lap feature race had three different leaders and three passes for the top spot on top of that.

Micheal Brockman led the opening lap before he was passed by Tommy Pogones for the lead. Pogones then led for the next three laps with Kolton Brauer all over him. Brauer finally got by on lap six to take over the lead.

Previous to this, Brauer had stopped on the track when his hood came up and he couldn't see. However, because of the small field, he quickly caught back up.

Pogones was not going to back down to Brauer however, and after he was passed he adjusted his line and was soon back on Brauer's rear bumper, trying to find a way past. Coming down the frontstretch, Pogones got a run to the high side of the track and looked to retake the lead when the two leaders collided. Brauer eventually spun in turn one. There looked to be damage to Brauer's front end but it was also his second yellow, so he retired to the pits and called it a night. This left Pogones in front and he drove on for the win.

The Mid Mod feature offered the fans the best battle of the entire night as Justin Bjorklund and Blake Adams went at it for virtually the entire race. Earlier, they had a good duel in the heat race too, with Adams finally prevailing in that race. For the feature, Bjorklund redrew the prized pole position and you knew it was going to be a battle.

They ran nose to tail and sometimes side by side for almost the whole race. Adams kept trying and trying but Bjorklund continued to fight off Adams. Adams was forced to try the tricky top side of the track with the wall being very close and the track being very slick. He made several attempts but just couldn't quite complete the move.

He simply wouldn't quit though, and with just a few laps left, was able to get up alongside Bjorklund off turn four; he then drove it in deeper to corner one and took over the lead. Bjorklund didn't give up either but Adams had just enough to hold him off for the win. It was an excellent, technically driven race and I don't believe that either touched during the hard fight. Jason Hobbs finished a distant third.

Adams is on a roll lately and has fought his way back into the top 10 in national points, even though he has raced only 31 times for points. There was an audible murmur from the crowd when he told the announcer he has only been racing for a year and a half. Of course, that doesn't count the kart racing, which he probably started doing before he was out of diapers!

Both classes did a nice job of racing and I heard no one complaining about the short field, especially given the fact the other classes were all in the same boat. I believe they are just happy to have racing return to “The Big House.”

Thanks to everyone at Redwood and based on all the announcements and proclamations by the announcers, it certainly sounds like racing will return in 2025 to the track in Redwood Falls.

Friday, October 4

One of the biggest events of the year was the 21st annual Fall Classic at Ogilvie Raceway. One of two fall races to be put on by FYE Motorsports Promotions, all eight WISSOTA classes are in action for this event.

Fans who came for the heat races Friday were in for a treat. As FYE does for all of its events, passing points were used to determine feature qualifiers.

As the pits opened, a large number of cars were already on hand, having been at practice Thursday. Racers continued to stream in, in some cases having called to ensure their starting positions as they scrambled to get to the track from far away destinations. There were cars on hand from two Canadian provinces as well as at least five states for this race.

When all were signed in, a total of 305 race cars were crammed into the pit area, taxing parking resources. Surely those parked against the tree line in that field could see Iowa just over the hill!

Not surprisingly, the largest field was in the Mid Mods, with 64 of them fighting it out for 24 spots in the main. Overall, the increase throughout the fields was pegged at 11 cars. Surpassing the magical 300 mark overall is quite the accomplishment.

Cade Johnson, a frequent racer at “Northland” tracks and a rookie in the Hornets this year, debuted a Mid Mod for this show. He had Lauren Johnson in his Hornet this weekend but unfortunately, that car was involved in the biggest wreck of the night. Another driver broke and while trying to get off the track, it instead plowed into the Johnson Hornet as it passed, producing a grinding wreck. Both drivers were okay, but it was likely the hardest hit of the night.

Dustin Doughty, absent from area tracks for quite some time, was driving the Engel No. 7 Street Stock this weekend. He drew a bad number in the back of a tough heat and wasn't able to advance very far. His wife Krysta has been driving a Hobby Stock at some southern Minnesota tracks this year. She used to race Pure Stocks while Dustin raced both Pures and Streets.

Landyn Randt debuted the brand-new MB Customs Mid Mod that was won by someone else in the drawing at Red Cedar recently. They picked it up last Sunday and with a quick conversion done at the Mars shop, they swapped motors to race at Ogilvie. Landyn told me it was very fast in practice on Thursday night.

Friday night’s program included 36 races scheduled. Qualifying heats were held in all eight classes on hand, with all a distance of eight laps. Since it was passing points, every position mattered. Everybody was on “the hammer” right to the finish, which produced hard racing.

Racing started at 7:06 p.m. and less than four hours later, the final checkered flags waved. It was virtually nonstop racing and track officials did a great job of keeping things moving and the drivers raced in a clean manner, for the most part.

Perhaps the most remarkable stat of the night was once the first green flag was waved, the track was never touched by track equipment. The drivers did have to pack the cushion a couple of times early but for the most part, the track held up spectacularly.

Saturday, October 5

With the addition of 17 non-sanctioned cars in one class plus a few stragglers who decided to race on Saturday, the final total of entries for the 21st annual Fall Classic at the Big O was 327 cars, an event record.

One of the Saturday night entries who started in the back of a B feature and must have been questioning his thought process later was Street Stock driver Scott Huston. He was on hand with his classic older Chevrolet from the 1950s.

They no more than dropped the green flag for the first Street B feature when he was involved in a turn-one banger. However, that paled in comparison to what soon happened, when as he was racing down the front chute just one lap later, he was clobbered by the only station wagon in the field. It turned him sideways and sent him barrel-rolling right in front of the crowd. Huston came out okay, but the car, not so much. He took it pretty well but again, there's not too much you can do about it.

Sam Fankhauser had the innards on his motor opened up. He had pulled off the track on the pace lap of his heat race when the car started to vibrate badly, and found a broken rocker arm to be the problem. Motor builder Dave Adams was rushed to the scene to provide triage and the cure must have worked; Fankhauser was able to qualify for the feature from the back of a B feature and then raced up to 13th in the Street finale.

They were replacing front-end parts along with the radiator in the Hornet driven by Lauren Johnson, which had been involved in Friday's biggest wreck when she got nailed by another driver trying to exit the track. They were able to get the car going while her brother Cade, who had driven the car most of the year, was making his Mid Mod debut in a car that was formerly driven by Jimmy Latvala.

I thought the car that Bob Holtquist was driving on Friday was different from the car he raced this year and that was correct. Bob told me that he wrecked his car at Granite City toward the end of the season and didn't feel it worthwhile to repair for just a couple of racing weekends. However, his son Dustin, who builds Mod Fours, wanted him to try one of his cars so they blotted out the “H” on the car and he ran as a teammate this weekend.

They started side by side in the front row of the feature and Bob said the sparks could fly, as they’re both super competitive. Later, Bob led that feature until his car failed, with Dustin taking the win.

I talked with Big O starter Brian Riedemann, who is retiring from flagging and working tracks on a regular basis this year. He was not in the flagstand this weekend, doing other duties for the track. He told me that the new starter is Dan Harstad from Fergus Falls. Harstad is a former Hornet and Street Stock driver, who has been tutoring under Riedemann at the track this year and is now ready to take over.

Riedemann tells me he will be taking a position within WISSOTA, traveling to tracks next year in what is a to-be-determined role.

The B features took their share of the time, as they usually do at races of this magnitude. There were lots of spins and yellows and more than a few ruffled feathers before it was time to call out the nine main features.

They did overhaul the track surface Saturday, tilling it and giving it a big drink of water. This was done all in the name of providing the best track possible for feature racing. While the break was quite long, no doubt everyone felt it worthwhile in the long run.

The Street Stock feature was first out and this race was dominated by Keith Tourville. Tourville doesn't race a lot anymore but when he does show up, he is always tough to beat. He led from start to finish and was not seriously challenged once the action settled in. A late yellow bunched the field and Kyle Dykhoff and Hunter VanGilder, who were battling for second, went at it one more time. Dykhoff held onto the spot while VanGilder got the short end of things, dropping back several spots. Jim Gullikson came from the seventh row to get third.

The Mid Mod feature was a wild one, with three different leaders and a crossover on the final corner of the race to settle the issue. Wyatt Boyum led a lap before Landyn Randt passed him with the brand-new raffle car. He led until lap 19 of the race when Joey Jensen got past him.

Jake Smith was on the move and during the last few laps these two took turns throwing slide jobs at each other, but clean ones at that. Smith executed his last slider in turn four on the final tour, but Jensen countered, cut under Smith, and beat him to the line in an excellent race. Cole Boston came out of nowhere at the end to finish a strong third.

I was sorry that the Late Model feature came out the way it did. Not that I have anything against Pat Doar winning his sixth straight year. However, I thought Ryan Mikkelson drove a heck of a race and if not for a late yellow for debris, the win might have been his. Tyler Peterson took the early lead but Mikkelson soon closed in and they had quite a battle for the lead. Some didn't like how it played out but I thought it was just good, hard racing. In any event, Mikkelson took over the top spot and held it until just three laps to go when the debris slowed the action.

Doar started third, slipped back just a little, and then after passing Peterson past the halfway point, he started to close on Mikkelson, as Mikkelson navigated lapped traffic.

Mikkelson picked the wrong line for the final restart, and when he took off Doar drove right around him and then pulled away for the win. Shane Sabraski finished third.

Doar's sixth win in a row at this event is even more impressive given that this event always has a strong and full field of cars.

If there is a driver who is hotter right now than Landon Atkinson, I don't know who it is. In the last three weeks, Atkinson has now won both ends of the Piston Cup at Granite City, a $10,000-to-win open show at that same track, and now on Saturday, he tracked down and passed Clayton Wagamon to win the Fall Classic. Wagamon was on a roll of his own, having won at ABC last week in a dominating performance. This Modified feature was a two-car battle from start to finish.

Wagamon broke into the lead and had clear sailing early but Atkinson moved into second and with a whole lot of green flag racing, he slowly but surely cut into that lead. The green stayed out for 13 consecutive laps and during that time, Atkinson cut into the lead and had just made the pass for the top spot when the yellow waved.

Landon then pulled away for the victory, with Sabraski coming on strong to finish third. Andy Jones, with a strong run, and Kaden Blaeser completed the top five.

It wouldn't be a normal night without at least one victory by Sabraski, and this weekend it was in the Super Stock. He started on the front row and led all 30 laps for the win. Dexton Koch started eighth and the current leader and likely 2024 National Champion moved into second by the halfway point of the event. The last 20 laps of the race went nonstop and Koch had his chances. Saturday night, however, Sabraski was strong enough to hold off every challenge from Koch and still keep his lead. Tim Johnson had a strong run from 10th to finish third.

In the Mod Fours, Dustin Holtquist led the first five laps before Bob drove around his son to take over the top spot. Once in front, he looked like he was going to drive on for the win until the mechanical issues led him to pull off, handing over the lead and win to Dustin. Luke Erlandson was second.

There was a Pure Stock National Championship on the line in Saturday night's feature race, with Dustin Puffe reportedly four points ahead of Brent Mindock entering the last point show of 2024.

Plenty of slam-bam racing went on in this feature, with Puffe taking the initial lead and holding it for the first three laps. However, he got turned in turn one on a restart by Mindock, and flew into the infield. While I would have locked up the brakes and sought to get my spot back, Puffe instead fought his way back on to the track and lost a number of positions in doing so, giving Eric Crosby the lead.

Puffe eventually fought his way back up to fifth, next to Mindock, but his car seemed to fail him as he was visibly slowing and dropped back in the pack.

Meanwhile, Crosby had his hands full with Rob Grabon and on lap 14, Grabon ducked under Crosby and took over the lead. His car was running well and he managed to put some distance on the field, driving home for the win. Mindock came home second with Kade Leeper third.

Puffe finished 10th and not knowing what point shows the two were throwing away, I don't know who came home the winner. No announcement was made but I must assume that Mindock took the title. We still wait for the official results however.

The Hornets wrapped up the evening, which by now was into the early hours of Sunday morning. Perhaps there were a number of new drivers out this weekend, but the Hornet feature was a patience tester.

With all the messing around, a good battle between Anthony Jensen and Bobie Arnes was almost missed; they spent a number of laps racing side by side. There was some give and take, with Arnes seemingly giving more and Jensen taking more. When Jensen got moved up the track one last time, Arnes took over the lead one last time and drove home for the win, with Jensen settling for second and Jenna Hagemann third.

This was quite the racing spectacle this weekend with cars, fans and races in large doses. The crowd was a big one and this was certainly a successful weekend for Ogilvie, FYE and all the winners.

Friday, October 11

In some ways, it feels like it has been a very long racing season. In other ways, it feels like the first green flag of 2024 was just dropped. In any event, the final point weekend of the 2024 WISSOTA racing season began Friday, October 11 at I-94 emr Speedway. The second annual Gopher State Showdown, promoted by FYE Motorsports, ran off without a glitch weather-wise. While the temperatures cooled just a bit and were closer to the norm, it was still far better than average for racing in Minnesota during the second weekend of October.

Seven of the eight classes in WISSOTA were part of the program. The Pure Stocks, who have no weekly tracks in the area, were left off the docket.

While most of the national titles were already decided before the first green flag, there were still several top-10 positions up for grabs.

The exception was in the Mod Four class, where if there was a full field of 16 cars on hand—and Dustin Holtquist could win the feature—he’d edge out Dean Larson by a single point for the national title.

Holtquist was fully capable of winning this weekend. His equipment was still strong and fast, even after a long season of racing. The biggest drama was whether or not a full field of drivers would make an appearance for the weekend, as I-94 does not run the Mod Four class and there are not many tracks that do run them near Fergus Falls. Unfortunately for Holtquist, only six drivers signed in for heat race action, making his late charge impossible.

While the Mod Four numbers were disappointing, the other classes made up for them. Overall, the number of drivers entered for the second annual event was considerably higher than last year and the total car count was well over 200 drivers.

The biggest gain over last year was in the Midwest Mods, with nearly four dozen of them on hand.

Quality was not a problem throughout the fields, with drivers from two Canadian provinces plus four states on hand. There was a very nice mix of competitors in the pits. Some drivers just can't get enough racing, while others were just breaking in new cars. In some cases, drivers were out with recently acquired equipment.

The format was one full point show held over two days. Passing points were used on Friday and with just eight-lap heat races, everyone had to go immediately to pass as many cars as possible.

Among the more impressive passing performances of the heats were Brady Gerdes from fifth to a Modified heat win; Blake Adams, Dave Mass and Jeff Rohner from sixth to wins; and Tommy Pogones, who came from seventh to win a Street Stock heat.

Ryan Corbett elected not to run after he found some problems with the motor in his Late Model. He called it a weekend and helped out the other River Cities Speedway racers, including his brother.

Joseph Thomas made a nice run driving his uncle Tim’s Modified on Friday night.

Lee Grosz was part of the worst wreck of the night, when he had a wheel fail on his Late Model and the center section came out of the car. It sent him into some wild gyrations and he nearly flipped. He did enough damage to his car that his weekend was over and he headed back to South Dakota.

Along with Blake, Kevin Adams also had a good run on Friday and the two were both set to start on the front rows for feature races on Saturday night.

Nathan Kelley burned up the motor on his Hornet in spectacular fashion, and was done for the weekend.

The last Hornet heat of the night produced perhaps the most spectacular driving, as Nick Shirley rim rode the track like I didn't think a Hornet even could and excited those in the crowd who were left.

Three drivers were disqualified for various minor issues Friday, with all returning on Saturday night to work their way back into contention after their good runs were wiped out.

Staff at the track and through FYE did a good job of moving the show along Friday. Twenty-four heat races were completed in just over three hours after racing started a bit after 7 p.m. Ten of those 24 heats ran off nonstop, and there wasn't a single event all night that had more than two yellow flags.

The track prep crew, who took some unnecessary hits during the WISSOTA 100 I think, had the track in excellent shape on Friday. Once the first green flag waved, they didn't need to touch the track after that.

Saturday, October 12

The 2024 WISSOTA Auto Racing season came to its conclusion Saturday, October 12 with the feature finales of the second annual Gopher State Showdown.

Less wind on Saturday and sunny skies made it very pleasant watching for the middle of October. Looking back, all of the year-ending races were graced with great weather this year.

Three more Hornet drivers, one Street Stock driver and one Midwest Mod driver, who weren't on hand for Friday, were added to the field on Saturday. All but the Mid Mod driver ran a main event, with the fields in those two classes not yet full.

I heard some interesting talk in the pits before the show relative to the Gen X Late Model class, a Limited Late Model class that is currently not sanctioned by WISSOTA. It seems that a number of people who helped form this class are looking to get it sanctioned for 2025, believing that it will be beneficial to them when it comes to scheduling, rules enforcement and other areas. Since there are quite a few tracks that run this class weekly or consistently, I believe it would benefit competitors, the tracks, and WISSOTA to consider this—especially if there are folks who are interested in helping sponsor the class.

I received a good reminder that racing is still a dangerous sport. Some times, the freaky things that happen end up being the most dangerous. I was talking to the Jeff Davis racing team out of Ontario, and they showed me the damage that was done to the roll cage support just to the left of the driver's head by a loose piece of material, possibly a quarter panel support. It penetrated the driver’s screen, slammed into the roll cage, badly denting it, and then exited out the back window of the Modified. Just a bit different trajectory and it could have been very serious. That's why I think a full wind screen on the driver's side of the car, not just diagonal bars, should be run.

The program on Saturday started two hours earlier than on Friday, at 5 p.m. Seven B features proceeded the eight main events. By around 7 p.m. it was time to get the main events started.

There are a number of very talented young drivers in the Street Stock class right now. Fourteen-year-old Levi Randt took the early lead in the Street Stock feature. He was closely followed by a gaggle of more young drivers, including Tommy Pogones, Kolton Brauer and Ty Agen.

This race suffered through quite a number of yellow flags, with three of them during the first half of the race. Shortly past the halfway point of the contest, Brauer moved into second, and then put the heat on Randt for the lead. On lap 19 he made what was the winning pass, and then held off challenges from Randt and Cole Greseth to take the win. Greseth had made an impressive charge from 20th after having trouble on Friday night; at one point he had moved into second.

However, with three yellows in the last three laps, there was a lot of scrambling and Randt was able to get back into second.

At the age of 17, Kolton Brauer added this big event win to his WISSOTA 100 win, and it was his 24th feature win of the year. Older brother Braden, soon to be crowned the new National Champion in the Street Stocks, took the weekend off but was on hand to spin wrenches for his brother. The top four finishers in the main were all under 20 years old.

The Midwest Mod feature was probably the most exciting race of the night. The “King” of I-94, Nate Reinke, faced off with 15-year-old Blake Adams for the win—and what a race it was. Reinke used the outside line, as I predicted with him earlier in the day, to grab the early lead. Adams, however, was relentless and gradually reeled in the leader.

With only a single yellow in this race, there was plenty of lapped traffic, which Reinke caught fairly early and it hung him up. Adams made a bold move to the inside and was able to squeeze past and take over the point. They continued to run in this fashion past the halfway point of the race, with Landyn Randt a close third.

Just past halfway, Adams ran into the same problem as Reinke had and this time, Reinke found a hole on the outside and was able to regain the lead. Reinke gained a bit of ground but again, Adams gradually reeled him in and by the final lap was glued to the rear bumper of the No. 71. They caught a lapped car on the final lap and the last corner produced a wild finish as Adams dove low and was alongside Reinke, while Reinke pushed the lapped car for all he was worth. The three crossed the line in a pack, with Reinke the winner by less than a car length in a dandy race. Jason VandeKamp edged past Randt at the end for third.

Reinke was the track champion here this year and this was his sixth win of 2024 at I-94. Reinke plans on doing some winter racing early in 2025 and will likely be fighting it out with Adams again on ovals far from Minnesota.

Sam Mars had never won at I-94 emr Speedway before Saturday night, but that changed when he led all 40 laps to win the Late Model feature. It was not nearly as boring as that statistic might indicate. Don Shaw dogged him for the entire distance and with lots of green flag racing, there was plenty of lapped traffic to deal with, which always makes things interesting.

A couple of times Shaw got close but Mars was always able to pull away again, as he was expecially sharp in traffic on Saturday. Pat Doar put in another impressive performance, passing both Tyler Peterson and Dustin Strand in the last two laps to finish third.

The Modified feature was a three-car battle with only a couple of mid-race yellows to slow down the action. Kevin Adams used that outside line to grab the early lead over Brady Gerdes and held the lead for the first 13 laps. Gerdes picked up the pace and swept past Adams on lap 14 and then led the rest of the race.

Adams stayed close and was a constant threat until past the halfway point of the race, when Landon Atkinson got into second. Atkinson has been white-hot of late and he looked to add another post season win to his impressive totals. He got close to Gerdes a couple of times but Gerdes knows this track well and he was able to fight off all challenges. He then put just a bit of distance on Atkinson and drove home for the win.

One of the great wall bangers here, Travis Saurer, put on a show in the Modifieds. He hammered the wall numerous times in his drive up from 17th to fourth.

The Super Stocks had a spectacular start to their race, as they went three wide for the lead on the opening lap. Trevor Nelson, hair on fire, came blasting from the second row, somehow found room up against the outside wall, and drove into the lead after one lap in one of the wildest starts to a race all year. Nelson was a rocket as he pulled away from the field, building up nearly a full straightaway lead early.

Dave Mass was driving a steady pace as he got into second and after his initial blast, Nelson seemed to be slowing just a bit as Mass gradually caught up with him. Just as Mass seemed ready to challenge, the lone yellow of the race came out for a slowing car.

Mass was all over Nelson on the restart and just a lap later, made the pass to take over the lead. After that he pulled away, as Nelson perhaps wore out his tires with his early race torching of the field. He did hang on for second though, as he fought off Dexton Koch for that spot.

It was a good thing for Dean Larson that the field of Mod Fours was small, as he had troubles before the race even began and didn’t take the green for the Mod Four feature. Dustin Holtquist did all he could, leading from start to finish, but since there weren't 16 cars on hand, he came up short on the total points needed to be the National Champ. Tyler Larson followed him fairly close the whole race to take second and Bob Holtquist got the Hard Charger extra bucks, passing one car for third.

The Hornet feature wrapped up the 2024 racing season and this one ended up a bit strange. It was a rugged race, with six yellow flags. Some of them were multi-car grinders that eliminated quite a few drivers.

The Hornets have all winter to fix their cars and that's how they drove, fenders to the wind. Brady Albertson led the first five laps until he was passed by Jeff Rohner for the lead. The race turned into a series of sprints, as long stretches of racing couldn't be achieved through the many yellows.

Once Rohner took the lead, he had first Albertson and then Bobie Arnes chasing him. The last sprint was three laps to the checkered flag and Rohner seemed to have things under control. However, going down the back chute on the final lap, he started to slow and Arnes was able to drive by him and take over the lead. As Arnes pulled away in the final corner for the win, Rohner seemed to regain his speed and he held off Albertson for second in what was an odd-looking finish.

The track prep crew deserves another pat on the back for their efforts on Saturday. Because the racing started two hours earlier under bright sunshine, the track was a bit drier. After the B features were done, they took time to water, rip and then rewater the track. After that, they didn't touch it once and it remained good for racing for the rest of the night.

I think the drivers and fans are more than willing to wait out one good prepping of the track, which then allows them to leave it alone the rest of the night. It's the constant watering after every race and packing that drives them, and me, nuts.

It was another well-run and organized effort by FYE Promotions. The crowd looked good on Saturday night. It was also a good year for I-94 emr Speedway, so congratulations to Don Shaw and his staff for their efforts. Some of that crew will again go to Arizona in January to help with the Ernie Mincy series. There will likely be a number of WISSOTA drivers participating.

I’m ending this month’s column on a sad note. Michael Stangl, of the Marshfield, Wisconsin, area passed away unexpectedly on Oct. 3 at the age of 66.

Many will remember that Stangl started out racing Street Stocks and raced at many of the central and western Wisconsin tracks with his car, always painted bright orange and numbered 1ST.

Later he would become part of the large stable of Seubert Calf Ranches Late Models and raced primarily at central and eastern Wisconsin tracks. He was a longtime employee of Lynn Dairy Company.