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Hello everybody! The 2024 racing season has rolled off in my neck of the woods, and after the Casino Speedway opener on May 12, Brown County Speedway’s lid-lifter was my second race of the season.

I feel like Brown County has one of the best weekly shows in the region, and with my schedule open to attend, I thought it would behoove me to go.

The WISSOTA Late Model feature was a showdown between a couple of the best in WISSOTA. Cole Searing started out front and dominated most of the race, until Chad Becker found his way to second in the last half of the race. Things got interesting after a restart with seven laps to go, and Searing and Becker came close to making contact as they slid up the race track in turn four; Becker sailed over the top of the banking, but a caution for another incident voided the interaction between the two.

Searing looked to have it sealed up until he caught a pair of slower cars under the white flag. Searing had to zig, which allowed Becker to zag — Searing was forced to the high side in one and two, which allowed Becker an opening to breeze under on the low side. He casually moved up in front of Searing into turn three and that was that. Mark that one for Becker, but hopefully that is not the last battle to the checkers between these two titans, who can win anywhere they unload.

It was nice to see the blue No. 9 back in action after an injury sidelined him in July of last season. Kent Arment seemed to have that metaphorical rust to shake off, however. He had advanced to second in the Late Model main event, but slid off the end of the backstretch and retired from competition.

Arment led the opening lap of the WISSOTA Modified main event, but slid off the top of turn two on the second lap and fell from the top five. He eventually retired from the race, giving him a pair of DNFs for the evening.

Mike Stearns turned back a late charge from Lucas Rodin to win the Modified feature. Rodin had a rally going on the cushion, but Stearns changed his lane with a couple to go to secure the win. Rodin has a pile of Midwest Mod wins at Brown County over the last few years, and although I believe he has some WISSOTA Modified experience in the past, he seems to have his program capable of winning races this time around. He would be a welcome addition to the weekly Modified roster.

There is a racing aphorism I have heard spoken in victory lane interviews from time to time: “You gotta go where they ain’t.” In more grammatically correct terms, it is easier to pass another driver when you aren’t following in his tire tracks. That adage came to mind in a pair of features Friday.

Jayden Michaelsohn led the WISSOTA Street Stock main event early with a few cars beating on his bumper, all in the low groove. After a restart with six laps in, Kyle Anderson found a wide open lane up top, was side by side with Michaelsohn on lap eight, and drove off into the night for the win.

It was a somewhat-similar story for Trevor Nelson in the WISSOTA Super Stocks. Nelson ran third early in the event — and I did not see how this incident started, only the conclusion — but he had a run in with Mark Abeln, which sent Abeln over the top of turn four and onto his roof. Nelson was sent to the tail for the restart, which means one must now track his progress on his way to the front; he was into the top five once again less than a lap and a half after the restart, and with the top three drivers all nose to tail in the low groove, the high side was wide open for Nelson to stroll into the lead just after halfway.

Based on what I observed at Brown County Speedway, it may be beneficial for a driver to go where they ain’t.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature had a good battle for the lead in the first half, despite the action being intermittent between caution flags. Ryan Ost set the pace on the high side with Mike Nichols pressuring him down low in every turn. It seemed inevitable that Nichols would eventually secure the lead, but it was fun to see if Ost could keep pace with the top dog in the area’s Midwest Mod division. He did for a while, but Nichols took the lead and Ost slid off the back stretch and retired from competition.

I was slightly surprised to see Ost has been racing for as long as he has been when I dug into his past stats. The 25-year-old first competed in a full-size race car in 2016, even winning a Bomber feature at Jamestown Speedway in his rookie season. Starts were sparse from 2019 to 2022, but he settled into the Midwest Modified division in 2023, and a driver with the last name of Ost racing at Brown County will catch my attention. He has yet to find victory lane in the division, so it will be fun to watch his continued progress as he dials in his program.

It will not be too long before I am back with another edition, a few more trips to Brown County Speedway are certainly planned in the future, and who knows where else. Get out there and support your local speedway.