5-28 Page 25

Sunday, May 19

Of the four tracks bordering Lake Superior, I wouldn’t have given high odds that the first opening was going to be Proctor Speedway, but that indeed turned out to be the case. They opened May 19, during a day that gave us a bit of sprinkles early, but then turned out to be a terrific night for racing.

You'll notice I said Proctor Speedway, not Halvor Lines Speedway. While no mention was made of the name change on opening night, this venerable facility has returned to its original name. I’m sure the folks in charge here thank Halvor Lines for their support, but there is something special about going back to the old name — at least it’s easier for an oldster like me to remember.

Five WISSOTA classes were on hand for the opener, with Mid Mods having the night off. I suspect when the schedule was put together, they figured they’d have had a race or two in by now. In retrospect it didn't work out as well as intended, as they sacrificed 15 or 20 Mid Mods and had just four cars in the nonsanctioned class there to race.

Breaking news from the south side of the bay: Al Uotinen me that he is NOT retiring from racing and in fact, recently purchased another Modified. Having sold his past car and going back and forth all winter as to what to do, he decided he still wants to race. He recently bought a car from Toby Patchen, an SSR car with less than 20 shows on it. His plan is to run Gondik Law Speedway on Friday nights and all the year-end specials, while still offering a hand to son Brady when he hits the road.

I see on Scott Lawrence's car that he is announcing this as his 40th year of racing. My, how the time has flown. Sadly, Charlie won’t be there to watch him this year. It will really feel strange to not see him sitting just down the row from me at Gondik, while I presume Joyce will still be on the back straightaway.

It was great to see Aaron Bernick got his Smokey Yunick lookalike car fixed from Saturday night's crash at Rice Lake. He had a strong run in the Pure Stock feature, finishing second to Jake Smith.

With 22 Hornets on hand at Proctor for its opener and 25 on Saturday at Hibbing, it appears that this class has made a resurgence in the Northland. Now if we could only keep them on their four wheels — but more on that later.

Also notable was the fact that there were enough Pure Stocks for two heats, which is something that has been a struggle here for quite some time. It was hard to overlook the El Camino that Dylan Shelton was racing. Also interesting was the fact that while his car is a Chevrolet, he is sponsored by Duluth Dodge. Obviously they are sponsoring Shelton, not the car!

A nice contingent of Canadian drivers was on hand Sunday. It would have no doubt been even larger if the Mid Mods raced.

For opening night, I thought the track to be in pretty good shape. It did get a bit choppy by feature time, but nothing unreasonable.

It is always fun to be at the openers and see what has changed. All was good with the world when I turned the corner to go into the grandstands and on my right were Jerry and Joanne O'Brien, and on the other side of the walkway, Jamie Thomas was on hand to greet people. How many decades has it been like this, I wonder? I hope it continues for quite some time more.

The Super Stock feature was the first main event to get the green and putting Curt Myers on the pole is not a good thing for the competition. He led from start to finish and wasn't challenged throughout the race. Austin Blom had a great run, holding second for just about the entire contest while the hard-charging Rick Simpson completed the top three.

Nick O had the lead for one lap of the Modified feature before Jody Bellefeuille passed him and led the rest of the race. He appeared to relax just a bit late in the event and Brandon Copp made it exciting; Copp made up most of a straightaway on Bellefeuille and a last corner slider had to have gotten Bellefeuille’s attention, before he crossed back over and took the win.

Andrew Inman looks to be a great addition to the Modified field as he finished a solid third after winning his first feature race on Saturday in Hibbing. It was his first race in a Modified, so it’s pretty hard to do much better than that.

Jeff Massingill dominated the Late Model feature to get the win, after doing the same thing on Saturday up the road. Harry Hanson led the first two laps but appeared to be struggling with some handling issues and did fade back a bit in the field. Meanwhile, Kevin Burdick moved up to get second.

A couple of West Rangers battled it out in the Pure Stock feature, with Jake Smith passing Justin Barsness on lap seven to go on for the win. Those two will likely be battling it out three or four times a week all summer. Another West Ranger, Chaston Finckbone, was third.

Holy smoke, the Hornets put an end to the night's racing with an event that will have the folks who stayed around for their feature talking all week. The race had three different leaders; Payton Swenson and DeJay Jarecki each led before they were passed by Carson Gotelaere. Gotelaere then raced on for the win.

There were three flips in this race and all three of them were of the violent category, the kind where sometimes drivers get hurt but fortunately, that didn't appear to be the case Sunday.

Bonnie McLynn tried to knock down the wall exiting turn four with a tremendously violent hit into the concrete. While she was complaining of some neck pain and received on-site treatment, the injuries weren't believed to be serious. Later, an out of control car clipped Derek Dunbar and he went for a barrel roll along the inside of the track, right in front of the grandstand. He was okay as well.

The class wasn’t done yet, however. When the checkered flag flew, Richard Andrews, Sr. lost a wheel as he went into turn one on the cool down lap and did a violent barrel roll all the way through the corner. My count was unofficial, but I counted five times he went over. Thankfully he was unhurt.

For most, it was a good opening night for the track. Hopefully the word gets out that the racing was quick, started on time and there was no dust, all things that can make the track more appealing for fans and drivers. Thanks to all who work there for their help.

Thursday, May 23

The annual Mod Nationals kicked off at Princeton Speedway Thursday, in Princeton, MN. After such promising weather early this year, the months of April and May have not been very conducive for auto racing. The event’s Gondik Law Speedway date had already been scrapped due to weather heading into the Princeton show.

Princeton Speedway is a new venue for the Mod Nationals, made possible when the Wagamon family took over the promotional reigns for 2024 and beyond. They have done a lot here so far, with much more to go. The track has been reshaped in the corners and there a number of new sponsorship signs on the grounds. The whole facility has been cleaned and brightened up and the new scoreboard is much appreciated.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE