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One thing I didn't pick up on from last night's show was the issue with the driveshaft on the track during the feature race. I did not see it come off a car and apparently, none of the track officials did either. It sat on the track for a couple laps at least and the scary part of it was that it actually breached the cockpit of at least two cars, ripping the driveshaft out of another, before it was spotted and the yellow finally waved. For sure, a loose driveshaft is one of the most dangerous things that can happen during a race.

John Kimmes keeps track of every little detail of this series but here's one I'll bet he doesn't know. Currently, Tim Johnson leads the way in getting his hauler stuck in the pits; he pushed his total to two with a minor mire job here at Gondik, one that series director Dennis McCauley was able to solve with his own private truck. Johnson's first burial of his rig in Ashland last week was more dramatic and took the efforts of the speedway's WW2 assault vehicles to pull him out. That should be worth some kind of bonus, don't you think, Dennis?

Longtime series participant Al Cleveland made his first start of the series here on Friday. He has been busy working in the fields with this wet spring holding back a lot of farming activity. He was forced to miss last week's action. It was a rough start for Al, as six laps into his heat race he exploded a driveshaft on the front chute so violently that it was imbedded in the racing surface and had to be dug out. His night came to an end early.

In other class news, Al Uotinen made his first appearance of the season on Friday with his latest Modified. He had a solid but unspectacular opening night performance. However, this longtime veteran, a staple at this track, is always warmly greeted by the crowd. It wouldn't be the same here without the No. 98 roaring around the track.

Lance Relf made his very first appearance here, making the long pull from Winnipeg to race on Friday night. He had a very sharp looking race car and rig, but ran into trouble and was out of the MidMod feature quickly. He left the grounds quickly as well, and I missed talking to him to find out how he happened to be in Superior, Wisconsin on a Friday night and what his future plans were.

Derek Dunbar was back for more with his Hornet. With two rollovers at Proctor already under his belt, he is showing resilience if nothing else in this early 2024 racing season. Friday night was a victory as he finished both his heat and the feature, although probably a little farther back in the pack than he would have hoped for.

Friday night was a special night at the track. The speedway lost one of its greatest fans and supporters recently with the unexpected passing of Ray Tollers. I did not know Ray but apparently just about everyone else at the speedway did. His Turn 3 Motorsports group is legendary at the track. He sponsored many race cars and was a fan to all of the drivers. On Friday, many sponsors, drivers and crews kicked in extra money for the racers and there were bonuses flying around to match McCauley's contributions to the Supers. For example, Hornet feature winner Carson Gotelaere went home with about three times the bonus money he made for winning the feature, and there were bonuses to be had in all the classes.

Before each feature race, the assembled starting field stopped in turn three where he was always located, and as a group rev’d their engines three times in salute to the fallen track supporter. It was a very nice touch and well organized by all.

I also ran into former racer Nick Lavato in the pits before the show. Nick was an excellent Mid Mod and Modified racer but it's been over a decade now since he last raced, as time does fly. He is involved with his daughter's sporting life now and doesn't get to the races very much but Ray Tollers was his brother-in-law and he came to support that cause. He told me that there would be lots of beer consumed and quite a few tears shed before the night was over. It was good to see him again.

On the track, there were some dominating performances, some surprises, and a couple of close battles before the final checkered flag waved.

The Super Stocks were the lead attraction Friday and they supplied quite a memorable feature race. When was the last time that you saw Supers run off a nonstop, 33-lap main? That's what I thought.

This race was a two car battle all the way, with Curt Myers leading and Terran Spacek chasing. Myers started on the pole, beat Andrew Johnson to the first corner to take the lead, and then had Spacek move in behind him and away they went. No one could keep up with them as they pulled away, but there was plenty of fighting for position behind them. Joey Jensen worked his way up to third by the halfway point with Shane Sabraski and D.J. Keeler next in line — but they were not even close to the leaders.

Spacek nosed under Myers in the corners but each time Myers managed to fight him off as they raced down the chutes. This continued for many laps until they caught some of the slower cars, which made for an even stickier issue. Some were running in packs and having their own battles.

Spacek turned up the wick and with just five laps to go, his opportunity came when Myers was trapped to the outside leaving turn four by slower cars. Spacek dove low on the track, slipped past and took over the lead. Myers pushed hard but he couldn't make up the lost time and Spacek took the checkers about three car lengths in front. It was an excellent battle and so sweet that it could go nonstop. Sabraski, Jensen and Kyle Copp completed the top five, with only two cars not completing the race, so there was plenty of traffic to deal with.

Jack Rivord, in winning his first-ever Modified feature at Gondik, did a “smack down” on a good field of drivers, winning by a full straightaway over the pack. His was a performance that dominated in every way and left all of us just a bit stunned in how he had manhandled the field.

Bob Broking took the early lead but Rivord got up on the cushion immediately and made it work as he went tearing by cars on the outside with a spectacular three-wide pass down the front chute, giving him the lead on lap three. After that, plain and simple, he just checked out on the field. By the halfway pont of the race, he was a full chute ahead of Broking, who had his hands full with Andrew Inman, Brandon Copp and Johnny Broking.

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