7-23 Page 36

Wednesday, July 17

A big non-sanctioned Late Model event was held at a South Dakota track on Wednesday night, July 17, and there were quite a few WISSOTA drivers in attendance.

Among those on hand were South Dakota drivers Curt Kranz, Trevor Anderson, Cody Martin, Lee and Morgan Grosz, Scott Ward, Robert Bitz, Ryan Engels, and Justin Boomsma. Minnesota drivers included Chad Olsen, Cole Schill and Jarrett Huus. With Charlie Olsen unavailable due to FFA activities, A.J. Diemel stepped in to drive his car.

This event was a 35-lap, $6,000-to-win show and there were 45 total drivers in attendance, utilizing a variety of engine packages. Time trials were used to set the lineups for the heats and drivers qualified out of their heats straight up with the first and second place finishers in their heats redrawing with their group.

Huus put himself in a bad place by arriving late and missing time trials, which put him in the back of a heat, not the place one would want to be. Engels had probably the worst luck of all, as after a great qualifying lap that put him on the pole for a heat, he was almost immediately run into, giving him a flat tire and greatly reducing his chances of making the main.

In all, there were 10 of the drivers previously listed who made the main event. Unlike the heats where there was plenty of contact and rough riding, the feature race went smoothly as they ran the whole distance without a single yellow flag.

Also, only one car didn't finish the race so there was an incredible amount of lapped traffic. For the aforementioned drivers their finishing positions were: S. Ward-6th, Schill-9th, Diemel-10th, Anderson-13th, Olson-14th, Grosz-16th, Glenz-18th, Kranz-19th, Martin-24th and Boomsma-25th.

Kaden Woodie, a Mid Mod and former Street Stock driver, was running a Stock Car in the companion main event and finished 15th against a big field of drivers.

Thursday, July 18

The summer is flying by folks, and we get so busy we don't even stop to consider all the nice things that this time of year brings. And speaking of nice, the weather Thursday was just about perfect for dirt track racing. This is the best time of the year, as far as I am concerned, and also a great time to watch wildlife. As I type this, if I turn around and look out the window, I see squirrels, deer and turkeys roaming around the yard and earlier, one of two bear that visit us regularly were checking out the food supply.

Thursday night Grand Rapids Speedway was back in action with a regular program of racing, minus the Modifieds. Late Models were also part of the show.

A decent field of cars was on hand in all six classes. The Late Models were a bit light, as I suspect some drivers were saving their equipment for what was likely a busy and important weekend for them.

The traveler award of the night, if there were such a thing, would go to Milaca's Kaden Woodie. After racing a Stock Car in Brandon, South Dakota Wednesday, he returned home to swap out the trailer for his Mid Mod and he was on hand to race at Grand Rapids.

A dry and slick track was presented to the drivers on Thursday but it was smooth and there were still multiple grooves used during the racing action.

Racing started right as scheduled just past 6:30 pm with the heat races proceeding smoothly.

A couple of dominant performances started out the WISSOTA-sanctioned feature race action. Blake Adams started on the pole for the Mid Mod feature and led from start to finish; he was never be seriously challenged. After an early three-car collision with a couple laps completed, this race ran under the green the rest of the way. Adams was never pushed as he maintained a groove right on the bottom where the Mid Mods found it fastest. I believe it was mentioned in the winner’s interview that this was his 12th feature win of the year. A good battle for second between Michael Blevins Sr. and Don Smith ended with Blevins taking the spot.

Fellow Cameron, Wisconsin resident Curt Myers then won the Super Stock feature, which was next on the track. Doug Koski led for a few laps until Myers squeezed past and once in front, he pulled away from the field for the win. Cole Chernosky was working hard in second though, and using a line that no one else tried, he made up considerable ground on Myers and came to within a couple cars lengths at the finish. He drove deep into the corner from right on the inside, let the car drift up the track, and then turned hard left and it seemed to work well for him.

The only yellow of the race was triggered by Myers himself, and I will only say that I hope he stopped at a casino on the way home because luck was clearly in his favor. With a call that was on the first lap, it allowed him to restart in the second row for the second attempt of the race that will need to be explained to me. Many in the crowd saw it differently as well.

Moving right along, Johnny Broking won his third Late Model feature of the season, something that rookie drivers aren't supposed to do. He held off challenges from another rookie in name only, Shane Sabraski. Broking made a bold move on the opening lap as he elbowed Mark Heinle out of the way, took the lead and then never looked back as he led the rest of what was a nonstop main. It took Sabraski a while to get to second and by that time, no matter what line he tried, he wasn't gaining ground on Johnny so he settled for second.

By far, the best feature race of the night was the Pure Stock feature, which also went green to checkers. Brandon Puschinsky led the opening two laps before he was passed by Austin Carlson, who then had Chaston Finckbone all over him for the lead. Carlson was hugging the low line and Finckbone worked to try and find a way past him, using the whole track.

With just about everyone hugging that inside line, Justin Barsness was making time on the outside, slowly but surely catching the leaders. Right at the end they were three wide for the win. Finckbone got under Carlson to take the lead but Carlson fought back, while Barness kept motoring on the outside and they came out of the last corner three wide again. Finckbone edged out the others by just a nose at the line with Barsness second and Carlson right there also. It was a good race.

There was lots of banging and spinning early in the Hornet feature, with a number of drivers not showing much respect for each other. The black flag needs to be used in this class as there are a number of drivers who continually run into anything on the track that moves. Some of that is, I'm sure, due to lack of racing experience. But, how else are you going to learn that it's not okay to turn someone sideways and then push them down the track, unless the officials in charge make it clear it’s not acceptable?

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE