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Tuesday, August 6

The Northern Storm kicked off on Tuesday, August 6 at Ogilvie Raceway, near Ogilvie, Minnesota, following Monday night’s rainout at Princeton Speedway.

Tuesday night was even a challenge. The area received a crazy amount of rain Monday, and the whole facility needed a lot of drying to happen in order to hold the show. Fortunately, except for a few soft spots in the pits and a new infield lake, “Lake Nate,” the grounds came around nicely and it was a go.

A great field of drivers was on hand in all three WISSOTA classes. At least seven states plus Ontario were represented in the pits, with a total of 127 drivers ready to race.

Of notable entrants on hand, Andy Nezworski, who used to live in the WISSOTA area and raced Street Stocks and Super Stocks, was up from Iowa to race at Ogilvie. He now lives there due to employment. He has had a successful career racing Late Models in Iowa, with track championships and many feature wins to his credit. However, they race under different rules down there, and he had to put together a different car to race with the WISSOTA Challenge Series this week. With some supporters from his old area of Hurley and Ironwood sponsoring him, the Northern Storm series was a great chance to get some racing in over a short period of time.

Unfortunately, things did not go well and he was involved in the first-lap major pileup in heat three that ended with Ryan Corbett violently flipping off the nose of another car. Nezworski ended up stuck in the fence in turn one, which ended his evening before it barely began.

Corbett's flip was one of the most violent I’ve seen in quite some time, and it totaled his car. Fortunately he climbed out quickly and was okay, after an accident that was totally avoidable with just a bit more restraint.

Shane Sabraski returned to the track after his health scare recently. After a week off, he was back at on Tuesday like nothing had happened, running two cars and getting one top five and one top-10 finish.

There were several Canadian drivers on hand but most indicated that they were returning to Canada for weekly racing on Wednesday at Thunder City. David Simpson said his return to the series would depend on how they did; when he finished dead last in his heat and failed to come to the grid for a B feature, I suspect they were probably already somewhere around Duluth on their way home.

The last time I saw Don Shaw race, he was cartwheeling off the third turn at Gondik Law after a nasty wreck. That Moyer Victory car was wrecked and he told me the builder of those cars has been contacted about building a couple more cars for Shaw. In the meantime, he is running a Rocket chassis that he obtained in a swap with Cody Overton earlier this year.

Shaw tipped that the winter series he helps finance and run in Arizona in January should have an announcement very soon on whether the series will return in 2025, when it will be held, and what classes will be racing. There were a lot of WISSOTA drivers in several classes who raced last year, so there are likely a lot of people waiting to hear what will happen.

Bad things started out early for a few of the teams. Daniel Bjonfald blew the engine in his Mid Mod in hot laps, and Kevin Eder had a miss in the motor of his Late Model that he just couldn't find and he called it a night early.

As per Challenge Series rules, the Late Models qualified and Kyle Peterlin was the quickest on a track. It slowed down quickly after he turned a lap of 15.232 seconds, with the quickest car in the final group nearly a half second slower.

Fourteen heat races and seven B features were needed to set the starting fields for the three main events, so there was plenty of racing for all. The track held up pretty well under the beating, except for that nasty dip in turn three. It seems to have been there for most of the season and just keeps appearing for every race night. Drivers setting their cars for the corners have to be very aware of this spot, and it really does alter the racing. You best go either under it or around it, because a trip through it can really upset the race car. The best example of this was during the Modified feature, when Cole Spacek – who was having a great run up to third – clipped the dip wrong and went widely up on two wheels, very nearly going over. He damaged his car to the point that it quit and he was out of the race.

After having some patience-testing races before it, the Late Models put on quite the show, running their main event nonstop for 40 laps. Jake Redetzke led most of the race, building up a nice-sized lead that Tyler Peterson slowly began to chip away at. Before that, Niemi and Billy Kendall had a great battle for second that lasted a number of laps, and then Peterson moved up to battle with Niemi as the racing action was swell.

However, when Peterson finally took second, he then began to close up on Redetzke, and Redetzke started moving around on the track, trying to find that fastest line on a track where drivers were using various lanes.

Peterson continued to narrow the gap to Redetzke. The last 10 laps were a struggle between the two, with Peterson finally making the winning pass on lap 36 of the race. He then pulled away from Redetzke from that point to drive home for the win. Niemi, who has vastly improved the last couple of years, finished a strong third, with Sabraski gradually working his way up to fourth and Kendall, a Late Model rookie, fifth.

Along with a disappointing night for Cole Searing, Peterson’s finish helped him climb into the point lead of the Challenge Series. James Giossi had a great run going, moving all the way up to third until he suddenly dove into the infield with just a few laps remaining.

While the Late Model feature came down to the last five laps, the other two mains were even closer. Patience was needed in the Mid Mod race though, as it started out quite badly with three yellows in the first two laps.

With Jason VandeKamp starting on the front row, it seemed like he was the driver to beat and that proved to be the case. He led the first 21 laps of the race. However, David Swearingen, who has had great success at this track in recent years, was the driver up to the challenge. After starting eighth, he advanced and after a great battle with Zach Benson, and claimed the runner-up spot by the halfway point. Ashton Schulte was also in the mix.

After they battled for a couple laps, Swearingen took the top spot with only a few laps to go. Vandy didn't give up though, and the two leaders raced side by side right to the checkered flag, where Swearingen got a great run off the final corner and nipped Jason by just .042 seconds, about a half car length, to get the win. Schulte was third, 15ht-starter Blake Adams drove all the way up to fourth, and Benson completed the top five.

However, we weren't quite done yet; the Modified feature was also quite the show, and wasn't settled until the final corner on the final lap.

Nick Oreskovich took off at a sizzling pace, quickly pulling away from the polesitter Kennedy Swan in the early laps. Darrell Nelson closed up to battle with Swan for second. Clayton Wagamon soon appeared among the leaders, as a real good race for second was happening. Meanwhile, Nick O continued to put distance on the field, running up against the wall where he likes it.

Wagamon broke lose from the pack, moving into second and then quickly catching Nick O. On lap 13 he drove into the lead. At about this time, Ryan Gierke, who started eighth, found the cushion to his liking and he began to pound the high side as he moved up to fourth by the halfway point of the race. As Wagamon continued to lead, Gierke put on a show as he stormed the cushion, gaining ground on each and every lap.

He gained a spot when Spacek bicycled in turn three and then he drove past Nick O for second and closed on Wagamon. Gierke continued to challenge the outside wall, but that line gave him speed and on lap 25, he raced past Wagamon to take over the lead. However, Wagamon stayed right with him and they raced into the last few laps close together.

The final lap produced a spectacular finish. Gierke, with Wagamon close behind, sped down the back chute where two cars loomed right in front of them. Gierke had to hit the binders to keep from rear ending one of the cars and that slowed him. He found himself trapped on the high side while Wagamon used the opportunity to slide from the bottom up past that lapped car and take over the lead as they raced off the final corner. Gierke was trapped behind the slower car and had no room to make a charge and Wagamon drove to the finish line. It was a thriller that left the crowd stunned and surprised. Nick O completed a solid run in third with Jody Bellefeuille and Swan rounding out the top five.

Only four cars failed to finish. One of them, Kaden Blaeser, had a good run going until the final lap, when he found himself into the first turn wall and a DNF.

There were some tedious moments during the night but the drivers came through and produced three excellent main events for the fans. There was a decent sized crowd on hand for the Tuesday night show, but this whole series is based on the online viewing anyway, so its success or not is something that we won’t know.

Thursday, August 8

The Northern Storm series continued at Proctor Speedway Thursday evening. The night was filled with light rain and mist that stopped the action on two occasions, and led to a tenuous last few laps of the Modified race as they fought a gradually deteriorating racing surface.

Darrell Nelson, whose Late Model was wrecked the weekend before, was back in action at Proctor on Thursday. They needed to fix or replace rear suspension parts and lots of tin work damage, but were ready to go for the night’s program.

The huge wreck in a Late Model heat at Ogilvie earlier in the week turned out to be very damaging and expensive. The car of Ryan Corbett was a write-off, and I have not heard if he is going to try and put something else together or if his season is done.

It was a crappy northern vacation for Andy Nezworski. Hoping to come back to his roots and have a good racing week, all the time, preparation and money involved were for naught. He made a grand total of one lap before he was involved in the big wreck I discussed earlier in this column. It turned out the rear stub was bent on his car to the point that they couldn't fix it and he headed back home to Iowa. A nice welcome home, eh?

Todd Frank was also in that big crash and while it was first feared that he wrecked a rear clip as well, it turned out to be a lot of tin work and decking instead. He had the car fixed and ready to race on Thursday.

I was told that Skeeter Estey was on his way back to the East Coast to pick up a new Longhorn chassis to replace the car that was totaled in the Gondik Law Speedway flip. He has flipped there twice already this summer.

The idle time for drivers and teams through a couple rainouts has not been a good thing. Once they do get on track, they collectively drive like a bunch of wild men. The action on Thursday and some of the moves made were less than sterling.

With all that happened during the program, along with the delays for rain and other questionable decisions made, it was not hard to find a whole group of drivers who qualified for the “Hard Luck” award, a dubious honor.

Daniel Bjonfald lost a motor in hot laps at Ogilvie but was able to return on Thursday. However, his night was short as he was involved in a first-lap, multi-car tangle in the Mid Mod feature and the front end was smashed. He was done before a lap could be completed.

Or, how about Billy Kendall, who had bad incidents in both the Late Models and Modifieds. He was the first car out of the Late Model feature, slowing with only two laps completed. Things got worse in the Modified feature: a slowing Tyler Kaeter down the front chute, combined with a slow yellow, ended with Kendall slamming into the rear of Kaeter, tearing his Mod up badly. It was a very dangerous situation and could have been much worse.

Let's not forget Shane Sabraski and Ashley Anderson either. Sabraski was leading the Mod feature when he got a flat tire and had to go to the back, where he spent the rest of the race trying to fight his way to a respectable finish.

Anderson was running second in the Late Model feature when he got a flat as well, but he decided his fun meter was pegged and he headed for the pits.

Ashley Anderson was the quick qualifier for the Late Models, timing in with the first group and he looked to have a fine night going, until that dang flat tire.

Twice during the night the action was stopped by a heavy mist that started to fall, swept in on the wings of a stiff northwesterly breeze that made it feel like November. It caught many folks in the stands and pits underdressed. Just a few short days ago we were literally dying from the heat, and now we are freezing our tootsies off. Mother Nature can be a cruel task master.

To the credit of the drivers and track crew, they didn't let the rain ruin the party. There were a lot of racers who made a lot of laps around the track, drying it out. This was something that is not always seen and kind of showed how badly everyone wanted to race.

The weather made for a fast race track, where the speed was on the top of the corners. It also made passing somewhat difficult, as it was tough to get enough momentum on the bottom to pass.

The feature races were decent but not spectacular – and that can happen anywhere, anytime. The official statistics will show that the winner in each class led all laps, except for the Modifieds where Sabraski led a single turn before his flat. While that might sound quite boring, it wasn't quite as bad as that.

Joey Jensen did stink up the Mid Mod feature. After he started on the pole, he pulled away with ease from the pack and was never challenged. Two crashes before a single lap could be completed took five cars out of the race, but after that the rest of the field ran off 25 laps nonstop. Jensen built up a big lead, though his motor was banging off the chip something awful and making a dreadful noise. It didn't seem to slow him at all, however, and he was lucky that the pack was maintaining a fast pace so he didn't have to deal with much lapped traffic, even though his lead was substantial.

There was a good race for second, with Garrett Paull fighting off several challenges from Zach Benson to finish as the runner-up. Blake Adams and Ryan Savoy completed the top five.

Tyler Peterson led all 40 laps of the Late Model feature but again, it wasn't as cut-and-dried as that might make it sound. There were enough yellows (five to be exact) to keep the pack bunched up and each time the green waved, someone made an attempt to pass Peterson and remained relatively close.

After Anderson dropped out with his flat tire, Cole Searing put the heat on the leader. Jeff Massingill then made one of his better runs of the year as he moved up to challenge Searing for second.

Massingill took second and held the spot for 10 laps, during which he made a shot at the leader, before Searing again grabbed second back following another restart.

Peterson, who was running the cushion the whole race, took to rolling low in the corners and then drifting up the track down the chutes; wherever he ran, he was just the best on this occasion, and led home Searing, Massingill, Sam Mars and 13th-starter Kyle Peterlin in the top five.

The Modified feature provided the upset of the night. After Sabraski’s flat, Bob Broking inherited the lead.

This has not been the best of years for Broking, and he had yet to win a single feature race entering the program. However, when he got the lead, he made the best of the opportunity, and paced the field for the final 29 laps to get the win.

He managed to pull away from the pack for awhile as Joseph Thomas, Darrell Nelson and Jack Rivord battled behind him. Eventually Thomas secured that spot, but the driver on the move was Brady Uotinen. He started seventh, cracked the top five early, and then made a march to second, taking that spot by the halfway point. He made his run at the leader but when he wasn't able to get past Broking, he then started to slip back in the field, eventually winding up sixth.

Brandon Copp was also on the move, and managed to work his way up to third, and then he passed Uotinen to take over second.

Broking had a considerable lead at this point but Copp managed to cut into the distance between the two. He even put some moves on Broking when the yellow waved with just five laps to go, for the grinding crash between Kaeter and Kendall.

Copp seemed much quicker of the two as the yellow slowed things and he seemed ripe to make a pass for the lead.

However, Broking got a good restart and using a lot of straightaway speed, he opened a small lead. It was one that Copp was not able to close in upon. A happy Broking flashed across the line for the win. Whether the mist that began falling under the last yellow made any difference, who can say. However, Broking was more than ready to see that final checkered fly, no matter the conditions. Thomas, Nelson and Ryan Gierke completed the top five.

It was a long night, filled with some frustration over the weather and the less than stellar conditions. But overall the racing was decent and the field of drivers was excellent.

Friday, August 9

The Northern Storm tour moved from Proctor over the Bong Bridge to Gondik Law Speedway for the third installment Friday.

Unfortunately, the short trip was a problem for Modified driver Don Eischens. He was clobbered by a drunk driver just after getting over the bridge into Wisconsin. Fortunately, there were no injuries for his crew. While the truck and trailer suffered some damage, everything was drivable and he was able to head out to the track and race on Friday night. For the other driver, drunk as a skunk, things were not so nice.

The unusual weather of this week continued to have a grip over the upper Midwest. Temperatures were well below normal, and a very stiff breeze out of the northwest brought occasional sprinkles from time to time. The weather did not threaten to end the program here at Superior like it did the night before, but it did entice one point chaser to load up and head to another track.

The wind was a real beast and chief flagman Ray Stuart did confide to me that he was wearing long underwear. He is quite exposed to the wind high up in the flagstand on the front chute at Gondik, so I am making sure the whole world knows about his garment selection.

The fields of cars remained strong with 38 Mid Mods, 39 Mods and 36 Late Models racing on Friday, including 13 drivers making their first appearance of the week at Gondik.

Pat Doar turned in the best lap at Gondik, running a 15.434 second tour, barely edging out Gunnar Frank for the quick time award. While Doar used his quick lap to set him up for a prosperous evening, Frank instead hammered the wall in his heat race and his evening was over.

We were due for a smooth night of racing after having to endure two very late nights in a row at Ogilvie and Proctor. And, the drivers delivered on Friday with a tight show that had very few yellows. In fact, the final checkered flag waved before 10:30 p.m.

Speaking of those feature races, two of the three mains went green to checkered, with just one yellow. That was for a slowing car on the front chute in the Modified main. I love it when the mains have long green flag periods, because that is when we truly see who has the best setup.

Among the new arrivals on Friday night was the two-car entry of Justin Froemmning from Alexandria. Along with his own Modified, he is running the Mid Mod normally piloted by Shawn Olson. Olson is currently out, having torn a rotator cuff.

Froemming reports that since taking over the wheel of that car, they are four for six in feature wins. His Modified ride, although fighting through some motor issues, has also been good. Later on the Mid Mod was a little off, finishing 13th. Meanwhile, Froemming was sixth against a very tough field of drivers in the Mods.

The Mid Mods not only produced a clean program, but the winner was also a bit of a surprise. While Deven VanHouse runs strongly at the tracks of the Twin Ports and Iron Range, he doesn’t travel much outside of that area. Against a very strong field of Mid Mod competitors, he started on the pole and flat out ran away from everyone Friday. He immediately pulled away to a large lead as there was fighting for positions behind him. He never endured any kind of challenge.

Joey Jensen, who has been blistering hot of late, drove into the second but no matter how hard Jensen drove, he wasn't able to cut into VanHouse’s lead. Jason VandeKamp and Zach Benson fought for position behind Jensen, taking up that battle before the halfway point of the race.

The race saw a big change on lap 22 as Jensen, comfortably in second, suddenly slowed and drove off the track. Obviously some major issue must have come up quickly to prompt such a move.

VanHouse continued his great run, expertly maneuvering through a lot of slower traffic to victory lane. Behind him, VandeKamp finished second with Benson, Cole Boston and Ryan Savoy completing the top five.

And then it was the Late Models turn and son of a gun, they also ran green to checkered for 40 laps. Jeff Provinzino got the jump on quick timer Doar to take the early lead and he pulled out to quite the early advantage. Eventually, Cole Searing, who started fifth, got past Doar for second and while Pat hung tough, both started to reel in Provo. They gained slowly at first but as the race neared the halfway point, they caught him quickly. On lap 16, Searing drove under Provinzino off turn four to take over the lead and by the time the drivers hit the halfway point four laps later, Doar had also moved past into second.

James Giossi had started to gain ground by this time and cracked the top five.

Meanwhile Ashley Anderson, who started 19th, had a fast race car the last 20 laps of this event. When he started to move forward, he was picking off cars lap by lap. It was even tougher to do, given there were no yellows to bunch the field and allow him to catch up. He just drove forward at a rate so fast that by the time he got past Doar, he was all the way up to second with about five laps left in the race.

Searing drove a great race to this point, working through a lot of lapped traffic without it bothering him. In those last few laps, however, he got hung up a bit and Anderson continued his march. While he ran out of time, he had cut the lead held by Searing by quite a bit. If the race was just a few laps longer, he could have had an epic finish.

As it was, Searing drove a smart and smooth race to take the win. Peterson and Searing have come into the local drivers’ territory and kicked butt this week. Doar finished a solid third, with Giossi and Johnny Broking completing the top five. Only three drivers failed to finish the 40-lapper.

During the Modified main, Kaeden Blaeser and Dave Cain battled for the lead on the opening lap, with Cain running Blaeser up the track in turn two and grabbing the top spot. Once in front, Cain set a blistering pace and pulled out to a big lead. Blaeser, Kennedy Swan and Froemming then battled for second, with Blaeser hanging tough for that position.

Cain pulled out to almost a full straightaway over the pack, as Brandon Copp started to become a factor after he started eighth. He went to the top of the track and really started to pick up the pace, eventually moving into second by the halfway point of the race.

After the halfway point, it became apparent that Copp was gaining on the leader, but Cain seemed to still maintain a comfortable advantage. Suddenly though, the minor gains that Copp was making turned into much bigger chunks. As the race moved under the 10-to-go point, Copp pulled right to the rear bumper of Cain and looked for a way past. He made some preliminary moves, but Cain used his years of experience to block any passing attempt as the laps continued to dwindle.

Copp continued to press and with just two laps to go, was able to get up alongside Cain off turn two. He accelerated down the back chute and pulled into the lead, and once Copp was in front, Cain had nothing to offer in return. Instead, he was holding on for dear life, hoping to keep the fast-closing Blaeser behind him.

The last time we saw a long distance race like this, Copp ended up losing the war to Shane Sabraski, but Friday night belonged to Copp. He flashed under Stuart's checkers as the winner. Cain held off Blaeser for second while Sabraski made a monster charge of his own, coming from 17th to finish fourth just ahead of Swan. Only five drivers failed to finish but there were only two not on the lead lap.

In a word, it was a remarkably smooth and efficient program we saw on Friday and everyone that had a part in that should take a bow.

Saturday, August 10

Rice Lake Speedway was back in action on Saturday. I had many ask, given other big events in the area Saturday, why they chose to run a program on their normal night. The plain truth is that if this track, or any track for that manner, took off every race night there was something “big” going on, they would never race all summer!

In Rice Lake’s case, the number of competitors affected was very minimal. Ditto for the number of local spectators who may have gone elsewhere. Their choice to race was the proper one, given the circumstances.

It was good to see that most of the Super Stock drivers who were involved in that violent crash the last Saturday we raced were back in action. Cory Davis had to borrow some body parts from his old car but he got everything fixed.

For some reason, the wild action this year seems to have found the Super Stocks right in the middle of things. Adam Pratt lost control and flipped on his roof Saturday, marking the third time this year that a Super Stock has flipped at the track.

Unfortunately, one of those drivers who previously flipped had more trouble Saturday. Jeff Eisner Jr., who pulls all the way from central Wisconsin, had a drive shaft come out of the car upon the start of a heat race and he was done for the night.

It was also disappointing to see first-time visitor Jason Gross have rear end troubles with his Modified and by the time the feature hit the track, Gross and crew were probably almost home.

It was a tale of two tracks on Saturday. It was a little heavy and loose for the heat races, but after the grader did a little scraping at intermission, the track was excellent for the feature races. There were very good battles for the lead with two first-time winners emerging.

Cole Chernosky made his first appearance of the year pay off, as he came from seventh to win the Modified main event. They chose to only race the Modified and leave the Mid Mod in the trailer; their long grind of racing away from home is starting to wear on them. Interestingly, Chernosky became the first Canadian to win a Modified feature race at Rice Lake since way back in 2007.

And who was that driver? See the bottom of the column for the correct answer.

The Mid Mod feature was a dandy with Jake Stai and Mike Schnider battling it out to the finish. The margin of victory for Stai was just .028 seconds. This was an old-school feature race with the two battling for the lead, leaning on each other over the last few laps with wheels banging, sparks flying and sheet metal rubbing. Actually, it was amazing that they didn't wreck each other. They had several opportunities but somehow were able to keep racing.

When Curt Myers wrecked his car on the back chute several weeks ago, it was ­– in hindsight – probably the best thing that happened to him all summer. They rebuilt the car and something that was apparently wrong was righted, as he’s been very fast ever since. Saturday he came from the fourth row to win the main event, after taking the lead by the halfway point.

Travis Anderson keeps getting closer to that first Modified feature win, something he has been battling for ever since he won his MB in the raffle at Red Cedar a year ago. Saturday he had the lead but unfortunately spun while trying to keep Chernosky behind him.

Cole Richards won his first Street Stock feature race of the year at Rice Lake and in this remarkably balanced class, he became the seventh different winner already this year. The “Thirty Thousand Dollar Man” Cody Kummer came from the fourth row to finish third behind Hunter VanGilder. Folks are still talking about the Little Dream and what a wild night that was. Many are not happy that it ended up the way it did for a variety of reasons. However, most seem to understand the need to declare a legal winner and everyone is happy to have seen Kummer as a deserving winner.

One of the goals of the speedway this year was to present a tight-paced and quick racing program. They have been making strides on that and Saturday was a good example. Despite hot lapping all five classes (something not needed this time of year), they still managed to throw the first green flag at 5:58 p.m., a couple of minutes before the expected time. I noted quite a few folks arriving to the track after the first green flag was waved.

Laps under yellow are a focus to be reduced. And they want to start races after just one lap to line up the cars. They did spend some time on the track after the heats, but that was justified and made all the difference in presenting some good feature racing. The final checkered still waved at 9:20 p.m. and I noted there was quite a back-up leaving the parking lot. With the early ending, everyone stayed for the final race, rather than folks leaving when they have seen enough. Racers also enjoy the option of making it an early evening, especially if they have pulled a distance to race.

Finally, the answer to this column's trivia question. In 2007 an up-and-coming racer from Fort Francis Ontario picked up the night's feature Modified win at Rice Lake. His name? Steve Arpin.

We all know how far Arpin has gone in his career, racing all sorts of cars nationally and internationally and now the empresario of Longhorn chassis for Late Models and Modifieds. But in 2007 he was just a wild and crazy kid, having fun and racing Modifieds.

Sunday, August 11

A long week of racing in the Northland concluded on Sunday, with First Responder Appreciation Night at Proctor Speedway. All six classes were in action, as the season winds down here in the Northland.

Proctor was nearly rained out, with pop-up showers in the area throughout the afternoon. It actually came down quite hard for a few minutes, followed by a period of lighter sprinkles, and things didn't look good for a bit.

However, the track prep crew kept right on working during the rain as their vehicles and equipment continued to circle the track.

The track prep crew had their hands full. They had already generously watered the track before the rain hit, so they had quite a heavy surface to roll in. They managed to do so with the help of the grader, which scraped off the slime, and the drivers were presented a good racing surface on which to run.

There was a workable count of cars for the night, and the crowd was about normal for Proctor. The hardest hit classes were the Modifieds and Pure Stocks, were there were just enough cars for one heat in each.

Racing began a half hour late due to the time it took to roll in the race track. However, with some smooth-running qualifying events and a quick intermission, they made up much of the lost time. I don’t believe they had to turn on the track lights before the completion of the program, although the Hornets finished up in the twilight of another summer night.

Jump starts are dealt with harshly here, as there are no warnings. The first jump called results in a two-position penalty before the next start is attempted. This was called during the very first race of the night and as we saw later, played an important part in one of the main events.

The jump start policy was an issue in the Mid Mod main, as polesitter Evan Checkalski was called for one on the initial start and moved back two spots. However, when his replacement on the front row, Mike Jacques, spun on the opening lap and was sent to the back, Checkalski got new life. He was again moved to the front row and he took full advantage, jumping into the lead and keeping out front for 15 laps to take his first win of the year at Proctor. Joey Jensen somehow got from 10th to fifth in the first lap alone. He then quickly continued forward, moving to second and putting the heat on Checkalski.

However, he gambled on a restart and lost a position to Cody Carlson, and he was never able to regain that spot. Jensen had to settle for third behind Carlson, as a total of seven yellows bogged this event down.

The Super Stocks started out down the same grim path, with four yellows in the first lap. Then they regained their footing and raced the rest of the event nonstop.

Myron Basina and Kevin Salin battled early, with Basina holding the top spot for three laps until Shawn McFadden squeezed past and took over the lead. He built up a nice advantage, as Curt Myers came up from eighth to second and tried to flag down the leader. McFadden, who was able to maintain a nice pace, kept Myers in the distance as he drove on for the win.

Proctor Speedway has become a home away from home for Harry Hanson in the Late Models. He won his third feature of the season here Sunday. New faces led laps, as first Ronnie Malecki, then Eric Lillo, and then Malecki again led laps early. Hanson then moved up from row four to grab the top spot on lap four. It was key to his victory to get through the field as quickly as he did, while Danny Vang spent the rest of the race trying to catch his K.M.E teammate. Vang did get close a couple of times but Hanson kept the lower groove blocked, as the Late Models seemed to favor that line Sunday. Hanson drove on for the win, with Tim McMann coming home third and Malecki finishing a season-high fourth.

The Modifieds had a short field Sunday but their feature race was still interesting. Jody Bellefeuille grabbed the lead on the opening lap and was in front the whole way, while Brandon Copp decided to move up the track, one of the few doing so. Copp began to make time on Jody, gaining on each lap and just about ready to produce a stiff challenge.

But Bellefeuille is a veteran, with a sense of where to run on the track, and he could feel he was losing time by pinching his car so low in the corners. He started to let it drift more up the track and the result was noticable; he quickly neutralized the gains of Copp and they ran the rest of the race with about the same distance between them as Bellefeuille took the win. Nick O came through to finish third.

Another first-time winner was Aaron Bernick, who came off the pole and led all laps to win the Pure Stock feature. Chaston Finckbone came up from fifth to provide a challenge, while Bernick used the whole track to his advantage as Finckbone tried several different lines but was never quite able to squeeze past. Finckbone had to settle for second with Brent Mindock third.

Speaking of first-time winners, not only did Riley Ament win his first of the season, but it was his first-ever as he topped the Hornet main to wrap up the night! I also was not aware that he is just halfway through high school, so here is another of those young racers showing they have what it takes to hold off the veterans. While both DeJay Jarecki and Carson Gotelaere are not exactly grizzled veterans, they have enough laps around area tracks that they can be a handful to hold off.

That’s exactly what Ament did on Sunday, however, as the three of them spent most of the race running in tight formation with one or the other often right alongside Ament. However, he didn't yield and in fact, following the last restart with just thee laps to go, he managed to gain a car length on both as he drove to a fine win.

As is normally the case, especially on a Sunday, many in the crowd had already left the grounds by the time the Hornets hit the track, so they missed out on seeing an excellent race to wrap up the night.

The last checkered flew at just about 8:30 p.m., allowing me time to get gas afterward (love that cheap Minnesota petrol!) and get home in time to see the 10 p.m. news. That is my perfect Sunday night scenario.

Next Sunday Proctor wraps up their regular season and track titles in all six divisions will be decided. Then only the Silver 1000 remains on August 29, as another racing season slips by.