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Wednesday, August 14

My planned trip on Wednesday, August 14 to Grand Rapids Speedway started innocently enough. I was sitting in traffic, stopped at a construction zone south of Floodwood, Minnesota. Only one lane of traffic was moving at a time, due to a repaving project. All the necessary warnings were in place, including signs, rumble strips and flashing red lights.

Quite a line of cars had developed heading west, and as I was sitting there waiting in line for our lane to follow the pilot car and head west, I heard a huge slamming sound from behind me. I saw what appeared to be a dump truck lurch forward, with debris flying out of it and landing on the pavement.

In my rearview mirror, I saw the driver get out and start to walk back behind his vehicle, and I noticed the driver behind me also looking in his mirror, trying to figure out what was going on.

Just then the line of cars from the west came up and I noticed those drivers were having trouble getting through, steering and weaving their way through perceived congestion. Our line then started to move and I had to focus back on my own driving.

Before I reached Floodwood, I had to pull over five times for police vehicles, fire trucks and an ambulance. Clearly, something bad had happened close behind me.

Later at the track I ran into Travis Kahlsdorf, chaplain for the Northern Renegades Sprint Car group. He asked if I had to take the detour to get through on US 2. I said no, but whatever happened must have been right behind me. He said helicopters were on scene and his folks, who live just off US 2, were monitoring things.

Later Travis tracked me down and the news was horrible. At least four people were killed, including two children, and others were hurt and helicoptered from the scene. The truck that I thought was a dump truck was actually a side dumper. It and four other vehicles were sitting in line when they were struck by a logging truck at highway speed. This news made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and I realized just how close I was to being in a disaster.

Travis said “God was smiling on you today,” and I guess he was right.

I can't imagine the absolute terror of sitting in your vehicle, seeing a truck bearing down on you at high speed and not being able to do a thing about it. The last few seconds of your life filled with stark terror is something I can't even comprehend. Your life can be changed forever in just a few seconds and your fragility on this earth is something we seldom think about, until it strikes someone close to us.

With all of us racers and racing people on the go all the time, it's a miracle something like this doesn't strike our group more often. There are long drives late at night, tiredness and the hordes of drivers on the road who shouldn't be there. Every day we have, we should thank God for granting us another day on this earth.

Onto the racing program ...

The annual Itasca County Fair was going on around the speedway, and Wednesday the featured event was the Dean Olafson Memorial Race, with $1,000 to the Pure Stock feature winner. The WISSOTA Hornets and the Mod Fours were also racing. Two other non-sanctioned classes were part of the program as well.

The three WISSOTA chasses had nice fields on hand, with three heats needed for the Hornets and Pure Stocks. The Mod Fours had 16 drivers, which is a very good number for a track that doesn't run this class.

You could tell this event was peppered with drivers who likely work jobs with set hours. The last few minutes before cut-off was a traffic jam, with rigs trying to beat that cutoff and get settled in the pits.

The track appeared to be in excellent condition and I bet that trying to prep a track for several skinny-tired classes can't be the easiest. The heat race action was marked by a pair of very scary looking crashes, certainly not the kind of thing I needed to witness given my state of mind.

One of the bad crashes happened in one of the Pure Stock heats. Poor Dusten Holub, who towed all the way from Chetek, Wisconsin, made only a half lap before he was clobbered by another car, turned sideways, and flipped on to his roof. His car then dropped back down on his wheels. I suspect a hung throttle was the problem here, as the other driver involved, Terry Hill, continued on at high speed. He shot right off the end of the track, didn’t look like he was slowing, and smashed backward into the big tires that border the track and protect it from the pits. Holub was hopping mad. It took Hill a very long time to exit his car, as his hit backward was one of those scary ones when people get hurt.

I did not hear if he went in for observation or not but his car had the frame folded up right where the rear wheel hump is, and I'm sure that car is toast.

As for Holub, I thought he was done, too, but they must have worked relentlessly. They had the car back on the track for the feature, only to have it start to smoke badly. He eventually dove to the infield. It was certainly not the kind of trip they were looking forward to.

As for the feature itself, it was also a tough one for Austin Carlson. He drew the pole but when he emerged on the track for the green flag, there was a horrible knocking sound from this motor. He was down on power and eventually pulled off.

Chaston Finckbone led the first eight laps of the race, with pressure from Dustin Puffe and John Farrington – who was making his first Pure Stock run of the year. The fourth yellow after just eight laps bunched the field and Farrington had a flat left front tire but elected to continue. In fact, when the green waved, he made a move, perhaps early, and got into Finckbone, slowing him just enough that Puffe gained the momentum on the high side and drove past Finckbone into the lead.

The last 12 laps of the race ran off nonstop with Finckbone trying both high and low to get past Puffe, but the cars were so equally matched neither driver made a mistake. Puffe crossed the line as the winner over Finckbone. Jake Smith, who had to come from the back after getting a flat tire in his heat race, drove by Farrington right at the end to finish third. He actually seemed to be gaining on both the leaders but ran out of time.

The Mod Four feature was a smooth race but was followed by craziness when the final rundown was posted. Casey Traxler took the early lead after he started on the pole, fighting off Blake Hawker. Meanwhile, Tommy Bawden was roaring to the front. He started eighth and was battling for the lead in no time, making quick work of Traxler as he took over the point.

Bawden then ran away from the field until a late yellow led to a two-lap sprint to the finish. Bawden was up to the task, as he pulled away once again and won. A great battle for second concluded with Hawker edging past Traxler for the spot ... that was until the drivers got to tech. And then things changed dramatically as both winner Bawden and third-place finisher Traxler were disqualified. I did not hear at the time what the DQs were for.

Hawker was elevated to the win, minus the interview and victory lane pictures. Blake Erickson was scored second and Chad Funt was third. I'm sure word will get out on just what the infractions were.

When I saw that Justin Schelitzche had drawn the pole for the Hornet feature, I decided to put my pencil and paper away because, minus a hail storm that might stop the race, there was no question who the winner would be. The question was by how much; my bet of a half lap was a bit too strong.

Nakota Larson stayed within a reasonable distance of Schelitzche throughout the race, but just didn't threaten at any point. In an event with only one yellow flag, Schelitzche ended up winning by a comfortable margin.

There was another teching decision that affected this race however, as apparent third-place finisher Mikayla LaBarge was disqualified, elevating McKenna Folstad to third in the final running order.

I did note that Cade Johnson, having a solid rookie season, was in a different car on Wednesday. I believe it’s a replacement car for one that got the front-end wrecked recently. His night didn't end well once again, as his car appeared to blow its guts out right on the front chute, leading to a lengthy clean-up period.

With the fair in full swing, the curfew was not an issue on Wednesday and with a couple big wrecks to clean up, it was closer to 10:30 when the final checkers waved.

Thanks to everyone at Grand Rapids as usual. It was a long ride home with the events of the day casting kind of a shadow over the racing. At least for one night, racing seemed just a little less important than other things.

Friday, August 16

Friday proved to be a difficult night all around for drivers and officials at Red Cedar Speedway. As is often the case, the weather was the problem. Popcorn showers, containing heavy rain, were scattered across the area.

When I pulled into Menomonie, it was clear they just received a storm, with standing water everywhere. The race track and grounds were wet, but there were already race cars in the pits, some slipping and sliding a bit as it was quite muddy in spots.

The word from officials was that unless they were hit again with another shower of that intensity, they were going to race. I could hear the heavy equipment on the track already when I arrived. But, it didn't take long for the complainers to get going, both about the pits and the track itself.

Were the pits wet and muddy? Yes, they were. But I don't think they were worse than other nights, whether here or other tracks. The track was wet, despite lots of packing by heavy track vehicles, and it was still slimy when the racing started. But was it worse than plenty of other nights when this track and others happen to overwater? I don't think so.

As the night wore on, it was smooth and there were no giant holes; they continued to work the cushion, and by feature time I think they had a very respectable racing surface. It was fast for sure, for the drivers.

The track, by the way, didn't get a whole lot of help packing the track from the drivers. Along with all the track vehicles, it was mostly Hornets and Street Stocks who came out to help when asked, and not many from any of the other divisions.

I think it was really an overreaction by some drivers who chose not to race, as at least 13 who signed in decided not to forego the program. Some actually pulled out before they started to work the track. There were a couple of trailers that left that I couldn't identify, so there may have been more than 13. A few did tail the feature fields to collect start money, after failing to race in their heats. That was probably even worse, as they failed to add anything to the program or help out the track, yet they collected a check, albeit it a small one, anyway.

Should there have been a call made to cancel the event? Perhaps, but if so that call should have been made right after it got done raining somewhere around 3 p.m. By the time they got the racers and fans to the track, they were pretty much committed to putting on the show. It was the last regular season event, and they really wanted to get it in.

While it wasn't a perfect track by any means, I have seen plenty of racing carried out this year on tracks that were no better or in some cases, worse than Red Cedar turned out to be Friday night.

Friday night was billed as championship night at the speedway but I never heard if the feature winners were considered season champions or if the high point cars at the end of the night were considered the champions. There weren’t special ceremonies in victory lane and the winner's were not interviewed like normal, due to the late start and rain still in the area, which was understandable.

Despite the weather uncertainty, there still was a decent field of cars on hand to race. The Mods were a bit short on cars, but they would have had more than 20 Late Models if everyone had decided to race.

And as typically happens, there were adventurous teams who made bold attempts to race, probably having driven through several rain storms to get to the track. Some of them were rewarded for their efforts with feature wins.

Making a surprise visit all the way from Mandan, North Dakota was Chris Welk, Jr. He brought two cars with him, driving in both the Street Stocks and Modifieds. He told me that his home track in North Dakota dropped the Street Stocks for 2024, so he was making a couple visits to tracks that still race the class. His plan was to hit a couple tracks this weekend and then head back home. If he got rained out, he was going to visit with family in Bloomer, Wisconsin. His night brought mixed results; he had a top-five finish in the Street Stock, but was involved in a collision in the Modified feature. His Modified is actually an IMCA car with no spoiler and a crate motor under the hood, so he was just racing mostly for fun.

In talking with Super Stock driver Andrew Davis, he tells me he will be teaching at the high school in Cameron this year, having moved from the Rice Lake district six miles down the road south. He will also be getting married next summer, so he is putting his extra curricular school activities on hold for this year.

There were two groups who did exceedingly well during Friday night's racing program: the Minnesota travelers and the Richardson family.

Current WISSOTA Super Stock national point leader Dexton Koch made short work of the field Friday. He started fourth on the grid for their main event, but the seas parted on the opening lap and he was scored the leader by lap one. He then led the rest of the way for the win. He really wasn't challenged either, as he opened up a good-sized lead and withstood four yellow flags. Two laps were cut from the race due to the time limits.

Doug Koski and Brandon Clemens had a good battle for second, until Clemens elbowed his way into second. Koski fought back following a late yellow to regain the spot, but then Clemens made another move into second for good. Terran Spacek came from 11th to edge out Koski for third.

The other visitor sitting in victory lane after his race was Street Stock driver Tommy Pogones. His move from Mod Fours to Street Stocks has been a successful. He records feature wins on a regular basis now and on Friday he led from start to finish in the nonstop main to grab yet another win.

While he cruised in front, the show was the “Thirty Thousand Dollar Man” Cody Kummer. Kummer started seventh and was the first driver to really get up on the cushion all night, as the track widened out. He showed others where they should be running. In a good three-car battle at the end, he edged out Hunter VanGilder and Kammron Rose for second.

The open wheel divisions were dominated by Spring Valley's Richardson family, with both Jay and Jason taking wins. Jay started on the pole for the Midwest Mod feature and he drove away from the field in what was another nonstop main event. He put nearly a full straightaway on the field, as this kind of track was just his forte. There was not a lot of movement among the leaders, as everyone was about equal speed and no one could challenge Richardson for the lead. Jake Stai had a good run for second with Brady Larson and Jesse Bryan next in line.

The Modified feature was quite another story, as bit of luck coupled with some bold moves helped Jason earn the win. At the start it was all Kevin Adams, as he took the lead from the outside pole and was running comfortably in front of Mike Anderson and Richardson. What appeared to be an almost certain victory was squashed on lap 10, when Chris Welk, about to be lapped, and Adams made contact and both cars ended in the concrete wall very hard. Adams' car needed two wreckers to remove it from the track. Adams is about ready to debut a new car, as this one has reached its race limit. It appeared the timing couldn't have been much better, given the state of the current car by the end of the night.

Anderson inherited the race lead but when he chose to run the low line, Richardson jumped up on that bountiful cushion. It took him just three laps to track down and pass Anderson for the lead. After that, he pulled away from everyone in what was quite the stunning turnaround. Anderson settled for second with Shane Halopka and Kennedy Swan next in line.

The Late Model feature probably had the best battle of the night, with John Kaanta and Ashley Anderson going at it side by side for a number of laps before Anderson prevailed. Aaron Wilson led the first lap of the track as he got the jump on Kaanta, but then Kaanta moved to the cushion and one lap later, he grabbed the top spot. A lap eight yellow for Robbie Johnson triggered the first yellow and when Brett Shafer, running second, failed to fire for the restart, the yellow came out again and gave Anderson second and his chance to challenge.

It was then Kaanta and Anderson side by side, racing for the lead for eight laps, with Anderson nosing ahead at the halfway point. Kaanta came right back on the next lap and was scored the leader as they jockeyed back and forth. Anderson was on the low side and Kaanta on the cushion – probably the reverse of where you would expect each to be racing.

Finally, with just four laps left in the race, Anderson successfully cleared Kaanta and he then pulled away by several car lengths as he continues his pace of being very, very fast lately. Kaanta settled for second with Dan Bargender having a nice run for third ahead of Jake Redetzke and Mike Prochnow. Nick Panitzke broke near the end while in the top five.

It is probably a good thing that everyone has a week off to cool down just a bit before the track returns to action on August 30, for the first leg of the Dairyland Dash run in cooperation with Rice Lake. All classes except the Late Models will be in action and extra money will be on the line for all divisions.

Saturday, August 17

Rice Lake Speedway concluded its regular racing season on Saturday, August 17. As usual this year, the weather was questionable with cloudy skies, poor drying conditions and rain in the area still, after several days of rain. Fortunately, those storms missed wrecking the action.

All this wet weather sure has not helped the racing surface at the track, which was about as choppy in the corners as it has been all year. When I arrived and looked at the track, I thought it was going to be fine. However, as soon as the races started, you could see a dark area in both turn one and three and the moisture just started coming to the surface as soon as the cars passed over it. Those who chose to run a more tractional line through the turns found them to be somewhat bumpy, certainly more so than management would have liked. Chop aside, the track was also fast and produced good racing.

There were far too many yellows in some of the races that tore up some cars and took away from the racing to some degree. The feature winners were kind, I thought, commenting that the track had some “character” but still raceable. Others in the pits probably weren't quite so generous.

I just hate it when visitors come to race and find these conditions and as a result, say they’ll never be back. True enough, the conditions have been a bit uneven this year, with some nights featuring a heavy track and some nights a dry and slick race track. However, there are new folks doing much of the track prep and learning just what their new equipment can do and how to correctly apply it to the conditions of the week. As we all know, this has been a year with lots of rain, which has caused difficult conditions and put track prep people at many tracks in a bind.

However, it should also be noted that there was plenty of exciting racing and passing going on. Only one of five feature races was won from the front row. One feature was won from row five, and the other three were won from row three.

Nick Koehler had the drive of the night, coming from row five to top the Mid Mod feature. Since he got his new car partway through the season, he has been very fast and he was not afraid to put it up on the cushion on Saturday. He had to pass some pretty stiff competition to get to the front, reeling in Brady Larson in the last few laps to take the win.

This year has produced some of the most balanced competition in many years at the track, and particularly so in the open wheel classes. There have been nine different winners in the Mid Mods so far this year, with only Jake Stai having won more than one feature race. And going into championship Saturday next week, there have been nine different feature winners in the Modifieds and not a single repeat winner all year! There have also been six different winners in the Pure Stocks and only one repeat winner in the Street Stocks, with that being Cody Kummer. Kummer has four wins and is having quite the year.

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