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Tuesday, July 30

Tuesday the annual Street Stock Little Dream race was held at Rice Lake Speedway. There were storms around the area, but none interrupted the program – though you could cut the humidity with a knife. Fortunately a great crowd was on hand anyway, not wanting to miss what would be a historic, 30th edition of this unique race.

Before I go any farther, the real stars of the night, along with the drivers of course, need to be mentioned. Chris Stepan and Scott Tiefs put an unbelievable amount of work into this race, and without them, it would be nothing like it is. They are the ones who hustle for the donations and turn what might be just a fun night of racing for the Street Stocks into a race that fans and drivers all over the country have heard about. And, they have managed to make it work through three different administrations at Rice Lake.

Each year it gets harder and harder to raise enough money to keep breaking the existing record. Somehow, though, by way of generous fans and businesses, they have done so. Every driver who runs this race should be thanking their lucky stars there are still folks out there willing to help out.

While I was able to talk the powers-that-be into increasing the starting field to 30 cars for the 30th annual event, I couldn't get them to go along with a three-wide start. I still think it would have been spectacular but I will settle for a partial victory, at least for this year. I also think that someone should put Ricky Thornton Jr. into a Street Stock, but that is another story.

Fifty-nine drivers signed in to race this year, which is one of the biggest turnouts for this event. It didn’t threaten the 2019 record, however, when 66 drivers raced, the largest number ever. There were drivers on hand from six different states, plus two drivers down from the Thunder Bay, Ontario area. I hope they had a good time and will bring more of their racers next year. The problem for Thunder Bay racers is that they race on Wednesday night at Thunder City Speedway. With this always being a late night, they have to get up early and drive back home right away to make it back up there in time. I did see both drivers made it successfully back to Thunder Bay and raced on Wednesday.

Things continue to change at the track on a weekly basis it seems. A new spectator entrance to the pit area by the concession stand has opened, to try and alleviate some of the congestion by the concession stand. They’ve also instituted a new track rule, first used last Saturday. Drivers are not to exit the track in turn three by going up on the high side during a race, but to instead slow and drop down into the infield. This is to try and eliminate high-speed crashes by cars slowing and trying to exit the track in turn three. I suspect that one of the off-season projects this fall will be to close off the exit in turn three with a complete wall down the back chute. Cars will both enter and exit the track off turn four then, if this change occurs. This will also eliminate much of the mess that sometimes occurs when drivers try to use the work area off that same exit.

There are always some interesting driver changes for this event and the Herrman racing team, out of Barron, made a couple. They put Mid Mod ace Mike Schnider into one of their cars and Super Stock standout Simon Wahlstrom drove a second car. Even Jimmy Latvala, a longtime Mid Mod driver, drove Courtney Rose’s car on this night. He drove Street Stocks very successfully when the northern tracks ran the class.

Zach Manley, son of Adams Automotive owner Todd Manley, hasn't raced for quite some time but he was back in a car for this race. I was unaware that he even still had a car but he made the main event before having to retire early with a smoking issue from the car.

Alex Minks is originally from the Ladysmith area and then moved out to North Dakota for employment, where he reignited his racing career. I didn't get to talk to him on Tuesday but I was surprised to see that he was back in the field, having returned to this area for this event. Unless I'm mistaken, he was driving the car that Eric Haupt raced last year, as it still had his sponsors’ names on it but with Minks No. 22 plastered on it.

It was good to see former racer Casey Mincoff on hand tonight to catch the action. Mincoff was a great racer at this track in both Super Stocks and Late Models, as well as being a tireless board member for the track when it was owned by the club. He put in a lot of hours here, with the drive from Ladysmith just making it that much harder for him to do that.

Thirty thousand dollars is an amazing amount of money for a Street Stock driver to be racing for, and it’s remarkable that as the winner’s share has grown tremendously over the years, there are multi-time winners who have earned upward of $50,000 combined. That is mind blowing.

Fans also buy 50/50 tickets at this race, and even that was more than $2,000 to the winner.

Even with all this though, for some reason the feeling of the night wasn't quite as electric as it has been some years. When they announced the $30,000 figure was broken, it didn't seem to have the impact as some years. I think it was just so darn hot that folks were too darn uncomfortable to celebrate.

Sometimes racing can be hard, as the night progresses and things start happening quickly. The course of a whole evening can change in the blink of an eye. Such was the case for defending champion Keith Tourville, who was entering the night with plenty of confidence that he could repeat his effort from 2023. However, just three laps into the first set of heat races, as he charged toward the front, the right-rear wheel broke and he was done for the event. He was lucky to not flip at the same time. While he did eventually make the feature, he was digging all night to try and overcome that bad start; seventh was the best he could do.

I hope someone threw some money in for the first flip of the night, which would have gone to Caiden Engel. The bigger story was the effort he and his crew made to get that car back on the track. He was in heat six, where he went over once in turn one. Unfortunately for him, during the second set of heats, heat seven was supposed to be his heat also, but they didn't make it out for that heat. They did make it out for their B feature, qualified for the Last Chance race, and finished fourth in that event. While they might not have made the main, they provided the most inspired effort of the night.

I'm not quite sure to say about the main event. It was a race that had the usual slowdowns for spins, as drivers pushed their cars to the limit. I think it was highlighted by a great battle for second that eventually went to Cody Kummer, as he made a spirited charge up from his 12th starting spot. But before that, for laps, Levi Randt, Hunter VanGilder and Ty Agen raced wheel to wheel, three wide and they did so on at least a couple of occasions. Then Kummer made a charge using the low side of the track and eventually passed all three and closed to within a couple car lengths of leader Nick Traynor, but couldn't quite make the winning pass.

By now everyone knows the car of Traynor failed to pass tech inspection and the win was awarded to Kummer. It is a bit unfortunate the race ended up in this fashion, and is the first time in the 30-year history of this race that a winner lost his award due to a technical infraction. I will say that no matter how it shook out, Traynor drove an excellent race, just as he did the other two times he won this race.

And for Kummer, a longtime supporter of this track, just as his dad Butch was before him, it was a great win for their team and a popular one among the other teams. Many of us will never forget that May night in 2017 when we were waiting for the Kummer racing team to arrive at the speedway for the Memorial Day races and they never did, due to a horrific accident that claimed the life of his mother and injured several members of the team. Rice Lake Speedway and the Kummer team will be forever linked together and it seems only appropriate they now get to celebrate the biggest night in track history with their Little Dream win. This is the fifth time that Kummer has finished in the top five in this race. He had runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2016, was third in 2014, and had a fifth-place finish last year. I guess you could say he was due!

I congratulate the management of this track and the other driving forces behind this event for continuing to run it on a week night, rather than running on a weekend. Back in the day, the whole idea of running a special event on a midweek night was to prevent walking on other track’s regular race nights. Somewhere that idea got buried and now we see most specials running on weekends, where the war goes on to try and steal cars and fans from other tracks.

Yes, there are some associated problems inherited with a weeknight event, but they can be handled. If a special is really that special, drivers can make plans to be there and fans will make the effort to be there as well.

Now we will have to see what 2025 brings. One thing is for sure, this race has provided some great memories over the years and been a highlight for a number of drivers’ racing careers.

Sunday, August 4

We hit a strange dry period here during the first weekend of August. Between track owners and promoters taking scheduled nights off for R&R for their staff and rainouts, there has not been much in the way of WISSOTA racing this week and weekend.

So to remedy that situation, I pointed the vehicle to the northwest Sunday and after a four-hour drive, I was at Bemidji Speedway near Bemidji, Minnesota for a weekly show. It also turned out to be Hall of Fame night for the track.

I hit a couple pockets of rain on my way there, and it did drip just a handful of drops during the program. It was so little most fans probably didn't even notice it. However, the heavy cloudbank that hung over the track most of the afternoon and evening was terrific and made conditions more comfortable. It certainly helped the race track, which I thought was in as good of shape for racing as I had seen in quite some time.

I heard some of the track workers talking as they set about getting ready to do their duties and they were excited. They knew as I did that with a lot of tracks not racing this weekend, they were one of the few shows to attend. They figured there might be a large turnout of drivers, with one of them predicting 100 cars. That guy was a swami, as exactly 100 drivers signed in to race, after the late-arriving Jimmy Rich Jr. pulled his Pure Stock all the way from Duluth to race.

I would guess that Bemidji continues to lead all of WISSOTA in its weekly turnout of Pure Stocks. Alongside Rice Lake, Bemidji seems to have the most on a weekly basis. Sunday, there were 21 of them on hand. Sixteen Super Stocks was their largest turnout of the year and there were enough cars to run double heats in all classes. They do run seven classes here weekly, which is a handful. Six are WISSOTA sanctioned, along with their rear-wheel drive Mini Stock class.

They had a very nice track program that was free and one of the best I've seen this year. It was multi-colored and had the point standings for all classes, plus some pictures and a preview of the Hall of Fame ceremonies. Congratulations to their staff on the program, as too many tracks have lost their programs due to lack of effort or manpower shortages.

No hot laps are run here. At 5 pm, they drop the green flag and racing begins. On a Sunday especially, I loved it.

For those that haven't been here, Bemidji Speedway is about a quarter-mile and has high banks, but the racing is always tight here and that leads to some contact and often, lots of yellow flags because of that. While loose in the corners, the track had plenty of moisture in it and drivers were flying, perhaps as fast as I've seen in quite some time. The heats spun off quickly, even with seven classes to run.

The Hall of Fame ceremonies were held during intermission and are a very important part of preserving the history of a race track. Not being a student of Bemidji Speedway history, not all the names were familiar to me but there were some members who I remember racing. I also remember going to a WISSOTA banquet once in Bemidji that was hosted by Jim Corcoran.

Of course, everyone has heard of John Seitz, but sadly, as the years go by, fewer and fewer of our present fans ever got to see him race. I actually saw his last race ever. It was in late October and he was racing his Late Model at the long-closed track in South Coffeyville, Oklahoma. His lone pit crew member that weekend was none other than Gordie Lancaster. Just over a month later, John passed and the racing world lost a very good person.

At the same time as the ceremony was going on, the track crew took care of the loose dirt in the corners and the track was then ready for feature racing. I must say the feature racing was some of the best that I had seen here in quite some time. While the Pure Stocks were very frustrating, the Mod Four and Super Stock features were among the best I have seen anywhere all season, and the Mod feature was not far behind.

During the Mod Four feature it was a great two-car battle between Dean Larson and Tommy Bawden, and it was just a dandy. Larson started on the front row and took the lead immediately but by lap five, when the lone yellow of the race occurred, Bawden was up to third after he started eighth. He then quickly moved to second and went after the lead.

Bawden and Larson circled the track lap after lap, side by side but I don’t believe they ever touched. Bawden bore low into the corners, and then slid up inside Larson, but Larson didn’t give an inch and they continued this pattern for laps. Bawden never gave up and Larson stood toe to toe with him. I don't know if I've ever seen Larson run any better than he did in this race; he took everything Bawden could throw at him and still came home the winner. This was one night when his post-race sprint across the track following by fence climbing and shouting was more than deserved. He was The Man Sunday.

The Super Stock feature was just about as good. Cameron Labelle might have gotten a bit of a “flyer” on the opening lap, but he made it three wide on the first circuit before driving into the lead. Once in front, he opened some distance over the field.

Dexton Koch moved up after starting eighth and by the halfway point of the race, had passed Brandon Bahr to take second.

They then engaged in a battle very similar to that of the Mod Fours, with Koch diving low in the corners, sliding up the track and trying to get inside Labelle. However, just like Larson, Labelle was having none of it, each time fighting off Koch to hold the lead. They did this lap after lap and it was a great show between the two, as they raced right down to the wire for the win. Labelle never flinched and he took Koch's best shots and fought him off to get the win. Both of them were excellent races.

Devin Fouquette drove the wheels off his Modified to beat off Kevin Adams and take the feature win in that class. Fouquette had just a bit of everything go on for him during this race. He was involved in an early collision that he was able to drive away from, and then after another bang on the front chute with Alan Olafson moving into the lead, Fouquette threw a dubious slider to get past Olafson for the lead.

He then had to fight off Adams, who had worked his way to second and Fouquette was then in a “hair on fire” mode, as he drove the track as hard as it could be raced. He dove low in the corners and flat footed up the banking and down the back chute. Adams couldn't keep up and looked like he decided to either settle for second or see if Fouquette would crash his way out of the lead. Somehow, Fouquette kept his car on the track and raced home for a blistering win.

Hunter Weeks led from start to finish to win the Midwest Modified feature race. He started in the second row, took advantage of botched attempt at starting the race, grabbed the lead on the second attempt and he then led the rest of the way. He faced plenty of competition for that spot but he didn’t flinch and beat Gary James Nelson across the line for the win.

Megan Vernlund took the early lead in the Hornet feature and built up a nice-sized lead. It looked like she might got on for the win, even though Russell Kiker Jr. started closing in on her. However, at this point, her car failed her, and she slowed. Kiker went on to take a relatively easy win over Bobie Arnes and Ryker Larson.

The only unsatisfying part of the night was the Pure Stock feature. All 21 cars started the race and it looked to be an interesting event. Instead it turned into a race of frustration, as between the yellow flags and lots of wasted time trying to get the drivers lined up correctly, we saw very little actual racing.

An early battle between Shannon George and Nate Zanter was good, as they swapped the lead back and forth ... but this was between yellows that started to come way too often. And then they had problems lining up the cars, while meanwhile, the time limit for this race was ticking, ticking, ticking.

At the end, they maybe got seven laps of racing completed but for Zanter, who won his first feature race, it was a good night as he held off George and Dustin Puffe. For those of us who wanted to see a full race, it was not what we were hoping for.

Like many other tracks, Bemidji struggles to find a way to keep drivers from cutting the corners and throwing crap on to the racing surface, while at the same time not wanting to wreck a bunch of cars while trying to keep them out of the infield.

They use some tall skinny cones here but they aren't the answer either. Way too many needless yellows were triggered when drivers either clipped the cones while trying to run too low, or hit the cones as a part of a collision or “dust up” with another driver.

What is the best answer? I wish I knew.

As always, a big crowd was on hand for the races here in Bemidji, as the local fans always seen to support this track and they really cheer on their local drivers. Thanks to Tanja and the entire crew here for a nice Sunday night.