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In the Super Stocks, Zach Schultz and Terran Spacek also grabbed qualifying spots in their first night at the track. Schultz makes a habit of not showing up until Friday, and then qualifies for the 100. Spacek qualified with a thrilling last-lap pass on defending 100 winner Dylan Nelson. Now Nelson has to try and qualify through the Super Stock Last Chance race. The margin was .17 seconds.

We certainly can't forget about another family who achieved an historic moment following Friday night’s action. When was the last time two brothers started in the front row of a 100? With his feature win on Friday in the Street Stocks, Kolton Brauer equaled his brother Braden's opening night win, and they will start the 100 on the front row with Jimmy Gullikson. With more than 60 cars on hand to race and plenty of competition, this is quite a feat.

Yesterday I mentioned that Braedyn Fleck, as rookie Street Stock driver, made a feature race in the 100 on his first night of racing at this event. Well, he probably topped that achievement on Friday when he won his first heat race and got to do his first interview on TV.

Rob Palmer reported that all the camping sites on the grounds had now been sold, a first for this event with more than 400 of them being used by campers from all parts of WISSOTA.

The 50/50 workers again did a great job. They work the crowd extensively and are even seen in the pits way back in the far reaches of the field, selling their tickets for their group, “Never Alone.” The winner on Friday went home with $7,149 dollars in their pocket and I can't wait to see what the final number will be on Saturday, with a monster crowd expected.

The best observation of the night came from announcer Kyle Hall, when he noted that Mid Mod heat race competitors Blake Adams and Onyx Johnson had a combined age of 29.

The best quip of the night came from “The Legend” Ron Krog when he offered to share a beer with one of the young heat race winners, but also noted because of their age, he hoped he was “still around” when they are old enough to legally have a brew!

Speaking of Adams, he may have performed the most dominant win of the week so far, running away and hiding in the Mid Mod feature. He put nearly a full straightaway on Nate Reinke, in second, and that is not done often. The top side was fast, but also gave no margin for error, and that was his line for this race.

Jeff Provinzino has been the only driver to rotate between two cars this week, as he searched for the one running the best. Using both his familiar No. 28 Late Model and the Bloomquist tribute No. 0 car, he put the No. 28 in the show on Friday with a solid third-place finish.

There continued to be a few drivers that stumbled when arriving at the tech area following races. Three more Street Stocks and one Mid Mod saw the DQ notation posted after their names on Friday. Most were either light at the scales or had steering quickening devises that were non-approved. I do believe, however, there haven’t been serious violations that involved fines and suspensions to this point, knock on wood.

We were hoping that we could get through the entire race weekend without a single flip, but that hope was dashed when Josh Roggatz got his Super Stock up on the wall and then flopped it over onto its roof. The good news was that he was okay and the flip shouldn't have been too damaging, in case he has more racing planned before the end of 2024.

I thought the five qualifying feature races were all very good. None of the five mains were yellow-flag plagued and were highlighted by nonstop Late Model and Super Stock features. (And all 24 starters were still on the track at the finish.) All the crabbers from Thursday night will now have to find something else to crab about instead. Perhaps they can complain we got done too early, as the final checkered waved before 10 p.m.

The quality of the drivers still sitting on the sidelines waiting for an invitation to dance seems unprecedented to me this year. Tell me the last time two national point leaders had yet to make the race after Friday’s action? That is the case this year: David Simpson in the Mid Mods and Cole Chernosky in the Mods have yet to qualify for the 100 feature heading into Saturday. Others still on the outside looking in include last year's Super Stock winner Dylan Nelson, Danny Vang, Jeff Massingill, Trevor Anderson, Mike Stearns, Kevin Adams, Ryan Gierke, Travis Saurer, Curt Myers, Ryan Satter, Joey Jensen, Scott Bintz, Mike Nichols, Rob Petroff, Maria Broksieck, Kasey Ussatis and a host of others. The Last Chance races on Saturday will be wowzers.

The crowd again on Friday night appeared to be one of the biggest weeknight crowds so far here in Fergus. The number of folks who stayed for the concert by the Honey Badgers was huge, too.

One last note: I wish there were a few more folks like Jason Swan in this world and few less of the outspoken hotheads who talk before they think. Swan sees things he would like to have changed and notes folks could do better than they are at whatever their task is. But instead of just blowing up and spouting off, he pauses to take a breath, looks at things from a variety of viewpoints and makes positive suggestions for change. A few more people like this in the world and a lot more change could take place, without damaging our sport.

After a heat race win on Friday and a solid fourth-place finish in the qualifying Modified feature by his daughter Kennedy, Jason is probably breathing just a bit easier on Friday night, knowing that they won't have to deal with a Last Chance race.

Saturday, September 14

The WISSOTA 100 wrapped up on Saturday night, September 14. After some overnight rain, the event was completed on another spectacular fall day, with temperatures in the 80s, bright sunshine and the persistent southeastern breezes that drove the dust away from the main grandstands.

I can’t imagine the weather being any better for this event, and it was reflected in the crowd size each night. Saturday night was a mammoth crowd, with the entire front grandstand just about full. There were folks sitting in the back straightaway bleachers, along with many tailgaters surrounding the track, high above the first and second turns. Lines were long for everything and just walking around behind the grandstand proved to be challenging with so many folks on hand. Of course, this is a great thing for the event and also for the organization.

The folks from the city of Fergus Falls seemed happy and they did a good job of laying out the red carpet for all the visitors.

There was no “turning of the cheek” on the final night, as the give-and-take that was apparent earlier in competition turned to mostly “take” during Saturday night’s action.

There was one Last Chance Qualifier for each class, with the top 16 in points who had not qualified yet competing. Six of those competitors made the 100 Championship Feature, while the rest loaded up.

There was no backing off in these races and my best description of them is “brutal.” Yellow flags flew in abundance and in two of the classes, there were only enough cars left running to fill out the last two rows of the feature!

In the Late Models, Jayson Good simply putted around the track with a damaged car as he was the only one left and his patched-up rig later started the Late Model finale.

It was noted that Ryan Gierke switched cars to win the Modified Last Chance, making him the second driver to switch wheels during the four nights.

However, even with the difficulty that many had in just making the show, there were seven drivers who managed to qualify multiple cars for the features. Dave Mass, Kolby Kiehl, Tyler Peterson, Johnny Broking and Justin Froemming all had a pair of cars qualified, while Shane Sabraski and Travis Saurer got an amazing three cars qualified for features. This is a representation of good cars, good drivers and great teams of crew members to keep all the wheels turning in correct direction.

One representation of the large crowd on hand was the 50/50, which was $15,904 Saturday night for the winner! All four nights, representatives of Never Alone, Inc. were selling the tickets and will be using the funds earned to finance their organization. The goal of Never Alone is to create a safe, positive environment for youth to build friendships. It is locally based but they are part of a larger group from throughout the state. Check out their Facebook page, Never Alone, for more info.

I never grow tired of watching the WISSOTA Parade of Champions when all the feature cars in all five classes line up five wide, and then motor around the track for a couple of laps. There is also a fireworks display at the same time. It is especially neat to see all the fans who come down to the frontstretch fence to watch and take pictures and video. The tailgaters come down to the fence in turns one and two, and the backstretch fans do the same. The race crews line the wheel fence in turns three and four. So in essence, the cars as they motor around the track are surrounded by fans all the way around the track. It is such a sight and unique to this event.

It was also neat to see the three winners of the MPH Invitational at Bemidji last Sunday get to pace the field for this event. Brent Mindock, Jenna Hagemann and Dustin Holtquist had their cars on display in the infield before the racing began and then got to lead the group as they circled the track.

The Championship Feature fields also continue to start the races three wide. All of the classes produce spectacular starts, but I find something special about seeing 33 Late Models, three wide and 11 rows deep. It makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up and is breathtaking.

Once again the drivers did as superb job of answering the call on those starts, with all five having clean starts.

One thing that is done for these five events is that the starting line, laid down in a chalkmark across the track, is just past flagstand toward the first turn. And this works out great. The cars are under control, even with 11 rows, and all cars are out of the corner before the green waves. I think this is the secret to getting a good start.

In fact, I would go so far as to say all tracks should start their shows exactly this way, using the chalk mark. I have seen nothing but poor starts at many tracks all summer, with jump after jump as they accelerate out of turn four with half the field still in the corner when the race begins. And, the flagman and/or race directors do not have the wherewithal to call back more starts. Drivers know this of certain tracks and use it to their advantage.

Some may remember the old Hav-A-Tampa Late Model series and they used to do this just that way; the acceleration point was right under the flagstand and that used to generate such exciting and interesting starts. This way, all that horsepower is also ignited right in front of the fans. Let’s give it a try for 2025.

Don Shaw and his crew made sure the track had plenty of water in it for the five feature races on Saturday, including doing what was necessary between features. Time used interviewing the top three winners in each class was also used by the track prep crew to refresh the track for the next race. Though having a consensus among the many drivers is impossible, I’d have to believe most were very happy with the track conditions for the main events. The track was fast, however, and I had to hold my breath a few times as some of the “wall bangers” like Saurer, Grosz, Nelson and others made things thrilling.

The disqualifications of three drivers who placed in the top three in the Street Stocks and Midwest Modified feature was the one downfall. Truthfully, this is a real “downer” for all, from the DQ’d driver, to the drivers who were elevated in position afterward but missed out on victory lane interviews and photos, to the fans.

The number of DQs all week this year seemed excessive, but I don't have the answer as to why this happened, only to report that it did seem that way. Tech folks have to do their job, and without rules there is simply no racing. It is the duty of the race teams to present cars that are legal, and can go through an inspection successfully. However, there must be some way of mitigating this “after-the-fact” type of punishment. Would more extensive pre-race inspection help? I don't know.

In the Street Stock feature, Kolton Brauer led all 30 laps to gain the win, but it was much tougher than that result may indicate. Early on he battled with Jim Gullikson, and then his brother Braden. After the second caution on lap 14, they ran first and second and a finish like that might have made history.

However, by the halfway point of the race, Cody Kummer moved to second and Braden dropped out with motor problems. Ty Agen was on the charge, as was Nick Traynor. When Traynor got turned with just two laps to go, it was wild for those last two laps. Agen had appeared to be the fastest on the track but Kummer had also caught Brauer, too. Those two decided to fight it out for second once that last green appeared. They then crashed together in turn one; Kummer was wrecked and Agen went to the pits.

This left it up to Kolton and Traynor, with Kolton able to hold off a last-lap challenge for the win. Brauer took the win but Traynor was DQ'd at tech, giving second to Gullikson with Jeff Ekdahl then third.

There were two DQs in the Midwest Mod top-three finishers. Blake Adams took the early lead from the middle of the front row and held the top spot for eight laps before Lucas Rodin maneuvered past him to take over the top spot.

Matt Schow came from seventh to third and those three ran that way the rest of the race. Lapped traffic was difficult and Adams nearly slipped past a couple times, but each time Rodin found a way to clear the slower cars. They finished in that order but after a visit to tech, both Rodin and Schow were tossed, giving Adams the win. Cole Elton was officially second and Nate Reinke was third.

Shane Sabraski started on the pole for the Late Model feature, but didn’t take the lead until lap 42. Early on, Lee Grosz and Mike Greseth battled for the lead, with Sabraski settling in for third. By the halfway point, those two were still showing the way, but Sam Mars was on the move as he shuffled Sabraski back another position.

Grosz and Greseth were beating each other and their own cars, with frequent trips into the concrete walls off the corners, wowing the crowd but causing me to hold my breath as I feared for the worst.

Sabraski then started to make the inside line work and he closed back up on the leaders. When Grosz finally wore his car out to the point that it broke, Sabraski was right there to take over the lead.

However, he wasn't out of the woods quite yet. Greseth found a line a little higher that worked for him and he closed on the leader.

Things got wild on the final lap as Greseth had a great run off the final corner, and Sabraski moved up the track to block. Greseth cut against the grain and while Sabraski was able to edge out the win, it was close at the line. Ryan Mikkelson slowly and consistently moved to the front along the low side, into the top three at the finish.

We may have witnessed the official changing of the guard in the Super Stocks this weekend. For the past several years, Dexton Koch has been very fast, winning feature races at an increasing level. He was still largely unnoticed, simply because Shane Sabraski had been winning so many races himself and dominating the big events.

When Sabraski elected to focus on the Late Model this year and only race the Super on occasion, this opened the door for Koch and he took full advantage. He’s won more than two dozen feature races and is now leading the national points.

After Jordan Henkemeyer grabbed the early lead in the Super Stock feature, only to break and turn the top spot over to Koch on lap four, it was his race to lose. Trevor Nelson was a factor for the first half of the race until too many trips into the wall ended his effort.

The last 22 laps, it was a two-car battle, with Koch leading Sabraski. As they pulled away from the field, no matter what Sabraski tried or what line he ran, Koch was not giving up an inch to him. Koch drove on for the win, with a comfortable margin over Sabraski. Having perhaps his finest run in a big event, Ryan Kostreba motored up from 16th, past Jake Hagemann—who had his own great run—and moved into third at the finish.

Dan Ebert led from start to finish in the Modified feature to garner the win. It was far from an easy run, as he was dogged by Landon Atkinson. The final 36 laps went nonstop, and as Ebert raced through traffic, he had Atkinson right behind him, challenging for the spot. Several times near the end of the race, Ebert moved up the track and Atkinson ducked under him; they would race off turn two side by side, but each time Ebert held off the Little Falls driver.

They put on a show right to the finish, with Ebert just nipping out Atkinson to take the win. A steady run by Don Eischens gave the “Iceman” the third-place finish.

All five feature races were entertaining events with lots of hard racing and some spectacular moves. The track was such that slide jobs were prevalent and wall banging was a frequent occurence. The features had a lot of racing action to enjoy.

It was a grueling four nights of racing, however. There are so many facets to this show and all require so much work from many to make it go smoothly. That includes the track crews, all the employees of the track, and all the workers from the WISSOTA organization who work almost nonstop the whole week to make it happen.

To all of them, I offer my thanks. Without their efforts, what would I do with myself on this beautiful weekend?

Special personal thanks go out to Kolby Kiehl from Rice Lake Speedway for the loan of the golf cart. Without it, I would have personally broken down by day two in my efforts to get around this massive pit area. Thanks as well to Dale Tessmer for the loan of the trailer to get the cart to Fergus.

One last recommendation ... Wouldn't it be nice to see a replay board behind the wall in turn three, so when the announcers replay an incident for the radio audience, I could see myself just exactly what happened, in case I missed it the first time? There must be some sponsor out there who would like to see their logo on the replay board.