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Sunday, August 25

Sunday, August 25, Granite City Motor Park completed its final race of the regular season. Like many tracks do now, they held a track championship night, with the highest point earners declared champions in the seven divisions that race at GCMP.

Summer was still having a word with the racing world, as it was an incredibly steamy day in east central Minnesota, and perhaps the most uncomfortable day so far.

A decent field of cars was on hand for the regular season finale, but as we saw across WISSOTA earlier in the weekend, the car count was down at many tracks, likely for a number of reasons including finances, weather, readying for fall specials, time constraints, and more.

As we head toward the end of the season, new drivers and combinations emerge. Sunday marked my first opportunity to see one of the new Late Model teams in action, as former Midwest Modified driver Cody “The Cobra” Lee has moved into the class. He bought the assets from the Dustin Bluhm team and is racing a Sniper chassis. A heat race win later was likely his first checkered flag since moving into division in just the last couple of weeks.

A rules infraction put former WISSOTA Mod Four National Champion Tommy Bawden on the sidelines for an indefinite period of time. However, his Mod Four is still on the track with former Mod Four driver and now Mid Mod racer Landyn Randt behind the wheel. As he does with his Mid Mod, Randt drove the four-cylinder car with plenty of gusto. He later claimed a runner-up finish in the car.

I didn't find out just how long he will be driving this car, so stay tuned for further developments. It is almost time for the Randt boys to start school again for 2025 in Siren, Wisconsin.

The track was about as fast and in as good of shape as I have seen it on my visits here this year.

While some tracks slip a bit when it comes to keeping fans informed during their championship nights, announcer Kyle Hall was up on things and we got a report before and after every feature.

Without doubt, the best feature race of the night was produced by the Street Stocks. Their main came right down to the wire, both regarding the race winner and also the season points.

Kolton Brauer was leading the track points and started the feature from the outside pole. But, as much as he wanted to win the feature, fatten his national and track points, he simply couldn't hold off the charge of Tommy Pogones. Pogones trailed him for the first four laps before he made a pass for the lead. Once Pogones took the lead, the calculations started to churn. Pogones was far from out of the woods, however, as seventh-starter Ty Agen came storming to the front. In a highlight of the night, Pogones and Agen then battled for the lead. Lap after lap, Agen tried to get a nose inside Pogones, but Pogones held him off. Things were really tight, but I didn't see any banging going on by either driver, even as they raced inches apart. Agen was trying to get inside the leader, while Pogones was trying to pinch down from the outside and yet somehow, they continued to race cleanly.

They took it right to the finish, with Pogones holding on for the thrilling win. A lot of credit goes to Agen as well, who had plenty of chances to make it physical for the lead and the win. But Agen played him clean, which was refreshing to watch. Brauer held onto third, and he was the point champion by the slimmest of numbers, one to be exact.

Early this season, Ryan Mikkelson told me he had two plans for the 2024 racing season. One was to run the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series and the other was to go for the points title at Granite City, because it’s so generous.

Sunday night he completed half the task in grand fashion. Not only did he win the points title, he drove to victory lane on the last regular season race. In the nonstop Late Model feature, Danny Vang started on the pole and led the first 10 laps but Mikkelson, who likes to run the cushion here, got his momentum up and swept past Vang at the halfway point of the race.

Shane Sabraski, who started seventh, really picked up the pace and started to narrow Mikkelson's lead. Mikkelson did a great job weaving through the heavy traffic as they overlapped some of the slower cars, and that made the difference. He lengthened his lead and then drove home for the win ahead Sabraski and Vang.

David Simpson is chasing a national title in the Mid Mods and he would have loved to be able to secure another win this weekend before they made the long pull home, but even though he started on the pole, he wasn't able to get the job done. The problem? Last year's national champion Zach Benson was in strong form Sunday as well.

While Simpson led the first eight laps, Benson got up on the cushion and blew past Simpson to take over the lead. He then ran away for the win in a race slowed just once by the yellow flag. As Benson pulled away, Corey Mehrwerth used the same tactic to take second away from Simpson and that's the way they finished. Mehrwerth was still happy though, as he claimed the points title.

An interesting thing happened just as the Super Stock feature was ready to begin. Two of the banks of lights in turns two and down the back chute went out. After working on them for a few minutes, track officials said they conducted a survey of the drivers and all wanted to continue racing. Some track vehicles were moved into that corner to shine headlights on that part of the track for aid and the race resumed. I would not have done it and it looked too dark for me to comfortably continue, but it did and there were no issues, so they dodge a bullet. Fortunately, the lights did come back on before the next feature and there were no more issues relative to the lights.

The Super Stock field here is arguably the strongest class. With current national point leader Dexton Koch flanked by Shane Sabraski, that's a pretty strong row there alone. Max Nelson grabbed the initial lead but somehow Sabraski found the holes he needed, moving from the fourth row into the lead by just lap three. He then proceeded to whip the competition. Koch eventually moved to second and tried to track down Sabraski, but there was no closing in on him as he drove to a big win. Koch and James Trantina followed, with Koch claiming the points title.

Doug Frederick led the first four laps during the Mod Four feature, one of several nonstop main events on Sunday. Dustin Holtquist drove past him and took over the point and Holtquist then had no challengers as he drove on for the win.

Randt provided the action as he worked up through the field and with a late-race pass on Luke Erlandson, took second place. Erlandson was most concerned about a clean race because his third place finish guaranteed him the points title, which was his endgame on this night.

The Modified feature also went nonstop and while Sabraski was looking for yet another multi-feature win night to wrap up the season, Benson had other ideas. He took the lead right from the drop of the green flag and found the top side to work for him, as he pulled away from the field. It took Sabraski some laps to work up from fifth, having to pass Kennedy Swan, Brandon Mehrwerth and Don Eischens to get to second. It did make his way into that spot by the halfway point of the race, but there was no catching Benson. He had a fast line and he never slowed his pace — and Sabraski simply couldn't catch him. Eischens settled for third.

By taking the green flag for the Hornet feature, Jenna Hagemann became the first-ever female champion in the history of the track, according to Hall. The race itself was dominated by Anthony Jensen, who took the lead at the drop of the green and led the entire contest without challenge.

There was a great three-car battle for second that carried out for most of the race, with Bobie Arnes holding off Hagemann and Justin Schelitzche for that position. It was a rare weekend indeed. While I saw Schelitzche race at three different tracks this weekend, he didn't win a single feature race and that is very unusual.

Wednesday, August 26

On Wednesday, August 28, we paid our second visit of the year to Thunder City Speedway in Oliver Paipoonge (Thunder Bay), Ontario for the last regular season event of the 2024 racing season.

As usual, there were four WISSOTA classes in action, with nearly 100 cars racing in just those four classes. Throw in another 20-plus unsanctioned Hornets, and the pits were busy as usual.

The tidal wave of enthusiasm over racing in this area doesn't seem to have cooled a bit, with more drivers and new drivers added to the fields every week. There is also a large number of really young drivers, particularly in the Hornet class. There are a lot of female drivers, too, all of those good indicators that racing will continue to thrive in a traditional racing stronghold. More and more sponsors have also come on board to support the teams and track itself. The future looks bright.

Fan interest doesn't seem to have waned at all. During kind of a crummy weather night, the stands were still packed and the 50/50 was a ridiculous $9,173!

Thunder City crowns their champions based on total track points for the season.

Folks in this area are really excited about some of their drivers who are in the mix for WISSOTA National Championships in three different classes. David Simpson (Midwest Mods), Rick Simpson (Super Stocks) and Cole Chernosky (Modifieds) all still have legitimate chances of winning national titles or at the minimum, top-five finishes. It also indicates the level of commitment some of these teams have put forth. David Simpson, for instance, went all the way to Miller, South Dakota to find sunshine and racing.

Thunder City almost always has a very hard and slick racing surface, and brute horsepower will not win here. Getting into and out of the corners makes or breaks you here. For new drivers, it can be tricky. Even many of the weekly drivers struggle to get their cars to turn at this track, and there is no high banking to bail you out either.

With a curfew and plenty of races to be run, you better be on time if you are coming here to watch the races as, for example, on this night the first Street Stock heat took the green flag about five minutes before the advertised time! That was after a very nice rendition of both The Star Spangled Banner and O Canada.

With such large fields of cars, B features were held in the Street Stock and Mid Mod divisions. Thunder City is averaging more than 40 Mid Mods per night for the season (Isn't that crazy?!). There are drivers who haven't qualified for a main event all year and there can't be another track in all of WISSOTA that can claim that.

Certainly the most compelling and competitive main event of the night was the Modified feature. This race had the most lead changes and the closest battle at the end. Kevin Adams is not exactly chopped liver, but to come into Cole Chernosky's house and beat him was an impressive feat. He had his hands full with Chernosky right up to the end of the race, however.

Shawn Polonoski led the first lap of this race until he was overtaken by Curtis Stieh. He held the top spot for a few laps before Joel Cryderman got by. It looked like the veteran driver might take home the win.

There was a lot of battling back behind him for position however, and in one of the scrums a marker tire from the corner was kicked out onto the racing surface. In a call that loomed large in the outcome of the race — and one that was disputed — Chernosky was sent to the back of the field for hitting the tire. Fortunately for him, the field of drivers was not large and he made his way back to the front. Unfortunately, it took valuable laps for him to do so.

Adams started eighth and after searching around on the track, he found a line that worked for him where no one else was running. That is not out of the ordinary for him, as he often runs a line that others can't or won't use. He drove by Cryderman to take the lead and began to pull away, while Chernosky was marching back up through the field. Chernosky got to second but Adams was comfortably in front when the yellow waved with just three laps to go.

I thought that perhaps Adams might be in trouble at this point, but he stayed true to his line, running the middle and top in turns one and two, and low in three and four. He put distance on Chernosky, as Chernosky surprisingly could not provide a challenge for him at the end. It was a bit of tit-for-tat, as Chernosky took a feature win not so long ago at Rice Lake one Saturday night. Chernosky was the track champion.

The Street Stock feature was dominated by track champion Kyle Bolt. He started in the third row and it took him just three laps to pass early leader Justin Tougas for the point. After that, he checked out on the field. After some good battling for position, Nathan Henny eventually claimed second.

This was a rare race for the Streets, as the class had a tough time putting in laps without yellows and wrecks during my previous visits here. That was not the case Wednesday. After an early spin slowed the pace, the rest of the race went green to checkers and every single driver in the 20-car field was still around for the completion of the race.

The Mid Mods nearly matched the effort of the Street Stocks. They had only two yellow flags and again, all 20 starters were around to take the checkered flag.

In this class, the question most of the year was not who will win, but how many laps it would take David Simpson to take the lead. His dominance against such a large field of drivers week after week defies the odds, but he played craps again tonight and came up a winner. It took him 10 laps to come from eighth for the victory.

David Kivi was the early leader but couldn't hold off Tanner Ulakovic, who passed him for the point. Ulakovic, in return, couldn't protect the bottom when Simpson came calling, slipped up the track in turn two, and Simpson was right there to drive by him and pull away. He took the win and claimed the title.

The Super Stocks had a tough go of it on Wednesday; keeping their race cars pointed the correct direction was a challenge for many. This race was stopped a numbing seven times for one-car spins mostly. In turn, this put pressure on the leaders to not mess up, with the field regrouped so many times.

Danny Young took the lead from the second row on the opening lap, as he ran the top side of the track. It was a lane not popular with many drivers, but one that Young made work. Nathan Roy and Rick Simpson pressured him in the early going. Meanwhile, Chernosky — who started eighth — slowly fought his way forward once again.

He had a fight with Simpson before taking second and also with Young, who fought hard on the cushion. Eventually Chernosky would gained the edge and took the lead. He then had to maintain that spot through a number of slowdowns that bunched up the field.

However, he was up for it and went on for the win. Second was traded back and forth several times before Young claimed the position, while Simpson won the track championship with his third-place finish.

Thunder City Speedway has one more weekend of racing on their schedule and it is a big one. September 20-21 they present their annual Dirt Track Nationals sponsored by the Thunder Bay Truck Centre.

A visit to Thunder City and Thunder Bay is always a pleasant one, even if the trip home is a demon. Everyone is so friendly and accommodating and they make a visit so enjoyable.

There can be no finer hosts and ambassadors for their track and community than the good folks at the Thunder Bay Truck Centre, who always provide us with prime seats on their can. They give us VIP seats, feed us and have even clothed us in the past. What more can one ask for?

I hesitate to start naming names for fear of leaving someone out but I must give a special shout out to Clarence Downey, the general sales manager and Dave Mack, the VP and general manager for their great hospitality. We thank them very much.

Friday, August 30

Friday was a fine late August night for being outdoors and at the races. Unfortunately, the storms that roared through the area overnight on Friday did their damage. We had been on our way to Red Cedar Friday night when we learned they couldn’t get the track to dry out in time for action.

We did a 180 in the middle of the highway (legal if no one sees it, correct?) and instead pointed the vehicle north toward Minnesota and Grand Rapids Speedway. We are lucky because where we live there were several tracks running nearby.

We arrived in Grand Rapids with time to tour the pits for a bit before racing started. They were hosting the 30th annual WISSOTA Classic, featuring the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series along with four other WISSOTA-sanctioned classes running for additional money.

The top division on hand, the Late Models, offered the highest car count—27 of them signed in to race, including the top 10 in current Challenge Series points. The other classes had enough cars for two or three heats, except for the Super Stocks. They were surprisingly light for a special, with only one heat.

There were a couple of surprise additions to the field in the Late Models, with Mike Winn pulling all the way to Grand Rapids from Bourbonnais, Illinois where he typically runs UMP events. New-to-me driver Josh Clark was also on hand from Kelly Lake. He, unfortunately, had problems during qualifying and was not seen again on the track.

Jeff Provinzino had his car reskinned in a tribute to the late Scott Bloomquist. It was not too many years ago when I was stunned to see Bloomquist walking around in the pits at Proctor, as Provo and Bloomquist worked on some projects together.

They had their share of rain up here earlier this week, too. The first and second turn, the one shaded from the sun by the pines, was quite wet and required extra attention from the track crew.

Gunner Frank, running solo this weekend, set quick time as the 20th car to take timed laps, with a hot lap of 13.456 seconds. The track was fast early on.

The heat races tore by and there was bite galore. When there is, there generally aren't too many spins. The 12 qualifying events included just two yellows, though there was a dust-up in one of the Modified heats between a couple of the competitors who then slopped it over onto the scale area after the race.

A little more water during intermission and one more blading of the choppy south end and it was time to go feature racing. The regroomed south corner was finished off with the large ridges of dirt seemingly left in a place, where they might be an obstacle for drivers taking the outside line. That was the case indeed, as we later saw in the Late Model main.

In summary, three of the five feature races were dominated by one driver, who left the pack behind and drove to a big win. The other two mains were hotly contested, both with multiple yellows that kept things bunched and the competitors scrambling.

The Late Models were racing for $3000, the opener of a three night series for them after Proctor was rained out on Thursday. The points chase in the Challenge Series is very close, with Dakota drivers Cole Searing and Tyler Peterson headed for a battle right to the end.

On this night, Peterson was in the hunt throughout the race for the win, while Searing passed a large number of cars to get a decent finish and mitigate the early damage to his points fight.

For Kevin Burdick, he won his first-ever Challenge Series race after starting on the outside pole. The win was certainly not an easy one, however, as he was challenged constantly through many yellows.

Frank led the first lap but Burdick made a bold move on lap two, somehow finding enough room on the high side of the track to slip past Frank down the front chute and take over the lead. After that, he was under the gun through 38 more laps and seven yellow flags but never did falter.

Frank and Peterson battled behind him with Jeff Massingill and Shane Sabraski also pulling in to challenge.

The race ran off 15 laps of clean running and then, after the first yellow for a minor spin, the race bogged down badly with six more yellows in approximately 20 laps. Several drivers doing well were bit by those yellows. That included Billy Kendall, who was up to fourth before he spun, Ryan Mikkelson, and Peterlin, who hit the big dirt bank inconveniently left on the front chute. He nearly tore off the whole front end on his car. He was hot and understandably so.

Through all these slow downs, Burdick continued to lead as he worked the outside line, despite frequent challenges on his inside. The biggest brew-ha-ha came with only three laps to go when Sabraski and Massingill, battling for second, came together in turn one following the sixth restart, with Massingill going around. Sabraski was tagged for that one, and the early reviews from the audience were mixed at best.

Once again, Burdick was up for the challenge as he fought off what was perhaps the stiffest challenge of the entire race when Massingill got beside him with just two laps to go. Burdick hit his marks and pulled away slightly to claim the win. Peterson settled for third and took over the WCS point lead, but Searing was able to drive from 14th to fifth and is only one point in arrears with three races left.

While Sabraski had to have been a bit perturbed following the Late Model event, he salvaged some consolation in the fact that he was still a double feature winner, dominating both the Super Stock and Modified events.

Sabraski started on the pole for the Super Stock feature and he was gone from the short field in a flash, pulling away and never challenged. The battle for second was a good one though, as Daulton Carlson, Kyle Copp, D.J. Keeler and Matt Sparby raced close and hard for those spots.

One yellow, just past halfway, bunched the field but Sabraski pulled away again and won by almost a half lap over the field. Carlson had perhaps his finest run of the year, finishing second and actually pulling away from both Copp and Sparby who finished behind him.

With Johnny Broking, slated to start third, a DNS for the Modified feature, the field was crossed over and Ryan Jensen got to lead the first lap. However, Sabraski then drove by him to take over the point and with this race going green to checkers, Sabraski was again the class of the field. He won by a half lap over the field.

There was a good battle for second between Jody Bellefeuille and Kennedy Swan, with Swan getting by briefly. Bellefeuille moved back under her in turn one, however, and regained the spot. They finished in that order.

The Pure Stocks concluded the night with a less-than-memorable event, but one that tied for the most yellows. They managed to slow the action seven times in 15 laps, due to wild driving and over-aggressive behavior.

Austin Carlson led the first nine laps of the race as he fought off multiple challenges. Dustin Puffe was the driver on the move, starting fifth and gradually moving into contention. Following the second yellow, he got under Carlson and took over the lead, which he then held the last six laps of the race.

While Puffe was in control, it was crazy behind him, with a lot of banging and bashing. Both Carlson and Chaston Finckbone were taken out in the last four laps. The running order kept getting shuffled as more and more fans called it a night, but Puffe held on amid the wild action to claim the win over Finckbone and Carlson. About half the starting field was left on the track.

A very nice crowd was on hand for the finale of the racing season at the track.

Saturday, August 31

The inaugural Dairyland Dash kicked off Saturday, August 31 at Rice Lake Speedway. One of the first plans revealed by the new owners of the speedway earlier this year after purchasing the speedway was to hold a two-day event and really finish up the year with a bang.

And that they did - more than 160 drivers from four states were on hand for opening night action on Saturday. The owners put up a very nice purse for this race and since the racers showed up in droves, and there was great support from the business community, look for either the purse to increase next year or the draw fees to be reduced or eliminated or perhaps both.

For the first time this year, the overflow pit area just south of the pit entrance had to be used. But like many other tracks this year, trying to catch a break from the weather has been like pulling teeth. The new management team here has had to deal with an awful lot in their first year, from many rainouts to other bad weather issues. Now, for their biggest race, they had to deal again with wet weather that was not even a consideration earlier in the day.

As the heat races progressed on Saturday, there were a few weird looking clouds that started to pop up. So, when the track prep crew came out to disc the track before the Modified heats and it started raining, I was shocked. Showing as just a blip on some radars and not at all on others, a storm literally popped right over the track. It poured hard for about five minutes, turning the track and the infield into a mess.

Management didn't give up like I was ready to and slowly but surely brought the track back from the dead. This was a slow process however, and took hours to get accomplished. I believe the rain delay to be about three hours; racing resumed at about 11:23 pm. A considerable number stuck it out, with many having been soaked during the storm.

What a difference in the race track! It went from black and slick and close to a locked-down situation to a hammer-down track that was blinding fast. The races right after they got back to it were hair raising they were so fast, but by the last two features the track was excellent. It helped both the Super Stocks and Modifieds put on a whale of a show.

From what I could see, the drivers were very helpful with just about everyone out on the track, putting in laps to help it roll in once they were asked. The cooperation was much more than I was expecting.

In an effort to mitigate the late hour as much as possible, the feature races were run at their usual Saturday night distance, not at the extra distances proposed for the weekend. They cut laps in the Street Stock main, as they had all sorts of trouble putting in green flag laps.

A few random tidbits from the evening include the fact that two drivers lost heat race wins because they failed to go to the scales. That has been a reoccurring theme here this year, and I just can't for the life of me figure out how a driver forgets to scale after a race. They are warned in the driver's meeting, told over the Raceceivers, and there are signs everywhere pointing them to the scales.

If there are two drivers having more bad luck this year than anyone I know, it has to be Adam Soltis and Jay Kesan. It seems like every week these two are involved in wrecks not of their own doing. It happened again Saturday when Kesan rode the wrecker after being at the bad end of a tangle. Meanwhile, a spinning car tore the whole side off of Soltis' car.

Soltis, by the way, rushed back to Wisconsin to race this weekend after he was at a huge Stock Car special out of state.

Another driver at that race, William Nusser from Kansas, was busy trying to convert his Stock Car to a legal Super Stock.

Tucker Quinn was on hand for the first time since he took a terrible wall banging trip in his Super Stock at a nonsanctioned track. The team obtained a used but in good condition TRC chassis, which they thrashed to get ready. They plan to run this car until their new TRC, now ordered, is delivered. I assume it will be for the 2025 racing season. With the track so fast right after the rain, they opted not to attempt a B feature run.

Cole Elton was driving the Mid Mod run this season by Zach Benson, and boy, did he give it a good ride. He finished fourth in the MidMod feature.

The crowd was in a generous mood on Saturday, with the 50/50 Split the Pot being more than $1,100.

There were two more disqualifications during the feature racing action, as two Mid Mods were tossed after finishing in the top three for deck height violations. Geez, I hate when this happens. Does deck height really matter that much, especially from cars that have gone through tech multiple times? I don't get it.

Zach Manley, son of Adams Automotive owner Todd, was out for just the second time this year, having previously raced at the Little Dream. Again, he showed good speed on Saturday before having issues and not getting a finish. When I talked to him he seemed to indicate that he might be thinking about racing more next year.

It was good to see Paul Suzik in the field on Saturday, but it seems every time he tows down here to race, he gets in the middle of something. Saturday it was a first lap tangle, when one of the cars starting right up front spun right into traffic and the result was not good.

Cole Spacek blew the motor in his Modified in hot laps but father Jeff let him run his car on Saturday night. They returned to Phillips, changed a motor overnight, and returned with the car to run on Sunday.

There were a couple of spectacular drives made among all the hubbub of the goofy night. Curt Myers tracked down Dexton Koch in the Super Stock feature and made the winning pass as they raced to the white flag. It was an impressive and controlled drive he made. Son Alex also made a big late charge into the top five at the race's completion.

Shane Halopka had a miracle finish in the Modified feature. He was running about seventh when he brushed with another car and found himself against the frontstretch wall, backward. He was given his spot back and I am still trying to figure out who got ticketed for that yellow.

Nevertheless, Halopka, who restarted seventh, then took off like he was shot out of a gun. He ran the extreme high side of the track and literally passed four cars in front of him in just a lap.

He was all over Blaeser at the end for the win and except for Blaeser making his car real wide and Halopka chosing to run him clean, we easily could have seen a lead change right at the end.

Boy, when the track opens up and the drivers can race all over, they have no trouble putting on a show.

It was good to see Racer's For Christ chaplain Travis Kahlsdorf on hand to give the opening prayer. He is a real big race fan and does get to a considerable number of tracks each year. However, with a long drive home ahead of him and church first thing on Sunday, he had to leave before the delayed features began.

It was too bad it turned out to be such a late night. They had some really cool looking trophies to hand out and it would have been nice to hear from the winners in victory lane.

The final checkered waved at 2:27 a.m. on Sunday morning. It was not the latest I was ever at a track, that being the 5:17 a.m. finish at a race once in Oklahoma, but it sure did make the top five. It's not anything that anyone would hope for, but my guess is that years from now, everyone will remember this race, if for no other reason than how late is got done.

Sunday, September 1

I was able to find out more about William Nusser’s effort in my follow-up from Saturday’s action at Rice Lake. He was indeed driving an IMCA and sometime USRA Stock Car that he had converted to be legal to race with the WISSOTA Super Stocks. His wife is from Bruce, Wisconsin and his in-laws are from the Bruce area. His goal was to race in front of them once at Rice Lake Speedway. He was also at the big Stock Car show in Iowa and pitted very close to Ladysmith's Adam Soltis, and that helped them decide to go up into Wisconsin and race at Rice Lake. He felt like he had the power to compete with the Super Stocks but was struggling getting the balance he needed to drive off the corners. It was also the first time that he had raced on the WISSOTA Hoosier tires, too.

In any event, he was having fun and racing for six straight nights was like a “racecation” for him, living in Kansas where things are pretty spread out and the tracks not so numerous. He also has a Late Model that he is hoping to get out a few times yet this year, racing with the High Plains series. He felt his Late Model would be pretty competitive with the cars from around here. While he uses his motor from his former USRA Modified, he must run a restrictor plate and the horsepower would be pretty similar to what our cars produce.

He is indeed the mayor of Larned, Kansas, a city of around 4,400, and has been for the last 10 years. Following his racing on Sunday, he headed back to Kansas.

There were a lot of tired looking folks stumbling around the pits on Sunday. Virtually everyone I talked to agreed that while no one wanted to be up racing to nearly 3 a.m., the alternative of afternoon racing on Sunday was worse.

Most of the folks visiting the track for the first time have had glowing things to say about the improvements and the overall appearance of the facility, which should make the new ownership happy. They spent a lot of time and money for that very impression.

Does anyone else know that the Jason Fall Modified is the old car of Al Uotinen, and what was planned to be Al's last race car? However, that changed over the course of the winter and we're happy it did. Both Al and Brady ran well this weekend, and they ought to consider visiting more often in 2025.

Some interesting news for 2025 was delivered to me in the pits before Sunday's show by series promoter Dennis McCauley. It was a flyer for a new racing series to be started in 2025 called the Northland Mod Series. It seems that Joe Stariha has been kicking around the idea of starting a Modified series since there are none for this class in WISSOTA anymore. Some will remember “Como Joe” as the head of the Como Modified series, a series that in its time was far ahead of the pack in terms of what they paid and benefits they provided to the drivers. After a few years, Stariha was tired of the work involved and the beating every promoter takes. Stariha is now reinvigorated and ready to take on a new challenge.

McCauley tells me that he volunteered to help organize but that it is Stariha’s series and his idea. The initial plan is to run around eight races. No word on the tracks or nights involved.

I think it to be a great idea. My only concern is one that I have had for some time, and that’s having so many specials now running on regular race nights.

Trying to make a weekly show work these days is a big challenge and between series taking away classes and rainouts, many of our tracks have had their full group of cars in all classes for just a handful of races in 2024. I understand it’s a balancing act as well; for some reason, special events on weeknights don't seem to work as well for many tracks as they did back in “the day,” when all specials were held on weeknights.

All weekend Curt Myers and Dexton Koch put on a great show as they battled twice for the Super Stock feature wins at the Dairyland Dash. Both times Myers came out with the edge but as he mentioned in his interview Sunday, this is his home track and if they were racing in Minnesota, Koch should have the edge there. They raced very hard for both features, battling back and forth while also running each other clean.

A close runner-up to their battles were the Street Stock races between Cody Kummer and Hunter VanGilder. That was really intense and interesting.

The Split the Pot was again more than $1,000, so the fans were really generous. Also, the “hat” was passed for Darrell Nelson both nights due to his health struggles and the resulting amount donated was a very nice chunk of change too.

Scott Erickson was brought in on Sunday to do the winner's interviews and to alleviate some of the work load from announcer Ben Brost. Erickson, being a former driver, is spot-on in his observations and can ask good questions.

It was a shock to see Dave Cain pull back to the pits before the Modified feature started. He looked so fast in his heat that it would have been interesting to see what he might have had for Mike Anderson. Anderson himself was incredibly fast. It was good to have both Cain and Don Eischens, both absent from this track for many years, in attendance this weekend.

With a win on Saturday night and two top-five finishes on Sunday, Tyler Vernon was among the most consistent drivers of the weekend, particularly in the open-wheel classes. It was a good turnaround for him after he had a frustrating night on Thursday in Grand Rapids. He is one that always seems to run very well here, even in limited appearances.

Have I mentioned before how much I dislike double-file restarts? If not, let me reiterate that I despise them. The only big wreck of the night occurred during the Super Stock feature on Sunday, when something happened as the field took the green. Whether they turned on their own or were turned, the track was blocked and everyone just piled in at full speed, like lemmings heading to the sea.

There was some significant damage done, particularly to the cars of Wayne Dean, Leslie Leu and Daulton Truchon, who had a new ride, along with Andy Grymala, just back into the racing scene.

Single-file restarts go so much smoother and we don't need to artificially bunch the cars together to get a good race. Just saying.

This race marked the completion of the first year of operation for Rice Lake LLC and its owners Kolby Kiehl, Dean Kiehl and Dick Kalow. They have done a great job in their first year of operation, particularly with all the challenges that the weather threw at tracks across the region. Their physical improvements to the facility in just the first year have been breathtaking and drivers, crews and fans across the region who have visited have had many complimentary things to say. They are still learning the business but they won't be outworked to improve the racing experience at Rice Lake, that is for sure.

New clay is in the plan for the off-season plus lots of other things are in play as they have big plans and are never short on ideas to improve things. It is refreshing to go to the track and see things are improving and changing for the better on a nearly weekly basis. One driver told me this weekend that it must be nice to go to the track and see how nice everything looks and know the owners really care and are working hard to make things better for the fans and racing teams. I agree.