When the Red Cedar Speedway was left off the World of Outlaws Late Model schedule in 2023 after having been a part of the Midwestern swing the past few years, officials of the Red Cedar Racing Association opted to move in another direction in hopes of providing an open motor Late Model show to the fans of the track and Late Model fans from west central Wisconsin.
With the XR Workin' Man Series debuting in 2023, they made connections with XR Series officials and booked a race which would fall right after the USA Nationals and the XR Series event held last night at the Gondik Lake Speedway in Superior Wisconsin. Along with the open Late Models, WISSOTA sanctioned Modifieds and Street Stocks would also be racing on this gorgeous Tuesday night.
They did not expect every one of the traveling stars that raced at Gondik Law the previous night to stick around and race at Red Cedar, but they were hopeful that some would to provide a "name" recognition for the fans. Even the XR officials just weren't sure how many of the traveling open motored drivers would stay to race at this event. And while it paid ten grand to win, the drop off was quicker that their regular XR events.
They were pleased then, when fifteen of the open motor cars towed to Red Cedar to race on Tuesday including such drivers as Weiss, Strickler, Gustin, English, T. Erb, Winger, Larson and Hoffman. Several of the area drivers who primarily race under the WISSOTA banner also have second cars with open motors and the final tally was fifteen open motors and nine WISSOTA spec engine cars in the field. The number of cars proved to be just perfect as there could be three full heats, no B Feature necessary on a week night at the track with a strict curfew and everyone would leave with at least a grand in their pockets.
There were also a couple of bonuses for the drivers that were surprisingly never once mentioned by the announcers but were interesting nevertheless. There would be a bonus for the top three drivers that were running WISSOTA spec engines, obviously as an incentive for them to race and help fill what they were afraid might be a short field. The second bonus was for the highest three finishers that arrived on open trailers, a bonus designed with Jeff Broeg in mind. A.J. Diemel would top both bonuses and for his efforts would go home with an extra two grand along with his eighth place finish of $1,600; he did quite well on the night.
An interesting change up saw Tyler Erb in one of Jimmy Mars' yellow #28 cars on this night. A number of the teams traveling through the area hung out at Mars' show while in town and with Erb wanting to take a night off from his regular ride and nothing to lose, he decided to have fun and run something else on this night. He and Mars' regular driver Dustin Sorensen then decided to mess with everyone on hand as Erb put a "D" by his number while Sorensen put a "T" by his, thus totally screwing everyone up, most particularly announcer "Big Boy."
The format for the Late Models was pretty straight forward, with one group of qualifying and then three heats and a fifty lap main. Tanner English would be quick qualifier at 15.987 seconds on a dry track and after winning a heat race, he would start on the pole for the main.
The Late Model feature race itself was quite a good race and seemingly, much more competitive that the XR race the previous night. English would take the early lead and in fact, lead the first forty one laps of the race. He was running the top side and banging off the walls on each turn but he was making that line work. He was challenged by both Ashton Winger, and then Ryan Gustin until Nick Hoffman picked up the pace. Hoffman would throw a nasty slider on Gustin to take over third and then track down Winger for second.
At the halfway point of the race, Kyle Strickler would move into fourth ahead of Winger. Chad Mahder had been running in the top five until he stuck his car into the wall on lap twenty one, triggering the only yellow of the contest.
The second half of the race was a good two car battle as English would continue to lead, running the treacherous outside line with Hoffman trying to get inside of him at every turn. Finally, with just ten laps to go, English was jump the cushion seriously and by the time he dug himself out of the berm and got going, Hoffman had passed him for the lead and would then drive away in the last ten laps for the win.
While the leader pulled away, second through fifth were in a tight battle for those spots. Ricky Weiss, who started seventeen, made a terrific run to the front, especially considering that he had only that single yellow to help him with bunched up traffic as he used the low line and drove under English in the last few laps to grab second. Erb would also pass the fading English for third and Winger would round out the top five.
There was only the single yellow flag and fifteen drivers would finish the race. A number pulled off after running some laps as the purse breakdown would see tenth through twenty sixth get paid the same.
Along with the Late Models, WISSOTA sanctioned Modifieds and Street Stocks would also race a full program. The nineteen car Modified field would see Cory Mahder make a lap four pass on Mike Anderson and then drive away from the field for a dominating win, his first at this track in 2023. Shane Halopka would come home second and Anderson would hold off Kennedy Swan for third.
The Street Stocks would start twenty one cars in a race that would see a photo finish, as the Street Stock events often are in this area. Hunter VanGilder would make a three wide pass on the opening lap to take the lead, a lead he would hold for the whole race but not without heavy pressure on him.
On the last lap, Kyle Gennett would get inside VanGilder down the back chute and they would race to the finish line side by side, with VanGilder the winner by .040 seconds over Gennett and Cole Richards.
One complication on Tuesday was that the nice and new scoreboard here was not in operation so guessing where we were with laps in the main events was a bit of an adventure.
This race was a veritable bargain for both the fans and racers. Despite the fact that a ten thousand dollar to win race was contested along with full shows in two other classes, admission for the fans was just twenty bucks and it was just thirty bucks to get into the pits, a bargain indeed.
Thanks to all the officials and officers of the Red Cedar Racing Association and the XR officials, led again by Bucky Doren, for their help on this night.
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