Wagamon Mops Up at USMTS Princeton Mod Wars

 The first night of the "Mod Wars USMTS vs. WISSOTA" was dominated by local driver Clayton Wagamon who led all fifty laps on the high banked quarter mile oval at the Princeton Speedway to earn a resounding victory over the traveling crew from USMTS and a solid field of thirty one drivers just about evenly split between USMTS regulars and local and regional WISSOTA drivers.  

Wagamon, who is the current point leader at the track for the weekly WISSOTA shows, used that knowledge to find the quick way around the quarter mile and then fight off both challenges from other drivers as well as successfully work his way through some occasionally heavy traffic to win his first ever USMTS win. 

Three divisions of WISSOTA sanctioned racing were also on the program Friday night, with Dustin Holtquist, Dexton Koch and Jason VandeKamp the winners in those main events. 

With a "feels like" temperature of ninety nine degrees when the first green flag was waved, it was another hot evening in the upper Midwest but a nice sized crowd was on hand, curious to see if their Friday night heroes could match up with the traveling Modified drivers that were in town for this special event and in the end, they held up rather well, thank you. 

For the first time in well over a week, weather almost played a part in the proceedings on Friday as we watched from the grandstand to see big thunder heads build almost right over the race track and the lighting show as they drifted off to the East was impressive but they didn't threaten the racing action. 

The track prep crew was challenged on this day as along with the exceedingly hot temperatures, a strong wind was blowing but the crew, headed by promoter Nate Fischer, did a fine job and gave the racers a good track on which to run. 

The usual format for USMTS was in play with Talon Willis the quickest overall at 13.943 seconds with the second group, headed by Ryan Gierke, nearly a half second slower at 14.351 seconds. Ironically, while both Willis and Gierke showed big speed early, after having good runs for part of the feature race, neither would be on the track at the finish. 

Four heats, a B Feature and then the provisional starters added on the back gave the fans a twenty seven driver starting field for the fifty lapper around the Princeton oval. Wagamon started on the outside pole for the main event and took an early lead over Willis. Trevor Hughes was strong early as he drove under Willis for second and began to pressure the leader. Wagamon was driving the high side, dangerously close to dropped off the banking on the steep track which has no outside walls, thus if you get just over the edge, you drop off to the run off area but there is no saving the car if you do so, it is all or nothing. 

Nevertheless, for Wagamon with much experience racing here, it was just a routine run but he did an exceptional job of working the lapped traffic, keeping distance between himself and Hughes. By the halfway point of the race, Wagamon continued to lead over Hughes and Willis with Gierke having worked his way up to fourth and Brandon Davis quietly cracking the top five. 

The scoreboard went dark just before the feature started so it was difficult to tell just where we were in the race, a fact that Wagamon mentioned after the feature was concluded but something we fans were grumbling about even before that. 

Lap thirty one found fourth place Gierke slowing and pulling off the track, done for the night. Davis was now up to fourth with Zach Benson cracking the top five. Four laps later, Willis would be done for the night with a flat tire and Davis was now up to second, having passed Hughes for that position. 

The final fifteen laps went green to checkers. Davis was trying just a lane lower than Wagamon was running to find some bite but the momentum favored Wagamon as long as he didn't dance off the ends as the track was getting increasingly tricky as the laps clicked off. Davis pushed as hard as possible but it was clear it was Wagamon's race to lose but Clayton had a steady grip on the wheel and rode the cushion home to take the win. Davis finished a strong second with Rodney Sanders, Jake Timm and Kyle Brown all making progress in the last twenty laps to finish behind the two leaders. Only six drivers dropped out of the fifty lapper and a key to victory was Wagamon ability to get through traffic and maintain his lead. 

For those that don't know, Wagamon's parents and grand parents are the promoters here at the Princeton Speedway. Fischer has been hired by them to run the weekly shows but they write the checks at this Mille Lacs County  fairgrounds facility. Wagamon's also own the Ogilvie Raceway where they will be racing at on Saturday night with Fischer in charge their also. 

Princeton Speedway went viral this week on the internet after a robber tried to steal one of the track's water trucks during the week. He was caught on video cameras taking the truck but instead of driving it away, he ended up crashing it into the welcome gate to the fairgrounds. He went off in cuffs and while the fender was bent, Fischer was using that same truck to water the track on Friday night!

VandeKamp, the track point leader in the Midwest Modifieds, dominated the twenty driver field in that class, leading from start to finish and never being seriously challenged. He started in the second row but passed both Ariel Mueller and Brady Larson before the first lap was completed and after that, it was a battle for second amongst the rest of the field as he was long gone. 

Larson and Dustin Nelson would maintain second and third for the first half of the race but Ryan Putnam made a charge after that, working his way into second in the final few laps and with a late, two lap dash to the finish, providing VandeKamp his toughest challenge but no positions were changed as Vande drove on for the win. Nelson held on for third. 

Dexton Koch grabbed the lead early in the Super Stock feature and despite several very fast drivers chasing him, he held his line and fought off the other drivers as he drove on for the win. Using the high side, he rode off the banking and built up a nice sized lead early as Dustin Nelson, Dylan Kromschroder and Shane Sabraski all battled for second. Sabraski got to that spot by the halfway point of the race and it looked like a battle might be brewing but on this night, it was Koch that had the fastest line. 

With only a single yellow at the halfway point of the race, Koch kept pushing hard and he pulled away from the field. Sabraski did a very rare fade for him, dropping from second as both Kromschroder and a late charging Dylan Nelson got past him. 

Holtquist was the third leader in a competitive Mod Four feature that had three different leaders over the twenty lap distance. Andrew Funt led the opening lap before being passed by Ashton Schwinn for the lead. Holtquist started sixth but quickly moved into contention and as Schwinn rode the cushion on the track, Holtquist was nailed to the inside line which worked for him as he drove under Schwinn on the seventh lap for what would be the winning pass. 

The second half of the race got tedious with multiple yellows for spins that kept bogging down the race and finally forced officials to line the driver up single file with the hopes of finally being able to complete the event. 

Holtquist kept maintaining the lead, despite all the disruptions and despite Schwinn going back to the cushion and making some progress on cutting the lead, Holtquist held on for the win with Dustin's father Bob racing up to third despite having smashed his bumper on one of the ute tires during the race. The last race took some time and the final checkers waved just at the 11 pm track curfew for a track that sits right in the city of Princeton and is bordered on one side by state highway 169 and by a cemetery to the North of the track. 

The Princeton Speedway races every Friday night all Summer and features a number of WISSOTA sanctioned classes. 

Jim Chisholm Holds Off Challengers at Park Jeff

 Nigh number one of the South Dakota Challenge took place on Wednesday night, July 15th at the Park Jefferson International Speedway located near Jefferson South Dakota. The USMTS Modifieds were the traveling attraction featured on this night with three other support classes also a part of the program. 

The USMTS will race one more night here in South Dakota before moving further North and racing the Mod Wars at three tracks in Minnesota before this long week of racing will be complete for them. Tanner Mullens currently leads the USMTS points but has Brandon Davis, Jim Chisholm and Rodney Sanders all within a hundred points of him and many more nights of racing still left to go in this season. 

It was another hot and humid race day in the Midwest, as it has been for nearly a week already but promoter Trent Chinn and his crew did a great job prepping the track for racing action. The track stayed smooth all night with drivers using multiple grooves on this now high banked facility with the old track just a mere memory these days, the new configuration so much vastly superior. 

Positively Racing's kingpin, Jeff Broeg was calling the action on Wednesday night, as he will be for most of the weekend, having only to return to Osky on Thursday to call a Sprint Invaders show there before getting back on the highway and making what could be a harrowing trip North through the Twin Cities on a Friday to get to Princeton Speedway, the destination for the USMTS troops as they begin their Minnesota swing. 

Car counts for the USMTS events have been a concern at times this year and this swing North would showcase some of those issues. The top thirteen drivers in USMTS points were on hand, but not much else. The problem when racing at a place like Park Jeff is that all the local drivers are of the IMCA persuasion and most of them feel they aren't competitive against the more open motored entrants plus there is also an issue with the tire brand used. USMTS does what they can to make it easier to race, but its is a difficult problem. Once they move North into Minnesota, the more equal WISSOTA competitors will be on hand to protect their home turf. 

Eighteen drivers signed in to race on this night, but I heard no complaints from crowd members so it appeared they were just happy to see these drivers in action, even if there weren't a ton of them. And to the credit of USMTS, instead of trying to drag out the proceedings by making three heats out of what they had, they instead lumped the field into two big heats and then just raced a feature event and again, I heard no one complain when they did so. 

The USMTS still qualifies their drivers with Jim Chisholm, the seventeenth driver out, setting fast time at 15.796 seconds which is pretty impressive. They then picked their starting spots for their heats, earned points through those events and that set the running order for their forty lap main event. 

I thought the top side of the track was slowing down by the time the Modifieds took the green flag for their race, but Talan Willis proved me wrong by getting the jump on Chisholm to take the early lead. Willis was fast and opened up a decent sized lead in the early going but eventually Chisholm, who dragged along Tanner Mullens and Rodney Sanders, started to close up on him. 

Willis was having a terrible time getting past the first back marker and was losing his lead quickly as he just couldn't find a way past that slower driver. Finally, just as the race reached its midpoint, that driver pulled into the infield, giving Willis a clear track again. However, things came completely unglued for Willis when he clobbered one of the corner ute tires and spun out, triggering the first yellow flag of the race. Willis retired from the event at this point, either due to damage or perhaps just out of frustration. 

In any event, this elevated Chisholm to the top spot but the restart allowed Mullens to get a great run on the top side and take over the lead for a few laps before Chisholm would be able to pass him on the bottom and again claim the top spot.  However, things got quite tough for him at the end as his own bouts with the ute tires had left his front end damaged also and his handling seemed to go drastically away on him in the closing laps. 

Kyle Brown had muscled his way into second where he battled with Mullens with both putting pressure on Chisholm who was just trying to "horse" his car around the track the last few laps. Near disaster struck when as the leaders came around corner four on the last trip, that same driver that had given Willis so much grief earlier was back at it, spinning right in front of Chisholm and forcing him into evasive action. But what was worse was now the race wasn't over but instead went into a two lap sprint to conclude the race. 

However, Chisholm got away well and Brown was fighting with Mullens for second which caused them to lost touch with the leader, and Chisholm took advantage of that to drive home for the win. Mullens out fought Brown for second with Sanders and Brandon Davis completing the top five. Only three drivers failed to finish the event. 

There were also three support classes in action with Hobby Stocks, B Mod/Sport Mods and Stock Cars all racing a full show. Their numbers were relatively small in all three classes but again, a disparity between rules packages is and was a problem for some of those classes. 

The Hobby Stock feature did see a good race in their main however, with three different leaders in the first four laps. Dustin Gulbranson was followed by Nick Brady and then Landon Krohn as the leader with Krohn taking that spot on lap four and then leading the rest of the way. 

It was far from an easy win, as Gulbranson put heavy pressure on in the later laps. In fact, if Krohn hadn't used a lot of track, he likely would have been passed but each time Gulbranson made a run at him down the chutes, Krohn bowed out and cut off his line and Gulbranson played it clean rather than just dumping him. They finished in that order with Brady third. Wyatt Johnson, in fifth, received "Best in Class" honors for IMCA as their DOT tires certainly put them at a disadvantage against the wide tires that USRA allows, which likely explains why there were not more locals entered. 

The Stock Car feature was even better with a very close finish favoring Greg Peck over Ryan Harris, two drivers that race here often as the difference in rules for the Stock Cars was not so glaring. 

There were actually four different leaders in this eighteen lap race with Peck out front early before Colby Klaassen led a lap, only to have Peck get back in front. 

Then Chad Overgaard led for a lap before Harris took the lead on lap sixteen and the final battle was on. Peck moved to the cushion and challenged Harris on the final few circuits and on the last corner got a great run off the banking and swept past Harris on the high side, scrapping right up against the concrete wall to make the winning pass in what was a thrilling finish to the Stock Cars. 

The B Mods/Sport Mods often race against each other straight up these days and they seem fairly well suited to each other. They had the biggest field with twenty three drivers signing in to race and all would start the twenty lap main. 

Brock Hess led the opening lap but he was passed on the inside by Duke Erickson one lap later who was working well right on the inside. Erickson was getting great bite off the corners and would surge ahead as he stayed nailed to the inside line. 

This race had more issues than the others, with the yellow flying five times for spins. However, with pressure on him on each restart, Erickson would again hold off the others and then stretch his advantage further. 

The last came with just four laps remaining but again Erickson got a great start and was not challenged as he continued to hit his marks, lap after lap and not give anyone an opening on the inside. His last challenger was Tanner Koster who moved into second on lap thirteen after starting thirteenth on the grid as there was considerable shuffling back in the pack. Koster would hold on for second over a charger Geoff Olson, the first IMCA driver across the line. 

It was an excellent night for Erickson as not only did he win the B Mod feature, he finished eighth in the Modified feature using a 604 crate motor, a sign that perhaps more of the local Modifieds should have made an appearance on this night. As an aside, I have known "The Duke" for a lot of years and seen him race at a lot of different tracks across the country under different sanctioning bodies, but this is the first time I believe, that I had seen him win a feature so congrats to the Sioux Falls driver. 

We know the humidity helped, but I was impressed with what a nice track Chinn and his group put together for this night's program, which was a good one and promptly run off. The crowd was decent sized but late arriving on a week night which is understandable. They were no doubt also pleased when the racing action was nearly nonstop with an early conclusion. Thanks to Todd, Trenton and all the USMTS staff along with track officials from Park Jeff for their help and hard work. 

Pierce Invades, Whips Lucas Oil Regulars at Adams County

 For the first time since 2000, an open motored big Late Model race was held at the Adams County Speedway in the heart of Corning Iowa. The Lucas Oil Late Model Series made a strong here on Tuesday night, July 14th on their way to the Silver Dollar Nationals, to be held this week just up the road in Harlan. And after the kind of race that was produced on Tuesday and the crowd that attended, I'm guessing it won't be quite a quarter century before the Lucas Oil Series in back in town. What was included i all the "behind the scenes" action that took place to bring this series here I do not know and it is odd that a track that ran so many big Late Model races back in the days of the WDRL went so long before another big race was held here. Tuesday night's race here would also be the richest in track history with the winner going home with fifteen grand for a forty lap victory. 

It was another steamy day and night in what has been a whole series of "cookers" but that didn't seem to deter the crowd which filled the big grandstand here in Corning. It has been since the WDRL days I believe that I had last been here to a race, but much of what the place looked like has not changed. Parking was a challenge back then and remains so with just small lots on grounds for folks to park with most parking along the city streets and some having to walk several blocks or more to the Fairgrounds. The track is an old time Fairgrounds half mile but is located right in the city of Corning so when they have a race, literally everyone in town knows about it, with their dogs howling and their windows rattling and folks they didn't even know parking in their driveways. 

The city pool is right next door to the Fairgrounds and track and ironically, it appears the waste water treatment plant is located right behind the pool and off turn three of the track. Space is tight at this Fairgrounds for sure. 

This is one of the few half miles around not surrounded by a wall or guardrail with a big dirt bank topped with utility tires, I'm assuming to cushion the blow off turns three and four and a run off area off turns one and two, hopefully to stop before getting to the tree line on the edge of the property. Off the back straight, a corn field with the crop looking good in 2026. I know announcer James Essex was secretly hoping that someone would go flying into the corn field but it didn't happen. 

The one down side at this facility is that they still pit all the race cars in the middle of the track, something most tracks have long ago gotten away from. I suspect space limitations have had something to do with that plus quite frankly, the size and composition of their weekly fields for racing probably doesn't include thirty or more monster stacker trailers plus support vehicles.  

And for some reason they parked the Hobby Stocks in the front row and put all the big trailers in the second row, thus rendering the back straightaway just a rumor to be watched on the Jumbotron located in the infield. A forty dollar ticket to get into the races on this night provided only a view of the front straight with the back stretch purely a "hit or miss" proposition on how much you could see. To be fair to the fans, some creative thinking should be done before the next big race to figure out how and where the big rigs can be parked so that fans can have an unobstructed view of the track since they are laying down good money to see these shows. 

Typically, half mile racing does not provide the most passing and more features just the rush of very high speeds. That was not the case on this night though, as we saw plenty of passing and some good battling for position throughout the field. I sensed a note of "take this!" from the local announcers when they repeatedly reminded us that there can be passing on a half mile. And they were correct on that point. 

However, to be completely fair and transparent here, it must also be considered that the extremely humid weather of late is also a very good thing for track conditions as I have been seeing for the last week or so. Tracks have been in excellent shape for racing and minus dust and much of that has been due to the humidity, so think you can almost cut it. 

Also, if given any kind of surface at all to work with, these open motored, big horsepower Late Models will find a way to pass and race each other, that's what they do. 

The Half Mile Hustle also featured the local Hobby Stock class as their support class. They use IMCA style rules with DOT tires but are sanctioned by NASCAR as this track is one of the very few left in the Midwest still sanctioned by NASCAR. Perhaps because of that, there were very few of the drivers in this class that I was familiar with. 

The track record was blasted in time trials with Dillon McCowan setting the new one lap standard at 18.697 seconds. They have a radar gun on the front chute that times speed of the cars down the front chute and it was in the triple digit range many times with 113 mph the fastest that I saw. 

Standard format prevailed for the Lucas Series with four heats and a Last Chance race setting the order for the forty lap main event. The way the provisional starters played out, the minimum field of twenty four would start the event. 

The feature race was an entertaining event that saw three different leaders plus plenty of drama as drivers surged and the some fell back with other drivers than making the big moves. McCowan led the first eight laps from the pole as he searched for his third straight win. He would eventually fade back in the field and a trip over the edge of the track didn't help his cause. 

Early on it was Brandon Sheppard and Nick Hoffman challenging but then Sheppard faded back and Hoffman can on, taking the lead on lap nine. He was running a lower line on the track but others were up on the banking and making that work also. 

The big movers were Mike Marlar who started tenth but was up to third by the halfway point in the race and looked for all the world like the driver to beat. But as he does so often, just as we overlook Bobby Pierce he puts on a charge that leaves us wondering where he came from. He started twelfth and was going no where when suddenly something kicked in an he picked up the pace as perhaps he was saving his tires for the right moment. 

In any event, when he took off he started knocking off positions on nearly every lap and by lap thirty, he was up to second and looking for Hoffman. And just at that moment, Hoffman's car began to smoke and it just got worse on each lap. You could hear the motor starting to "lay down" as he came down the front chute but he kept his foot in it, hoping that it would hang on. 

This allowed Pierce to close up quickly but Hoffman did a good job using the track to keep Pierce at bay. Finally, with just six laps to go, Pierce made the winning pass down the front chute and then pulled away. 

As Bobby drove on for the win, there was a wild scramble for position behind him as Hoffman really started to slow on the final lap and a mad dash down the front chute to the finish. Garrett Alberson, who had lurked in the top five most of the race, was able to get second and Hoffman hung on for third. Marlar zigged when he should have zagged and he dropped back to fifth with Brian Shirley, who started eighteenth, coming home fourth. Seven drivers didn't finish but all who did were on the lead lap. 

Could Pierce have caught Hoffman in the ten remaining laps after he moved to second if Hoffman's motor hadn't started smoking? I say no but we'll never know for sure. Either way, it was a good showing by the WoO drivers, nearly finished one, two. 

The Hobby Stock feature which preceded the Late Model main didn't provide the same kind of action. Adam Hensel started on the pole and led all fifteen laps of the main. He was constantly challenged by Konner Mikesell who ran close to him for the distance, but never was able to get into a position to provide a big challenge. 

The majority of the Hobby Stocks, after some early jousting, pretty much lined up as they barreled around the track at high speed. The order got shuffled some when several of them decided to pay a trip to the outfield and check out the corn, but they all did a great job of fighting their way back on to the track and allowing the race to continue as only a single yellow slowed the action. 

Mikesell made one last challenge off turn four but he came up short as Hensel drove on for the win. Anthony Davis, Tucker Tepoel and Bennett Johnson completed the top five with only two drivers not finishing. 

Track officials had to have been thrilled with the large crowd in attendance, despite the less than perfect weather conditions. Every track official and employee I spoke with were thrilled and honored to be allowed to host such a high level event and they were all great to work with, pleasant and accommodating. Being nice is nice! The final checkered flag waved around the 10:30 pm time and a large number of folks then headed to the pits to meet the drivers, see the cars up close and spend a little cash on some merch and surprisingly, for what looked like such a cluster, the traffic flow leaving was very smooth and relatively quick. 

It was a good job by all involved. No doubt there were plenty of folks across the country that were looking at their atlases, trying to ascertain just where Corning Iowa was as they plan their racing vacations for 2027. 

Adams County will be one of the very few tracks that gets to host both Lucas Oil and WoO Late Model races in 2026 which is quite the jump from nothing in a quarter century to both in one year. The WoO will be at the track on August 28th. 

Sean Johnson Beats Weather and Foes at Indee Fair

 It was my first Fair of the 2026 racing season on Wednesday night, July 8th. The Buchanan County Fair was in full force and Wednesday night was the annual Fair race, this year entitled the Salute to Agriculture. The Buchanan County Fair Board was putting on this race but MVG and his crew were administering the race itself with his full crew running the program. 

It certainly felt like Fair weather as I ran into what seemed like the hottest, most sticky and uncomfortable night of the racing season so far. The humidity was so think, as the old saying goes, that you could almost cut it with a knife. There was also a distinct chance of storms and some heavy weather before the evening was over and before we were done for the night, many eyes were cast toward the Northwestern skies where the action was coming from. However, the MVG crew did a great job hustling the show along and were able to complete all racing but the Modified feature which was postponed to a later date when the conditions just started to get to the point it wasn't safe to be outside and sitting in the grandstands. It did hold off long enough though that everyone was able to get to safety before it cut loose. 

The Sport Mods had the night off but all other classes that routinely race at Inde were on hand as well as the PRO Late Models for a full program. Not to be bashing, but for an Iowa Fair race, it didn't feel like it had the "zip" I was expecting for such an event. The car counts were just average and the crowd also OK but not spectacular. Perhaps it was the heat or the threatening weather forecast that played a part in this but that special feeling of racing at a Fair in one of the states that celebrates their Fairs as much as anyone, it didn't quite have the "juice" I was expecting. 

It was only seven bucks to get in to see the races but also eight bucks to get on the grounds so it turned out to be a normal admission night. The racers also paid the seven bucks as part of their pit fees. However, the Fair Board and a lot of generous sponsors from the Buchanan County area had added many bonuses to the race program, none of which were able to be announced due to the rush to complete as much racing as possible so hopefully those folks will get their just rewards through the track's face book page or some other means. 

The track raced differently on Wednesday than I thought it had any other time I had been there and I assume that the high humidity had a big part in this. For the heat races there was one fast lane right in the middle of the track but as the humidity and cloud cover increased is seemed  like all the loose material was kicked up into that lane and the whole track became super fast with many drivers not even lifting for the corners. The motors were straining hard and we saw several that got so hot they literally blew into pieces right on the track. Even the winners, in clean air, were faced with extremely high temps in their motors and concern in their voices that they didn't "cook" their motors winning. 

The track crew was at their best on Wednesday and did their absolute best to get the whole show in. The drivers cooperated for the most part at being ready to race on short notice and those that lagged got left scrambling to catch up. The program started right at 7 pm and the heats took about fifty minutes to run off as it was a bang, bang, bang kind of show with no waiting for no one. It was announced that there would be no intermission as the weather was already starting to worsen. You can always tell that things are going "downhill" when you see folks in the crowd staring intently at their devises with furrowed brows. 

Sport Compacts were called to the line first with just a minute's break after the last Modified heat. About half the Sport Compact field lagged getting lined up and they were left holding the bad when the green flag dropped. Korey Lana in his Ford Focus started in row two on the scrambled start but had the lead after the opening lap. And he held on to the top spot for one more lap before being passed by Adam Gates. 

Gates was flying and then built up a big lead in what turned out to be a nonstop main event for the class. While Gates pulled away for an easy win, there was some good back and forth battling for second through fifth with Tyler Mannion claiming the runner up slot over Drew Stanek who came from deep in the pack. 

The Hobby Stock feature was very spirited with plenty of action, slide jobs and hard side by side racing. The track was so fast that many were not even lifting for the corners, just letting their sideways action slow them down just enough to turn through the corners. 

Carson Butt took the initial lead but right behind them Dalton Weepie and Quinton Miller were putting on a show as they took turns sliding each other in the corners, racing incredibly hard. Eventually Miller would claim that spot and then chase down leader Butt 

One lap past the halfway point, Miller got past Butt to take over the lead and he then led the final nine laps to score the win. Coming on strong in the late going was Brett Vanous who had started way back in the fifth row but steadily moved forward in the field, taking over second following a lap eleven yellow and then giving Miller his biggest challenge of the race. Butt had to settle for third ahead of Weepie. 

Seventeen Stock Cars started their main event with Tony Olson taking the early lead as he raced off the outside pole to grab the initial lead over Tyler Ball. Vern Jackson moved into second and began to nip at the heels of Olson for the lead. 

There was some fine racing going on behind those two also with a pack of about six drivers jockeying for position from lap to lap. Tom Schmitt was on the move while track point leader Dakota Sellers was also moving up through the field. 

One lap past the half way point, the only yellow of the race was triggered when fourth running Riley Hanson spun in turn four. Olson and Jackson continued their battle for the lead once the green came back out but behind them, Schmitt and Sellers got their bumpers locked on the back chute, eventually breaking free as the race continued under the green but this action caused a mad scramble and positions changed wildly from this. 

Olson continued to lead and was able to hold off Jackson for the win but behind those two, several drivers had some positions fall into their lap due to the wild action on the back chute. Jordan Miles found his way up to third after starting tenth, Hannah Chesmore to fourth after starting eleventh and Hanson all the way from the back of the pack into fifth. 

With the wind blowing and the skies swirling, that seemed to be the end of the racing so everyone was surprised when the Late Model hurriedly hustled on to the track. As many headed for the gates and their vehicles, the Late Models took the green flag for their twenty lap finale. 

I can't explain fully but somehow, Sean Ryan, who started seventh, found himself in the lead at the end of the opening lap and that was bad news for the rest of the field. He was very fast, putting distance on his competitors and even though the race was slowed twice by yellows for slowing drivers, he would pull away once again and built his lead back up. 

He eventually had a full straightaway over the pack and was fortunate that he didn't have to deal with much lapped traffic. His dominance was complete as he drove on for a commanding win. Logan Duffy finished second in his Gary Crawford tribute car with Jerry King having a nice run for third. C.J. Horn may have passed more cars than anyone as he got up to fourth at the finish. 

At this point, the action was wisely called as it was getting sketchy and the skies did not look friendly. The Modified drivers scrambled back to their haulers with their feature to be made up at another date. For the rest of us, it was a hustle to our vehicles to beat the rain. 

I saw with FLO Racing's Dustin Jarrett in the grandstand Wednesday as he was on his way to 34 Raceway for Thursday night's Lucas race and then on to Missouri and western Iowa for more Lucas action while also catching some racing in Nebraska on his night's off. Ah the life!

Our conversation immediately focused on "Weaser Pleasers" and if either one of us had partaken yet this year. The answer was, "Not yet!" 

I did note and took full advantage of some recent changes in Iowa motor vehicle laws that now allow most pervious 55 mph areas to now be 60 mph. Wish I could convince my home state to follow suit. I did, however, have one of Iowa's finest follow my North after the races so I made sure that 60 mph was indeed just 60 mph. I couldn't go any faster if I would have wanted to anyway with the rain.

Thanks to MVG, his crew and the Buchanan County Fair Board members for their efforts, trying to get as much racing accomplished as possible on a questionable night.   

Dustin White Double Winner at Eagle River

 For the second straight Tuesday night, I found myself at the Eagle River Speedway near Eagle River Wisconsin for their weekly Tuesday night show. They have been busy over here with this being their third show in just a week as they had a special holiday Sprint Car show over the weekend. 

However, on this night they were back to their normal five classes of racing with the Pure Stocks, who were off last Tuesday because of the IMCA Mod special, back in racing action. That's not to say that there wasn't anything special going on this week, because it was the turn for the IMCA Stock Cars to run for extra money with tonight's feature winner racing for $750 to win in a balanced purse that saw everyone taking the green earning at least $125. In response to the extra money offered, a strong field of nineteen drivers was on hand to race for the extra money. 

It turned out to be an excellent night for local driver Dustin White as not only did he win the Stock Car feature and the extra money, he was also the winner of the open competition B Mod feature too. Other winners on Tuesday included Lucas Peterson in the USRA Late Models, Nick Allard in the Street Stocks and Devin Fries in the Pure Stocks. 

For the second straight week, it was hot and steamy here in the Northwoods with temperatures climbing close to that ninety degree mark and plenty of humidity to go along with it, making for a steamy night at the races. 

Eagle River does very limited hot lapping and always rolls into their racing program right at 7 pm with heat races for all classes, a quick break and then feature racing. In between, they also merge in two classes of Micro Sprints which they have raced at this track as long as I can remember. Some of the weekly competitors come a long distance to race in this class also.

The Stock Car feature saw Mitch Stankowski lead the opening lap before White, who started in row two, was able to duck under him and take over the top spot. However, one lap later Stankowski returned the favor to regain the lead. In between, the first two of four yellows in total slowed the early action.

Two laps later White again made the pass for the lead and this time it stood firm but he wasn't safe yet as Hot Rod Snellenberger, who started fifth, moved into the second spot and put the pressure on White. Both drivers were running the cushion of the track so Hot Rod dropped down a lane, knowing he had to do so if he was to make a pass for the lead. He nearly pulled that move off, coming close on a couple occasions of edging past White who then dropped down slightly on the track himself. 

It almost looked like Snellenberger was trying to bait the leader because then he moved back up the track to the top side, but White was just a little too quick for him to make a pass there. The final yellow waved one lap past the halfway point and when racing resumed, something had changed as White pulled away from Snellenberger who was never a able after that to provide a challenge. 

In fact, he had to fight off Stankowski for second as White drove on for an uncontested win. Mark Eswein and Dave Bouche completed the top five. 

Previously, White had gotten his night off to a good start, having also won the B Mod feature race after starting in the third row of that event. Rookie driver Braedyn Kirtland had a strong run early, leading a number of laps as he worked the second groove of the track. 

White worked his way forward though, and just at the halfway point of the race was able to duck under Kirtland and take over the lead. And once in front, he built up a strong lead with nonstop racing the order of business. After a spin before a lap was completed, this event would go green to checkers for twenty laps and White used the nonstop racing to move away from the field. 

Dave Dishaw started eighth and eventually would work his way into the second spot and he set off after White but without a yellow to aid him, All White had to do was make good laps which he did for the win. Frank Gasperini finished third. 

A late race pass would see Nick Allard top the Street Stock feature. Jeremy Joslin took the early lead from the outside pole and led the opening few laps. Allard quickly moved up from the second row to challenge and made a pass for the lead, only to see the yellow wave when Kim Brown clobbered the front stretch wall, badly damaging her car. 

Joslin got his lead back but it didn't last long as Allard again made an inside pass to take over the top spot and this time it stuck, as the rest of the race would go green. 

After starting seventh, point leader Jason Eisel worked his way up to second and tried to close on the leader and while he gained some ground, he ran out of time as Allard continued putting down solid laps on his way to the win. Joslin settled for third. 

Lucas Peterson pulls a considerable distance to race at Eagle River every week with his USRA Late Model and on this night he was rewarded with a hard fought win over another driver from the western part of the state, Jason McFadden. 

They went at it in a good two driver battle for most of the contest with Peterson getting the jump from the pole but McFadden using the upper lane to drive past Peterson and then pull away from him. 

After last week's winner Chad Lederer was run into the wall and suffered heavy damage to his car, the final seventeen laps ran off unstopped. McFadden continued to hold his lead using the second lane but at about the halfway point it seemed like Peterson picked up speed hugging the low line and then he quickly began to reel in the leader. 

McFadden stayed with what had worked for him but Peterson found the inside to be much faster and with about six laps to go, drove under McFadden to take over the lead and then drove away from him for the win. Jason Zdroik came home third. 

Ken Wilson led the small field of Pure Stocks for one lap before Devin Fries drove past him and then gradually lengthened his advantage. Roger Walker battled Cole Bennett for second in the last half of the race, eventually gaining that position but not being able to close much on Fries who took the win.

The crowd was not quite as large as last week's fireworks crowd but still mostly filled the grandstand. The racing was completed at about 10:30 pm. Tuesday night programs will continue here up until nearly Labor Day with their big race, an open competition ten grand to win B Mod show scheduled for early August. 

Block Tops IMCA Mods at Eagle River

 Tuesday night, June 30th, the annual Mark Zdrok Memorial Race was held at the Eagle River Speedway near Eagle River Wisconsin. Located in the heart of the "Big Woods" country of northern Wisconsin, the Wisconsin River flows just to the North of the speedway and this area, pockets with many lakes, rivers and green spaces, is a favorite resort and tourist area in the Summer time with local populations swelling from Memorial Day to Labor Day. 

Just West of town lies the Eagle River Speedway that was literally hacked out of the woods behind a "Mom and Pop" resort by original owner Ken Glembin for his kids to race their Karts. He and his family owned and operated the track for many years, gradually updating it as more and more locals wished to also race at the track. 

However, in recent years the track has taken a big step forward with the purchase of it by Pat Zdroik and family. The Zdroik family have been long time racers at this track with other branches of the family also well known racers in both the Fox River Valley area and the Milwaukee area. 

Under the ownership of Zdroik, many positive changes have been made to both the physical facility and also the racing program itself. One of these was on display on this night at Tuesday night marked the first ever sanctioned IMCA Modified race at the track. Modifieds, both sanctioned by other bodies and also running under open rules, have raced at the track before, but this would be the first time IMCA had sanctioned an event here for the Modifieds. 

The program here has been brought up to date and the schedule aggressively changed in recent years with the addition of MSA Sprints, sanctioning of Stock Cars by IMCA, the addition of the Late Model class sanctioned by USRA and the track's first ever ten grand to win B Mod show scheduled for August of this year. 

Tuesday night's race would be a Fast Shaft qualifying event since it is paying a grand to win. Just a thought here, but with inflation roaring, the grand to win mark to qualify as a Fast Shafts qualifier just might need to be upped some as while I have never won that much money, racing paying that kind of money just aren't that rare anymore. Sixteen Modified drivers signed in to race on Tuesday night, most from either the Green Bay area or the Wausau area with some Fox River Valley drivers also. They brought some of the best cars that race at other tracks on the eastern side of the state and while most had never turned laps here before, they adapted quickly to the tight, slightly less than quarter mile facility. In fact, some were remarking that the track races much like 141 Speedway in Maribel, just on a smaller scale. 

Excitement is already palatable for the ten grand to win B Mod show in August that will see IMCA, USRA and WISSOTA cars all racing together using their sanctioning body rules and everyone on a spec American Racer tire. Sixty to eighty cars seems a reasonable guess while some are thinking perhaps as many as one hundred drivers for this race but for sure, the excitement for the event is high which is just what Zdroik is hoping for. 

Along with sanctioned Stock Cars and Mods on this night, the track also was racing a B Mod class using the combined rules mentioned above, a local Street Stock class and the USRA Late Models weekly. On occasion, they also add Pure Stocks plus race Micros. There is plenty of racing to be had  on a Tuesday night, which is the night the track has always raced on, but they do a good job of moving things along and generally get done by 10 pm. 

Eagle River is also home to a very unique dynamic not seen at many other tracks. Because it is such a tourist area and the local population is not large, many times half the crowd on hand at the races are folks vacationing in the area, many who don't know much about racing but are looking midweek to do something different while visiting the area. They are generally easy to spot in the crowd but often, they are easy to please. They are just looking to quaff a few cold ones, perhaps have some fun betting on the winners and when they are tired or have seen enough, they get up and leave, no matter what race is running or what time it is. But they pay their admission just like everyone else and are generally among the least demanding of the ticket buying public on hand. And they do swell the grandstand population with ER drawing crowds for their short racing season that many other well established tracks would kill for. 

With a "feels like" temperature of eighty nine degrees at race time, this is abnormally hot weather for this "big woods" county and with a very strong wind blowing directly into the grandstand, an extremely dirty night for the fans was in the offering. However, I heard no complaints as they seemed to understand and while the track crew misted the cushion many times, the wind still blew the dirt around and they were never really able to open up much of a second groove for racing. This led to the abnormally large number of yellow flag spins and crashes that made the show longer than normal. 

They have a very nice car count here for their programs with two solid heats in all classes, something that has grown considerably in recent years under Zdroik's watch. One this night, Jason Zdroik would attempt the "triple play," racing a car in the Stock Car, Modified and Late Model classes. 

Wyatt Block led all the way to win the featured class main event as he led the Modified feature for all twenty laps. A couple early yellows kept the field packed and eliminated several drivers including strong challenger Mike Mullen. Block battled Daniel Wilcox in the early going before Marcus Yarie moved up from the third row and into second. 

While most in the field were hugging the low groove, Yarie was working what was the high side on the edge of the "black" and he made it work until he got to second. Then he kind of got stuck in that position and others started moving forward as his tires seemed to give out. 

A late run was put on by Will Garceau who started twelfth and found speed on the inside line, shooting past Yarie and the late going and substantially cutting into Block's lead. A few more laps and things might have gotten very interesting. Yarie settled for third ahead of Cody Apfelbeck and Dylon Waldvogel. Ten of the sixteen starters finished the race. The Mods will return again on July 21st. 

Hot Rod Snellenberger, the legend from eastern Wisconsin, dominated the Stock Car field. While he started tenth in the main event, he was up to third within three laps. The early part of this race was messy with several crashes and a bunch of hurt feelings. However, through the smoke and flying metal, Hot Rod managed to find a hole and get up to the second row quickly. 

Another restart gave him a chance and he blew past JJ Heinz to take over the lead and after that, the race was history. The field finally settled down and the later part of the race went off without a stoppage as Snellenberger pushed his lead out even farther. He cruised home for the win with Heinz second and Dustin White, who pitted early, worked his way up from the back of the pack to finish third. 

Uncharacteristically, the B Mod feature went green to checkers for twenty laps and Ryan Brown dazzled in this race. He started on the outside pole and literally destroyed the field, winning by a full straightaway and pulling five lapped cars between himself and runner up White. Owen Wilcox finished third. 

The USRA feature saw a first time winner as Chad Lederer, who won his first heat race here last week, did himself one better as he won his first feature race here tonight. He started on the pole and fought off all challenges to take the win. Early on he had to fend off Jason McFadden until Zdroik moved into second. 

Then he had Jason following him tightly but Lederer never faltered and to the credit of Zdroik, on a tight track where much nerfed for position goes on in the corners, Zdroik raced him clean and when no opening existed, he settled for second rather than trying to create an opening. 

The local Street Stock class saw Josh Joslin lead from start to finish to collect the win. He had local hot shoe and track point leader Jason Eisel following him closely and things got tight at the end after a late yellow led to a tense final five laps but Joslin held on for the win. Eisel's daughter Hope finished third. 

As usual, a big crowd was on hand to watch the action, which concluded with fireworks. Thanks to Pat and Patty Zdroik from the speedway as well as track announcer, public relations man and also author Joe Verdegan for his help. When he retired from his job in Green Bay and moved up North, Eagle River was lucky to inherit the services of one the Bay area's most knowledgeable in Verdegan. 

 

Volkert and Colby Fett Late Race Passes Make Them MMT Winners at Spencer

 Welcome to the Midwest Madness Tour 2026. Round two was held on Monday night, June 29th at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer Iowa on what seemed to me to be one of the most brutal nights ever for racing, given the weather. But despite all that, it was an excellent night of racing with two particularly close feature race finishes that saw Levi Volkert make a final corner pass to top the Sport Compact main event while Colby Fett won the Modified feature as he made his winning pass as the field raced to the white flag. 

Other winners on Monday included Justin Klynsma in the Sport Mods, Braden Richards in the Stock Cars and Cory Probst in the Hobby Stocks. 

Two options became apparent for me on Monday night. The first option was to sit in the air conditioning and watch FIFA on tv. The point of this sport seems to be to run around for sixty minutes while kicking your opponent in the shins as many times as possible and then when the time runs out, declare the contest a tie based on a thrilling nil to nil score. The other option was to drive five and a half hours, sit out in the blast furnace heat and watch stock car racing. Obviously I selected the second option. 

Trent Chinn and all the other workers, unnamed to me, that work at prepping the track at the Clay County Fair Speedway should all take a bow for the fantastic job that they did in not only keeping the racing surface manageable, but they did so much more than that as the track might have been the best I have seen it in quite some time. And all this despite some of the most brutal weather conditions  imaginable. At race time the "feels like" temperature was ninety eight degrees with a blazing sun beating down. The wind was howling out of the South at well over twenty mph to make matters even worse but perhaps the saving grace was that it was very humid and while that is tough on the human body, the humidity does help much at keeping moisture in the racing surface. The crew worked tirelessly right up to race time and then between races, continued to "tickle" the surface and roll in the cushion to keep the groove wide for racing. 

It was a "shorts night" for me and those that know me know that the conditions have to be very extreme for me to even consider wearing shorts to the races. I walked out of the house forgetting to even bring long pants so if there had been a major weather change, I would have been SOL. 

This was the  first time I had been at Spencer since the major reconstruction carried out this Spring which cancelled several racing events early on at  the track. What seemed to me to be the biggest change was that the cement slab has been enlarged in front of the grandstands which I'm assuming will be used at the Fair for a stage, The race cars do not drive in front of the crowd before entering and exiting the track like they used to, and for me, the change was a negative as I always found that to be unique. They still have the same bottleneck with cars coming on to the track and leaving for the scale at the same time, it's just now that the bottleneck is in turn one and not right in front of the grandstand. 

One hundred and thirteen drivers signed in to race on Monday night as a part of night tour for the MMT. And as always at Spencer with their primarily weekend racing, the drivers mostly arrived at the last second with the final thirty minutes before racing action begins a frenzy of activity as the drivers race to sign in and the scorers hustle to produce lineups so the racing can begin as soon as possible. Everythiing comes together here at the last minute but it seems to flow smoothly despite the last minute rush. 

Tops were the Stock Cars with thirty four drivers racing for twenty four spots and the Hobby Stocks had just one less competitor with both these classes needing a B Feature while everyone else raced in the other three classes. For a grand to win, it was disappointing to see just fourteen Modifieds sign in. Where are all those drivers?

The first green flag dropped at 7:22 pm and for the next two and a half hours, there was virtually nonstop racing. Spencer always produces a tight racing program with their mostly weeknight shows requiring this, but there was added motivation on this night as the lightning started to flicker and then get more intense in the Western skies, alerting us to the fact that storms were headed our direction and if we wanted to see a full program plus not get caught out during a storm,  things better be hustled along. 

The extra activities associated with this special race were kept to a minimum, although I have to confess that as the lightning continued to our West, the redraw in front of the crowd for the top two classes made me more than just a bit nervous, although they moved it along as quickly as is possible for such an activity. In the end, we would be rewarded as we got to see a full program and still get to out cars in the parking lot before any storms cut loose. But even better, not only did we get to see five feature races but they were all very entertaining and for me, perhaps as good of a program as I have seen here in quite some time as I thought the track raced great and the drivers did a great job of their own keeping the races moving without a lot of time consuming yellow flags. 

The Sport Compact feature was first up and this proved to be the closest of the main events. Three different drivers led during the twelve lapper with Michael Gardner taking the lead from the pole and holding the top spot for the first seven laps before he was passed by Tyler Thompson. Levi Volkert was also a part of the lead group with the top  three battling throughout the contest.

In the final few laps, Volkert made numerous attempts to pass Thompson but each time Tyler fought him off with some slicing and dicing between the two. On the final corner of the race, Volkert climbed the banking and then cut under Thompson as they raced to the line with Volkert nipping Thompson by the narrowest of margins for an exciting win as Gardner settled for third. This race set the trend for the rest of the program and while not every race ended this closely, there were some intense battles for position to be found in all four of the remaining contests. 

Blake Andrews grabbed the early lead in the Sport 

Mod feature but could only hold off Klynsma for a single lap before Justin drove past him to take over the point. After that, Klynsma was in control the rest of the race and while the lead fight was not too dramatic, the battle for second and back was very good with about a half dozen drivers swapping positions on nearly every lap. Drivers would go for fifth to second and then just as quick, get shuffled back into the pack. 

At the finish, it was Alec Fett who got second with Willy Kirk, Zach Davis and Cam Reimers next in line with several others who had been in the hunt early shuffled farther back in the running order. 

I don't recall ever seeing Brian Mahlstedt win a feature race before but he was so close to doing so on Monday and taking home the grand for the winner. However, after holding the point for the whole contest, he got passed for the lead coming for the white flag and had to settle for second behind Colby Fett. 

Mahlstedt had gotten up on the cushion early after taking the lead from Kurt Kile and never wavered as he weathered pressure from both Kile and Fett for most of the contest. Eventually Fett became the chief challenger and while he tried several moves to the inside of Mahlstedt and even a few sliders, Brian continued to hold on to the lead. 

There was heavy pressure on the leader in the closing laps plus Mahlstedt had to deal with one slower car in front of him that was running the same line as he was, and I'm not sure if both or neither played a factor but going into turn one on the white flag lap, after running a flawless race, Mahlstedt jumped the cushion in turn one and Fett was right on it, turning under the leader and taking over the top spot. 

Mahlstedt could offer no comeback and Fett extended his advantage by a few car lengths as he drove on for the win over Mahlstedt and Kile. 

As had the Modified feature, the Stock Car feature also went green to checkers without a single stoppage, good since the lightning was no putting on a show of its own. Most drivers were up on the cushion exclusively by this point in the program but there were two that were able to drive the lower groove and they both prospered because of that. 

They were winner Richards and Kelly Shryock who put on what was perhaps the show of the night. Richards took the lead immediately but Derek Green was soon all over him challenging. Green even appeared to have the faster car for much of the contest but two failed attempts to pass for the lead foiled him. 

On the first, his slider didn't stick and Richards crossed him over, costing Green quite a bit of time as he had to again play catch up. Later, Green jumped the generous cushion in turn one and that set him back just enough that Richards had some breathing room. Late in the race, Green was back up to the rear bumper of Richards but just couldn't muster a challenging effort and had to settle for second as Richards drove a flawless race for the win. 

As for Shryock, he put on a passing clinic. After starting sixteenth and being seemingly mired in the pack, he suddenly began to charge to the front, using a line that saw him low in turns one and two and up on the cushion on the West end of the track. That formula has worked well for Shryock here time and time again and once again on Monday, it made him a rocket ship. He was knocking off driver after driver, gaining a spot or two each lap. 

Anyone that can move from the eighth row to finish third and not have a single yellow flag to pack the field and make moving up easier is really flying, and that was Shryock on Monday. For the leaders, it's just a good thing for them that there was not a late yellow or the results could very well have looked much different. 

Cory Probst has won a lot of Hobby Stock feature races here over the years and his dominance at this track can not be argued. Once again on Monday he was in his zone as he quickly moved up from the third row to pass Will Smith and then drive away for the win. 

Early on, Smith was the leader and those two put on an entertaining battle as they slid each other several times until Probst was finally able to gain the upper hand and once he did, he then pulled away from the pack. 

Stopped only once by a yellow flag, this race was a smooth one that saw Kalyb Brunssen drive past Smith for second and try and track down the leader. He was able to stay within a few car lengths of Probst but never was able to serve up a challenge while Smith settled for third.

It was perhaps the quickest show that I had ever seen at Spencer with the final checkers waving just a few minutes after 10 pm despite the fact that it was a twenty race program and they took several brief opportunities during the night to rework the cushion. The drivers had much to do with the quick program was they raced very hard but did not trigger many yellow flags and likely at least part of that was due to the fine racing surface presented for them to use. Congratulations drivers and also to the track crew and management for both providing a great racing surface plus altering the program to changing weather conditions so as to get the whole show in. It was a top notch effort from all involved.