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. 

Pierce Continues To Roll With I-94 emr WoO Victory

 After getting their World of Outlaws race rained out for the last two years, I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls Minnesota was finally able to race their event on the schedule on Wednesday night, June 24th. However, conditions nearly matched what brought down their race the last two years as rain showers hit the track in the afternoon and they were to the points that any more rain and they would be forced to postpone the event, with an announced rain date of Thursday night. 

Fortunately the last of the showers skirted by the track, missing by just miles and the track prep crew, led by former track owner Don Shaw, was able to get the track into racing shape with only about a forty five minute delay from the scheduled race time. 

All this was great news for Bobby Pierce, who has been white hot lately as later he would bank another twelve grand after a relatively easy forty lap feature win in the World Of Outlaw Late Model event. The support classes offered two divisions of WISSOTA racing with the Midwest Modifieds and Street Stocks both running a full program. Winners there were Matt Schow in the MidMods and Keith Tourville in the Street Stocks. 

Twenty eight Late Model drivers signed in to race on Wednesday with the fifteen WoO regulars along with some other open motor drivers from other series and a few of the spec engine WISSOTA regulars fighting the up hill battle to make the main event. 

The track turned out beautifully, despite the rain earlier in the day and it was very fast but the groove widened out as the evening progressed and it remained smooth. 

Fast as in new track record style with Pierce setting a new record at 15.234 seconds, despite being in the second group that qualified. Right now it appears he can do no wrong and topping the qualifying and setting a new record was just the first step in what would prove to be just about the perfect night. 

While Pierce was cruising, things weren't going so well for Gordy Gundaker, who spit out a drive shaft in qualifying and Tristan Chamberlain who missed qualifying altogether after having trouble in hot laps. Both, however, would return in time to race their heats. 

The normal Outlaw format saw four heats and a B Feature set up the main event for the Late Models with all their regulars making it in during racing, thus allowing the two provisional starters to be Tyler Breuning and Amelia Eisenschenk. 

Pierce redrew four and that seemed to bode well that someone else might give him a battle in the main event. However, that was not to be as it took him only four laps to pass Dallon Murty who had redrawn the prized pole position. And once in front of the field, Pierce was really never challenged after that point. And yellow flags, which he perhaps didn't even want to see, allowed the field to bunch back up on several occasions, thus avoiding the task of lapping the slower cars. Despite leading the rest of the way, he saw very little in the way of slower traffic, generally one of the few ways to make a race out of what looked to be another domination type run. 

The best racing was for the second spot where Tim McCreadie and Nick Hoffman swapped the position at least a couple times. Hoffman had slipped back early out of the top five after starting third but he gradually worked his way back into contention and following a late race yellow with just two laps to go, fought off McCreadie to claim second. 

There was also some good action between drivers just behind the top three with several changes of position and ultimately, Ryan Gustin came home fourth with Tyler Erb just behind him. And despite the traffic for Pierce not being heavy, only two drivers failed to finish the race. 

The support classes did a great job of providing just that with strong numbers and yet relatively clean races. However, the MidMod feature did get trimmed by a couple laps when it started to wear out its welcome with just a few too many yellow flags. 

There were thirty of the MidMods on hand and all were allowed to start the main event, with twenty eight of them still running to do so. This might have been the only mistake made during the night as a B Feature to weed out just a few drivers might have been quicker in the long run. 

As it was, the racing was good up front but there were just a few too many slowdowns to allow much flow to the race. There were, however, three different leaders during the event with Luke Johnson, all the way from South Dakota, holding the top spot for the first six laps. One early yellow saved him when Dylan McCaughen, down from Manitoba, was about to pass him until the yellow flew. 

On the following lap, Johnson did indeed get passed for the lead but it was another driver, Bailey Cousins, not McCaughen that made the pass. Cousins, also from Manitoba, then led up to the halfway point when he was passed by Matt Schow, who would then go on to pull away and take the win. 

Schow has been on a roll here, also winning last Friday and he didn't let a fourth row starting spot keep him from victory lane. He charged immediately, moving from eighth to second by lap seven but it took him five laps to then race past Cousins and take the lead. 

Four yellows and a red flag slowed the action and ultimately led to the time limit being reached. One grinder saw Tanner Bitzan go for a flip after being launched off the car of Austin Hunter. All three Bitzans racing in the event were a part of the crash and they constituted less than half the crash participants as it was a big one. Bitzan was able to drive his car off the track  but it wasn't much to look at for sure. 

A quick two lap finish called for by the clock watchers saw Schow motor on for the win with Landyn Randt passing Cousins to get the second spot. Randt did throw one slider late a Schow off turn two but Matt was able to turn under it and keep the lead and from there, he pulled away. 

A nice field of twenty Street Stocks took the green from Mark Blom for their fifteen lap finale. Eric Riley grabbed the lead from the green but Keith Tourville, who started fifth, moved into position quickly and it only took him three laps to drive past Riley and take over the lead. Once in front, he was never challenged in a race that ran off smoothly with the yellow waving just a pair of times, both for minor spins. 

With Tourville controlling the action up front, the battle for second was a good one with the #11 cars of Kyle Dykhoff and Levi Randt battling for the position. They swapping the position several times before Dykhoff claimed it at the finish while early leader Riley faded to fourth at the end. 

Every single driver that started the race took the checkered flag and not a single one of them was as much as a lap down. They provided a smooth conclusion to the evening's racing. 

As always, thanks to all the WoO officials working the series and also a thanks to track owner James Trantina III and Don Shaw and his crew that refused to let the rain spoil their fun. Even with the challenges they took on, all racing was done around 11 pm. 

Harris Clash Wins to Gaylord, Carter and Rust

 The 35th annual Harris Clash was held on Tuesday night, June 23rd at the America's home for IMCA racing, the Boone Speedway in Boone Iowa. While last year's race was rained out and had to be run on a rain date in August, this year the weather was spectacular and I can't imagine a nicer night for racing. 

This was the second year for the event in Boone and with Harris' headquarters just down the road and being centrally located, plus being used to hosting high car count events, this is the perfect place to host such an event. 

Bob Harris goes all out for this race with the number and amount of such things as contingencies being impressive and the drivers all appreciate this and enjoy being a part of this race. 

As usual the car count for the race here was very large and while it wasn't quite as large as for last year's race, the time of the year for the race plus other factors must also be weighed in. However, one hundred and eighty seven racers in just three classes is hardly anything to be sneezed at. 

Along with the quantity of teams on hand, the quality of the competition was also very impressive and just making any one of the three feature races would be considered an accomplishment. And since two of the three mains would start just twenty four drivers with the Modified class starting thirty, a lot of top notch teams would be watching the main events from either the pits or from their phones if they headed out early. 

Eight heats and four B Features set the running order for the Sport Mods and Stock Cars while the Modified drivers had six heats and three B Features. The format used to determine just who would make the main events saw each heat winner locked into the features and the largest passing points number from each heat also making the main. The heat winners would redraw for their starting spots with the passing points addition from each heat next in line. A number of drivers from the B Features would then make up the rest of the field with a previous winners provisional available. 

I wouldn't want to denigrate the quality of the feature races but I thought in particular that the heat races were spectacular. The racing was so very hard as drivers fought to get into the mains and the track was fast and tacky all night, really making it an "elbows up" kind of racing. I was told that the track was unlike most Saturday night shows here in that it was faster and while it normally builds up a berm, it usually isn't quite as knarly  as it was on Tuesday. And with the "farming sessions" that take place after both the heats and B Features, it never really got much of a chance to slow down tonight with it being fast and a bit of character too it from start to finish. 

There was some drama in the heats also as several drivers were docked positions for such things as deck height and a couple drivers black flagged for rough driving including one apparent heat race winner who dumped another driver on the front stretch as they raced to the checkers. There was plenty of action and no doubt just a few hard feelings but that does come when drivers are racing for such big money and the competition is so tough. 

It is amazing how much smoother and quicker a race program becomes, no matter how large the field and how much at stake when the one spin rule is used. Folks in this area are used to it but it has not gained much traction in my area and when I come to such a large event as this and see how quickly things can be moved along, I really enjoy that aspect of the racing. However, one thing we do in my area is when someone is violated, not only do we punish the offender but we give the victim his position back which only seems fairer to me. 

An example of how smoothly the one spin rule helps to move things along was on Tuesday twenty two heat races were run, all with much on the line and all driven very hard, yet the yellow flag only waved five times in total during those heats and we went to the eleventh heat race before even seeing the first yellow!

The Stock Car feature was first up in the running order for the main events and it turned out to be a very atypical Stock Car race in that there was only one leader during the race and there was never any substantial challenge for the lead. 

Tripp Gaylord started on the pole for the twenty five lap feature and he ended up leading all laps and was never challenged. Not a veteran of the Stock Cars, Gaylord never the less proved to be a worthy pick for the VanderBilt house car as he dominated the main event. And while he had a lead that was comfortable for most of the race, there was an excellent battle going on behind him with about a half dozen drivers battling back and forth for second and positions behind. 

By the halfway point, Devin Smith had moved up to second with Kyle Vanover, Kaden Reynolds and Jordan Grabouski next in line. They were really fighting it out with them racing all over the track and swapping spots. 

Eventually, Vanover would establish second as his and in the late going he would eat up some of the lead that Gaylord had built up but was never able to make any kind of strong run at Gaylord who drove on for the win. Reynolds ended up third with Smith and Grabouski rounding out the top five.

To show how even the competition was and how fast the track continued to race, only four drivers failed to finish the contest yet without even a single yellow to bunch the field, there was not a single lapped driver in the field and that lack of having to fight through traffic probably didn't hurt Gaylord's nonstop run either.

Twenty five drivers took the green for the Sport Mod feature with Alec Fett using a previous winner provisional. And it took seven laps for the first yellow to wave in this race also, and by that time Brayton Carter had established that he was going to be tough to beat. 

He had started on the outside pole, a good spot to get a strong opening lap run from and he beat Summer Grady into the first turn and then took off from there. Cam Reimers proved to be his toughest competition as Cam moved into second early and then tried to chase down Carter. 

This race was more broken up than the Stock Car feature had been with the yellow waving four times, the last time with the drivers within reach of the checkered flag. These are always the most dangerous kinds of restarts with many instances over the years of drivers throwing a late "hail Mary " move on and making it work, stealing away late wins. 

However, that would not be the case on Tuesday as Carter was very strong on each restart, taking off strong and being careful not to give Reimers any kind of hole on the inside from which to bore in on him with. 

But late in the race Dylan VanWyk, who had started ninth and gradually worked his way to the front, using those restarts to gain positions, proved to provide the biggest challenge and that late, two lap sprint to the finish saw him try and nose under Carter but Brayton had the groove covered and he drove on for the win. Reimers had to settle for third with Caleb Woodard and Willy Kirk rounding out the top five. 

The Modified feature wrapped up the evening with them starting in a spectacular three wide formation. Thirty drivers, three wide in ten rows after former winner Ethan Braaksma opted not to use his provisional spot. 

Paul Nagle used the outside line to grab the early lead with him putting on a strong run as he led the opening seven laps. Joel Rust had actually passed him on lap six but Nagle was saved by the second yellow of the race. 

He couldn't fight off Rust though, and two laps later Joel would again pass him, this time for good. Chase Weimer and Cody Laney were also having strong runs and they remained within the top four and pressing the leaders. 

Gradually advancing forward after he slipped back at the start a bit was Kollin Hibdon and he moved past Nagle to take over second by the halfway point of the race. Nagle, Weimer and Laney were still also in the top five during the period when fifteen green flag laps in a row allowed Hibdon to put the biggest pressure of the race on Rust. 

Both drivers were running the tricky high side which provided a lot of speed but was bumpy and tricky and one mistake would be costly. One last yellow flew with seven laps remaining in the contest and following that slowdown, the race character changed dramatically. 

Rust found another gear and simply drove away from Hibdon and the rest of the pack, opening up the biggest lead seen during the entire race and making things pretty easy for him as he then drove on for the impressive win. Hibdon settled for second over Laney, Weimer and Nagle with there not being too many passes in the late going. Again the timing was such that the leaders never once had to deal with slower traffic. 

It was a long night of racing but one that probably could not have been put on any better by any race crew in the country. They know their track here at Boone and with the equipment they have, they can prep a track and run off a show probably as fast as anyone in the nation. The thirty six race program was started right at 7 pm and they were done before Midnight which in my book is pretty darn impressive. 

Thanks to out to the entire staff of Bob Harris Racing that put on such a good event and also the track crew from Boone who all do their jobs so well. 

Pierce Slides To Ogilvie WoO Late Model Victory

 The World of Outlaws Late Model Series continued their trek into the upper Midwest with a stop at the Ogilvie Raceway on Monday night, June 22nd. They will be in this are for the next week or so, having upcoming races in Minnesota and North Dakota before they head out following the 4th of July holiday weekend. 

This was the first WoO race at Ogilvie since 2019 and just based on the crowd that was on hand, especially given that it was a Monday night, along with the quality of the racing action provided by the track, it will not be near as many years before they return again. In fact, WoO officials must be wondering this morning why it the world that they ever stopped coming to this track and area. 

The Late Model feature was an excellent one with six lead changes over the forty lap feature race distance and more slide jobs than almost could be counted as Bobby Pierce, Jonathan Davenport and Nick Hoffman were the primary deliverers of the slide jobs but that's not to say there weren't others doing the same as they fought for positions other than the lead spot. 

The field of thirty Late Model drivers on hand was a solid one with probably more open motor cars on hand for the race than in past years. Several of the local spec engine WISSOTA drivers also raced the event, some for track experience and some hoping to make the show. The most successful of those was Kelly Lake Minnesota Sketter Estey who made the show with his spec engine AK chassis car. 

Running with the Late Models on Monday night were the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and they did a great job as the supplementary class. They had a nice sized field, ran clean races that weren't caution plagued and indeed, ran off their feature race from start to finish nonstop. The winner in that class was Jake Molitor. 

The track was very slick for qualifying  and some of the drivers took some time to adjust to the slippery conditions but like the pros that these drivers are, they quickly figured out the track. Ross Robinson, as the first driver to hit the track for qualifying, was also the quickest at 15.969 seconds, the only driver under sixteen seconds. After that though, his night slipped a bit as he was the last driver in his heat to make the main and only could muster a seventeenth place finish in the feature. 

Four heat races and a B Feature set up the main event for the Late Models with Pierce drawing the pole position. However, the initial leader was Davenport who started on the outside and beat Pierce in lap one. Things got heated as the slide jobs and intense racing for the lead started almost immediately. In the first ten laps, those two had exchanged the lead four time officially and many more than that as they raced back and forth. The track was slick but had a bit of a cushion and it was ideal for slide jobs with the wide racing surface providing plenty of room to dive bomb each other. 

The action continued between the top two drivers with them either sliding each other or tail gating as they set up another run. Joining them after lap ten was Nick Hoffman and suddenly the two car battle turned into a three car war. The first seventeen laps, before the first yellow came out for a slowing car, was among the most entertaining and intense racing seen all year. And it was still good after that but unfortunately, a series of yellow flags did break up the action just a bit too much. 

When Davenport crunched the wall following that restart as the leader, it pretty much ended his night as he would pull off in just a few laps with much damage to the rear of the car. This also gave Hoffman the chance to slide from third to first  with Pierce trapped behind Davenport. 

Hoffman then led the next ten laps with Pierce all over him looking for an opening as the track started to change just a bit and low side became faster. This is when the yellows became most prominent with debris stoppages slowing the action twice. A lap thirty restart was key as Pierce got a poor start and Ryan Gustin moved past him for second, only to see the yellow fly once again as the restart cone had been "killed" which gave Pierce a break and as it turned out, Gustin had been the "killer" of the cone so it bit him hard. 

Pierce then got back into second and just a lap later drove under Hoffman to retake the lead. Pierce found the low side to be good toward the end of the race and the last few laps were a bit anti climatic as Pierce pulled away and everyone seemed to slip down to the bottom to race. One the final lap Hoffman got under Gustin to take back second with Tyler Erb and Trey Mills completing the top five. Twenty drivers were still on the track at the finish and the well spaced yellows had allowed all drivers to stay on the lead lap as traffic never became an issue during the race. 

Pierce appears to be on a roll right now as he begins to extend his point lead over Hoffman and no matter what the field seems to throw at Pierce, at the end se always seems to find a way to bring home the win. 

The Midwest Mods ran three big heat races plus a B Feature to set their twenty four driver starting field for their twenty lap main event. They did a great job of racing, going nonstop for the whole distance and only a single driver failed to finish the contest. Jake Molitor started on the pole and he would lead all twenty laps with a dominant performance, especially impressive given that he does not race at this track on a regular basis. 

Jason VandeKamp started fifth and worked into the runner up slot by the halfway point of the race and he spent the later half of the race trying to catch Molitor. As Jake got into lapped traffic, of which there was quite a bit in the second half of the race, VandeKamp started to make some progress and in the final couple laps was close enough to provide at least a mild challenge to the leader. Another five laps might have made things interesting but as it was, Molitor handled the traffic well and would drive on for the win. 

Jason Miller had an outstanding run in the Eric Gadach car, starting seventh and coming home third with Devin Fouquette and Joe Swearingen completing the top five. 

Congratulations to promoter Nate Fischer and the Wagamon family that own Ogilvie for putting on and excellent night of racing. Also, a tip of the hat to the track and series officials for moving the show along and even though the Late Model feature got a bit hung up in the later laps, the final checkered still waved before 10:30 pm. 

The series moves on to the I-94 emr Speedway on Wednesday where the Late Models will be joined once again by a likely big Midwest Mod field once again with the WISSOTA Street Stocks also racing. James Trantina III and Don Shaw will have the track ready for more outstanding Late Model action.  

Chris Simpson Tops Iowa Blowout at West Liberty Summer Nationals

 The Hell Tour Summer Nationals returned to the West Liberty Raceway in West Liberty Iowa for the first time since 1995 and it appeared that Iowa racers had taken umbrage to the long snub, as they were waiting in force for its return, dominating the Late Model racing in an impressive fashion. Led by feature winner Chris Simpson, the top three finishers in the thirty lap main event call Iowa home with fifth place finisher Dylan Thornton now calling Iowa his home base after escaping from California. Only fourth place finisher Cade Dillard kept the Iowa forces from a clean sweep as sixth place finisher Billy Moyer, now enjoying the sun in Arizona, is also an Iowa native. 

Chris Simpson was on point all night, setting fast time while at the same time breaking the existing track record with a lap clocked at 18.165 seconds, winning the first heat race and then, after starting on the pole for the feature race, leading all thirty laps to claim the five grand top prize. It was very much a home coming for Simpson as both he and his brother Chad started their racing careers at this track and I can remember many years ago making a visit here and watching them as they dominated in the Pro Stock class before moving up to Late Models. 

Three other divisions of IMCA racing were also on the card with Spencer Diercks winning the Modified feature, Nathan Wood the Stock Cars and Colton Livezey the Sport Mods. 

Twenty seven Late Model drivers signed in to race on Tuesday night, a number that pleased just about everyone either associated with the series or with the track as there are not a lot of open motor Late Models left in the state but there turned out to be more than enough to put on a full show on this night. It was also an interesting mix of drivers that normally are not seen very often racing together which also helped spice things up. 

For some of us, particularly fans that are complimentarily referred to as "veterans", a return to a track like West Liberty for some hard core Late Model racing is like a trip back in time to a more pleasant time of racing. West Liberty is the classic fairgrounds track with its big covered grandstand, race cars pitting in the infield and a well maintained fairgrounds area. Forget that the grandstands badly need a coat of paint, the many posts holding up the roof make finding a good viewing spot from the grandstands hard, knee space is nonexistent,  the sight lines in the grandstands are bad and the scoreboard is so far away that field glasses are necessary to read the numbers. All this is only minor inconveniences, what is important is that it is fairgrounds racing like the best of times. 

What was impressive was the large crowd that filled the stands, crowds like I remember seeing back in the glory days of this and other dirt tracks in the area. And the track was in impressive shape also. Considering it was only the second race on the track this year, the surface remained smooth and while it did take a bit of rubber in the Late Model feature, overall the racing was as good as any time I can remember from the past. 

The crowd did some digging in their pockets on this night also as the 50/50 split the pot was up over eleven hundred dollars. 

Along with Simpson, Michael Leach and Tanner English were the quick qualifiers in their groups. It went downhill for point leader English from that point on as a flat tire ruined his heat race run. He took a provisional for the main event and started nineteenth and finished tenth which was his first non podium finish so far in over a week. 

Chris Simpson had only one bad period of racing through the whole night and that was when he caught the back of the pack shortly after the halfway point of the race. The track started to take rubber at this point and when he couldn't get past Curt Schroder for several laps, Dallon Murty and brother Chad quickly caught up to him with Murty making a rather serious challenge for the lead with Chris caught out of the rubber a couple times while trying to get past Schroder. 

A lap twenty yellow though, for a slowing Mark Voigt was his saving grace. Once back under the green with an open track, he was again able to put some distance on Murty and Chad to take the win. Seventeen of the starters were still racing at the finish. 

The most dominating winner was Diercks who started on the outside pole for the Modified feature, rapidly pulled away from the pack and cruised for eighteen laps to get the win. He was over a full straightaway ahead of the field at the finish and on the big West Liberty track, a full straightaway is a considerable distance. Kurt Kile ran second for the entire contest with Jace Echrich third. 

The Stock Car feature saw four different leaders during its eighteen lap main but it could have been so much better than it was if we could have avoided all the yellow flags that broke up some great racing so many times. The leaders were dicing back and forth, trading spots on the track but it seemed like just about when things were really getting interesting, the dang yellow would again fly. They never got more than five consecutive green flag laps in with the yellow waving seven times. 

Greg Gill led early  with John Oliver Jr passing him on lap seven for the first lead change. He could only hold the top spot for a single lap though before David Brandies passed him. Nathan Wood started ninth and with just three laps to go, was able to drive under Brandies and take over the lead, after which he stretched it out some to complete a strong drive for the win. Brandies would settle for second with Oliver Jr third. 

There were several crashes and a considerable amount of wrecked cars in this race. The most violent one occurred right on the front straight when Rusty Zook spun in front of most of the field. He got hit head on once and then was packed by a couple more drivers with Zook being pushed over on to his roof. All drivers were OK as crashes on this high speed track are all hard ones. 

A small field of Sport Mods was on hand but in the early going, they put on a good competitive race. Bryson Echrich took the early lead but Shaun Slaughter liked the outside line and drove into the lead on lap four. Echrich fought back and retook the front spot on lap eight and they battled for a couple laps, going side by side. 

Unfortunately, Shaughter got run high down the front stretch and hit the wall hard, he slowed and was done for the event. Echrich gained the lead back but he couldn't hold off the charge of Colton Livezey who passed him on lap ten and then pulled away over the final half of the race to score the win. Echrich settled for second with Trey Rock third. 

Two groups of old time racers were also on the card but I. among with most fans, were on the way out of the grandstand by the time they hit the track. If there's one thing  we should have learned from Tuesday, its that six classes of racing is about three too many. 

If I was the DIRTcar officials, I would insist that the number of support classes be limited and that the main event the folks came to see, the Late Model feature, was early on the agenda while the track was still lively and the kids were still awake! Midweek shows should be quick and spun off in rapid fashion, focusing extra time needed for interviews to just the main division. 

Thanks go out to promoter Jeff Struck and his crew from the Davenport Speedway who put on this show, along with all the DIRTcar officials on hand. It was great to see FLO impresario Dustin Jarrett in the house while photos from the event were covered by one of the sports best, Mike Ruefer from Davenport.  

Feger and Fryer Top Summer Nationals Stop at Wilmot

 Minus rainouts, it was stop number five  for the fortieth annual DIRTcar Summer Nationals at the Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot Wisconsin which just about rides on the border between Wisconsin and Illinois. The Monday night, June fifteenth event also marked the start of week two for the Summer Nationals in 2026, a grind that will see them race at least thirty times in the next month in one of the toughest racing series in the country. They will visit a number of states, race back to back for weeks on end, only get a night off if it rains with the rained out events then usually jammed back into the schedule at some point and work andrace in some of the finest facilities in the country and also some not quite so nice. Those that complete the tour will be left with tired equipment, tired teams and hopefully will have earned enough cash to cover their expenses. 

The Monday night Wilmot race marks the only visit of the series to the state of Wisconsin and they barely get far enough into the state to sample the cheese before they head West for three nights of racing where Pork is king. 

So far they have been catching a break from the weather, at least on the temperature side as often the Summer Nationals seems to stir up the hottest weather South of Hades but so far this year it has been relatively tepid, temperature wise. It was certainly so in Wilmot with a nice breeze to move the air around and temperatures barely breaking the seventy degree mark. 

Monday night racing is tough but something the race teams are used to doing. It is even tougher for the fans but a late arriving  but decent sized crowd would enter the Wilmot Raceway spacious grandstand with most arriving just at race time. 

Wilmot is a pretty flat third mile oval where Sprint Car racing is king and both Late Models and IMCA Modifieds, which are the support class on Monday, only race here on rare occasions. Not surprisingly, the car counts are tested here in both classes as there are few if any local drivers to help supplement the travelers. There are a few Modified teams from the general area that race here and at other tracks along the tri state border but the closest Late Model teams are from the Milwaukee area and many of them are not up to the challenge of taking on the travelers from this series.

For those reasons, the Late Model field was the smallest for any series event so far with twenty two signed in to race while the Modified field was set at eighteen, many of them Freeport area drivers seen usually at Dubuque and other far eastern Iowa tracks. 

The officials of DIRTcar understand that these are midweek events and do a very good job of moving their shows along, helping to make it quick and entertaining event for the fans so they will remember that next year and not be hesitant to return. Also the quick shows are important for DIRT Vision tv where the same holds true and their viewers have to get to work also on Tuesday morning. 

With the smaller fields, officials forsake adding any extra races just to try and make it look like they have more cars than they do. Slam, bam, they race and send you on your way home. Three heats and a thirty lap feature for the Late Models and a pair of heats and a feature for the Modifieds constitute the program and I heard no one complain about that. 

Off course the Late Models would qualify and start their heats straight up. The heat winners then redrew for starting spots in the feature with everyone else lining up based on how they finished in their heats. The Modifieds drew for starting spots in heats and then the top five in each heat redrew for starting positions in their main event with the others falling in behind them in the starting order. 

The track started out slimy which required a little extra packing but that quickly got blown off and the track turned quite dry and slick. The preferred line on this relatively flat track in on the bottom unless a berm starts to build up and the bottom gets too slow and slick. Drivers have to be paying attention to when and if the track changes because that is a key time to make some moves. 

The Late Models qualify by group of which there were three with the quick timers being Mike Spatola, Cade Dillard and Jake Rainey with Spatola quickest overall at 15.313 seconds. Heat races were relatively uneventful with all five going green to checkers. Four of the five were won from the front row with only Jason Feger making a big move on the opening lap of his heat to pass the front row drivers and set himself up well for the main event. 

Often the outside pole is the place to start races here as the inside line seems to get pinched going into the flat first corner and that is Feger started the thirty lap feature race. It was then time for him to check out on the field which he mostly did for the length of the race. The main got off to a rocky start with a three car pile up in turn one that saw Turk Letezia planted on the hood of Mike Mataragas with all four tires off the ground. Turk restarted the race but Mike was done. 

Feger then jumped away from the field and led without challenge for much of the race. A good battle for second saw Frank Heckenast Jr hold off Tanner English for a number of laps before English got by and then began to cut into the lead of Feger. 

There wasn't a lot of lapped traffic but what there was proved to be tough for Feger to get past and English was able to close up on him as Jason tried to get past the slower cars. He did make one great move, splitting two drivers to give him more space but then that was negated when the second and final yellow waved with twenty laps complete when Doug Tye spun and collected fourth running Mike Spatola. Summer Nationals rules state that anyone that stops for a spin or wreck becomes part of the spin or wreck so Spatola was forced to tail back the field. He didn't like that and had a snit before he barreled to the pits and kicked up some dust. 

Feger pulled away over the last ten laps as the yellow seemed to slow English's progress and he had to settle for second. Dillard made some challenges to Heckenast Jr before falling back and settling for fourth with Mitch McGrath completing the top five. There were just two yellows in the race and only four drivers that failed to finish. 

On this night, the Modifieds produced much more passing in their main event and even a pass for the lead. All eighteen on hand took the green flag for their feature, run as the last event of the night with most of the crowd staying to watch, perhaps because it was still so early. 

Dennis Schoenfeld, on his way home to Arkansas after racing a big event at 141 Speedway in eastern Wisconsin over the weekend, grabbed the initial lead by again using the top side to get a good jump. He then dropped to the inside, cat fishing around the dry oval to maintain the top spot. 

There was some good racing back in the pack at this point while Schoenfeld built up a nice sized lead as the green remained out. Eventually, Jaden Fryer, who has had some experience at this track, tried out the second lane and found it to be very good. He was able to maintain speed in the corners and drive past other drivers spinning their tires down low. A big shelf developed in turns three and four and that gave him an extra boost if he hit it correctly. By the halfway point of the race, after starting eighth, he was up to second and Joel Crowbridge, who saw Fryer drive by him on the top side, moved up there also and was up to third. 

Both were closing rapidly on Schoenfeld who had no idea what was going on behind him and on lap thirteen, Fryer went blasting by and took over the lead. A late yellow slowed the action for a spin and set up a three lap dash to the finish. 

But another yellow slowed things down again and saved the day for Fryer who had opted to go back to the bottom and protect i guess, but that opened the door for Crowbridge to drive by him for the lead, only to see the pass negated by the yellow for debris. 

Feyer didn't make the same mistake twice and got up on the cushion for the restart, effectively blocking Crowbridge from making another run at him. Jaden drove on for the win, riding the high side the last three laps to do so. Crowbridge finished up second while things went sideways for Schoenfeld who had last lap mechanical issues and failed to cross the line, giving third to Adam Abbey who also gained a number of spots late using the top side also. Only two drivers failed to complete the race. 

Even with a couple of slowdowns during the Modified feature, it was still a quick night of racing, no doubt appreciated by the fans that came out on a Monday night. I think all racing was done about 9:`5 pm. 

Thanks to all the DIRTcar officials and especially track promoter Chris Klemko for his help. The Tour moves on across the border to historic West Liberty Raceway on Tuesday night and DIRT Vision will be on hand to cover it for those fans not able to get to the track.