(Yawn) Another WoO Late Model Race, Another Pierce Victory

 Friday night, August 26th saw night number two of the My Place Hotels, Quad Cities 150 at the Davenport Speedway. Another full show would be held for the WoO Late Models and they would be joined on Friday by the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets who would be running a full program also. 

It was another brutally hot and stuffy night in eastern Iowa but just a tad more tolerable than on Thursday and with Davenport's regular race night on Friday, the crowd was considerably larger than it had been for the Thursday night steam bath. 

With the points earned from the first two nights of racing setting the heat race lineups for the Saturday night conclusion, there would not be a large number of new entrants for the Late Model program on Friday. Actually, I was expecting no new entries so I was surprised when Jonathan Huston pulled into the pits as the last arrival on Friday. And after a tough night that saw him spin out a couple of times and fail to complete a B Feature, I suspect he will find some other track to race at on Saturday night. There were a couple of Thursday night entrants that failed to return as local favorite Justin Kay did something bad to his motor and Jay Johnson also did not return. So there were thirty four Late Models on hand. 

Their drill was exactly the same as on Thursday night with qualifying followed by four heats and a pair of B Features that would set the grid for the finale, a thirty five lap main once again. Cade Dillard would be quickest overall timer on Friday with Shane Clanton tops in group B but the key was to finish in the top two in the heat races so that the redraw for the top four rows would be available. 

Twenty four cars would start the main for WoO cars on Friday with only two provisional starters added to the mix. Chris Madden would start on the pole and would take the early lead with the yellow waving quickly twice in the first four laps, the most serious of which was a collision between Brent Larson and Todd Cooney that would knock the Iowa racer out of the race.

Pierce would quickly move to second but following the second restart, he got squeezed out of that spot by Shane Clanton who would take over second. The top three would run close together for the next laps with Madden continuing to hold off Clanton.

Pierce didn't seem to be in any great hurry as he sat back in second and kind of sized things up. I guess when you have the dominant car on the grounds you can afford to do that. He started moving around on the track to find the line that best suited him and within several more laps he had passed Clanton for second and was bearing down on the leader by the halfway point. Kyle Bronson and Dillard would both be in the top five at the halfway point but both would fade back later.

Pierce found the line he liked and on lap twenty , with a power move off turn four, he drove past Madden on the top side of the track and then would disappear into the Iowa haze, never to be seen the rest of the race by the field. His line found him running the cushion in turns three and four like last night but he was slightly higher on the track in turns one and two than he had been the previous night. No matter, he found the sweet spot for his car and steadily pulled away from the field. 

There was not near as much lapped traffic to deal with on this night and the rest of the race was smooth sailing for him, crossing the line as the winner with plenty of distance between himself and the pack. Madden would hold on for second while Brandon Sheppard made another second half charge, much as he did on Thursday night and he would drive up into second with the ultra consistent Dennis Erb Jr. next in line as Chanton faded back to fifth. Both Sheppard and Ryan Gustin had been strong the second half of mains on the last two nights but they have both dug themselves too deep a hole to completely climb out of on both nights. 

The Xtreme Midgets made their first appearance of the weekend on Friday night, with nineteen drivers signing in to race. I was a bit surprised but pleased that with that number of cars, they divided them up into just two heat races, as I thought they would have tried to "milk" more out of their class. 

They started out quick with Ryan Timms setting a new track record during time trials as he turned a lap at 14.089 seconds while Jade Avedisian would top the B group about two tenths slower. Things started shaky for this group with multiple yellow flags for spins and a flip in the first heat but after that they ran quite the smooth program. 

The track had been "juiced" for the main and the Midgets were definitely flying around the track during their thirty lap main event which was stopped only twice, both for minor incidents. And it was indeed heart break for Ryan Timms who started on the pole and checked out on the field early, building up a sizable lead over the pack. Hayden Reinbold would run second for the first half of the race with Connor McIntosh third. 

Zach Daum would start ninth but would gradually move to the front, finding the low line to work for him as he gained positions. Daum would get by Reinbold for second but was far behind the leader when the unthinkable happened. 

Suddenly, down the front chute, Timms, would that big lead would suddenly slow and then pull into hte infield, the victim of an oil leak that would damage the motor. Daum would find himself the new leader but two laps later the race was slowed for another car over the end of the track. 

Daum would get a terrible restart and McIntosh would drive by him to take over the lead but Daum had the low groove working and just one lap later he would drive under McIntosh and retake the lead. He would make no more mistakes as he extended his lead the last eight laps and would drive home as the winner of the event, with McIntosh and Reinbold next in line at the finish. Thomas Meseraull and Taylor Reimer would complete the top five. 

While the crowd would tolerate the Midget portion of the event, they didn't seem to really be invested in it since this is a Late Model crowd this weekend and many don't even know who the Midget stars are.Tthe pairing of the Late Models and Midgets seems like a strange partnership to me and since there are no Midgets anywhere in this area, they don't really bring a lot to the table here. If the WoO, who is promoting this show themselves, not regular promoter Ricky Kay, really wanted to bring out more local fans to add to the crowd, they would have been much better served by running IMCA Modifieds for three nights, not a class that most in the stands have not even familiar with. Fortunately the Midget portion of the show ran off smoothly or on this steamy night, I'm not sure how tolerant the fans would have been. 

They raced through the program as quickly as possible, forgoing the redraw in front of the crowd , to get the races done early with music and all sorts of entertainment after the races as the WoO is trying to make this much more than just a race night. I particularly liked the wide variety of food trucks that were on the grounds and so did a lot of other fans. The racing was done shortly after 10 pm and then many went to party on this well kept fairgrounds. 

I will not be returning for the main event on Saturday as I have other racing commitments, so I would like to thank the officials of the WoO for their help this week. 

Pierce Dominates at "My Place", trucks on For Davenport Victory

 The My Place Hotels Quad Cities 150, presented by Hoker Trucking LLC, opened up at the Davenport Speedway on Thursday night, August 24th. This would be the first of three nights for the World of Outlaws Late Models at the Davenport track(and no, once again they are NOT using the half mile), which would culminate in a thirty thousand dollar to win event on Saturday night. On Friday and Saturday night, the Late Models wold be joined by the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series who will have a full show on both nights. 

Of course, one of the biggest topics going into this three night series was the weather and more specifically the extreme heat which is currently plaguing the entire Midwest and beyond. I was checking often this week because I thought there might be a possibility that the event would get either postponed or cancelled but I guess there was too much riding on this event and probably way too much money spent on promotions and other things to change the date at this late time. They did decide to delay the start of the races on Thursday by one hour which while it didn't help much with the temperature factor, did allow the sun to set sooner as the crews worked and the fans baked. At race time, the temperature was ninety three degrees and the "feels like" was one hundred and eight and it was still eighty seven degrees when the final checkered flag waved. It was tough but it seemed like everyone took precautions and got through it. Friday promises to be just a bit cooler before things start to settle back down for the weekend. 

Track prep is always a concern when conditions are so extreme but Dr. Al and Ricky Kay had that under control on Thursday night. It was reported that they put over 27,000 gallons of water on the track for this night and while that might seem like a lot, a track I know for one of the dry and hot weeks recently put on over 50,000 gallons of water. Actually, even when it is so hot, if it is humid to the extreme that it was on Thursday, it's actually easier to keep moisture in the track despite the temperature. Many of the most "hammer down" nights of racing are seen when it is very humid, hot or not. And such was the case on Thursday, where the track raced heavy all night and the low side was dominant for most of the drivers. In fact, there was plenty of complaining amongst the drivers about it being so "hammer down" but I didn't seen any of them volunteering to help prep the track themselves. I must admit, however, that a heavy track does not always produce the best racing.It was refreshing, however, to not see a water truck on the track at all once the racing began. Mostly they spent a little extra time trying to pack in the cushion and roll the extreme lower groove. 

Thirty five cars signed in to race on Thursday night, a nice number of cars but certainly nothing overwhelming. The top sixteen in Outlaw points were all on hand but after that, with lots of other series having events this weekend, there weren't too many "bonus" drivers on hand for this show. Thirty thousand to win is certainly not "chump change" but with there being so many big races across the country, this event is just another in a long series of races over the course of the Summer. And quite frankly, the varied and expansive schedule of races that Davenport provides over the course of the year brings virtually every driver on hand to this track previously during the year so there are no "must see" drivers for this race that haven't already been on this track already this year. No doubt, though, the crowds will pick up as we move into the weekend. 

Qualifying would be split into two groups that would set up the four heat races where four would make the show. A pair of B Features would then set the final order for the main with the provisional starters in the back. Points for all events, including time trial from the first two nights would set the running order for the Saturday night heat races so it was important if possible, to produce a consistent night and certainly one that involved making the main. 

Bobby Pierce would set the bar high right from the start as he would be overall quickest qualifier at 13.380 seconds with Chad Simpson topping the first group but not as quick overall. Interspersed with three sets of practice sessions for the Midgets, the Late Models would then run off four heats and their B Features. Problems in the first heat would see three different drivers slide off the end of turn one including Ryan Gustin which would eventually mire him in the back of the main after taking one of those provisionals. The next five events, however, would see the yellow flag only used one time. 

Twenty five drivers would take the green flag for the Late Model main after Dustin Walker scratched out of the main event. Dennis Erb Jr and Shane Clanton would go at it on the opening lap with Erb leading lap one before Clanton passed him to lead lap two. 

Pierce had started on the inside of row two and would quickly move into position to attempt a passing move. On lap six, he would drive past Clanton on the high side of the track to take over the lead and truly, after that he was never challenged for the lead. 

Pierce is really on his game right now with a highly functioning race car and he also seems particularly sharp, making all the right moves in traffic and also reading the track perfectly. He used a variety of lines on the track on this night, moving both high and low as needed and seemingly settling on a high side run in turns three and four while hugging the bottom in turns one and two. However, he was not afraid to alter that plan if he needed to when in traffic and that is a good sign of a great working race car. 

At the halfway point of the race, Piece had a comfortable lead over Erb, Nick Hoffman, Brandon Sheppard and Clanton. And while Pierce was just cruising up front, he needed to stay sharp with traffic as there was much of that. In fact, there were only twelve cars on the lead lap at the finish with another ten still running but all a lap behind. 

There were some good battles for position behind Pierce that kept the race from being a stinker. Erb was pretty comfortable in second but Sheppard, Hoffman, Kyle Bronson, Brian Shirley, Chris Madden and Cade Dillard all were fighting it out with some fading near the end while others surged. It kept the event interesting despite the fact that Pierce dominated. And on this hot and steamy night, the drivers managed to go thirty five laps nonstop without a single yellow flag slowdown which must have been  a strain on the powerplants pulling so hard on the heavy surface. 

Friday night everyone comes back to do it again and everyone will be trying to figure out a formula to slow down Pierce. Along with a full show for the World Of Outlaw Late Models, the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets will be running a full show also. 

Smith's Dominate at "Steamy Beaver"

 The wrap up of many  race track's regular seasons has coincided with the recent heat wave, making it even more challenging to get race fans and drivers out and participating of such miserable nights. 

The final event of the 2023 racing season at the Buena Vista Raceway, aka "The Beaver", was held on Wednesday night, August 23rd under such conditions. At BVR they don't, as such, have a championship night but rather the conclusion of the points race is on this night and at the end of the night, the six drivers, one in each class, will be crowned the point champions. And with the way that IMCA calculates their points and with the car counts such as they were, only a couple of the point titles were in jeopardy at the beginning of the night. In four of the six classes, the point leader just needed to take the green flag to guarantee the title while just the Sport Mod and Stock Car divisions had real races going into the season's finale.

I had the chance to speak with track promoter Trent Chinn for a few minutes as he took a break between doing some duties at the infield concession stand and heading back out to pack the track some more. He told me that at this point, everything was up in the air for 2024 in terms of his involvement with the tracks that he promotes. He has had an incredibly busy Summer as he is the promoter of record here at Buena Vista but also at the Clay County Fairgrounds in Spencer and the Hancock County Speedway in Britt. 

Tonight would conclude his season at Alta, next Friday is the wrap up at Britt with the rescheduled Night of a Thousand Stars and then his season concludes with two nights of high profile racing during the Clay County Fair in Spencer in September. 

He said that right now he could be running three tracks next year or it could also be zero tracks. After the seasons are complete, he will start meeting with Fair Boards and then negotiations will begin. He said that both Alta and Spencer have had good years with good crowds in the stands, although Alta has struggled with its car count all year. Britt was a struggle this year, as they knew it would be, as they are trying to raise a "Phoenix" back up from the ashes. The two times I was there I thought the car counts were good and the crowds fair, but those were also both special events. 

He didn't come right out and say so, but I got the indication that at the end of a long season, he was getting tired of all the drama and other things that a promoter has to deal with, especially when you are hearing it from both the competitors and from the Fair Boards. It can be a lot of grief and long nights and then multiply that times three and it must be a real challenge. It is amazing that someone as young as Trent, he's only twenty four, has taken on such a work load in what is such an explosive market. He said that maybe there's another perfect job waiting for him outside of racing so I think he's keeping his options wide open, as he should. 

The numbers at race time were: ninety four degrees with a "feels like" temperature of one hundred and nine degrees as the humidity was over bearing. And just as I've seen at other tracks over the course of hte last week, the crowds were down and so were the number of competitors. It's probably a good thing that they were wrapping up the season on this night as forty seven cars spread out over six divisions is a number that is not sustainable over a long haul. The only class that had double digit numbers was in the Hobby Stocks and they just barely broke into that category. In my area, in order to run two heat races there must be at least ten cars on hand and signed in but that must not be the case in IMCA as they ran two sets of heats for the Bombers and Stock Cars with only five and four cars in the heats. It is true the Bombers were not sanctioned but the Stock Cars were . 

Championship Night was sponsored by Tyson Turkeys and Jim's Sewer Service and I want you to consider the irony of those two sponsors on board as sponsors on the same night. That was a very strange pairing indeed. Wednesday night was also a big bike giveaway night at the track and despite school being in session for many districts around here, there were a goodly number on kids on hand, trying to win a bike. 

The track was in good shape for racing Wednesday despite the heat as humidity, while not friendly for us, is a friend of a racing surface and generally speaking, humid nights produce good racing surfaces if the track prep has worked hard enough to get that moisture into the surface. Trent told me that he had been watering since 9:30 am on this day and the product was a good surface with very little dust, despite a strong South wind that was blowing right into the grandstands.

Racing would get started shortly after 7 pm and with the small number of heats, it would take just forty minutes to complete all the qualifying which was followed by the drawings and then it was time for the main events. 

Sport Compacts would start out the feature event action and Caine Mahlberg would come from the third row before one lap was completed to take the lead. He would then run away from the field to score an easy win. Cody Gorden and Levi Volkert would follow him home with Volkert being crowned the point champion. 

Jarrett Franzen would take the early lead in the Sport Mod feature. Franzen, who has been pulling all the way from Maquoketa fairly often on Wednesday nights to race, would only hold the lead briefly before he was overtaken by Rusty Montague. Montague would pull away from the field and keep Jake Simpson, who has a small window of opportunity to pass Rusty in the point standings, behind him as he drove on for the win plus the title. Simpson and Franzen would follow him across the line. 

The Bomber feature got the crowd more excited than anything else as apparently the demolition derby crowd was dominant in the stands on this night as the spins and near crashes got them more excited than real racing. The Bomber drivers are apparently slow to learn as they were spinning out and running into each other like it was opening night, not the end of the season. 

There was, however, a pretty good battle for the lead as Wyatt Johnson led early and it took most of the race for Will Smith to ease past Johnson on the high side of the track and become the first of three Smiths to win on this night. On the last lap, Johnson attempted a banzai move on the inside but when Smith adjusted his line, he wasn't there for Johnson to bank off of and instead, Johnson spun out of contention. Max Pogeler and Ryler Ziegmann would complete the top three. Smith would also be the champion. 

The Stock Car feature would be one class where the title would be settled on the final night. Stefan Sybesma had a one point lead over David Smith as they raced the final feature race of the season. This race would also be the most competitive of the night with three different leaders as Devin Tripp and Brian Blessington both had stints as the leader before Tim Rupp took over the top spot. However, once Rupp got the lead, he drove away from the field to take the win. Smith  would work his way into a solid second place while Sybesma tried to come from the fourth row by using the top side and that didn't work for him on this night as he could only get to fifth and that would give the title to Smith. 

The Modified feature was a "walk over" for Chris Abelsen who would start in the second row but have the lead before one lap was completed and then would drive away from the field. At the finish, he would have the better half of a full straightaway lead over Jesse Rogotzke and Doug Smith. Abelsen was also the point champion and it was noted that he has switched chassis brands since I last saw him race as he is now in a NF1 chassis out of Sioux City. 

The Hobby Stock feature would complete the evening's entertainment and we would wrap things up on a good note as the Hobbies produced the best feature of the night. It would be a tight three car battle between Mike Smith, James Johnson and Kurtis Bonnesen for the win. Bonnesen would be the early leader until Smith got by him and then put some distance on the field. However, neither Bonnesen or Johnson would give up and as the race drew close to completion, they had both caught the leader. Johnson was riding right in the tire tracks of Smith and it was interesting to note how they both switches lines on the track, trying to find that small edge. 

Near the end, Smith was protecting the low side and this gave Bonnesen a chance to move up to the top and gain ground. They took the white flag in tight formation but while both the contenders tried their best, Smith ran a solid last lap and would hold them both off by the smallest of distances with Johnson second and Bonnesen next in line. Smith would also win the Championship, giving the family three feature wins on this night and also three Championships as they had the fendered classes covered. You could tell the crowd was a bit lethargic on this humid night, as there were only a few "one fingered salutes" to the winners and back and forth in the crowd compared to normal when the crowd is much more livid, one way or the other. 

All racing was complete by 10 pm when the mechanics took to the oval and I took leave of the scene. Thanks to Trent Chinn and all the staff of Chinn Racing Promotions for their help. We may perhaps meet again as a trip to the Clay County Fair may be in the cards. 

Timm Tops Dirt Kings Late Models at MTS

 Jake Timm would earn an easy victory in the Rumble By The River 40 on Friday night, August 18th at his father's Mississippi Thunder Speedway located North of Fountain City Wisconsin.  Things worked out just perfectly for the family as not only did Timm win the feature at the family track, Jake's sponsor Hurco was the title sponsor of the event. This race was sanctioned by the Wisconsin based Dirt Kings Late Model series and a part of a two night swing that will see them head West to the Deer Creek Speedway near Spring Valley Minnesota to wrap up the their weekend. 

Four other USRA classes would race in a regular point night for those divisions in a program that would, unfortunately, run until the wee hours of the morning, making it a long night for all concerned. Stock Cars, B Mods, Limited Late Models and Hobby Stocks would all be racing full shows on this night with only the Modifieds given the night off, likely so they would be available to race at the big event in Mason City that is also being held this weekend. 

One thing you can always say about the Dirt Kings drivers that can't always be said about other regional traveling series is that they support their series by going to whatever track they are being asked to race at. No matter, it seems, where ever the race and no matter how hard it is to get there, the Dirt Kings regulars always seem to show up, no matter if they are feature race winner material or not. Their support is commendable but given the fact that eastern based Wisconsin Late Model opportunities to race are so limited, it is also many times the only show in town, so if they don't race the Dirt Kings and that series would happen to go away because of small numbers, they would have no racing at all on the whole eastern side . of the state. 

The field of drivers on Friday night numbered forty, a spectacular turnout for this event. The top ten in points were all on hand and seventeen of the top twenty were in the pits. Along with the Dirt Kings drivers, quite a large number of the western Wisconsin based WISSOTA drivers were also on hand too. Some were driving their spec engined cars while others were in open motors for this show which is a series that mixes the rules between the open and spec engined cars. Always the open motored cars seem to have an advantage but the spec engines have enough success that they continue to try, week after week. 

New in an open motor car on this night was Sam Mars, who has always drove his spec engine car against the open motored cars in the events he has run with various series over the past couple of years but tonight, for the  first time, he would be in one of the yellow #28 cars with an open motor. This would be the same car that Tyler Erb raced in the XR event at Red Cedar recently. 

This race is also close enough to their home territories that a couple of Iowa based teams were on hand in Spencer Diercks and Tyler Bruening  along with Illinois driver Justin Reed. I really thought also, that with it being a slow week for specials in the mid parts of the country and tracks like MTS and Deer Creek racing these cars this weekend that there would be some Illinois UMP cars on hand. That proved to be incorrect but as it was, there were more than enough cars for a show.  It should also be pointed out that Bruening debuted a brand new Longhorn chassis for this event as the rumblings about him doing so for the last few weeks were finally fulfilled. 

The Dirt Kings Series qualifies the cars a pair at a time which made the time trial session last quite awhile, putting the whole program behind right to start with. Timm would be the quick qualifier at 14.206 seconds, starting off his perfect night that would also see him win the first heat. The Dirt Kings does redraw all the heat winners against each other and the second place finishers in the heats against each other to set the top four rows on this night.

Local favorite Jordan Yaggy would draw the pole with A.J. Diemel outside of him. Before the Late Model feature, Bob Timm would completely farm the track, tickling it and then watering it and thus it would be bad fast for the entire forty laps of the feature race with most drivers finding the top side to carry the most speed. 

With track and series provisional starters established, twenty six drivers would take the green flag for the forty lap main. Yaggy would get the jump and lead the opening laps while Diemel would go way too hard into turn one, smash the wall hard and drop back and then out of the race very early. Timm would start third and was soon on Yaggy's tail as they caught the back of the pack before ten laps could be completed. 

Racing down the back chute in heavy traffic, Yaggy got hung up behind a slower car and Timm was quick to jump outside of him, drive into the lead and thus then lead the rest of the race. Shortly after, on lap sixteen, the first yellow flew for a spinning car. 

After this point, it would be Timm out front and except for two more yellows, both in the first half of the race, he would simply drive away from the field and establish a huge lead that no one could cut into. Yaggy would soon receive a challenge from series point leader Nick Anvelink who would work under Yaggy several times but not quite be able to take over second. Brett Swedberg and Iowa's Gunnar Frank were also having good runs in the first half of the event. 

Bruening started deep in the field after having to run a B Feature as he sorted out his new car but he would eventually move up steadily through the pack, cracking the top five after the third and final yellow on lap thirty three when a stalled car on the back chute would slow the action. 

Anvelink took his only shot at Timm following that yellow as he nearly got under Timm off turn four on the restart but couldn't close the deal and Timm would then drive off and leave the field in his wake, driving blinding fast laps right up against the concrete wall all the way around the track, the way he races best when conditions permit. The last few laps would see Bruening try and steal away second and he very nearly pulled it off but Anvelink would hold off his last lap charge to finish second with Bruening coming from nineteenth to finish third. Yaggy and Jake Redetzke would complete the top five with eighteen cars still on the track at the finish. 

The USRA Limited Late Models would also be a part of the program with thirteen of them taking the green for their main event. This would be the only feature race to go green to checkers and after starting on the pole, Brad Waits would win the event with a considerable distance over the rest of the field, say about a half mile! Not quite true since the track is shorter than that but the second place finisher, Kory Reissie, could only guess the whereabouts of Waits, he was so far ahead. Triton Krause would complete the top three. 

USRA Stock Cars are new at MTS this year as a first year class. Likely because of this, the class is both weak in numbers and quality at this point with both likely to grow down the line. Brayden Gjerle would start on the pole and drive to an easy win, never being challenged in the twenty lap affair that saw only nine cars take the green. Gjerle would win for the seventh time this year at MTS, thus highlighting the down side of the weekly draw/redraw method of lining up the cars. When a six time winner can still draw the pole position, these kinds of sleepy feature races can be the result as opposed to handicapping the most successful cars farther back in the field so they at least put some spark in the race as they drive to the front. But then others would argue that it unfair to always put the strongest cars to the back, week after week. So there you go. 

The final two features of the night for the B Mods and Hobby Stocks would both be marked by a large amount of rough driving and many yellow flags, largely as a result of way over aggressive driving, even by the divisions' most successful drivers. 

The B Mod feature would see four different leaders over the twenty lap distance with two of the leaders breaking down and not making the finish. Brandon Hare would lead the opening five laps before he was passed by Dylan Goettl for the lead. Hare would soon break down and pull into the infield as his night was over 

Goettl, Taylor Skauge and Ryan Olson, the track point leader, would then engage in a wild three way battle for the lead that was marked by nasty slide jobs, must side by side banging and some bent sheet metal. In the meantime, several yellows for spins and crashes would keep the field bunched and each time the green would be displayed again, the war would continue. 

Skauge would manage to slip into the lead for a single lap but then Goettl would retake the lead. However, on lap sixteen of twenty, Goettl would suddenly slow with a cloud of smoke trailing his car and he would be done. Erik Kanz, who started ninth, had steadily moved to the front, running the low line and slipping past car after car while the leaders pushed and shoved against each other. 

Kanz would inherit the lead at this point  and survive to take the win. He would have to endure a one lap sprint to the finish after another grinding crash just as the checkers was ready to be waved. On the last lap, Olson tried to bang him out of the way in turn one but then Olson got too low and clobbered one of the dreaded infield tractor tires, taking care of his front end as Kanz drove on for the win over Harley Dais and Tyler Werner, survivors all. 

The Hobby Stock feature was slowed by six yellows, often for the same cars that just couldn't get around the track without spinning. Casey Colsch would be the early leader with several cars putting the heat on him. Finally, Chris Hovden would get by on lap five and he would lead the rest of the way for the win with the final seven laps of the race going green, the longest stretch of real racing in the entire event. 

Hovden would win for the fifth time here this year but would start in fourth spot in the main on the redraw. Gavin Bartel would chase Hovden from lap seven on but just couldn't catch the strong running Iowa driver with Nick Schwebach third. 

There would be plenty of racing for even the hard core fan on this night with most of the crowd having vacated the facility long before Waits took the final checkered flag of the night. They got behind early as time trials didn't go as smoothly as planned or they just started them too late but it was after 8 pm before the first race hit the track. After that, with plenty of racing, lots of yellow flags and quite a few farming sessions, the evening just got longer and longer. It was about 12:30 pm when the final checkered waved but especially for the Late Model fans in the crowd, they were plenty happy to see such a great turnout of cars. The Late Models will be highlighted again soon as over the Labor Day weekend, the World of Outlaws Late Models will be back at MTS with a date the following night at Deer Creek. 

Thanks to promoter Tyrone Lingenfelter for his quick response this week and as always, the entire staff at MTS, especially the pleasant lady at the pit gate. 

Becker Tops Night One of Schill Memorial at Red River Valley

 Thursday night, August 17th, the first of two nights of the third annual Howie Schill Memorial race was held at the Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo North Dakota. This event would feature NLRA/WISSOTA  Late Models along with three divisions of IMCA racing in the first of two straight nights of racing at the West Fargo track. 

It was another smoky night here in the northern region with the skies getting hazier and hazier as the evening progressed and the North wind blew in more smoke from the Canadian wild fires. I lost by sense of smell post Covid but I would swear I could almost smell the smoke, that's how heavy it was. 

Howie Schill was one of the best known personalities in the Red River Valley area for many years. He was a long time racer, mainly in the Late Model class but in other classes also over the years. He had retired from racing for a number of years but was still highly involved in the racing career of his son Cole, who also races Late Models, #44 and Howie was in the pits, calling shots on every move of Cole's operation, which has been very successful in its own right since Cole jumped into racing, moving right into the Late Models. Howie was seen at every track and was an active part of the Northern Late Model Racing Association (NLRA ), the club that supervises races for the Late Models in this area. The NLRA puts together their own traveling schedule of races and while they are completely sanctioned by WISSOTA and run their rules fully, they "do their own thing", so to speak, at tracks in North and South Dakota, along with northern Minnesota and occasionally a visit into Manitoba. 

Howie Schill got sick suddenly over the Winter three years ago and passed quickly, shocking the racing community in this area and this race was set up as a tribute to him. The race has been highly supported by the drivers and fans and held here at West Fargo which was his home. This year, thirty seven Late Model drivers would sign in for night number one of this event, which would be just a regular purse, point paying event for the NLRA with the big money to be distributed at the Friday night show, where likely even more drivers will be on hand. 

Track promoter Jake Bitker gives his regular classes, all of whom are sanctioned by IMCA, a chance to race during this two day show also with half those classes racing on Thursday and the others moving in for the Friday night show. 

NLRA uses the old draw/redraw method of lining up their races so there would be no qualifying in any of the four classes racing which even with hot laps, allows the show to start right on the dot at 7 pm. 

The Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, for those unfamiliar with it, is one of the finest facility in the upper Midwest. The track seats over 8,000 spectators with a huge set of grandstands, has spectacular lighting and all the other amenities of a top notch track. The track itself is about a third mile, cut down a number of years ago by then promoter Danny Schatz(yes, that Danny Schatz) from the big half mile that it had been since its inception. It took some years for fans and drivers to get used to the smaller track and I suspect still some people that pine for that big old black dirt half mile, but all the newer drivers and fans now only know the smaller track. Interestingly, the front stretch retaining wall from the old half mile was retained so there is a long wall that extended beyond the track in both directions on the front chute that seem to be protecting nothing but are a remnant of the old track. The new track has no walls on either end so drivers occasionally slip over the top or go flying over the top as Andy Pake did with his Sprint Car Thursday. 

A great field of Late Models was on hand as the featured attraction, with five heats and a pair of B Features needed to set the field for the twenty five lap main event. There would be drivers on hand Thursday from both Dakotas, along with Minnesota just across the Red River and also from Canada. 

Interestingly, the Late Models would compete in a bonus feature race that needs to be explained. Jake Bitker is also the promoter at the Norman County Raceway in Ada Minnesota, very close to his farm property. This is a Thursday night track that runs both IMCA and WISSOTA divisions and occasionally brings in the Late Models and Sprint Cars as a special. Two weeks ago they had the Late Models and the feature was rained out. 

However, circumstances required that Norman County wrap up their season early and their finale for the year was cancelled. With no chance to run that Late Model feature, Bitker instead moved it here to West Fargo and that event was run early in the evening so as not to affect the regular show. 

There were only ten cars in that event and as things would work out, the banner year that Tyler Peterson has been having would continue. The rookie Late Model driver and former Modified WISSOTA national champion, would benefit when Don Shaw and Cole Schill would bang together on the opening lap and briefly be forced to check up. Peterson would drive by them both and take the lead, one that he would retain to the checkers in the short race and thus tack another feature win on to his ledger as he would best Shaw and Shane Edginton. 

Peterson would be right in the middle of the Schill Memorial feature, part one, also, but things didn't work out quite so well in that event. The twenty five lap, twenty five car starting field would see things start out in a rough manner. 

Denver Nickeson would get the jump at the start of the main event but Mike Greseth would get a big run on him off turn four on the opening lap. However, when Nickeson moved up the track, Greseth piled into the back of his car, spinning off turn four right in front of the whole field. Josh Zimpel couldn't avoid him and they collided hard, with both cars done for the event. Significantly, Greseth is the two time and defending NLRA champion and is locked in a tight battle with Brad Seng for the title this year and his elimination from the event had to hurt when Seng would eventually motor on to a fourth place finish. 

Nickeson would only hold the lead for one more lap on the restart before Peterson would move up from the third row, using the top side of the track. He went flying by Nickeson and it looked like he would run away with the race. 

However, he misread the top side of the track, which started to slow down considerably and Chad Becker, a former multi time WISSOTA champion, would drive under Peterson and take over the lead. However, Tyler wasn't done yet though, as he fought back using the top and lower grooves and he was right beside Becker as they hit heavy traffic. The slower cars were mostly running right on the bottom and it got wild as both the leaders tried to slash through the traffic and beat the other back to clean air. 

At one point, Becker got trapped on the bottom and knew the he needed to get back up top and he made a slicing move back to the top side of the track, just beating Peterson by inches to that spot. However, Peterson already had a head of steam up and couldn't slow quick enough and slipped over the edge of turn one, triggering a yellow with just six laps to go. 

Tyler decided to call it a night at this point and Becker would drive on for the last six laps to take the win over NIckeson and the ageless Mitch Johnson who just keeps getting better and better in his return to the sport after retiring for a number of years. The one, two swipe by South Dakota drivers likely won't sit sell with the North Dakota group and they prepare for the Friday night showdown for the big bucks. 

Fourteen IMCA 305 Racesaver Sprints were on hand to race on Thursday. This is a relatively new class to this area which has always been a Sprint Car hot bed anyway and the class continues to grow slowly. On this night, the locals were joined by national point leader Tyler Drueke who is making a tour this weekend of area tracks and intends to run River Cities in Grand Forks on Friday night. 

However, Drueke would have to settle for second on this night as no one could touch track point leader Tye Wilke for the win. Wilke would pass Ty Hanten on lap two and then pull away for the win. The race was stopped for the red on fourteen when third running Andy Pake would tangle with a slower car, go flying off turn four and take some big air before he would slam into the extended wall on that end. He was OK but it took a bit of time for him to exit his car. 

Wilke would then pull away from Drueke and Hanten to take the win. 

A nice field of twenty two IMCA Modifieds would be on hand for what turned out to be a rather aggressive, slam bam kind of feature race. Lynn Sather would lead for one lap  before Kollin Hibdon would make the pass for the lead, having come from the third row. He would put distance on the field, a wise move for him because there was plenty going on behind him and most of it was not good. 

"Wild" Bill Wadeson proved to be exactly that as he spun in turn one right in heavy traffic and the resulting grinding crash eliminated four cars. Hibdon would lead the rest of the way, safely in front of the battles behind him that were aggressive at times. Dave Shipley would eventually come home second with Jesse Skalicky third. 

The Hobby Stocks are a new class to the area in the last couple of years and their numbers are just a bit slow to grow. Some nights they have a decent car count but a Thursday night is probably pretty tough for many and so only eight were on hand on this night. 

However, they managed to produce some action of their own. After hitting the wall in the heat and having to start in the back, Brodee Echerdt would come through the field to win the main event with a late race pass. He didn't endure himself to others in the field though, as he slammed his way past a couple of contenders who felt the need to let him know after the race that they were none too pleased with his strategy. In fact, one other driver got so incensed that he managed to fly off the end of the track while expressing his displeasure. 

Eckerdt would take the win with Brad Ovedal second and Tim Church third. Church was the one to fell the fullest impact of Eckerdt's over aggressiveness. Eckerdt also showed the he clearly isn't the one working on his race car as when asked in the victory lane speech just what had been repaired after hitting the wall in the heat, he had to admit that he had no idea, clearly an indication that Dad or others work on the car and he just drives. Maybe that is why that his "no holds barred" strategy works so well.

So it was a nice night of racing with plenty of entertainment for the fans who were on hand in good numbers on a Thursday night with the place to likely be packed on Friday night. The fast paced show was completed just after 10 pm as they did a nice job with time management on a week night. Thanks to Jake Bitker and the entire crew here at RRVS. If in the area, this would be a good place to add to your list of tracks visited. It can be seen right from I-94 if you are traveling West.  

Dishaw, Zdroik Top Eagle River Runs

 As the regular racing season starts to wind down, with High School football in the air, the mid week specials also start to dry up. However, there are those few tracks that run mid week shows all year long and they proceed right up to the Labor Day weekend when most wrap up their racing  seasons. 

One of those is the Eagle River Speedway located near the resort town of Eagle River Wisconsin in the big woods of northern Wisconsin. It appears that much of the vacation season has wrapped up here as there were many vacancies noted at the local hotels and motels and things seemed significantly quieter than the last time I was in town. With many of the vacationers in this area from southern Wisconsin and from parts even farther to the South, many of their schools returned into session this week so vacations must be wrapped up before that happens. To the credit of the local and area race fans, even with the tourist dollars not available in big numbers for this week, there was still a very nice crowd on hand for the races on this Tuesday with with one more Tuesday night show to be run plus for the first time, a two day show over the Labor Day weekend. 

The program on this night would be their regular show plus one in that the Pure Stocks, a class that races on and off here, would be racing on this night. I'm not sure why they don't race them weekly, actually, as they big a field of cars equivalent to most of the other classes and do have a number of local entrants racing. Interestingly, and something not seem very often anymore, two of the drivers that raced in the Pure Stock class actually also raced in the Street Stock class too. I'm not sure how that works for entry fees etc but I saw it done on this night. 

In fact, one of the drivers to do this, Jason Melton, actually only finished one position lower in the Street Stock feature than he did in the Pure Stock feature. This tells me that either the rules between the two classes are very close or that the Street Stocks aren't very fast. You can be the judge on that. 

Classes racing would include B Mods, Stock Cars and both Junior Sprints and Micro Sprints along with those mentioned above. Most classes had enough cars for two heats although both Stock Cars and Limited Late Models had just the one heat. The car count was right around fifty. 

Racing would begin just a few minutes after the advertised time of 7 pm and the program would move right along all night with the final checkered waving just around the 10 pm point. The track was in what I would say perhaps the best condition that I had ever seen it in. Despite a strong South wind blowing right in our faces, there was just the littlest amount of dust flying into the grandstands off the red clay surface. They used a strategy of misting the cushion after just about every race for a lap or so and then using the next event's cars to roll in that moisture and that seemed to be the ticket to success. Two of the main events featured some three wide racing for the lead and that is rare on this track which is a bit tight and narrow. 

The racing was exceedingly smooth on this night too with all nine qualifying events running off without a single yellow flag. In fact, we were into the eleventh race of the night before the first yellow flew and that was for a minor spin. Later there would be a couple of grinding crashes, including one that eliminated nearly half the Street Stock field but overall it was a very smooth night of racing. 

After the heats, a brief break was taken to freshen the track and then the feature race action began.  The Stock Car feature  would see Trentin Bell lead the first half of the race after starting on the outside pole. Point leader David Blackberg and Jonathan Miller would gradually catch him as the race went green to checkered. Just past the halfway point the chasers caught the lead and they went three wide down the front chute with Bell the meat in the sandwich. Blackberg used the outside line to grab the lead and despite plenty of pressure from Miller, he would drive home for the win. Blackberg was not using his regular ride on this night and had secured a ride with another driver, so he did a good job winning in the unfamiliar car. No explanation was given as to why he was in a different car and since I wasn't that familiar with them, I failed to get an answer either. 

The Limited Late Model feature would only start five cars yet they managed to exchange the top spot five times among four of the drivers. Josh Nevoraski was the leader early but Travis Friske caught him and would pass for the top spot. Then Austin Zdroik would catch those two and they would go three wide for the top spot with Austin grabbing the lead for a lap before Friske retook the top spot. 

The passing wasn't done quite yet though as Austin retook the lead when suddenly point leader Jason Zdroik caught up and he would make what would be the winning pass so after. Austin Zdroik would settle for second with Navoraski nipping Friske by inches for third. 

Jason Zdroik is part of the family that owns the track here and along with racing in two classes, he does the watering and grading of the race track as well as running his own well drilling business so he is busy in the Summer. 

Hope Eisel, recently returned to the track following a flip at another track, would lead the first lap of the Pure Stock feature. One lap later though, Brent Mindock would storm up from the fifth starting spot to take the lead and once in front, he would cruise to the win. The battle was for second as point leader Devin Fries needed to keep Melton in sight to retain the point lead and since this was the last regular season show for the Pure Stocks, it was do or die. 

Fries got shuffled back early but he recovered and would drive past Melton for second late in the race, thus assuring himself the point title in the Pure Stocks. 

Dave Dishaw would take the lead on lap one of the M Mod feature and would lead the rest of the way for the win. An early crash would eliminate Jason Zdroik and thus his efforts at taking a pair of wins. Dishaw was cruising up front but when Jesse Aho got into second, he would make a determined run at the leader. Closing to within a car length on the final lap Dishaw would protect the low line and keep Aho behind him to take the win as the pair of Upper Michigan drivers would finish first and second. Finishing third would be the legendary local racer, Beetle Bailey, age 75. 

Wrapping up the night was the Street Stock feature. Colin Joliff, "The Flying Finn" would lead the opening few laps but he was running a wild line that would almost cause him to spin on lap after lap. Finally the inevitable happened and he looped it leaving turn four as he was crossed up in heavy traffic and collected five other cars in a grinding crash that would see four of the six done for the night. 

Wyatt McIntyre would inherit the lead but just one lap later Jason Eisel would make the winning pass and then pull away for the win over McIntyre and Quentin Morrison. 

The  crowd left satisfied with an interesting and relatively quick show on a Tuesday night and I'm sure they will be back to watch their friends and neighbors race again next week. Thanks to the Zdroik family and track publicist Joe Verdegan for their help.

In closing, I would like to add my name to those mourning the loss of Bill Haglund. I first met Bill when he was second in charge at IMCA and they were trying to get the Modified division going in our part of the country. Then for years, I worked with him on race papers from Hawkeye to Mid States as well as running into him at tracks all over the country.

In recent years I would often see him at book signings and at tracks selling his books, of which I have all of them and have thoroughly enjoyed reading and re reading them. His loss is a profound one for those of us in racing and particularly those of us trying to preserve the heritage of this sport. I will miss seeing him at the track and reading his responses to various things going on in the world in general. best wishes to Judy and the entire family and friends. 

Flippo No "Floppo"'; Takes Britt 10,000*

 Main Street in Britt Iowa is closed off for National  Hobo Days, thus making navigating around this North Iowa town a logistical nightmare. However, much more importantly to us, it also means that this is the biggest week for racing at the Hancock County Speedway, just South of town. With two big races this week and as a part of IMCA TV Week , there will be a pair of five thousand dollar to win Modified races contested this week as well as extra money on the line for the other classes that race here on a weekly basis. Starting with the Harris Clash on Tuesday and continuing through the rest of the week, IMCA Modifieds from all parts of the county will convene in North Iowa for a series of big money, high visibility races. 

On Wednesday night, all eyes were focused on Britt Iowa and the annual running of the Night of 10.000* Modified event with Hancock County coming right back on Friday night for the Night of 1,000* which also pays five grand to the winner. In between, drivers and crews head just West on Thursday night for another big event at the Kossuth County Speedway, also paying five grand to the winner. This series of races in marked every year on the racing calendars from teams from all parts of the country and always produces a big and varied field of drivers. 

Along with the Modifieds, IMCA sanctioned Stock Cars, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts would also be racing in their own big races with anywhere from a grand to three hundred bucks in the Sport Compacts on the line. 

But the Modifieds would be the main focus. Fifty three of them from many different states were on hand to race with much smaller fields in the other four classes, so small in a couple that one wonders if they should perhaps just get the night off for an event like this and focus on just a couple of classes that would help get the show completed in a slightly less lengthy manner. But more on that later. 

What we would see later would be three top notch feature races that stood out as among the most interesting seen in quite awhile with the Modifieds, Sport Mods and Stock Car main events all being exceptional. 

The big field of Modifieds would be divided into five large heats and a pair of B Features which would set the running order for the main event, scheduled for fifty laps. This would be a draw/redraw show and it would seem to me, a perfect night to use passing points but I guess that just isn't in the vocabulary of track officials in this area so the draw for starting positions is perhaps the key of the whole night for racing success. The two B Features would be the size of routine main events, all leading up to the big finale. The two B's would produce some very aggressive racing and seemingly several instances of hard feelings that were carried out after the final checkered waved, as track announcer Chad Meyer so elegantly pointed out. 

I believe the Night of 10.000* race has always used a three wide start and such would be the case again Wednesday. The last two positions in the feature order were reserved for drivers with perfect attendance at races so far this year at Hancock County, an interesting "hook" to keep drivers showing up each week. Innovative and effective, I'm guessing. The top twelve would redraw, there is that word again, for their starting positions in the fifty lap main, which is actually twin 25's as they take a ten minute break at the halfway point of the race for fuel and other adjustments but no tire changes allowed. I believe this halfway break is also a long standing tradition of this event and I could go into a long discussion about the merits of this, but it is a fact of life for this race, so we deal with it. 

The first half of the Modified feature would see about five cars racing in the lead group and changing positions quite often. While it didn't seem like they were just cruising, the intensity level would seem to ramp up for the second half of the race. 

The first attempt at the start was foiled by a spin that would send one of the favorites, Jeremy Mills, to the infield for a tire change. A Jeff Aikey stall with a flat tire would be the only other slowdown in the first half of the race. Cody Thompson would lead the first twenty five laps with Tripp Gaylord, Nick Meyer and Jerry Flippo moving around in the top five while Tim Ward was drawing much attention as he raced from twelfth to sixth by the time the break happened. 

Many of the drivers were interviewed during that ten minute break by Chad and while some gave the appearance that they were just cruising during the first half, all indicated that the second half of the race would be wild. 

And they would be correct. Gaylord would wait only three laps to take the lead from Thompson who would slowly fade back into the pack. Flippo moved into second and would be the primary battlers that last half of the race. Flippo would really pick up the pace and with around ten laps to go, the sliders would break out with both Flippo and Gaylord crossing each other over several times as they fought for the lead. But to both of their credit, I didn't see a single "dirty" slider thrown. Flippo would finally secure the lead on lap forty three and despite Gaylord's best attempts, Flippo would lead the rest of the way in what was a very entertaining event. 

Flippo, a transplanted California driver spending the Summer in North Iowa, drove a great race as he came from eleventh to take the win. Behind those two, Kollin Hibdon came from fifteenth to finish third with Meyer and Jake McBernie completing the top five. Only six drivers failed to finish the race and everyone was still on the lead lap at the finish. 

And while the Modified feature was a good one, a couple of the other classes produced racing just as good. The Sport Mod feature was outstanding too with Colby Fett and brother Alec fighting it out in a great battle that saw them exchange the lead several times. Colby would take the lead from the start  but Alec would make a great charge, moving up from ninth into second by the halfway point of the race. 

It would then get interesting as Alec caught his brother and the slide jobs would break out. They exchange the lead at least four times during the second half of the race with Colby finally securing the top spot with just two laps to go. Alec wasn't able to counter that last move and would settle for a very close second with Keegan Nordquist outdueling Justin Klynsma for third. 

And the crowd went nuts over the Stock Car feature as they were on their feet cheering for both the drivers battling for the win. Kelly Shryock would start on the outside pole and take the early lead in a race that would go green to checkers. Shryock would build up a good sized lead until Heath Tulp would drive up into second after starting ninth. And once into the runner up slot, he would start to slowly but gradually cut into Shryock's lead. 

By the lap fifteen point, Tulp was on the rear bumper of Shryock and with a bold inside move, Tulp would slip past Kelly exiting turn four, to which he would receive a solid rap in the rear bumper from Shryock. But once in front, as the majority of the crowd celebrated, Tulp would pull away as Shryock had no answer and would have to settle for second with Damon Murty coming from eleventh to finish third. 

Mike Smith would lead from start to finish over a small field of Hobby Stock racers in an event that would also go green to checkers. Drew Barglof would ride the rear bumper of Smith for a number of laps, hoping for a mistake. However, none was forthcoming and Smith would eventually widen his lead and drive on for the win. Brandon Nielsen, Steve Wichman and Josh Sidles would complete the top five. 

A very small field of Sport Compacts would take the green and the field would be cut even more when a big collision just as the green flag was dropped would eliminate nearly half the field. The lady drivers would take the brunt of the crash with Kaytee DeVries, Brooke Osler and Arianna Prothman all eliminated before they could make a lap. 

After that, Devin Jones would cruise to the win over Max Heimbuch and Charles Prime as only four cars would finish. 

While Flippo was well spoken in victory lane, a couple of the winners were talking much "smack" as apparently a long Summer of racing with the same drivers has caused some rivalries to bubble up and perhaps run over. 

It  would be a night that would produce some of the best and most exciting racing that I have seen at Hancock County Speedway in quite some time. The only "downer" was the late hour with the final checkered not waving until 11;30 PM. which is pretty darn late for a midweek show with many in the crowd forced to leave early with work calling in the morning, There were several very long track prep sessions that took place, with lots of "farming" involved and I am not used to seeing this at Iowa tracks. However, if that's what it took to produce a track that could provide the kind of action we saw, so be it. However, I would say if this remains the plan, I would like to see a couple of the classes left home on this night which would allow more time to focus on the main show, which on this night should be the Modifieds. 

As always, thanks to Trent Chinn and everyone at Chinn Promotions for their help on this night. It was a beautiful night for racing and a nice sized crowd was on hand for this traditional show. 

Hoffman Is a Workin' Man at Red Cedar Speedway

 When the Red Cedar Speedway was left off the World of Outlaws Late Model schedule in 2023 after having been a part of the Midwestern swing the past few years, officials of the Red Cedar Racing Association opted to move in another direction in hopes of providing an open motor Late Model show to the fans of the track and Late Model fans from west central Wisconsin. 

With the XR Workin' Man Series debuting in 2023, they made connections with XR Series officials and booked a race which would fall right after the USA Nationals and the XR Series event held last night at the Gondik Lake Speedway in Superior Wisconsin. Along with the open Late Models, WISSOTA sanctioned Modifieds and Street Stocks would also be racing on this gorgeous Tuesday night. 

They did not expect every one of the traveling stars that raced at Gondik Law the previous night to stick around and race at Red Cedar, but they were hopeful that some would to provide a "name" recognition for the fans. Even the XR officials just weren't sure how many of the traveling open motored drivers would stay to race at this event. And while it paid ten grand to win, the drop off was quicker that their regular XR events. 

They were pleased then, when fifteen of the open motor cars towed to Red Cedar to race on Tuesday including such drivers as Weiss, Strickler, Gustin, English, T. Erb, Winger, Larson and Hoffman. Several of the area drivers who primarily race under the WISSOTA banner also have second cars with open motors and the final tally was fifteen open motors and nine WISSOTA spec engine cars in the field. The number of cars proved to be just perfect as there could be three full heats, no B Feature necessary on a week night at the track with a strict curfew and everyone would leave with at least a grand in their pockets. 

There were also a couple of bonuses for the drivers that were surprisingly never once mentioned by the announcers but were interesting nevertheless. There would be a bonus for the top three drivers that were running WISSOTA  spec engines, obviously as an incentive for them to race and help fill what they were afraid might be a short field. The second bonus was for the highest three finishers that arrived on open trailers, a bonus designed with Jeff Broeg in mind. A.J. Diemel would top both bonuses and for his efforts would go home with an extra two grand along with his eighth place finish of $1,600; he did quite well on the night. 

An interesting change up saw Tyler Erb in one of Jimmy Mars' yellow #28 cars on this night. A number of the teams traveling through the area hung out at Mars' show while in town and with Erb wanting to take a night off from his regular ride and nothing to lose, he decided to have fun and run something else on this night. He and Mars' regular driver Dustin Sorensen then decided to mess with everyone on hand as Erb put a "D" by his number while Sorensen put a "T" by his, thus totally screwing everyone up, most particularly announcer "Big Boy." 

The format for the Late Models was pretty straight forward, with one group of qualifying and then three heats and a fifty lap main. Tanner English would be quick qualifier at 15.987 seconds on a dry track and after winning a heat race, he would start on the pole for the main. 

The Late Model feature race itself was quite a good race and seemingly, much more competitive that the XR race the previous night. English would take the early lead and in fact, lead the first forty one laps of the race. He was running the top side and banging off the walls on each turn but he was making that line work. He was challenged by both Ashton Winger, and then Ryan Gustin until Nick Hoffman picked up the pace. Hoffman would throw a nasty slider on Gustin to take over third and then track down Winger for second. 

At the halfway point of the race, Kyle Strickler would move into fourth ahead of Winger. Chad Mahder had been running in the top five until he stuck his car into the wall on lap twenty one, triggering the only yellow of the contest. 

The second half of the race was a good two car battle as English would continue to lead, running the treacherous outside line with Hoffman trying to get inside of him at every turn. Finally, with just ten laps to go, English was jump the cushion seriously and by the time he dug himself out of the berm and got going, Hoffman had passed him for the lead and would then drive away in the last ten laps for the win. 

While the leader pulled away, second through fifth were in a tight battle for those spots. Ricky Weiss, who started seventeen, made a terrific run to the front, especially considering that he had only that single yellow to help him with bunched up traffic as he used the low line and drove under English in the last few laps to grab second. Erb would also pass the fading English for third and Winger would round out the top five. 

There was only the single yellow flag and fifteen drivers would finish the race. A number pulled off after running some laps as the purse breakdown would see tenth through twenty sixth get paid the same. 

Along with the Late Models, WISSOTA sanctioned Modifieds and Street Stocks would also race a full program. The nineteen car Modified field would see Cory Mahder make a lap four pass on Mike Anderson and then drive away from the field for a dominating win, his first at this track in 2023. Shane Halopka would come home second and Anderson would hold off Kennedy Swan for third. 

The Street Stocks would start twenty one cars in a race that would see a photo finish, as the Street Stock events often are in this area. Hunter VanGilder would make a three wide pass on the opening lap to take the lead, a lead he would hold for the whole race but not without heavy pressure on him. 

On the last lap, Kyle Gennett would get inside VanGilder down the back chute and they would race to the finish line side by side, with VanGilder the winner by .040 seconds over Gennett and Cole Richards. 

One complication on Tuesday was that the nice and new scoreboard here was not in operation so guessing where we were with laps in the main events was a bit of an adventure. 

This race was a veritable bargain for both the fans and racers. Despite the fact that a ten thousand dollar to win race was contested along with full shows in two other classes, admission for the fans was just twenty bucks and it was just thirty bucks to get into the pits, a bargain indeed. 

Thanks to all the officials and officers of the Red Cedar Racing Association and the XR officials, led again by Bucky Doren, for their help on this night. 

Pierce Dominates XR Superior Showcase

 For the second straight year, the XR Super Series would make an appearance at the Gondik Law Speedway in Superior Wisconsin for the "Superior Showcase," a fifty lap Late Model event paying the winner a cool twenty grand. Along with the open Late Models of the XR Series, the WISSOTA sanctioned Modifieds and Midwest Modifieds would also compete in a full program on Monday night, August 7th. 

It would be a busy weekend for the Gondik Law Speedway as on the previous night, Sunday the 6th, the rain delayed Twin Ports Twin 25's, a WISSOTA Structural Buildings Challenge Series race would be held at the same speedway with the Modifieds and Midwest Modifieds as the supporting classes on that night. Thirty eight Late Models would compete in that event along with full fields in the two Modified classes. The open motored Late Models would also get some practice laps at the end of the night too, a preview for the fans of the drivers that would be racing on Monday night. 

Then, just twenty four hours later, the XR Late Models would be at center stage for their event. To the credit of the local race fans, both events packed the grandstands at the venerable Head of the Lake Fairgrounds in Superior with perhaps the biggest group and both fans and drivers from North of the border since the onset of Covid which completely ended their chances of visiting for racing for a couple of years. And they have always been  great supporters of racing in the Twin Ports and both their presence as fans and competitors has been missed. 

It is always a bit unsure, given its far North location, just how many of the national traveling stars would pull this far North for a one night show before they head down the road. It was very difficult to predict just what the numbers would be but everyone was more than pleased when thirty four Late Models signed in to race. Fifteen of the top sixteen in current XR points  were on hand for this event, the closest race all year to XR owner Barry Braun's residence in Silver Bay Minnesota. Many of the national driving stars that fans from this area longed to see and just don't get the opportunity to very often were on hand, and were supported by local and area competitors who did quite well against the traveling stars. 

With incentives to join the field, five WISSOTA drivers entered the event running their spec engines cars just as they were. Another seven had multiple cars, running WISSOTA legal cars on Sunday while going to open motored cars for the Monday night show. Ironically, the WISSOTA legal cars managed to put three in the feature field while only one of the open motored cars made the show and that was Dustin Sorensen who made it on the random draw for the last starting spot. 

Jonathan Davenport would be the quickest qualifier of the night but things would go down hill from that point and he would fail to finish the main event. Chad Mahder, an area racer was quick qualifier for the second group and was leading a heat race when he got dumped by another competitor and ended up going from what looked to be a great starting spot for the main to not even making the show, a bitter blow. 

Pat Doar, the current Challenge Series point leader and former traveler with the World of Outlaws, would show that his knowledge of this track was helpful as he got the crowd on their feet by passing Davenport on the tall side of the track to win a heat race. He would run in the top five for most of the feature before fading at the end. 

Four heats and a pair of B Features would set the running order for the XR Series main event, run first on the card to make it easier for the Monday night spectators to hit the road home if necessary. 

The main would see Bobby Pierce lead from start to finish as the race didn't play out to spectacularly on this night. Pierce was dominant as he took the lead early and never was seriously challenged in fifty laps. The race had three yellows, all in the first half of the event and all for minor spins but each time the green would fly, Pierce would pull away. Ashton Winger, the last driver to arrive at the track, would run second for the first half of the race before being passed by Chris Madden. Madden would then chase Pierce but never really get close enough to provide a challenge on the super slippery red clay oval. 

The biggest charge was put on by Ricky Thornton Jr who's early efforts were not good as he was forced to start fifteenth on the grid but by the halfway point had worked his way up to fifth and he would continue to charge. He got up to third but then seemed to stall out there and that would be his finishing position with Winger and Ricky Weiss completing the top five. Pierce was just dominant on this night, as he has been so often this year with seventeen of the starters still on the track at the finish with four a lap down. 

Doar would benefit with an extra grand for being the top finishing spec engine car in the field with Kevin Burdick and Sketter Estey also getting bonus money. 

Twenty seven WISSOTA Modifieds would be on hand for the second night of this racing doubleheader with all starting the main event. For the second straight night it was Rice Minnesota's Shane Sabraski who would win the Modified main and collect a grand for his efforts. Unlike Sunday night, when a last lap pass would be needed for him to best Jody Bellefeuille, Sabraski would lead the vast majority of the race on Monday. 

There were however, three leaders in the first five laps as Billy Kendall would lead the opening round before being passed by Dave Cain. Cain couldn't hold off the charge of Sabraski however, with the feature field being lined up by passing points.

Lap five would see Sabraski drive past Cain and he would lead the rest of the way in what would be a nonstop twenty five lap main event. Bellefeuille would move up to second and try to avenge Sunday night's disappointment when Sabraski passed him on the final lap but he would have to settle for second as Sabraski was gone for the win. Cain would settle for third. 

The Midwest Modified feature would see current national point leader Zach Benson from Princeton Minnesota charge past Andrew Inman on lap seventeen to win the twenty lap MidMod feature. Inman had taken the lead right at the start and while Benson quickly moved to second, it took him much of the race to find a way past Inman would has reading every Benson move and countering. Finally Benson was able to get beside the leader and once he did so, he was able to make the winning pass. 

Brady Larson made the charge of the race, as he started tenth on the grid and almost caught the two leaders while they were battling and snuck past both. Benson, however, was just able to make the wining pass before Larson arrived and while Brady was able to pass Inman for second, Benson would hold on for the win. Only two in the starting field of twenty two failed to finish the event.. 

I was not just sure how this night would play out but XR was able to provide what was probably the strongest field of open Late Models ever seen here at Gondik Law and with a big crowd of satisfied fans on  hand and the local promoters happy, I would expect this partnership to continue in the years to come. The XR folks also did the promoting of the Challenge Series race here with Bucky Doren being the point man for XR all weekend while Chris Stepan was the Challenge Series Director as well as being Race Director for the Monday night show. Announcing duties were shared on Monday with Iowa's "Big Boy" doing the XR portion and Nick Gima calling the shots for the WISSOTA divisions. 

Thanks to both groups for their help this weekend.