Klein Holds On For Late Model Win at Dubuque As County Fair Opens

 Ah, it is Fair season in full swing with counties all across the Midwest holding their annual events with this week and the coming few weeks being the height of the Fair season. And with that comes also the annual Fair races for those counties lucky enough to have race tracks as a part of their Fairs. Where I live, there aren't many race tracks at fairgrounds any more with the majority of tracks being privately owned on private land. 

Not so the case in other parts of the Midwest, with Iowa being one of those states where it seems like most of the tracks are at fairgrounds and when the annual Fairs come up, so to also do the Fair races. Many of them have a long and historic legacy and there is nothing quite like the annual Fair races. Such was the case on Wednesday night, July 24th as the annual Dubuque County Fair was in full swing with the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway getting their shot to race on Wednesday night. 

Full disclosure would reveal that I was originally in Davenport and set to cover "The Davenport Deal" finale on Wednesday night but the only deal there was torrential downpours that ended that show before lunch time. But with the strangeness of Midwestern weather, while it drowned out one fairgrounds, another one directly North of them by one hour received no rain at all. So I was more than happy to be able to motor up highway 61 to Dubuque with time to spare. 

But talk about your crowded racing and Fair schedule. Not only were Dubuque and Davenport(where their Fair starts next week but minus any racing activity) racing on this night, but Maquoketa also had their Fair race going on Wednesday too. That's three races within an hour of each other and all on the same night! Wow, talk about choices but also it's never a good idea to split the racing fan pie into that many pieces. However, if there is going to be a conflict, better on Fair night than any other all year because there are lots of folks that attend Fair races that never come any other time of the year.

And all this competition produced a bit of a turf war between tracks. Did you even hear of a track that added a class to their racing program on Noon of the race day? Me neither but that's what happened on Wednesday when, after the Davenport rainout, where Stock Cars were scheduled to race on Wednesday, Dubuque decided to all the class with the announcement coming around Noon. Paying a grand to win, it was a very nice purse that was put together on short notice with some sponsors to help out. However, Maquoketa didn't take this lying down as they then announced that they had raised their winning share of the Stock Car feature to two grand, up from a grand also. In the end, both tracks had enough cars for a show although Dubuque, not surprisingly on such short notice, was shorter on cars for this class and both tracks would have had more cars if they weren't racing against each other. Just saying. 

Here's an interesting item. One of the drivers on hand at Dubuque was Wisconsin racer Cole Czarneski who is usually one of the first drivers in the pits. However, they were running later than normal on this night. The reason was that they were actually on their way to the track when they found out that Stock Cars had been added to the program so they turned around, headed back to their shop and picked up their Stock Car so they could run that class also, along with the Modified they brought! The side trip paid off when Czarneski finished second in the Stock Car feature after he had early trouble with the Mod. 

Fair night, when the Fair Board is always anxious for the races to get done early so folks hit the midway and food stands, is not a night to over water the track but unfortunately, that's what they did on this night and it took a long time and help from the racers to roll in the track into some shape that could be raced on. It still wasn't ideal for the heats but some more work following those races made for a good track for the mains with drivers all over the surface and racing off the big berm that still did build up but we sacrificed a lot of time and an early conclusion to the night to get to this point which was unfortunate. 

When the feature races did start however, they were action packed from start to finish and a couple drivers must have been wearing their lucky horseshoes around their neck for the breaks that happened to come their way. It all made for some interesting racing and left plenty to hash over before Sunday night's Julian Dubuque Classis wraps up racing here this week. 

The Four Cylinder feature was up first and this race saw three different leaders before Cyle Hawkins made the pass for the win as they were coming to see the white flag. Jake Benischek took the early lead and he built up a big advantage and seemed to be just riding along. A yellow bunched the field just at the halfway point but Benischek still seemed to be in control.

However, his car suddenly lost power while in the top spot and he slowed dramatically with Josh Chambers using the break to shoot into the lead. However, Hawkins, who started fifth, put late pressure on Chambers and was able to squeeze past just before the final lap started. He pulled away on the final tour for the win with Jeff Allendorf nipping Chambers for second.

The Hobby Stock feature was next and with five Bennett's racing in this event, it would be a safe bet for the announcer to call any position a Bennett one and be ahead on the odds. 

However, it was Dalton Weepie that took the early lead from the pole and as he maintained the top spot, there was plenty of action behind him with spins and collisions marking the contest. Through all the crazy things happening behind him and all the yellows that kept bunching the field. Weepie would maintain control and eventually take the checkered flag. A big battle for second saw Jimmy Doescher edge out David Crimmins for the spot with a wild last lap scramble finding Kyler Hefty take the fourth spot after starting fifteenth. 

And talk about crazy, Hefty had raced this night at Maquoketa and with their program apparently moving at a much quicker speed than that of Dubuque, Hefty raced and finished seventh at Maquoketa, loaded up his car and arrived in time here at Dubuque to tail the back of the pack for our feature race. And then he moved all the way to fourth at the finish! What a story he will have to tell in one of the quirkiest happenings of 2024 for sure. 

The Modified feature was a wild one but it was also a long one. The yellow waved seven times in this race and eventual winner Ryan DeShaw must be considered one of the luckiest guys at the track on this night. Not once, but twice, he was passed for the lead but before a lap could be scored, the yellow waved both times and he was saved by the bell. To his credit though, when the green returned following each of these incidents, he didn't make the same mistake again. 

Early on, DeShaw had Jed Freiburger challenging him as the race suffered through three yellows in the first six laps. Dave Eckrich started fifth but was on the move and by lap six, he had raced his way up to second spot. And in fact, on lap six, Echrich was able to power around DeShaw on the high side to take over the lead but they yellow waved once again and the pass was negated. 

This time, DeShaw didn't leave that opening for Eckrich but shockingly, as he was going for the lead a second time, Eckrich spun all by himself, sending him to the back and ending his chances for a win. Moving back in to challenge again was Freiburger and with just three laps to go, Jed would make a pass for the lead, but again, the yellow, number six, would negate that change of leaders once again. 

After one more yellow, it was a two lap sprint to the finish with Freiburger closely following DeShaw. Coming for the white flag, DeShaw would wonder up the track and get in the heavy cushion but inexplicably, Freiburger would follow the leader right up into the mud and Troy Cordes would steal second and indeed, had a good chance to take the win but for a door slam by DeShaw on the final corner that allowed him to claim the victory. Freiburger had to settle for third. 

The Late Models had the largest field of drivers at twenty three and they would race thirty laps for the three grand top prize. Their race would in many ways resemble the Modified main in that there were way too many yellows, lots of wild scrambling going on and three different leaders before the score was settled. 

Ron Klein started on the pole but driving with, as might be kindly said, a very erratic style, he nearly spun out several times in the first few laps and dropped back to fourth quickly as Nick Marolf took the lead. Eric Pollard took second and they were running close together as they battled for the lead. 

The leaders quickly hit lapped traffic and the problems developed soon after. Marolf was under the gun from Pollard and while trying to squeeze through the traffic in turn one, he flat out spun and Pollard made some contact with him, triggering the yellow. 

Marolf went to the back and Pollard apparently made enough contact to damage his car as he pulled off and suddenly, Zach Less, running third, inherited the lead. He could only maintain the spot for a lap until Klein, now settled down, drove past him to take over the lead. 

as Ron pulled away, Tom Berry Jr., Less and Matt Ryan battled behind him with the later two really getting aggressive with each other, including a slam fest under the yellow flag. Less had to have part of the nose of his car removed and he had to go to the tail which ended his run for the win. 

While the yellow waved a mind boggling seven times in the first half of the race, the last sixteen laps went green , so figure that out. Klein then pulled away for the win with Berry Jr holding off Ryan for second but there was never a dull moment in this one as with most of the mains all night. 

The Stock Cars wrapped up the night and their main was relatively calm compared to the other features and in fact, went green to checkers. Dakota Sellers took the early when he got the jump on Czarneski but it was Bone Larson, in the Kinsella car, that quickly charged up and passed Sellers just a lap later. B

Bone led the rest of the race with Czarneski recovering to move up to second and he actually closed on Larson a couple times, only to jump the big and tricky berm and lose time. Larson continued on for the win over Cole with Leah Wroten beating Scott Busch in a big battle for third. 

Eric Huenefeld was calling the action as announcer on this night with "Big Boy" previously committed to calling the special race elsewhere that got rained out. 

I always get a very nice welcome by the folks at the pit gate here at Dubuque and I again thank them for their help as well as the offer for a ride from promoter Kevin Kotz. There was a very good Thursday night crowd both at the races and at the Fair in general on what was a nice night, not too hot, for Fair going. 

Erb and Dillard Win "The Davenport Deal" Openers

 Monday night, July 22nd, "The Davenport Deal" produced and directed by XR for their Super Series Late Models and ONUM Dirt Modifieds, raced for their first of three consecutive nights at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport Iowa. For the Late Models, it was their first of two consecutive nights of racing here with each night seeing the Late Models racing for a top prize of fifteen grand. For the Modifieds, it was their first night of racing also, but they will be running here through Wednesday when they race their big finale that will bring the winner a big prize of twenty thousand dollar.s 

Monday night's racing would be action packed from start to finish in both classes with lots of spectacular racing that led to Tyler Erb claiming the Late Model win while Cade Dillard, who raced in both classes, came out of top of the Modified thirty lap feature race. 

It was a hot and steamy night in mid America with only a spotty chance of seeing a pop up thunderstorm. However, that slight chance materialized right over the fairgrounds in the late afternoon  hours. Things got very ominous looking nearly right overhead and off to the East and race teams and fans alike were stopping in their tracks and looking to the skies. The racers were trying to decide whether to load up their cars and beat the rain and fans deciding whether they should buy a ticket or wait to see what would happen. 

It was a very near miss with rain reported a very short distance away but nothing fell at the track and slowly those clouds drifted off to the East, producing quite the rainbow. Later, however, just as hot laps wrapped up and with the sun now shining again, a small cloud drifted over the track and it then did rain for a few minutes, backing up the program as the track crew reworked the track once the shower stopped minutes later. It was a hindrance but nothing like the main event we just missed that surely would have ended the night of racing. 

Thirty five XR Late Models signed in to race on Monday night with this number much exceeding the expectations that I had as along with the number of cars, the quality of the competition was also very high and we would be seeing many of the top drivers in the country right now in action on the Davenport quarter mile. 

The track would be lightning fast on this night with the track crew having gotten plenty of moisture into the track prior to it raining and with the humidity high to keep that moisture in the surface, the track would produce high speeds while also being a handful for the drivers. The field was split into two groups with Erb being the quickest in group one and Mike Marlar quickest overall at 13.772 seconds. 

There was quite a bit of drama early as Iowa favorite Ryan Gustin had to borrow the car of Carey Umbarger when his own ride developed problems during qualifying and Chris Simpson, Gustin, Garrett Alberson, Curt Stewart, Tim McCreadie and Bobby Pierce all had to run B Features after they either had car problems in the heats or just didn't run well enough. 

There was plenty of wild goings on during the feature race with drivers charging and then fading and lots of shuffling throughout the pack but the one constant was Tyler Erb.

Erb started on the pole for the forty lap feature race and he would be scored the leader for all forty laps. The race, however, was not boring as that statistic would indicate.  Erb received several challenges over the course of the event with Mike Marlar early, Max Blair and Hudson O'Neal late, but each time he would repel their advance, leading up to some hard feelings at the end of the race between himself and Blair. And the track was such that one misstep in a corner and the win could easily have been out the window.

The race got off to a rocky start with a big pileup in turn one on the opening lap that eliminated Matt Cosner, Daulton Wilson, Matt Ryan and Trey Mills. Erb then grabbed the lead but he had Marlar and Cade Dillard close behind and challenging him along with a charging Logan Seavey who was looking good and Max Blair who was also moving up. 

They raced seventeen green flag laps until Dillard slipped over the cushion in turn two and triggered a yellow flag. The top side was the fast line around the track but with a big lip and a jagged line of clay on that top side, it was very easy to either jump that cushion or get hung up in it which was just as bad. 

Marlar would later learn that as he got bogged down twice off turn two and he finally called it a night after losing many spots. After Marlar's bad luck just past the halfway point, Blair and O'Neal would become the chief challengers for Erb with Blair especially putting on the heat. Late yellows for Pierce's problems and a spin by Seavey set up a five lap dash for the win. 

But there would be one last burst of fireworks and Blair went for it, trying to pass Erb on the high side off turn two. Whether or not Blair got too high, Erb moved up and blocked his line or a combination of the above, but Blair ran out of racing room and slipped over the cushion and off the track. He, however, kept moving and the race continued with Erb holding off a late charge from O'Neal to take the win with Piece coming back for his troubles to drive through the reduced field for third ahead of Nick Hoffman and Cody Overton. Fourteen starters were still on the track at the end with all on the lead lap. There should be plenty of incentive for some of the drivers to be extra fired up for Tuesday night's show, if you know what I mean. 

And just as exciting and eventual as the Late Model program was the Modified portion of the event. This class saw the entered field split into two groups with half qualifying tonight and the other half on Tuesday although some of the Tuesday night drivers were already on hand to hot lap. Thirty one drivers were entered in the Monday night portion of the program with eight not showing and Drake Troutman added to the list, so there were twenty three that raced on Monday. 

They would draw for their starting positions and then run double heat races with passing and finishing points determining their lineup for their two grand to win, thirty lap qualifying feature race. Feature points were also given with everyone trying to earn enough points so that they automatically moved into Wednesday night's main directly without having to race the dreaded step ladder. 

Many very strong teams were on hand here for this Modified show with no doubt a number of highly regarded drivers that had probably never been seen before racing here at Davenport. It was like a USMTS show with also a sprinkling of some of UMP's best stars too. The ONUM rules allow each to race with each other but the comparison is one to watch as the week progresses. 

The number of cars was such that no B Feature was needed so all twenty three started the main event. This race was also a wild one with lots happening and three different leaders during its thirty laps. 

Eventual winner Dillard started in the sixth row so that means he made quite a charge which he started almost immediately, passing at least four cars on the high side of the track in the first two laps before the yellow flew when Tyler Nicely went flying off the track. 

Will Krup had taken the early lead over Brian Ruhlman and Austin Holcombe with Dan Ebert and Troutman close behind. Ruhlman was all over Krup in the early going but there was much changing of position directly behind them. 

Holcombe would bow out with mechanical difficulties, shuffling things but on lap twelve, things got even wilder when leader Krup went into turn one, spun and then a wheel came flying off the car. Whether the loose wheel caused the spin or was a by product of the spin, either way Krup was done for the event with Troutman inheriting the lead. And also by this time, Dillard had driven up to second. 

The green was dropped again and Dillard drove right past Troutman to take over the lead and that was it as he led the final eighteen laps for the win. Granted, it was not easy as he still had some strong challengers and the yellow flew twice more to slow the action and bunch the field, but Dillard was up to the challenge and would retain the lead each time. 

Ruhlman drove a consistent race, always lurking in the top five and he drove home for the second place finish. Troutman lost much ground when he clobbered a corner marker tire and bashed in his front end as Jim Chisholm came home third ahead of Austen Becerra and Rodney Sanders. The score for opening night was USMTS three and UMP two in the top five. Just over half the starting field was on the track at the end as attrition was high on the demanding track.

After the rain delay, the program was run through at a very speedy pace and all racing was done by 11 pm, even with the lengthy delay for rain and repacking. It was a very spirted program put on by both classes and the coming days should see more of the same. 

Thornton Jr and Shryock Top Silver Dollar Opener at Huset's

 Wednesday night, July 17th, the Silver Dollar Nationals began its four night run at Huset's Speedway on the South side of Brandon South Dakota. The Silver Dollar Nationals, long held at I-80 Speedway near Greenwood Nebraska, was moved to this venue last year after I-80 was shut down, sold and eventually dismantled. The event was so successful last year that it again returned to Huset's this year with the Lucas Oil Late Model drivers running for fifty three thousand dollars to win in their feature race on Saturday night. 

But before that race, there would be three other nights of racing including Wednesday's opener which would give a whole different set of drivers and car types the chance to race as a part of this event. Wednesday night the Tri-State Late Model Series would run perhaps their highest paying event of the year and the IMCA Stock Cars raced as a series event for the Dirt Crown East Summer Series where they were on the third night of a three night swing of tracks in western Minnesota and then across the border here to South Dakota. Huset's offered them a very nice purse with three thousand dollars going to the winner of the Stock Car show while the Late Models were racing in the annual Ben Nothdurft  Memorial race which offered six thousand dollars to the race winner, a Tri-State high for 2024. 

Perhaps most importantly, it was good to see Huset's Speedway back in action and all dried out following their devastating flood right in the middle of one of their highest profile Sprint races, an event that has been rescheduled to later this year. Things looked pretty dry, the campers had returned but I was told by a track employee that there were still several campers sitting right where they were abandoned as the owners wait on action from insurance companies. What a mess that must have been. 

This is one of the biggest events on the Tri-State schedule, a traveling series that races at tracks primarily in South  Dakota but also have a few events in both Iowa and western Minnesota. Their rules are a blended set of rules, not unlike the SLMR which allow open motors, spec engines and even crate engines to race with rules attempting to equalize the horsepower different with weight. However, no matter how they attempt to do it, my observation has been that the open motor cars still have the advantage and do the majority of the winning. 

With this race being a big one for them, they had a fine field of forty five drivers sign in that included their own traveling drivers, some SLMR drivers from Iowa  and Nebraska and a number of WISSOTA  spec engine drivers from South Dakota and Minnesota. 

Tri-State qualifies the drivers for their shows and then starts the heat races straight up. The winners of the heats redraw against each other while the second place finishers also redraw against each other. The others are filled in as they finish with their series often not having enough entrants to require a B Feature . However, on this night, there would be two B's that followed six heat races where the rules of driving etiquette often went out the window in an attempt to make the thirty five lap main. Billy Leighton Jr. was quick qualifier at 13.111 seconds.

Early on, we found out that Ricky Thornton Jr was going to drive a car for Justin Zeitner in this race, an arrangement that was cemented months ago before the recent drama that swept the dirt Late Model world. In fact, Zeitner was doing everything he could to down play the whole experience, scoffing at the idea that they should have had t shirts made or basically anything that would have brought extra attention to the #62 pit. Justin had two identical cars on hand and was going to let Ricky pick whichever one he wanted to drive, after which they would plaster a #20RT on it and Justin would drive the other car. If nothing else, the ride sharing would bring a little extra notoriety to the event and as it turned out, it would be a huge move by the Zeitner team. 

Twenty five drivers would start the thirty five lap main event for the Late Models on the quarter mile oval(don't believe anything that says it's any bigger than that) and this is not a wide track for Late Models. Everything is tight here and thus, under speed, there would be plenty of contact between drivers as the race progressed. However, almost unbelievably, this race would go nonstop for thirty five laps with a great showing of driving skills by the drivers. Not only that, there would be only one driver that didn't finish the race so you can imagine just how heavy the lapped traffic was. Honestly, it was quite a bit like Macon Speedway in that regard. 

Leighton Jr, who redrew the outside pole, would get the jump on Thornton Jr and take the early lead. The outside was the place to be and   Thornton Jr. struggled to keep up in the early going. However, we then got to see what has made Thornton Jr such a star and he started to move around the track, found a line right in the middle of the track where no one else was running, and then started to catch Leighton Jr for the lead. 

Leighton Jr. was already in lapped traffic and starting to fight, as the slower cars were running that same high line that he was and he was getting bottled up. Thornton Jr, however, was a lane lower and showing great skill in traffic, in a car he had never sat in before, he was able to drive under Leighton Jr down the front chute on laps sixteen and take over the lead. 

Then we got to see even greater skills from Thornton Jr as he made some moves in traffic that were quite remarkable, shooting between lapped cars and going both high and low, as needed, to keep his speed up. The traffic was worse than "The Can of Worms" in Des Moines at 5 pm on Friday but Ricky just kept pulling away and never backing off. 

The list of lapped cars continued to grow and as those other racers kept at it, he just lapped deeper into the field was the green flag stayed out. At the finish, there were only eight cars on the lead lap and he was right on the tail of eighth place Corey Zeitner. Thornton Jr had five lapped cars between himself and second place Leighton Jr with Tad Pospisil making a big charge that saw him move up to third at the finish. Justin Zeitner and Josh Leonard completed the top five as SLMR cars dominated. The first spec engine across the line was sixth place finisher Scott Ward. 

And while the Late Model feature was a smooth running event, the Stock Car main was just exactly the opposite kind of race. The Stock Cars drew for their starting positions in the heats and then redrew for the main event after running four heats and one big B Feature. Twenty four of them would start their thirty lap main and my pencil nearly went dull as there were seven yellow flags in this race and many more drivers that failed to finish then those that did. 

However, through all the yellows and the mayhem, the racing up front was excellent with much trading of positions and some severe battling going on. Chanse Hollatz would be scored the leader of the first twenty eight laps of the race but that statistic was a bit misleading as while he led, he had several different drivers on his rear bumper at various times of the race. 

First it was Dylan Fitzgerald( a later flip victim) and then Kelly Shryock was his most persistent challenger but right next to them were Derek Green, Damon Murty, Kyle Vanover and the Larsons, all battling and swapping spots as the race was run at a fitful pace, with much starting and stopping due to all the yellows. 

There was a point near the middle of the race when ten consecutive laps were achieved but then things got bogged down again. However, there was so much drama with the battling that it didn't feel tedious like it could have. 

Hollatz was running right in the "ditch" and he seemed like he didn't ever want to leave that lane. Shryock was right behind him literally but had no room to maneuver. Vanover was the story though, as he came from fourteenth to gradually become a part of the action and he began to press Shryock for second. Kelly made a mistake and came off the bottom and was replaced by Vanover and with no where else to go, Kelly moved to the high side of the track, a place he often doesn't venture to any more in his career. 

To his surprise and perhaps the rest of us too, that line was fast for him and soon he was beside Hollatz and challenging for the lead. On lap twenty eight, he drove past Hollatz on the high side on the front chute to take over the lead with Vanover pushing Hollatz. 

The red then flew when Fitzpatrick hooked the berm and flipped and on the restart, Hollatz pushed too hard to try and get the lead back, spun and was blasted by Mike Nichols with both cars done for the night. The two lap sprint to the finish saw Shryock take control and grab perhaps the biggest lead of the race as he took the checkers over Vanover, Jeffrey Larson, Dustin Larson and Green. 

For Shryock, it was his first win at Huset's since a Modified win way back in 2011 when the USMTS visited on occasion to the track. Only eleven cars from the original starting field were still running at the end as the wreckers got a work out and lots of damaged equipment to be fixed before next weekend's racing commences. The Stock Cars were literally throwing their weight around on each other on this night on a fast and heavy race track. 

One comment about the Stock Car field. I hope that the IMCA Stock Cars are not going in the way that the  Elijah Zevenbergen car appeared as that might have been the ugliest looking Stock Car I ever saw and a look that I hope no other team goes to or the novelty of the class might be lost. 

The Stock Car feature was a long, long race but with the Late Models going nonstop, the race schedule was helped a great deal and the final checkers waved before 11 pm. on this preliminary night. It was a highly entertaining night of racing and a good start to what will likely be a big weekend of action.

Thanks to all the folks at the pit shack at Huset's as well as the rest of the employees. I particularly enjoyed the work of track announcer Shawn Neisteadt  who was very knowledgeable about the various types of cars in action on Wednesday. 

Hudson Edges Ricky In Lucas Oil Harlan Shootout

 The Lucas Oil Late Model Series rolled across the state line on Tuesday night, passing from Nebraska to Iowa and making their first ever visit to the Shelby County Speedway in Harlan. And likely Harlan's most famous race car driver, the late Tiny Lund, would have liked what he saw on Tuesday night. A great three car duel between Hudson O'Neal, Ricky Thornton Jr and Garret Alberson on a well prepared race track on a lovely July night in front of a packed house of vocal and enthusiastic race fans would have been something that warmed the heart of the gentle giant. 

This night was a winner all the way around and the Lucas Oil folks on hand had to be impressed both with the racing and with the size of the crowd in this rather remote western Iowa community. Even the so called support class, the IMCA Late Models, engaged in a shootout of a feature race with Zach Zeitner making an aggressive slider on Jesse Sobbing in the final corner to win a somewhat controversial main event. 

The entire night of racing was dedicated to the Kosiski family who were on hand including the race distance which was set at 53 laps. Family patriarch Bob spoke with James Essex before the feature race and the two shared some stories about racing, particularly the Late Model brand, before the main event started. The Kosiski family even have their own grandstand section named after them, a section of bleachers that was purchased from the auction of the I-80 assets when that speedway was closed two years ago. With the addition of that section of bleachers with some on the back chute that I don't think were there when I was last at this track, they can seat a lot of people here now, even though the center piece section of bleachers, the old covered ones, must date back to the turn of the century. The great Dan Patch may have raced in front of those bleachers, for all I know. 

Twenty eight Lucas Oil and twenty one IMCA Late Models signed in to race on Tuesday night with the twenty eight just hitting the cut off point that allowed four heats and a B Feature before the main while the IMCA cars ran three heats before their twenty lap main. 

While visiting the pits before the show began, I happened to run into a pair of pretty good promoters in their own right in ex Humboldt promoter Ryan Whitworth and Arrowhead promoter Bryce Hall, who were visiting for a couple days and had also witnessed the racing at Eagle on Monday night. The track promoter here Doug Batz is doing a whale of a job and they were doing all the right touches on this night to make it a great experience for all including making sure they had extra concession stands going and using the local fire department to help park cars and get the maximum use out of their fairground space. These are the kind of volunteer things that you note happen in small town America. 

Devin Moran was the last car to take time trials and under a blazing Iowa sun, you would have thought the track would have slowed down slightly by then, but that was not the case as he turned quick time at 13.499 seconds. Thornton Jr, as the first driver out, turned the quick time for the first group of drivers but Moran was quickest overall. 

 I never witnessed racing on the old half mile here but I can not imagine that it raced near as well as the new third mile does and the shortening and reconfiguring of this track probably kept this track alive, with former racer Gary Hopp given much of the credit for moving the dirt and making the change happen. I do remember the last time I was here and there were people still pining for the old half mile, but I bet most of them have been won over to the new track by now. 

The seven heat races were run off at a blazing pace with just one yellow flag to slow things down, the Lucas Oil B Feature went just as smooth and before you knew it , it was feature time. But first they did some farming and when they farm here, they don't mess around. They had some huge equipment to handle the task quickly and they dug plenty deep and applied plenty of water on this hot night. When they were done, the track was again blazing fast, just as it had been for the start of the program. 

Things were moving so quickly, they decided to run the IMCA feature first, something that Lucas does not always do. I believe the IMCA program was a draw/redraw show and it appeared that two drivers were dominant over the rest, that being Zeitner and Sobbing and who drew the better redraw pill would have a distinct advantage. Well, it was Zeitner and he drew third in the starting order while Sobbing would have to start way back in tenth. 

Jordan Krug led the opening lap but it took just that one lap for Zeitner to move up and make the pass for the lead. Once in front, he started to pull away from the pack while Sobbing was charging up through the field. 

The track was very fast at this point and with a lack of big horsepower in the IMCA cars, there was not riding the cushion at this point with all passing having to be done with inside moves. How Sobbing was able to gain as many positions as he did, I'm not sure other than to say that he drove deeper into the corners than anyone and his car stuck great to the bottom of the track. 

Yellows on lap six and seven repacked the field and helped Sobbing's charge and by lap seven he was up to second. He then chased Zeitner for the rest of the race, trying repeatedly to get past on the inside but Zach would close the door each time. 

Nearing the end of the race, lapped traffic would come into play. Zeitner hit the traffic wrong and got blocked and Sobbing was able to edge past him as the white flag waved. However, Sobbing then had his own issue on that final lap with another slower car that ran him up the track down the back chute. Zeitner used that chance to drive very hard into turn three, run the lapped car up the track and into Sobbing with both temporarily slowed, and Zeitner dove under them both to regain the lead. There was a wild scramble to the line with Zeitner holding on by a car length for the win. Kale Kosiski made a late charge to get third. I imagine there was some discussion in the pits upon the completion of the race because it was not exactly a classic last lap pass by any means. Anthony Roth and Jack Hearty completed the top five. 

Then it was time for the Lucas Oil fifty three lap main. The track was not touched before this race and it did slow down just a bit for the Lucas drivers but it was still very fast and there were two distinct lines that could be used. 

These days, it seems like no matter what the situation, Hudson O'Neal and Ricky Thornton Jr can't seem to avoid being right in the middle of things and that would be the case again here at Harlan as they were the two main players in the feature race. 

Thornton Jr started on the pole and led the first fourteen laps with Devin Moran, then O'Neal and Garrett Alberson providing the challenges. The first yellow saw a big change in the leadership as Alberson went for broke using the outside line and passed both his competitors, moving from third to first. That would only stick for four laps though as Thornton Jr would get under him and retake the lead. 

O'Neal had found the bottom lane to his liking now and he moved right back in to challenge and when Thornton Jr slipped off the bottom, he dove in  and made it three wide as they came down the front chute. It was wild. O'Neal took the lead over at this point and never would relinquish it again. O'Neal gained some time when Alberson got crossed up in front of Thornton Jr, they nearly wrecked each other while O'Neal drove away. 

There were two lap yellows that packed the field once again but on each one, O'Neal drove away from Thornton Jr, despite Ricky nearly knocking down the outside walls as he repeatedly tried to make the high side work. It was spectacular but gained him no ground as O'Neal putted around the inside like a granny but it was the fast line for him and he pulled away for the win. Alberson, Moran and Jonathan Davenport completed the top five. 

There were only three minor yellows to slow the action and only two drivers that did not complete the race. Everything went so smoothly that the whole show was done well before 10 pm and many in the crowd took the advantage of this to head to the pits and check things out. 

This event had a nice vibe from start to finish. The folks running the show were excited to have the Lucas drivers in the house and they went the extra mile to make them and all the fans, feel welcomed. Lots of little extra touches were done that all scored points both with the spectators and I would assume, the sanctioning body folks. And the crowd was monstrously huge, a good thing for everyone. 

Perhaps Lucas learned something this week. In going to two tracks that are not known nationally for Late Models and bringing their product to a different market, they hit a home run both nights with great racing and large crowds, even despite the heat that was an issue both nights. Perhaps this is something that the other sanctioning bodies will pick up on too and that is to perhaps spread their product around to different markets and introduce their racing to folks that normally don't get the chance to see it live. 

I want to thank Doug Batz and all the folks at Harlan for their welcome. It was quite different in a positive way from my greeting at another track earlier in the week and appreciated. 

 

O'Neal Edges Phillips at Mod Wars Finale

 Twists and turns of fate continue as the weather situation for Summer 2024 remains fractured. While it was not in our plan to be at Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie Minnesota on Saturday night, July 13th, we were happy to be able to do so. Other plans were changed due to more storms that rolled through the Minnesota-Wisconsin area over the day on Saturday and while some tracks either dodged or just got hit with minor amounts of rain, others got drenched and their programs cancelled. 

Ogilvie was on the end that saw little rain, and that swept through in the early morning hours, giving the blistering sun plenty of time to dry things off so they were able to complete the third night of their USMTS "Mod Wars" series that featured the USMTS drivers vs. the local and area WISSOTA drivers. Along with that featured division, the WISSOTA Mod Fours and Midwest Modifieds again had a full show of heats and feature races. 

Most everyone that had been on hand earlier in the week was still racing as thirty nine Modifieds plus thirty one MidMods and sixteen Mod Fours signed in to race on Saturday night. One interesting addition was local star Shane Sabraski, who has moved to the Late Model ranks in 2024 and while he still races a Mod successfully, he is focusing on his new Late Model effort this year. In fact, he was coming off a special event win on Friday night that paid him a cool eleven grand for his win but being the racer he is, he would not take a night off and instead showed up here ready to race his WISSOTA Modified. 

The cap had been broken and the sun came out in full force and it was a miserably hot and steamy Saturday. However, more storms were in the forecast and in fact, they were already starting to show on radar with the projections that they might arrive at the Big O by as early as 9 pm so it appeared that punctuality would be important on this night and generally speaking, Ogilvie is very good at starting on time and moving their shows along. 

That's why it was so maddening what they did on Saturday and the conspiracy side of me felt like they might have been poking along on purpose with the hopes that it would rain on their parade. That was probably ridiculous but on a night when I expected them to start right on the dime and perhaps even turn the running order so the Modifieds would race first, instead they floored me by not started until forty two minutes after the advertised starting time. Apparently the high humidity had taken them by surprise and the track just didn't dry out with extra packing and trips by the support classes needed to get the track in racing shape. 

Fortunately, the storms started to slow down and that never turned out to be an issue with racing being completed just after 10:30 pm and no sign of dangerous weather approaching but the whole thing caused my blood pressure to rise!

The Saturday program would be identical to that of Thursday night when I was last there, with the in between show on Friday being won by Jake O'Neal. On Saturday, there would again be four heats and a pair of B Features to set the field for the fifty lap finale which would pay eleven grand to the winner. More provisional starters were added on Saturday nigh and twenty eight driver would take the green for the main. 

Fifty laps in such heat was a grind for the teams but they took off at a torrid pace, with Gabe Hodges and Jeremy Nelson exchanging the lead at least four times in the first eight laps before Nelson took control. Following his strong run on Friday, he again put together a strong effort that would see him lead until lap nineteen when O'Neal would get past him to take over the top spot. Nelson would eventually fade back in the field some and not finish due to a late flat tire. 

O'Neal, meanwhile, was in control for most of the second half of the race. Nelson led to the first yellow on lap nineteen when Hodges and Tyler Davis got together and on the restart, O'Neal drove past Nelson to make the pass, and after that he would lead the rest of the race. Another slow down at the halfway point for a violent collision between Zack VanderBeek and Kyle Brown badly damaged those cars and slowed the race once again. 

However, the last twenty five laps ran off green to checkers and Terry Phillips, who had worked into second. gave O'Neal plenty of competition over the second half of the race. He got a nose under O'Neal on several occasions and came close to moving into the lead but he just couldn't quite pull off the move when needed. Phillips followed closely but in the last few laps O'Neal was able to widen the margin slightly with the last twenty five laps going green. 

Jim Chisholm drove a steady race, never challenging for the lead but running third for most of the last half of the race while Tanner Mullens came from fourteenth to fourth ahead of Jake Timm who did some hard driving himself as he moved up from eighteenth. Meanwhile, Sabraski, who had to qualify through a B Feature, came up from nineteenth to seventh in the final running order. Chisholm's race was much more orderly than the pre race preps as their team changed a motor before the feature and had to scramble to get that accomplished. Eighteen drivers were still on the track at the finish with all but three on the lead lap. 

Tyler Larson led from start to finish to win the fifteen lap Mod Four feature race over Dustin Holtquist and Luke Erlandson. Larson pulled to an immediate lead quickly and was never seriously challenged while Holtquist moved up from the fourth row to get second. 

Ryan Savoy led the opening lap of the MidMod feature before he was passed by defending national champion Zach Benson. Once Benson is in front, he usually stays right there but on Saturday, David Swearingen was able to move up from the third row and pass Benson for the lead on lap thirteen and then pull away for an impressive win. 

On the last lap, North Dakota driver Lucas Rodin was able to sneak past Benson and grab the runner up spot. Wyatt Boyum and Blake Adams completed the top five with the last nineteen laps going green. 

It was a hot and brutal three nights of racing and the track team was put to the test. Thanks go out to all the track workers and folks from USMTS for a combined effort to get this show completed. An interesting tidbit secret. Ryne Staley, who is in charge of putting up and taking down all the banners that hang around the track, tells me that he goes through twenty two thousand zip ties over the course of a racing season.  Think about that. 

Ebert Wins "Mod Wars" Night One at "The Big O"

 The USMTS made one of their rare three night stops at a single location , starting Thursday night July 11th at the Ogilvie Raceway near Ogilvie Minnesota. Billed as the "Mod Wars", the three nights of racing here would pit the USMTS Modifieds against the WISSOTA Modifieds that race in this area and regularly here at Ogilvie every Saturday night. 

USMTS has run the majority of their shows that last couple of years as three night events at a single location. However, that trend didn't always work out well for the promoters and because of that, most races this year are either single night dates or perhaps two weekend shows with this being just one of three, I believe, where once the trailers park, they will race for three straight nights with an increasing purse on each of the three nights. 

The USMTS Modifieds would be joined all three nights in full shows by the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and the Mod Fours. This Modified pairing has always been a mismatch, with the USMTS cars holding quite the horsepower advantage over the WISSOTA cars. It's not nearly as big a mismatch as let's say, IMCA cars vs. USMTS, but the travelers still have the advantage. A WISSOTA rule change this year on heads does give them more horsepower but I'm told by the teams that the WISSOTA cars are still fifty or so horse short of the USMTS cars. The WISSOTA cars do get to run on their own Hoosier tires which I'm also told are softer and might offer an advantage in a short race but that the American Racers might be better for longer distance features. Either way, it does give the fans something to talk about but that rivalry doesn't seem near as strong as it used to be with some of the top drivers having both types of cars at the ready including eventual winner Ebert.

A new procedure was used for the USMTS starting on Thursday and that was the "choose cone" was used for the first time. Popular in some other series and long used on tar tracks, a cone is placed in the center of the track following yellow flag slowdowns, the cars are lined up single file and as they reach the cone, they either choose to go to the inside or outside for the restart with each driver deciding which way they will go. It sometimes leads to some different looking lineups for restarts and does make things a bit more interesting as the restart nears. 

Also, first and second place start beside each other instead of the first place car having a car length on the second place car who used to be beside the third place car so in essence the top two are side by side for the restart with third and fourth side by side behind them and so on. This is the part that I don't like as I still feel that the leader should have an advantage on the restart, and not have the second place car right beside them, but this is all done to spice up the show and try to make the race closer, and if it is used all the time then everyone has an equal opportunity to either benefit or be hurt by it. The drivers interviewed about it where all non committal so if they aren't too bothered by it, then neither am I. 

Thirty four Modifieds signed in to race on Thursday with a dozen running as WISSOTA cars. Some would have raced either way but if some raced only because they didn't have to change their cars over and buy a license, it was a good thing because otherwise the field would have been a bit short with some long time regulars of the USMTS now not traveling near as much as they used to. 

Four heats and a a pair of B Features set the twenty six car starting field for the thirty lap main event paying three grand on this night with each of the following two nights seeing both the laps and purse on the rise. 

Dan Ebert, a local favorite who races at this track on occasion and runs WISSOTA events when he isn't traveling with the USMTS, took the early lead as he surprisingly got the jump on Jake Timm, the point leader of the series. Ebert would lead the first eleven laps with Timm, Rodney Sanders, Jake O'Neal and Terry Phillips in hot pursuit. With the humid weather, the track was very fast and the drivers were really flying around the three eighth mile oval. 

Lapped traffic came into play on two occasions during this race. The first came on lap twelve when a car got crossed up in front of Ebert and when he had to take evasive action, Timm was able to drive past him and take over the lead. Timm was then able to put a bit of a lead on the pack but that would vary as the leaders continued to run through lots of traffic with the first twenty three laps of the race going green. Ebert would still be running second at the halfway point of the race with Sanders, O'Neal and A.J. Hoff in a tight formation behind him. 

Timm ran into big trouble just past the halfway point when he just couldn't get past a slower car at the back of the lead lap with him trying for several laps but not being able to get by and the other challengers catching him fast. 

Finally he threw a slider at the other car in turn one but didn't clear that car, they tangled and Timm ended up pointing the wrong way on the track, triggering the first yellow of the race. This would be a very tough call and I would have been good with the decision no matter which way they ruled, but USMTS officials made the call that Timm should go to the back and thus he did. This turned the lead back over to Ebert and while he had to withstand one more yellow with just three laps to go, he got the jump on Sanders on that restart and then drove away for the win. 

Jim Chisholm was the mover of the race, starting eleventh and still not in the top five by the halfway point but he then really picked up the pace and with a high side blocker on Sanders on the final corner, took the second place away from Rodney. O'Neal and a charging Kyle Brown completed the top five. The best finish for a WISSOTA car was Landon Atkinson who finished eighth. Fifteen cars were still running at the checkers. 

The WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature started twenty one cars after three crashed out in a heat race jingle. Jake Smith started on the pole and the former MidMod national champion then led for the first fifteen laps of the race. He was pushed for most of the race by Jason VandeKamp who had started right behind him. 

Three yellows during this time kept the field bunched with Lucas Rodin, Ashton Schulte and David Swearingen right in the mix. 

Smith continued to hold the top spot but VandeKamp started to close and following a mid race yellow, he picked a new line that saw him move up the track a bit and it seemed to allow him to get a better run off the corners. VandeKamp, who is a really good technical driver, gained that momentum and on lap sixteen he was able to drive past Smith and take over the lead, an advantage he built on over the last few laps to give him the win. 

Smith hung on for second with Rodin making a last corner pass on Swearingen for third. Later, however, Swearingen would fail tech inspection and Schulte would be elevated to fourth ahead of Denis Czech. 

The Mod Fours are an interesting class. They look like Modifieds that have been pre shrunk and they use four cylinder engines. They are a sanctioned WISSOTA class but don't race at many of the sanctioned tracks as they have pockets of interest that include central and western Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. They race every week here at Ogilvie as well as the Ogilvie sister track in Princeton. 

Fifteen of them would take the green for their twenty lap main with three different leaders in the race. Blake Hawker led the opening lap before South Dakota veteran Bob Holtquist passed him for the top spot. Holtquist would maintain the lead until the halfway point of the race when defending national champion Tommy Bawden made what would be the wining move. 

Holtquist later spun out of second place and triggered the only yellow of the contest. Bawden was on a rail on this night and then pulled away for a relatively easy win. Dustin Holtquist, Bob's son, made a sterling drive up from fifteenth after he had heat race trouble and in the last few laps, roared into second while Tyler Larson, involved with the tangle earlier with Bob Holtquist, hung on to finish third. 

It was the first steamy weather we have had in our area this year but the track held up well and the drivers were still racing all over it at the end of the Modified feature which was the last event of the night. Track and USMTS officials kept the show moving along nicely on this week night and the final checkered flag waved right around 10 pm. Thanks to the track and USMTS officials for a nice job. Bryan Kenekas, the voice of the Hamilton County Speedway, was working as the USMTS announcer for this weekend and joined regular track announcer Scott Tiefs to do a good job of calling the action without having to scream at us, unlike a certain announcer for a national Late Model series that will go unnamed.   

Gustin Brings Home The Bacon At Fairmont

 Hungry?  How about some bacon? Yes, then let's go to the Bacon Town Showdown on Sunday, July 7th at the Fairmont Raceway in Fairmont Minnesota. 

First of all, let's clarify. I never heard of Fairmont being referred to before as Bacon Town so that's either a false statement or I learned something new on this Sunday. This race, featuring a fifteen thousand dollar top prize for the XR Super Series Dirt Late Models, also had the ONUM Modifieds (read no rules Modifieds) and USRA Hobby Stocks in action for a full racing program. 

This race was originally scheduled for July 8th but was moved from that date when companion races at Spencer and Mason City fell apart for various reasons. Barry Braun and his staff then moved the race up one day to Sunday, likely to catch the Late Model crowd that was leaving Deer Creek after the Gopher was completed on Saturday night. This, I guess, worked to a point as there were plenty of people in the crowd that had come from Deer Creek the previous night, but that key element, the racers themselves, did not come in the numbers that they would have hoped for. Actually, I believe that there were only four drivers that ran at Deer Creek and then motored West on I-90 to Fairmont. 

After I signed in and headed for the pits, I heard the rumor that there might be a cancellation of the race since at that point there were only ten Late Models on hand. For someone who drove four hours to see the race, that was concerning. However, cars continued to pull in and by race time they had eighteen Late Models to take qualifying laps. That included Rodney Sanders, on hand to race his Late Model but when Brent Larson did the math and saw how many cars were on hand, he put Sanders in his second car. Rodney, who has plenty of Late Model experience over the years, did a good job, running as high as fourth before he pulled off when the motor started to run hot. This was an issue for many of the drivers across the board in all classes. 

The point structure for the XR Series is both a blessing and a curse, depending on how you look at it. The drivers are required to attend ten of the nineteen scheduled races to be eligible for point fund money, which gives them much flexibility on when and where to race. For example, point leader Devin Moran was racing in Ohio on Saturday night and under this system, he could pass on hauling back to Minnesota for Sunday night's show and use this as one of his "skip" events. This gives the drivers the flexibility to race when it works best for them and not have to mold their schedule to the XR events schedule. This way, they can sample the best of all worlds, so to speak and they must appreciate that. 

The curse falls on the fans though. If they attend an XR show, they really don't know who and how many of the top drivers will be in attendance. Since they can skip a number of shows, unlike the other major series that when you attend one of their races, you know that the top fifteen on their point sheet will be there. The latest XR points that I could find show only three of the eighty six drivers that had participated in XR races through July 3rd to be in attendance at Fairmont. And they were Gustin, Larson and Bobby Pierce. The rest of the field was filled in with SLMR and spec motor racers that are terrific in their own right but under horsed against the open motor cars, particularly on a big track like the Fairmont half mile. This can often lead to spread out races and not a lot of passing. And half miles tend to promote that anyway. 

On Sunday, Gustin would sweep everything that was possible. He was quick timer at 17.525 seconds, won his heat race by about a quarter mile and then would lead the thirty lap feature race from start to finish. 

His main competition was Pierce but he seemed a half step slow of Gustin all night. He was second quick and won his heat but on every start and restart, Gustin would get the jump on him. He did on the opening green and also following yellows with zero and four laps complete for spins. 

On lap ten, Dyllan Ricks, a veteran Modified driver who only recently got a Late Model, got into the turn three wall and flipped over on his roof. He was fine but Pierce dropped out at this point with distributor issues. This left Larson as the main open motor threat and he could not keep up with Gustin, who cruised easily with the better part of a straightaway advantage to the checkers. Larson settled for second and after a good battle for third, Tad Pospisil edged out Blair Nothdurft for that spot. When cars went a lap or two down, they were dropping into the infield and only seven cars finished the race. 

However, for a few drivers, the night turned into a bonanza. Ryan Schaufler, a regular on the WISSOTA circuit who, quite honestly, to this point in his short Late Model career has not had many top finishes, earned $2200 for his efforts tonight, perhaps almost as much as he has made in the rest of his career! And without the participation of the spec engine cars, of which they had about half the field, there wouldn't have been enough cars to have a show. 

I would have thought that some in the crowd would have been a bit upset, having dropped thirty bucks to watch what was clearly not a very balanced field with very few having a ghost of a chance of winning the race. However, that would be a wrong assumption as I heard not a single complaint about the race or the field of cars. This is Modified country and I got the feeling they were just happy to see some big name drivers at their local track. And when it looked like the crowd was going to be very sparse, they came in late and in good numbers and the crowd was actually quite good, particularly on a Sunday with only about a week's notice of the event. I hate to even utter the words, but it appears that social media is a force that is much more powerful than I would like to admit in getting the word out on upcoming events. 

The Hobby Stocks and Modifieds both supplied enough cars for two heats and a main event. The Hobby Stock feature was a two car battle all the way with Dustin Gulbranson leading the first lap before he was passed by Blake Luinenberg for the lead. Gulbranson didn't give up and shadowed Blake for many laps, poking a nose under him several times but not quite being able to get past to regain the top spot. 

It looked like it might come right down to the wire until a lap sixteen yellow for a two car spin when suddenly Luinenberg pulled into the infield and the disgusted actions by both Blake and his crewman indicated that the car was done and they silently took a push from a wrecker to their pit stall. 

Gulbranson was then unchallenged over the last four laps as he drove on for the victory. Landon Krohn made a nice late rush to get second with Parker Anderson third.

Don Gerritsen Jr. drove a great race to win the twenty five lap Modified feature and the two grand top prize. This race, besides paying two grand to win was two hundred to start with no entry fee yet only sixteen drivers signed in. Perhaps it was the night or perhaps it was the rules with only two of the IMCA type cars in Todd Stinehart and Greg Jacobson attempting to take on the more open cars. Stinehart would do the best and earn $400 for seventh. 

Gerritsen Jr started on the pole and took the lead early as he fought off first Ryan Wetzstein and then Rodney Sanders. The first fifteen laps ran off nonstop  and Gerritsen Jr lead the whole way with Sanders following closely be never able to offer a challenge. 

Two yellows in the last ten laps kept the field bunched, the second of which saw third place Wetzstein pull off . The final laps saw Gerritsen Jr maintain and perhaps even expand his lead slightly as he was not going to let Sanders make a late charge. He was clearly the class of the field and drove home for the win. Sanders settled for second and in a battle of the #3 cars, Kelly Shryock edged out Dustin Wiederhoeft for third. Half the field was still on the track at the end of the grueling event. 

It was a quick running show and the final checkered waved well before 10 pm, letting what appeared to be a very satisfied crowd to exit the grounds and get ready for Monday morning. Thanks to the XR staff and the Fairmont Raceway folks. I had the chance to talk for a few minutes with their track announcer who would have the night off on Sunday as "Big Boy" was calling all three classes. Of course, this remains the illustrious Lonn Oelke, long time announcer for the USMTS and other tracks and one of the most interesting personalities in all of racing. It is always fun to catch him at the track. And he remains just as unfiltered as ever. 

Hoffman Slides Gustin for Blistering Gondik Law XR Win

 After an outstanding performance on Monday night at the Proctor Speedway, the XR officials and race teams made the fifteen minute commute across the Bong Bridge over the St. Louis River into Wisconsin(Superior to be exact) and then out to the Head of the Lakes Fairgrounds and the Gondik Law Speedway on South Tower Avenue. The Bong Bridge, by the way, is named after a WW2 flying ace from a small farming town just South of Superior who was one of the heroes of that conflict before being killed in and accident when he was functioning as a test pilot for the military. But enough with the local history lesson. 

Tuesday the XR Series Late Models were racing for another fifteen grand to win main event at Gondik with the WISSOTA Modifieds and Super Stocks as the support classes. Twenty seven Late Models signed in to race on Tuesday night with the only prominent one from Proctor not on hand on Tuesday being Tyler Erb who was rumored to be taking a night off to wash some clothes. Gained in his place however, were Cade Dillard and Brian Shirley so if anything, the field was just a bit stronger on Tuesday. 

The heavy feared rains that were in the forecast for the overnight hours of Monday did not materialize which was a break for the track prep crew who have already been strained as they try to recover from a weekend doubleheader on Saturday and Sunday put on by Chris Stepan, the Summer Nationals announcer, that featured the local classes and paid ten grand to the Modified winner on Sunday. 

But the combination of a very humid day, plus heavy cloud cover all day, allowed the track prep crew to put together a lightning fast track, one that blitzed the old track record but also made it tough to pass on. In fact, after the heat races, the running order for the mains was tossed as the Late Models went from first to last in the hopes that the two support classes, running their mains, would help to slow down the track. But on this dewy night, that didn't happen and the XR drivers still found a blistering fast track to be their foe come feature time. 

As the twenty third driver to hit the track for time trials, Nick Hoffman smashed the old track record with a lap recorded at 15.250 seconds on the four tenth mile oval that is paper clip shaped with long straightaways and tight but wide corners on this Lake Superior red clay track. Heat race action was even faster with Ryan Gustin timed at 15.098 seconds and the track didn't slow down much for the main event either. 

The three XR heats went by in the blink of an eye with all three winners coming from the front row and not a yellow to be had. After waiting out two quick feature races for the support classes, it was time for the Late Models to take to the track. Twenty six drivers started the main event after Aaron Lillo scratched out with a believed motor issue during his heat race. 

With the momentum of the track, the outside lane was the place to be on the start but the first start was flawed when Mike Marlar gave Brent Larson some help in turn four, turning him in front of most of the field. Tyler Stevens ripped most of the side of his car off as he caught the spinning car and Sam Mars messed up the nose on his car and both were eliminated before a lap could be scored. 

The restart saw Gustin use that outside lane to get the jump on Hoffman and take the early lead with the green only lasting for two laps before Travis Budisalovich spun and slowed things down once again. At this point, Marlar had moved into third with Devin Moran and Ricky Thornton Jr next in line. 

The field then would race for twenty three non restricted laps with Gustin continuing to lead as he worked through lapped traffic. Moran got by Marlar for second and Bobby Pierce, who had started fifth but faded back at the start, had worked his way back up to the top five. 

For some reason, just before the start of the race, the distance had been cut from forty to thirty five laps for a reason unknown to us and also not announced, so the drivers had to make their move just a bit quicker. As the race moved through the twenties, Gustin gradually started to lose a bit of his edge with Hoffman starting to cut into his lead, slowly at first and then more dramatically. 

Suddenly, he was on the tail of Gustin and with a big run off turn four, drove to the inside of Gustin and squeezed past just after the flag stand. Now whether or not Hoffman's tight move, which saw him slip past Gustin with only inches to spare, caused Gustin to lose the air off his nose and push, or whether Ryan just drove harder into the corner in an effort to regain the lead, we don't know, but the bottom line was that Gustin lost control, went sliding up the banking and slammed the turn one wall very hard, ending his night but he was fortunately OK after a hard hit. 

Hoffman then would take over and win the ten lap dash to the finish but things got tight at the end. Pierce had gradually worked his way forward and was fourth for that last sprint. However, he got by both Marlar and then Moran using the low and as yet untouched part of the track, He reeled in Hoffman over the last few laps and its a good thing for Nick those five laps had been cut from  the race or he might have been in big trouble because as it was, Pierce had closed to within a couple car lengths when the checkered flag waved over the field. Moran settled for third with Marlar and Dennis Erb completing the top five. Fourteen cars were still on the lead lap and eighteen on the track at the checkers. 

With my two night stand with the XR Super Series at and end, I can't help but mention how poorly both Ricky Thornton Jr and Brandon Sheppard performed. Expected to be right in the mix for wins both nights, neither showed much of anything and it was shocking to see how poorly, Thornton Jr, the top rated driver currently in the country, ran back to back. He labored to a seventh place finish on this night and was even poorer at Proctor. 

The two support classes saw dominating performances in less than scintillating main events. Both of these classes had small fields on Tuesday and much smaller than for a normal night but both have been racing so much lately that the drivers are probably worn out along with the equipment. This is still a working night for most folks and with just regular pay on the line, a likely night to take off. 

It was an emotional win for Darrell Nelson in the Modified feature. A local legend and winner of likely more features than anyone in the history of Twin Ports racing in both Late Models and Modifieds, Tuesday night was his first feature win since a diagnosis of prostrate cancer and surgery in the off season. He has just returned to racing within the last couple of weeks but it didn't take him long to get back in the swing of things as he pulled away early to win by a big margin over Jake Hartung and Cole Chernosky. 

Jordan Henkemeyer took the lead from the green in the Super Stock feature race and led all the way, never being challenged either. A good battle for second saw D.J. Keeler top Matt Deragon for that spot. Current WISSOTA national point leader Dexton Koch had to settle for fifth as the fast track made passing an adventure. 

A good but not over whelming crowd was on hand for the show and even though they spent a few minutes after the heats trying to figure out how to slow down the track, the program was completed well before 10 pm.  

Thanks to all the XR officials for their help along with the track workers at both Proctor and Gondik Law for their help. These are two tracks that I frequent quite often over the course of a Summer so I know most everyone at both places, which is always a bonus when a special show comes to town. It must have been a frustrating couple of nights for traveling announcer "Big Boy" with pa systems at both tracks being substandard and on the fritz more often than they worked. They really need to spent a few bucks and upgrade their systems. 

Pierce Edges Out Moran In Outstanding XR Series Race At Proctor Speedway

 The northern area race fans of Minnesota and Wisconsin,, particularly those of the Late Model persuasion, are pretty excited this week. It is not a normal thing to get the opportunity to see the stars of Super Late Model racing perform at their local tracks but that is happening this week as Barry Braun has brought the XR Super Series Late Models to the Proctor Speedway in Minnesota and the Gondik Law Speedway in Wisconsin, both sitting on the shores of Lake Superior, for a very special back to back presentation before they move on to East Central Minnesota for a fifty thousand dollar to win event later this week at the Ogilvie Raceway.

The World of Outlaws Late Models have raced at Gondik Law in years past but never has there been a race of this magnitude at Proctor, a three eighth mile red clay oval that sits up the hill overlooking Duluth and Lake Superior. The two tracks are only about fifteen minutes a part and they do work together with Gondik racing on Friday nights and Proctor on Sundays but Sundays have been a struggle in recent years, both in getting race cars and fans and for them to have an event of this stature, they would need someone like Braun to come in and put the show on. 

This race was known as "The Superior Showcase" night one, even though it wasn't held in Superior at all but over the bridge in Proctor. The reason being for the confusion, which actually did have some people not sure in which running order the two races would be held was that originally, Gondik in Superior was supposed to be held on Monday and Proctor would then race on Tuesday. 

However, the South St. Louis County Fair starts this upcoming weekend and they claimed they needed extra days to get set up for the Fair, so the two tracks swapped nights which allowed the Proctor fairgrounds one extra day for set up. The kicker was that they closed off the entire parking lot, even though they had only a few carny rigs parked there, so all the fans that wanted to attend the races on Monday had to park on city streets and walk to the track and for handicapped fans, that meant they had no close by parking. There has long been a rift between some members of the Fair Board and the speedway and this was a chance to "poke it" to the race track. The only problem was that they make their town look bad for all the traveling fans at the race, of which there were considerable. These folks leave town not having the best thoughts about the town, but the tunnel vision oldsters of the Fair Board don't even think about that. They even had city police guarding the parking lot against what, I am not sure? Perhaps invading hoards of race fans plotting to sweep in and take over the parking lot?

In any event, let's move on to the racing at hand. There were twenty six Late Models in the pits for the show. About thirteen could be legitimately considered as open motor travelers with the WoO and Lucas Oil. They did bring in some good ones including Erb and Erb, Marlar, Sheppard, Pierce, Mad Max, Thornton, Moran, Hoffman, Gustin and Moyer. The rest of the field was made up mostly by WISSOTA Late Model racers of the area with their spec engine cars and there were about a dozen of them including Danny Vang, who was on hand just to watch until the itch to race got too strong and with only twenty six drivers in total, everyone made the main and it was a grand to start so he unloaded and joined the fun. He would eventually finish seventeenth. There were bonuses offered to the local spec engine cars with the highest finisher receiving an extra five hundred dollars and the highest finishing driver that arrived on an open trailer also getting five hundred. Those two winners would be Travis Budisalovich and Kevin Burdick respectively. 

Along with the Late Models, the two support classes would be the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and the Renegade Non Wing Sprints, an area group that runs 360 sprints without wings as a traveling series in this area with their home track being the Grand Rapids Speedway where they race every other week. There would be twenty one of the MidMods and fifteen Sprints on hand. 

Proctor is a red clay track(that's the only kind of surface they have here in Lake Superior country) that is paper clipped shaped with long straights and tight corners with medium banking. Bobby Pierce set quick time with a lap of 14.616 seconds. XR programs are run straight up off times with Pierce, Moran and  Hoffman winning heats and then the feature is straight up off heat results. 

They were chasing the rain on this night with showers headed toward the Twin Ports so everyone was in high gear mode to get the show completed with the Late Models first on the schedule, a very good idea indeed. 

A little track prep was done before the feature and to me, it looked like it might be a night where the low groove was dominant and most would be racing in "The Ditch." But once again, I showed that I should not be teaching Track Prep 101 as when the drivers hit the track, they raced all over the surface, moving high and low and using every inch of the track, unlike what I have seen in Proctor in quite some time. They produced one of the most outstanding Late Model races that I have seen all year with the feature race going nonstop for forty laps and the top four racing under a blanket until the very last laps of the event. Who would have guessed that we would see one of the best races of the year in little old Proctor Minnesota! Every involved with the track prep should take a bow and also the drivers for searching and working the track to find the fast lane, which switched at least three times over the forty laps. It was quite frankly, just an outstanding race. 

Moran led the first twenty two laps of the race with Pierce, Marlar, Gustin and and Hoffman close behind him. Pierce was looking high and low and experimented with several different grooves before he made the pass for the lead in lapped traffic. Moran then chased him with third and fourth place were also right in the mix. The field dropped to the inside lane for a few laps but then suddenly, many again bolted back up to the top in what was an intense and highly entertaining race. 

At the end, Pierce pulled away by a few car lengths to take the win over Moran, Marlar, Gustin and Hoffman with Sheppard and Brent Larson also close to them. Twelve cars were still on the lead lap at the finish and nineteen still on the track. Everyone raved about the track and deservedly so. Many of the driver until recently probably had no clue where Proctor Minnesota even was but I think they will remember now. 

The support classes performed well also, even as a number of folks in the grandstands headed out early. There were three different leaders in the MidMod feature with "The Superstar", Adam Shinn having his best run of the year as he led the opening five laps before being passed by Paul Ripley. 

A yellow six laps into the race bunched the field once again, but Ripley continued to lead, even as Joey Jensen worked his way up from his eighth starting spot. Jensen eventually tracked down the leader and after they raced side by side for several laps, Jensen took the top spot on lap eleven and he led the rest of the way for the win. 

This has been a very good year, to this point, for Jensen who has raced much more than in recent years. This marked a back to back win as he also was the winner here on Sunday night for a regular weekly program. Blake Adams used a lapped car for a pick and edged out Ripley for second on the final lap with Tyler Vernon and Sam Blevins completing the top five. Sam's father Michael returned from a heat race flip with a repaired car to finish seventh in the main. 

The Traditional Sprints wrapped up the evening with their own good show. In a race stopped only once for a spin, Chris Lewis made a lap sixteen pass of leader Brad Cunningham to take the win. Cunningham looked solid as the leader, having led from the drop of the green. 

Unfortunately, that lone yellow was all it took for his lead to evaporate and Lewis drove by him on the top side of the track to take over the top spot and then drive away for the win. Cunningham settled for second and was trailed by Brad Peterson, Jori Hughes and Paul Schultz. All fifteen cars that started the feature were still running at the end and all on the lead lap. 

They  beat the rain and the whole program was wrapped up by around 9:30 pm. It was an outstanding show by everyone including the drivers, XR officials and the local track officials and prep crew that did their job to perfection. A big crowd was on hand and had to be impressed with both XR and the Proctor Speedway. The hope is that now that they have showed what they can do, that these drivers will be anxious to return again next year.