The twenty eighth annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree began on Thursday night, September 25th at the Deer Creek Speedway near Spring Valley Minnesota. Under leaden skies that would leak on us most of the night, it however was a sunny day for Joe Chisholm who drove a spectacular race to come from the fourth row and win the opening night of the USMTS Modified show, earning three grand for himself.
Along with the USMTS Modifieds, USRA Hobby Stocks and B Mods would also have a full racing program with the winners of those two divisions being Josh Monson and Dustin Kruse.
One hundred and eighteen drivers signed in to race on the opening of what is hoped to be three consecutive nights of racing with full shows each night, leading up to the conclusion on Saturday night where the largest purses will be available. The car count for the opener was down a bit from last year, often as much of the car counts have been down for events throughout the 2026 racing season. The number was not too substantial with last year there being an additional twenty five drivers for the opening night, spread out over the three classes. The weather may have played a factor in the opening night count and with three full shows scheduled, some competitors might have decided to wait things out for a night before towing in.
The weather was not friendly but despite all the annoyance it caused, the racing would be completed on Thursday night and truly not that terribly late either. The forecast for the day was grim and by mid afternoon the skies were socked in and as many of the spectators and fans were arriving, it started to drip. It never rained too hard but just enough to be an annoyance and threaten the races from getting completed.
However, even as it continued to drip, Todd Staley called for the driver's meeting and qualifying began for the Mods under the light rain. This made the track extremely fast and Rodney Sanders set a new track record with a time of 15.343 seconds.
Hobby Stocks and B Mods came out for their qualifying heats under the light rain but it was tough for them as the track was slick and everyone pretty much dropped into line and tried to keep from spinning out. At this point, as the Mods were set for heats, the action was called to a halt and this was the time when we were closest to losing the show. It rained harder for a few minutes and it looked like we might be done.
But track officials waited out the heavier precipitation, rolled the track back in and the racing resumed with Modified heats, particularly important to them since passing points were in effect.
For the rest of the night we had periods of light rain and mist falling but the intensity was not as bad as during that one brief period and racing would continue unabated from that point. In fact, it wasn't too long before the dust began to fly a bit and perhaps one of the strangest sights of the year was the appearance of the water truck on the track, even as it was still raining!
However, while the drivers had to struggle through a few races where things were just a bit sketchy, eventually some of the braver drivers moved up the track which helped it to widen out and clean off and for the last two races of the night, the track was excellent and provided some great racing action.
Twenty four drivers would start the USMTS thirty five lap feature race and with point leader Brandon Davis on the pole, it seemed like the race might be a mere formality. However, that was not the case and while Brandon led the first fourteen laps, he had to settle for runner up honors at the end of the night.
Most of the drivers started out the race rather conservatively, running the low line. Not so however, Joe Chisholm who it seemed liked after he wasn't going anywhere on the bottom, just decided to go for broke and jumped up on the cushion and it worked for him immediately.
He started picking off driver after driver as he moved to the front, flying by such as Tanner Mullens and Reese Solander. His battle for second with brother Jim Chisholm was spectacular as they swapped positions on the front chute as the crowd held their collective breath.
Joe continued to charge to the front and on lap fifteen he blew past Davis to take over the lead. Two yellows would bunch the field in the next five laps including a shocking spin by Sanders but through it all, Joe continued to hold a comfortable lead.
Several other contenders then began to jump up to the top lane and made it work but none to the extend that Joe Chisholm did. The last fourteen laps of the race ran off nonstop but because the whole field was moving so quickly, Joe didn't have to deal with lapped traffic until the final circuit of the oval and cause him no problems.
Shooting sparks off his rear quarter panel a number of times from contact with the wall, Joe was not to be stopped as he drove on for victory. Davis slipped behind Mullens just after the halfway point but he fought his way back up to second at the finish while Jim Chisholm slipped all the way back to fifth but he also worked his way back to third at the line with Mullens fighting off Jake Timm for position also.
Only four drivers failed to finish the high speed race that saw four yellow flags, all for minor spins with no crashes to report.
The B Mod feature was not quite so smooth but did feature an exciting finish with a great battle for the win. Kyle Anderson started in the second row but found an opening on the initial lap and was scored the leader of the first lap of the twenty lapper for the B Mods. It did take three tries to get that first lap in the books with Trevor Fecht moving into second and Dustin Kruse quickly moving up from the fourth row as he was up to third by the time the yellow waved again with six laps complete.
Kruse drove under Fecht and Anderson on the restart and took over the top spot, officially leading the rest of the race. However, things got tight for him later in the race.
Kris Jackson started fourteenth but by the halfway point of the race, he was up to third and still charging. He got past Anderson for second and then closed on Kruse, quickly eating into his cushion. Jackson was working the higher side of the track and showed that line to others as he made it work.
Kruse was trying to fight him off and moved up the track himself with Jackson then switching to the inside to try and sneak by. Just as things were getting every interesting, the yellow waved late and set up a two lap sprint to the finish.
Kruse had Jackson all over him, trying both high and low on the track. On the last corner Jackson dove low and Kruse blocked his charge and both raced to the line with Kruse holding on by a car length.
However, much after the fact, it was learned the apparent runner up Jackson had been disqualified in tech for an unknown violation so the final battle was really a mute point. Behind Kruse at the finish in the adjusted order, it was Hunter Kennedy who moved into a challenging position late, Anderson, Taylor Skauge and Cole Denner.
The Hobby Stock feature turned into a brotherly battle between Jacob Monson and Josh Monson for the win. Jacob started on the pole and led the first five laps with Parker Anderson and Cayden Merten challenging early.
Josh Monson started in the second row and moved into a position to challenge his brother, working higher on the track than most. After a side by side battle, he made the wining pass on lap six and then pulled away slightly from the field.
The Hobby Stocks were able to put in a long period of green flag racing and this allowed Josh to pull away from the pack. Making a determined drive to the front was Dakota Koenig who worked his way up to third by the midpoint of the race and then as the green flag continued waving, drove by Jacob Monson for second.
Josh had a comfortable lead by this point and even a late yellow didn't bother him as he drove on for the win. Luke Schluetter made up the most ground during the race after starting thirteenth. He made it up to third at the finish and likely would have gotten more positions except he ran out of time.
Racing finished somewhere before 11:30 pm which was not bad at all given the weather related delays. A tough crowd hung on to watch the action on what was not a pleasant night to be outside, for whatever reason.
I have to give special thanks to Michelle Rolbieki who was seated in the employee and special guest section of the suites above the grandstand who invited me in out of the wet. It was a problem for sure trying to keep my powder dry, so to speak, and the offer to sit inside out of the wet was very nice and while I usually like to be right out in the action, smelling the smells and feeling the dust etc, on this night I jumped at the chance to get indoors. Deer Creek has made some improvements noted on my first visit to the track in 2026 including a new scoring and communications tower that is so much better according to track announcer Todd Narveson and have reworked and re done their restaurant area.
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