The sixteenth annual Topless Nationals opened up on Friday night, October 23rd at Wagamon's Ogilvie Raceway nestled in the farmlands about an hour North of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. With the large count that this always attracts, there is not the time to run two full shows over the weekend so Friday night is reserved for qualifying heat races for all divisions with the B Features and main events run on Saturday night.
Sixteen years ago there was a nice Saturday night after the racing season had been concluded in the state of Minnesota so the drivers and the management at Ogilvie decided to run one more race. Someone came up with the idea to run the race cars without roofs if so desired and the idea stuck. The race was a success and a new traditional season ending race for the state was started.
It now is a staple on the schedules for many racing teams throughout the upper midwest and draws one of the largest fields of drivers for any event in the state. Drivers from most states in the upper Midwest were on hand as well as drivers from two Canadian Provinces were in attendance. In fact, if one did not know better, they might believe that they were in Ontario Canada rather than Minnesota there are so many racers on hand from Thunder Bay and their close by environs.
Two hundred and eighty two teams in eight divisions signed in to race on Friday night and believe it or not, that is actually down fifteen teams from last year's show. A number of the top drivers, perhaps tired of chasing points or just needing a weekend off, were not on hand this year and the fields in most classes seemed perhaps more wide open than in some past years. It was evenly split this year with four classes seeing an increase from last year's numbers and four classes down. The biggest increase was in the Crown Vic class which is just starting to get "legs" in this area and the biggest drop was in the B Mod class that was down eighteen from last year. Speculation is that a number of drivers from southern Minnesota that would normally be a part of this event, particularly in the B Mod and Mod class, were kept home by some races in northern Iowa. The weather forecast for the weekend was a bit shaky too and that might have played a part in things.
Nevertheless, nearly three hundred race cars on hand is plenty for me and I think most everyone else on hand with thirty one heat races needed to qualify the cars. After well over a month of seeing Fall specials that all used passing points to set the starting fields, this event reverted to the old draw/redraw format and with big heats and only eight laps to get some passing done, the draw was very important.
The classes that raced included Late Models(WISSOTA rules), Modifieds(run your own sanctioning body rules), Super Stocks(WISSOTA rules), B Mods(run your own rules), Street Stocks(WISSOTA rules with Stock Cars allowed using two barrels and rev limiter), Mod Fours(WISSOTA rules), Hornets (WISSOTA rules) and Crown Vics( rules ?). The Crown Vics and Hornets are not allowed to remove their roofs while the other classes must do so.
While this event is serious racing with a nice purse, it is also a fun last event for virtually every racer in the pits and most spectators also. There is a dance on Friday night after the races and Trick or Treating is held in the pits on Saturday with virtually every team contributing candy or pictures or some other treats and many kids from the area come just for the afternoon event. There are prizes for camp decorations and lots of other things. Somewhere along the line the teams started decorating their race cars for this event and now a vast majority of them do so, some with very elaborate creations including ride along skeletons, lights and just about everything imaginable. I believe there was actually one yellow on Friday due to a body part off one of the co-drivers falling on to the track as no one wanted to run over the poor guy's arm!
But while it is fun and games both before and after the races, the drivers are still serious about their racing and there were plenty of contested events. With it being a non sanctioned race, the driver mix is very interesting and there are always some new driver combinations with cars being sold and new drivers using this race to get their first feel of their newly acquired equipment.
The number of heats determined how many drivers moved directly into the main events and a whole series of B Features will start out the program on Saturday before the eight main events are held.
Breast Cancer awareness is a big beneficiary of this program with various fundraisers a part of the program. Even the outside wall is repainted pink for this night of racing. Promoter Nate Fischer might have to go out and do some touch up work on Saturday morning as there were several wall bangers that left the pink covered by black marks.
The program moved along at a good clip with only one short break to water the track a bit with a strong South wind creating some problems, especially with the wind blowing directly into the grandstands. The first race started right at 7 pm with the final checkers coming shortly after 11 pm.
Besides the Trick or Treating on Saturday, all the race cars on hand will parade around the track before the features on Saturday and there will be fireworks after the show. This is one big blowout to end the 2026 racing season .
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