Ramblin' 'Bout Racin'
by Charlie Spry

 

8/19/2008

    It's been awhile since I wrote here, and I actually had people say they missed this column and look forward to it!  So, I guess I'd better get busy and fill everyone in.
    This past weekend we started off on Thursday with a trip to Wausau and the State Park Speedway.  One of the big surprises here was Bo Bennish, who showed up with a super late.  No real surprise at this, as I had heard he had a super late, and I think he's raced in just about every division there is, just surprising at the car, as it is the former Beau Sanden late model that raced primarily at the Dells.  The giveaway being the tiger striped orange and black colors.  Bo finished fourth in the feature tonight, but I'd bet he's running even stronger in the future with this car.  Mark Mackesy continued his dominance, as he won for the seventh time here out of I believe ten tries.  Now, I'm no great mathematician, but it seems a 70% winning percentage at any track in any division is tough to beat!
     James Annala won the street stock feature race and will likely close in on point leader Nick Erickson Jr.  Should be very interesting with only a couple of weeks left in the season here.
     The Mini-Stocks and Mini-Mods ran together once again, but were scored separately per division.  Richie Kersten won the overall feature and MM division, while fourth finishing Dale Louze won the MS main. 
     Nice to see Dave Lashua back behind the wheel, as he raced Wayne Cottrell's super late tonight.  Dave raced street stocks and late model for a few years, so he knows his way around the track.  He also was the track record holder for awhile at the Lacrosse Oktoberfest for the RAYS division (Run All Your Stuff)
     Friday night we went to Columbus 151, for which I think will likely be the last time for me this year.  I had to go to the second shift at work, so very little Friday night racing for me in the immediate future.  Anyway, it was an interesting night of racing, as young Jimmy Junget won his first career Bandit feature.  Jimmy is the son of long time racer Gerry Junget.  He's been taught to race the right way, meaning that he is someone that respects others on and off the track.  It was good to see him finally break through, as he has been so close to winning features all season long.
     Veteran Al Weishoff won the late model feature, ending a drought that goes back to July of last year.  Dale Weatherwax won his first feature in the sportsman division since last August, so we had a couple of feature winners that hadn't won in about a year.  Nice to see these guys get the wins.  Alan Dorn won the hobby stock feature in a rare appearance at Columbus. 
     Saturday I raced at Jefferson, so don't know what all happened, but it was nice to see late model racer Paul Dygon back once again.  Paul is one of the really nice guys in the sport, and is one of those guys that still smiles, even if he has finished last in a race.  He's having fun, which everyone should be doing.  I witnessed one of the younger guys drive into his pit and get out and throw things and kick his trailer...If it isn't anymore fun than that you probably shouldn't be doing it.
     Congrats go out to Barrett Hammond on winning his first career Bandit feature.  I told him a couple of weeks ago that he'd win soon and I like it when I'm right!
     Sunday night I went over to the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway for a little dirt action.  The late model main here was thrilling, as it looked to be all but over with Brian Harris holding the lead with only a few laps to go.  His machine began blowing smoke in the corners, and he even scrubbed the wall in one of the turns of the high banked oval, and finally as he got the white flag it seemed to really let loose.  He dove down inside to try to block Eric Gustaf's moves to take the lead, only to have Jason Rauen fly by on the high side and pass both for the surprising win!

7/28/2008

    On Saturday night I raced at Jefferson Speedway for the second time this year, and while when I race I normally don't write much about the night, I talked with so many different people and saw so much go on that I thought I'd put a few words down on the night.

     At this point in the season you never know who will show up out of the blue.  People you haven't seen in awhile suddenly show up again, proving that this sport is waaay too addicting.  Veteran late model racer Russ Grossen was out tonight with his late model, the first time in quite some time, especially here.  Russ was the 1978 late model champion here in an early camaro, but then raced for several years at Madison.  This had to be his first race here in several years.
     Nice to see the Goodwin team back again.  Russ raced late models here and various other tracks for many years, and still has his car, but not the time or finances to run it.  However, Son Matt now has a Bandit car, and they were all present again.  Matt did a very nice job and will be a factor in the races wherever he runs.
    Happy to see Brandon Johnson win the Bandit feature.  I kind of talked him into joining me tonight so I sort of felt responsible for his success or failure tonight.  It was all success!  Brandon probably has a sore neck, however, as he was getting beaten by the second place car pretty bad.  He eventually lost the lead on the last lap but the offending car was DQ'd for rough driving, so he got the win anyway.  This was the correct call in my opinion.  Now they just need to start black flagging drivers for spinning cars out in this division and they will be all set.  We don't need this to turn into demo-derby racing.  NASCAR and video games seem to be having a less than desired effect on short track racing as these kids see this stuff go on and try it for real on the track.
     James Bell won his very first feature in the International division tonight, but I missed it as I was loading the car at that time.  James has had his struggles in the past but has stuck with it, and probably has much less money invested in his racing operation than many in this division, so it's good to see him win one.  He races very cleanly, too.  I'm sure it is a night he will remember forever! 
     Always enjoy pitting next to Bandit racer Barrett Hammond.  He has a very upbeat personality that just draws people to him.  He puts more miles on than anyone to race here at Jefferson, as he travels weekly from Minneapolis, Minnesota to race.  Originally from the Cambridge area, he got a job in Minneapolis, but already had a Jefferson legal car with no tracks nearby in Minnesota to run it as per the rules, so he keeps the car in the area and commutes here every weekend to race.  Think of the gas costs!
      Had a chance to meet Bandit racer Mark Dewey finally.  Mark has been impressive in his racing the past couple of years, as he races clean but hard and not out of control.  Mark has plans on moving up to the International division next year and will be a welcome addition to the division.  Mark was struggling with fuel delivery problems all night.
      Sportsman racer Craig Olver was present again tonight to try to work the bugs out of the car and get the handling more to his liking.  Former racer Randy Breunig was helping him out tonight and together they figured out a lot of things and made the car much better.  Craig won the first heat last week but said he wasn't satisfied with that, that the car is much better than that and should be running strong in the features.  He said he thought he finished the feature in eighth place, so he's getting there.  By the way, Randy said he misses racing, so here is another driver you will probably see returning sometime.  It's a sickness, I tell you!
      I would like to thank the Schuyler racing team for the t-shirt, and also Dells LM racer Joel Sorensen for the same!

7/11/2008

    The Independence day weekend provided some excellent racing weather for us, which is kind of strange, as usually it likes to rain on a holiday.  We'll take it!

     We headed up north to the Marshfield Super Speedway for the Mid-Am series show.  This group always puts on a good show, and we like this track, so it's a no-brainer.
    The  Mid-Am's provided us with a wide range of driver ages and experience.  With the seasoned veterans showing their stuff tonight.  Third generation driver Brian Back did just about everything you could do tonight, as he served up double duty, racing in the super stocks and the Mid-Am's.  He clean swept the SS division, and nearly did so in the Mid-Am's,  just getting edged out in his heat to prevent a clean sweep.  Brian said that he liked the track and it was his favorite, and it is easy to see why.  While he had an easier time in the SS division, the outcome of the Mid-Am feature was not decided until the last lap and last corner, as Bill Prietzel and Lyle Nowak seemed ready to decide it amongst themselves, while Back seemed to patiently wait until the end to pounce.  The three put on a great race with Back edging Prietzel at the line, with Nowak finishing third.  You just knew you were going to see a quality race as it unfolded.  When you watch a race like this it seems time just flies by, and I know the drivers likely felt the same way, although Prietzel may have wished it would have ended a little sooner.  Anyway, excellent race by all and an absolute blast to watch.
     Scott Null said that he has a new car ready to go, just needs to be lettered up.  He will use the new car on the bigger tracks and retain the older one for the shorter tracks.  This series runs at a wide variety of tracks, so they really need to do a lot of switching of setups and so forth, so that should help a lot in that respect.
     Back took off and ran away with the win in the super stocks.  A big fan favorite here, as the third generation driver hails from nearby, and has put on a ton of miles here.  Lyle Nowak also pulled double duty, coming home to a fourth place feature finish in another race where a cagey veteran seemed to appear out of nowhere at the end of a race.  You know a driver is smooth when you never notice them until the end of a race and they are right there in the thick of things.
     Ryan Mork pulled off another win in the pure stocks, as he seems to be the dominant driver here this year.  Kyle Genett had been dominating here the past couple of years, but it seems there is a new sheriff in town, as Ryan has now won the last four features in a row, with Genett winning the other one run so far this year.
     The four cylinders also had a repeat winner as Jeremiah Strauss won his second feature in a row here.  There are always a good field of these cars here, and tonight Wausau regulars John Lietz and Dale Louze also were present.  Liked Paul Berg's Pinto, which shot flames out the exhaust coming into the corners just like a late model.
     The next night we took in the show on the dirt at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway.  Something unusual here is that they charge an admission rate plus tax, so you end up paying weird amounts such as $13.90 to get in and $6.13 for food.  Hope the Wisconsin tracks never go this route.
     Freeport regular Jeff Larson appeared to have the late model feature well in hand, until he cut a tire or broke his front suspension (not sure which), and coasted to a stop on the 3-4 turn, giving the lead to Brian Harris, who is currently fifth in NASCAR regional points.  Harris went on for the win which will help him out even more in his quest.  Too bad for Larson, as this would have been his first late model feature win here I believe.
     It was a sultry evening, one of those where you knew it was going to rain sooner or later.  The wind picked up and it appeared the rains were coming soon, and things got really wicked looking as the B-Mods hit the track for their feature.  This was the last feature to be run, and they seemed bent on self destructing, so we headed for the car on their third caution to hopefully beat the impending downpour, which we did.

4/6/2008


    After the long winter months I thought it was time to finally sit down and write a little bit.  Just when we thought spring was here we got blasted with another several inches of the white stuff here in southern Wisconsin.  Now, it has finally all melted once again, so lets try again!
     It seems that most tracks are scheduling their season openers either at their usual time or a little bit later.  This might be a good thing as we wait for Spring to get here and stay here.
     One thing I think everyone will be keeping an eye on is the cost of gas.  This will make it harder for racing teams and fans alike to attend races anywhere, but especially may limit travel to distant tracks.  We will have to take a wait and see attitude to see if car counts and attendance drop or remain steady.  Here is hoping it all goes well.  I know I have kept a watch on my spending this winter so that hopefully we can still attend our usual races at our usual tracks.  Weekly shows at local tracks may just thrive, as people may stay closer to home.  Then again, who knows what will happen.
     Was saddened to hear of the passing of central Wisconsin racing pioneer Sonny Immerfall of Marshfield.  Sonny's racing career ran from the 1950's up to and including the 1983 racing season, after which he announced his retirement from the sport.  He raced right with the best from central Wisconsin, faring quite well.  He was known for racing Ford products numbered 4U.  What some may not know is that Sonny also did some flagging in the central Wisconsin area, including at the old Stratford Speedway which was shuttered in the late 1960's for good.  I was fortunate enough to have met Sonny, as he wrote to me when I was a columnist for CFRN.  I mentioned that I was looking for racing information of defunct tracks in his area, and he responded.  I had a chance to spend a wonderful afternoon at his house looking through his various scrapbooks and photo albums, and learned a great deal.  Sonny raced in the era where people raced sometimes four, five or more times a week, although he told me he ran a little less than some as he felt family obligations should come first.  
     Johnson Creek racer Dave Gigl has the former Craig Kleinsteiber Thunderbird sportsman car and has rebodied it as a later model 'Bird.  Dave is planning on racing at Jefferson.
     LaVerne Paulson has purchased a dirt modified from Sayner's Mike Boyd and plans on having a little 'Fun in the mud'.  LaVerne said he plans on racing wherever and whenever and just having some fun with it.
     Jefferson International racer James Bell plans on also having a year of fun and not chasing points.  He will be leaving for school at the mid-season point and point chasing is out, so he plans on racing at some other tracks as well as Jefferson.  The price of gas may dictate exactly where he goes.
     Wausau area racer Dave Lashua has sold all of his equipment and plans on working as crew chief for Wayne Cottrell.  Dave has not ruled out getting behind the wheel a time or two.

9/24/2007


    This past weekend, Sept. 22-23 we spent up at the Marshfield Super Speedway for their annual Fall Spectacular, hosted by Steve Parsons. Steve does a great job all year in securing sponsorship for this show, and it's one of the best post-season shows in my opinion.
     When we got there Saturday afternoon we learned that motorcycle racer Brad Seavers had taken a spill and collided with the wall in practice, sustaining a broken neck.  While he is in a halo brace, we later learned that he had begun return of sensation and we sure hope for a full recovery for Brad.
    The Mid-Am cars had a series points race on Saturday.  I really enjoy this series and the drivers in it.  Popular opinion early on was that Lyle Nowak would be the man to beat, as he has turned quite a few laps here before, while many others had never raced on the track at all.  Lyle did look awfully impressive in his heat race, coming from the back to the front to win it.  Bill Prietzel had set fast time and felt that he had just turned a lucky lap in doing that.  James Swan had yet to win a series feature yet this year, but had scored many second place finishes, and tonight was his night to get the win, as he powered through the field, taking the checker over Brett Piontek and a very strong running Rod Brewe, followed by Nowak and Prietzel.  Very entertaining race put on by a great group of drivers.
    Once again, the IMCA Old-timers had their cars here to race.  I really appreciate these guys bringing their machines to show and run, and they were here in force!  Matt McLaughlin had his '58 Edsel out tonight, and noted that the rear tube bumper is actually one of the support poles off the old flag stand from Griffith Park Speedway near Wisconsin Rapids.  Lot's of nostalgia with this car!  Darrell Basseuner had the misfortune of backing his '57 Chevy into the wall, sustaining some body damage.  The group worked with him and had him back on the track the next night, although the car will definitely need a cosmetic makeover.
     A good field of limited late models were on hand, as a lot of them made the trip from the Kaukauna area, also a couple of Dells cars and Columbus cars, as well as a couple from Lacrosse, including fast timer Skylar Holzhausen, who unfortunately never really got to race, as he spun in warm-up laps for his heat and was struck by another car, ending the night for both.  Kris Kelly made the trip from Norway, Mich. pay off as he worked his way to the front and won the feature.  Brian Back converted his super stock over to LLM rules and ran with the limited's tonight, ultimately finishing fourth.
    The four cylinder racers put on their usual good show, but had their feature marred by some bad wrecks, the most serious sending Austen Stump and Paul Berg to the hospital.  Both got caught up as kind of innocent victims.  Word was that Austen might be spending a week or two in a neck brace but should be just fine, and never heard anymore on Paul.  Again, we wish the best for both drivers!  Derk Hauser took the win in their feature.
    A group of youngsters were present to race quarter-midgets.  Very entertaining, as some of the racers were as young as five years old!  There isn't much in this area for that kind of racing, but I understand most of this group races at a special track in Elko, Minnesota.
    A whole new bunch of racers were in the pits for the Sunday show, with the super lates headlining.  Some 35 were on hand, although Mark Mackesy had his motor expire while attempting to qualify, and M.G. Gajweski also leaving early with unspecified troubles.  Kris Kelly was on hand with a super late to try to make it a double, and Rocky Breezer had his super out for the first time this year, having raced his limited the previous night.  A couple others who ran with the limited's the previous night bolted on the big rubber and ran with the super lates.  The feature was a 100 lap affair, and the first 50 clipped off rapidly, but then there was a mandatory pit stop at lap 50 for refueling, and that is when things started happening.  Pete Kempf flew off the backstretch and clipped a light pole, sending said pole into a rather precarious position, although it still worked.  Pete was taken to the hospital with back pain, and we hope all is well with him.  The light pole was secured and the race continued, with fast timer Steve Holzhausen working his way to the front and passing Mark Eswein for the lead and win.  Holzhausen was racing in a Pete Kempf owned car, and kind of played possum the first 50 laps, then came on strong at the end.  Both Eswein and third finishing Nathan Haseleu alluded to this fact in their post race interviews, as They both said that Mr. Holzhausen played it smart.  Holzhausen stated, "They were using their tires up, and I was saving mine so I'd have something left at the end."  It worked!
     The super stocks showed up in strong numbers, with a wide variety of cars from various tracks.  Brian Back emerged victorious over Mark Eswein who was pulling double duty.  Some of the older street stock/bomber style cars were running with this class and did a nice job, with Jim Annala taking tenth I believe.  Brian Bartelt also did a nice job with his Thunderbird, and had a "Get well Brad" message printed on his car, as he is a good friend of Brad Seavers.  Nice show put on by a group of drivers from various tracks with various types of cars.
     Maybe that is one of the reasons I like this show so much.  It is not run under the influence of any series or sanctioning body, it is an old school special event where you show up and run.  No hassles, just racing.  Cars from all over getting together and drivers having fun.
    The pure stocks also had some visitors, as Mike Litchfeld took the feature win, passing Marshfield regular Ryan Mork on the last lap to get the win.  Ryan recently became the only driver here at Marshfield to defeat point champion Kyle Genett in a PS feature here this year, and looked strong again, but Litchfeld had a little more.
     The Junkyard Warriors only had a couple of visitors, but one of them won, as Mark Bornitz brought home his four cylinder to the victory over a field of mostly six cylinder cars.

9/17/2007

    This past weekend we took in the two day Wisconsin State Championships at Jefferson Speedway on Friday and Saturday nights.  Usually a few drivers travel from a fair distance away to race in this event, although this year it was more in the support classes as opposed to the late model division.

     A group of four cylinder racers came and raced with the International division this weekend, as Phil Malouf, Adam Eckes, Tim Gorecki and Tucker Miller made the tow down from central Wisconsin.  Malouf would be the long distance driver of the weekend, as he hails from Manitowish Waters, which is way up near the top of the state.  Phil seems to like to travel, as he races often at places such as Golden Sands, Wausau, Marshfield and pretty much wherever he can find a race.  He was the winner in his division at the Slinger "Futures" race last year.  Nice to see these drivers make the long haul.  Always like to see the central and northern Wis. drivers come down.  We need more of it, they are good people!  A couple of this group had to get up bright and early on Sunday morning, as State Park Speedway was running their season championships that afternoon, and both Malouf and Tucker are in the midst of the battle.
     Sportsman racer Terry Wangsness captured his first sportsman feature victory ever at Jefferson on Friday night.  He has won many hobby stock features here, and has won a sportsman feature at Columbus, but he finally got one here at his home track of Jefferson.  Plus, he picked the biggest weekend to do it in!  In talking with Terry on Saturday, he noted, "I looked at the lineup and saw that Chico (Riedner) was next to me, and thought, oh boy, but he got hung up in traffic and it worked out for me.  It was alot of fun."
     Late model racer Jody Krueger once again had some bad luck in racing in this event.  "That is three out of four years now with bad luck at this show.  The first year I blew the engine in my Bandit car, then the next year things actually went okay, then last year I crashed with the sportsman car and then went to that race at Slinger the next day and blew the engine, and then this year get caught up in a wreck and come back and blow the engine in the late model."  Jody is pretty much unflappable and seems to shrug off this bad luck, but here is hoping things go better!  His Dad, Gary, told him that maybe it was for the best, as they planned on racing at MIS the next week, and they figured things would really get messed up if you blow a motor on the half-mile.
     We took in the practice on Thursday night, and there were several cars turning laps that didn't come back to race.  I had heard that most thought they weren't turning good enough times to have a chance, so they decided not to enter.  That's too bad, because that is what this show was all about when it started, a big show for the low dollar racers.  Sometimes it seems to be getting away from that.
     Late model racer Dylan Schuyler also had a rough weekend, getting banged around some.  His Dad, Ron, told me that the car was getting tired anyway, needed some work, and for some reason doesn't respond to new tires like you would think it would.  After a  kind of rough Friday night, Dylan turned in only a few laps on Saturday, electing to keep the car in one piece and likely call it a season.  It was a good season for Dylan, third in points and one feature win, two dash wins, and two fast qualifying efforts.  All done by keeping the car intact and in a positive attitude.  He also had a chance to race a super late model at Slinger this season on I think one or two occasions, so that had to be a fun experience as well.
     Jason Erickson had a very good weekend, as he was the overall winner of the late model portion.  His fourth and second place feature finishes mirrored Ryan Carlson's equal finishes in opposite races, so the tie-breaker came down to who had the fastest qualifying effort, with Erickson slightly faster.
     Nice to see a few of the Dells cars come down and run as well.  In the sportsman division we had Scott Luck and Todd Ambrose, while Tom and Steve Litchfeld ran with the hobbies, as well as Brad Luck (Pronounced Luke)  Ed Szelagowski Jr., Kevin Seidler and James Krushcke ran with the late models.  Bobbi Jo Bishofberger and Aaron Wilke came from Columbus, while Carlyn Voight was the lone "outsider" in the Bandits.  Andy Raley, a Columbus regular ran with the hobbies, with Gerald Chapman racing Gary Pashley's title winning hobby from Columbus.  Rockford Roadrunner champ Charlie Frisch was present as well as Josh Lundy, and Joey Thomas from Rockford.  Dennis Smith Jr. was guest driving the potent Chet Paffel machine.
     Mark Miller was not behind the wheel of his late model this weekend.  Seems he had recent surgery and was told it would be best to sit this one out, so he called his good friend Randy Breunig and offered the ride for the weekend.  Mark told me that Randy at first declined, but Mr. Miller told him that if he didn't race then he would have to do it, as the car was going to be raced one way or another, so Randy finally accepted.  He timed into the show and did very well on Friday night, but ran into some troubles on Saturday.  Nothing major, just some bad luck.  Randy may not have been behind the wheel for awhile, but he can definitely get the job done. He showed no rust at all.  Both of these drivers do a great job with a very sharp looking car.
    Former track champ Scott Nottestad was behind the wheel of one of Jason Schuler's house cars this weekend, and he too, had some kind of rough luck.  Multi-track, multi-time champ Bobby Wilberg raced in this show last season and failed to make the main events, but showing the form of a true champion, as he did his homework this year and came out strong, easily timing into the show and running strong all weekend on a track he has limited time on.
    Jim Tate Jr. dominated the hobby stock portion of the show on both days, as he set fast time on Friday and then won the feature, then did it again on Saturday for a clean sweep.  The last clean sweep here in this class was accomplished by Nathan Haseleu on 8-9-95, so it's been awhile.  Haseleu did it on a regular show with fast time, heat and feature, but this was a sweep for the weekend.
    Next weekend we continue on with stops both at MIS and Marshfield.
 
9/9/2007

    Had a little mid-week racing action this past week, as I decided to finally get over to Boone, Iowa, and the IMCA SuperNationals.  After hearing so many people tell me "You've just got to experience Boone", I grabbed a couple of friends and we loaded the car and headed over for the five-plus hour trip west.

     I'll tell you this right off, all those people were right.  It is truly an amazing sight.  On Wednesday, the day we went, the modifieds were on center stage, as everyone was trying to get into the big show on Saturday.  Cars and drivers from California, New York, Arkansas, Florida, and of course all of the states closer were on hand, running 40 heat races.... Yes, 40.  Everything is run in a super efficient manner here, as you would have to in order to get anything accomplished in a decent time with this many cars.  If anyone spun another car out, boom! black flag.  No if's and's or but's.  I like the sign when entering the pits that said "No crybabies allowed".  They don't put up with any guff here, and everyone seems to know it.
     The drivers were all very friendly, it seems everyone is here to have a good time and make new friends.  As they said, "It's the Nationals, Baby!"  It doesn't matter where you are from, you are here, and that's what counts.  Some drivers likely had no chance of making the big show, but they were here just the same, and all can claim to be a part of something so huge.
     Of course, a large contingent of Wisconsin drivers were on hand.  Some had a good night while others are still looking for better luck or more speed.  With all of these cars here, surprisingly there were very few cautions, as the caution flag is not easily thrown here, the show moves on at a very fast pace and if you spin out, you'd better well be getting 'er re-fired and moving!
    What also impressed me were the admission prices.  In this day and age of constantly rising fees for both front and back gate, the front gate here was a whole $10, which is on par with most weekly shows or even less.  Pit passes were $20.  If they can charge so little, what's the deal at all the other post season shows??  For this money we got to witness something like 63 different races.  Talk about value!
    I'm definitely going back to this show.  The only bad thing was the long drive home at midnight after the races were over.  It is just too far to drive home, so next time I think we'd stay over.  Maybe even take in the whole week sometime.
   Friday we stayed a lot closer to home and took in the season championship races at Columbus.  The most drama filled race for a track title was conducted in the hobby stocks, where Jim Tate Jr. and Gary Pashley were in a tight battle.  Pashley needed to finish two spots ahead of Tate in the feature to grab the title, and with a small field of cars it would be tough.  However, all of the cars were about equal, and Pashley managed to stay the two spots ahead, although he had a scary moment when he and another car locked bumpers, and at this point it looked like Tate would overtake him.  Pashley did what he had to do and took the feature win, with Alan Dorn and Tate following.  How much closer could you get?  Great job all season by both drivers and really, all the hobby stocks!  This was Gary's second hobby stock title here, the first coming in 2003.
   In the late models, defending champion Dean Schultz told me prior to the races that he only needed to start the feature to gain enough points to secure the title over Steve Dobbratz.  Being a smart person, he opted out of running the heat race, but really gave a hard run in the feature.  His sixth place finish secured the title, while Dobie took it pretty careful, as he had one of his cars wrecked badly last week and likely wants to keep things intact the rest of the way for the specials.  Congrats to both these drivers on great seasons!  Aaron Falbe won the feature to close out the season here.  he looked very strong in the latter stages of the season.
   Bruce Havel likewise only needed to start the Backup car feature to secure another track title, and he did so.  Bruce announced his retirement from racing the backups tonight, as he said it is bothering his back too much to continue the reverse racing.  Imagine yourself trying to race hard for all these laps while looking over your shoulder and still trying to be aware of where you are on the track, traffic, etc., and at a high rate of speed!  It isn't easy!  Bruce was always one of the best at this, winning several track titles and 65 feature events.  He will be missed in the backup races, but he raced late models for many seasons as well, and told me he still has that car and hopes to get a motor for it and get back into late model competition, so hopefully we'll still see him race.  Congrats on a great backup career, Bruce!
   Tim Syvrud had already secured the track title in the street stocks.  Tim was amongst the fastest of timers week in and week out, always requiring him to start at the tail of the field.  Not an easy task to get to the front.  It is always nice to see someone who gives their all in time trials do well in the final points, and fun to watch them come through the pack.  A very deserved track title!
   In the Bandit division, Gary Stark led the standings most of the season, although defending champ Kyle Watters made it interesting, especially later in the season.  Stark won the feature to leave no doubt tonight.
   At Jefferson on Saturday night there were once again several new cars, no doubt doing some testing.  In the late models it was good to see Andrew Brocker run.  I hadn't seen him in several years.  New driver Justin Wagner had a late model out as well and did very well, as I know the past history of this car and I'm quite sure it is the oldest car out there by a long ways.  We also had three visitors with the Lake Geneva street stock class.  As most of you know, the Lake Geneva track closed at the end of last season, leaving many looking for a new home track.  Vaughn Lesko, Bill Johnson and Joel Steffen made the trip.  They said they have been racing at Slinger and enjoy it, but are looking for a track where they can get more racing in each week.  They were happy with their pay, and as Johnson stated, "It's a good program here.  These guys are really going, they're faster than we thought they'd be.  We're looking at maybe making some changes and racing here next year."  Right now, the LGR cars are kind of at a huge disadvantage with the Jefferson sportsman cars, they are kind of between a hobby stock and sportsman car.  I miss this class racing on the LGR track tremendously.  
   One of the most interesting features of the night was in the sportsman feature, where rookie Brady Lily won his first career feature in the division.  He has really made a great improvement over the season and it all culminated with the feature win tonight, holding off 2007 track champ Scott "Chico" Riedner.  If you can hold off Chico, you are really making a big accomplishment!
   Steve Dobbratz steadily passed cars on his way to the front and took the late model headliner.  He did what he could, but still finished second in season points to Doug Hahn, who had a great year.  Dobie is one of only a smattering who ran both Columbus and Jefferson every week, and he finished second in points at both tracks, a pretty solid accomplishment, as most  people nowadays run one track only.
   Veteran hobby stock racer Larry Moen took that feature event.  Larry runs a lot of different tracks, too, and you can tell, he's been around the track a lot.  He doesn't run steadily and seem to chase points at any particular place, nothing wrong with that, have fun and race wherever and whenever you want, I say.  Jim Tate Jr. won the track title, kind of makes up for his so close second place points chase at Columbus.
   Ken Au and Mark English did battle for the International feature win, with Au winning by inches in a crash fest.  However, English won the track title.
   The bandit track championship was once again down to the final night, with Gary Stark holding a slim lead over Kyle Watters.  Watters did what he could by winning the feature, but Stark just had to finish two spots behind to grab the title, which he did one better, finishing in second after getting bottled up in traffic.

9/2/2007

    The holiday weekend started off with a trip north to the State Park Speedway near Wausau.  With all the rainouts they have had here this year, the season normally would conclude tonight, but a couple more weeks have been added to the schedule.
     With a low car count in the super lates and the sportsman cars, each of these two divisions ran a bit different schedule to give more racing to all.  Three "segments" were run instead of just a heat and feature.  In the super lates, two 10 lap segments and then a 20 lap final were run, with Jesse Haase dominating.  He had a real clean sweep, as he set fast time and won all three racing events.  Points were tallied from these racing events to find an overall winner, and little doubt here that Haase was the winner.  Second in points man Cale Laessig finished second in all the events to claim second overall.
     In the sportsman ranks, it was a little tighter, although Joe Monti didn't win every event, as Jim Annala took the win in the first segment.  Joe had won the second segment and the final feature to gain the overall.  It was very nice to see Brian Bartelt back out with his Thunderbird for the first time in perhaps two or three years.  Hopefully, Brian will get to race some of the post season specials now.
    The CENEX Mini-Stocks ran a regular show of heats and a feature, with Tucker Miller racing three wide and passing most of the field on the first lap to take the win by a comfortable margin.
     On Friday the gas prices in the area shot up just in time for the holiday weekend.  Okay, no surprise there.  Must have been a refinery fire somewhere... Yeah, right!  Anyway, we stayed closer to home and took in the show at Columbus.  Good field of late models on hand for a beautiful night of racing.  Former track champion Andy Wendt made only his second appearance of the season here (or anywhere, I think for that matter) and passed a stubborn Mike Taylor and went on to win the feature.  Earlier, a fracas in a heat race sent leader Al Weishoff spinning and the result at the tail end of the race was a very  ugly sight, as Steve Dobbratz and Scott Patrick both spun and collected the wall, with Patrick's car ending up nearly flipping over and ending up on top of Dobbratz' car.  Patrick was taken to the hospital to be checked over but did return to the track later, although his car looked bad.  Dobie's car was also messed up pretty badly, but to all's surprise, he returned to run the feature, minus all of the body except for the roof!  I've seen cars racing before missing various body panels, but never the whole body!  It was an interesting sight!  He even managed an eleventh place finish out of it.  It was simply amazing just to see the car circle the track at speed.  "I've got a good crew,"  Stated Dobie.  Indeed, he does.
     Also returning to the track for the first time this year was Andy's Son, Nick.  Street Stock racer Tylor Schultz was out for the first time this season in Justin's backup late model, and won the semi his first night out, stayed out of trouble, had a good first outing.  Dennis Estes made his first appearance here, while Jerry Auby was present but never turned a lap after experiencing troubles early.  Tony Koepke also raced Paul Seeber's late model.
     Ben Monday had a good night in the hobby stocks, winning both the heat and feature, his first ever feature win in the hobbies.  Brandon Riedner did a nice job of passing in the outside to capture the street stock feature win, while new track champion Tim Syvrud followed him in passing on the outside, but couldn't catch Bud.
     Saturday night we took a long trip up to Matt Rowe's 141 Speedway to see the Gary Vercauteran Memorial 50 for the Mid-Am cars, plus the weekly divisions.  I really like the Mid-Am series, it is always a good show with sharp cars and talented drivers who are all class acts.  The weekly divisions here also put on a good show.
     Promoter/owner Matt Rowe has said this will be his last show of promoting weekly Saturday shows, as he wants to get into some other things, amongst them a return to racing a car himself.  He can be very proud of what he accomplished here, as he has a very solid group of weekly racers, he has the best restroom facilities you will find anywhere, he runs a tight show where they don't seem to put up with any B.S., and you definitely can't beat his admission prices, $6 before 6:00 and $8 thereafter.  Try getting a night of entertainment anywhere for that cheap.  His concessions are very reasonably priced, too, cheaper than just about anywhere I've seen, and are good.  Another thing done right here is the friendly attitude of all the people employed at the track... When you purchase a ticket here you are greeted warmly with a smile and a "Thank You".  Seems like such a small thing, but it really sets the tone for the night with the fans.  Can anyone run this track better than Matt?  I very seriously doubt it.  But, it's time to see if someone or some group will run the weekly shows from now on.  Hopefully someone will, but they better learn and do it Matt's way. 
     A really neat thing done here is called "Let's Make A Deal", a takeoff of the popular television game show.  During cautions, Matt will don his legendary pink sport coat and with an assistant he will ask if anyone in the crowd has a particular item such as a dryer sheet or hairspray, and when someone comes forward will ask if they want what is in the round canister or the box.  Various things can be won, but we wonder what the youngster thought that won the can of beans!  $20 in cash seemed to be the prevailing item given away along with some kind of strange costume hats, etc.  Pretty neat thing!  By the way, Matt looks waaaay different with his long hair cut off!
     On to the racing, local Mid-Am competitor Kevin Damrow could not be bettered in the feature, as he held off James Swan the entire way.  Swan backed off many times and probably easily could have taken Damrow out, and Damrow thanked him for his clean driving.  The event was flagged some 10 laps short of the 50 due to curfew, but I still wonder if Swan would have pushed the issue much more in those final 10 laps.  Guess we'll never know.
     Mid-Am racer Scott Null had a kind of rough night, as his car broke early in the night and they couldn't find replacement parts at the track.  So, Scott called his Brother, Rod, and told him to bring the parts from the shop in Lake Mills, a looong way aways.  Anyway, they made it and got the car together, but still missed time trials and Scott had to start the first heat in the back, which he came through and finished third.  Then, starting near the rear of the semi, there was really no way to get through the pack, so they had an early end to the night.  Perhaps it was not all bad, though, as their car got loaded in the hauler completely intact whereas many did not.
     Mini-Stock driver Allen Dillon had the center of his wheel tear out in the feature, but still had the points title locked up prior to the night's events.  Jason Willadsen won his second career feature, and like many he was asked what his plans are for next year with the uncertainty of the situation here, he replied that he honestly didn't know what he would do, that he hoped he would still be racing here.
     The super stocks had a bit of a strange twist, as feature race leader Tim Conard was taken out attempting to pass a lapped car!  It was in no way intentional, but still, he had to go to the back of the pack as he was part of the caution.  Luckily, he had already secured the track title as well, but this allowed Mike Meyerhoffer to take advantage and take the feature win.
     The Sport-4's were the division that had the drama in the points, as the two going for the title were running right with each other the whole race, with the title coming down to a tie and co-champions, David Gauger Jr. and Rick Lorrigan.  

8/28/2007

    We started off our racing weekend with another rainout, or flood out, as most tracks in Wisconsin suffered from another bout with the wet stuff on Friday night.  Enough rain already!  I said weeks back that everyone is wishing for rain, and when it does come, it won't stop, and I guess I was right.

    Finally on Saturday we got a race in, as Jefferson Speedway cleared out a lot of water to try to run their show.  The infield of the track was still a lake, and a good portion of the pits were still under water, but with herculean efforts, the show went on, even though several teams had to pit in the camper area reserved for the two day show at the seasons end.  Somehow, everyone got through it all.
    With all the rainouts and the upcoming state championships here, several late models were making their first or second appearances of the season.  Brad Norgaard, Michael Kruschke, Mark Miller, Scott Patrick, Joe Rusciano and more were amongst those, making a total of 39 late models present.  Steve Dobbratz worked his way through the field patiently and took his second career late model feature win here tonight.  Always one of the quickest timers anywhere, he also races weekly at Columbus and will even search out other places to race.  A true throwback to the old time racers who "just want to race".  Steve is currently second in points at both tracks.  His crew chief, Alan Schade, ran the other team car and was leading the semi-feature when during caution the car up and quit on him.  Alan has done some racing in street stocks and also raced a late model for Duane Deppe a couple years ago on occasion.
     Had to be impressed with Jerry Eckhardt as well.  Racing what is likely one of the older cars in the field, Jerry finished second and was continuously in the hunt.  Jerry races weekly at Columbus and Jefferson, then fields his own super late and limited late on Sundays at Slinger.  Very busy racer, and another of the old school who just can't get enough racing.  These drivers both run the youngsters ragged!
     The other divisions at Jefferson didn't have so many visitors, but still had very strong fields.  All told, it was reported that 136 cars competed on this night. Many tracks are struggling mightily with low car counts, but that isn't evident here.
     Sunday night I went with a friend to Slinger, my first time there in over a year.  Nice to see the old veterans still racing here as well, as the aforementioned Jerry Eckhardt, Conrad Morgan, Al Schill, Lowell Bennett, Tony Strupp and others still regularly tour the high banks here and win.  Right now David Prunty seems to be the man, however, as the defending track champion seems poised at another title.  Prunty took the feature win in convincing fashion.  Wonder how it would have been if Lowell Bennett had been in the chase, however.  He was involved in a opening lap crash which took him out.  Starting on the front row, it would have been tough to beat him.
     Nice to see Tyler James get the limited late model feature win.  Racing in a pack of cars, Tyler showed great poise in never relinquishing the lead, and went on to win his second feature here. 
     Enjoyed talking with the newest driver in the modified division here, eighteen year old Matt Clossey of Beloit.  Matt is the son of Joel Clossey, who raced modifieds at Madison several years ago, and also raced Mid-Am style sportsman cars and late models.  Matt told me that this was his first race in the mod, but he does have some racing experience, as he has raced karts in the W.K.A touring series for the past four years.  Matt looked good out there, and after starting last, finished eighth.
    Great to meet several new drivers I've seen race before but never had a chance to talk to, including Mike Strupp, Dan Jung, Chris Beine and enjoyed talking with mod driver Ron Schmitt, as well, as Ron formerly raced a street stock at Columbus a few years ago.  Good people and a fun night!
   Hoping for a dry week, and starting off our weekend with trips to Wausau, Columbus, 141 and Sunday unknown.  Stay tuned!

8/12/2007

    Thursday night we took the trip up to Wausau and the State Park Speedway.  When we left home it was a beautiful day out, but as we approached the track we ran into dark clouds and a few sprinkles.  It cleared off nicely by race time, however.  The gloomy sky at just about the time people would leave to go to the track most likely kept the crowd down.
     The racing was once again good.  With so many tracks having trouble getting two grooves of racing surface and the close competition of cars nowadays, passing is sometimes at a premium almost everywhere.  Not the case here!  There are definitely two racing grooves and the winners very seldom come from the front row.  Lots of passing and a good show, just need more cars.  Hopefully word will get around and the car count will bounce upward, because this is a very racey track.
     Jesse Haase padded his super late model point lead a bit by taking the feature win.  He and second place point man Cale Laessig got together early in the race, with Laessig showing his displeasure a bit after.  I understand his car had gotten wrecked last week at another track and it looked off a bit, as he was fighting the car most of the race.  Wayne Mackesy looked smooth in garnering second, while Laessig had to hold off a charging Brad Guralski for third. 
    Brad Guralski was pleased with the run afterward, saying, "I'm just happy to load the car up with no damage.  It worked well.  It was nice to finally be able to accelerate off the corners well."
    Only one sportsman car was on hand tonight, that being point leader Joe Monti.  He then ran with the late models.  Joe has now run the car as an area sportsman, a Mid-Am car, and now as a late model!
    The Cenex Mini-Stocks had a runaway winner, as Adam Eckes broke free early on and cruised to the feature win.  This would be a good division for some of the Jefferson Internationals to run with.  Would like to see some make the trip up to run here, it's a fun track with good competition, and the staff and racers here are very welcoming to newcomers.  This would also be a good place for some of the lesser-funded super late teams to have a good chance at a good feature finish.
     At Columbus on Friday I didn't get a chance to see too many races, as a friend was racing one of my Bandit cars and I was concentrating on that.  Very interesting special drivers meeting for the Bandit class and crews, owners, etc.  Pete Moore set the tone for what is expected out of this division, a good move.
    Got to watch Aaron Falbe get the feature win in the late models.  He did it the hard way, passing on the outside, a very clean run by a good driver.  Well deserved victory, his first since 2003 I am told.  He has looked strong the past few weeks, so it really isn't a surprise.  
    Saturday, likewise, I didn't see all the races, as we once again had the car out in the Bandit division here.  Saw Dylan Schuyler get the late model feature win over a very strong Casey Johnson, who had to settle for second after leading a long time.  Great to see a lot of new late models out, including the return of Luke Westenberg.  Had a chance to catch up with Paul Dygon, who told me this was his first ever time on this track.  Paul and his Daughter, Carrie, were regulars at Lake Geneva Raceway, and now that track is gone, so there are many drivers still searching for a place to run.  Paul also told me that this was his first outing of the season.
     Veteran late model pilot Jerry Eckhardt had a very good run on the high groove, and he was extremely difficult to pass.  He even rode the wall on turn 3-4 once and kept it going, a move that most drivers would have lost control and wrecked.  You can only get that kind of driving after racing for, say, 40 plus years.  Man, that guy can wheel a race car!
   Kyle Padfield won the Bandit feature, and rookie Mark Dewey had a great run, leading until the final lap.  Good to see some new faces at the front of the feature.
   Everyone kind of hung around after the races at Jefferson on Saturday, a very hot night and all seemed ready to relax in the cooling night air.  Lightning was flashing off in the distance which later put a little more urgency to things.  After stopping for gas in Edgerton along with hobby stock racer Jimmy Robinson, we were told that a big storm was heading our way and would be along any minute.  Sure enough, only a few minutes later we were hit with the good 'ol sideways rain, hail and wind.  Let's just say the car didn't get unloaded until the next day! 

8/5/2007

    Friday night we took in the show at Madison International, part of which included the "Bob Schmelzer 100" feature race for the super late models.  The supers don't race here weekly anymore, but this track has always been a great track for these cars, as this division was the mainstay here for years upon years.
     The race was held in honor of Bob Schmelzer, his wife Darlene, and their whole family.  As far as Bob goes, he has been involved in the local motorsports scene for fifty years, and I doubt seriously that you could find anyone who could possibly have anything negative to say about him or his family, as they have always thought of others first.  Bob has been a fixture at many tracks, manning the pit sign in for many tracks all over the Midwest, and also for many traveling series shows throughout the country.  His involvement at Madison (then called Capital Speedway) goes back to when it opened in 1963.  The Schmeltzer's also ran the Columbus track from 1969-1974.   They always treated the drivers fairly.  I also know that Bob was quite honored with this gesture, and he would probably be the first to admit that it was always a complete family involvement.  Darlene did her usual, fixing up a whole bunch of food for the many who stopped by to congratulate.  Son, Gary, is a virtual genius when it comes to racing stats.  Hope the whole family stays involved in the sport as long as possible, and congrats on the longevity of involvement!
     The super late model feature paid $3,000 to win, a number in which you would think would bring many cars.  We and many others were shocked at the low number (14) who chose to participate.  It was also an excellent chance for some of the lesser-funded teams to compete.  I will put out a call to James Carlson and Jim Schmittinger, who showed up to run tonight, as well as all the other competitors who did so.
    The race itself was excellent, with Brian Hoppe getting out to a lead in the Jerry Wood owned machine.  I think most eyes were peeled in the direction of Nathan Haseleu, who looked to be the only man who could pose a challenge, and while he did get up to Hoppe's bumper, it really appeared he didn't have enough to get by, but he made a late run and had one chance to get a nose underneath him, made it work, and passed for the lead right at the end in a finish that had everyone standing.  Great race by a couple of clean drivers who really showed how it should be done!
    The Madison late models (crate motor) had their own share of problems again this week, as on a restart in the feature the leader got loose on the front straight and over corrected right into the path of the oncoming field, collecting mainly John Wood, who was running second at the time.  Too bad, too, because I think this would have been an equally exciting race to the end had this not happened.  Zack Riddle looked very strong in getting the victory. 
     Bobby Wilberg was a very busy driver, as he had three cars present tonight, a super late, Madison late and a limited late.  He won the limited late feature over Chad "Squirt" Stevens, who had a nice showing tonight.  As for Mr. Wilberg, he completed 196 laps, and in addition to the LLM win, finished second in the MLM feature and sixth in the SLM feature.  I joked with him that maybe he should have found a Bandit to race, too.  "No, I was pretty worn out, my arm was about ready to fall off.  We lost the power steering there (In the SLM) for about the last sixty laps."  Dan Lensing also pulled double duty, with a MLM and a SLM, with third and fourth place feature finishes.  Dan got his start a few years back in a limited late at Columbus.  "I built that first car, because my Dad wanted me to learn it all.  When I look back now, it's a wonder the car even went around the track, with knowing what I know now, I just have to laugh,"  Said Dan.  He has really come a long ways, and has raced at a wide variety of tracks and different series now.  Other drivers to pull double duty included Andrew Morrissey and Nathan Haseleu.
     Bobby Selsing Jr. won the Bandit feature to close the gap in the points chase between himself and Steve Dickson.  Should go right down to the wire.
     Nathan Oppliger had his car catch fire in the MLM feature, while Paul Treuthardt was a victim of a bout with the wall in hot laps.  Paul was able to manage a smile afterward, setting about to try to repair the car enough to at least start the feature.  Paul gave up the seat to Jason Tyler who earlier had his car break in hot laps.
    Gary Krueger brought out his "Rent-A-Bandit", but couldn't find a driver to rent the machine, so he had to race it himself.  There, now we all know who the mystery driver was in the #04 car!   

7/29/07

    We started off a weekend of racing on Friday night with a short drive to the Madison International Speedway, with several divisions on hand tonight.
    The Madison Late Models were the most trouble plagued, with several cars getting torn up, including a violent four car deal off turn two, and an incident with one driver being sent to the back of the pack not once, but twice.  Needless to say, said driver was anything but pleased.  That's the way racing goes, sometimes!  Andrew Morrissey took the win, and he has been having a great year in '07.  Someone who should also be mentioned here is Nathan Oppliger, who recorded a sixth place feature finish, which I think might be his best yet.  He did this by keeping out of trouble and keeping the car in one piece.
    The Limited Lates ran as part of the Big 8 series, with a field of 30 cars starting.  Dennis Schmidt had an early end to his night as his car failed him during hot laps.
    Spoke with MIS regular Cliff Rucks.  Cliff is racing the former Ken Piotrowski car.  He enjoys racing here at MIS, saying, "I really like it here, it's a class operation.  The only thing I wish is that they would go to a one tire per night rule.  Some of the big boys here are bolting on a new set every night, and I could do that, but won't.  It's just spending too much money."  Cliff still runs very well.
    Talked with Joel Soenksen's car owner Al Duerst.  The previous week this team loaned out their car to Mike Ehde at the Dells, with Mike promptly winning the feature.  "People asked me, how I could do that, loan out the car to another driver, but, hey, it's what you do.  He was third in points and needed a car, so we worked out a deal and we all benefited from it.  Joel went up in the stands to watch that night and said he learned a bunch just from another perspective."  Joel has won some features with the car, too.
     Maybe the most impressive drive tonight was turned in by Jimmy Robinson in the Hobby Stocks.  Jim started his heat at the rear and came through to get the win there, then once again started at the tail of the feature and came through the pack, edging out Rodger Stephenson at the line for the win.  It is always fun to watch your feature winner come from the tail.  With these victories, Jim recorded his 99th and 100th career race wins.
     The Big 8 event ran pretty smoothly, the Hobby Stocks ran well, and also the four cylinder International class.  This class is made up mostly of Rockford Short Tracker cars, with a few of the old Jefferson International cars being dug out of barns and garages and running once again on the track.  This is good to see, as race cars shouldn't sit still!  The feature saw Aaron Rude gain his second feature win here in three tries this season, holding off Brent Nottestad and at one point passing his old car that was being driven by Scott Nottestad tonight.  Three cars in the top five were Ford Pintos.  I'd have to go back in time a ways to figure the last time I had seen that.
    the Bandit class here also runs pretty well, with minimal banging on this night.  Would like to see the slower cars get a chance to start up front in the feature, however, as on this night the fastest cars started up front.  They did run two heats, however, to give more drivers a chance to visit victory lane, a nice gesture.
     Saturday night we took a trip up to the Marshfield Super Speedway for their show.  Super Lates, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks and four cylinders were running on this night.  The show started a little inauspiciously with the track rental IROC Saturn's racing, with only two of the original six left running at the end.  One driver crashed into the pit entrance off turn 3-4, with another crashing head on into the 1-2 wall, pushing the whole front end back to the drivers compartment.  No injuries were reported, but  lots of CARnage.
    The regular show clicked off smoothly, as we were all done at 9:32 P.M.  The four cylinders saw a Father/Son duo battle it out, as Derk Hauser passed his Dad, Steve, late in one of the  heat races to take the win, then did the same in the feature.  No more sharing speed secrets with your kid!
     Nice to talk with Pure Stock racers Gary Haarklau and Coletta Gomes.  This pair makes the trip up from Sun Prairie every time this division races here, and also compete at Golden Sands.  They spend a lot of gas money to do their racing, but say they really enjoy racing with the folks "up north".  Gary stated, "You know me, I'll race any track anywhere, but I'd also like to get her (Coletta) some experience at various tracks."  I'd say they are definitely both doing just that!
     Kyle Genett owns the Pure Stock division here, as this young driver has several clean sweeps to his credit.  Getting his start on the dirt at the former Monster Hall Raceway, he has really done well with his transition to racing on the pavement.  He is undefeated in PS action here this season, qualifying, heats and features, doesn't matter, he is 21 for 21.  Time for a bounty??
     Jay VanDerGeest took the win in the super lates, his first of the year.  It was a strong field, too, as while the numbers were low, they were all quality cars.  Eugene Gregorich Jr. has dominated the division this year, but the competition seems to have caught up a bit as of late.  The Weinkauf brothers are always tough, and recently Jeremy Switlick won his first career SLM feature here as well.
    Speaking of the Switlicks, they always seem to outdo themselves every year with the appearance of their cars.  Words can't do justice to this, you just have to see them in person to believe it.

7/16/07

    Yup, I'm back!  At least on a hit-or-miss basis.  I've had many people tell me that they miss these writings, so as time permits, I'll give it a shot on occasion once again.  Thanks to Scott and Laurie Null for their patience!
    First off, I want to thank everyone who responded during my medical emergency.  Thanks to all the ambulance crews at Columbus and the doctors and staff at both the Columbus and UW Madison hospitals, and most of all, thanks to all the folks at Columbus 151 Speedway who saved my life!  I've tired to go along and personally thank most, but I know I've missed some, so to all, a big, heartfelt THANK YOU!
   I'm getting around to alot of different tracks now once again, which is great fun.  Took in a recent show at MIS, and enjoyed it greatly.  They really make you feel welcome here.  I enjoyed watching the International/American Short Tracker class racing, as this was a chance to catch up with a lot of people I hadn't seen in awhile.  Hope to make it back when this class runs again, as they did put on a great show.
   Have been attending races at Jefferson nearly every week.  Looks to be a battle in the late model division between Doug Hahn and Dylan Schuyler, as both of these drivers really seem to have it together.  Should be interesting as the year goes on.  There have also been some surprisingly strong runs by some others as well, goes to show that you never know how a season is going to play out.  Scott Lindsay has looked very strong this year in his first year of racing here.  Also nice to see Chuck Duncan running here weekly.  With Lake Geneva Raceway done for, many have been looking for another track to call home.
     This past Thursday we took in the show at State Park Speedway near Wausau.  What looked to be a beautiful day in southern Wisconsin turned into occasional showers further north.  It would rain and then the sun would come out, only to be constantly repeated.  We saw several rather beautiful rainbows.  Racing did get underway late, and they did run the show off in quick fashion, as it was one of those nights where you never knew when or if you were going to get more rain.  It was worth waiting for, as the super lates put on a good show in the feature, with veterans Wayne Breitenfeldt and Jesse Haase going at it side by side, with Mr. Haase getting the victory by a matter of inches.  Much like most tracks, the car counts here have been on the low side, but the racing has been very good.  You can't ask for more than a two car side by side feature finish!  I also think Travis Weisenbeck might have been in the fray as well, but he and his crew are trying to work out what they think to be a fuel related problem, as his car will occasionally cut out on him while racing.  He was chasing down the leaders and was on their bumpers, only to have the malady show itself at the most inopportune time.  Travis had earlier managed to garner his first career fast qualifying effort, so once they get this problem figured out, he should be a rocket!
     There has been perhaps more passing done at this track then most this year from what I have seen.  There definitely are two racing grooves.  Makes for some good racing.  Phil Malouf jumped from the pack quickly in the Cenex Mini-Stock feature and cruised home to the win, while fast timer Adam Eckes couldn't catch him.  Marshfield regular Randy Emmerich paid a visit in the sportsman division and walked away with the feature win, breaking Joe Monti's stranglehold on the division.  Nice to see Jim Annala hang in there with one of the old Bomber style cars that used to run here, a Ford Torino.  
     Good to see Brad Guralski in a late model, an older car that they believe once ran at Slinger.  It is one sharp ride!  Travis Dodson also has a great looking car, a maroon car with silver flames.  Unfortunately, Travis did some damage to this machine in a bout with the wall, but hopefully he'll have it back out soon.
     Friday we stayed closer to home and went to a familiar track, the Columbus 151 Speedway.  Dean Schultz won the LM main here, as he had to really work to pass veteran Rocky Breezer, no easy task.  Dean is kind of separating himself from the competition, as he is showing why he is the defending track champion.  He is among the many veterans racing here, in fact, this might be the most veteran laden late model division anywhere.  You have Ron Bishofberger, Jerry Eckhardt, Rocky Breezer, Butch Mierendorf on occasion, and many others with so many years of racing experience.
     One of the best features of the evening was in the visiting Formula Indy Association feature.  John Zeilinga ran out to a huge lead, but you had to keep your eye out on Vern Brown, who often dominates here.  Sure enough, he finally broke free and chased down Zeilinga, just barely nipping him at the line.  Also want to send get well wishes to Jim Bass, who was injured in a crash at Rockford July 3rd.
    There has to be a little drama in every show, and tonight it was in the hobby stock feature, where the two lead cars were going at it late in the race, with one car ending up in the wall and the other disqualified.  Third place runner Tim Lange motored past the checkers for an unexpected feature win.  You never know what will happen in racing.... That is the beauty of it.
     Saturday we took a trip to Dells Raceway Park.  My friend Brian Paulson has been racing my car in my absence, and wanted to give it a try.  The 2003 track champion here and at Columbus, he knows how to get around a track.  In the Bandit class they tried something a little bit different to try to shake up the ranks and give the slower cars more of a chance, so they started them from a standing start, and staggered their starting position on the track, as slowest timer was by the start/finish line, and fast timer just in front of them, nearly a lap down, with the others in between.  Most drivers didn't seem to like it, although I think everyone gave it a shot and perhaps warmed up to the idea a bit.  I know one thing, the racing was very clean, I think we might have had one tire mark on the car all evening, and that's not too bad!  Brian won the heat race and dedicated the win to me, Thanks, Brian!  Nice job.  Terry Lafleur won the feature race, defeating Bob Armstrong, who had offered up a $50 bounty to any newcomer showing up at the Dells and winning on the first try.  However, word is that he has withdrawn this offer with the new starting method.
     Just like the other night, the super stocks here had an unexpected winner, with the two leaders of their feature colliding, with Dave Swanson going on to win after running in third.  You gotta love this racing!  You just never know....
     James Kruschke III won the limited late feature, with Rocky Breezer getting his second runner-up feature finish in consecutive nights.  Ross Kenseth did a nice job in getting fifth in his first race here.  He has run a couple of times at Columbus, and it appears he is chartering the path his Dad took by starting his racing at the same tracks Dad did.
     Young Kyle Shear took the Mid-Am feature win, his first.  I really like this series, a good mix of seasoned veterans and young talent.  Wausau sportsman racer Joe Monti made his first Mid-Am start tonight.
     Sunday we took in a special show at Luxemburg.  Yes, I know Luxemburg usually runs Friday nights, but this show was kind of taking the place of the weekly show at Seymour, which wasn't racing because of their fair.  I was a little surprised at only eighteen late models, but it still was a good show and a chance to see some drivers I rarely see or have never seen.  Nick Anvelink got the win.  I figured Russ Scheffler would have it won, as he started on the pole, but it didn't happen.
     Benji LaCrosse won the IMCA Mod feature.  This was my first chance to ever see Benji race, and he is smooth!  The show was run off fast tonight, with the only feature having a few yellows being the SportMods.  Everything was finished about nine O'clock, outstanding for a Sunday show.  I'd go back again.  

04/01/2007

    Writing this particular column is something that is kind of hard to do, not because I can't think of anything to say, actually quite the opposite... I don't know where to begin with all I want to say!
    It is hard to stop doing something that you've been doing for seventeen years, but as of this column, I plan to retire from writing for any publication or website on a regular basis, so Ramblin' will be no more!  I may still do something for FasTrax magazine on occasion, but not sure and no promises (Or threats!) 
    I first wrote this column for the Checkered Flag Racing News back on March 7, 1990.  On a part time basis at first, I never realized how it would take off or that I would become a regular contributor.  I'd like to thank Jim Cleveland for helping me get started in this endeavor, and John and Doris Quinn helped greatly in putting up with some of the low tech columns I did in those old days, as when I started out, I was hand writing these words and sending via regular mail! 
    With the demise of CFRN a couple of years ago I was left with nowhere to go as far as writing goes, and Scott and Laurie Null graciously offered to fill that void and let me continue writing weekly on their website.  Thanks guys!  You've been true friends over the years and will continue to be!  At about the same time I also began writing monthly for FasTrax, of which I need to publicly thank Denny Bandt for his help.  Denny has been really easy to work with and is always improving the magazine. 
     The reason for this is because I am at the point in my life where there are certain things that need to be worked on before I become too old, and one of those things is my dream of putting together a book on Wisconsin's short track racers, with a little history thrown in.  I want to concentrate on this and see what happens.  Maybe it will never be completed or ever see the light of day, but I won't know until I try!  This and other projects will be keeping me pretty busy, but maybe also allow me to kick back in the stands sometimes and just catch some good old racing action everywhere!  I will still be cruising the pits on occasion so stop me and say "Hi".
     I feel fortunate to have been involved in all of these endeavors over the years.  I've learned a lot. (Like how fast you forget your spelling and punctuation after school!).  I've met many wonderful people, and have even been told I have helped people garner sponsorship and even helped further a few racing careers!  Pretty heady stuff!  I've also been thanked often for not writing only about the top drivers, but giving all equal time and looking out for the so called small-time racer.  I've tried to always write about things that would interest me, thinking that others would find it equally interesting, and that has served me well. 
    Although I can't thank him in person, I have to publicly thank former columnist and racing guru Bob Bergeron, who even in his days of failing health would compliment me on my writings and brag me up.  We talked on occasion via phone or e-mail.  Bob was actually an inspiration to me, and I hope he's looking down from Heaven on us all with a smile on his face.  Thanks, Bob!
    Thanks to all the readers who sent me letters of appreciation for something I did or wrote on over the years, or info. I asked for.  Believe me, these letters are most cherished!
    Thanks to Bob and Darlene Schmelzer for their great friendship.  Bob helped to get me recognized in the racing industry as a writer, and their Son, Gary, has helped immeasurably with stats and column ideas over the years, but most important, FRIENDSHIP!  Thanks to all!
     Thanks to the Moore family at Columbus 151 Speedway and Wayne Hook as well.  This was the first track to recognize me as a writer, even before I ever had an official press card.  Never heard any complaints from anyone with what I have written about this facility, so I must have done okay! 
    Thanks to all the drivers that I've had the pleasure of meeting and writing about over the years.  99.9% of the drivers were 99.9% friendly 99.9% of the time.  Can't get much better percentages than that.  Thanks to all for beverages, hats, shirts, photo cards, and also for help when I started racing myself.  You know who you are! 
    Although I've written primarily about Columbus, Jefferson, Wausau, Lake Geneva  and MIS over the years, I think I've written about every paved track in the state during my career, as well as several dirt tracks in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois.  I've also done some stuff on Rockford Speedway, so I didn't just cover Wisconsin, but tried to do a little of everything about everyone.  Thanks to anyone I've missed at these tracks!
    I've done quite a bit of writing about Central Wisconsin drivers, and that is because I've always been treated as family in this area as well.  So to all the drivers and fans at Wausau's State Park Speedway, Marshfield, Golden Sands and others, thanks for welcoming this "Southerner"!
   I also want to thank the various track PR people and writers from other areas I've come to know.  Dan Plan from "Minnesota's Racing Connection" actually told me once that I helped inspire his writing career.  Now that helmet will never fit on my head!  Curt Keene, Deb Klockziem, Steve Parsons and Adam Glatczack also have been of great help when in the central Wisconsin area.  All are talented people and good friends.
    I also have to thank Jefferson/Columbus announcer Randy Kamenick, who I consider one of the best racing announcers anywhere.  Randy has always been a great help in anything, and actually got me behind the wheel of a race car for the first time when he let me hot lap his Lions Club car several years ago.  He then helped me get started racing the four cylinder Bandit's by helping to setup a ride in the Tina Remsik car in 2002.  One thing led to another and I am still racing!  Thanks for everything, Randy!  Sorry about the picture!
     Of course, thanks to the readers of anything I have written over the years.  There is no point in writing if nobody is reading it!  Thanks to all of you!
    And a final, heartfelt thanks to my Wife, Deb, who I think has patiently proofread just about everything I've ever written.  All with no pay!  Also for putting up with me! 

10/30/2006

    Trick Or Treat!  We were able to get one last race in this year, as on Saturday, October 28th we took the old Geo over to the Lake Geneva Raceway to race in the "Run What Ya Brung" show, where the only rules are safety.  Everything else goes.  This was also the final ever race at this historic track, as it will now be shut down and developed into housing. 

     The cars were divided into classes, A, B, and C, as well as a separate group for the Mini-Mods and the vintage racers.  The "A" group encompassed some of the super lates and limited lates, both dirt and pavement, sprint cars, modifieds and whatever else was fastest.  Ken Johnson had one of the more radical rides, with a sprint car engine and huge wings, and he set fast time with this machine.  However, the feature belonged to Wayne Freimund, who stated afterward that he had won features at some other area tracks, but never here, and it meant a great deal to win the finale.  Landry Potter was on his tail most of the way, but couldn't get by, while Johnson had to settle for third.
     Surprise winner of the night had to be Jason Jensen, as he took his dirt modified to victory lane in the "B" feature.  Sonny Schoffen appeared to be untouchable, as he had the race seemingly in hand, but during a late caution his RF suspension failed, ending his night and giving the lead to Jensen, who made the most of it.  Afterward, Jensen said that this was his first win ever.  A very memorable night indeed!
    Class "C" was made up of four cylinder racers, with Vincent Merry dominating with his four cylinder truck.  This division formerly raced here on a semi-regular basis, but now races at Wilmot.  Vincent also races a super late model here on Saturday nights, so he is very familiar with the track.  Dale Gustum had the other truck, while the rest were made up of BIC, Bandit, International and various other types of four cylinder racers.  At least two were running nitrous, with varying degrees of success.
    The vintage racers really got it on, with even a little paint trading.  John Janssen took the win in his Earnhardt '64 Chevelle, over John Vassh in his Marcis Dodge Charger.  One of the more unusual cars was the Studebaker of Frank Slabanek.   A Studebaker Hawk if I am correct.
    Only three Mini-Mods showed, with Nick Pestka getting the final win for this group.  A trailer race brought down the curtain on the nights events.
    Overall, I would have thought more cars would have showed up to race, with approximately sixty-seven total.  A fair crowd showed, but once again, I thought there would have been more fans as well.  A chance to either race or witness the final event at a track which has been run as an oval since 1966, and as a drag strip since about 1963.  It was cold out, yes, but here was a chance to be a part of history.  I am proud to say that I was there, and raced on this night.  It was bunch of fun, racing with good people.  It is not something that I will ever forget.
     Promoter Kevin Dawson addressed the drivers meeting, saying that he appreciated the drivers and fans who showed up on this final night.  I think he may have been a little disappointed in the numbers of race cars that showed.  I think he wonders on the sometimes lack of support for local racing, something I wonder about, too, sometimes.  Hey, this is way better than anything on TV! 
    I have been to many racing events here as a fan, and raced here three times in my career.  All of it was good.  The racing was always good, the drivers were always a pleasure to race with, very clean racing on a  nice, wide, big track.  I was happy to meet some new people even on this final night, and hope to see both old and new acquaintances at another track somewhere next season.  It was a blast to be a part of the final racing event here, and yes, I got lapped by many, but didn't finish last, even got a top ten!  I thought the four cylinder drivers did an excellent job, I was proud to be on the track with them! 
     I will never forget "LGR", as will many others.
10/02/2006
    This past weekend we took in the "Final Fall Classic" at the Lake Geneva Raceway, final, as the track will be closed at the end of the season forever to make way for a housing development.
    Thursday was a kind of  fun day, with mechanics races and powder puff events, big wheel races for kids, a vintage car race, spectator one on one racing, and a kind of neat deal in which fans could take their personal street vehicles out for a couple of timed laps to see how they could do, with every participant receiving a certificate with their times on it.  Pretty novel idea, one in which I had to try myself.  
     Friday was the "Small car championships", which I didn't attend, but heard the rainy night didn't allow for all events to be completed.  Likewise, rain also threw a monkey wrench into things on Saturday, with a ton of cars needing to qualify, but with rain hitting late in hot laps, delayed the whole process by at least an hour.  However, things did turn out okay, as pretty much everything was able to be completed, even though it was a bit past the curfew... But, hey, what are they going to do, shut the place down???
     Qualifying made for some surprises, especially in the super lates, with track champion Eddie May failing to make the show, as well as Jamie Iverson, who towed all the way down from the U.P.  Pat Kelly would turn in the quickest time for the division.  Both Iverson and May would have to race their way into the big show on Sunday via the last chance races, which they did.  Eddie Hoffman, Steve Carlson, Rich Bickle and Jeremy Lepak all made the show by time and didn't have to worry.  Veteran Tom Jones came back in the Len Nowosel ride for one last  race at the track, but failed to make the feature.  Nice to see Tom out there, however!
      Sunday brought forth said last chance races, while the sprint cars qualified, with Tim Cox setting a new ultimate lap time of 14.186.  Tim later would come back and take the feature win, while his Son, Jason, would race for the first time in a sprinter on asphalt, bringing home a third place feature finish.
     Perhaps the best feature of the weekend was in the modified division, which featured several dirt mods taking on their asphalt counterparts who normally race weekly at Slinger.  Several more showed up on Sunday after racing at Chilton on Saturday to bump up the car count even more, as Tim Bell won the event in a dirt car, which he said was also his first feature win ever.  He had to hold off Wes Biswell and Dale Prunty to get the win, with Biswell appearing to have the upper edge at least a couple of times, once being thwarted in his efforts by a caution flag which put him back behind Bell.  Very nice job of driving by Bell, however, who guided his sharp black and silver flamed car to the big win.
     The Wisconsin Sport Trucks ran a feature both on Saturday and Sunday, with Kyle Quella taking the win on Saturday in a day that just plain belonged to him, while the next day his luck ran out, as he didn't seem to be able to get to the front, and to add insult to injury, rolled his mount over on the last lap and last turn of the feature.  Dan Vixmer claimed the win on Sunday.
     The four cylinder BIC feature belonged to track champion Steve Doherty, in an event which saw a little bit of everything, while the pure stock/enduro class saw a large difference in qualifying times, with several enduro cars running with the stock cars from various tracks.  Jim Robinson turned in fast time and then used a lapped car to take the lead and win away from Jim Tate Jr., who dropped to third behind Robinson and Brian Piller. 
     The Street Stock division saw track champion Adam Regnier take the feature win in an event which was pretty much trouble free.  This division always put on a good show here, and hopefully they will be racing as a group at some area tracks next season, as there are plenty of cars and they do a nice job.
     The Super Street Stock class was designed for Sportsman type cars from various tracks, with Jefferson/Madison regular Chico Riedner taking the win.  The car count in this division was one of the lowest, which was surprising, considering Jefferson has so many cars which are so close to the track.  Some surprise entries however, as Minnesotan Bryan Turtle was present, along with the Lions club car of Dean Baumbach, and a couple of real sharp vintage cars ran in this group.  Only seven cars were still racing at the end of the feature, as they just seemed to keep dropping out.
    The Mid-Am cars brought forth a strong field, with John Senerchia dropping out early while leading the event.  Jeremy Spoonmore won, as several of the top finishers were drivers who had competed at the track often in the weekly shows.  Their experience at the track really showed.
     The most trouble plagued feature was in the Big-8 Limited Late Models, as one car dropped a bunch of fluid on the track, requiring a very lengthy cleanup, as black clouds and lightning could be seen in the distance.  Michael Bilderback held off his uncle, Ricky, to take his first career LLM feature win, all at the age of fifteen!  Michael has already turned a bunch of laps here and at other tracks, however, as he has raced extensively in Bandolero and Legends cars as well.
     While some might say the Super Late Model feature was boring, it really wasn't.  Rich Bickle led from start to finish, yes, but it was anything but easy, as Eddie Hoffman was working on him, and a surprising Brandon Hill was right in the thick of things, putting a ton of pressure on the two wily veterans.  Further back, you had to keep your eyes on Jamie Iverson and Eddie May, as the pair started way in back after making their way from the last chance races to finish sixth and seventh respectively.  One has to wonder if they had timed in faster and started closer to the front, would one of them won the event? 

09/25/2006

    Another wet weekend in Wisconsin!  We made the trip north to Marshfield for their annual Fall Spectacular on Saturday, leaving home under a light rain which continued over half-way there.  Finally as we approached Marshfield the skies looked more promising, even some blue sky and a little sunshine.  Would luck be with us?

    Upon entering the track we learned from many that rain was expected, and had even been surrounding the track.  Things went on as planned, even though it took longer to accomplish, as Friday's show had also been cancelled by the wet stuff, leaving a couple of extra divisions to qualify and race on this night.
    Thirty-seven super lates took to the track, with Mark Eswein proving a point by setting a new track record.  Brian Back was in the Rick Grunden machine, while Justin Switlick was behind the wheel of the Wisz Brothers entry.  Plan was to run the SLM last chance race right away and get the field set for their 100 lap feature later.  With the apparent winner failing post-race inspection, Travis Sauter recorded the official win in this race, which went largely trouble-free otherwise.
     The super stocks had a very large field of cars, thirty-four by my count, with several visitors from various tracks.  Many of the track regulars were here, as well as several Dells cars, as well as some from Golden Sands and LaCrosse. 
     The mini-stocks had a large field as well, with many regulars in attendance, as well as Wausau track champ Chad Dietsche.  141 Speedway regular Allen Dillon was also present, fresh from setting fast time and winning the mini-stock feature at the Jefferson show the week before.  This was the only division to fail to get their heat races in on this night.
     The street stocks didn't have huge numbers, but the Columbus cars of Tim Syvrud, Tony Showers and Derek Childs were present.  Their heat was a good one, with Syvrud taking the lead and ultimate win, but A.J. Kania gaining fast.  The feature here would be a good one!
     The pure stocks had decent numbers as well, with the fast heat on the grid when the rains finally put a stop to the show.  Jefferson/Columbus regular Larry Moen had fast time.  Wide variety of cars here.
     Nice field of limited late models here, with many Kaukauna cars.  Bragging rights would go for now to the LaCrosse Speedway, as Kevin Nuttleman set fast time.  Jim Syvrud was present from Columbus, with several cars also from the Dells area.  The team cars of Kurt Clapper and Nick Nolden were present, with Kurt gaining a heat race win.  I had a chance to talk to Nick Nolden awhile back, and I am impressed with this young driver.  Moving up this year from the four cylinder Bandit division, he seemed to gain a real feel for the limited lates.  He has a good head on his shoulders and has the right attitude for success.
     The motorcycles also raced their heats, with a couple of spills, but luckily no injuries.  No other way to say it, these guys are nuts!  Six vintage cars also ran a heat race.
     After some thirteen races had been run, a light rain came upon us.  They decided to wait it out, but after awhile it became apparent that the stuff wasn't going to quit for awhile, so the remainder of the program was rescheduled for Sunday.  Now, some folks couldn't make it back Sunday, ourselves included, so several options were noted.  You could get in free on Sunday when the remainder of the show would be run, and if you couldn't come back then, you would get credit for the upcoming tournament of destruction, and if you didn't want to go to that, you could leave your name and address and the track would send you a voucher for a free regular show next season.  All this after 13 races had already been completed, a point in which most tracks would just call it complete with no refunds.  To go to this length to insure all fans are pleased is just fantastic in my opinion.  This just confirms what I've said before, this Fall Spectacular is one of the best post-season shows anywhere, and hopefully people will soon realize this and support it more. 

09/17/2006

    Friday and Saturday we made the short trip to the Jefferson Speedway for the annual Wisconsin State Championships, long considered one of the premier events in the post season for limited late models and various other divisions which so often get second billing at so many specials, but here they all share an important spot in the spotlight.

    The limited lates were running under the Big-8 series banner for the second year, with 50 cars showing, even though it took just before time trials ended for the last of these to show up, which happened to be Jeremy Hayton.  Some top dogs found themselves being knocked out of the feature lineup, as qualifying turned in some impressive times by many, as well as some surprises.  Bobby Wilberg, Chad Stevens and '06 Jefferson champ John Ovadal Jr. were amongst those forced to try to make it through last chance races or provisional.  Ovadal  went to a different ride, nearly making it from the qualifier race after starting in the rear. 
     The sportsman division saw an impressive number of entries as well, with several visitors present, many from  Golden Sands.  Roger Stanczyk ran strong here last year and returned again, as well as fellow track regulars Bert Soyka, Mike Brooks and Bo Bennish, who has raced at various tracks.  Brian Paszek, Randy Padfield, Scott Luck, Ryan Goldade and Fred Nason were amongst the other visitors.
     Nice to see several cars come down from 141 Speedway as well, as in the International division Allen Dillon set fast time, while John Senkbiel and Josh Lammers were also present.  Kevin Eckes made the long trip down from Marshfield, and also brought a super stock/sportsman car, although it never hit the track.
    The hobby stock division saw a few visitors and car/driver changes, as Craig Olver was racing a friends' Hobby stock, while Brad Luck was present along with the lone Rockford entrant in the division, Tom Flippo Jr.  A couple of cars from 141 were also present.
    The Bandit division saw numbers down quite a bit from previous years, with no real outsiders save for a couple cars from Columbus and MIS.  I thought more Bandit cars would move up to the International division this weekend, but none did.
    The Big-8 series saw a few casualties very early, as the Kevin Tunks machine blew early in practice, and Lorin Kurth's ride went up in smoke in a rather dramatic fashion during warm-ups for his qualifier.
     Saturday saw a few new cars make their presence, while a few did not return.  In the Big-8 LLM division, Bobby Wilberg didn't return along with Dennis Schmidt.  Geno Eckes  was present in the sportsman division, and the hobby stocks gained Scott Bush and Randy Meyer, along with Joe Vesterdahl.
     Track champ John Ovadal Jr. had a great season here, but that seems to be where it ended, as he had horrible luck during this show.  The crank broke in his motor of his regular car Friday, then he won a last chance race on Saturday to make the features with a different car, only to suffer a hard crash into the wall with the new machine.
     Ricky Bilderback won the overall title for the WSC, placing second in the first feature and sixth in the second, while Jeremy Miller did the same in reverse, but because Bilderback turned a quicker qualifying time, he was declared the overall winner in the tie-breaker.  It was that close!  I thought Bilderback was very impressive, racing well at a track he had only been on a few times before, but I guess if you've won as many various track championships as he has, you could expect him to be good anywhere.  Steve Dobbratz and Doug Hahn likewise were impressive all weekend, making some real good moves during tight battles. 
     In the hobby stocks, it was nice to see Mike Meyers get the win in the preview feature Friday night, but again, his luck ended there, as he was also leading the feature Saturday early on when his motor let go.  Ken Au was fast all weekend, and showed why, as he came from back in the pack to run off with the feature win on Saturday.  Craig Olver's fifth place feature finish was best for the non-regulars, although Craig has turned many laps here, it was with a borrowed car tonight.
     The sportsman division was dominated by Scott "Chico" Riedner, and several visitors ran well but had troubles.  Roger Stanczyk was running strong but impacted the wall on the backstretch, while Scott Luck did the same.  Brian Paszek didn't return from Friday night, and Mike Brooks also suffered from problems, and Bo Bennish dropped out late.   Scott Lawver and Bert Soyka were the only outside cars to finish the event, along with some of the Columbus cars.
     The International division saw 141 Speedway driver Allen Dillon take the checker, and he really had to work for it, passing a lot of cars along the way.  Kevin Eckes did likewise, to finish fifth, while Jefferson regular Chris Chenoweth took second.  Former regular competitors Dale and Brent Nottestad returned for the weekend in borrowed cars, with Dale's seventh place feature finish Saturday the best of the pair.
     The Bandit division saw the return of Bill Sweeney, who once dominated this division before moving up to the International division.  Bill sold the International car and subbed for Bobby Selsing tonight, taking the checkers. 
     All told, it was a good weekend, with really nice weather, especially Saturday.  More cars than I would have guessed, with a nice mix.  Cars from the Big-8 series are mostly from Wisconsin and Illinois, although Kris Kelly hails from Norway, Mich., and I believe Lorin Kurth is from Waukon, Iowa.  In the other divisions we had cars present from 141, Columbus, MIS, Rockford, Lancaster, Dells, Golden Sands, Marshfield and Wausau.   

09/03/2006

    Our long holiday weekend started off on Thursday night with a trip up to the State Park Speedway near Wausau, for the final race of the year here, which also was season championship night.  We were greeted with perhaps one of the nicest nights all season as far as the weather goes, clear skies and comfortable temps.  What a difference a week makes!

     The most dramatic feature finish was the one that didn't appear would be that way.  The last event of the night was the CENEX Mini-Stock feature, with point leader and track champion Chad Dietsche comfortably leading the event as it drew to it's conclusion, several fans were heading for the exits, when suddenly on the last lap Chad slowed dramatically while leading, handing the lead to Dylan Hockin, who scored the last lap victory.  Dietsche would still finish second as he coasted his machine across the line.  "The rear end blew out,"  Said Chad later.  He still had a smile on his face, as he had a great season on his way to the track title, in a pretty dominant fashion.
     This division featured a young winner in the heat races, as fourteen year old Cole Yach took the win in his heat, his first victory ever.  He is racing the former Torey Nitsche Cavalier.
     In the late models, M.G. Gajewski brought home the track championship, and to be sure of it also took the feature win tonight.  He led the points standings right from the start, although Jesse Haase made things a little interesting.  Jesse was still pleased with his second place points finish, saying, "Not too bad for missing three weeks during the year.  I set fast time I think every time I was here except once."  His night ended early when he dropped out of the feature with a thrown water pump belt.  Justin Woller looked very strong with his second place feature finish, saying, "We just didn't have enough tonight, not bad, though."  Dave Cabelka recently scored his first LM feature win here a couple of weeks ago, and finished third tonight.  He has really stepped it up a notch as the season has progressed. 
     The street stocks saw Brian Paszek take the win, as several cars wrecked during the event and Brian patiently waited to pounce on the opportunity.  Among those sidelined were point leaders Wes Coon and A.J. Kania.  Word was put out that both these drivers may be named titlists in the division, although Coon actually had a slightly higher point total.  Anyway, Wes looked very strong all season, and dominated early when the car counts were rather slim, and still doing well later when they improved quite a bit.  As for Kania, the rookie did a nice job behind the wheel of the Tate Baumer machine. 
    One of the best looking cars out there was the '67 Chevelle of Brad Guralski.  The sharp black machine ran strong, too, although Brad noted a few things he needs to do to improve it over the winter.  He took third in the feature behind Paszek and Dave Wendorf, who had raced side by side for most of the event with Mike Kasparek.
     Friday night I raced at Columbus, so I really missed most of the racing.  That is the problem when you are racing yourself, you don't see too much of the other races.
     I did get to see the late model feature, where Dean Schultz left no doubt as to who will win the track title, as he took the feature win to pretty much cement his first track championship here in the LM class.  Dean really deserves this, as he has been racing here for many years, often times getting very close to that track title, but never quite there.  This year he has avoided rotten luck and has been consistently fast.  Before the racing got started tonight I talked with Dean, and he told me, "I am close to having the title, but I'm not saying a thing, yet.  Bish (Ron Bishofberger) is still right there, I would have to just bomb out these last two weeks and he'd have to do very well, but it could happen, I'm not celebrating anything, yet."  Well, after tonight, I think he can.
     Rob Retallick wound up the overall winner of the Triple 60's series this year, beating Schultz by only about five points.  Tonight was the third and final round of the series.
    I was told that Dale Weatherwax won the street stock headliner, which is his first feature win in quite some time. Always nice to see someone get that feature that hasn't done it in awhile! 
    Saturday we took in the show at Jefferson.  A few cars were making their first showings of the season, likely preparing for the upcoming state championships here.  New late models included Jeff Falbe, Mark Miller and Paul Seeber.  Noel Ramge took the feature win, his second of the season.  Dylan Schuyler was driving the Tim Noble car and Luke Westenberg was in the Hoeft Motorsports entry tonight, with their own cars being sidelined.
    Johnny Robinson was present in the hobby stocks, but never raced, as the torque converter broke in his car in time trials.  Ken Au took the feature win.  Jason Deppe was in the Alan Dorn machine, with some Dells pure stocks showing up to run also.
     The sportsman division saw some new cars as well, with Casey Burns making a rare appearance, while Rodger Stephenson was behind the wheel of Jim Burns' car.  J.J. Yanke made his first showing of the season, with Joe Roatch making his second showing.  James Helmer took the feature win.
     In the International division, Chris Chenoweth scored his third feature win of the season, another case where a driver made good choices, kept out of trouble and put himself in a position to take the win.
     Something like thirty-five different races were contested tonight, as the "iron man" races were also held.  These events were for drivers in their respective divisions that had competed every night of the season.  Surprisingly, very few late models had, while a whole bunch of hobby stocks had done this.

08/27/2006

    Some things didn't work out for us very well this past weekend as far as racing plans go, as more often than not the weather messed us up.  Thursday we wanted to go to Wausau once again, only to get rained out.  Then, on Friday things didn't go much better as Columbus and Madison both got rained out.  Finally, on Saturday the weather looked like it would clear sooner north, so we took the drive up to Marshfield.

     Tonight was the third and final round of the Triple Challenge for the limited late models.  Bret Widdis made the long haul down from the U.P. of Michigan to claim the win in a very strong run.  He looked very impressive.
    Coming from the south with a long haul also was Paul Edmundson.  "This is probably our last night out for the year,"  Said Paul.  "I'm really busy at work and I practically had to beg to get this weekend off.  We'd have to buy new tires if we were going to run anymore, and I'd rather put that money toward my new car.  I've got a new Lefthander coming, and we'll race that at Madison next year."   Paul has spent some time racing at Jefferson and Lake Geneva, but Lake Geneva will no longer exist after this season.  Paul said that he has relatives living in the area, so he had someplace to stay, rather than make the long trip back to Whitewater that night.
     Also present tonight was former Columbus 151 champ Andy Tomlinson.  "I like this place,"  Said Andy.  "We just need more motor.  It only really showed when we were running with the faster cars, but we timed in pretty quick, I was surprised.  We are bringing the car home in one piece, so I'm happy."
     Kyle Calmes took the overall three race title for the series, as his fifth place finish was good enough.  Several Kaukauna regulars were present, but a few Dells cars, a couple of Wausau cars and some travelers were present.
     The super stock field was also pretty strong, with Matt Pyburn getting the win here.  Fast timer Corey Jankowski came back from early problems and finished fourth after restarting at the end of the pack.  There were some pretty good battles going on in this feature.
     The "Junkyard Warrior" division combines the Cruisers with the new JW class, with some six cylinder cars also competing.  Some of these cars really are stock, as you can tell by the sound.  Real stock car racing!
     The Mini-Stock division is always one of the strongest here, and that was the case once again tonight.  Rookie Kyle Opelt took the win over Jeremiah Strauss.  Wide variety of cars here, although there are getting to be a lot of Dodge Neons.
     I'm actually not too familiar with many of the drivers in the pure stock class here, although former dirt track racer Kyle Genett looks to have taken well to the asphalt, as he won the feature once again tonight.   

08/20/2006

    Our racing weekend started off on Thursday night with a trip north to the State Park Speedway.  We left the house in a light rain which continued on more than half way there, then the rain stopped and the sky just looked ugly.  The show was completed with no more moisture.

     Talked with Brad Guralski, who has done some racing in various divisions and helped his brother, Kurt on his super late, until a couple of wrecks ended their racing, or at least Kurts' for now.  They sold off the late model and now Brad has purchased a '67 Chevelle street stock which he said he would have ready the following week, and then he hoped to put some laps on it at some of the year end specials.
     Pretty good car counts tonight, as one track regular told me it seemed when the weather looked bad they had more cars, and when the weather was perfect they have less.  Try to figure that one out!
     Dave Cabelka came home with the late model feature victory, which I believe may be his first ever in the division.  Justin Woller was running a strong second until his car broke with four laps remaining.  Jesse Haase was a victim of a wall bout just as the event started and never got to see what he could have done.
     Often time feature winner and point leader Wes Coon kind of got wrapped up in the street stock feature, as Brian Weinfurter and Jim Annala kept him at bay with some side by side racing.  Weinfurter took the win.
     Enjoyed talking with CENEX Mini-Stock racer Robert Dalsky, who is sixty-four years of age and still getting it done.  Robert started racing back in 1959, which is the year I was born!  Robert said that he does this strictly for fun, whenever he feels like it, and the weather is comfortable, that he doesn't like to race in the hot weather, and who can blame him!
    The Mini-Stocks saw point leader Chad Dietsche become another victim of car breakage, as he dropped out at the start of the feature, before a lap had even been turned.
     Friday night we had plans for going to Columbus 151, but a misty rainy evening put those thoughts to an end.  We probably should have went a little further north, as we found out tracks up that way were able to get their shows in.
     Saturday we took in a show on the dirt at Powercom Park in Beaver Dam, our first time there this season.  The modified feature saw Steve Mueller take the win, while Frank Firari and Jay Schraufnagel  kind of struggled to find their way through the pack.  Firari or Schraufnagel had won every previous mod feature when I had been there before in the past.  This division features great car counts here, as 51 machines checked in.  With Wilmot not running tonight a few mods from that area came over to try their luck.
     Point leader in the Grand National division Roger Lee proved why he is the point leader as he moved through the pack to take that divisions feature.  Steve Seitz moved through as well, but it was Lee and second place finisher Don Sorce Jr. taking the top spots.  A couple of former Hales Corners regulars.
     The Dirt Devil four cylinder cars put on a great show, with Doug Draheim taking the win.  Lots of three and four wide battles going on in their feature.  Earlier action saw one of these machines roll several times, with the driver quickly emerging from the machine.  He even made it out for a few laps in the feature later. 

08/13/2006

    Friday night we took in the show at Columbus 151.  I raced the old Geo Bandit car that I have had for the past four years, which might make it one of the longest running cars in that division, if not the oldest.  Troy Olson raced it for a year before me, and this is now it's fourth year of being raced by me.  Yes, it is pretty tired.

     Sportsman racer Brian Paszek made his first showing of the season here tonight.  "This is only our fourth time out this year, so we are a little behind on setups, but we're getting there.  Just need more track time," Said Brian.  His four races have included two at State Park Speedway, one at MIS, and now one at Columbus.  Originally from the Wausau area, he now resides in Waunakee.
     Nice to see "Big Tiny" Dan Gosda take home his first career street stock feature victory.  "I was nervous, especially during that caution, but we held on to it."  Said Dan.  He hasn't always had the best of racing luck, but he got that first win tonight.  Veteran Grant Lindner worked the outside groove for many laps attempting to overtake Gosda, and nearly completed the task, only to appear to have his tires go away on him.  Nice clean race.
    The late models had some troubles tonight, with several cars being severely damaged in a front stretch melee that saw a couple of cars drive under Gerry Junget's mount, with some precarious positions resulting.  Aaron Wilke, who was second in points probably sustained the most damage, while Junget also will have plenty of work to do, as will a couple of others.  Hate to see this happen.
     Dean Schultz took home his first LM feature victory of the season, adding to his point lead.  As the season comes closer to the end, it looks like Dean just may get that first elusive track championship.  He has always had some real bad nights which put him behind the eight ball in other years, but so far things have went well for him this season.
     Lincoln Keeser has a new hobby stock out now, after his previous car was pretty much destroyed a couple of weeks ago.  He now has the former Alex Papini car.
     Saturday I took in the show at Jefferson.  Luke Westenberg was able to accomplish something he has also done earlier in the season, and that few people have been able to do, that being holding off John Ovadal Jr. for a feature win.  Lapped traffic at times seemed to both help and hurt Westenberg's efforts, but in the end it worked out for him.
     Bobby Selsing Jr. won another Bandit feature, and brings him nearly up to the point lead after missing the early part of the season.  Should be interesting as the season progresses.
     Ashley Smith won her first career International feature, leading the whole race with some of the big dogs on her heels.  It was a very popular win for Ashley, who races the same car as a Bandit at Columbus on Fridays.
    I don't know if it is the pressure of the late season point chases or just the long season, but this weekend I noticed alot more hot tempers than usual, and it couldn't be blamed on the heat, because the temperatures were very pleasant.  Whatever the case, I think everyone needs to take a step back and look at this as something that is supposed to be fun, and not stress laden.  Is it really worth it to chase that fifty dollar point fund check or whatever most people will get??  I think most drivers need a few weeks off during the season to get things in order.  Racing has enough problems right now to get that kind of bad name.  It is not only drivers, either, as the fans need to keep emotions in check as well. 
     By the way, if you missed this column the previous week, we were on vacation.  A racing vacation at least.  Took in the show at Columbus on Friday and then drove all night up to Ashland to the ABC Raceway to add another track to the list of places we have been.  Sunday we drove back down to Slinger for their weekly show.  Don't know how often we can do these kind of trips anymore, especially with gas prices being what they are.

 07/31/2006

    Friday night we did something a bit different, and took a drive up to the Calumet County fairgrounds at Chilton, our first time ever at this track.

    Very nice steel grandstand here with backs on all the seats, very good view of the track, which in itself is a quarter-mile in length, but actually looks smaller.  However, the racing is plenty tight, as you might expect.  At eight dollars adult admission, this is one of the most reasonably priced tracks in the state.
    The Grand National division has top billing here, and tonight featured twin 25 lap features.  Bob Cullen took the victory in the first one, while Aaron Thurwachter took the second. The pair ended up tying on the basis of total feature finishes, but Thurwachter got the overall win because he finished ahead of Cullen in their heat.  It was that close!  Wonder how they would have done it if they had run in separate heats and finished in the same positions??
    The four cylinders here put on a great show, with two #77 cars battling back and forth for the lead, with the finish coming right down to the wire, with Travis Grissman getting his first feature win.  One of the best feature races I've seen in a long time.
    While the track seemed to remain pretty good throughout most of the show, by the time the GN cars ran their last feature it was pretty much a single groove, with only Scott Sorwheide willing to try the outside.  He seemed to neither gain or lose positions, just stayed about the same.
   The show was finished at 10:20, which is late by their standards, so I am told. The GN cars had several cautions as well, while the other divisions seemed to do pretty well.  The Challenger cars would be considered hobby stocks, and seem to be truly that, while the street stocks are on par with what most tracks would call a street stock.
     Saturday we took in the show at Jefferson.  Late model driver Curt Thompson told me his new car is working well, but he is having brake issues to deal with.  "I had too much rear brake last week, now I have too much front brake, which is better than too much rear.  We'll keep working on it and get it the way I want it,"  Said Curt.  After later finishing fourth in the feature, he was pleased with the progress made.  John Ovadal Jr. got back in the groove and took the win once again after being absent from victory lane for a couple of weeks.
     Greg Ovadal, who is a Cousin to John raced his sportsman car for the first time tonight.  After racing Bandits for a couple of years Greg decided to move up to the sportsman class with a former Jason Thoma car.  He won his heat, so he can claim to have won his first ever race in his new division!
     Bandit racer Darren Brown informed me that he blew the motor in his other Bandit car the previous night at Columbus.  "I timed in real bad because of the heat, the track was so slick, but then once it cooled off a bit, in the races it was hooked.  I won my heat, won the semi, but just as I crossed the line it blew, and I had to coast into victory lane,"  Said Darren.  He had been racing two different cars at the two tracks.
    John Remsik won the Bandit feature tonight, in a race which saw the direction of travel reversed from  counter-clockwise to clockwise at the half way point, putting a little spice into the race.  Didn't matter to John, who said his car worked just fine the other way.  John and his Wife Tina share driving duties on the car, and both do an excellent job of driving, and are true sportsmanlike drivers.
     A new late model driver was with us tonight for the first time, as Ron Stoehr had a beautiful orange #8 car.  Ron is a former Lake Geneva super late model driver, but with that track closing at the end of the year, Ron must have figured it was time to sell the SLM and look for something else to do, so he got himself a limited late.
     Bret Schmidt was behind the wheel of a Hoeft Motorsports entry tonight in the International division.  Bret has raced hobby stocks, sportsman cars, late models and now International.  Only thing left is a Bandit?
     The extreme heat probably kept a few competitors away, and probably a few fans, too.  The show went off as planned and was done quite early, but there were still plenty of races on the card.

07/24/2006

    Friday night I started out my racing weekend by taking the Bandit car to Columbus.  I have to admit that I had my doubts as to whether or not the show would go on, as I drove in rain for quite some time on the way to the track, although it dried up about half way there and started looking better.  The sun even made an appearance during time trials!  After I bailed the water out of the car I actually did get to race!

    The late model feature was a good one with a three car battle between Al Weishoff, Gerry Junget and Dean Schultz.... All drivers with just a ton of experience on this track.  Al would hold on for the victory, his first feature win since July 27, 2001!
     Zeke Bishofberger won his first career street stock feature, with his Dad, Ron stopping in victory lane with a congratulatory bump, as his was the next event.  Grandpa Rick Smith also gave his approval, as Rick sets the lineups on the track.  A real family affair!
    Rookie Andy Junget won the hobby stock feature, and Kyle Smith drove smoothly in capturing the Bandit main event.  Always nice to see new people in victory lane.
    Some new cars showed up tonight as well.  In the late models, Isaak Owen from the Lacrosse area brought a beautiful #56 machine, while Joel Soenksen made his first appearance of the season, and Doug Paul made his second.  Jeff Falbe was also out for the first time here this season.  In the Bandit division, Rory Padfield made his second show of the season here.  Rory is in the middle of a points battle at Madison, but with that track getting rained out, he made the trip to Columbus for a little fun.  In the hobby stocks, Jason Brewster was present for the first time, as well as Dennis Stilson.
     Saturday we took in the show at Lake Geneva.  Joining the super stocks and late models tonight were the Weapons cars, the mini-cups and also on hand were four vintage stock cars.  Ironically, the worst crash of the night would happen in the vintage cars, when a Petty replica Plymouth Roadrunner and a early 1970's Dodge Dart would collide, causing some pretty serious damage to both.  Too bad to see this happen, can't be easy to find parts for these cars.
     Eddie May won the late model feature, but drew even more attention to his car as about half-way through the feature, the exhaust broke on the car, making for an unusual sounding note.  Didn't seem to slow him down at all, as he held off Randy Rodgers for the win.
     The super stocks put on their usual fine show, with lots of side by side action.  Dave Edwards, Joe Decubellis, Adam Reginer and John Maki all ran together, with Edwards taking the win.
     Interesting to watch Jeff "Heffer" Schultz take the Weapons class win, as the last two laps as he passed by he waved at the crowd!  I've seen it on the last lap before but this might be the first time I've seen a driver do it while getting ready to take the white flag, too.
    It should continue to be an interesting year here at LGR, as with this being the final season of racing here, I'm expecting more drivers to try to race here at least once, just to be able to say they were a part of the final year. 

07/17/2006

    With some vacation time from work, this past weekend was a good time to get some extra races in, as we started off on Thursday night with a trip to the State Park Speedway near Wausau. 

     After watching races for several years here, we took the Bandit car up to run with the Cenex Mini-Stocks.  I've always wanted to race on this track and things worked out to do just that on this night.  My first impressions of the track were that it is much faster than it looks!  The turns are kind of gradual and you can pull a lot of speed off them.  The track is fairly wide and is a lot of fun to race on.  Everyone treated us well and raced me clean.  The cars in the mini-stock division here are very fast. 
     Announcer for tonight was Andy Bartelt, a.k.a. "Black Bart", who did a fine job.  Andy is a former racer here and would make occasional trips down south to race at Jefferson and Columbus, so he knows from first hand experience what is happening on the track!
     A couple of the best looking late models here once again belong to the Switlick brothers, Justin and Jeremy.  Every year they seem to come up with cars that are sharper and flashier than before.  There is plenty of color on these cars and they really stand out.
    Sportsman racer Wes Coon has won many events here this year, but things looked in doubt early on as his car had developed a miss.  However, he had it running fine by feature time and won the main event once again.
    I didn't see the end of the late model main, as I was getting ready to race, but heard Jesse Haase took the win.  Among the entries tonight was Justin Hirt, who I thought was doing more dirt racing lately, but he had the pavement LM here tonight.
    Chad Dietsche won the mini-stock feature, coming back from a flat tire before the start of the event.  I was pitted next to Chad and he was very helpful with info. and so forth on how things are run.
    Overall, it was a fun experience to race here.  I was proud to share the track with the racers here, they do a great job.
     Friday night was the annual Dick Moore memorial race at Columbus.  The Moore family has kept the tradition and ownership in the family for many years.  When one family can run a race track this long, they must be doing something right!
    Kurt Clapper raced with the letters HP on his late model tonight in honor of Dick, who raced with those letters on his race cars many years ago. 
    Just like last week when Jerry Eckhardt won the LM feature, this week it was another veteran, Bill Retallick, who took the win.  Dean Schultz looks to be in championship form, as he took second place to help out in his quest for the track title.
    Tim Syvrud looked very strong in capturing the street stock main event, his first at this track to go along with a feature win at MIS just a couple of weeks ago.  Tim did most of his passing on the tough outside groove.  He is doing a fantastic job, especially when you consider he is a rookie.
    With MIS not running hobby stocks tonight, a few more showed up.  Another new driver was Terrance Robinson, Brother to John Robinson II, who has been a familiar figure at many area tracks for a few years.  Terrance has been doing most of his racing at Rockford, and hails from South Beloit, Il.
    Bandit racer Tim Bristol now has the old number 73 car formerly owned by Greg Ovadal and raced by various people.  Tim ran a great race in seeking out a heat race win with the car.  He also took home a fourth place feature finish.
    Jim Remsik Jr. took home the backup feature with his new Chevelle.  This is Jim's first win in this division since July of 2002.
    The rest of the weekend we took a trip up to Minnesota to see some dirt track racing, as Saturday we took in the show at Deer Creek Speedway near Spring Valley, and Sunday we went to the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Kasson.  We had been to Deer Creek a few years ago under less than stellar conditions, and the show wasn't all that great, and the facility in the obvious state of renovation.  Now, a lot of renovations have been completed, the track was in good shape, and we got a chance to see the good show everyone has told me about.  Large fields of cars were present in most divisions.  I thought it kind of odd in the fact that for a Saturday show, most drivers hightailed it out of the place real fast after the show was over.  I do understand that they have a ten o'clock curfew.  At any rate, the show was a good one and I would go back anytime.  I would have really hated to have been the person in the deer suit "mascot" in the near 100 degree day!
     Sunday night was our first ever visit to Kasson.  This track features a smaller yet exciting racing surface, and the flagman here obviously really tries to keep the show moving along at a rapid pace.  The show was run off very well, and the races were close.  As an added attraction tonight, the four cylinder hornet cars were added to gauge crowd reaction and the possibility of running this class weekly next season.  One unfortunate driver took a wild flip off turns 1-2, but appeared okay.  These cars came from Fox Ridge and Fountain City tracks in Wisconsin, as well as Cresco in Iowa and some others from various places.  I'd say they will be a part of the weekly show here next year by the fans' reaction.
     Midwest modified driver Joel Albert's was obviously very happy in winning his first career midwest modified feature, as he did the fence climbing trick on the front straight.  Did a pretty good job of that, too!

07/10/2006

    Friday night we took in the show at Columbus 151, and for once we had an absolutely gorgeous night as far as the weather goes.  Sometimes things just work out right!
     Nice to see veteran Jerry Eckhardt take home the late model feature win.  This is Jerry's first feature win here since 1988, when he won a super late model show here.  Before that I think you would have to go back to the mid-1970's or so to find his feature wins at this track.  In fact, Jerry won the 1975 late model track title here.  Early in the year Jerry also won a limited late model feature at Slinger, where he also competes weekly with his SLM. 
     Another veteran, Delbert Desjarlais nearly pulled off a heat race win, getting nipped at the line by Kurt Clapper.  Delbert is another long time racer who has raced with less than most and done a super job with his equipment.  His Daughter, Tiffany, won the Bandit semi in a nice drive as well. 
     Midget ace Doug Schenk guest drove the late model normally piloted by John Otto tonight, as John was suffering from back problems.  Talk about a difference in cars!
     If you are wondering why Brent Knight's late model has the name "Kletsch" on the sides under the numbers, Brent told me that Eric Kletsch has actually bought the car, which formerly belonged to Knight, and Brent will be helping him, bringing him along slowly on practice nights and so forth, and Kletsch will probably take the wheel of the car next season.
     In the street stocks it was the Trush/Anderson show, with Don Trush taking the feature win over defending champion Kevin Anderson.  Anderson leads the points but Trush might make it interesting.  Tim Syvrud returned from a feature win at MIS the week before and looked very fast, but blew up in the feature while running strong. 
     Lincoln Keeser had a dream night of sorts, as he won the hobby stock feature, won the 50/50 raffle, and also is the owner of Eckhardt's feature winning late model. 
     Rookie Bandit driver Jake Wasserburger won his first ever feature tonight, and also set fast time.  Jake is the Son of late model pilot John Wasserburger. 
     Nice to see the return of Linda Carignan to the Bandit wars.  After getting her car totaled out late last year she wasn't sure if she was going to race this season, but they put together a Honda that looks to be strong.  Once they get the bugs worked out Linda should do well.  She is an excellent driver who knows how to take care of equipment.
    Jug Hur took the Backup car feature tonight, his first in several years. 
    The Columbus track has to be one of the tracks with the most seniority, as far as drivers in the late model division go.  Butch Mierendorf told me once he started racing in 1962 or so, Jerry Eckhardt and Bill Retallick have been at it about the same, then you also have Ron Bishofberger, Duane Deppe, Don Gaserude, Dean Schultz and a couple of others, and wow!  You have a ton of experience in this division here!
     Saturday at Jefferson, and John Ovadal Jr. didn't win a feature!  Veteran Roger Behlke took the first feature event of the night, which was the rained out event from the previous week.  He and Steve Dobbratz put on quite a battle, with Dobie getting into Roger once, but letting him correct and get his rhythm back.  That is just plain good sensible and sportsmanlike driving, however you look at it!  Ovadal was caught up in a wreck in the event, and did return.
     The regularly scheduled late model main went to Curt Thompson, who was out for only the second time this year with a new car, that is "All new" according to Curt.  The event was caution filled, and he had to sweat out many restarts with Ovadal getting closer to the front.  Curt said, "I think we were on lap forty for about thirty laps!"  As they had a tough time getting restarted at this point in the fifty lap affair.  Nick Wendt held off Ovadal for second.
     Jay Kalbus had opened up a huge lead in the sportsman main, only to have his racer start smoking.  He held on until a very late caution in the event when he pulled in, handing the lead and ultimate win to Chico Riedner. 
     Lincoln Keeser capped off a great weekend with a victory in the hobby stock feature.  His luck was so good this week I am sure he will wear the same underwear, socks, eat the same pre-race meal, and everything else in the future!
    Getting later in the year, and fewer new cars are showing up now.  Mike Meyers did have a hobby stock out for the first time this year tonight, however. 

06/25/2006

    Our racing weekend started off with a trip to the State Park Speedway near Wausau for the annual running of the Flip Merwin memorial race on Thursday night.
     The late models ran their feature at a bit different length, 52 and-a-half laps.  This was in honor of Flip, whose number in snowmobile racing was 525.  Several cars showed for the first time tonight, as brothers Justin and Jeremy Switlick were present with a couple of very sharp looking machines.  These guys just come up with better looking cars every year!  Defending champion of this event, Chris Weinkauf was also present, as were Elliott Weiler, John Frazier and Travis Weisenbeck.
     Neil Knoblock is certainly no stranger to this track, as he came through the pack and won the event, driving the Mike Butz machine.  We were here a couple of weeks ago when he first brought this car out to this track, and he didn't appear then to have it quite to his liking, but it is obvious now that he has the setup right on. 
     Jesse Haase set fast time once again, as he has done every night here this season, and joked that he might have to find a block to put under the accelerator to keep from going so fast in time trials, as this means he has to start near the back each week.  He still came through to finish third, and readily admits he is having a good season thus far.
     Dave Lashua had his late model back out again this week after parts breakage badly damaged his and Kurt Guralski's car the previous week.  Dave said, "It was a good night, I had to kind of feel the car out, but it seems good.  Now I can concentrate on making it faster instead of repairing it."
     The street stock field was thin once again, as only seven cars were on hand.  Brian Paszek had his car out for the first time, but didn't get to run the feature when his starter failed.  Formerly from Wausau, Brian has moved to Waunakee, and made the long haul up to race.  His car is a former Chico Riedner ride.
     Wes Coon seemed poised to dominate this class again tonight, setting fast time and winning the heat, however, in the feature the cars stayed bunched in a pack and he couldn't break free.  Whether or not this was design by the other competitors or not, we may never know, but rookie A.J. Kania held off the rest of the pack to score his first career feature win in a very interesting race to watch.
     Likewise, in the mini-stocks, Chad Dietsche seemed ready to get out the broom for a clean sweep, setting fast time and winning the fast heat, but in the feature he was involved in a spin with another car and had to start over from the back, still coming back to finish third behind John Lietz and Dale Louze.  I believe this may also be Lietz's first career feature win as well.
     Friday we went up to Columbus 151 Speedway, where I raced, and actually timed into the faster heats and feature, so I really didn't see much of the features!  Congratulations to Tim Bristol who took the Bandit feature, holding off his buddy, teammate and boss at work, Greg Ovadal.  Tim, you will now be scheduled for overtime work next Friday!!!  Just kidding!
     Ed Jackson took the street stock feature, his first here since 2001, in a race that was a barnburner, or so I am told.  Bill Retallick was the best in the late model main, which featured quite a bit of dicing and passing.
     Saturday didn't look too good, weather -wise, but we headed to Jefferson Speedway anyhow.  Driving into a steady rain only a few miles from the track, we figured the night would be a washout, but surprisingly only light rain had fallen at the track, and events went off as scheduled, albeit just a little late.  Another batch of rain would end up hitting the track a little after the show was over.
     John Ovadal Jr. continued his mastery of the track this year with another late model feature win.  Very few drivers have dominated in the fashion that he has in '06.  Dave Phillips had some seasons like this, and Roger Meyer was dominant on occasion, too, but I still don't know if anyone has had a season like Ovadal's so far.  Even during the years when Dan Chesmore and Andy Wendt won regularly, they were not this dominant.
     Chet Paffel took the lead at the start of the hobby stock feature and held it to the end with some nice smooth laps.  I know this is his first career feature win here, and although I know he has raced at Rockford in the past, I am not sure if he ever won a feature there, either.  Guess I'll have to talk to him and find out.  Nice run by Chet and a very deserved win.
     A bad crash in the late model feature did major damage to the cars of Doug Hahn and April Reimer.  Both drivers had shown a lot this season and it is too bad to see this happen.  Hope both can get back out soon.
     More Bandit drivers are giving the big track a try, racing in the International division.  Brandon Riedner has been racing in the division the past couple of weeks, once with his Bandit car and tonight with an International car, the old Tim Petrie car.  James Bell has converted his Bandit car over and is getting faster all the time.  Chris Chenoweth was the top man in the feature tonight.

6/17/2006

    Our racing weekend started off on Friday night with a trip to the Columbus 151 Speedway, for the final round of the "Summer Rumble" two event series matching up Columbus and Jefferson cars on a home track-to home track basis.  A good field of cars were on hand, especially in the late model and Bandit classes.  The sportsman division had a pretty good car count as well, but I thought more Jefferson hobby stocks would show.
     Late model racer Al Weishoff was welcoming back a crew member, as Ben Perry returned to the track after a stint in Iraq.  Al noted that "Ben had contacted me and said, just don't wreck the car before I get back, so what happens, two weeks ago I wreck it.  I'm glad we had the time to be able to get the car back together so we could run it tonight when he came back."  Last weeks rainout helped provide the needed time.
     Interest in the late model feature was high, as John Ovadal Jr. has been practically unstoppable at Jefferson, winning all the features this year except for one, including last weeks "Rumble" round, in which he was able to get by Columbus regular Aaron Wilke in the late stages of the race.  Everyone wanted to see what would happen tonight on Wilke's stomping ground, and while Kurt Clapper drove off from the field to the feature win, Aaron was able to snare a fifth place feature finish while John finished back in the pack, far enough to give Wilke the title of the "Rumble".  So, I guess you'd say the late model portion went to the Columbus cars.  Jefferson regulars Ovadal, Ken Olson, Jason Erickson, Luke Westenberg and Roger Behlke made the trip, while Andy Wendt took over the ride formerly handled by Jason Thoma.  Nick Wendt also made his first appearance here this year, as did Brent Knight, who won a heat.  Scott Hatton was likewise out for the first time here, as more drivers are finding time to get their machines out to play.  Bill Gray was another driver out for the first time, and  Dells regular Doug Paul made a visit with a sharp yellow and blue flamed car.
     Eaan Carson had won the opening round at Jefferson, and looked strong tonight, but had to make a pit stop to get some sheet metal pulled off from his car while running second during a caution.  He returned and ran well, but couldn't overcome the stop.  James Helmer won the feature and Don Trush took second to take the Rumble title after his second place finish at Jefferson last week.  Columbus takes the sportsman crown as well.
     Rookie Brian Paulson won his first ever race in this division, taking a heat race victory in a nice and clean side by side race with Grant Lindner.  Nice race on the part of both drivers!
     Visiting sportsman drivers included Carson, Mark DePorter and  Terry Wangsness, who got his car painted a sharp looking maroon color.
     The hobby stock feature was taken by Lincoln Keeser, who had run out to a huge lead.  Jim Robinson tracked him down but ran out of time, and finished second, which was good enough to give him the Rumble title.  Jim had won last week at Jefferson while Mr. Keeser finished fourth.  Since Jim runs just about everywhere, I don't know what he'd call his home track, but he probably runs Jefferson more than anywhere, so I guess you'd say Jefferson won this battle.  Brett Carson and Jim Lampen were the only Jefferson regulars to give it a try.
     A huge field of Bandit cars were present.  Sean Watters won the feature tonight over Nate Lacy, who had his best run ever.  Sean's Brother Kyle finished third, which was enough to give him the title after he finished second last week to Bobby Selsing Jr. at Jefferson.  the Watters brothers race both tracks weekly, so I guess you'd say they don't have a home track between the two.  Jefferson regulars giving the 151 track a shot included James Bell, Casey Johnson, Ron Nelson, Zak Czeszynski, Darren Brown, and Jeff Lafave.
     Saturday night we took in the show at Lake Geneva, where the Mid-Am cars ran a points show, meaning a strong showing of cars.  Sonny Schoffen was guest driving the Kenny Joosten machine tonight,  and brought it home with an impressive run.  Sonny has raced in just about every division here it seems, so he knows the track well.
     Talked with Mid-Am driver Cliff Adee, and settled my own private mystery.  Cliff has his hometown listed as Bloomington, Minnesota, but has run here most weeks.  I asked Cliff if he was really making the trip down from Minnesota all the time or what the deal was, and he told me he is originally from the Twin Cities area, but is going to school in the area, staying only an hour away from the Geneva track.  Now I know the story and so do you!
     Veteran Lyle Nowak has raced in many different divisions and has won many championships, and talked about how he enjoyed running this series, saying, "It is alot of fun, kind of like one big family.  I really enjoy it and wish I would have done it sooner.  We had some rough times to get through at first, but we are learning and getting there.  I just try to get top five finishes and the rest will take care of itself.  I always tell everyone that when we started running this series, I never had gotten spanked so hard, but enjoyed it so much,"  He laughed.
     The super late feature was a good one, with Josh Wallace taking his second feature win in a row, but it was far from easy, as first he had to battle with John Baumeister, then Brandon Hill, and then Mike Meyerhoffer.  Throw Eddie May in the mix, as he was waiting for a mistake to pounce on any of the above.  Good hard racing!
     The super stocks also put on a very good show, as they usually do.  Randy Schneider came home the winner in a borrowed car, also having a battle with Nathan Matz and Adam Reginer.  This division always impresses me with their close racing, but few yellows.

6/11/2006

    Yes, I know I'm a little behind on my writing, I missed a week!  Anyway, back on June third we took a trip to the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway, as Dale Danielski's "Racer's Reunion IV was held on the grounds.  I really enjoyed this show, brought my photo albums to share and met alot of great people.  Dave Watson was on hand to answer questions and sign autographs, and it was nice to see Scott and Matt McLaughlin present with a '57 Chevy racer that was rescued from a salvage yard, which had last raced in 1972 at Adams-Friendship Speedway!  Another fellow brought out the old Terry Mashak Hobby Stock which was practically unbeatable back in the late 1970's-early 1980's at LaCrosse and the Dells.  It had been recently purchased after sitting since about 1984 and was in "As raced" condition, dents and all.  Several people have told the new owner to keep it just like it is, and I'd agree.  You can't ever get that patina again!

     This past weekend started on Thursday night with a trip north to Wausau and the State Park Speedway.  New owners Todd and Susan Handrick are in the process of making changes.  First off, the super late models and limited late models are all combined into one class, the thinking being that neither could get strong car counts on their own, but together they could, which seems to be correct.  The physical changes are very noticeable, as the inner wall is gone as well as the inner pits, victory lane and just about everything else that formerly was in the infield, which makes sight lines much better to view the backstretch action.  A new outer wall on the backstretch is present, and gone are the "open air" bathrooms, replaced by porta-potties on a temporary basis.
     Fifteen SLM/LLM cars were on hand tonight.  Jesse Haase took the win tonight, saying, "We've had fast time every time out here this year so far, but I still felt there was work to be done.  I even stayed home from work today to work on the car, and it paid off with the feature win tonight!"  Jesse also set fast time tonight, missing out on a clean sweep only by not winning his heat.  M.G. Gajewski had owned the features here so far this year, winning every one, I believe.  He brought home a fourth place feature finish tonight.
     Kurt Guralski is back out with his SLM after an early season crash at Plover.  Crew chief and Brother Brad Guralski told me "We started out the year with our familiar number one on the side of the car, but we wrecked right away and had to re-do the car, we decided to number it 15 instead of 1, as there were too many other number ones.  When we took it to Marshfield the first time out everyone thought we bought a car from Rick Grunden (number 15 there), but we just decided to change numbers.  It is working out for us, we are getting there." 
     Dave Lashua was out for the second time this year, still getting familiar with his car.  "We are putting it on the trailer tonight in one piece, and that's a good thing.  It was starting to run hot, so I thought I'd better pull it in.  More work to be done, and I need more laps, but we're happy!"
     Although only eight mini-stocks were on hand, there was no shortage of action, with a couple of different intense battles going on.  These drivers put on a good show wherever they run.  Chad Dietsche was the top runner tonight, scoring fast time and the feature win. 
    The street stocks were low on numbers as well, with Wes Coon dominating, although Jim Annala put up a good fight for awhile.  I think things will pick up here as the year progresses and we will see higher car counts every week.
     On Friday night I attempted to go to Columbus 151 Speedway for the opening round of the Summer Rumble, the two track battle between Columbus and Jefferson, with overall winners named from results of the two shows at these tracks.  However, a light misty rain that came and went forced cancellation of the show.  With not much else going on, calls were made and some of the racers found out that nearby Madison International had not cancelled, so several took the trip there to either race or watch, and I was also one who decided to try my luck at getting to watch a show here tonight.
     Arriving just in time for the show to start, it tried raining here on occasion, too, but somehow most of the show was run off, except for the Bandit and limited late model main events.  Some of the Bandit drivers came from Columbus to run, and it was unfortunate that they didn't get to run a feature here, but the rain came more steadily, leaving no doubt that Mother Nature was in control tonight.
     Before the rains came, fans were treated to an excellent feature in the ASA late models, with Jason Tyler leading nearly the whole way, except for the last lap when Bobby Wilberg was able to pass him.  Very interesting feature!
     On Saturday we took in what would turn out to be the opening round of the "Rumble" at Jefferson Speedway.  A huge total amount of race cars filled the pits, I believe it was something right about 150.  Many Columbus cars showed up and ran, some quite well, as in the late models Aaron Wilke led a good portion of the feature until getting passed late by John Ovadal Jr., who is just on a tear at this track this season.  John has won every feature held there except for one in the '06 season.  It will be interesting to see if he shows up at Columbus to run.  Mr. Wilke often sets fast time at Columbus, and it could be a showdown between these two.  
     Andy Tomlinson has been doing a little super late model racing this season, but tonight he took the wheel of John Wasserburger's LLM to run here, and he did pretty well considering he hasn't run many laps here.  Other Columbus late models present included Gerry Junget, Justin Schultz, and Don Gaserude.  Brent Knight had a late model out, telling me it was his first time out in a year and a half.  Also racing was the Father/Son duo of Andy and Nick Wendt, and Scotty Hatton also made his first showing.
     The sportsman division saw many entrants as well, with Tim Syvrud looking especially strong until a wreck sidelined him.  Don Trush will have the inside track for the Rumble title in this division, as he finished second to first time feature winner Eaan Carson.  Don will be right at home at 151 for the second round.  Other Columbus cars present included Tony Showers, Tyler Schultz, Dale Weatherwax,  Kevin Anderson, and Grant Lindner, who was making his first ever start here.  Brian Paulson has raced at both MIS and Columbus, and was present tonight, but was sidelined after time trials with engine woes, while I had been told that Zeke Bishofberger had a bout with the wall during hot laps and loaded up and went back home.
     The hobby stocks saw Jim Robinson take the win after a hard battle with first Larry Moen and then Brett Carson.  Jim races everywhere there is a race, probably has traveled around to more tracks than anyone in this division.  Dustin Ward and Andy Raley were the two Columbus regulars visiting.
     The Bandit division saw way too many new cars here to list them all, as well over forty total cars were on hand.  Rookie Jake Wasserburger had a real good run going, but lost his momentum when they stopped the race at the half way point and switched directions of travel.  Bobby Selsing, who races very well this direction, took the win.  Alot of people don't like the idea of racing this class clockwise, but I personally don't have a problem with it.  The cars in this division are not supposed to be "Set up" like the other divisions, are supposed to be stock, so you should in theory be able to drive it either way.  Columbus recently timed the Bandit class in clockwise, and you wouldn't believe how suddenly some of the front runners were in the consy!
     Overall, it was a very good show.  In the past there has been criticism leveled toward the Columbus cars for not supporting this event.  They supported it quite well this year, now lets see if the Jefferson cars reciprocate and show up in force at Columbus for the second round next Friday.
     On a sad note, I am sorry to mention a fact many already know, that racing historian and former Checkered Flag Racing News columnist Bob Bergeron recently passed away.  Bob's style of writing was always what I wanted mine to be.  He wrote about the everyday racer, not just the hot dogs.  He was supportive of all racers, and was one of the most knowledgeable racing people I had ever known.  He will certainly be missed, but we will never forget him!

5/28/2006

    Our long holiday weekend turned out pretty good, as I can remember so many Memorial Day weekends where the weather was cold and rainy all weekend, and it turned out pretty decent, weather wise.

     Friday night we started off with a trip to Columbus 151, where I raced my new Bandit car for the first time.  The car has bugs to be worked out, the driver has bugs to be worked out, and both of us together have bugs to be worked out, but after winning the consy I felt better in the car in the semi, gaining some good competitive laps.  I have hopes of racing at a lot of tracks this year!  Friday night was only the second time I had ever driven the car.
     I didn't get to see a lot of racing therefore, but did get to see the features.  Jim Syvrud did a nice job in the late model main, taking the lead after early leader Jerry Eckhardt's car began misfiring.  Jim cruised to the victory and should increase his lead in the points chase.
     I noticed veteran late model driver John Lamberty had his car out tonight.  He has not raced for a few years, and word was that he wanted to bring the car out for the kids' stock car rides held tonight.  Good to see him back out with the old car!
     Saturday night we had a light rain when we left for Jefferson Speedway, with the track also having a delay during time trials, but the full night of racing began just after we arrived.  The rained out portion of last weeks show was run first, followed by a new complete regularly scheduled show. 
     An announced field of 133 cars were present, running the forty different race events.  Definitely a full show for all of us race junkies!  John Ovadal Jr. has been on a tear lately, as he has now won six feature events in a row here since late last season.  His domination has now been continued this season, as everyone is trying frantically to catch up to him and figure out how to beat him.  This brings to mind the old bounties put out on drivers doing this such thing, as back in the 1970's it was not uncommon for Sam Bartus of Capital Speedway to put up a bounty on anyone who could beat a driver going on a streak like this, usually fifty dollars per week added until someone beat the dominating driver.  I know both Tom Reffner and Dick Trickle had these bounties put on them, which always drew more fan and driver interest.  Could now be the time to do this here?  I don't remember in recent history one driver dominating here every week like John has done.  Stay tuned!
     Veteran Jerry Eckhardt had led the second feature for a long time, but ultimately had to settle for second.  Jerry always amazes me, as he can get so much out of a car.  Nothing ever fazes him, as he has seen it all in his many years of racing.  He is almost like the Richard Petty of Wisconsin short track racing, even has the ever present cowboy hat and boots with stogie in his mouth.  He is even tall and thin like the King.  Always has a calm and collected demeanor, too.
     The second sportsman feature was marred by a scary looking wreck, as three cars got together and veteran Dave Oswald flipped and hit the wall, tearing down a good section of fencing off turn three, sending many people scattering who were watching along the wall.  Everyone escaped without injury, but lots of car damage.
     The last race of the night was a good one, as in the second Bandit feature Stephen Scheel and John Remsik went wheel to wheel for may laps, with the rookie Scheel getting the victory in a race a lot of people didn't see due to the late show.  Scheel was fresh off a big win Friday night at MIS, so he had a very good weekend.
     The second hobby stock feature was also very good, as Larry Moen and Johnny Robinson II went wheel to wheel, with Moen eventually getting the victory.  Robinson should retain his lead in the points standings, however.
     Nice to see Chris Quam present here in his late model.  Chris is racing in the ASA late model division at MIS on Fridays, but was racing here tonight.  Doug Hahn was also guest driving the Carl Korte late model tonight.
     Late model driver Tim Petrie ran very strong tonight, winning one of the fast heats and running very strong in the second feature, with a seventh place finish.  He is starting to get it all together and looks good! 
     As I write this I am keeping an eye on the Indy 500 as we get ready to head out to the Dubuque Speedway for a big dirt late model show.  Haven't been to a show on the dirt anywhere yet this season, so looking forward to it.  

5/21/2006

    After a total washout the previous week,  we started off this past weekend with a trip to the Madison International Speedway for their regular season opener.

    I had not been to this track for a race show in almost two years, so the improvements made were noticeable.  Besides a new partial outer wall around the half-mile track, the new quarter mile track was built for several divisions.  Perhaps the most welcome improvement would be the elimination of the rickety steps and washed out walkway up the hill from the pits to the stands, as this has been replaced with a nice blacktopped ramp style walkway.  Much safer and easy to use.
     The ASA late model division has really taken off here, and is now the top division, replacing the long standing super lates, as they will only be running a couple of shows here.  The crate motored ASA cars seem to be the way everyone is going, as it saves a bunch of money.  Don't get me wrong though, one look in the pits at all the semi type haulers and you can see there are huge amounts of money floating around here.  I have to admit, though, I didn't think the ASA cars would take off to the extent that they have, as there was a very strong field of cars present, and it seems to continue to grow.
     One of the new drivers in the ASALM division is veteran LLM racer Steve Dobbratz.  "I don't know how much longer I will do this,"  Said Steve, "So I figured it was time to try it.  I need more laps, though.  It is going to be a big change."  From street stocks to limited lates, Steve has always emerged as a top driver, so he'll be okay.
    The four cylinder Bandit divisions of area tracks have brought forth some drivers in the ASALM class, too.  Chris Nelson and Brandon Kozak are a couple of young talents who have stepped up.  Chris finished his heat in fourth and took third in the semi.  A couple of other Bandit graduates are brothers Tim and Allen Petrie Jr., who actually raced International and LLM cars in between.
     Dan Lensing took the feature win, and all I can say is that this driver has really come a long way.  He started his career in a limited late at Columbus, as he told me then that his Dad told him to learn at a relatively flat track, that if you can race at a flat track you can race anywhere, and you can't fault that logic, as it worked for Dan.  He is now a top driver wherever he races.
     The limited late models were made up of a good portion of past and present Rockford regulars, as Ryan Carlson beat out Jeremy Miller and Bobby Wilberg for the win.  Jefferson International division racer Mark English has a car in this division now, and Mark Miller is sporting new black colors and a new number, 57.  2005 Dells champ Beau Sanden plans on racing here weekly, as Dad Vern told me gas was just getting too expensive to make the haul from the Janesville area to the Dells every week. 
     As for racing on the quarter mile track, it seems the sportsman cars took to it pretty good, as the racing was exciting, with Scott "Chico" Riedner taking the win over Scott Lawver and Randy Padfield, who led early on.  Rookie Brian Paulson showed a lot of moxie, taking home fifth.
     The hobby stocks were light in car count, with only six showing, but John Robinson II took home the first feature in this division, racing his sharp looking purple and silver machine.
     The Bandit class had a pretty good field of cars, with Chico's son, Kyle taking a strong win for his first feature win here.  It won't be his last, as he was the class of the field tonight and will be tough to beat every week..
     The only thing that needs improvement in my opinion, is that it would be nice if the announcer would give complete race lineups prior to the start of each event so that you know who is racing what.  I had to ask a friend who several drivers were, as I never heard them mentioned.
     Saturday night we took in our first show of the year at Jefferson Speedway.  I noticed that on this night the track went back to a familiar format, as unless I missed my guess, each division ran a heat for the slow qualifiers and another for the faster cars, and if there were more than two heats the faster ones were staggered.  The format used last year threw everyone into "qualifier" type races, and it is really no fun watching the fast qualifiers beat up on the slower ones each week.  Give everyone a chance to win something, and that is what happened tonight.  The heats were very exciting.
     It is still early in the season, and several drivers are still finishing their cars.  Talked with late model driver Curt Thompson, and he told me that he would have a completely new car out in a couple of weeks. 
     Tim Noble was behind the wheel of Scotty Hoeft's late model tonight, as Tim is getting his ASA late model ready for MIS.  "It is going to be more expensive than I thought,"  Said Tim.  "I've been eating alot of ramen noodles and soup and stuff, saving money!"
     A few new late model drivers are already out.  Former hobby stock racer Rick Kehoe has a late model, and Tom Schuette has moved up from the Bandits.  Also returning after many years off is former LM competitor Carl Korte, with familiar red colors, number 53.
     A few Bandit drivers gave the International class a try tonight, racing on the big track.  Ashley and Kyle Smith and Brent Bergholz all did a great job.
     In the sportsman division, Eaan Carson has moved up from the hobby stock division, and looked fast.  Shaun Scheel, Nick Klettke, Jody Krueger and Kody Hubred all move up from the Bandit division.
     The hobby stocks look to have a very strong car count this year, very competitive, too.  One of the new drivers is former Rockford Roadrunner driver Chet Paffel, who has a sharp looking orange Monte Carlo.  Word is that he slowly built this car over the past two years. 
     Unfortunately, after all the heat races had been run, the predicted rain moved in and cancelled the rest of the show, which will be run before next weeks regular show.  All in all, a good show, and we'll be spending more time here if they keep doing things the way they did tonight.

5/07/2006

    On Friday night we took in the regular season opener at the Columbus 151 Speedway.  Cold and cloudy conditions kept some of the fans away, but a strong field of cars were present.

     The street stock field looks much stronger this year, with the addition of many rookies.  Tyler Schultz, Dan Gosda and Mike Amador have moved up from the hobby stocks and were present tonight.  Zeke Bishofberger, Brian Paulson and Shaun Scheel have moved up from the Bandit division.  Other new drivers include Tim Syvrud, who is a brother of late model pilot Jim Syvrud, and Tony Showers, who is also a Cousin to Jim.  Another new driver present in this division tonight was Bobby Ollerman, who I believe is the son of long time super late model racer Scotty Ollerman, who also began his career here many years ago.
     Most of the late model drivers are back, with some veterans returning after some time away.  Gerry Junget won late model titles in 2001 and 2002 and returns after a couple of years of racing only occasionally.  Al Weishoff was track champ in 2000, and also makes a return after some time away.  Ageless veteran Butch Mierendorf also returned tonight. 
     A couple of drivers pulled double duty tonight, as defending street stock champion Kevin Anderson raced his championship winning car in that division, and also brought an identically painted late model out.  Kurt Clapper raced his late model, and also raced Nick Nolden's Bandit car.  Kurt's late model experience showed, as he raced smoothly with the Bandit.  I understand that Nick Nolden has moved on to limited late models this year, so I would imagine they had the Bandit car just sitting around, and Curt brought it along, too!
     Grant Lindner won the street stock feature, his first since August of 2004.  He took the lead early in the event and had to hold off a hard charging Anderson for the victory.  Grant really knows his way around the track, as he has raced here for many seasons, starting off in the hobby stocks and moving up to the streets a few years ago.
     One of the best races of the night was in the Backup division, as Bruce Havel returned to take the win.  It wasn't easy, however, as he and George Wachuta raced side by side for several laps, even swapping the lead.  You hear about wheel to wheel battles all the time, but how often do you hear of them while racing in reverse??
     The hobby stock field was down a bit, and was depleted even more when Nick Newton crashed into the big earth mover tire in the infield.  To spoil his night even more, the car then caught on fire, too.  Nick was okay, but the car needs work.  Rockford Roadrunner division racer Jarod Sutherland was present tonight, and I also talked with Jim Robinson who was in the stands and wanted to be out there, but noted that his car is not ready yet.  I have talked with alot of drivers who have said the same thing, so when everyone does get out, we could see some really strong fields.
     Saturday afternoon I took the Bandit car up to Madison International Speedway to test out the new quarter-mile track for practice.  This track is very unusual, kind of a D shape, with a tight 1-2 turn and more sweeping 3-4 turn, with a somewhat banked backstretch and a flat front stretch.  I found some brake problems that need to be corrected, but otherwise the car drove and ran great.  There were about 12 of us present.
     After leaving MIS, we drove home to leave the car off and head over to Lake Geneva, where in addition to their regular Saturday divisions, the four cylinder BIC cars were also running.  The four cylinders normally race on Friday's here, so this was their time to be in the Saturday night spotlight.
     The show went off good, until the late model feature, which had several cautions, until finally it got to the point that the curfew time was coming up fast and the checker was waved past the half-way mark.  Eddie May was leading at this point and I don't think he was going to be caught, anyhow.
     The final feature was for the BIC cars, and that race, too was marred, as early in the running three cars tangled off turn 1-2, with one being sent into the wall very hard.  Another driver was reported to have a possible hand injury, so the ambulance was going to be needed, and that put an end to the nights show. 
     The super stocks and sportsman cars had pretty much trouble free features, and some real good racing, as the super stocks like to go three wide here, and even try to go four wide on occasion.  They do a nice job of it, however.  The super stock feature win went to John Maki Jr., while James Swan won in the sportsman division.  Both were excellent features. 
 

4/22/2006

    For the second week in a row we headed east to the Lake Geneva Raceway on Saturday night.  Adding  more fun to tonight's show were the Weapons class, which are based on Midwest Enduro Series rules.

     The car count for the super lates was down a bit from the previous weeks opener, but still featured 23 cars.  The feature came down to a father vs. son battle between Jamie and Josh Wallace.  Jamie had taken the lead early in the event but had a mirror full of son Josh, who even got up alongside dad a couple of times, but couldn't quite pull it off, and definitely didn't want to get into his dad.  A classic race between the two, as Josh is racing the potent Fran Prestay car this year and doing a fine job with it.
     As is often the case, the second night of racing for the stock cars went of better than last weeks initial show.  While last week we witnessed a packed house but a show with many cautions, this week everyone really had their act together, with few cautions, but also fewer fans in the stands, leading me to believe what I often say, whenever you see half-empty stands, you often see a real good show.  I don't know why, but many folks who were present last week were not here this week.  It was still a decent crowd, mind you, but those who didn't come back missed a superb show, best I've seen this year anywhere.  The whole show also concluded by 9:40, allowing those who were not dressed properly for the quickly chilling evening time to get back to their cars and heaters. 
     Some race finishes even came down to a three-wide finish, including the super late dash, with Brandon Hill edging Landry Potter and Eddie May.  The sportsman feature saw Erik Pierce come from third to first in one lap in taking the win, however, he failed to make weight in the post race inspection, giving the victory to Ken Smart,  The super stock feature saw Shane Sapp come back after a bout with the wall the previous week to take the feature win tonight.  Sapp had been passed by Tom Roney a few laps previous, but it sounded like Roney's car missed a beat for a couple of laps, allowing Sapp to take the lead and win.  The Weapons division saw Mike Herwald pass early leader Duane Lounsbury for the lead and win, as these cars put on a good, trouble-free show.
     Don "Thunder" Turner made an appearance tonight in the super lates, and Earl Counter made his first showing of the season, as did Brad Norgaard and Jason Hicks.  Counter finished the feature strong, while Norgaard turned in a good qualifying effort to put him in the dash.
 

4/16/2006

    Our racing weekend started off on Saturday afternoon for a trip to Jefferson Speedway for their first practice and inspection day.  Always nice to see the new drivers and the new cars and color schemes.  Former sportsman champ Josh Courtney had a late model out, with a couple more unknown late models present.  Some don't have the lettering on yet at this stage. 
     Looks like there may be more International cars this year, with maybe a few less Bandits, although at this point it is really hard to tell.  No big mishaps today or any such thing, so everyone should be good to go.
     We then took off to the final regular season opener at the Lake Geneva Raceway.  I say final, because the track will be developed into housing at the end of the current season, meaning no more track.  A real shame, but more tracks are falling victim to this.
     Might have been the biggest crowd I have ever seen at this facility.  It is too bad that many of these folks probably never supported the track when it was operating in regular mode.  Although it wouldn't have made any difference in this case, more tracks will close if folks don't support them and keep them viable.  It is too bad that it takes a shutdown notice to fill the stands.
     Very nice fields of cars in all divisions, as it seems many drivers want to do some racing here during the final year.  NASCAR Craftsman truck racer Erik Darnell even came back for the season opener, showing his touch by setting fast time and winning the feature, missing only dash honors to miss out on the sweep.  Erik started his career here not all that many years ago, and even though he is now "Big time", he still noted that he wants to get back here to where it all started and race as much as he can this year.
     The super stock field had a new driver out tonight that will remember it for a long time, as fourteen year old Tyler Peterson, a third generation driver, made his racing debut.  His first race was the semi-feature, and he pulled off the win in his very first race.  Not many people can claim to have won their first race!  His night didn't go so well in the feature, but it will still be very memorable.
     The Sportsman field was strong as well, with Jeremy Bloomberg taking advantage of a late restart and taking the lead and victory.  Long distance visitor tonight in this division was Cliff Adee in the 80 car (I get it), who came down all the way from the Twin Cities area to compete.  Now, he can say that he has raced at LGR like so many others.
     Worst wreck of the night was in the super late model feature, when Jeff Lorenz scrubbed the wall on the backstretch while battling for the lead.  The car kind of rode the wall and nearly flipped, before striking the wall one last time.  Jeff was okay but the car needs alot of work.  He had a nice run going, too.  Also getting involved was Jeff Holmgren, who later returned to make some laps, minus the front end sheet metal.
     As far as the racing goes, it was a typical opening night, with lots of cautions as everyone tries to get back in the groove after the long winter layoff.  Many cautions in most events, something that I am sure will markedly improve next week.

4/9/2006

    On Saturday night, April 8th, we took in the show at the Rockford Speedway.  I had not seen a regular weekly Saturday show here in a few years, so it was time!
    It was a beautiful day, but by nightfall it got downright cold!  Temps on the way home from a nearby bank thermometer read 32 degrees, so it wasn't too toasty.
    By the way, if you are from Wisconsin and head down into Illinois, be sure to take advantage of the cheaper gas prices in that state.  While some stations there were nearly equal to Wisconsin prices, there is at least one station near the track that is usually 15 to 20 cents cheaper per gallon.
    On to the racing.  The field of cars was a bit slim, although it is early in the year.  13 late models, 9 sportsman cars, 14 Short Trackers and 20 Roadrunners were on hand to do battle.  George Bohn topped the late model field, leading from the start.  Ricky Bilderback might have come out the winner, but as he was working on taking the lead his car had something break and he slowed dramatically, still finishing the race, although way back in the pack.
     I was impressed with newcomer Josh Nelms.  Josh is racing his first year here in the late models.  His home track previously was at Illiana, but he looks to have figured out the Rockford track quickly.  He looked right at home, finishing third in the feature.
     The American Short Tracker feature went to B.J. Sparkman, in an entertaining race.  Nice to see former Jefferson racers Aaron Rude and Steve Allman here competing.  Both look to be doing well.  Aaron is racing with a Pinto that they built two years ago expressly for racing here.  He finished sixth, but is capable of better, as he noted, "It had a miss in it somewhere.  I don't know what that was about, but we'll have to look at it."  Steve claimed a second place in the dash event, and said, "This was only my third night ever racing at this track.  I have to thank this guy, here, (Aaron Rude), I don't know where I'd be without his help."  Jefferson is in the process of adopting a front wheel drive only division, which has left a few looking for other places to race with their rear wheel drive four cylinder cars, including these drivers.  Another might be Derek Bettenhausen, as he told me he might bring his car here a few times, and maybe also race at Lake Geneva.
     Jim Robinson was present with a Roadrunner car.  Jim has raced primarily at Jefferson the past few years, and while I would expect him to do so again this year, he was trying to get another race in, as no Wisconsin paved tracks were running a regular show this weekend.  Jim will race as much as he can and at any track he can.  I truly doubt if he ever met a track he wouldn't try racing at!  Jim finished fourth in the feature tonight.
     Alex Papini made what I will guess his first start in a Roadrunner tonight.  Alex is the son of long time late model racer Al Papini III, who lost his life here about five years ago after suffering from a heart attack while racing.
     All in all,  a pretty good night of racing.  I'd look for the car count  to increase as the season goes along.  Even had a Mark Muller sighting tonight!

4/4/2006

    A couple more young drivers will be moving up from the International division at Jefferson to the ASA late models at Madison, as Chris Nelson Jr. will be racing a former Kurt Clapper car, and Brandon Kozak will be behind the wheel of a former Jason Tyler car.
     Dave "Showtime" Gigl will have his late model ready for the opener at Jefferson.  He is also putting together a hobby stock to race at Madison.  Both cars will be sharp, as Dave always has nice looking stuff.
     Wausau driver Dave Lashua is busy working on his limited late model.  Dave plans on racing at State Park Speedway weekly, as well as some other shows at other tracks if he feels he is running good enough to warrant it.  Dave and crew have replaced the whole right side frame rail, and now are working on the cockpit area for driver comfort.  Dave had his car out for the first time last season, but was a victim of a hard bout with the wall at Marshfield on only his second night out with the car, this after spending all the previous winter working on it.  Here's hoping things go better this time!
     Jefferson late model driver Ken Piotrowski has apparently called it quits and is retiring from driving.  This veteran driver ran mini-stocks and late models for many years here, finally winning his first career LM feature at Jefferson last season.  Ken and Mark were always a pleasure to talk with at the track, and Ken drove very sportsmanlike.  These folks will be missed!
     It looks as though the 2006 season will be the last one for the Lake Geneva Raceway.  Owner Kevin Dawson announced last year that the property would be sold off and developed, but at that time it wasn't clear exactly how long the speedway would operate, that it could last through 2005 or as long as 2007.  Well, it seems it will be right in between, as recently it was announced that the 2006 season would be the last for this track which began as a drag strip in 1962, then a flat, quarter-mile paved oval was built in 1966.
     Some other tidbits.... LLM race Steve Dobbratz will likely concentrate his efforts toward racing in the ASA late model division at Madison in 2006... Jefferson LLM driver Tim Noble will do likewise, with some midget racing also on the docket.  Central Wisconsin LLM racer Mark Sherfinski has sold his car to Tony Koepke.  Mark says that he likely hasn't quit racing for good, however.
Jefferson hobby stock racer Rick Kehoe will be moving up to late model this year behind the wheel of the former Randy Cusick car.
     On Saturday, April 1st, I got a chance to see my first race of the new season, the annual Spring Classic at Rockford Speedway.  Tonight's show included a full show for the Big 8 limited late models, a vintage race, plus qualifying races for the Wisconsin Challenge Series super lates and heat races for the Mid-Am cars.  Features for the LLM and Mid-Ams were  run on Sunday, with  rain delaying things a bit.   Really, this whole show could have easily been run in one day in my opinion, and might be the way to go, maybe use Sunday as a rain date or something.
    The Big 8 series had a kind of disappointing car count, as twenty cars timed in while three more loaded up before timing.  Last years initial show for the series here drew close to forty cars if I remember correctly, but, it seems this might be kind of a skimpy year for car counts at a lot of tracks in this division, as I have heard of many drivers going the ASA crate motor route.  We shall soon see, I guess. 
     Mike Beyer won this show last year, and did it again, taking the initial lead from his outside front row spot and never being headed.  When you put a veteran Rockford driver in this spot, it is going to be hard to pass him, and nobody could.  He had the field covered.  Matt Berger grenades his motor while running second, and Jeremy Miller and Squirt Stevens kept pace.  Jason Thoma drove a very nice race, staying out of trouble and driving smooth to finish sixth, while Kris Kelly seemed to have everything happen to him tonight, as he got caught up in two or three minor skirmishes, and also spun in Berger's oil, but he still got through it all with a seventh place finish.
     The Mid-Am cars had a very strong car count, as I figured this might be the division with the light car count, but it was strong.  I like this division and hope to follow it more this season.  Wide variety of drivers from differing backgrounds.
     The WCS featured a strong field, including many drivers racing here for the first time.  Many are familiar with the much larger Marshfield track, and must have wondered what hit them when they were out there on this fast but very tight banked quarter-miler.  Steve Carlson continued his Rockford mastery by setting fast time.
     I noticed in the results for Sunday's races that Lyle Nowak won the Mid-Am feature.  Congrats to Lyle, as he is a super individual, an "old School" racer that has paid his dues and worked hard.  He is an excellent ambassador to the sport and a super driver that believes in racing cleanly.
     I was saddened to hear of the passing of Jefferson Speedway owner Dick Tucker on March 28th.  Dick started operating the track back in 1968, running it the way he thought it should be done, and most of the time he had the correct feel for what was needed, yet, he never seemed to want to take credit for any of it, giving credit to his family instead.  Some had a difference of opinion with him, but no one could doubt his desire to make Jefferson Speedway the best possible track he could, and he did just that, made it a very successful track. 

11/26/2005

    It has been quite awhile since I sat down and put a few words into a column, and we actually got a lot of racing in at the end of the season, with the weather holding off quite nicely.
     We took in the Bahama Brackets at Rockford back in October.  This really is one of the most overlooked season ending specials in my estimation.  Such a variety of cars and driving styles, you gotta love it!  Really enjoyed seeing the 1970 Chevelle SS of Shaun Wiltjer racing here.  The car looked as if it hadn't been raced before, and survived with just a little damage.  It was a real beauty, red with the white SS stripes.  I admire someone who goes through the time, trouble and expense of racing something a bit different such as this.
     This year the stock four cylinder cars had their own bracket, which is a good idea.  I think it would be more successful if they ran them on the full oval instead of the Monza course, and do away with the standing starts.  Treat them the same as the other divisions and let them have at it. However, it was just good to see them added to this event, and I can see this going nowhere but up.
     Our last race of the season was on October 29th, On the dirt at the Lee County Speedway in Donnelson, Iowa.  This annual event is titled "Shiverfest", but it was really a pretty nice late afternoon show, although there was a cold wind blowing on our backs, there was no threat of rain, and the show went off well.
     The modifieds were the top draw here tonight, and they showed up in force!  Enough to bring eight heat races worth!  It was especially nice to see Darin Toot racing here.  Some no doubt remember that Darin and his crewman, Chuck Beers, were the two folks severely injured at Oktoberfest in 2004, when a sportsman car cleared the pit wall and struck them.  Unfortunately, Darin didn't make the A main, but with this level of competition, many others didn't either.
     The four cylinder cars ran last here tonight, with many folks leaving beforehand.  Too bad, because there was a bit of an interesting twist to their feature.  It was offered up to all drivers in the four cylinder feature, that if any car could start from the tail of the field and win, they would get an additional $200 prize.  If these drivers failed to win, a number would be picked at random as the cars were circling the track to get the green, and the car finishing in that position would get the money.  Well, only a couple of mid-pack cars took the challenge, and neither came close to winning.  Meanwhile, the number that had been drawn was 11, meaning the eleventh place car would get more money than the winner!
     This is the time of year that I like to give out my "awards".  No real prizes, except mention here, but hey, isn't that prize enough?  No? Well, sorry then, but here goes.
     The "Golden Odometer Award" goes out to the driver or drivers who do the most racing in the post season specials.  Not included in this tally is anyone who is racing in a series that offers up points in any of these shows, as they have more incentive to be everywhere, such as the Big Eight series or Mid-American.  With that being said, this years winners were Gary Haarklau, who raced his hobby stock at the Jefferson WSC, Marshfield Fall Spectacular, Lake Geneva Fall Classic, and the Bahama Brackets at Rockford.  Tying him was Larry Moen, who raced Jefferson, Marshfield, LaCrosse Oktoberfest, and the next night the enduro at Lake Geneva.  Jim Robinson raced at Jefferson, Rockford NSTC, Lake Geneva, and the BB at Rockford.  Scott Lawver raced his sportsman car at Jefferson, Rockford, Lake Geneva, and again at the BB at Rockford.  Kyle Taylor raced his sportsman car at Jefferson, Rockford, Lake Geneva and LaCrosse.  So there you have it, a five way tie!
     The "Best Looking Car" award this year goes out to Chicago area driver Mike Tobuch.  I think it was not only the shiny paint, but the unusual color combination that made this go.  The car was painted metallic silver and gold, and really looked sharp and stood out from the rest.  I saw this car race at the Bahama Brackets and it really was sharp.  Honorable mention goes out to the Lake Geneva late model of Paul Dygon, who had a red car with white/orange flames going down the door, with the number on the rear quarter panel.  This car was very sharp looking, however, after a early season wreck they painted the car up without the flames.
     In these times of hearing so much news of tracks closing and suffering from lack of attendance, it is finally good to hear something positive.  Recently, it was announced that the State Park Speedway will be running under new management, as area businessman Todd Handrick will be the controlling force in keeping racing going at this facility.  Last season it was announced that long time promoters Phil and Helen Bickley were retiring from the race promotion business, it looked like the end of this track might be upon us, but thanks to Mr. Handrick, it will be kept alive.     

9/26/2005

    With the racing season quickly coming to a close, you really have to get in as much racing as possible quickly.  It is also hard to believe that we have not been freezing at any shows yet this year.
     We took in the Friday portion of the National Short Track Championships at Rockford.  The Big-8 series for limited late models took center stage, and boy, did they ever!  Jason Schuler led from the start but found himself taken out by the second running driver, who was subsequently black flagged, not for the incident, but for a hanging front fender from the incident.  Rubbing the fender off against the wall during the caution didn't help, either, as he had already been flagged.  This opened the door for Tim Noble, who had a front row seat for the whole thing, and gladly took advantage of the gift.  Tim then had the task of holding off many time champion Ricky Bilderback, which he did.  "I have to give credit to Ricky," Stated Noble, "He ran me clean.  He could have pushed me out several times, but he didn't."  Almost as much entertainment was the enthusiasm shown by Mr. Noble afterward, as he climbed the fence and then jumped on his car, finally laying on the track and just commenting on the emotions he was feeling, exuberance and exhaustion all at once.  Earlier in the evening Tim had talked with me, saying, "I sometimes kind of miss racing the old hobby stock cars, you don't have the big dollars invested in them and when you wreck you just hook it to a tree and pull.  With these late models you are always thinking about what everything is going to cost."  I would say that Tim was mighty happy he had the late model tonight.  A very nice and deserved feature win for Tim, who I think has matured greatly as a driver recently, especially this season.  He is now looked upon as one of the guys to beat wherever he goes. 
     Kyle Taylor was knocking on the door to the feature win in the sportsman division, but he and another car touched while running together for the lead, ending both their nights.  I think Kyle was going to get the win, but hard to tell for sure.  Once again, this opened the door for the driver following, this time it was Matt Lundberg who took the gift.
     This was a very enjoyable show, maybe one of the best Friday NSTC shows I have seen, but it would help greatly if the announcer here were more familiar with the visiting drivers.  Several never had their names announced, and some were pronounced wrong or given to the wrong car, etc.  Some announcers peruse the pits beforehand and find out the pronunciation of drivers' names and if they don't know a driver, find out the name.  That is what is needed here, or even a team announcing would help.
     Saturday we took a trip north to the Marshfield Super Speedway for day two of their annual Fall Spectacular.  This show is fast becoming one of my favorite Fall specials, maybe even THE favorite.  Admission prices at the front gate for the Saturday show were only twelve dollars... Among the lowest anywhere for a special event.  Yet, the place was not packed.  Of course, the weather may have been a big factor in this, as it rained pretty steadily within a few miles south of the track on the way up, and even did a little misting just before the super late model feature.  However, there were no delays and everything went off okay.
     One of the divisions racing tonight were the flat track motorcycles.  These guys just fly!  I remember seeing cycles race at Madison many years ago, but it seemed that every race had a rider crash into the wall and get a ride in the ambulance, and they never returned again.  No trouble here tonight, but wow! These guys are nuts!  They really get it on!
     The super lates had a nice field of cars, as I counted 41 that timed, with Matt Wisz failing to do so.  Nice to see some of the drivers from the Norway, Mich. track make it down.  Of these, Jamie Iverson fared the best.  Several cars from the Kaukauna track made the trip as well, which was nice, as I don't get a chance to see these drivers race often.
     The whole feature race was run with only one caution, that being for a minor spin on lap one.  Otherwise, Jason Weinkauf took the win, but he had Steve Holzhausen gaining on him at the end.  Chris Weinkauf came up to finish third, passing Jake Ryan, who looked very impressive passing cars early on, but must have used up his tires doing so.
     The limited lates were running for track points as well as points for the Mid-State Touring series, with Neil Knoblock having the MSTS title pretty much in hand before the nights races, while he had a battle with Jody Benson and Mike Merriam for the track title.  Merriam was able to avoid trouble which befell the others and took home a second place finish which gave him enough points to take the title.  Rich Schumann Jr. took the feature win, which was also impressive, as he had never raced here before, and said that he had never even seen a race here before.
     Jeremy Switlick came through the semi feature to make the show, and worked his way through the pack until a crash damaged his mount enough to make him call it a night.  He told me afterward, "I could put that car anywhere tonight and it just stuck.  It was alot of fun to drive."  It would have been interesting to see how far he could have gotten up in the pack at the end.
     Larry Moen took home a clean sweep in the pure stock feature, setting fast time, winning his heat, and then the feature.  A two time defending hobby stock champ at Columbus, he showed his stuff tonight.  The feature was the most tightly contested, as at the end both Troy Engman and Brad Guralski made a charge and were right there.
     The street stocks had an interesting field, with a couple of trucks present from the dirt track at Antigo, as well as a couple of dirt cars, and really, just an interesting mix and match of vehicles.  Columbus regular Don Trush took home the feature here, holding off Doug Herbst and his '57 Chevy.  Justin Woller gave us a scary moment, when in his heat race he became the "outsider" in a three-wide deal on the three-four turn, resulting in Justin taking a wild ride up the dirt embankment and into  the wall at the pit entrance.  He was driving Tim Nawrocki's potent Trans Am. The main thing is that the driver was okay.
     Nice to see Dustin Ochodnicky out with his Ford in the street stocks.  I had not seen his name show up anywhere all year, and was wondering if he was still racing.  Joe Monti also made a showing with a new car, setting fast time with it.
     The IMCA Old-timers group was fun to watch once again, with several very unusual cars, including an early 1960's Buick Skylark.  Always fun seeing these cars out here, and some of them get driven pretty hard.

9/19/2005

    With a night off from work this past Thursday, we took a trip over to see some good old fashioned dirt track racing, Iowa style, at the Farley Speedway.  Part of the four day Yankee Dirt Track Classic, tonight saw action in five divisions, including hobby stocks, pro stocks, B-mods, limited stocks and the four cylinder Farley Flyers.
     Becky Roth was a top runner in the four cylinders during previous seasons, and moved up this year to the limited stocks, and really hasn't missed a beat, as she is now a top runner in the limited stocks, as she won the feature tonight.  She has a nice, smooth driving style that gets the job done.
     Roger Knight Jr. is back racing on the dirt again.  Roger started his racing career on the dirt tracks of Southwest Wisconsin, then a couple of years ago switched to the asphalt, racing a limited late model primarily at Dells and a couple of other tracks.  Now, Roger is back where he began, racing a sharp looking hobby stock on the dirt tracks again, with his familiar number 66.
     The B-mods ran their feature tonight, and it was a good one, with Jacob Seegmiller getting the best of Jed Freiburger, who did his passing on the high side where most wouldn't try.
     The four cylinder racers were large in numbers, with Bryan Klein holding off Joe Zrostlik for the win.  Zrostlik races pretty much wherever he can with his little car, and when that isn't enough, he also has a pro-stock that he races. 
     Friday and Saturday nights were spent at the Jefferson Speedway, for the running of the annual Wisconsin State Championships, the twenty-fifth annual event, I may add.  Doesn't seem that long!
     Enjoyed talking with Sportsman division rookie Terry Wangsness.  This was only about the second time this year I had a chance to talk with Terry, who I always enjoy comparing racing adventures with.  Terry was the winner of two hobby stock track titles here before moving up to the sportsman division this season.  I asked him how he felt things went, and he replied, "I met my goals for the year.  I wanted to finish the year in the top ten, and I got ninth.  I wanted to win a feature, and I did that, it was at Columbus, not here, but that was okay.  I also wanted to get the rookie-of-the year title, and I got that.  I didn't wreck myself or anyone else, didn't have any of the other drivers yelling at me or anything!  Next year I want to be in competition for the championship.  That might seem kind of lofty, but you gotta try it."  Terry also talked about the differences from the hobby stocks to sportsman, saying, "There is alot more to know about the car.  Much more that you can change on it."
     Racing for the first time on asphalt was hobby stock driver Roger Meyer.  Roger told me that he races normally at Lancaster, as well as Echo Valley and Farley in Iowa.  "I just want to get through the night,"  laughed Roger.  He did.  Roger made the long trip down from Prairie Du Chien.  Ironically, he has the same name as a former top late model competitor here.
     Randy Breunig talked with me briefly, saying, "We kind of started the year out bad when we had to spend a bunch of money right away to fix what was a brand new car, so that put us behind, money-wise right off the bat.  Things are coming along better now, though.  We hope to race at the specials at Lake Geneva and LaCrosse, yet this year, and might even go to Marshfield next week."  Mark Miller likely will race the car at those tracks in what is a team effort.
     John Ovadal Jr. really had everyone's number this weekend, as he nearly swept the late model events over the two day period, winning the preview feature on Friday, as well as both features Saturday to take the overall title.  He missed only on fast time honors and his dash event.  You also had to be impressed with the run by Bobby Wilberg, as he proved he can race well anywhere.  A many time past track champion at Rockford and Madison, he placed third and second in the two features on Saturday, finishing the last feature with a rather ill sounding machine.  
     Nice to see Dennis Schmidt take home the Hobby Stock feature win.  Dennis races with well used equipment and probably less money spent than a lot of them, and took home what is probably the biggest win of his career.
     As it has all year, the International feature came down to a two car battle between Chris Nelson and Mark English, with English taking advantage of a caution to bunch the field up and allow him to restart on Nelson's bumper and make the pass for the win.  As for Nelson, he announced that next year he is planning on doing some road racing, giving up the oval stuff at least for now.  Two visitors from 141 speedway were present, John Senkbiel and Josh Lammers, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
     Jay Kalbus ran off with the Sportsman feature, looking quite dominant at that.   Roger Stanczyk, a regular at Golden Sands, ran well, finishing second in the preview feature on Friday and fifth Saturday.  Madison regular Scott Lawver also was present.  Scott ran a bunch of different tracks this season.
     What can you say about the Bandits? Well, they were out for blood!  Two rollovers for the weekend, which is alot for a paved track.  John Remsik showed his experience in taking the win on Saturday, repeating on last years title of this event.  He had a nice battle going with Bobby Selsing Jr., until Selsing got messed up with lapped traffic, resulting in one of the rollovers.  I think I speak for many when I say this division would race better on the full track.  Several Bandit drivers also switched back and forth, running with the International division.
     Our group tries to pick the winners of  each feature, with the person doing the best receiving a traveling plaque for their efforts.  This years winner was my Wife, Debbie!  She bested a field of eight other competitors to take the plaque.
     This was the first year that the late models ran as part of the "Big-8" series for this show, and I have mixed thoughts on that.  Yes, there was a nice field of cars present in that division, but the rules for the series also prevented others from showing up.  My contacts in the Wausau area told me that the drivers from that area didn't want to come because they would have to add weight and that they probably would not be competitive, which is probably true.  These drivers have supported this show for many years, and it is too bad that all of a sudden they are left out of it.  Even in the other divisions, only a few showed, with most not really being competitive.  I hope the rules can be opened up to allow for a true invitational where cars come from all over and can run well.  Jefferson has always been a track for the small dollar racer, if the slower cars are going to be stuck in the back of every race, at least give them a consy to run so they have a chance to win something.  This was the twenty-fifth anniversary of this event.  Let's take it back to the style of the 1981 show and have fun.

9/11/2005
    Friday night we took in the season championships at Columbus 151 Speedway.  Although most divisions had the titles already settled, that didn't mean there was any less hard racing going on.  Hard to believe the weekly shows at most  tracks are at or near the end, as we get ready for the specials season.

     Andy Wendt had amassed enough points to secure the late model track title prior to the nights events.  This is his second consecutive track title here to go along with several others at various tracks.  In the feature tonight, ageless veteran Bill Retallick took everyone to school on how to run the outside groove here, as he worked and worked and took the lead from Mike Taylor, then running out to a huge lead.  You have to give Taylor credit as well, as he stayed in his groove and never pushed up into Retallick.  Both drivers stayed their course and made it a fun race to watch.  When Retallick has his car working this good, he is one tough customer to beat.
     Another driver who did a fine job was LM rookie Jason Thoma.  Jason also worked the outside groove, but slid up just a bit and dropped back several spots.  He did a nice job of saving the car after getting up into the marbles, and still managed a decent finish.
     Larry Moen did some double duty racing tonight, taking his first career Street Stock main event, racing Jim Pankow's car.  He also raced his Hobby Stock, taking his second consecutive track title in that division as well.  I'd guess you would have to say he had an outstanding night.
     Street Stock racer Kevin Anderson was behind the wheel of Ed Jackson's car tonight, as his own car was out with a blown transmission.  Kevin took home his first track title in the division, and didn't even need to race tonight.  He has also been doing a little bit of late model racing.
     Ryan Destefano debuted a new Bandit car tonight, and took home the track title in that division by a pretty fair margin.  He raced cleanly throughout the year, and was one of those drivers that you never noticed until he was up near the front, and that is usually a good thing.  He had his primary car damaged severely a few weeks ago in a melee, which was  about his only trouble this year.
     The Bandit feature was a wild one, with Brandon Riedner making a last lap, last turn pass of Rodney Mundt to take the win, denying Mundt his first ever feature win.  Brandon has been on a tear lately, winning or finishing right there in most features he has run.  The two buddies had quite a race tonight. 
     The Backup division was the only division to have a little drama in the points battle, as Dave Moore held a slim margin going into the nights events over George Wachuta.  George did what he could, as he won the last race, but it still wasn't enough to overtake Moore, who won the title by a few points.
     The night was closed off with the annual powder puff and mechanics races, which are usually exciting.  Yes, there were a couple of wrecks in these, but nothing too bad.
     It was sad to see the last race of the season here tonight, as it was a very enjoyable year with much larger car counts and fan attendance.  The future is looking good for this track, even in these hard times we have right now with high gas prices, people out of work, etc..  I think this is one of the few tracks I had seen this year that had a large increase of support from both fans and racers.  Thanks to the Moore family and pit gate guru/Backup racer  Wayne Hook for their hospitality throughout the year!
     Congratulations go out to Hobby Stock racer Bryon Grassl, who won his first career feature in that division Saturday night at Jefferson.  Bryon always has clean equipment that is well cared for and looks sharp, and he drives it like he respects it and others.  This was his first feature in three years of trying.
     Thanks to Craig Oliver for letting me hot lap his Street Stock car at Columbus on a recent Wednesday night.  It is quite a change after racing stock front wheel drive four cylinders.  Much harder to steer, heavier car to handle, much more power, but, wow, the sound is just something to behold!  
 
8/22/2005
     On Wednesday night, August 17th, we took a trip north to the State Park Speedway for the fourth and last of the "Final Four" races to be held at the track under the direction of Phil and Helen Bickley.
     It was a night where it seemed as fate were trying to step in and linger the final moments just a bit longer, as several crashes occurred, most in the 1-2 turns.  The lights even went out briefly, once again in the 1-2 turns.  The show ran later than normal, but many folks stayed around to enjoy the atmosphere and reminisce.
     The most serious crash occurred during the mini-stock semi-feature, with Kevin Teske impacting the wall hard on the 1-2 turn.  Kevin was sent to the hospital, but the last word I had received indicated that he was released from the hospital the next day, which is great news, as he took a very hard hit.
     The super late model feature was an interesting one, with drivers with much former track experience faring quite well.  Chris Weinkauf started his career here in the early 1990's in the old Bomber division, and through the years has progressed into a top SLM driver.  His past experience here paid off as he took the win tonight.  It wasn't easy, however, as he had a mirror full of Steve Holzhausen, who was driving the Pete Kempf owned machine.  Steve raced here back in the days of the CWRA. 
     The limited late model field was larger this time, with the tire issue seemingly settled.  Matt Schulz looked very strong in taking the win, although he had Neil Knoblock on his bumper most of the way until he slipped off the track late in the contest.  It is a real accomplishment to hold off Neil, who is always strong at any track, in any car.  Having sold his previous car, he was behind the wheel of a new machine, still not lettered his traditional number 70.  As for Matt, this has to be one of the biggest wins of his career, just in time for all the post season shows.  Brian Paszek also looked very good tonight.  These drivers will now have momentum on their side as the season winds down.
     Travis Weisenbeck had a rough night with his limited late, as he took a hard shot into the turn one water barrels and wall, severely damaging his car.  Afterward, Travis said, "It's bent up pretty bad, but we've got to fix it.  What else can you do? You can't just leave it in the trailer.  We'll get it back out for Marshfield, then at least we can say that we ran all of the series shows this year.  Don't know if we'll make it down to Jefferson, though."
     Paul Block is racing his limited late with the super lates on occasion, tonight being one of those.  His newly painted car looked sharp, but he, also, was involved in an incident in turn one.  " I stopped, but the guy behind me didn't,"  Said Paul, who noted the car had some stuff bent up, but that he would be back out soon.  The car is a very sharp looking metallic blue with neon green numbers.
     The street stocks put on their usual stellar show tonight, with several visitors from Golden Sands present, as well as dirt racer Jeremy Wolfe.  Doug Herbst had the lead for a long time with his '57 Chevy, with Tim Nawrocki trying everything to get around, finally pulling ahead on the backstretch just as a caution came out, putting Herbst back out front.  On the restart Nawrocki found himself in the outer groove with several cars passing, as he aborted out of a situation to save the car.  Mike Brooks came through to win the event.  It is nice to see such a variety of body styles here, as tonight we had Herbst with his '57, David Pagels with a '62 Chevy, Nawrocki's Trans Am, Jim Annala's Ford Torino, and Mike Kasparek's '67 Skylark.  I can just about guarantee you will seldom see a '57 and '62 Chevy in the same race anywhere, anytime, anymore!
     A huge field of mini-stocks were present, including many from the Tomahawk track.  Keith Wirtz won their main event in his zero car.  Long time fans will remember Keith's Dad, Bill, with his similar numbered racers. 
     I would like to thank Phil and Helen Bickley, Deb Klockziem and Curt Keene, and all of the drivers for their hospitality always at this facility.  We always were treated well by everyone here, and have very fond memories.  I am hoping that someone will lease this facility and continue on with racing here, but only time will tell.
     Friday night I raced my car at Columbus, so didn't really see all that much racing.  I did see the late model feature, which featured a Son/Father one-two finish, with Nick Wendt beating his Dad, Andy, to the finish.  Nick kind of just waited and let the race come to him, as did his Dad.
     Good to see Darren Brown here with his Bandit car.  One of the real sportsmanlike drivers, Darren made his first start here tonight.  I had told him he would run good here, and he qualified for the feature his first night out, only to have a wiring problem drop him out while running strong in the feature.
     Nice to see Gary Haarklau have a good run in the hobby stock feature tonight.  Gary has been through alot in recent years, as he took a very hard hit into the wall with a limited late model at Madison many years ago, with very severe injuries resulting.  "It was July 10th, 1992, I always remember the date," Said Gary.  "They said they had to revive me three times. I remember seeing a light, and thinking the car was on fire, but I was told it wasn't.  Then, I remember laying on the track, and I remember waking once in the helicopter.  Otherwise, I don't remember anything.  Up to that point I had been running six miles each day on the weekends, and two each weekday, so that probably helped alot, I was in shape."  Gary sustained many injuries,  and  has just gotten back into racing the past few years, and drives well.
     Saturday I helped Craig Olver with his Sportsman car in the pits at Jefferson, so I got to see quite a bit of the action.  "Lightning" Luke Padfield won the sportsman feature in a close one.  Here is a driver who has shown a great deal of talent the past couple of years, and I look for big things from him in the future.
     Tim Noble won the late model feature, sporting the number 50 instead of his usual number, 71.  He was doing this in honor of Kevin Doty, the midget driver who lost his life this past week after an incident at Angel Park.  A collection was taken up for the Doty family, with $1,800 being collected.  I know Tim really was on a mission to win tonight.  Long-time veteran Jerry Eckhardt had led for a long time, until a late caution bunched the field up to him.  I know Jerry had a lot of fans, too, as he is racing Lincoln Keeser's LLM here and at Columbus this season, while racing his own SLM at Slinger.  Jerry hadn't raced here regularly since the mid-1970's, which is probably also about when he got his last feature win here.
     Late model driver Chris Quam's house was just missed by the recent tornado that hit Stoughton.  Chris told of that night, saying, "We went down into the basement, got under some mattresses and stuff, and I peeked out and could see the funnel in the distance through the window.  I took pictures of it and everything."  Chris would have a bad night on the track, as he impacted the wall, with the car momentarily bursting into flames.  Hoping for better things for this driver, who always manages a smile through it all.

8/15/2005
    Welcome to the new online version of my former column!  I would like to thank Scott and Laurie Null for giving me this opportunity to write my thoughts and comments on their website.  Scott has always taken the time to talk with me throughout the years, even when he was extremely busy.  In this world that kind of person is hard to find sometimes!  Now, he is giving me a place to continue my writings, which will be a little of everything!

   The weekend of August 12-14 we did something a little different, as we took in three shows on the dirt and none on asphalt.  Those of you who know me know that I have been primarily an asphalt guy most of my years, but that is changing a bit as I have taken more of a liking to the dirt shows.  Yes, I still love "tar" racing, but have a greater appreciation for racing on the clay as well.
   We left home Thursday night at about eleven P.M., driving all night to arrive at Bayfield.  Along the way we visited the ABC Raceway at Ashland, just to see the track.  We did some sight-seeing around Bayfield, taking the ferry to Madeline Island.  Leaving there, we drove around the tip of the state, arriving at Superior, taking in our first show there on Friday night.  Had a chance to meet fellow former CFRN columnist Jerry O'Brien and his wife, JoAnne.  Jerry was helpful in telling me about racing in the area, and it was great to meet both of them.  As for the racing, it is clear that the track crew here really knows how to prepare for a night of racing, as the track seemed good all night.  Pat Doar was dominant in the WISSOTA late model feature, and really, all divisions did a great job.  Seems like they get good fields and good crowds, too.  Only complaint was a rather lengthy intermission while some track farming was  accomplished, but some things must be done.
  The next day we drove down to Rice Lake, where we met up with Columbus racer Bruce Havel, who was visiting relatives here.  Bruce's brothers, Larry and Dave both raced for many years, and it was enjoyable talking with all of them, looking at photos and trophies.  Their father, Bud Havel raced on many of these same tracks for years, and is in the Superior Speedway hall of fame.  Our thanks go out to the entire Havel family for their hospitality.
  Rice Lake also seems to be a track where they know track preparation, as the track was good all night from start to finish with no reworking required.  Slightly smaller of field of cars than Superior, it still is  strong, with very good racing.  Enjoyed meeting veteran late model racer Dave Morgan, who said that he has been racing since 1961.  He had problems tonight, but like only a veteran can do, he shrugged it off and said "It was binding up somewhere, we'll have some work to do this week to find out what is going on."  No doubt, he knows the car inside and out and can probably fix it in his sleep!  His Grandson, Morgan Crotteau, had a nice run in the pure stock feature, taking home a second place finish, his highest ever.  Morgan has only been racing a few weeks, too.
  The next day we headed further south to the Eagle Valley Speedway, where dry and dusty conditions were prevalent.  They tried to do what they could, as the track crew watered heavily before the races, but the dry conditions in the area played a huge part tonight, as after every couple of races it would require more watering, only to be a dust bowl once again after a couple more races.  I don't know if we just caught a bad night or what, you certainly can't judge a track on one night, but tonight wasn't a good one.  Decent field of cars except only one heat of late models.  They also have built nice new grandstands.
  One driver doing plenty of racing this weekend was late model racer John Kaanta.  He raced at all three tracks we visited, chasing national WISSOTA points.  He also raced a modified at Eagle Valley, which is also where he won the late model feature.  He was one of only a handful who raced all three of these tracks on this weekend.
  On another note, I would like to congratulate Jasper Drengler for winning his first ever street stock feature at Beaver Dam's Powercom Park a couple of weeks ago.  Jasper formerly raced in the stock four cylinder class at tracks all over the state, both dirt and asphalt, and now is showing his stuff with the bigger, heavier and faster street stocks.  Nice job!