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As of the first weekend of action, three drivers made a feature. The best luck has been produced by Sam Mars, who won the Pro Power dash one night and then finished 14th in the feature event, while missing the first night's feature by just one position. Gunner Frank also made one feature using the MB with Pro Power that he raced in Challenge Series. The other driver to make a show was Tyler Peterson, using an open motor for the very first time. He finished 21st on opening night, pulling off the track with motor problems. In fact, he announced before night two, which he skipped, that he was done for the event with motor issues. However, that information was later rescinded and he expected to race in round three of the series on Wednesday.

Paul Mueller supplied three cars out here, with Mike Greseth and Cole Schill among the drivers handling his cars. They have been having some motor and other issues and scrambled throughout the first weekend. Greseth's car is one of the few with a small motor, utilizing a 525 crate motor. He reports it just doesn't have the guts to keep up on this big and fast track. He was planning on flying home after the opening weekend and likely his racing was done. Schill has been battling handling issues with his car and fighting to make progress. He reports that his car is in pieces on the shop floor at home, as he preps it for 2026.

Peyton George, from Rapid City, had a brand-new MB with an open motor for this event, the first time he has raced a Late Model. The team has cars for all three classes out here, with both Matt Gilbertson and Paxton George getting a shot at the X Mod. A California driver ran the Modified.

The Eisenschenk twins have been getting more and more laps in their Late Models and have shown more speed but had not started a feature during the first weekend.

Four drivers have made Modified features so far this opening weekend, with two making both shows. Blake Adams continues to show that his 2025 racing season was not a fluke, as he led the way among WISSOTA drivers. Using the same car that he raced in WISSOTA the later half of 2025, but with a big motor, he finished a solid seventh and a fine second place in the two features to this point. Indeed, after two races he is leading the Modified point standings for this event, which also pays some extra cash. Father Buzzy Adams reports that they plan on getting a new car for the WISSOTA season but so far, this one seems to be working well.

The other driver to make both shows was Princeton, Minnesota's Brennan Gave, who I believe was a bit surprised at his success so far. His finishes of 22nd and 17th are not outstanding, but just making the feature against a field of nearly 70 cars is a feather in the cap alone. Especially so since he is just running his WISSOTA spec engine built by Action Engineering. For 2026 he hopes to either get a new MB or a new motor, but with his motor running so well, it might be the race car he springs for.

Dustin Strand, as a last-minute decision, came out here to race and he also has his WISSOTA motor under the hood. However, he finished 19th with a breakdown on night two, after missing the opening night feature by just one spot.

Blake Jegtvig, who raced only a handful of times in 2025, is out here to get some racing in and enjoy the warm weather. He reports that he has been so busy he doesn’t have any time to race, but hopes that will change for 2026. He is driving an MB with a Corky Thomas motor.

Jeff Helget, the Thunder Bay driver who came out of a long retirement to return to racing this year, continues his return to racing with an MB with a Pro Power motor for this event.

Lucas Rodin finished 22nd on night two, but so far has been plagued by flat tires and poor draws, with airless tires ending his runs in both classes on night two. North Dakota's Randy Klein has been close, but so far has not made either of the two features held so far. Klein is running a Harris chassis for this event and later in the week he planned to install Travis Saurer behind the wheel for one night.

Jonathan Olmscheid and Matt Fester traveled out here together for this event. Olmscheid is running the same car he raced last summer while Fester rolled a Modified out of the trailer, having never raced one before. After having raced a Super Stock in 2025, he first debated on getting a Mid Mod but then decided to “go for it” and went all the way up to a Mod. He was making some good laps for a rookie, especially so considering the level of the competition with his SSR and Tim's power. Then the turn one wall bit him big time and they spent the rest of the night and the following morning fixing the damage. He reported he hit so hard he bent the steering wheel! Then, on Sunday, he got into another tangle and more repairs were needed.

With a change in rules for the 2026 WWS in an effort to equal up the competition in the X Mod class, combined with the new venue, a larger number of WISSOTA MidMod drivers attended the 2026 event from previous years. And their success has been palatable to the point that I'm guessing drivers from some of the other sanctioning bodies are starting to lobby the promoter. But, we will see on that.

At the close of the first weekend, no one found anything that can keep up with Blake Adams. He is two for two, having won both feature races and in impressive fashion. He ran away from the field on Saturday and then on Sunday, after a tough battle to get past Scott Bintz for second, he tracked down racing legend Kenny Schrader for the lead and win. Schrader had half a straightaway on him and Adams passed him with a bold outside move. Logically, after two races, he is leading the division points, but he isn't the only one who has shined. Jake Smith, Curtis Stieh, Bintz, Rodin, Scott Tofte and Alan Farley have all made both features.

If Adams is the talk of the town, then Smith can't be far behind. After suffering from terrible draws two straight nights, he has driven through the pack of drivers like a hot knife through butter, winding up second and third in feature action.

Rodin has finished eighth and 23rd, after his tire got speared on Sunday. The old SSR with more than 300 shows on it just keeps ticking.

Bintz was wrecked on the first lap on Saturday but returned on Sunday to get a much better sixth-place finish, as he utilizes a J2 chassis that he will likely convert back to WISSOTA specs before spring. He traveled here with Jaden Christ, who has been having tough racing luck here the first weekend.

Scott Tofte has been fast so far, as the Madison MN veteran has finished 17th and 10th in the first two go rounds, while South Dakota racer Farley has also made both features, finishing 11th and 15th.

Curtis Stieh has perhaps been the most surprising of the X Mod drivers, as the Kaministiqua, Ontario driver showed lots of speed, taking a top five finish on opening night before settling for 14th on Sunday. He is being helped in the pits by legendary driver Joel Cryderman, who reports that his 2026 racing plans are still up in the air.

Young Chance Kodet finished 15th on Saturday, before having mechanical issues on Sunday. The 16-year-old is in his first full year of racing, never having driven any kind of race car before he started last year. He plans to race his MB/Zeuli three nights a week in 2026.

Winnipeg-area drivers Brandon Rehill and Lance Reif, along with South Dakota drivers Paul Parks and Brennan Davis, have all worked to get their cars up to speed throughout the opening weekend. Davis had a quite spectacular motor failure on Sunday, but I believe they have gotten that fixed. Davis is using a GRT chassis, while the other two are using F18 chassis from the Leikers in Gillette. All three are running engines built by Parks.

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