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Eder took off strong, didn't spin his tires, and drove home for the win. John Kaanta had one of his best runs of the year, starting fifth and driving up to second late in the race. That gave him the chance to wear the bridesmaid dress, which is always a highlight of the Red Clay. Anderson finished a close third with Derek Vesel and Kyle Peterlin completing the top five.

Eder's win sent the crowd into a frenzy, with several fans climbing the frontstretch fence to wave him home as the winner; he pocketed $16,550 with bonuses.

It was quite a racing weekend in Ashland, Wisconsin. Pretty much everything about the racing and the event was spectacular. There were a couple bumps along the way but they were far outweighed by the overwhelming good things that happened.

Thanks to Eric Erickson, the board of directors of ABC Raceway and all the volunteers who work to make this event possible. Thanks as well to all the sponsors who keep this place going strong.

One last word — please stay behind the yellow line, so that everyone can see.

Friday, October 3

Spectacular fall weather continued as FYE Motorsports Promotions presented the 22nd annual Fall Classic at Wagamon's Ogilvie Raceway, the track located in Ogilvie, Minnesota.

Every year this race is one of the last on the WISSOTA schedule. Along with the good weather, this set in a motion a gigantic event that opened action on Friday, October 3. Eight divisions of WISSOTA racing piled into the pit area, and when all were signed in, the final car count showed 292 race cars entered. That was a huge turnout of racers, representing several states, with a considerable number of Canadian drivers on hand. Related — did you know that Lake Winnipeg is 390 miles long? No? Neither did I, but that's a story for another time.

While that 292 figure is large, it’s actually a bit smaller than last year's car count, which was more than 300 race cars on opening night. The Super Stocks had fewer race cars on hand than last year, but that has been a trend at most fall races. The regular season cyclical trend of fluctuating numbers hit the Supers hard this year.

This time of year always remains interesting from week to week, with changes in drivers, race cars finding new homes, and new divisions for drivers as they test things out for 2026.

The drama actually started back on Thursday, when Pat Doar — who won an unprecedented six straight years — blew a motor while testing out his new car with a new power plant in it. He returned home to New Richmond and came back Friday with a different car, his older one, to try again.

The crash that Kaden Blaeser had at ABC last week was much worse than it appeared, with that car totaled and the engine damaged. However, Blaeser and Kevin Adams worked out a deal, with Blaeser running the car that Jake Molitor drove at Granite City. It is the old Adams car. Buzzy even made up a No. 43K door for Kaden, and his dad Todd commented that he really liked seeing that number back on the track again. (Kaden ran the No. 428 Mars Race Cars-owned Modified this year).

Brady Larson made a move this week, and is now driving the former Jesse Bryan Midwest Modified that he has apparently purchased.

Landyn Randt made his post-high school hockey debut this weekend, so he wasn't available to drive the family Mid Mod. His younger brother, Levi, has had an outstanding season driving in the Street Stocks and did double duty in the Mid Mod for the weekend. Although they planned to put another driver behind the wheel for I-94, Levi did a good job in putting both cars in the show. The Street Stock is for sale but Levi plans on running Street Stocks one more year before moving up a class. I assume they have another Player Motorsports car coming for 2026.

I also learned this weekend that Canadian Malachi Klassen was an outstanding hockey goalie in his time, but he told me he is “retired.” I didn't know that one could do that at such a young age.

Andrew Johnson made what might have been his first start of the year this weekend, driving the No. 32* of Montana's Bodie Smith. Every year, Tim Johnson goes over the Smith car before delivering it back to Smith, and this year Smith said they could run it as they wished this fall before freshening it up. Andrew will likely run it again the next couple of weekends, so that will make the Super Stocks more exciting with two Johnsons in the field. Both cars are Affordable chassis.

The sanctioning body Aaron Johnson usually runs with has had its season come to an end, so he had both his Modified and raced the No. 5g Super Stock.

Speaking of Super Stock surprises, Dave Mass, the 2025 Late Model Challenge Series Champion, appeared with a new Super Stock this weekend. Mass, who was always one of the best-ever Super Stock drivers, will make the class even more competitive.

Cole Boston was in the Mod that Andy Jones drove last weekend in Ashland, and he drove his own Midwest Mod. For his first time in a Mod, he did an excellent job, putting that car in the Saturday night main event.

Reginald Felzkowski and Eric Crosby swapped cars this weekend, with Reginald driving the Pure Stock that will likely end up second in national points. Meanwhile Crosby ran the unsanctioned Late Model class on Saturday night.

Other changes included Cory Mehrwerth driving the Mod Four that Blake Hawker has run this season, and Ryan Kough had a different Midwest Mod to race.

The long haul award will likely go to Ty Miller, who pulled his Midwest Mod all the way from Gillette, Wyoming on an open trailer behind a pick-up truck.

With a start time of 7 p.m., it was almost nonstop racing action with heat races for all eight classes. Passing points are used to determine the lineups for Saturday night, and with a large field that’s the fair way to do it. And yet, with so much on the line for these limited-lap races, the number of yellow flags was really quite minimal. A couple of races had multiple yellows but there were also many that didn't have a single caution. I thought the drivers raced hard but fair, with a lot of respect shown for each other.

A good surface to race on probably helped much. Except for a bump entering turn three, which has probably been a part of this track since the first green flag was flown here, the track was nice and smooth and raced wide. There wasn't a lot of fighting to get in a preferred line, as the best route to race depended strictly on the driver and how their car was behaving. Despite the fact 33 races were run on the surface, the track was never touched once after the green flag flew.

All racing was completed by 11 p.m., and despite the huge number of racers and races, it didn't feel like the marathon it could have been.

Saturday, October 4

Saturday’s weather was even more spectacular than on Friday. Perhaps, if it’s possible, a bit too summer-like. Not only were temperatures in the high 80s, but the wind was blowing strongly right out of the south. That is always bad news here, because the spectator stands are on the north side of the track, with a south wind blowing right into the stands. Eventually it was a bit dirty from time to time, but really not too bad considering the conditions.

However, it was hard on the race track and it was impossible to provide the same track conditions on Saturday the racers saw on Friday.

The unsanctioned Late Models were on hand Saturday for a full show, which meant there were nine feature races on Saturday — and that is a lot. Along with a couple other random drivers who entered on Saturday and started at the back of B features, 311 different race teams have turned laps over the weekend, another awesome statistic.

Twelve B features plus two qualifying heat races preceded the nine feature races; the spectators got their money's worth, or perhaps even more than that.

Unlike Friday night though, there were no more chances for the teams to make it into the mains. The more polite style of racing that seemed to dominate things on Friday was no more on Saturday. That meant many more yellow flags, much more work required by the wrecker crews, and more time to run each race.

The weather presented the same problem for Nate and the track prep crew. Drivers suffered through some rugged events near the end of the B features and a complete remake of the track, which was certainly necessary, was done before the features started.

All the yellow flags that flew early seemed to set a pattern for the evening. Many of the feature races were plagued by yellow flags, making for a number of short bursts of racing and a lot of down time.

Breaking down all eight feature races would be way too lengthy, so here is a brief recap of each.

The Pure Stock feature was one of the most exciting of the night, run on a freshened track that allowed them to race from green to checkered. Jake Smith led from the start, with Austin Carlson chasing him; Carlson nearly got by on several occasions. Late lapped traffic allowed Carlson to maneuver his way to the inside, and during the last lap he made the winning move on Smith.

Trey Hess led the first eight laps of the Street Stock feature before he was passed by Parker Anderson, who showed big speed after starting 10th on the grid. This was one of the yellow-plagued races, with six of them slowing the momentum. Hunter VanGilder hung in for the whole race to get second, as Wisconsin drivers nailed down the top two finishing spots.

The Midwest Mod feature was another good one, when the green stayed out. Seven yellows were maddening in this race, but the battle among Blake Adams, Joey Jensen and St. Joseph’s Jake Smith made this a good race when under green. The close race between the top two featured intense driving by both. One mistake would have meant a race change.

No track prep was done before the Late Model feature, a decision that proved to be wrong when the race turned into a “rubber race.” Six yellows made for hard feelings, as drivers kept trying to nudge each other out of the inside line. Joel Bennett did great things in his drive forward from the sixth row to pass Josh Zimpel, who led the first 23 laps. Unfortunately, when slower traffic came up, Bennett made a wrong choice that took him out of the rubber and Zimpel passed him. Bennett tried to get back into the lead and spun Zimpel out. Zimpel got his spot back and somehow, Bennett was allowed to restart third, which caused most of us to be puzzled or worse. Zimpel then went on for the win with Cole Schill having another great run in second. Bennett ended up fifth, which was a gift.

The Mods got a fresh track that allowed them to race hard but the yellows still plagued the event and probably cost Blake Adams the win. Going for a rare double win and a possible national-title guarantee kind of win, he held off Jody Bellefeuille through numerous restarts for maddening spins and stalls. Each restart proved more challenging for Adams, as the top side seemed to be going away. Bellefeuille knows this track as well as anyone and finally, after the fifth yellow, Adams flubbered on the restart and Bellefeuille passed on the low side for the lead. Strangely, Bellefeuille never had to endure the same problem as Adams, as the green remained out for the rest of the race. Landon Atkinson was also able to pass for second late in the race.

In a rare bit of fresh air, the Super Stocks ran 30 laps green to checkered with Shane Sabraski passing Joey Jensen on lap three and keeping out front to the checkered. Dylan Nelson made things interesting near the end, and except for lapped traffic that kept messing up his runs, he might just have surprised Sabraski. Dave Mass had earned the pole but in a “what the hell” kind of moment, he opted to start in the back of the pack and try to race for a bonus prize, should he win. He finished 13th in a race where only one driver failed to finish.

The Mod Fours also went green to checkered. Tyler Larson took the lead on lap three and led the rest of the way. Near the end, Dustin Holtquist had caught up to him but just ran out of time.

For those who stayed until the wee hours of the morning, the Hornets put on a good show in their feature, running in a big pack that seemed to change each lap. This race also produced the only flip of the weekend, when Paxton Tjaden was ridden into the wall and flopped over on his roof. He was okay. Tony Jensen led early until he was passed by Brady Fosso, but Randy Jacoboski came up from the fourth row to pass Fosso on lap six and then held off Fosso and Mark Gangl for the win.

The final checkered waved at 2:09 a.m. It was a marathon of measurable lengths. However, it got done a full three hours earlier than my all-time latest race completion back in the day down in Oklahoma. Anytime you run this many cars in this many events there is always the possibility that something like this might happen. A perfect storm that included multiple track prep sessions, yellow flag fever and just a whole lot of racing all helped make it a memorably long evening of racing.

Thanks to everyone at FYE and Ogilvie for working overtime to make the monster event work and to all the drivers who supported it. One year from now we will all have forgotten how late it was and will be lining up to get in to the 23rd annual event, hoping to break the all-time car count once again.

Friday, October 10

The Scott Engfer Memorial Gopher State Showdown was held on Friday and Saturday nights, October 10-11. This was also the final weekend of points racing for WISSOTA for the 2025 racing season.

After the tragedy that occurred during the WISSOTA 100 at this same track, Engfer and his legacy were certainly on the minds of all the drivers, fans and track officials during this weekend. It was most appropriate this race was named in his honor, and that the class he helped develop — the Gen X Late Models — raced for perhaps the most money in their relatively short history. A large number of sponsors jumped in to make this weekend and this race a memorable one.

Six WISSOTA classes were in action here, with only the Mod Fours and Pure Stocks not a part of this show. Along with the Gen X Late Models, the IMCA Sport Mods made their first-ever appearance at the track, replacing the Legend Cars that raced last year. The Legends had a conflict with a big race in North Dakota this weekend, so the Sport Mods stepped in for them. Clearly they jumped at the chance to race at one of the Midwest's premier tracks for the first time and drivers were on hand from western North Dakota and Canada to race.

The nice fall weather we’ve been having continued, at least on Friday. Weather may have been hit and miss for many tracks during the regular season, but it would be hard to argue nearly all post-season specials have been great successes, with large car counts week after week.

I-94 enjoyed increases in five of the six WISSOTA classes that also ran this race last year, and a very healthy 188 drivers were on hand. Throw in very good numbers in the two nonsactioned classes and 248 drivers signed in to race, with some parked way back in the west field behind the pits, which usually only gets used otherwise for the WISSOTA 100.

The format for Friday included heat races for all eight classes, while the B Features and main events were scheduled for Saturday night. Passing points were used for all classes.

As an added bonus, the previously rained-out June 10 Dick Johanneck Memorial races were run after the Engfer Memorial race qualifiers were held. This was a nice bonus for the fans and likely produced a few more spectators who might have otherwise waited for Saturday night and feature racing and also gave drivers in those two classes another nice check for the weekend, with both being well-paying shows, including $2,000 to win the Late Model event.

Drivers are still bringing out new cars even at this late date of the season, some to get a jump start on 2026. One of those was North Dakota's Jason Strand, who debuted an AK Race Cars Rev 1 chassis built by Austin Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick recently started an alliance with one of the World of Outlaw Late Model teams and is known in the open Late Model circles for his innovative approach to design. Strand qualified in the top 10 for Saturday night's feature but also damaged the rear end to the point he wasn’t able to race on Saturday and had to forfeit the position.

This weekend marked my first time to see Clarence Washburn racing this year. The 82-year-old still can wheel a Late Model with the best of them, and his record of longevity is remarkable.

I have long-said I believe WISSOTA national points should end at the WISSOTA 100, so national champions could be crowned at the same time the WISSOTA 100 champions are. The belief that drivers won't race the end of the year specials unless points are awarded is nonsense; this year's big end-of-the-year races clearly show that drivers will race as long as the purse is good and the weather tolerable. It’s my opinion the vast majority of drivers do not give a hang about points at this juncture of the season.

For many of the tracks that were presented the opportunity to “play up” the point battles among drivers present at their events, many failed to take advantage of the opportunity presented to them. There was little to no hype.

With this being the final weekend for national points, there were still two battles in play at I-94, with drivers battling for national honors present.

In the Modified class, Blake Adams and Shane Sabraski were both on hand, with Adams holding a six-point lead over Sabraski. However, if Sabraski swept the heat and the feature, he could tie Adams if Adams didn't gain any points. The tie-breaker was said to belong to Sabraski. Pretty big stuff, right? However, I never heard a word about that all weekend.

In the Midwest Mods, Tyler Vernon held a four-point lead over Joey Jensen. Jensen was on hand, but Vernon was not. Jensen needed to sweep a couple more races to perhaps catch Vernon. With I-94 being just one show held over two days, Jensen had to come up with a near-impossible plan to get to Hibbing, which had one show scheduled for Saturday night and make his way back to I-94 if necessary to compete in the second feature of Saturday night at I-94.

Here's where things get interesting: Jensen was entered at I-94, but not in his regular ride — he was scheduled to drive James Trantina's No. 19x car. The No. 30 he normally drives was sent to Hibbing for Saturday. The plan is for Jensen to drive Trantina's car here on Friday, fly to Hibbing on Saturday with Trantina’s help, race his own car, and if the timing and logistics work out, then fly back to Fergus and race the feature in Trantina's car, thus getting two full shows in for the weekend. Jensen needed clean sweeps at both tracks. Later on Friday he did win a Midwest Mod heat, keeping his chances still viable. He was not around on Saturday for the start, as he was in Hibbing racing.

Racing started right at 7 p.m. on Friday night and it was a good night filled with a number of hotly contested heat races, as passing points makes each position gained very important. Wrecks were kept to a minimum and 29 heat races were run off in a very prompt manner.

The two feature races capped off the night, with the King of Dirt Late Model 25-lapper especially entertaining. Ryan Corbett led the first 14 laps of the race until he was passed by Dave Mass, who continued the hot streak of racing that he has been on of late. There were at least five drivers swapping positions back and forth, too quickly for me to keep track of, but the dicing for position was very entertaining.

There was an unfortunate tangle while they battled, and Shane Edginton, Josh Zimpel and Travis Saurer were eliminated, while Tyler Peterson was also challenging until a tangle took him out, too.

Sabraski tacked on another feature win as he dominated the Super Stock King of Dirt feature. Travis Scott led for a pair of laps until Sabraski passed him and then ran away from the field. William Lund eventually gained the runner-up slot.

There was some concern early after the track was choppy for practive on Thursday night. The track prep crew had pulled a lot of built-up dirt by the walls back down on to the racing surface, with the purpose of cutting down the ramp effect that developed between the shift of dirt and the wall. It also put fresh dirt on the racing groove.

However, Larry Samuelson, who works in multiple capacities at the track, told me the track crew put in several 10-hour days this week working on the track and any choppiness that showed up on Thursday was gone on Friday. The track raced well with minimum maintenance.

There were four DQs during the program on Friday, two each in the Hornets and Late Models. The Late Model ones hurt, as it took good finishes away from both Cole Schill and Ryan Engels.

The biggest news of the night however, was delivered during the driver's meeting when FYE Motorsports head Chris Stepan announced the program would start Saturday at 3 p.m. due to impending weather.

And while this move was applauded by most, it put Jensen's logistics in a more unpredicable position.

Saturday, October 11

The battle for the other point national title brought more intrigue on Saturday. With his third-place finish in a Modified heat on Friday, there was no way Blake Adams could increase his national point total at I-94. However, there was a full show going on in Hibbing on Saturday, where he could start from scratch and with a heat and feature win and increase his points padding, depending on what Sabraski did in his feature here at Fergus.

Early on Saturday morning, Blake and Buzzy headed for Hibbing with their Modified. They left the Midwest Mod in the keeping of Grandpa Dave, who planned to get the car ready for Blake, who had solidly made the field in that car. The plan was for Blake to race the Modified at Hibbing and then jump in Chad Olsen's plane and fly back to Fergus, hopefully in time for the Midwest Mod feature. The early program at I-94 Saturday made things tough, but they really had nothing to lose. Between Joey and Blake, the moving parts of this scheme seemed more complicated than getting Kyle Larson from Indy to his NASCAR race.

Here's how things ended up. Joey won the Midwest Mod feature at Hibbing while Tyler Vernon was a DNF. However, Joey did not make it back to Fergus in time to race the Midwest Mod feature and according to what I have heard on Sunday morning, Vernon did win the Mid Mod national title.

Adams won a heat race but finished second in the Modified feature, thus opening the door for Sabraski. But in the biggest feature race on Saturday, Sabraski simply couldn't catch the fast Dusty Bitzan, who won the feature. Sabraski faded back to third behind Brady Gerdes and I am told Adams won the Modified National Championship, as well as the national Rookie of the Year in the Modified class.

By the way, Adams also didn't make it back in time to Fergus to run the Midwest Mod feature either. But what a cool thing for both teams to try.

All that said, regardless of how it affected the plans of Jensen and Adams, the best move of the weekend was promoter Chris Stepan moving I-94’s events ahead by two hours on Saturday. It started raining during the Hornet feature but they soldiered on to the finish. Without the two hour head start, we would have been deep into the “meat” of the feature races.

Racing started right at 3 p.m. and the nine B features were run off rapidly. Two more drivers showed up to tail feature races who didn’t race on Friday, thus making the total car count for the weekend 250 drivers, a great showing without question.

B feature racing was costly for Ben Wolden and Joel Bennett, who were both disqualified in their Late Models. Wolden's night was likely saved by the fact he won the Gen X feature and the $2,000 top prize later.

It was an extremely windy day and evening, likely caused by the front moving toward us, carrying the rain. Track prep was a real challenge but I thought they did an exceptional job, with only the Gen X cars probably having to deal with some “locked-down” conditions.

My pick for the best race of the night was the Late Model feature. While there were only three official lead changes, there were likely several more throughout the laps; the battles for position right behind the leader were excellent also. Both nights the Late Models shined and the track provided them plenty of passing room and grooves to run in. It was just top-notch racing by the Late Model crew. There was only one yellow flag in the 40-lap race, yet Dave Mass came from 18th to second, Cole Schill from 22nd to fifth, and Sam Mars from 15th to sixth.

Dustin Strand, after battling with TPO back and forth, finally grabbed the lead for good on lap 30. Gunner Frank also put on a show and for a period of time, seemed like he was going to steal the race.

In the crucial Modified feature Sabraski needed to win, Bitzan was in charge and in a different time zone than the rest of the field. It took him only one lap to pass Brandon Dolman and after that, he was gone. It reminded me of the Fallen Lineman race at Alexandria, where he dominated the field at the same level.

After three early spins, the last 21 laps ran nonstop and only three drivers failed to finish the race.

While Sabraski had his ups and downs, including not winning the Modified feature and losing the motor in his Late Model earlier in the weekend on Friday, he did dominate the Super Stocks, winning feature races on both Friday and Saturday.

Saturday he led every lap, but the first half of the race was tough. Dexton Koch nearly moved past a time or two until Sabraski gradually pulled away, with the last 21 laps going green.

Levi Randt got the jump on Cole Greseth in the Street Stock feature and after that, he controlled the race. Despite three yellows, Randt pulled away on every green and he was not challenged the rest of the way. Randt is another talented high school racer and will soon trade in his driver's suit for a pair of goalie skates as hockey season begins.

For the longest time, it appeared veteran driver Scott Tofte might win the Midwest Mod feature race. He fought off Memphis Klassen a number of times to retain the lead but yellow flags were his ultimate downfall.

Klassen got under Tofte a number of times but each time Tofte held on, running a higher lane on the track. However, his car seemed to get loose on him, with Klassen continuing to put on the pressure, while Jake Smith lay in waiting.

Sometimes it seems Smith sits back and bides his time, not wanting to heat up his tires too soon, perhaps. But when he decides it’s time to go, he does. A lap-12 yellow for a spin bunched up the field and back on green, Smith drove by both and took over the top spot. And after that, they were battling for second as Smith pulled away.

Klassen edged past during the last few laps to get second, while Tofte settled for third.

The Klassen brothers, with Malachi getting fifth, are perhaps the most improved drivers around, making great strides as this season has progressed. Also, Kevin Yeager as been a late season surprise with several strong rides, a fourth this weekend among them.

Conditions were interesting for the Hornets, as they rounded out the schedule. There was light rain starting to fall but with front wheel drive, they were best equipped to handle the challenging conditions and their feature was completed, rain or not.

Jeff Rohner dominated the action, leading from start to finish and was never challenged. There was all sort of action going on behind him, however. Drivers were spinning and sliding in all directions but they did a good job of keeping their cars running and the race under the green.

Rohner won by nearly a full straightaway over the pack that was just about halved by the time the checkered waved. Christian Kast was awarded second when apparent second-place finisher Chase Pourrier was disqualified. It was a rough weekend for Pourrier, who was also DQ'd following racing action on Friday night and had to start 22nd on Saturday with the same result unfortunately.

It was an excellent way to complete the WISSOTA racing season. Crowds were good both nights and FYE appears to have found a solid home for their last special event of the year, after battling the weather for years at Gondik and finally throwing in the towel on that event.

Thanks to the FYE crew, Don Shaw and his entire staff. Sadly, Shaw tells me that there is no winter racing in Arizona scheduled for the WISSOTA-style cars in 2026, something that we and all the drivers who attended the last couple of years will miss.

In other racing news, Bob Heffner, a Rice Lake Speedway Hall of Fame inductee in 2014, has been picked for the Rice Lake Sports Hall of Fame. Heffner, who passed away in 2021, was the longtime sports editor of the Rice Lake Chronotype and covered racing at the track, along with all types of other sporting events, for more than 30 years.

Cliff Bolin passed away on September 27. Bolin was involved in racing for decades as a car owner and mechanic, and had the dubious distinction of losing two brothers to the sport when both Dale and Bob were killed at the race track during the tumultous 1960s era. Cliff Bolin was 92.