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It has been very nice to see so many Canadian drivers on hand, with another nice group of them racing on Saturday. They bring some quality equipment with them, race hard and they have such a good attitude about things. They’re just happy to be at the track and racing. I will guess their numbers will start to fade now that more of the northern tracks are getting their seasons started, but it was good to have them racing in increased numbers this year.

Lance Schilling, from Laporte, MN, was among the new entrants. Lance is originally from the central Wisconsin area and used to race Super Stocks here on occasion back in the day. His brother Luke also raced back then, in the Modified class.

Lance debuted a new Mastersbilt Modified that came directly from Tater in Indiana. When Jay McDonald retired, Schilling went to them for his new car. He informs me there are also a few others racing them this year, mostly from the Emo area with Davis Racing. He still uses B&B Engines, a name most prominent for building asphalt Late Model motors.

Rick Simpson is very happy with his new Super Stock, a TRC by 1M in Cameron. He has raced it three times so far, with two runner-up finishes. He was again in the running tonight until some bad luck hit.

Among some of the other first-timers on hand Saturday, Jake Hiatt was debuting a new MB Modified, and Riley Matthews was running a Longhorn chassis. Tyler Vernon, coming off a spectacular year in 2025, had himself a fine looking new stacker trailer with a pair of SSR chassis on board for both open-wheel classes.

A couple of Street Stock drivers broke out for their season debuts in advance of the DRC tour, which starts next week. Nick Traynor didn't want to race his own car so he borrowed one of the Herrman Farms cars to race on Saturday. Meanwhile, Cody Kummer's debut was a dandy one, as he led all the way to get his first feature race win of 2026.

I thought Saturday night's races to be the best of the year so far, with very exciting action and tense racing. Much of that has to do with track prep, and I thought the track to be at its best as well. The track was smooth, wide and—looking at the charges made by several drivers—it was clear there was plenty of passing.

And it came on a night that I would have thought to be the toughest night of the year for prep. It was sunny, warm and very breezy. We have not had rain in quite some time, so the under surface must be very dry and yet, the track was excellent. I don't have the names of all who work on the track, but they all did a fine job.

I certainly thought the Midwest Modified feature was the best race at the track so far this year. A full field of drivers managed to run the whole race with just one early and minor yellow. The rest of the race went green to checkered and there was great back-and-forth racing. Three different leaders held the point and the slide jobs among Blake Adams, David Simpson and Brady Larson were entertaining. There was plenty of slower traffic to navigate through and their moves through the pack were entertaining. Adams came from the fifth row to take the eventual win, and that takes some doing with the lineup format now used.

Close behind the Midwest Mods was the Super Stock feature, which had just as much battling among the entrants but was bogged down slightly by several yellow flags. There were numerous times when the drivers were three and four wide coming out of the corners, no exaggeration here; a large clump of drivers just couldn't seem to break away from each other.

Winner Leslie Leu started in the fifth row and won, while Alex Myers was the fastest driver on the track. He charged all the way up from 14th to battle for the lead until he had too good of a run off turn four and accidently turned the leader, sending him to the back of the pack.

While their finishes won't reflect it, congratulations to both Mickey Anderson and Jim Cimfl for their best runs in a long time. Neither of their issues in the tech shed made them any faster, they just drove great races and I hope to see them back again soon.

The Modified A-main also featured an excellent three-car battle, and Adams held on for the win in that race as well. Matt Leer had the run of the race; he started eighth and used the cushion to pass driver after driver. He was just about ready to make the move on Adams for the lead when the lone yellow waved for debris on the track.

Perhaps Adams changed his line after, or Leer's tires cooled or something, but he didn't quite have the same edge he had previous to the yellow flag. He had to race hard to repass Mike Anderson, which gave him no chance to catch Adams.

The Pure Stocks wrapped up the night with a good battle in “The Bash,” which featured three different leaders before Mark Barta took control at just past the halfway point. Speaking of charges, what about the run by Simon Wahlstrom? He came from 20th to second in the A-main!

He had to start in the back of the feature after a technical issue with a heat race tire, but he just worked his way through the pack. With the first yellow not waving until lap 13, he had to pass a bunch of drivers under racing conditions.

He got to Barta's rear bumper with five laps to go but Barta drove a smooth last few laps, didn't get rattled and never gave Wahlstrom an opening.

For Barta, it was his third-ever feature win at Rice Lake for the second-year driver.

Best of all, the final checkered waved at 9:37 p.m. I think both fans and racers are starting to enjoy the good track conditions and early finishes to the evening, with all shows so far this year done before 10 p.m.

Next Saturday night is one of the season highlights, as its Kids’ Night. No one gives away more bikes to the kids than they do at Rice Lake. Everyone will have the opportunity to go down to the track and visit with the drivers, collect pictures and get a treat from the many drivers sporting various food items.