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Thursday, June 19

Thursday night racing returned June 19 to Grand Rapids Speedway. After a special Saturday night show last week, officials at Grand Rapids had a quick turnaround.

They caught a break with the weather Thursday, as the storms that were predicted to hit in the late afternoon never happened. The atmospheric cap didn't break and instead, they were left with a sunny, warm and humid night for racing.

Everyone was feeling a “warm fuzzy” after the very successful show last Saturday, and that momentum continued on Thursday. The track benefited from being the only racing action on the Iron Range for the second straight week - the car count was very good again, with nearly 90 cars in the five WISSOTA classes, and more than 100 total cars jammed into the pit area. Those classes that were especially impressive included the Hornets, with 22 on hand, and the Super Stocks, which were represented by 19.

The special event for the evening was a Mid Mod special paying $1,000 to win, and there were 23 of them signed in.

After five years away from the sport, it was good to see Dean Eggebraaten back in the Mid Mod again. He didn't waste much time finding victory lane, having already won a feature race this year at Bemidji.

Racing started right as advertised at 6:30 p.m. and the heats moved along quickly. The yellow flag only waved twice throughout 15 qualifying events.

The Mid Mods were the first feature on the program and they were very well behaved, especially given the extra money on the line. In fact, they went from green to checkered without a single yellow flag and also produced a good race.

Michael Blevins led from start to finish to take the win, but there was plenty of good battling back and forth both for the lead and for positions right behind him.

While Blevins was scored the leader of all laps, he was very close to being passed a couple of times by Paul Ripley. Ripley was one of the few drivers making the second lane work and it was a hard task; however, slowly but surely he gained ground on Mervin Castle and Blevins. As he started to have some success out there, a few others like Blake Adams and David Simpson also moved to that line with varying degrees of success.

Ripley was just about to make a pass for the lead when they caught lapped traffic. He had to hold his charge and dropped lower on the track to clear the slower cars. Something seemed to change just then, whether his car changed or his tires either got too hot or wore out. His time up front was at an end as he slowly started to sink back into the field, eventually getting nipped for third on the last corner by Adams.

With the pressure off, Blevins then drove on to victory over Castle. Only four drivers didn't finish the race.

Shane Sabraski was on hand Thursday, so it was again time to fire up the feature win meter and see where that landed. On Thursday night, it went up by two; he won the Super Stock and Modified main events.

Tristan LaBarge got the jump on the green and Sabraski remained close behind in the Super Stock feature, seemingly testing the waters to see where and when he could execute a pass. It came on lap nine - when LaBarge got just a bit wide off turn four, Sabraski was right there to duck to his inside and take over the point.

From then on, it was no contest. Sabraski enlarged his lead to a full straightaway over the field and cruised home. LaBarge and Austin Blom had a nice battle for second, with LaBarge winning out.

Things were much more tenuous in the Modified feature. Although Sabraski led all laps, he was under the gun, primarily from Kaden Blaeser. Blaeser had found a groove no one else seemed to be able to make work, including Sabraski. Typically here, the fast line ends up being up against the tree line in turns one and two, and right on the inside tires in turns three and four. However, Blaeser was making the second lane work in turns three and four and he was able to stay right with Sabraski. He even appeared to be ready to drive around him on that end.

So Sabraski was having to work hard and when he got into traffic, a near-disaster occurred when a slower car dropped into his line in turn one, when Sabraski was already committed. They hit hard, side to side.

Everyone was waiting to see if there was damage and sure enough, it appeared that Sabraski's right rear was losing air. Luckily for him, there were only a few laps left and he babied the car home, driving a distinctly different line than he had earlier. He was able to hold off Blaeser, who also seemed to have lost a bit of zip from earlier in the race.

Austin Carlson made a late-race pass on Jake Smith to win the Pure Stock feature. Smith had led from the start, but Carlson closed in on him. Following a late spin by a car multiple laps behind who had already been in the pits once, Carlson was able to take advantage of the late break and drove past Smith for the win. A likely disgruntled Smith settled for second with Dustin Puffe third.

The Hornets wrapped up the night with a big field of drivers and an abrupt finish, I’m assuming was caused by the track curfew. Brady Fosso started on the pole and took the early lead, but then Tristan McLynn moved up and was able to drive past him into the top spot. Two yellows for spins kept the field bunched and on the green, Fosso was able to edge past McLynn again to take over the lead, before the two started racing side by side once again.

They came to the line racing wheel to wheel when suddenly, out of nowhere, the white flag was being displayed. A glance at the time piece showed it was 10 p.m. and apparently, they are under orders to be done by 10 p.m., or else.

The last-lap race to the line was epic and when Fosso (La Ti Do) moved McLynn nearly up and off the track, he was able to score the victory. McLynn fought to keep his car on the track and finished second. Easton Pfeiffer finished a close third. Unfortunately, the Hornets got only six laps completed in their main event before they were gonged.

It ended up being a very nice delegation of fans to watch the show. Grand Rapids seems to be on a roll right now and we hope it continues.

Friday, June 20

Red Cedar Speedway was back in action Friday, and the heat wave was just starting. It made for a warm night for racing in west central Wisconsin.

It was Kid's Night and like other tracks' experience, it is one of the biggest of the year. Lots of families came early to register for a multitude of prizes being given away, and they used the time to go out on the track and visit with the drivers, and to see the race cars up close.

Red Cedar does a nice job of allowing this to happen, while sticking to their tight schedule because of Menomonie’s city curfew.

The first green flag dropped right at 7 p.m.

Six classes were in action on Friday, four of which were sanctioned; the Street Stocks had the night off. However, the car counts were strong, and perhaps surprisingly so for what was just a regular night of racing. Twenty-three a piece in the Late Model and Mid Mod class signed in, and there were good numbers in the Super Stocks and Modifieds as well.

Every once in a while, first-time or unexpected drivers show up to race, making things extra interesting. Such was the case this Friday in the Late Model class. Making their first appearances here and for some, their first appearances of the year, were Cody Emmans, Gavin Tarras, Mike Prochnow, Dan Bargender, Cory Seckerson and Zach Drews.

Emmans did some Super Stock and Limited Late Model racing, but I believe this is the first time he raced as a Late Model at Red Cedar.

Tarras has now graduated and his high school responsibilities are over so he is ready to go racing for the summer. He will attend a JuCo in the Twin Cities this fall to work on his baseball skills, with the hopes of moving on to a D1 baseball program in the future.

Prochnow and family are always busy with their spring planting and he usually gets a late start to the season, made even later this year by all the rainouts.

Bargender just got his new MB out and Friday was his maiden run. I noted that while he is still running an MB, he is part of the KME program this year as well. Seckerson appeared with what looked like a brand-new car just completed. It had no wrap nor sponsors on the car and while they arrived late and left early, the fact J.R. Haley was with them makes me think that they just got a new car from J.R.

Drews has raced everything from Modifieds to Limited Late Models and has lived in central Wisconsin, the Twin Cities and Duluth over the years. His home right now is listed in Ringle, where he is originally from. Hopefully I will run into him again soon to get some updates.

I heard an interesting story before the races that speaks to the awful and violent weather that we have been dealing with for the last few weeks. A private test session was held at another track just yesterday, with about 10 race cars and teams in attendance. However, just as they were ready to begin, a very isolated and violent storm blew in and before the teams could get most of the race cars back in “their boxes,” it cut loose with hail so bad that it piled up deep just like snow. Most of the race cars suffered body damage and many of the trailers and toters had heavy hail damage. The “storm chasers” who repair hail damage were soon upon them.

Despite the best efforts of management to keep the show moving, the number of heats with six classes racing and some other breaks in action that occurred led to a time crunch that we have seen oh, too many times over the years at Red Cedar. The six feature races had to have laps cut to fit the time schedule. As it played out, one of those was the best feature race of the night - the Modified feature. As long as the Late Models, who typically go off last, start their feature race by 10:30 p.m., they have a half hour to get their main event done. That usually isn't a problem, but for some of those classes that come before that, they tend to get squeezed.

The Modified feature was playing out to be a dandy, but it was cut short. Early on, things were testy for the Modifieds. It was an interesting starting field for sure. Teenagers Kaden Blaeser, Kennedy Swan and Blake Adams were all in the front two rows, with “Father Time” Mike Anderson the only adult among the young front-runners.

Swan and Blaeser, who attend the same high school, are both strong-willed people and competitive in the same sport they love. Tonight it didn't play well on the track. After they started side by side on the front row, the slide jobs went back and forth in turns two and four, with Blaeser hooking Swan as they raced off turn four up against the wall. Swan ended up in the frontstretch wall and was off the pace headed into turn one; Swan's new car was tweaked and she was done. Blaeser was sent to the back and he wasn't happy, and that left Anderson and Adams to battle it out for the win.

Anderson was having some severe handling problems and was “walking his car” around the corners, but he knows how to make the best of a poor handling car. Meanwhile Adams continued to challenge, but wasn't able to make a winning pass.

The last five laps were shaping up to be a barnburner and then, out of nowhere, the white flag was waved, cutting five laps to fit the Late Models in for their feature. What a bummer for those of us looking for a dynamic finish. However, Anderson was due for a win as he has been struggling a bit with his new car.

The Late Models also produced a tight finish to their main. James Giossi, who has been very good here this year, pulled out another late-race win. Prochnow was making his first run of the year at Red Cedar a good one, as he blasted away from Giossi on the green and built up a big lead early. The Late Models tend to run a lot of nonstop mains here and in clean air, Prochnow was taking advantage of that to pull away by a substantial margin.

However, Giossi and Ashley Anderson, who moved into third, both started cutting into that lead gradually. Prochnow did not make any big mistake, but slowly and surely, Giossi moved back into contention and caught him as the race laps ran down. And with just two laps to go, Giossi drove under Prochnow in turn one to take over the lead and he lengthened it during the final two laps to take his third win of the year here. Prochnow held off Anderson for second with Jake Redetzke and Darrell Nelson also in the top five.

The Super Stock feature also ran off nonstop and Jesse Redetzke provided a beat down of his competition to take a telling victory. He started in the front row and the only driver able to stay with him was Avery Anderson. However, just before the halfway point of the race, Anderson's car made a big banging noise coming down the front chute and he was done.

Redetzke didn't back off however, and built up a full straightaway lead over the field on his way to the win. Andrew Davis, fresh back at the track after his marriage last weekend, finished second with Adam Pratt getting perhaps his best finish ever in the Super Stocks for third.

Another drubbing was provided in the Mid Mod feature where Shadow Kitchner, who has “owned” this track in 2025, drove to another dominating win. Brady Larson got the jump on him at the start and led the first two laps, but Kitchner then picked up the pace and drove right past Larson, disappearing into the Dunn County sunset. There was just one yellow in this race near the halfway point; Kitchner then resumed his big lead when racing returned. Nick Koehler, another driver in the middle of a big year, came from deeper in the pack to nearly nip Larson for second.

It’s clear it’s just very difficult to run a six-division program here successfully, unless everything clicks just right. The curfew looms large. And, if the field of cars is big, sometimes that isn't even possible. That might be a consideration when setting the racing schedule for 2026.

Saturday, June 21

Saturday night, June 21 will long be remembered as one of the most sweltering nights ever at the race track. Some tracks were forced to cancel due to wet grounds from the heavy, but spotty rains, the heat, and/or storm damage.

For those who chose to race, it was a matter of dealing with the elements for both the competitors and fans. I chose to head to the Ogilvie Raceway where they were running a nice variety of classes, plus the DRC Street Stock Tour was also in action.

Track management at the Big O should be congratulated for their assistance in making their customers, the fans, feel as comfortable as possible despite the oppressive heat. They opened their doors early so fans could sit in the AC before the racing started. One of the biggest draws, I would guess, about this track is that their large building, fitted with TVs to monitor the races, offers both AC for when it is hot and heat for when it is chilly in the early spring and late fall.

They also passed out frozen treats to the fans, free of charge. They do a very good job of trying to keep everyone happy and comfortable.

One of the neatest things they have going now is what they call the “Splash Zone.” Promoter Nate Fischer comes down the frontstretch with the water truck, points the water up toward the grandstands and the kids - and sometimes adults, especially on a night like this - line up against the fence and get sprayed with nice cool water as he drives by. They have turned what was an accidental occurrence into a neat tradition. On a hot night like Saturday, it felt pretty darn good I'm guessing. Hopefully they are using nice clean well water, and not some of that murky stuff I've seen some tracks pull out of ponds and back water rivers. Yuk!

R.J. “At the Speedway” Salstrom was the substitute announcer for Saturday, as regular announcer Scott Tiefs was watching his daughter running in the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth on Saturday. It was good to get to chat with him; I have not yet been to Princeton Speedway this year, where he works regularly, sharing the mic with Chris Kolstad.

I also caught up with one of the late-arriving drivers from Friday at Red Cedar - Zack Drews. It turns out he is now living back in central Wisconsin, having left the professional fire fighting business to return to help run the family well drilling business. One of the reasons he left firefighting was so that he could race more, but he finds the family business booming so it’s still difficult to find time to race.

He took his MB that he raced as a Limited Late Model and had Mars convert it over to a full Late Model. He hopes to be able to get to races both on the western side of the state and also in eastern Wisconsin. He expressed frustration that things like tire rules are different, thus making for more tire prep work for a small family team. He said he knew that when he decided to go Late Model racing, however. His goal this weekend was to get laps and get more comfortable with the race car. I would say that his goal was accomplished, as he got two hard nights of racing in without any incidents.

Jake Smith had a debut run with his new Mid Mod, after his other car was destroyed in a crash at another track.

It is also getting to that time of the year when bodies are starting to look a bit rough, and Denis Czech displayed fine new fresh tin on his Super Stock.

It was good to see Chris Wark back in action. This was the first time I saw him race since the big wreck at Rice Lake during the Fastlane event. That means the only driver who has not returned to the track is Eric Olson, but to be fair, Rice Lake has fallen to rain now two weeks straight and he may be ready, just unable to race due to the cancellations.

Wark, by the way, had one of his finest runs of the year, finishing a strong third in the Super Stock feature.

The featured attraction of the evening was the Street Stock main event, part of the DRC.tv Street Stock Tour. A fine field of 30 drivers signed in to race in the Street Stock event, which was whittled down to 24 to start their main event.

This race featured some spectacular racing, and a lot of passing and three-wide racing. It ended on a sour note with a big crash on the last lap that certainly wrecked one of the contenders and left a bad taste for many.

By my unofficial calculations, there were at least seven “official” lead changes, with many more happening each lap among four different drivers. The yellow waved seven times during the 25-lap feature and that was too much. But, when they were able to keep racing under the green, the racing was great.

Nick Traynor led early, but was passed by Andrew Hanson. He then led briefly until he was passed by Kyle Dykhoff, who was then passed by Jim Gullikson. At the halfway point of the race, Gullikson was saved by the yellow flag or he would have lost the lead again.

During lap 19, Hanson got back in front but then Gullikson passed him back, only to have Cody Kummer take the lead on lap 21. Gullikson then passed him back one lap later to retake the lead. You get the drift. They were swapping the top five positions continually and it was very exciting.

However, with everything on the line on the last lap and Gullikson leading by the slimmest of margins, Hanson and Kummer got together; Hanson was moved up into the wall on the back chute. He climbed the wall and started doing a series of violent barrel rolls with car parts strewn in all directions. It was one of the hardest flips I’ve seen in quite some time and something no one wanted to see.

The race was red flagged for the wellbeing of Hanson. The car ended up sitting on its roof and the safety crew rolled it back over gently. Hanson was able to get out on his own from one of the worst wrecks I’ve seen in some time.

If anyone had to endure such a crash, it was probably better that it be Andrew. I remember him to be one of the toughest running backs in the history of Northwestern High School in Wisconsin and he is still built like “The Hulk.” If anyone can take it, he can.

There was some momentary confusion over the official running order, since the crash happened on the last lap. The race was scored complete to the white flag with Gullikson getting the win. There was some confusion over the running order after that but Hanson was deemed to not be at fault and he was able to walk to victory lane and accept the award for finishing second. Dykhoff was scored third. It was a great race and a shame that it had to end such as it did under such a cloud.

Friday night at the Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Shane Sabraski entered all three of his cars in racing action and came home with zero feature wins. This does not happen often to the prolific feature winner. So they must have spent some extra time on Saturday getting everything all tuned up and the results showed it; he won not one, not two, but three feature races on Saturday at the Big O, including a KME Late Model feature over a strong field on entrants.

Adam Ayotte took the initial lead in the Late Model feature but it took Sabraksi just three laps to drive around him and take over the top spot. In what turned out to be a nonstop main event, Sabraski then drove away from the field to earn the win, with no challenges to him once he took over the top spot. John Kaanta and Ayotte had a good battle for second, with Ayotte prevailing for one of his best runs of the season.

In the Modified feature, Sabraski started on the pole and then led all the way, with the race stopped just once for a slowing car that triggered the yellow. Ryan Gierke raced second for much of the race but Jody Bellefeuille raced his way up from fifth to pass Gierke and stay relatively close to Sabraski - but never close enough to provide a challenge.

Max Nelson led the opening four laps of the Super Stock feature while Sabraski sized him up and decided what kind of move he needed to make to pass him. Turn four on the inside proved to be the winning formula as he drove under Max, and then led the rest of the way for his third feature win of the night. Nelson and Wark followed him in the finishing order.

Winning three features during a race program is a tremendous accomplishment, but Sabraski has done it so many times it has become almost “old hat.” The significance of it is really quite astounding, however. His feature win total is now nearing 1,000 and for any driver to keep producing the numbers he does is remarkable.

Landyn Randt continues his “breakout” year in the Mid Mods with another feature win. He led from start to finish with a comfortable margin for much of the contest. Jason VandeKamp was starting to cut into his lead late in the race, but it was not to the concerning point until a yellow occurred with just three laps to go.

However, Randt was sharp on the restart and anticipated the slide job that was coming; when VandeKamp executed it, Randt crossed him over just as he should, drove away from Vandy, and raced on for the win. VandeKamp settled for second with Wyatt Boyum finishing third.

Other than on the Iron Range, is anyone getting what I would call decent numbers in the Hornet class? Saturday night there were only seven at the Big O and I don't believe they have been getting many more for any of their shows. Tony Jensen led from start to finish to take the win over Brady Fosso and Bobie Arnes. A last-lap encounter led to a driver being DQ'd and Nathaniel Kinne scraping what was left of his Hornet off the backstretch wall.

It was a challenge keeping the track in decent racing shape given the conditions, and Nate Fischer was a busy guy on the water wagon. It didn't help that the wind was in the wrong direction, but they managed to keep the dust down for the fans as best they could. I thought the crowd was also not bad given the conditions.

I also like the free program that they pass out to the fans that has the point standings and promotes upcoming events.

***

In a sad update, track management, fans and most everyone from the city of Rice Lake, Wisconsin is mourning the passing of Maxine Smith this week at the age of 90. Maxine, along with her husband Don and son-in-law Dale Bisonette and his family, owned and operated Rice Lake Speedway for more than 10 years before they sold the track to Adams-Hansen Inc.

When they bought the track, they essentially saved it from the wrecking ball as the club that owned and ran the track for four decades was disbanding. If they hadn't stepped in and purchased the track, it likely would have been sold to real estate interests and the speedway dissolved.

Maxine was also known by just about everyone in Rice Lake, as she owned and operated Maxine's Family Restaurant for 37 years and it was long-known as the best place in Rice Lake for breakfast. Her grandson Bryan, who also worked at the race track and raced himself for some years, now owns and operates the restaurant. She is also survived by her husband Don, a Rice Lake Speedway Hall of Fame member, her son-in-law Dale, who also raced and then ran the speedway, and grandson Jamie, who was a racer and now works for Mars Race Cars.