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Saturday, May 24

The family of the driver involved in the medical emergency at Rice Lake is now reporting publicly what occurred Saturday night, May 24. The person involved in the emergency was Mid Mod driver C.J. Hedges. He had just finished fifth in the feature race and was reportedly very happy to have made the top five.

After getting out of his car in the tech building, he began feeling dizzy and then just dropped over, right behind his race car. Track officials, the medical team, and passersby all helped move the race cars so the ambulance could get to him. The on-track medical team, along with several other units that were called, were on the scene quickly.

Fortunately, Rice Lake Speedway is one of those tracks that has an ambulance at the track 100 percent of the time; for monetary reasons and staffing shortages, many tracks do not have an ambulance on scene and just rely on paramedics on-site. One of the first things co-owner Kolby Kiehl told me when they took over ownership was that there would be an ambulance at the track from start to finish of the race program.

It is also handy the speedway is only about a mile from a first-class hospital facility. As reported by Ashley Hedges, via social media, C.J. was life-flighted to Marshfield for further treatment, which continued as of Monday. He was reportedly awake and alert and talking with doctors and family. They then transferred him from the Marshfield ICU to a regular room, and he has been up and moving around while they wait for more information on the results of the testing. He is anxious to go home but they need more answers at this time.

I'm sure the family would apprecate all good thoughts from the racing public.

Sunday, May 25

On Sunday, May 25, I attended the third and final night of the Mod Nationals, first presented way back in 2005. The event has had different formats over the years at different venues, but it has always been one of the higher paying Modified races for WISSOTA drivers. This year the Mods raced for $2,500 to win each night, with support classes including the Super Stocks, Mid Mods, Mod Fours and Hornets. This year's event was set up as three separate but equal shows, with bonuses offered for repeat success over the weekend.

For the first time in many years, FYE officials weren't fighting the weather. It was a spectacular Memorial Day weekend and Sunday remained a fine night to complete the event.

We were happy to hear the troublesome sound system and speakers were finally working. From our seats, we could plainly hear announcer Scott Tiefs, something that we hadn't been able to do during our last few visits.

We were pleased to run into longtime WISSOTA corporate legal counsel Gerald Brandenhoff in the pits before the show. While he doesn't get to as many races as he did at one time, he still likes to come to the special events; Ogilvie is one of his favorites. He also has a special fondness for Joey Jensen and follows his progress. And, Sunday turned into one of Jensen’s best nights in quite some time.

Not surprisingly, the Mid Mods had the largest field of drivers, with a pair of B-features necessary. In the other classes, all drivers on hand made the main, with passing points setting the starting grids for the feature.

A new tradition has likely been started here at the Big O for this race. It could be considered WISSOTA's version of the milk chugging in victory lane at the Indy 500. Drivers Sunday received Mod Nationals “Mo Juice” in victory lane which they could chug, savor or perhaps, pour all over their pit crews — their choice.

There were several top story lines Sunday, including the aforementioned big evening for Jensen. Clayton Wagamon was also making an attempt to sweep the Modified weekend tripleheader, worth $2,500 in bonus money from Superior Fuel Company. And finally, it was another Mod Nationals win for Shane Sabraski.

It was also a dominating performance by five drivers. There was actually only one pass for the lead in five feature races, although there was certainly a wild finish in the Modifieds that could count as several passes.

The Super Stock feature had the only official lead change of the night. James Trantina led the opening lap, and then he was passed by Jensen — who then disappeared into the Minnesota dusk.

Third-starter Dexton Koch and 10th-starter Shane Sabraski were both moving forward and this led to an eventual battle for second between the two. They ended up tangling in turn three. This call proved to be a difficult one and it took several minutes before the final verdict was rendered. Officials chose to send both drivers to the back, a decision that gave fans and I’m guessing the drivers much “to chew” about.

Jensen continued his domination of the event, driving on to the unchallenged victory with Trantina finishing second. Koch pulled off after several laps, but Sabraski laid back his ears and drove back to the front, taking third on the final lap from Dylan Nelson.

Jensen barely had time to jump out of one car and into his Mid Mod but the result was the same, another dominating victory. This one came from the pole, and he led all 25 laps. Cole Boston chased Jensen for a number of laps, with Lucas Rodin and Jake Smith eventually becoming part of the battle for second.

With just a single yellow coming after 20 laps were completed, there was plenty of traffic for Jensen to steer through. He did an excellent job, however, and never let the pack close up to him. The lone yellow set up a five-lap sprint and while Jensen got away, things got wild for second, with slide jobs breaking out left and right. Rodin held off Smith, Boston and Ryan Savoy for the win. Only four drivers in the 25-car field failed to finish the race.

The Modifieds readied for their $2,500 feature, with 26 taking the green flag. Sabraski sat on the pole and his lead was secure for most of the race, until a late yellow when things got wild. Sabraski motored away from the field early, after Jody Bellefeuille slowed while challenging him. Sabraski then built up a good-sized lead.

Clayton Wagamon was looking to grab the three-win bonus, following his two wins earlier in the weekend. After he started seventh, he skillfully worked his way forward and eventually, after a tough battle, got by Jeremy Nelson for second and then set off after Sabraski.

With a long period of green flag racing, Wagamon was able to cut the gap some, but then the two titans kind of jockeyed back and forth. First one, and then the other gained ground while they experimented with different lanes around the track.

A final yellow for Dave Cain, who broke while in the top five, set up a wild finish. Wagamon threw a slider on Sabraski to gain the lead and then Sabraski repaid the move, crossing him over. Meanwhile Nelson made a hard charge as the “wild card” on the low side of the track. Sabraski blocked the slider on the final lap and Nelson covered the low side, allowing Sabraski and Nelson to hold off Wagamon and cancel out any “sweeping” thoughts.

Aaron Johnson, who does not run with this crowd very often, had a great race himself. He came from 19th to finish fourth, and Landon Atkinson rounded out the top five. The win was Sabraski's 18th feature win in Mod Nationals action, surely a record for the event.

Rowan Tramm scored another Mod Four feature win, leading all 20 laps to take the top prize. Dustin Holtquist slipped back some but then drove back up to finish second. Blake Hawker hedged out Bob Holtquist for third.

The Hornets forgot to show up in any numbers this weekend. Tony Jenson led from start to finish in that race, opening a lead of a full straightaway over Bobie Arnes and Randy Jacoboski; only six cars took the green.

Thanks to FYE and the “The Big O” employees for their efforts during the grueling weekend of racing.

Monday, May 26

One of the long-standing racing traditions in WISSOTA is the Memorial Day season opener at Madison Speedway in western Minnesota.

Troy Hoyles remains in charge of things at Madison and does the track prep. Just like any track for opening night, no matter what the date, the folks in charge are always a bit nervous about how the track will behave. There has been some new material added to the track and the smoothness of the track was a concern. As it turned out, that was not a factor and the track seemed to race quite well.

Memorial Day evening was the Rollie Roth Memorial opener. Seven classes of racing were in action, and five of those were WISSOTA sanctioned. There were 82 cars in those classes. The Mid Mods and Street Stock fields were particularly well represented.

Brian Haben said he has a new SSR Modified for 2025, but due to the unusual weather this year, he has raced the car only twice, both times at Fiesta City. He later finished a strong second in that main event.

I noted that Sophie Anderson has moved to the Mid Mods, Jason Anderson moved from the Mods to the Mid Mods, Kenny Richards has left the Streets for the Supers, Justin VanEps has moved from the Mid Mods to the Mods, Taylor Garberich has also moved to the Mods, and Levi Schellberg returned to the Street Stocks.

Despite a late rush of drivers, likely due to the fact many had already raced multiple times during the holiday weekend, they started right on time at 6 p.m.

Due to several issues, the heats took more than two hours to complete. The logistics of how the track is forced to line up cars affects their timing — with cars inside and outside the infield, due to the space made available to the group by the fairgrounds, this can add delays to the program. The track also needed water. There is really nothing that can be done about either issue.

One way this timing might be amended this season is to run heat races that are larger than six cars. On such a large track, it’s probably not necessary to run just six-car heats, and combining cars into larger qualifying events would likely not hurt anything.

On a good note, the features clicked off much more quickly, and there were not a lot of yellow flags that bogged down the mains.

Of the five main events, three were dominated by one driver, leading all laps as they drove to feature wins. However, the other two were wildly surprising, with some late-race happenings in both that really changed the course of the event.

Let's start with the more sedate of main events. Josh Long started on the outside pole for the Street Stock feature and he led from start to finish. He built up a big lead, which gradually started to become reduced as he fought through traffic. Kyle Bertram and Mike Jans were having a dandy battle for second, after they started alongside each other in row three. But, with just six laps to go, they came together while fighting for position and both ground to a halt. Bertram left with a flat tire and Jans went back to second.

One more late yellow put the pressure on Long, but he fought off both Jans and ninth-starter Levi Randt to get the win. Bertram was the only driver to not finish the event.

Levi’s older brother Landyn, who just graduated from Siren High School in Wisconsin last week, started on the pole for the Mid Mod feature and he dusted the competition, at one point leading by nearly a half lap. The race got off to a shaky start when Sophie Anderson pushed up the track, triggering a multi-car mess on the back chute that eliminated a couple cars.

While Randt was cruising up front, there was an excellent battle for second. Late in the race Ryan Flaten outdueled Tommy Nichols, Terry Reilly and Scott Tofte to hold down second.

It proved to be a great night for Flaten; not only did he finish second in the Mid Mods, but he ran away with the feature win in the Modifieds. He got the jump on Haben at the start and that's how they ran. Haben was able to close up a little, but Flaten was still very much in control. This race had just one early yellow flag and during this event, it appeared the drivers were starting to line up in the one fast lane that was developing. Nate Heinrich finished third.

Now for those races with surprise finishes. Trevor Nelson took the early lead in the Super Stock feature and generally speaking, once he is in front there is usually no catching him. That appeared to be the case for at least the first half of the Super Stock main.

However, his car seemed to start getting loose on him and he was skidding around in the corners on a black and slick track. Zach Schultz was coming on strong and as Nelson fought to get through some slower traffic, Schultz was right there to challenge. Nelson got too high in turn two and hammered the wall several times, allowing Schultz to get past him and take over the lead, while dropping his spoiler and some body pieces on the back chute.

The yellow flew and for a second, it appeared Nelson had caught the largest of breaks; he was returned to the lead. However, when the green flag flew, both front-runners were shocked when Andrew Hedtke surged up alongside both of them, drove through the middle of the track, and took over the lead with just a lap to go.

Schultz was unable to regain the point and it was quite the surprising finish as Hedtke took the win. Things really went south for Nelson following the restart. He had no bite in the corners whatsoever and dropped all the way back to fifth.

The evening concluded with the “half the cylinders and twice the fun” Hornets, who also produced a surprising finish. Jeff Rohner started on the pole and he immediately left the rest of the field in his wake, as he built up a full straightaway lead over the pack.

And then it happened. Rohner was going down the back chute and it appeared he mistook the lack of speed of the car he was trying to lap for the second time. Instead of going around that slower car, he instead went right through it, spinning it into the guardrail on the inside of the track.

More often than not, in a situation like this, the slower car will be blamed for the caution, even though they were doing nothing wrong and weren’t in the way. So I was impressed they sent Rohner to the back for causing the yellow, which was totally his doing. Even the announcer was confused as to just what was happening.

Now with the lead bestowed upon Brayden Begalka, he held off challenges from Adam VanDerostyne and Christian Kast to take the win. Rohner could only get back up to eighth.

Thursday, May 29

The fourth 2025 Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series race was held on Thursday night, May 29 at KRA Speedway in Willmar, Minnesota. It was the first of four straight nights of racing for the series. All four tracks are fairly close, so the travel distance is not too bad.

Along with the Late Models, WISSOTA-sanctioned Street Stocks and Super Stocks were also racing.

KRA has been put in a tough spot this week. Due to rain, they were not able to get a show in until Thursday. Opening night can be challenging in terms of track preparation, and of course, it’s not ideal to have weekly classes have the night off for the “season opener,” but that’s the way the weather and schedule worked out.

While the track was a bit challenging with some bumps and loose spots in the corners, it was still raceable. The grader was sent out at intermission to smooth out things and that is seldom seen here otherwise.

Improvements to the facility included a fully closed-in booth for announcer Ron Krog and the scorers, with A/C and heat so their experience will be more enjoyable.

I was happy to run into a staple of KRA racing — Pastor Paul McCullough, who was “working the pits” tending to his racing flock. As usual, he gave the opening blessing and led the congregation in the singing of the national anthem. I missed seeing Ron Krog, but the other half of the long-standing duo at KRA was calling the action once again.

Only 18 Late Models signed in to race for $3,000 to win on Thursday, while 22 of them were on hand at Ada for a NLRA show that paid less. Some things just can't be explained. One thing I do know is that the Late Model drivers from the NLRA territory do a much better job of supporting racing in their area. Some day that fact is going to come home to roost with Late Models east of that territory!

The only surprise in the Late Model field was the appearance of Chase Alves. Now from Sioux Falls, he entered the Late Model ranks last year after moving here from the West Coast, having previously raced Sport Mods in the IMCA ranks. He was also a track promoter in South Dakota, but gave that up this year.

His night on Thursday was not a good one, as he was the first driver out of the main event.

Following a couple hard crashes, Don Shaw is back out with a different car. It is actually the former Casey Meyer-driven Victory chassis they have been trying to sell for quite some time. It is the same kind and age chassis that Josh Zimpel is running so successfully as of late. Shaw says you don't always need the newest chassis to still be fast. Interestingly, the car also houses a 525 crate motor, which Shaw says work best in these cars.

The track was very fast early on, with Cole Searing setting a new track record in qualifying at 15.966 seconds. Then later, Kevin Eder tied that record, right down to the nearest thousandth of a second.

Zach Johnson put himself behind the eight ball early by hammering the wall and not getting a qualifying lap. He got the car fixed but started from the back in the heat, and it was tough moving forward after that.

As far as the feature race itself went, Searing led all 40 laps to get the win — although it wasn't nearly as easy as that might sound. He never gained much separation from the pack and with the track conditions, hitting bumps and losing time and space were a constant danger.

Dave Mass was an early challenger, and then Eder got to second and rode close behind. Mass returned to second by the halfway point, as those two swapped the spot at least three times.

Near the end of the race, Searing caught traffic, running in the same line, and it was challenging to pass on the outside. As he rode behind that car with the laps running down, both Mass and Eder closed up on him, with Mass poking a nose under the leader on the final lap in turn one. Searing fought him off, sealed the low groove on the final corner and held on for a close win.

Shane Sabraski and Jeff Provinzino fought back and forth for fourth, even though this kind of track was not the forte of either; Sabraski got the spot.

The Street Stock field at these central and western Minnesota tracks is a strong one, both in quality and numbers. Eighteen signed in to race Thursday. Throw in travelers like Kolton Brauer and Trey Hess, who both seem destined to set new records for traveling this year, and the Street Stock field is a tough one.

Both Hess and Brauer raced in Thunder Bay Wednesday and headed to Willmar Thursday. Where they decided to go the rest of the weekend was anyone’s guess, although Hess talked about heading back out to Montana to race for a $1,000-to-win Street Stock event out there!

I also chatted with Justin Vogel, who is finally out with his new Street Stock, a car he built over the winter. Being so busy with work and life, he just had the time to finish up. He reported his opening race went pretty well but he has some steering issues to work out and a balky rack.

The Street Stock feature ended up being a dandy. Brauer and Vogel fought it out, right to the finish. Brauer started on the pole and officially led all laps but Vogel, just as you would expect, was pounding the cushion as he worked his way up from the second row.

Lapped traffic made the finish even wilder, but Brauer was able to hold off Vogel’s charge by less than a car length at the line in what was an excellent race. Zach Flickinger finished a strong third and only two cars failed to finish. It was report by Krog that Brauer’s win was his seventh of the season already.

The Super Stocks wrapped up the evening and with Sabraski on the pole, it was to absolutely no one’s surprise he ended up in victory lane. However, the first half of the race was dicey. Zach Schultz, who also looked strong at Madison last week, put the pressure on Sabraski. Sabraski seemed to be driving carefully to avoid the bumps low in the corner. He was riding higher on the track, which was smoother but not as fast of a line and Schultz hung right with him.

It looked like Dexton Koch was going to make it a three-car battle, as he moved up from the fourth row until an unfortunate incident in turn four, where Koch's car came around in traffic. Travis Scott and Eric Martini piled into him very hard, with substantial damage done to all three cars. All involved left the track.

After that Sabraski picked up the pace on the restart, he gradually pulled away and won easily over Schultz and Shawn Fernkes.

All racing was completed before 10:30 p.m. and it was a nice-sized opening night group of spectators on hand.

Friday, May 30

The Structural Building WISSOTA Challenge Series moved about an hour southwest from Willmar on Friday, May 30, with an appearance at Fiesta City Speedway, in Montevideo, Minnesota.

Along with the Late Models, WISSOTA-sanctioned Super Stocks, Midwest Mods and Street Stocks were also in racing action.

The heat is starting to build here on the prairies of western Minnesota. Along with humidity and the smoke down from the Canada fires, the sky had a hazy appearance.

Those who know my game plan know that when I am out on the road, I often stop at a safe haven to do work and hang out — and that haven is a local public library. It’s a quiet and peaceful environment, good internet conductivity, air conditioning for the summer heat and clean restrooms.

I did make a short stop in Monte on my way to the track on Friday and as I walked in, I observed one of the employees wearing a John Seitz T-shirt. Turns out it was Chad Adamson, who is one of the announcers at the speedway. He informed me he has been working at the library for 29 years. We spent a few minutes talking racing before he continued about his duties.

Thursday night was a pretty easy night for the Late Models. There were no big wrecks or mechanical breakdowns. Twenty-four drivers were on hand, perfect for three full heat races. Drivers also had a surprise when they signed in at Fiesta; all drivers get in free, with no payment required for wristbands for the drivers.

“Woodtick” Dennis reported he put in his first night at his new Thursday-night venture, Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon. Although, the track’s first race was its traditional Memorial Day show this past weekend.

Local driver Jordan Tollakson was quickest overall at 16.112 seconds. John Kaanta and Zach Johnson topped the other two groups, with the track slowing down by more than one second from the first to the third group.

Heats were rather benign except for Kyle Jensen, who pounded the first turn wall during his qualifier and ended his night early.

There were eventually three different leaders in the Late Model main event. Jeff Provinzino made a great start, ducking from inside of the second row to sneak by the front-row starters of Johnson and Dave Mass to lead the opening lap. However, Mass was on the move and by lap four he had driven past Provo to take over the top spot.

The first yellow flew with six laps complete as Lee Grosz and Chase Alves both stalled on the back chute. There were some significant developments during that yellow, as two drivers running in the top four also broke. Provo was done with a broken driveshaft while Joel Bennett pitted, eventually returning to the track a lap later before finally pulling off.

Mass continued to lead with Sabraski now moving into second but Mass was setting a hot pace and maintained a considerable advantage over Sabraski. Tollakson was on the move, passing both Scott Ward and Johnson into third by the halfway point of the race, and Jayson Good also moved his way forward.

Mass continued to show the way as he began to work through lapped traffic. With about 15 to go, either Sabraski found a faster line or Mass started to slow — but either way, Sabraski was quickly reeling in the leader. He made a couple attempts to pass and then, with just nine laps to go, was able to blow past Mass down the back chute and once in front, he pulled away, not giving Mass a chance to return the favor.

Sabraski continued to extend his lead right to Brian Riedemann’s checkered flag. Tollakson finished a strong third while Good got past Johnson in the late going for fourth.

This race had the highest attrition of the week to that point, with a collision in turn two eliminating Jon Tollakson, John Kaanta and Morgan Ward Grosz early in the contest. At the finish, only nine drivers were on the lead lap. Mass continues to run strongly and it seems only a matter of time before he visits victory lane as the winner, not the runner-up.

In some unfortunate news, Cole Searing was struggling with not feeling well both Thursday and Friday. Though he won on Thursday, Friday he just kind of rode around the track, not showing the drive and fire he usually has, and settled for eighth. After the show, he was sent to the emergency room for appendix removal. This will certainly put him on the sidelines for the rest of the weekend and take away any chances he had of winning the Challenge Series title. He had been leading by four going into Friday’s race.

The Street Stock feature was plagued with yellow flags, with five occurring in the 20-lap race. However, all the showdowns didn't ruin a great two-car battle for the lead. Zach Flickinger grabbed the top spot from the outside pole and led early, with Kolton Brauer getting by Chris Behrens by lap eight to move into second. At this point, yellows slowed the action repeatedly, but between lap eight and 14 we saw some of the best racing of the night.

Flickinger was riding the high side of the track while Brauer was repeatedly showing a nose to the bottom of Flickinger. Lap after lap, in each corner, Brauer pressured but Flickinger continued to have just enough to hold off the Eyota driver.

Then it happened, on lap 14: Flickinger was way too high in turn one and up into the loose stuff. Brauer drove under him to take over the lead and once in front, there was no catching Brauer, as he drove on to yet another feature win. Flickinger settled for second with Cody Hatch, a former Pure Stock driver, putting on a fine run for third.

The Super Stock field was short on Friday but adding to the number was Travis Scott, who must have spent a long day in the shop fixing his car after the grinding crash at KRA on Thursday. He was the last car into the pits but was rewarded with a fourth-place finish in the race.

For Sabraski, it was no sweat as he climbed out of his Late Model after 40 laps, literally sprinted to his Super Stock parked down the pit lane, jumped in and then decimated the field, winning by a full straightaway. Justin Tammen finished second but he needed field glasses to even see Sabraski in the distance.

For Sabraski, the beat goes on. His two wins Friday moved him to 14 for the season and reportedly, 965 for his career. However, it was his first Late Model win of 2025.

The Mid Mods wrapped up the evening's entertainment with another dominating performance, this time by Ryan Flaten. He started on the pole and led all 20 laps. Onyx Johnson drove his hardest to try and keep up with Flaten, but Flaten had the tall side of the track working for him and he maintained quite a comfortable lead throughout the race. Justin Bjorklund had a nice drive up through the field to finish third, with only one driver failing to complete the race.

We got quite a taste for track prep equipment on Friday, with at least three full sessions seen. But, if that is what it takes, so be it.

To the credit of the Fiesta fans, even though the Late Models ran third on the card, I would say that 90 percent stayed to watch the last two feature races run after the Late Models were done. That tells me these fans are race fans, not just Late Model fans, and they show interest in the other classes, like the Supers and Mid Mods.

Saturday, May 31

Rice Lake Speedway was back in action Saturday, May 31. WISSOTA Modifieds had the night off as the UMSS Sprint Cars brought both divisions, Winged and Traditional, to the track.

There clearly is an appetite for Sprint Car racing from the area, as a nice-sized crowd was on hand for what turned out to be one of the nicest nights of the season so far.

For it being a track points night for the other four classes, car counts were okay. As I glance around at other tracks that ran Saturday, they looked comparable. However, I didn't see anyone that was “killing it” numbers-wise and we are only at the end of May.

One wonders what things will look like come the middle of August. Every year it seems like the roster of available drivers for each track continues to shrink, with no sure-fire answers so far as to how to prevent it.

Marlene Lannet is a new name to Rice Lake Speedway fans. She is racing in the Pure Stocks and a fairly new resident of Rice Lake. A former U.P. resident, she tells me she hasn’t race for more than a decade, previously racing at TNT and Adventure Mountain in the Four Cylinder class. They bought this Pure Stock at the end of last year and while she had originally planned on racing on occasionally, she has been having so much fun it seems like it will be an every-week appearance.

The Herrman racing team only had two Street Stocks on hand on Saturday. The car that Cody Cimfl usually races was wrecked here last week and it hasn't been fixed yet. It is scheduled to go on the frame rack with Dr. Jerry Weigel for surgery, but the appointment is not scheduled until next week. However, this set-back seemed pretty minor when Cimfl drove Kevin Herrman's car to the win in the Street Stocks, his first of the season and second of his career here!

Cory Davis made his first appearance of the year, driving son Andrew's Super Stock. It seems Andrew was at a bachelor’s party on Saturday and next week, his Cameron girls track team runs at the state meet. And then there's the wedding to follow ... so the No. 20 car might be absent from the track for awhile, unless Cory decides to run it again next week. They have only one car now, having sold the car that Cory drove last year to Austin Tilton, who continues to run it at Rice Lake.

The updates on C.J. Hedges are very positive. He came home from the hospital in Marshfield on Friday and while he wanted to race on Saturday, doctors and family quickly put the nix on that. He certainly did scare the crap out of everyone at the track just one week ago.

Tonight the Midwest Modified drivers and Traditional Sprint drivers went through the stands with their helmets, raising money for C.J. Hedges and Kenny Johnson, father of Traditional Sprint driver Weston. Kenny was severely injured in a freak accident Friday night at Red Cedar Speedway. They raised just under $4,000, spurred on by announcer Ben Brost, all fans reaching deep into their pockets.

The drivers were very well behaved Saturday. They ran 12 heat races and only had one yellow. The features were nearly as smooth. Even with two sets of Sprint Cars that need pushing off for their racing, all action was completed well before 10 p.m. and the wreckers were hardly used all night.

It's strange how things work some times. When Alex Myers decided to follow his father Curt into racing, he started out in the Street Stocks and he struggled mightily. At one point he almost quit, just because he was frustrated and no good things were happening. Then he jumped into a Super Stock and the positive change was evident immediately. Now, in his second year in the class, he is one of the hottest drivers around, having won two feature races this weekend and his second straight at Rice Lake. His driving style has smoothed out remarkably, and the success come his way as a result.

In a class that has been remarkably balanced in recent memory, Nick Koehler has been destroying the Midwest Modified field here so far in 2025. Saturday night he won for the fourth time in five tries. He has been on a roll, both racing fast and also having luck working for him when it comes to the redraw. Even Koehler admitted it would have been tough to win four already if he had to start eighth or ninth under the old point average system.

At this point in the season, I will still take this method of setting up the races over the former “dogging it one week so as to start up front the next week” pattern we saw in previous years ... but that opinion is fluid, as well.

Really tough luck kept Connor Franson from winning his first-ever Street Stock feature on Saturday. He started up front and held off some tough challenges from others until there were just a few laps left. A late restart bit him when he spun his tires; this allowed Cimfl to get past him and then drive on for the win.

Franson is a second generation driver and one of the many from the Ladysmith and Rusk County area who have supported the track for literal decades. I was really hoping he could hold on for the win, but on the bright side, he now knows that he can keep up with anyone on the track.

On a more positive note, it was good to see Adam Soltis back racing this week. Soltis has put a lot of laps on this track since he started running the Pure Stocks way back, and I had been missing him so far this year. This year started off so much better than 2024. Last year he brought out a new car and had nothing but miserable luck and ended up getting into several wrecks. Saturday night he made the redraw and finished just one spot out of the top five, a substantially better start to his new season.

George Richards earned the 28th feature of his Pure Stock career at Rice Lake, second on the all time list behind Jason Havel — who now spends his time working at the track and doing track prep. Saturday night track promoter Kolby Kiehl was under the weather and others stepped forward to do much of the track prep work for him.

Courtney Rose, who made his debut for the season with his Streeter, was not as lucky as Soltis. He was crossed up on the front chute in his heat and put it into the concrete wall. It was hard enough that he didn't return for the feature race. Hopefully he didn't bend the frame.

The excitement was building for the opening round of the Fastlane Motorports Northland Super Stock Tour, which begins Thursday at Rice Lake and then moves onto Red Cedar next Friday. It is a chance for the local fans to see the best Super Stock drivers around bang heads with the locals for bragging rights.