7-14 Page 32

Sunday, July 5

The holiday weekend wrapped up Sunday, July 5 and it was a lovely day. It didn’t seem right to stay home after Proctor was weathered-out, so I made the drive to Bemidji Speedway, even though it is a four-hour run for me.

Six WISSOTA divisions raced on Sunday at Bemidji. It was the Michael Fullerton 500 night; in a special race just before intermission, Michael co-drove the Josh Berg car to victory. Bonus money was also available for the Mod Fours, Midwest Mods, Streets and Pure Stocks Sunday as a nice holiday bonus.

It was blazing hot in Bemidji on Sunday. I don’t ever remember it being close to this hot for any of my other visits to the track, and it was a challenge for the track prep crew. They spent quite a few laps adding water during the course of the show. The track wasn't dusty and the racing was similar to other visits. They did have to take the grader out at intermission, as all the rain they've had ran down the track and sat in the middle of corners, making them a bit choppy. They required a bit of attention.

Due to the track work and a bit of yellow-flag fever, it ended up being a nearly five-hour show. The track wisely uses a time limit for each feature race, and that’s a good decision. In a couple of the races Sunday, we might still be there if they hadn’t been “gonged” early.

There were a couple memorable performances during the night. Levi Randt’s last-to-first run in the Street Stocks was remarkable and it was a great night for the Carlson family, as both Austin and Dalton won main events.

Randt had bad luck in his heat race and had to start at the back of the 11-car field for the main event. Deryk Weleski was the early leader of the race. Drivers were all over the track and trading spots behind him, with plenty of metal rubbing and slide jobbing. It seemed to be a matter of positioning and timing and Randt seemed to be in the right spot throughout the event.

He made a pass on Weleski on lap 11 for the lead and then held off Cole Greseth and Weston Ramsrud for the win.

It was a busy holiday weekend for the Randt racing team, as it seems every weekend is for them. They were in Rice Lake, Wisconsin on Thursday, Fergus Falls, Minnesota on Friday, Jamestown, North Dakota on Saturday night, and finally Bemidji on Sunday. And they will do that often all summer. Levi tells me this will be his last season in a Street Stock; he's moving up to a Midwest Mod next year, while Landyn will move into the  Modifieds next year. Landyn will play hockey for Jeff Crouse again in the fall, with training camp starting Labor Day weekend.

The Mod Fours were so hyped up about the extra money they were racing for they couldn't contain their excitement; this resulted in spins, crashes and collisions and their feature hit the time limit. Ashton Schwinn led from start to finish and while his position was pretty comfortable, behind him it was crazy.

A late yellow set up a sprint to the finish and Rowan Tramm went for broke, trying to get a good start. He wasn't able to get past Schwinn, although it was close, but his start was judged to be a bit of a jump and he was docked a spot at the finish. He ended up third behind Brooke Erickson.

The Midwest Mods were just about as rough. I believe they got all their laps in, but the number of yellows mounted and pushed their limit. Jory Berg was saved by a yellow; he was passed for the lead on the opening lap, but then he did hold the top spot before he was passed by a very fast Brennan Schmidt. Schmidt then went on to lead the rest of the race for the win. Carter Matthews put on a show late as he was back in fifth at the halfway point, but when he moved up a lane to the cushion it really helped him. He picked off drivers in rapid fashion and moved up to second, but Schmidt was running that same line and Matthews had to settle for second.

The Carlsons dominated their respective classes. Austin started on the outside pole for the Super Stock feature and led every lap, not under serious challenge at any point. This was one of the few smoothly run events, with only a single yellow flag in 15 laps. Matt Sparby ran second for much of the race in only his second time back behind the wheel following shoulder surgery, until Cameron Labelle got by him late for that spot.

Sparby now has one of the most spectacular transporters I have seen, with a very distinctive look created by a graphics company in South Dakota. It is truly a one-of-a-kind rig that looks great in the pits and going up and down the highway.

Austin Carlson led from start to finish in the Pure Stock feature. Josh Bitker chased him for 12 laps but Carlson won by a comfortable margin.

Devyn Weleski led from start to finish to win the Modified feature and wrap up the long evening of racing. The Modified class is suffering in car count as of late; only five drivers signed in Sunday and one of them never made it to the track.

As always at Bemidji, the grandstand was full of fans. Some of them come late and others leave early, but they show up week after week. I don't think there are too many general race fans, as it seems like everyone in the stands has a vested interest in a driver or drivers. Everyone seems aligned with someone.

The track continues to provide a nice free program that has the points list for all classes in it. I noted that just about everyone has one and refers to it all night. The sponsors who help support that program do get their visibility with the fans. This is still something that so many tracks are missing the boat on.

I said hello to Tonja and talked for a few minutes with long-standing reporter and photographer Dennis Peterson, who was doing double duty with the regular track photographer under the weather.

Thursday, July 9

After being weathered out earlier in the season, I made my first successful visit of 2026 for Thursday night racing at KRA Speedway in Willmar, MN. It was another hot and steamy July night, although neither as hot nor steamy as it has been.

Without the hard work all day by the track crew, we might not have been racing Thursday. The Willmar area continues to get pounded by storm after storm. If you've ever been to KRA, you know the track sits at about 20 feet below sea level and any water from the nearby lake finds its way to the track and pit area. I'm told they worked all day to get the track fit for racing, but it still had a distinct difference from normal. The corners were quite choppy for the heats and a “cowboy up”mentality was needed to be successful.

After the heats, the track was bladed and it returned to its normal self, smooth and slick from top to bottom. The pits was quite the sea of mud in spots and reserved parking for Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook went unfilled on Thursday; several rigs instead opted for lakeside parking on the north end of the fairgrounds where they can't even see the track.

There were some familiar faces in familiar places on Thursday. Gene Kockelman was doing the teching, as he does here each week along with Viking on Saturdays. I always enjoy talking with Gene and getting the latest scoop on how things are going on his end of the racing scene.

Pastor Paul was an early greeter, as is his niche in life, and he still has his “$100 blessing” in effect for someone who can start 10th or worse and win a feature race. I understand he's only had to pay that off once and with the draw/redraw format, I doubt he'll have to worry again anytime soon.

I got to say hello to former driver Pee Wee Kahnau, who was walking the pits with his youngest. The 4-year-old has two Karts but Dad doesn't have a race car anymore! They were there to see their relative, Eric Lamm, race his Modified.

Four of the five racing Hedtkes were back at it after their holiday racing trip to Wisconsin last weekend, including Jay, who was on his lid at Gondik Law Speedway on July 4th.

Seven classes of cars raced Thursday night, with five WISSOTA sanctioned. As Gene had pointed out to me, car counts have been a bit of a struggle here this year and were so again on Thursday. Two of the five only had enough drivers for a single heat and 59 in all signed in. Still, the racing was good so numbers alone shouldn't be a determining factor in a successful night or not.

The Street Stock class has been and remains by far the strongest class here, as it is at several of the central and western Minnesota tracks. There were 16 on hand Thursday and quite a few capable of claiming victory. I even got to see a bonus Street Stock feature after last Thursday night's main was washed out by a quick arriving thunderstorm that ended the pre-holiday racing early.

I'm happy to report that Levi Randt, the current Street Stock national point leader, is now legal to drive on the highways of America! He passed his driver's test this week so can now drive as a probationary license holder. I wonder if he put a second seat in his Streeter and took the test in that car? Probably not, since the signal lights are out of order.

Bad luck certainly played a part in him forfeiting the first feature race for the Street Stocks and the first of the night. He started on the pole, ahead of a field that contained Keith Tourville, Justin Vogel and Mike Jans.

Randt led the first five laps of the race but was heavily pressured by both Vogel and Tourville, with Vogel making a pass for the lead on lap five. At about the same time I noted that Randt had a right front tire going flat and whether that was a factor in being passed, I'm not sure. He then quickly slowed to a halt and was done for the event.

Vogel couldn't hold off the charge of Tourville, though Vogel was temporarily saved by a yellow. Tourville again passed him just a lap later and drove on for the win. The yellow turned into a red as a grinding seven-car pileup in turn two eliminated five drivers in by far the worst wreck of the night.

The Street Stocks came back for the last race of the night for their makeup feature from last week. This time Vogel started on the pole and he led all laps to take the win. He built up a big lead early before Tourville was finally able to clear into second.

However, two late yellows saved Tourville a lot of time; each time, however, Vogel held off Tourville's challenge.

Tourville showed a lot of smoke late in the race and although he finished as runner-up, perhaps a hot engine kept him from producing his best challenge. There were a lot of hot-running motors all night.

While Levi had bad luck, older brother Landyn had no such trouble. He led from start to finish to win the Midwest Mod feature. The outside pole was the perfect spot for him and he got the jump and pulled away from the field. The best race was for second, where Jason Vejtruba held off all kind of challenges from Chance Kodet for the spot.

The Mod Four feature was also led from start to finish, as Connor Bruss held off some stiff challenges late in the race from Dustin Holtquist to take the win. Holtquist was pushing very had in the corners, trying to get under Bruss to make a pass, but Bruss ran his line and kept Holtquist behind him. This feature went nonstop.

The evening wrapped up with another pair of nonstop main events.

I had not seen Eric Martini race yet this year but he showed he still had the same kind of speed in the Super Stock he usually has. He led from start to finish and was not really challenged for the top spot. He pulled away from Karter Reents on the green and that’s the way they ran.

There was a dandy three-driver battle for third however, with Zach Schultz eventually taking the spot from Jason Hobbs ahead of Shawn Fernkes.

“The Iceman” Don Eischens cooled the rest of the Modified field, as he led from start to finish and was never challenged. Again, the best battle was for second; Brian Haben held off repeated challenges from Jacob Knapper for the spot.

With the extra feature and the long delay due to the early crash, it was close to 10:30 before the final race was history, which is a little late for them. However, the racing was good, the track was good, and it was certainly worth the trip. My search for cheaper gas prices along the way did “tank,” however.

Friday, July 10

The DRC.tv Street Stock Tour came to Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, WI on Friday night, July 10. Along with the Street Stocks, a full program was also held for the Late Models, Modifieds plus the USRA cars were also on hand for a full show.

The Street Stock Tour is a nice program and those who race it seem to enjoy it very much. A late rush set the final field at 20 for Friday’s action. One reason for the number is that few who race at Red Cedar on Fridays have ever bought into the class. Their weekly shows generally have painfully low numbers, with out-of-towners needed to boost the car count.

I also noted that several drivers who supported the tour last year were racing on Friday, but at tracks much closer to home. Likely the high cost of traveling has played a large part in their decision, as it has for many racers. Also, more and more racers are cutting back on the nights they race for the same reason.

The Streets ran three heats plus their main event and it was a decent race, marked by some close racing action. It had too many yellows, however, and it broke up the flow of the feature. The racing wasn't particularly aggressive, it just seemed there were a lot of mechanical issues.

Jeff Ekdahl took over the lead on lap seven from Cody Kummer and led the final 18 laps to take the win and the $1000 prize. He had constant pressure attacking him and he had to work his way through four yellows to get it done.

Justin Vogel was also quite a story. After coming from the back of a heat race to win it, he redrew seven for the feature but was quickly into the top five and coming forward. He was incredibly quick right on the bottom of the track. However, he spun by himself on lap five which caused Tommy Pogones to also go around.

Vogel went to the back and meanwhile Pogones, shortly after battling with the leaders, had a flat tire and was done. After Ekdahl took the lead, he had constant pressure from Nick Traynor, Kummer, Cole Richards and Shawn Amundson, among others. However, Traynor eventually broke while in a challenging position and Anderson did as well, taking Kummer out as an innocent victim.

That left it to Amundson and Vogel, who used both speed and all the yellows to get back into the mix. Ekdahl maintained a smooth line and did not let Vogel get under him while driving on for the win. Vogel, Amundson, Sam Fankhauser and Richards completed the top five in a race with five yellows.

A healthy field of 20 Late Models were signed in to race. The first half of the feature was especially interesting, as the lead was traded back and forth between Mike Prochnow and Lance Hofer. Prochnow got the jump but Hofer got past him just one lap later. He looked the best he has all season, maintaining the top spot for five more laps before Prochnow again got past him for the point. Brett Shafer was also having a good run within the top five.

Things unraveled for Hofer when he seemed to slow off turn four and A.J. Diemel got into him, thus causing John Kaanta to spin to avoid. Hofer had to go tail back and his night was pretty much done at that point.

Ashley Anderson worked his way up to second and with a clean run for the last 12 laps, he tried to catch Prochnow on a changing track. It seemed like the fast way around was jumping from top to bottom almost by the lap. However, Prochnow was just plain fast Friday and Anderson was not able to cut into his lead, settling for second with Diemel, Chad Mahder and Shafer completing the top five. Mahder was very fast the second half of the race, but started too far back to be a factor.

Club president Johnny Johnson, who also does the victory lane interviews, got the “Poke the Bear” award for a couple of his questions to Prochnow. If you were listening to the interview, you know what I mean.

The first half of the Modified feature was a dynamite race. Kennedy Swan and Mike Anderson exchanged the lead three times and in between, they raced side by side around the track. If you know those teams at all, you know they are connected at the hip. Racing so close between the two of them is both exciting and also nerve wracking.

The driver on the move who broke up their fun was Shane Halopka. He started seventh but quickly moved into contention and was getting great drive coming off the corners on the low side of the track. He split Anderson and Swan and on lap 12, drove past Swan to take over the lead. Once in front, he quickly stretched his margin and was in control the rest of the way to take the win ahead of Swan and Anderson.

Shortly after 9:30 pm the final checkered waved on what was another hot and steamy night in west central Wisconsin. Not so nice for the fans, but really great weather for a dirt track.

Saturday, July 11

A couple of interesting news items came out of Rice Lake Speedway this week.

For the first time ever in the 32 year history of this race, speedway management has signed a long-term sponsorship agreement for this race. St. Croix Casino, with locations in Turtle Lake, Hertel and Danbury, has signed on as the title sponsor of this race and the sponsorship will be for at least the next five years through the 2030 season.

This sponsorship has allowed the track to make a dramatic increase in the start money and for other finishing positions during the program. The feature field will be increased to 27 starters and most importantly, every starter will be guaranteed $750 just to start the race.

Also, the newly renamed Last Chance race will start 24 drivers instead of 16, like it has in the past. Everyone who takes the green for that race will be guaranteed $300 to start. There will also be Long Tow awards and Hard Charger awards that will be cash bonuses also.

As has been the case in previous years, the Street Stocks will race in a stand-alone event, with no other classes racing that night. There will be double heat races and passing points used to set the field.

The top 50 drivers or so will receive a minimum of $300 just to sign in and race, a significant increase and certainly an appealing bonus for anyone thinking about racing this event.

Much of this has been done to try and keep the car count strong.

Events of this year concerning Street Stock numbers, particularly on the eastern side of WISSOTA, have been a looming issue. If this race is to continue and flourish, it needs a full field of drivers on hand.

If you have a Street Stock, this is a race you better show up for. You'll be rewarded for just showing up like few races all year, particularly the Street Stocks.

Another interesting item that happened this week was the changing of the start time for weekly Saturday night races from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. until further notice.

Interestingly, I just had an animated conversation with a car owner on this very subject a week or so ago. I was cool about it but the owner was rather “lathered up,” shall we say. He did raise some valid points, though, and apparently track management took his and others’ suggestion to heart. This week we backed up the start time by one hour.

With the intense heat of summer and sun blazing down on the track, the track prep crew has been doing a good job of presenting a good, racy track for the drivers by feature time. However, there have been a few nights when things started a bit sketchy for the heats until the groove was widened out and passing became easier. With the heats so important as far as racing into a redraw feature spot, they’re not just a “warm-up” event.

I must admit that once I got used to it, I really liked the early start time and the early conclusion to the racing. Those early finishes gave me time to do other things before calling Saturdays a night. The track crew will now be challenged to produce the three-hour programs they delivered earlier in the season. Any time after 10 p.m. for a finish may not play well with fans and racers. I'm sure management will be monitoring what, if any, change the different start time plays in crowd attendance, and what they see and what kind of feedback they get from both competitors and spectators.

It is a hard balancing act but if that extra hour helps produce a good racing surface from start to finish, I can handle the later start time.

On a night that was so hot and humid that many would have liked to just stay indoors in front of the AC, a decent-sized crowd and acceptable field of drivers raced at Rice Lake Speedway. The special attraction on Saturday was the DRC.tv Street Stock Tour once again.

Twenty-three drivers were on hand to race the event and the Streeters put on a good show. It could have been so much better if they would have eliminated all the yellow flags, which broke up the race and prevented any kind of flow. It seemed like it was just that kind of night though, as some of the other features had the same problem.

You can’t blame the track, which was in good shape despite the high temperatures. Some folks were just driving a bit too hard and there was not much give and take Saturday—it was mostly just take.

The Street Stocks ran hard, as they all know it is just a few weeks until the Little Dream. With the recent announcements about purse increases and other bonuses, everyone wants to make sure they have their “A” game going for the big show and this was one of the last chances to tune on their cars for that night.

Nick Traynor showed his versatility as he jumped into one of the Herrman Farms cars for this weekend, but a different car than the one he drove earlier this year. He came from behind to make a late pass and get Saturday night's win.

The car he drove was the one Jenna Herrman has yet to get into this year, while Traynor still waits for a motor for his own car.

There are so many drivers in this class who are about equal, that a race’s results often depend often on who starts where and what the track conditions are and who they favor. Kyle Dykhoff showed he will be fast on the cushion for the upcoming race, as he went from fifth to runner-up in the last five laps Saturday. Justin Vogel was up there both nights, too, but didn't finish either night. Bad draws hampered his efforts.

Just based on the even competition and the large number of drivers fully capable of winning, the Little Dream should be a dandy race once again.

D'nae Rose is out for a couple weeks with an elbow injury suffered in a race a couple weeks ago at Gondik Law. She tried to fight through the injury but just made it worse and now she is in a sling for a couple weeks with doctor’s orders not to race. Instead Courtney broke out the Street Stock, which he drove. Whether he stays in that car or someone else drives it for the Little Dream remains to be seen.

The speedway took a moment to honor Gary Ladd, a former driver and car owner at the track who passed away this week. Andy Ladd was racing on Saturday and got by far his best finish of the season in his Super Stock, as he came home fifth.

Andrew Davis has been missing from the local racing scene for the past couple of weeks or so, but I guess he deserves a “hall pass” as he would give his kids at school. Indiana Grace Davis is now a part of the family, having arrived on June 27 to Kaylynn and Andrew at 12:18 a.m. Andrew ran well on Saturday but probably wasn't pleased when he lost second on a one-lap dash to the finish in the feature race.

Bryan Hessler was also missing this week but I ran into him at another track in another part of the state this week. He is on vacation, camping on Lake Superior in northern Michigan, but still thinking about missing a weekend of racing.

Tucker Quinn was back in action for the first time in 2026 with his Super Stock. It was so new that it had just a taped-on number. He had to have been happy with his first outing as he got second on that last-lap sprint ahead of Davis.

The biggest surprise by far was the return of Scott Duval and Mike Goodremote to racing. Duval, a longtime racer, car owner and former track owner and promoter, broke out his last Modified for Saturday. The car is a conglomeration that he pieced together using parts of various kinds of chassis. Since he can't drive due to back problems, he put the legendary Mike Goodremote behind the wheel. Mike, who is a Hall of Famer and raced Super Stocks, Modifieds and Late Models, hasn't been behind the wheel of a Modified since 2008—until they took a few practice laps down the street on Friday night. Of course, the car was Mopar-powered using a motor that perhaps might have been three decades old or more. Despite a few handling problems and perhaps a bit of rust to knock off, they finished seventh in their first feature race. The car is scheduled to get a wrap this week, as long as they were satisfied enough with its performance to try it again next week.

On hand to see the maiden run was Duval’s former car owner Darrell Moe, himself a Mopar man of long standing. Of course Moe was wearing a Mopar shirt! Goodremote had quite a fan following for his first racing adventure in a long time. Former car owner Paul Gilberts was in the crowd, along with most of the No. 12 pit crew and a number of family members.

Josh Cappo missed his first race of the year last week but he returned on Saturday, driving a different car, which was the former Robert Holmstrom Super Stock.

As far as the start time change discussed previously, I guess the results are still on hold. The track seemed very racy for the heat races but I'm not sure Saturday was a true test, since it was so humid. The one fear of a later finishing time was somewhat justified, as it was 10:30 p.m. by the time the final checkered waved. That isn’t bad, but not like I was getting used to. The program could have moved along a bit quicker if there weren't so many yellow flags in the features. It was “one of those nights.”

Ryan Olson felt really good about winning the Super Stock feature, his second of the year. He counts it as his first, having inherited the first one earlier this year when the apparent winner was disqualified for a violation. He was taking no chances on Saturday as he dominated the race from start to finish.

There were some new faces up front with Quinn, Mickey Anderson and Ladd all having their best runs of 2026.

Sunday, July 12

It was another hot one on Sunday, July 12. Both Proctor Speedway and Bemidji Speedway cancelled their shows due to extreme heat. How ironic that by far the coldest track in all of WISSOTA (Proctor) would cancel their program because it was too hot!

In any event, even though they knew it was going to be a sizzler, Granite City Motor Park went ahead with its show on Sunday. I would have to say that comparing their turnout of drivers relative to what other tracks were pulling in this weekend, they came out pretty well.

With conditions like they were, it was a real challenge for the track prep crew to try and produce a track capable of racing.

The track was very slow and slick for the heats but smooth, and after some extensive work on it following the Meet the Driver activities, it was sped up for the features. While it turned a bit top-side dominant, it was more than okay, given the conditions. For sure the track prep crew earned their money Sunday.

A fan favorite and crowd favorite for that matter, James Trantina III turned the water truck on the crowd who lined the fence while they were redoing the track. They gave everyone willing a good shower of good old track water, which they seemed to enjoy. Trantina had the pressure turned up higher though, and his water burst nearly reached all the way to the grandstands. I considered joining them, but then thought better of it.

Since my last visit it seemed like a lot of new fence was put in at the track. You can look into the pits now and see how many and who is present for racers. It looks nice.

While the track didn’t seem to race much differently than any other Sunday night, for whatever reason and probably just a strange set of circumstances, six of the seven feature race winners all took the lead of their respective features, and then led all laps of their mains.

In fact, the only race that had a lead change, the Late Model feature, actually came after the checkered flag was waved! Confused? Yes, I am as well. But more on that later.

Braedyn Fleck started on the pole for the Street feature and led all 15 laps of what was a nonstop main event. Levi Randt and Tommy Pogones chased him but neither was able to cut into his early lead. He drove a solid race with no mistakes to take the win. It was a special one for him, as it was his first feature win at Granite City, the track he claims as his home track. He had quite a crew of folks who came down to help him celebrate.

The Midwest Modified feature ran off much the same way. Landyn Randt started on the outside pole and then led all 15 laps to get the win in that class. Jake Hagemann had a good run that produced a solid second-place finish. Blake Adams got the passing award, coming from seventh to third at the finish.

Randt scored the win with a different powerplant under the hood, having blown a motor just as he crossed the finish line as a winner on Friday at I-94. The Randt team thanked Zach Benson for the use of his facility to change the motor and Clayton Wagamon for running the motor up to them.

Dustin Holtquist wasted no time showing who was going to be the fastest Mod Four driver of the night. Even though he started the feature in the second row, by the time the first lap was completed, he passed both Connor Bruss and Dean Larson and grabbed the lead. He pulled away from the pack in another nonstop program and even Bruss, who has been running strongly as of late, couldn't cut into his lead. Bruss settled for second with Chad Erlandson finishing third.

Sabraski on the pole of any race is like a wet blanket over the competition. And, while that probably would have felt good Sunday, the rest of the drivers don't like seeing that happen. Such was the case in the Modified feature, where he started on the pole and led all laps. This race did have a couple of yellow flags which allowed Blake Adams and Joseph Thomas to exchange a number of slide jobs as they battled for second. Out front, that allowed Sabraski to pull away even farther from them.

It was the first time I saw Mark Blood race in quite some time and he had a nice top-five run going with his SSR car until a mechanical issue caused him to drop out.

In a conversation with Adams before the races, he tells me he will soon be getting his first chance to race a Late Model. Cory Crapser has a pair of Rocket chassis cars and offered one up for Adams to drive. They will be testing soon, with the first scheduled race for him the Structural Building Challenge Series race at Red Cedar Speedway.

A very small field of Hornets were led to green by Will Lange and he pulled away from the field for an easy win over Austin Jacobson.

Sabraski started on the outside pole for the Super Stock feature, and he drove away from the field, again in a nonstop main event. Dexton Koch, who started eighth, really pick up the pace in the second half of this race as he drove all the way up to second. He got by Tommy Richards late in the going for that spot.

The Late Model feature will probably be the race that everyone remembers from Sunday, and probably not for a good reason. There was certainly plenty of racing action in it but the outcome is what most will be talking about.

Blake Boelens took the early lead from the outside pole and actually was scored the leader of all 20 laps. Boelens had to endure two ill-conceived slide jobs, either of which could have wrecked him. The track was prone for that kind of move on Sunday but neither driver who attempted such a move had the space to pull it off cleanly.

The first attempt ended with Boelens car bashed up along the driver’s side door and right rear, but to his credit, he made his own return slider to take back the lead. The other competitor eventually fell out with a flat tire caused by his over aggressiveness.

A second attempt ended with another driver banging off the side of Boelens’ car.

Boelens fought off attempts from both Sabraski and Dave Mass in the closing nine laps, and Boelens crossed the line as the winner. However, almost immediately, even before Boelens could head to tech and the scale, which is outside the track, it was announced he was disqualified for not wearing drivers’ gloves. Sabraski appeared from behind the billboards and drove to victory lane.

Most of the crowd was quite stunned and I think many didn't even comprehend what was going on.

A few key points, if you will. First, Boelens should have been wearing gloves if he wasn't. He is not a new driver and knows the routine.

Secondly, we all know there have been multiple instances over the years when tech men have issued warnings instead of DQs, especially over commonsense issues. It appeared this disqualification was made before Boelens ever got to tech.

And finally, if the driver was discovered to have been in violation of the rules, during the race—which appears to be the case in this situation—he should not have been allowed to continue to race where he could have affected the eventual outcome. He was disqualified over a safety issue, which is what not having gloves on is; so, why was he allowed to continue racing?

It was a bad deal all the way around. Sabraski earns yet another three peat, but this one should be followed with an asterisk.

The final checkered waved at just after 10 p.m. with the temperature still pushing 80 degrees!