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Wednesday, July 16

An open show for Stock Cars was held on Wednesday, July 16 at Huset's Speedway in Brandon, SD. Paying $3,000 to the winner, the WISSOTA Street Stocks were invited to participate, though I figured the participation would be few. It’s like bringing a knife to a gunfight to run straight up against Stock Cars.

Of course, I was totally wrong in my prediction and was stunned when 15 Street Stock drivers showed up to enter the competition. Most of the drivers entered were from either South Dakota or western Minnesota, but Dylan Baskin proved there is just a bit of “crazy” in him and his crew — they drove all the way from Arkansaw, Wisconsin, being Red Cedar regulars, to run this race.

WISSOTA drivers made up almost a third of the field, and included: Matt Goth, Andy Rossow, Jace Baloun, Baskin, Maria Broksieck, Spence Pollock, Ferlin Sheridan, Michael Brockman, Josh Long, Chris Behrens, Ethan Beckler, Kenny Clements, Dale Louwagie, Clifford Hauser and Grady Myers.

Thanks to the weather, the track was a mess. Several WISSOTA drivers did very well, however, with eight of the fifteen making the main event. Three of the WISSOTA drivers ended up finishing in the top 10 of the 30-lap feature, which was a marathon with nine yellows.

Broksieck drove a very smart and clean race as she finished the highest of the WISSOTA contingent, starting 16th and making a last-lap pass to finish fifth. Goth finished seventh and Pollard 10th to complete the top finishers.

Sheridan Ferlin may have been the star of the show. His 1957 Chevy was the classic of the field and he ran very well for most of the night. He redrew the pole for the feature and was hanging in with the leaders, but was roughed up a couple times by some of the brutal driving and eventually retired to the safety of the infield. By the way, thanks Ferlin for the “hero card.”

All can now say they had the experience of racing at Huset's, certainly one of the unique tracks in the Midwest.

Friday, July 18

On Friday, July 18, I made my first run of 2025 to Princeton Speedway in Princeton, Minnesota. This is a two-hour drive straight west for me, but on a Friday during the vacation season, it is always a bit more challenging. Fortunately for me, most of the traffic is coming east as folks evacuate their surroundings there and instead head for the fresh air of Wisconsin for the weekend.

On tap at Princeton were the USMTS Modifieds and the five WISSOTA classes that race weekly at Princeton.

Pretty good fields signed in for all five classes, with a few surprises mixed in for fun. There were about 15 WISSOTA Modified drivers that joined the USMTS Modifieds for their show. Most were Princeton regulars, but there were also a few who traveled in to race for the large purse offered for the Mods.

Dave Cain and Clayton Wagamon fared the best of the WISSOTA drivers, with both getting top-five finishes in the 40-lap feature. Bryce Sward and Joey Thomas also finished strongly in the top 10.

The track was a bit light on WISSOTA Street Stocks Friday, but those on hand still put on a good show. They had three different leaders in their main event before Tommy Pogones got up on the banking and drove past A.J. Kellar to get the win. Kellar pulled all the way down from Thunder Bay to race this weekend, and it will be interesting to see where else he opts to head in the following days.

The Super Stock feature was a very interesting race. A nice field of 18 took the green flag on the quarter mile. With defending National Champion Dexton Koch starting on the pole, it seemed everyone might be racing for second. That turned out to not be the case, though. Alex Myers raced him hard for the lead for a couple laps before he was overtaken by Austin Niemeyer, with Curt Myers also starting to move forward.

By the halfway point of the race Curt Myers had moved into second, but was a full straightaway behind Koch and had some catching up to do. Myers followed the same line used by Koch for a few laps, but wasn't gaining anything. He then tried the cushion and boy, did that line work.

He immediately began to cut into the lead that Koch held and as a double wammy to Koch, about the same time his car started to develop a bad push. This helped Myers close in even more quickly. Koch tried the high side to counter his handling issues, but that didn't help and he went back to the bottom.

Meanwhile, Myers was flying and on lap 15 he drove past Koch on the tall side of the track. He then pulled away over the last few laps for the win. Koch's issues continued as he really struggled in the final laps, and he gave up spots to both Shane Sabraski and Dylan Nelson before the finish.

The weather forecast for Princeton was not the best and a brief shower stopped the action for a few moments as the B features for the Modifieds and Mid Mods were set to roll. They were able to overcome that, but following the Super Stock feature’s conclusion, it started to rain hard and the Mid Mod, Hornet and Mod Four features were rained out. Postponed features will be announced in the near future.

The track had been in excellent shape for racing, both smooth and the groove wide.

The bad weather forecast didn't seem to have scared off the customers, with a large crowd in the grandstand contributing to a near-$1,400 split-the-pot prize. They used the weather break to hold their hot dog eating contest, which was “called” by announcer “R.J. At The Speedway” and he had good fun with that event.

It was good to see Princeton, just like Ogilvie, provides a nice point sheet for fans. I noted there were plenty of fans, particularly those not familiar with racing or new to the track, who were referring to the point sheet all night. More tracks should do this.

Thanks, as always, to the Wagamon family and promoter Nate Fischer for a good show.

Saturday, July 19

Saturday was a very big night for Ogilvie Raceway near Ogilvie, Minnesota. They were hosting the open Modifieds in a show that paid $5,000 to the feature winner, as well as the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series, which was also paying $5,000 to win. Midwest Modifieds and Mod Fours were also a part of what was a huge night of racing.

The Challenge Series was on hand after a considerable length of time off tour, and all four drivers currently locked in a tight point battle for the championship title were on hand. With half the planned races for this weekend having fallen to rain, this race at Ogilvie and the following night at Granite City grew in importance.

Thirty Late Models signed in for the race, a more than solid field. Tyler Peterson was quickest overall at 16.354 seconds in qualifying, with Cole Searing and Josh Zimpel the quickest in the other two groups. Three heats and a B feature set the field for the 40-lap main event.

Twenty-four cars started the main event after Shane Edginton had back luck and had to scratch out of the main due to engine issues. Zimpel started on the pole and quickly got away from the field, with Shane Sabraski and Searing chasing him in the early going. Tyler Peterson looked to be a factor until he spun while running third, adding to what turned out to be a frustrating night for him.

The track featured good two-lane racing, with Zimpel running well right up against the concrete and Searing and Jeff Massingill making time hugging the low line.

When the leaders caught lapped traffic, Zimpel started to have some issues working his way through the backmarkers. He had to check up a couple times, and that gave Searing his chance; he passed Zimpel with just seven laps to go in the race and looked to be home-free for the win. But things changed quickly as a slowing car triggered the last of six yellows with just three laps to go.

Zimpel went for broke on the green, going back to the cushion and driving without abandon. It worked, as he gained momentum on the top side and repassed Searing for the lead. He held on for the remainder of the race to take his first-ever Challenge Series victory and only his second feature win of 2025. Zimpel drives a Victory chassis from Moyer, hardly considered to be a hot set-up these days. I think the chassis isn't even made any more, but he makes it work.

This victory was a great one for the low budget teams out there, proving that wins can come against the newest and best tricks on the market. Searing finished a strong second while Massingill also had a strong run.

Of the starters, only four drivers failed to finish the race and despite several yellows for one-car spins, it was a relatively clean race with no big issues.

Ogilvie has a huge Midwest Mod show coming next weekend, and apparently a lot of drivers were on hand testing for that event. Forty-one Mid Mods signed in to race on Saturday. This required five heats and a pair of B features to determine the starting field.

The race itself was a blowout; Joey Jensen totally dominated the proceedings, winning by a large margin. Will Moelter led the first eight laps as Jensen looked him over for an opening. Coming out of turn two, he got to the inside of Will and then he was gone. Once in front, he was not challenged as he opened up nearly a full straightaway until a couple yellows brought the field back to him.

David Swearingen, who always runs well at Ogilvie, moved into second but even he didn't have anything for Jensen. An improving Paul Ripley fought off Parker Anderson and Jason VandeKamp for third. Anderson has just started driving one of Scott Bintz's cars, so he has brought out two new cars to race in classes in the last week. Jensen's win was reported to be his 22nd of the season, with 17 of them coming in the Mid Mod.

This race was run on a freshly prepped track after intermission, so the pace was fast and the yellows few. All but four cars in the starting grid finished the race, and the pace was such that not a single car was lapped.

After the class was dropped from the weekly program following the 2024 season, the Mod Fours got the chance to race at the Big O on Saturday. Keith Thell, recently back to racing after a period of retirement, led from start to finish to win this feature race. He was not seriously challenged once, while there was a good battle for second between Rowan Tramm and Blake Hawker; Tramm took the spot.

The open Mod series was badly understaffed Saturday, with no announcer along with other positions unfulfilled. Structural Building Challenge Series Director Chris Stepan not only ran the Late Models, he also announced for the Modified series, while Scott Tiefs, who is the regular track announcer here, did the other two classes. The PA system must have been upgraded or tuned up recently because it sounded better than it has for a long time.

For the second night in a row, a hot dog eating contest was a part of the Wagamon promotion. The crowd ate it up, for lack of better phrasing. Announcer Tiefs also called the action in this event, a first in his more than 30-year career behind the mic. I'm sure he “relished” the opportunity. No spins were recorded during this event and no black flags issued for illegal upchucking. Two tickets to the winner for an upcoming event at the track seems a little chintzy to me for risking one's intestinal system, however.

The concerns over how many Late Models would be on hand, given a large competing race just over the border, seemed to be unfounded. Thirty racers was a great field at Ogilvie, and you couldn’t fit anymore folks into the grandstands.