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Sunday, July 20

July 20 was a busy night at Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. The Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series raced the final night of what was originally supposed to be a four-night swing, but was halved by weather. Along with the Late Models, the Mod Wars series also wrapped up its three-show stint in the area, and the Mid Mods were also on the card for a full show.

There was no rain in the forecast but just like most of the summer has been, another forecast went south. It got quite cloudy and the radar even looked threatening at one point, but fortunately the precipitation dissipated.

The Challenge Series was the headliner, with the top four in points still locked in a tight battle for the lead, as schedule begins to wind itself toward the end.

There were enough cars for three heat races. The feature race turned out to be by far the best race of the night, and one of the better Late Model races I’ve seen in some time.

Several drivers who didn't race on Saturday night also joined the field on Sunday. In a somewhat surprising move, Saturday night's winner Josh Zimpel opted to try a different car on Sunday, bringing out a Rocket chassis from the stable of KME and Pat Kapella. While the car appeared to be real tight at the start of the night, it seemed to get better and better as the evening progressed.

Garrett Masurka made his Challenge Series debut; the rookie Late Model driver made laps in a Victory chassis with a 525 motor. Masurka is moving up from the Super Stock class to the Late Models. Being from Bemidji, I assume we will be seeing him racing at Grand Rapids and perhaps Grand Forks and Hibbing in the coming weeks.

Jayson Good was scheduled to race at his father's track, Casino Speedway, in Watertown, South Dakota on Sunday. When they rained out, he picked up and headed for Sauk Rapids, knowing he wasn’t going to make it in time to qualify or run a heat. The heat race he actually missed by only moments.

He was allowed to tag the back of the feature field and he made quite the advance, coming from 16th on the grid to finish fifth, which certainly made his last-minute trip worthwhile. His decision is the kind of thing that happened fairly often back in the day, but is rare today. He surely must be applauded for the effort, and he certainly helped put on a show.

Speaking of shows, the Late Model feature was a dandy and one of the best of the year. It featured Kevin Eder, Dave Mass, Shane Sabraski, Cole Searing and Billy Kendall who, along with Good, all played interesting parts in the race.

Eder led for most of the contest after starting on the pole; the first 29 laps were his. Early on, he was chased by Mass, who then started to fade back. Sabraski and Searing picked up the challenge from there.

Something that made this race even more interesting was the variety of racing lines drivers were using. Granite City has had a few issues with their corners and some of that was still apparent Sunday, but the track also offered a variety of lines to race on. Eder raced through the middle of the corners while Sabraski was hugging the inside line. Meanwhile, Searing was farther up the track.

During a long period of green flag racing, Sabraski gradually closed in on Eder, before Kendall also became a factor. Kendall went to the cushion and immediately picked up speed, passing Searing and then closing to make it a three-car battle.

Eventually, Sabraski drove past Eder on the inside with just 11 laps left and that move was quickly followed by the second yellow of the race. Kendall then continued his charge, making the high side work as he closed in on Sabraski. Sabraski started moving up the track, as he presumably sought to take away Kendall's line, but then Kendall dropped to that inside line Sabraski had used earlier.

With five laps to go, Kendall eased past Sabraski on the inside and the two drivers fought for the win. Interestingly, each was in the exact opposite line of the track they had used to make their moves earlier.

Sabraski edged back in front on lap 38, but Kendall was right beside him — and they raced side by side right to the finish. Sabraski got just enough of a run off the top on the final corner to edge out Kendall by .202 seconds, or perhaps half a car length, in a dandy finish. Eder had to settle for third after leading so many laps, a bitter pill to swallow. Searing and Good completed the top five.

Sabraski continues to roll, collecting his 30th total feature win of the year among the three classes he races. As of Sunday, he was at 981 career wins and it seems likely he will break the 1,000-win barrier before 2025 is over. That’s an almost insane number of wins, particularly considering Sabraski still has the potential for many years of racing left ahead.

It was surprising that with more than 40 Midwest Mods just down the road 40 minutes from this track 24 hours prior, only 11 signed in to race on Sunday. Landyn Randt couldn’t have cared less, as he led from start to finish to win the feature race. Stopping in at Granite on their way home after racing in South Dakota this weekend, Randt built up an early lead. Late in the race, Ryan Putnam made a charge. He ran out of laps but still made a strong drive to get to second. Jake Hagemann and David Baxter completed the top finishers.

It was good to see Baxter back on the track. I believe he made his 2025 debut on Friday at Red Cedar in his new CRC car. He and Jason Vokovan piggybacked on the trip from the Eau Claire area, along with Joe Swearingen, who was also making his first visit. If the Wisconsin cars hadn't shown up, the field would have been mighty slim.

Swearingen's racing luck, which hasn't been good all year, took another hit when he got into the wall in his heat, tearing the rear end right out of his car. Needless to say, his night was done early.

Joey Thomas was the quickest qualifier of the night in the Mod Wars portion, and he then raced home to a fine third-place finish in the Modified 40-lap feature, the highest of the WISSOTA entrants. Zach Benson also did a fine job, coming from eighth to finish a strong fourth, edging out the USMTS point leader. Sabraski had also cracked the top five before contact with a lapped car gave him a slowly deflating tire. Following a late yellow with just two laps to go, this bit him as he lost several spots in the race to the finish.

Thursday, July 24

I was happy to have the opportunity to attend Kids’ Night on Thursday, July 24 at KRA Speedway in Willmar, MN.

I must confess that I was a bit surprised KRA was racing, as they often fall victim to wet conditions when it rains as the race track. The track, the pit area and the rest of the property sit so low, and at nearly the same level as the lake across the street. It was reported the big storms just missed Willmar, skimming by the city while areas not far away experienced multiple inches of rain.

With a lot of work by the track crew, the racing surface was in good shape for racing on Thursday. The pits, meanwhile, just had some scattered wet spots. The infield, however, was another story. It was a muddy mess and that later triggered a few yellow flags that wouldn't have happened otherwise. When drivers broke or slowed, they were hesitant to pull into the infield for fear of sinking out of sight; instead, some drivers parked on the edge of the track.

Only four classes raced on Thursday, three of them under WISSOTA sanctioning. My assumption was they wanted to leave enough time for all the kids’ activities and not push the curfew. Neither Modifieds nor Mod Fours raced. They actually could have used a few more cars in the pits, as numbers were a little on the low side for some of the classes that did race.

There was one heat of Super Stocks, while the Mid Mods and Street Stocks had enough cars for a pair of heats. The Street Stocks are frequently the strongest class in this area as well.

As usual, there are always some familiar faces on hand at KRA. Pastor Paul gave the opening prayer but also broadened his duties, operating the popcorn express at night's conclusion, passing out popcorn to fans in the stands. Ron Krog was also calling the action as usual, but missed the opening bell as some technical issues kept him from jumping on until the first heat was already under speed.

I also had a nice talk with tech inspector Gene Kockelman, who works KRA among his other duties. He told me it has been a very challenging year so far, with a lot of issues with the rules, battles over the rule book and frankly, the loss of [head tech director] Billy in the off-season. Bill Engelstad’s absence has certainly been noticed a great deal. He said they're really going to have to huddle together as an organization and do a lot of off-season work.

In the Super Stock heat race on Thursday, it was one of the most bizarre races I’ve seen. Granted, they were already short on cars, with only nine taking the green. However, when the green flag dropped, polesitter Dexton Koch got away clean while the other eight cars were involved in a massive pileup right on the front chute and never even made it to the flagstand!

Only Shawn Fernkes was able to drive away from the wreck and the other seven all headed for the pits, either limping on their own or on the back of a wrecker. All three of the Hedtkes were done.

A two-car heat was held, trimmed to four laps. Later, only five cars made the grid for the feature, with some of the others suffering major damage.

The Midwest Mod feature showed promise early, with three different leaders in the first three laps of the main. Jason Vejtruba led the opening circuit but was passed by Jeff Flaten on the second lap. Then Landyn Randt moved up and got inside Flaten to take over the lead one lap later.

Those two were still battling for the top spot one lap later when Randt lost it all by himself, spun in turn one, and triggered the first yellow while sending himself to the back. After that, it was up to Flaten to fight off pretty consistent charges from Justin Bjorklund to hold on for the win. It was not easy though, as multiple yellows gave Bjorklund a number of chances to get past Flaten. He held off all challenges for the win, however. Randt, who was sporting new tin on his car for Thursday, worked his way back up through the field to finish third.

Not surprisingly, the Street Stock feature was the best, and had the closest finish of the night. With 15 cars taking the green, it was also by far the largest field for a feature race. Zach Flickinger took the early lead from the outside pole and pulled away in the early going. The third row was where the action was, as Keith Tourville and Justin Vogel were both on the charge. Vogel avoided a major wreck by getting to the infield after his car suffered a steering problem, getting out of harms way and allowing the race to continue under the green.

Tourville than made his march to the front, getting up to second by the halfway point of the race, with Coltyn Schuler, Joe Martin and Ethan Iiams trailing. Tourville began to narrow the lead considerably as the race remained under the green.

Flickinger just couldn't hold off the charge of Tourville and with just three laps to go, Tourville drove underneath Flickinger to take over the lead. The race had been going so smoothly but then, just as the white flag was ready to wave, Levi Randt slowed with overheating issues and the yellow was back out.

This bunched up the field and on the green, Schuler was directed into an infield ute tire where he spun and the yellow waved once again. For some strange reason, no one was penalized for the yellow, with the field starting just as they had the previous go-round.

As a side note, I'm seeing this happening way too often at lots of tracks. No one is penalized for yellow flags, apparently because no one wants to make a call.

I’m also seeing lots of places giving drivers a second chance on starts. The yellow waves on the first lap, but everyone gets their spot back and no one is charged. Did we change the rules and I missed the e-mail? Or did we just adapt UMP rules, where everyone gets one chance to make a ridiculously wild start to a race and if they spin on the first lap, they get their spot back to try it again?

Meanwhile, back at KRA, Tourville took off strongly again and drove on for the win over Flickinger and Iiams, who made a large charge and picked up a couple spots.

Only five cars were running for the Super Stock feature and with Koch on the pole, there were no surprises in the outcome. There was one near-miss after a yellow, with just five laps to go, when Koch didn't take off well and Zach Schultz got to his door in an attempt to make a pass for the lead. Then Koch proceeded to pull away again for an easy win ahead of Schultz and Fernkes.

There might not have been any rain but the steamy conditions of recent days continued and it was mighty toasty under the low grandstand roof at KRA. However, a tough crew of spectators showed up to watch and a lot of kids were on hand for their power wheel and bike races and giveaways. Thanks as always to the folks at KRA.

Friday, July 25

After a rainout on Thursday night, Red Cedar Speedway was back in action on Friday, July 25 with its annual fair night race held during the Dunn County Fair.

There seemed to be lots of excitement for the races this year. Drivers arrived early, the stream of haulers into the pits was steady and it was soon a very tight place to be around. With 71 drivers in the four WISSOTA-sanctioned classes, and another 39 between two nonsanctioned classes as well as 23 Vintage cars, the pits were jammed with 133 race cars and trailers. It took a shoehorn to get everyone into the pits, with the late arrivals jamming into spaces I didn't think a big trailer and toter would fit.

The pits can be a very dangerous place some nights, and this was one night you needed to keep your head on a swivel if you were walking around.

It was another hot and humid July night, and the only saving grace was the humidity; it produced a good track for racing. Several times, race cars and heavy equipment were used to pack the cushion and open up the track more.

Along with the heat and humidity, the skies were unbelievably hazy, as the smoke from Canadian wildfires hung heavy and low all day and into the night. I think I smoked the equivalent of two packs of Camel unfiltered cigs and never lit up!

Dodging haulers in the pits before the races, I learned a few interesting facts. Joe Swearingen was back with his Mid Mod after a bad wreck last Sunday at Granite City. He learned the painful lesson that the wall there just reaches out and grabs you, and once it does, it won't let go! When he drifted a bit high exiting turn four during his heat race, he hoped to just scrape the spoiler and continue. But, when the rear wheel hooked the wall, it tore the rear end right out of his car. Lesson learned, he was back out and ready to go again Friday.

I was surprised to see Cory Crapser was back out with his Late Model, having been involved in a wild wreck during racing action last weekend at another area track. Despite the fact he nearly went upside down, he reported the damage was relatively minor. The right front needed replacing, but the frame wasn't damaged and he was even able to salvage much of the body tin to reuse. He reported he was “the meat” in the crash and he was basically cushioned by other cars on both sides.

With the Little Dream coming up next Tuesday, I confirmed with him he was the youngest winner ever of the Little Dream, having won it when he was just 20 years old and then repeated the following year. He remains the only driver to ever win the prestigious Street Stock race back to back.

Though Crapser was able to return to racing Friday, another one of the victims of that crash, Sam Mars, was absent yet in the pits at Red Cedar. He and the Mars crew are still building a new car for him, after his was destroyed. He took quite a beating in that crash, possibly suffering a concussion, but is now feeling better. Sam's younger brother Taylor made his first-ever start Friday at Red Cedar in a class outside of karts, running the USRA Late Model class in the No. 428 car.

After being away from the sport for several years, Marshfield’s Mike Widmann made his return in the Mid Mod class, driving his familiar No. 119. He lives in an area of the state that no longer hosts dirt tracks; every track is a distance away from racers in that part of the state. He and Travis Anderson drove as a team when Widmann last raced, and Anderson joked tonight that there were parts on Widmann’s car that came off one of his!

Even though Doug Koski lives up on the Iron Range, he has been racing all over WISSOTA this year and you never know just when he might show up with his Super Stock. Friday he had a pretty successful night, winning a heat race before fading just a bit in the feature and running sixth. Still, he put the car on the trailer in one piece, which is always a good thing.

A few first-time drivers showed up on Friday, with at least a half dozen new faces in the Mid Mods alone, while Steve Vizer from Eau Claire made his debut for 2025 in his MB Customs WISSOTA Late Model. Vizer is an interesting story, having raced a number of years ago. He got away from the sport for an extended period of time before he returned again last year out of the blue, driving a Late Model.

Even though he lives quite a distance from Menomonie, Terran Spacek has been pulling from Phillips often this year, and the reason is obvious — he runs very well here. He started in the sixth row of the feature race but was able to track down Chad Johnson and then used a handy yellow flag to pass Johnson for the lead. He then ran away with the win, his fifth at Red Cedar this year (I believe).

Johnson was running well after taking the lead from the pole and it looked like he might have a good chance for the win, but the yellow jammed up those plans. He did finish a strong second with Jeff Eisner Jr., another driver from that “dead area” of Wisconsin — Merrill — made a nice drive forward to finish third.

Nick Koehler has already had quite the season between his successes here and at Rice Lake on Saturdays. He added to that once again, leading all laps to take the Mid Mod feature. He benefitted greatly when the polesitter jumped the opening start on two consecutive tries and was finally docked a row for the start. This gave Koehler the pole and he took full advantage of it.

He likes to ride the cushion and there was a healthy one tonight. He put his right rear up against it and off he went. Only one early yellow slowed the race and that helped him out as well.

Blake Adams made a nice drive up to second and tried to reel in Koehler, but that wasn't happening on Friday. His only chance was when Koehler hit lapped traffic and boy, there was plenty of that.

A couple of times Koehler came up on cars running three wide that he had to navigate his way through. He won the race when late in the contest, with Adams as close as he would be the whole race, he made a great move off turn four to split three slower cars with just a couple laps left, and that provided his cushion for the win.

Brandon Jensen, who also runs so well here, got to third but couldn't catch the top two Friday. With 24 of 25 starters still on the track at the finish, there were seven of them a lap down and that made life interesting for the leaders.

Bad luck hit David Baxter when he was scheduled to start fourth in the main, but had to scratch due to mechanical issues. He high-tailed it out of the pits early, I presume to work on the issue.

With a fast, wide and smooth race track, both the Modified and Late Model features ran off green to the checkered flag.

Jake Hartung used the outside pole to grab the lead in the Modified feature and he appeared to be home free for a number of laps. However, Crapser came roaring up from the third row and caught Hartung, making a pass for the lead on lap 10. But just when you thought Crapser now had the race in the bag, Hartung picked up the pace and on lap 15, he repassed Crapser for the top spot and then drove away to get the win. Shane Halopka finished third.

Another driver who has stood out all year here has been James Giossi. He has been in victory lane multiple times in the Late Models, and did so again on Friday. He was beaten on the start by Jake Redetzke, who appeared to really want to get a win Friday. However, Giossi slid him on lap two to take over the lead, and once in front and with no yellows to regroup the field, he was gone.

Redetzke did finish second, with Ashley Anderson making a nice run up from the third row to finish in third. Only two of the starting field didn't finish the race.

Despite the fact there were extra races on the program schedule on Friday, it was ironic the Late Model feature started just as it usually does, just a scant few minutes before the curfew hits — even though the curfew wasn't in effect on Friday due to the fair. Several nonstop features plus a lack of time used for track prep all helped that situation.

A good-sized crowd was on hand but it has changed from years past, when the fair race packed the grandstands. I've noted there are several other tracks that have the same situation — the fair races don't pack the stands, while there are others that do. It’s something I can’t fully explain.

Saturday, July 26

As the Street Stock Little Dream approaches, Rice Lake Speedway is getting an extra coat of paint in preparation for that race. The retaining walls around the track were painted this week and are now a dazzling white, just waiting for the speedway logo to be put on. The scoreboard received an all-new upgrade this week, and the track is now just waiting on its new jumbotron. A sandbox was put in for the kids to play in, so now I have something to do during intermission!

Sharp eyes may have noted that the track surface appears to be a slightly different color recently. That's because the racing surface is gradually being added to with new clay. Golat and Engel found some good stuff in the Weyerhaeuser area and four loads have been gently added to corners three and four, with 15 more loads piled in the infield to be applied. If the new surface adheres well with the existing dirt, even more will be applied once the racing season is over. I'm told by Kolby Kiehl that about one degree of extra banking has already emerged in the turn four area. The new clay was put on turns three and four first because fans familiar with the track know the north end of the track is the “sun field” of the speedway and tends to dry out more quickly. It’s the hope that with the new fresh clay, moisture will last longer there. New ownership here is never satisfied with the status quo; they are always looking at ways to improve and upgrade things.

The humidity helped the track remain wide and smooth and it was good for side-by-side racing.

The car count was down just a bit on Saturday, which I noted happened at several other tracks this weekend. The combination of hot, hot weather and the fact that we are getting into the “dog days” of summer — when racing budgets sometimes get tight and fall racing specials are just around the corner — all play a part in this.

There was not a lot to report from the pits pre-race, except for perhaps news from the Austin Ellis racing team. They were absent from the scene for a couple weeks after blowing an engine, but they returned Saturday not only with a new engine, but with a new race car! For the first time, Ellis will now be driving an MB Modified that was originally driven by Jake Smith a handful of nights before it went to South Dakota, where it sat and was not raced. Saturday night was a learning experience for Ellis, as his hot laps were the first laps he had driven the car in competition.

Track owner and promoter Scott Duval was on hand to watch the races. He reports that he has a new Modified, but there is question whether or not that car ever hits the track. Duval is still battling some back issues that keep him out of the cockpit and as usual, rumors continue to swirl about his involvement in getting a race track up and running once again.

The stage was set for a dramatic conclusion to the Super Stock feature. Curt Myers is currently tied with Don Drew for the all-time lead in Super Stock feature wins at the track, and could have broken the record on Saturday. He also sits at 399 feature wins and getting the 400th win is quite a milestone.

Lots of fans anticipated that might happen Saturday. However, there was one hitch — Curt's son Alex, who also wanted to win the feature. So after Curt took the lead on the opening lap of the race, Alex refused to give up the chase. He caught his dad on lap eight and the rest of the event they raced door to door, with Alex running low and Curt hammering the cushion. They took the white flag side by side and at the finish, Alex nipped Curt by .103 seconds or about a foot. It was a fantastic race and one that I'm slightly surprised played out the way it did. Alex's win tied him with Curt with three feature wins at the track so far for 2025.

Nick Koehler continues to have a banner season in the Midwest Mods. Not only did he win again on Friday night at Red Cedar, he backed it up with another win at Rice Lake on Saturday. The win, his sixth of the year at the track, makes him the driver with the most wins at the track so far for the season. If not for the week he took off to race in Wyoming, he might be the point leader in the division.

Almost as dominating as Koehler has been in the Midwest Mods, Blake Adams has done the same in the Modifieds. As an afterthought to racing in the Mid Mods again this year, Blake's success in the Mods across WISSOTA’s region has been staggering. Now the Mid Mod becomes an afterthought on some weekends, as they focus on the Modified. That was something they didn't plan on until 2026. Right now Adams leads the WISSOTA national point standings in the Modifieds, and is third in the Midwest Mods. He has 23 feature wins overall as of this writing, with a couple more shots yet this weekend. This would be a spectacular season for any driver, but for a 16 year old? Nearly unheard of. It boggles my mind how someone can be so good at their craft at such a young age.

Racing truly is a family sport in this area, be that good or bad sometimes. Saturday night with the addition of USRA Late Models, there were four Wahlstroms racing in three different classes. Bob and Tyler were battling for the lead in the Pure Stock feature, with Tyler eventually winning his first ever. Josh led the majority of the USRA feature race before setting for third, while Simon Wahlstrom and Aiden Hoffman electrified the crowd with their slide jobs in the Mods.

Father and son duo Alex and Curt Myers battled it out for the win in the Super Stocks, while the Leus, Leslie and Dylan, spent that same race fighting for third. We can't forget that we have father and son Pat and Aiden Hoffman also racing in the Mods. With the Street Stocks off the program on Saturday, we had only one Richards instead of the normal three. The two Toeppers in the Midwest Mods joined the program as well on Saturday.

Mickey Anderson's brother Travis was missing Saturday, otherwise we would have had two of them. There were no Street Stocks so we had only one Chaplin, and only one Anderson brother was on hand while the other was away racing for big bucks on the road. Throwing in the USRA cars, we had two Nelsons racing also. Wow, that’s a lot of family influence, and I hope I didn't miss out on anyone.

With the track in excellent shape and the drivers mostly behaving, it was a remarkably speedy program which no doubt, was appreciated by all who were out in the weather in the stands, the pits — and in the driving suits. The heats took 56 minutes to run off and the final checkered flag waved at 9:03 p.m., perhaps a record for a full five division program at this facility.

Sunday, July 27

Another week of WISSOTA Auto Racing wrapped up Sunday, July 27. We visited Proctor KME Speedway in Proctor, Minnesota for a weekly show with a couple of special highlights added.

It was the rarest of weather nights for Proctor. As I walked out, I paused, so I could burn the memory of this night into my brain, to be resurrected for use the next time I’m at Proctor, when it is a June or July night, the wind is blowing right out of the east at about 100 miles an hour and the wind chill is a negative number! That day will happen a lot sooner than another day like Sunday. People who were here on Sunday will probably be telling their grandchildren decades from now about the night they didn't wear a heavy coat or ear muffs to the races at Proctor!

Weather was in the area, so a quick show was important, especially in light of the extra activities involved with Hall of Fame night. The folks I was most familiar with entering the HoF included Dave Bjorge, Jeff Hinkemeyer and Jamie Thomas, who were all on hand to receive their awards.

The speedway was also celebrating its 75th year of racing. While many folks would not guess Proctor is the oldest operating track in the area, they started racing way back in 1950, as detailed in the wonderful book written Paul Lind that covers the first years of racing at Proctor and West Duluth Speedway, which I remember attending once.

I thought with the early cancellation of Granite City, the number of cars pulling to Proctor instead would have been higher. Though there were a couple of additions, most of them were in the Hornet class. The Late Model class fielded the biggest number of drivers.

There were interesting things noted in the pits as the field of drivers arrived. For those who hadn't heard, Joey Jensen totaled his car in a flip over the weekend at an unsanctioned event. Jensen, who is in a battle for WISSOTA national points as well as leading track points here at Proctor, borrowed his brother Brandon’s car to race on Sunday. Both chassis are SSRs and Brandon has a good piece. Joey had a pretty good night, finishing third in both his heat and in the Midwest Mod main event.

I was told that Kevin Burdick had a bad crash at Gondik on Friday night and that his car was junk. However, when desperation kicks in, amazing things can be done to race cars to fix what seems impossible. Burdick seemed to run just fine; he got a second in his heat and fourth in the main event for the Late Models.

Kevin Carlson put a lot of heart and soul into getting a new Late Model for himself this year. However, he barely had the chance to race it a handful of times before he was turned and flipped one night at Gondik. That car was ruled junk but Carlson swore he would return. Tonight he reappeared at Proctor with his familiar purple No. 79 but in what was a different car. I'm told that he is now driving a Rocket chassis that was a Danny Vang car at one time. In his first outing in the car, he came from 14th to eighth in the Late Model main, certainly a possible beginning with the car.

One more new Late Model appeared Sunday — Don Livingston, a Super Stock racer from Washburn, Wisconsin. He bought a Rocket chassis, having always desired to try Late Model racing. He plans to run it here and at Gondik and just have a good time with it. In his first time out in the class, he did fine with no hits, runs or errors while finishing the Late Model feature on the lead lap. He is also still running his Super Stock and was seventh with that car.

I thought despite the heat, sun and wind, the high humidity would help the track stay tacky all night. I was wrong — the track was by far the driest and slickest that it has been all season. However, despite it being tire-squealing dry, there was no dust. If there would have been, the strong winds would have carried it far away from us.

The drivers did get some hot laps so they kind of knew what to expect, other than the Mid Mods. After the Mid Mods got done spinning and crunching, the last five feature races ran off 84 laps of racing with only four yellow flags; three of those came in the Pure Stock feature. The Super Stocks, Modifieds and Hornets all ran off green to checkered finales.

The offending class, the Mid Mods, had their feature race stopped five times in the first half of the event, mostly for spins. The yellows did save Blake Adams a couple times, as both Paul Ripley and Tyler Vernon made passes on him for the race lead, only to have the yellow cancel their effort.

Finally, after holding on through the halfway point of the race, Adams simply couldn't keep his speed without coming off the bottom and the track was definitely a low groove track for the Mid Mods. Vernon got by him on lap nine and then pulled away for a convincing win.

Adams was able to hold onto second, as he fended off Jensen, Ripley and rookie Jacob Anderson.

Steve Stuart fattened his point lead in the Super Stock class by leading from start to finish to take the win. He used the top side to get away from Rick Simpson and then drove away from the pack for the win. Shawn McFadden was able to stay with Stuart for a few laps but gradually, as this race stayed under the green, Stuart pulled away. Patrick Beeksma rounded out the top three.

Adams perhaps learned some lessons from the Mid Mod feature as the rookie driver took another win in the Modified class, bumping up his feature win total. It was a contest early, with Neil Balduc racing side by side with Adams. As Balduc guarded the low line, it appeared Adams decided to move up the track and give his car some more gas; just two laps later he was able to drive around the outside of Balduc and into the top spot with one of the few outside passes completed all night.

And once in the lead, he gradually pulled away from the pack. Balduc, in his return to racing this year, had one of his finer efforts as he held off Brandon Copp in the late going for second. Jody Bellefeuille was in the mix for a good finish as well, but he went for broke on the final corner and nearly left the park, costing him several positions.

Mike Bellefeuille was strong out front in the Late Model feature and opened up nearly a full straightaway over the pack. Kyle Peterlin eventually cleared himself into second and then began the task of tracking down the leader. Gradually Peterlin closed in and just before the halfway point of the race, caught the leader.

Then the yellow flag came out when Devin Fouquette took a ride off turn one. Peterlin looked high and then broke for the low side and was able to get past Bellefeuille to take over the lead. He stretched it out to a comfortable margin as the rest of the race ran off nonstop. Bellefeuille maintained second with a nice run. Jeff Massingill executed one of the best passing jobs of the night as he worked his way up from 10th to finish third.

There was some slipping and sliding in the first two laps of the Pure Stock feature before the drivers settled in. Austin Fencl and Shane Basina, who both started in the front row, ended up going to the back in separate incidents and the beneficiary was Jake Smith, who started third and officially led all laps to take the win. He held off all challenges from Eric Crosby and Fencl, who worked his way from the tail to get back to third.

The Hornets went green to checkered to wrap up the night. Nick Ruzich started on the pole, led all laps, and won his second feature of the season at Proctor. McKenna Folstad slipped back a bit early after starting on the outside pole, but she made a strong late run to get back past Randy Jacoboski and claim second. Bobie Arnes and Carson Gotelaere completed the top five with all starters still on the track at the finish.

With the lack of yellow flags plus a very short intermission break when rain was determined to be a threat, it was a speedy racing program that was concluded at 8 p.m. The track lights didn't even have to be turned on! It was still so warm out after the races that we actually stopped for ice cream and not hot chocolate, which is more the norm for the Northland.