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The field got tighter at about the halfway point but then when Glenz was able to break free from traffic, he pulled away from the pack, only to have the same thing happen once again near the end of the race.

He had one scary moment when he knew he had to go and in the process of lapping Dexton Koch, made some pretty significant contact. No damage resulted and that move gave him the distance he needed to drive home for the win, unimpeded.

The Midwest Mods were on track first for their feature race with 25 of them taking the green flag. They foreshadowed what we would see the rest of the night, as they lined up single file with passing at a premium. It was, however, heartbreak for Travis Anderson, who took the early lead as he searched for his first Red Cedar win of the year. However, just a lap later, he suddenly shut his car down on the front chute and dove for the infield to get out of harm's way.

This set off a mad scramble among the race leaders who were tightly packed; Brandon Jensen found a hole to squirt into the lead, a position he did not relinquish the rest of the race. Adams got to second but couldn't keep up with Jensen, who was setting a fast pace.

The best racing, however, was for second between Adams and Nick Koehler. They battled for a number of laps before Adams finally claimed the spot.

A single yellow just before the halfway point of the race was the only slowdown and after that there was not much change in the running order of the top five. Jensen opened a comfortable lead, which he did not let slip, as he drove on for the win. Behind him it was Adams, Koehler, Brady Larson and Shadow Kitchner in the top five.

It is seldom that Shane Sabraski shows up with his full fleet of race cars and doesn't go home with at least one feature win. Friday his Modified was his winning set of wheels.

He started third but quickly moved in to challenge early leader Steve Hallquist, who was having a fine run of his own. However, he couldn’t hold off Sabraski, who blew by him to take over the lead. Three early yellows in the first two laps kept things close but when all-out racing finally broke out, Sabraski quickly motored away from the field.

The move of the race was executed by Mike Anderson, who made the rare bold move of trying to pass on the outside, getting a good jump on a restart and getting by a whole row of cars. He then fought three wide to get back to the bottom. He managed to get up to third and then spent the majority of the rest of the race battling with Dylan Goettl for second.

As Sabraski disappeared into the Dunn County twilight for the win, Anderson used a lapped car to slip past Goettl on the final lap and finish second. Nick Ayotte and Adams completed the top five in another race where everyone essentially lined up and made laps.

The program got a bit of a late start when some extra track prep work was needed after time trials, and then it took some time to roll in the track. With many of the races going green to checkered, they were able to make up some time and the curfew was not a factor with the last race of the night, the Modified feature, starting a few minutes before 10:30 p.m.

Saturday, August 8

The Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series made an appearance at Rice Lake Speedway on Saturday night, August 8 and it did not disappoint. In fact, it was a great night of racing both in the Late Models and in the other three classes that ran on Saturday.

Both series and track officials were thrilled with the 37-car field that showed up on Saturday. With no Late Model racing at the track for two years and with all the changes and improvements made to the track by Rice Lake Speedway LLC, no one knew just what to expect. But when they could draw just as many Late Models as there had been the night before at Red Cedar, a Late Model hot bed, everyone was feeling pretty good. When the drivers, as well as the officials and fans, saw just how good the track raced, it was another mood boost for the night.

Many thanks should go out to the northern drivers who came down on Saturday, supported the show, and helped make up the difference for those drivers who didn't move onto Rice Lake from Red Cedar on Friday night.

And, make no mistake, this was a big test for the track, which has raced good all year. However, it has not had to stand up to the strain of the Late Models — their power and wide tires tax any dirt track. But the speedway came through with flying colors, producing a track that was wide, smooth, fast and supported side-by-side racing.

And the Late Model drivers responded. With some very interesting heat races, they raced extremely hard but the racing was clean and the yellow flags and crashes were almost nonexistent.

I don't believe there was a single crash in the class all night and with 96 laps of Late Model racing over the course of the night, there was just one single yellow flag for a one car spin in one of the heat races. That is quite remarkable.

The 40-lap feature just flew by and there was a battle for the lead through the whole race, while there was also a four-car battle for fourth on back, which was also very intense. The winning pass by Jesse Glenz on Pat Doar was made with just three laps to go.

A nonstop feature race in any class makes it so much more fun to watch and see how things develop as opposed to a start-and-stop, yellow flag-plagued contest. Even Crapser mentioned in his post race interview how much fun it was to run in a race that went green to checkered.

I did confirm that Ty Hample was driving a brand-new car, having picked up a new car at MB and racing it for the first times this weekend. Also, Jeff Provinzino switched race cars on Saturday, going from his spec engine car to his 525 crate car, feeling that the motor in the spec car was just not responding as he wanted.

For the second straight night, Darrell Nelson had motor problems in time trials, with the engine blubbering for the second straight night. Even so, he was able to get a good enough time to help him make the main, which he wasn't able to do on Friday night.

I pointed something out to Chris Stepan on Saturday night that even he had never given a thought to: our WISSOTA Late Model drivers must be among the most talented around, because even the “big boys” get hot laps at their events before they start their important qualifying events. However, our WISSOTA drivers hit the track for the first time at each event with qualifying, which is such an important part of any program. If they've never seen the track before or have a new car or are experimenting with a new setup or such, they have no time to try it out before they do one of the most important things of the night, and that is to qualify well.

The Challenge Series points race is really getting tight after Saturday night. Kevin Burdick has climbed into a tie with Tyler Peterson after the TPO didn't have his best weekend. Kevin Eder salvaged the weekend nicely as well, and is only 10 points behind. Shane Sabraski is only 25 in arrears with a big four-night swing next week in country that Sabraski is very familiar with. He will certainly be a favorite at all four tracks they will be racing at next week. One heat race banger between Eder and Sabraski had Sabraski as hot as I have seen him in quite some time, but he used his head and didn't retaliate.

With three cars racing on Saturday, Sabraski was in the middle of the action in all divisions and managed to win the Super Stock feature after a great battle with Dexton Koch. In the closest race and perhaps most thrilling of the night, he was edged at the line in the Modified feature by Blake Adams. What fun it was, watching the top two point drivers in WISSOTA go at it. Before they settled things, Sabraski was locked in a great battle with Kennedy Swan and bad circumstances kept her from one of her most impressive wins.

It should also be pointed out that on the last lap of the Mod feature, Sabraski left a lane open for Adams off turn two so he could race, while some certainly would have drifted up to the wall and pinched off Adams.

The Modifieds ran their feature as the last event of the night, right after the Late Models had pounded the track for 40 laps. The track was not even touched after the Late Models were done on it, yet the Modifieds were all over the track with thrilling side-by-side action and a photo finish conclusion — that’s how good the track was. A sponsor kicked in some extra money and Adams earned $1100 for his win.

All credit for that should go to Kolby Kiehl and his crew of relatives and friends who do the track prep. One thing for sure, they will not be outworked by anyone.

The Super Stocks also had a great race going until it suddenly became a spin fest. The first 15 laps were classic but the last five, painful. Watching Sabraski, Dexton Koch (who was driving unbelievably hard), Alex Myers, Jesse Redetzke and Ryan Olson battle it out was great but after the first yellow on lap fifteen, things went south. There was a big pileup off turn four that ended with Myers upside down and several others damaged. After that, it seemed they couldn't get a lap in before one of the tail end drivers spun. Things got so bad that Stepan, who was race director for the night, finally called for a single-file restart to get the race completed. I know how much he hates to do that, as he’s not a fan of single-file restarts. I am just the opposite, feeling that double-file restarts were just something invented by promoters and track officials to try and artificially make a good race when one didn't exist before the yellow flew.

Myers’ flip ended a good run for the weekend, having just won the night prior at Gondik Law. It just shows how fast fortunes change in this sport.

A quick conversation with Andrew Davis confirms that he will be having a busy year at Cameron High School, as he will be the assistant girl's basketball coach and has been named the head track coach also. He said that might cut into his early season racing next year, especially if success allows some of his runners to advance to perhaps sectional or state competition.

Shawn Amundson continues to have a great season in the Herrman Farms Street Stock, winning his fifth main event of the year at Rice Lake. He was having a dandy battle with Nick Traynor until mechanical issues ended Traynor's run.

It was good to see Rob Palmer again, as he works that Challenge Series again in the official trailer.

It was a nice $8,000 weekend for Glenz, and he got to sleep in his own bed and prep the car in his own shop on top of it.

It is hard to believe that track point seasons are rapidly winding up with two or perhaps three point shows remaining for many tracks. Locally here, Amundson's win closes up the gap on first place Street Stock driver Cole Richards, while Adams' Modified win allows him to move back into first place, edging ahead of Matt Leer.

Sunday, August 9

Another busy week of racing concluded on Sunday, August 9, with a regular six-class WISSOTA program of racing at Proctor Speedway. It was a lovely night for racing and perhaps the best weather Proctor has seen all year. Maybe even the weather gods are conspiring to help the track get over the hump and back to a solid race program, with fans on hand to support it.

In that regard, things were improved this week with a nice crowd on hand. More and more sponsors stepped up to help the track, and as part of that, they’ve brainstormed new and different ways to get folks interested in coming out to the races, especially those with kids. Bike races and free admission were the hooks for this past Sunday.

With a couple of other tracks off in the area, the car count was improved. Many of the toughest competitors in all of WISSOTA were on hand tonight. Interestingly though, the Late Model car count, at 20 drivers, was the largest field of any of the classes. All classes except the Hornets had enough drivers for at least two heats. The Hornets really are a struggling class at many tracks these days. The answer to why that is happening is an important question for all to consider. It certainly hasn't turned out to be the “feeder” class that was hoped for when the Hornets started. It still seems to have a lot of younger drivers racing in the class, just not very many of them anymore.

Perhaps the most activity in the pit area before the show Sunday was in the pit of Darrell Nelson. He has had a frustrating weekend so far, with a crazy missing issue in his motor killing his Challenge Series efforts on Friday at Red Cedar and Saturday at Rice Lake. He has changed everything, yet he still had the miss during time trials on Saturday night once again. He was able to make the show and with more investigative work ongoing, he ran all 40 laps although, as he said, not very fast.

At the same time he is fighting this motor issue, he is also breaking in a brand-new car, one that he debuted on Friday night after totalling his against the wall at another track recently. There are also issues with a new car, no matter what. Combined with the motor issues, it has been a busy and frustrating time for him. However, he was positive before Sunday's program and the result later was a third-place finish on a track tough to pass on.

There were a couple of changes in the Pure Stock pit also this weekend, with former national champion Eric Crosby returning to the wheel. He drove the Jason Simonson car this weekend at various tracks while Eric Helget, last seen with a badly smoking engine in his own car, was driving one of the Treviranus cars this weekend.

Following action Sunday, there were a couple drivers who no doubt were very frustrated by the end of the evening's racing.

Jayme Lautigar had a bad night on Saturday at Rice Lake, as his car developed issues and caused him to park it before attempting to make the feature. Sunday things were looking much better as he redrew the outside of the front row and, to my surprise given how strong Kevin Burdick has been running lately, he got the jump on Burdick and led the opening laps of the feature. In fact, he pulled out to a nice-sized lead and seemed on his way to a feature win.

However, after leading the first 16 laps, a yellow came out and we all know what a shake-up a yellow can cause.

Lautigar was the victim of a couple of pretty healthy “shoulders” on the green; in two straight corners he got moved over considerably, but ironically, Burdick — who was applying the “shoulder” — also got bungled up. Shane Sabraski, who seemed in no position to lead the race, suddenly found the door wide open and he drove through into the top spot. He then led the final eight laps to take a win that he probably shouldn't have gotten.

Burdick came back for second but couldn't catch Sabraski late, while Lautigar, with some more assistance, was moved all the way back to fourth. However, the worst was yet to come as he weighed in light at the scales and was disqualified, leaving him to question why he even got out of bed on Sunday.

Then there was the case of Deven VanHouse. After Michael Blevins, Sr. led the first three laps of the Midwest Mod feature, VanHouse drove past him and started to pull away from the pack.

The track was dry and passing was hard and VanHouse seemed to be in good shape to take the win. There was a good battle for second among Blevins, Sr., Garrett Paull, Sam Blevins and Blake Adams, far behind VanHouse.

Just after Adams finally got to second, a yellow flag was called, with VanHouse nearly a full straightaway ahead. A fire was reported in a race car parked in the infield, a report that turned out to be false. Several track officials were very much in disagreement over the issue. In essence, a yellow was triggered that didn't need to be and it caused VanHouse to lose his big lead.

After that, VanHouse and Adams battled side by side for several laps in a good race before Adams edged away and took the win ahead of what I presume was a frustrated VanHouse. Paull was third.

The trouble wasn't over for VanHouse. Jody Bellefeuille dominated the WISSOTA Modified feature, as he started on the pole and led all laps, pulling away to a big lead on a track where the high groove was the place to be.

VanHouse proved to be the only driver able to work the bottom and he drove all the way from seventh up to third before the 15-lap event was completed. However, more bad news struck as at the tech inspection, as VanHouse's car was disqualified for a suspension issue; his bird cage didn't fit his bird. Not a joking matter really, as this was the coup de grâce for a bad night for the Silver Bay-area driver.

One of the larger Pure Stock fields of the year was on hand and they started out the feature race action. However, they probably weren't the best choice to start off on a relatively tacky track. They proceeded to have a lot of trouble getting laps completed, with six yellows waved and the race eventually cut short due to time limits.

“The Chef” Bob Klein led the first four laps before he was passed by Tyler Wahlstrom for the lead. Wahlstrom then led for a number of laps, chased hard by Aaron Bernick and Tom Treviranus. Yellows fell like dried up fall leaves and the race was slowed four times after Wahlstrom took the top spot over.

The final showdown proved fatal as coming through turn two, Wahlstrom got sideways, perhaps with help, and after a collision with Bernick, a wheel with axle still attached rolled out onto the track.

Treviranus benefitted from this exchange and he took over the lead. With time up, a one-lap sprint to the wire, Treviranus held off Austin Fencl to get the win. Fencl had a flat tire in his heat and started the main event 14th, and I guess sometimes perseverance pays off. He drove up through the spins and other wreckage to get the runner-up slot.

The Super Stock field was loaded with names like Sabraski, Nelson, Koch and Kromschroeder all on hand, many of the fastest drivers in all of WISSOTA.

However, defending track champion Shawn McFadden led all of them home for the win. Michael Blevins, Sr. had the lead for the opening lap but he couldn't hold his car down in the corners. McFadden drove under him to take over the top spot.

At this point of the night, the track was much faster right on the inside tires and most everyone was hugging the low line. A couple drivers like Scott Lawrence tried to go high, but it wasn't there Sunday night. McFadden just continued to hug the inside, although Sabraski was all over him, racing inches away from his rear bumper. He was not able to find an opening, however, and McFadden drove on for the win with Dylan Nelson third.

Kyle LeDoux led from start to finish in the WISSOTA Hornets. Nick Ruzich followed him closely with Nathan Penney even closer behind him. However, no one was able to execute a pass for position.

The extra cars and extra races and extra cautions made the night longer than has been the norm here for most of the season. Still, it was relatively early as the final checkers waved right around 9 p.m.

Next week the Late Models will all be down at Granite City, while the Sprint Cars take over at Proctor as their season, along with most tracks, is quickly winding down.