8-12 Page 33

The off-track news this week has been dominated by the sad news that former WISSOTA Executive Director and Board of Directors President Terry Voeltz died of cancer this week.

There was no bigger figure in our sport than Terry. His was a dominating presence, and any meeting or activity that he was at certainly made him the center of things. He drove WISSOTA through a period of growth and there was never any doubt that all decisions he made and actions he took were what he thought would make dirt track racing and the organization stronger.

So many things went on behind the scenes that he never received credit for, but he had largely initiated. He was devoted, especially to two things when it came to racing: WISSOTA Auto Racing and keeping racing alive in Aberdeen, his adopted hometown.

After he retired as WISSOTA executive director, he became part of the promotional team at Brown County Speedway. Not because he wanted to get back into the headaches of promoting, but because he wanted to see racing strong and alive in the “Key City.” After a couple of promotional groups came and went, he knew he had to be a part of any group to run things right in Aberdeen and bring Brown County back among the elite tracks in WISSOTA.

I had many conversations over the years with Terry, including a few disagreements, but nothing particularly important. Toward the end of his reign, we had more conversations about racing in general and some of the other things that both of us thought to be important.

I think my favorite talk with Terry had absolutely nothing to do with racing, and it was a chance meeting out of the blue. I was in Aberdeen, having made a spontaneous decision to drive out there one fall afternoon and watch my nephew, who played football for UMD, play against Northern State based in Aberdeen. I stopped at a Culver's for lunch before going to the game and to my surprise and shock, as I stood in line, there was Terry Voeltz.

He came over, we sat and talked for the longest time, him dressed in his Northern St. apparel and I wearing a UMD hat. We had a great conversation and not once was auto racing mentioned. We talked about family and sports and just about everything except racing. It was nice to see the other, non-racing side of him and hopefully, the same for him, too.

When and if there is a WISSOTA Hall of Fame finally started, he should surely be right at the top of the initial induction class, he meant that much to our sport.

Losing Billy Engelstad, Jerry O'Brien and now Terry in such short order hurts many of us. They were the voices who spoke for us and fought to make racing in our area stronger for the future.

Thursday, August 7

On the track, another week of WISSOTA Auto Racing continued on Thursday night, August 7 for an important race at Grand Rapids Speedway. The Fastlane Motorsports Northland Super Stock Series was back in action for its final week, crowning a champion this weekend. After a successful international visit to Thunder City on Wednesday, the Super Stock troops journeyed down to Grand Rapids for a Thursday night show before wrapping things up this weekend with two more nights of racing.

Along with the Super Stocks, four other WISSOTA classes raced Thursday, including the KME Late Model Series. There was plenty at stake for this Thursday night show.

In a strange weather phenomena, the farther north I traveled, the warmer it got with temps topping out at 90-plus by the time I got to the Itasca County Fairgrounds. It was humid as well, making for some true summer-like feelings for racing.

On the plus side, all the humidity is helpful for the racing surface and they ended up with a nice track. It didn't need too much additional attention as the night progressed, showing very little if any dust.

Twenty-four Super Stocks signed in to race on Thursday and racing started right on time. The heat races went off smoothly with all qualifying completed in just over one hour. A quick spritz to the track and it was time for feature race action.

It was notable how smoothly all five features went.

Paul Ripley sat on the pole for the Midwest Mod feature and he took the early lead. Farther back, third-row starter Tim Jackson was on the move. I was not aware the Bemidji veteran was even racing this year and I had not seen him in action yet. He could always wheel an open-wheeled car and it took him just a few laps to move into second and close on the leader.

Jackson was the first driver to find the cushion again, after the inside line was quick following track prep. The inside line burned off quickly and Jackson was right there to use the cushion to drive past Ripley just before the halfway point of the race.

From then on, with the rest of the race green, Jackson pulled away from the field. Earlier, the lone yellow was triggered when Matt Cunha, battling for second, got sideways and was blasted by Michael Blevins Sr., sending Cunha to the pits. Blevins raced on with half of his car missing. He did hold on for third at the finish, though.

The Hornet feature was the biggest of the night, with two dozen of them taking the green flag. Action started quickly when Kaitlyn Kohl got sideways on the cushion in turn two, dug into the track, and then went over two and a half times. She ended up nestled in the pine trees beyond the race track. She was okay and the race restarted.

There were three different leaders in this race, with Zeb Graves leading the opening lap before he was passed by Mark Gangl. Gangl then led until lap seven when Brady Fosso, who started in the second row, was able to get past Gangl and take over the point.

He then led the rest of the way, including a strange finish that saw cars flying around in all directions. The race had a strange moment when it seemed that many of the leaders slowed down, like they heard a caution called on the Raceceiver. Eventually they returned to racing speed but it was odd and I saw several drivers communicating with officials after the race was over, so I wonder?

In the Super Stocks, all 24 drivers started the Fastlane event, racing for $1,000 to the winner. We went 30 nonstop laps — congratulations to all the drivers for a job well done.

Alex Myers, currently second in points in the series, took the early lead but he was soon challenged by Terran Spacek,with Shane Sabraski soon added to the group. Lap after lap, Spacek drove low into the corners and tried to beat Myers out of the turns, but Myers remained fast on the cushion and held off these challenges for many laps. Sabraski was right there as well, making it a great three-car battle.

Spacek started to make some progress and inched closer and closer to the lead, but just when it seemed that Spacek might grab the top spot, Sabraski made a strong inside move as he went from third to first, just like that. Once in front, he pulled away and left the battle for second to be decided without him.

Curt Myers and Tommy Richards eventually caught up and it turned into a four-car battle for second. The lapped traffic was very heavy, with the race continuing under the green, and it cost Curt Myers — he tangled with a slower car, got a flat tire and pulled off.

Sabraski was magnificent in the heavy traffic, putting four drivers between himself and Spacek, who eventually drove past Alex Myers to finish second.

All but three drivers finished the race but there were only who were on the lead lap at the finish.

Kyle Peterlin sat on the pole for the Late Model feature and as fast as he has been, he seemed like a good choice to take the win. However, Billy Kendall used the outside line to grab the early lead and that was end of story.

Peterlin chased Kendall for 20 laps with the track going top side dominant and Kendall never slipped up. Peterlin tried the low side early, gave up and went to the cushion himself, but with Kendall not giving him any openings, he had to settle for second. Zach Wohlers had a nice run to finish third.

The Pure Stocks concluded the evening and in the spirit of cooperation, they ran off a nonstop main event as well. That meant overall, the last 65 laps of feature racing action went green to checkers. How nice!

Dustin Puffe started on the pole and took the early lead. As strong as he has been running, it seemed like game over. However, Austin Carlson refused to accept that premise as he quickly took second and then began a long, slow but gradual task of reeling in the leader.

Puffe was running the middle line and Carlson right on the ute tires. Gradually Carlson began to close in, slowly but surely. He caught Puffe with just three laps to go and Puffe was powerless to do anything; Carlson drove under him to take over the lead and then stretched it over the final laps to take the win. Jake Smith was coming at the end but had to settle for third.

With all the green flag racing action, it was an early evening. The final checkered flag waved at just 9:30 p.m.

Thanks to the folks at Grand Rapids for a quick, entertaining evening of racing. They will be busy next week with racing on both Wednesday and Thursday, along with an enduro and demo derby, as it is county fair time. Check the speedway website for a complete list of activities and times.

Friday, August 8

The Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series made an appearance on Friday night, August 8 at Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, Wisconsin. The Challenge Series was making just its second start of the year at a Wisconsin track, having only raced half of its planned events over the Fourth of July holiday at Gondik Law Speedway in Superior.

For the first time in 2025, we were able to see many of the strong Wisconsin racers who don't travel a lot go head to head with the drivers who have been running with the Challenge Series all year.

Alongside those drivers, there was also an interesting mix of other drivers on hand, including Andy Nezworski, who made his second trip of the year north from Iowa. Andy Karl came over from central Wisconsin to race his first WISSOTA race of the year, while the Seckersons — Cory and Talon — drove over from North Dakota to race. Talon, by the way, was making his first laps in a new car that was just finished up on Thursday at J.R. Haley's shop here in Wisconsin.

In all, 37 Late Model drivers signed in to race, tying the season high that was set in the first race of the year way back at I-94 Speedway. Speaking of I-94, Don Shaw left Dave Mass to race on his own Friday, having to stay back in Fergus Falls to tend to his duties running his own track. Ironically, they ended up getting rained out, so Shaw was skunked on the night.

And not just the Late Models provided a strong field, as the Mid Mods and Modifieds were also on the schedule and both classes had strong fields of cars on hand. The nonsanctioned USRA cars also had a good field of drivers on hand so it looked to be a good night of racing.

It was one of the most uncomfortable nights of the summer — it was blistering hot and steamy to match.

The news early was good, as the Gallopin' Ghost Motorsports and Transport group put an extra $1,000 on the winner of the Late Model feature, making it $4,000 to win.

But with the good, also comes the bad sometimes. As track and Challenge Series announcer Scott Tiefs summed up correctly, “Anything that could go wrong did,” Friday, making it a real challenge to get racing completed.

First the track had internet issues and the Late Model drivers sat and sat in the infield, waiting to start qualifying. Previously, they had to do some track packing as the hot lap sessions didn't dry off the track enough to making qualifying safe and fair with the humid conditions. The time trials never were posted and I still can't find them today, perhaps lost forever in “The Cloud.”

In any event, the problems with this modern technology put the show a good 15 minutes behind schedule. And for a track that must have the last race on the track by 10:30 p.m., 15 minutes is a big deal. Most tracks can rarely get a program done in 3.5 hours, and Red Cedar has to do that each week.

The problems persisted, as the track PA system went south and Tiefs wasn’t able to announce until the heat races were completed. And then after the heats, the track crew rushed to do a bit of track prep for the mains, but then the track lights in turns one and four went out.

Oh my goodness — what a night!

Repairs for this took somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 minutes and I was concerned they might not get them going again and the show might have to be canceled. Fortunately, that didn't happen and eventually we had power again, but by this time it was clear that not everyone was going to get to feature racing.

They decided to start with the unsanctioned Late Models and then run the Challenge Series race, and planned to try to fit in what they could after that.

Track prep had caused the fast groove to move around a bit on the track, but by the time the Late Models took the green the fast lane was right up against the concrete and it took some brave driving to keep speed Friday. Some heavy-footed lions started right up front and it was a “hair on fire” 40 laps of racing. Ashley Anderson held the pole but Cory Crapser got the jump on him and led the first four laps before Anderson edged past off turn two to take over the lead. Crapser was still right on him and they raced very hard, with Crapser looking off turn two on nearly every lap to regain the lead. Anderson was able to continue to edge him out down the back chute.

As is often the case, passes are often done just following restarts and that is what happened twice in this race. Anderson's pass of Crapser was done right after a yellow for a spin, and it happened again later in the race.

Jesse Glenz was on the move and he gradually moved in to make it a three-car battle for the lead, with Glenz getting by Kevin Eder near the halfway point of the race and James Giossi also moving into the top five.

Three laps later the second and final yellow waved when Jake Hartung was turned around on the back chute, ending his solid run. And again on the restart things changed dramatically. Anderson pushed up the track on the restart in turn one, Glenz turned down, and Glenz shot past both Crapser and Anderson to take the lead with a stunning move. Glenz then put some distance on the battle between Anderson and Crapser for second.

The field caught the back of the pack during the 17-lap race to the finish and the action was frantic, as Glenz worked his way through the slower drivers.

After Anderson got his rhythm back, he began to close back up on Glenz and, along with Crapser, the three of them ran in formation during the late laps of the race. Things were close right up to the finish but Glenz never made a mistake and drove home for the win, with Anderson and Crapser close behind. On the last corner, A.J. Diemel nipped Eder for fourth. Eder was the highest finishing Challenge Series traveler, with Mass the only other one who finished in the top 10.

The point battle in the WCS tightened up Friday. Shane Sabraski had a tough night, as he lost considerable time on the opening lap but soldiered on to finish 14th. Jeff Provinzino finished three spots better and gained a few points.

There were probably several candidates for the hard luck award of the night, but my choice was Sam Mars. Scheduled to start in the front row of a heat race alongside Provinzino, they just brushed wheels as the green flag dropped but it was enough to give Mars a flat tire. He retired from the event and his night was essentially done at that point, although he tried to make the show from a B but was buried too far back to make that happen.

The clock on the wall said there was just enough time to squeeze in one more feature race, so the Modifieds hit the track for their 20-lap main. And what an interesting first row with Sabraski, closer to his 1,000th win, sharing the front row with perhaps the face of the future of WISSOTA racing, Blake Adams.

Sabraski got the jump but Adams stayed right with him on the opening laps. Adams got a head of steam built up and Sabraski chose not to run close enough to the outside wall to block Adams and on lap three, Adams went sailing by to take over the lead.

And once in front, Adams quickly built up a lead, eventually stretching it to nearly a full straightaway in what turned out to be a nonstop main. Adams was setting a frantic pace and no one was able to stay with him. Sabraski tried the outside but didn't appear comfortable out there, so he dropped just a bit lower on the track. That clearly was not the fast lane however, and he gradually faded back. He still held on for second as the top two finishers left the field far behind. Mark Hanson had a good run, starting and finishing third, with Ben Hillman and Cory Mahder completing the top five.

For Adams, it was his 27th feature win of 2025, counting both Mid Mod and Modified feature wins as his remarkable rookie Mod season just keeps rolling along. What seemed like just a whim when he showed up as the national point leader in the Modifieds early on this spring now looks like it could be a real certainty.

The time at the completion of this race was now after 10:30 p.m., so the Mid Mods and unsanctioned Hornets will have to wait to find out when their main can be rescheduled. However, based on all the drama of the night, we were probably fortunate we saw as much racing as we did and the Late Models certainly did not disappoint.

Saturday, August 10

It is very hard to write this morning, especially with any enthusiasm. A dark cloud hangs over my head and I feel like the captain of the “Crabby Ship.”

I was really looking forward to the appearance of the Late Models at Rice Lake on Saturday. With the excellent shape the track has been in, thanks to Kolby Kiehl and the crew, I was really anxious to see how the Late Models would race there. And for once, it seemed like a solid field of cars was lined up for the show. Based on who was at Red Cedar on Friday and what those drivers said about racing at Rice Lake, I felt a 30-car field was not out of the question. Better than the piddly small fields that insulted both the fans and management last year when good money was paid, yet no one showed up to race.

I was woken up at 4:45 a.m. with the thunder and lightning show on Saturday morning. If it would have cleared out right afterward, I think they might still have been able to race. But when another batch formed during the morning hours and just seemed to stall out right over the area, that was the last straw and the track owners were forced to cancel the show.

With the Challenge Series booked up for the rest of the year and no open dates to reschedule a Late Model show (and we know how that worked out last year), local fans won't get to see the WISSOTA Late Models now until 2026. I think that gives me plenty of reason to be a Crabby Appleton.

With the early cancellation however, it was time to pick myself up by the bootstraps and find something else to do. Based on the radar, local predictions and gut feelings, I decided it was a good night to make my first visit to Viking Speedway in 2025. It is not a short journey, but one that I did have time to complete. The weather conditions in that direction seemed more promising than other options, and as a bonus, I found out that it was the Fallen Lineman special for Modifieds, paying $3,000 to win and $300 just to start.

Five divisions are sanctioned at Viking and include the Mods and Mid Mods, Supers, Streets and Hornets. Nearly 90 drivers signed in to race on Saturday, with solid fields in all five classes and a rockin' field of 29 Modifieds going for the big money. It was not just a big field but a heavily loaded field talent-wise, with tough drivers on hand from top to bottom.

A lot of folks put extra time in to make the Fallen Lineman night special. For the drivers, there was heat race money and lots of bonuses for other things. The fans got to play along as well, earning lap money themselves if the driver they picked led laps. It was a well-paying purse throughout, with fifth still earning $1,000. No wonder such a big field of drivers was on hand.

Some interesting entrants were on hand; especially unique was the PT Cruiser that was raced in the Hornet class. Late Model driver Chris Mensen was also making some hot laps with his car, in likely what was his first outing since he destroyed a car here during a Late Model race earlier this year.

It was a sunny and windy day in the central Minnesota lakes region, and the track was blowing a lot of dust around for the opening races, which started right at 6:30 p.m. A track refresh after the heat made it much better for the main events. The “High Flyin’ Half Mile” does have a few limitations. Due to the stuff in the infield, sitting in the lower part of the grandstand is not advisable, except perhaps on a night like this where you have no choice. I was led to believe this was one of the bigger crowds of the year, as several drivers mentioned in their victory lane comments how nice it was to see a full house on hand.

The track had a nice point sheet I noted people were referring to, especially if they weren't regular customers of the track. Hint, hint.

The heat races clicked off quickly and after some time spent to redo the track, it was feature time. They chose to save the Modified Lineman race for last and started out with the Mid Mods.

That almost backfired when the Mid Mods had a terrible time keeping their main event under the green. In fact it took seven yellows to just complete 15 laps of racing. In the early going Travis Engebretson and Haley Dykhoff had a good race for the lead, exchanging the top spot a couple of times before Engebretson settled into the top spot. However, with so many yellow flag slowdowns, every green provided a challenge, as Dykhoff tried to get that top spot back.

Tyler Bitzan became part of the challengers, as did Ron Saurer and Tanner Bitzan, but both those drivers weren't around by the finish. Engebretson withstood all the yellows, including the last two-lap dash, to take the win. Dykhoff lost second right at the end to Tyler Bitzan.

It is seldom that Kolton Brauer is passed once he has claimed a race lead. However, that happened on Saturday thanks to a spirited effort by Eric Riley. Derek Wettstein led the first lap of the Street Stock feature before Brauer passed him to take the lead just a lap later. That seemed to be the end of the story — but not so fast. Once Riley moved into second, he went to the cushion and that lane proved to be mighty fast. Brauer and the others hadn't caught on to that yet, and Riley blew right by Brauer before he knew what hit him.

Riley pulled out to a big lead and with the final 14 laps going green, there was no catching him. Brauer eventually went to the cushion also, but even after doing that he wasn't able to cut into the lead that Riley built up. Joe Martin settled for third.

The Super Stock feature was a two-car battle, with Ryan Satter holding off every challenge Trevor Nelson threw at him. Satter took the lead from the pole but he had Nelson quickly challenging for the top spot.

Time after time, Nelson drove low into the corners and tried to slide up past Satter, but Satter held his line and Nelson raced him cleanly. This scenario played out for the rest of the race, and despite everything Nelson tried, Satter had just enough to hold him off for the win. Bailey Roush moved into third following a late-race shuffle.

The Hornet feature had a battle up front. While Jeff Rohner led every lap, it was a far from easy win. Rohner first had point leader Kreg Anderson pushing him for the lead, as he tried lap after lap to drive around Rohner, who was hugging the inside line.

Later in the race, Matt Dittman replaced Anderson as his chief pursuer and he almost got by several times, but Rohner had just enough on the straightaways to hold off Dittman for the win.

As Chris Economaki would say, “Let ’em all race,” and that was the theme of the Modifieds on Saturday. All 29 drivers were eligible to start the 30-lap feature race. Twenty-eight actually saw the green for an event that went green to checkered after a first-lap caution.

Mike Stearns took the early lead with Don Eischens pushing him hard. Several times Eischens got close to taking over the top spot, but couldn't quite pull it off. Dave Cain and Joey Thomas were also among the lead pack in the early going.

Dusty Bitzan started seventh and in the early going, he didn't do much other than maintain. However, by the halfway point of the race, he was into third and was dragging Brady Gerdes along with him. Eischens had a bobble in turn four but he was able to straighten out and continue, losing two spots with the slip-up.

Bitzan was really showing speed and was working great off the low side of the track. When he was ready to make his move, there was no stopping him as he drove right past Stearns on lap 20 to take over the lead. From then on, there was no catching him. He continued to show big speed, lapped a number of cars, and pulled away by almost a full straightaway with a dominating win. Stearns finished second while Thomas edged out Gerdes for third, with Eischens completing the top five. In what was a most orderly feature race, only five drivers failed to complete the distance.

With the lack of yellows for the finale, the final checkered flag waved just a few minutes after 10 p.m. A large delegation of fans headed for the pits, something that we don't see too often anymore, sadly. And with the drivers seeming to hang around, there were actually drivers in the pits to visit with — also refreshing.

I was glad I made the long trip and also glad the races concluded in a timely manner. Thanks to everyone at Viking and while I don't know a lot of folks here anymore, it was good to see a few familiar faces.

Sunday, August 10

Sunday night, August 10 was First Responder night at Proctor KME Speedway. It was also the finale in the KME Late Model Series at Proctor for 2025, and a large check awaited the point titlist at the end of the night.

Topping out at 86 degrees, it was a great weather night for racing at Proctor. And the fans responded with what looked to be one of the biggest crowds of the racing season.

The Late Models actually had the largest car count of any class, with 21 of them signing in to race, perhaps in part because of the KME factor. The series seemed to help the car count in this class here all year.

On the other hand, the Hornets and Super Stocks, which usually have a solid count here, both had only enough cars to fill up a single heat. Apparently Dennis McCauley wore out the Supers with his last week, four-night sprint to the Fastlane title that covered two states and countries.

KME also passed out five $100 bills to fans on hand through a lucky drawing that I, once again, didn't win.

A rumor I was able to quash in the pits was that Cade Nelson was going to limit his Late Model appearances this year so he was still eligible to run for WISSOTA Late Model Rookie of Year honors in 2026. His mom put the kibosh to that, saying if he had the car he should race it. So, don’t be surprised to see Cade on the track more often with the Late Models as the season wraps up and the specials begin.

An interesting little side bar that I stumbled across involved Pure Stock driver Dnae Rose, racing in her first full year of competition. She has been racing at a number of different tracks this year, and from time to time has had her issues keeping the race car pointed in the correct direction. In fact, the team has now started a contest within their ranks to see how many laps she can complete consecutively without spinning out. She was at 51 entering the racing program Sunday.

Well, she made four laps in her heat race and she didn't spin, but what she did was even more spectacular. Entering turn three she held the throttle open way too long, went flying off the turn, and slammed into the dirt bank beyond the track. She hit hard but they were able to push the car off the track without using a wrecker, even though it did have some front-end damage.

The crew, led by her father Courtney who also races Street Stocks, was able to get the car fixed and she completed all 12 laps of the Pure Stock feature without incident. My question is whether or not the bank-slamming incident counted against her, since it really wasn't a spin?

Sunday was my first time seeing Joey Jensen out with his new Mid Mod, which replaced the one wrecked recently. SSR did a bang-up job of getting him back on the track, since he's still chasing national points. Actually, tonight's race featured the top two in national points, with Tyler Vernon also on hand.

With the hot and windy conditions, the track was super slick for the heat races. A little more track prep after the heats and the track was very technical for feature racing. Passing attempts had to be very well planned and on only certain parts of the track. It made for some interesting feature racing.

The Mid Mod feature was first out and the track conditions played a part right from the start of this event. Paul Ripley drew the pole for the feature and with all drivers believing the fast way around the track was right on the bottom, he led the opening lap. However, he slid up out of the groove on lap two and Vernon went past him to take over the lead.

Forced out of the line he wanted to run, almost by accident Ripley discovered when he moved up the track that the top side was much faster. One lap later he went sailing back past Vernon to retake the lead. Suddenly, everyone realized that the top was the place to be but Ripley had found it first.

As it turned out, despite pressure from both Vernon and Jensen, Ripley didn't falter, maintained his line, and drove on for his first feature win of 2025 with the two point chasers next in line behind him.

Scott Lawrence knew he had to get to the top quickly in the Super Stock feature and by the end of lap one, he had moved from the second row to that position on the track and took over the lead, hoping for his first win of 2025. Steve Stuart was very fast, as he has been all year and quickly moved to second in the small field. He was visually quicker than Lawrence but Lawrence had the top side covered, and it was up to Stuart to figure out a way past. Several times he nearly ran up the rear end of Lawrence's car and had to slow abruptly but his attempts to get past just didn't work as he couldn't get enough traction to slide by.

Finally, he was able to get up beside Lawrence as they were racing to the white flag and slide past. We all knew a slider was coming from Lawrence on the final lap and he tried, but he couldn't get his car to stick in turn one and slipped over the edge of the track. He did manage to save it and hold on to second as Stuart drove home for the win.

The groove was still right up on the lip for the Modifieds and Jack Rivord used the outside pole to grab the early lead and then led all 20 laps to get the win. It wasn't as easy as that makes it sound though, as he had constant pressure on him from Jody Bellefeuille and Nick Oreskovich. One slip could have cost him, since they were all racing on the razor's edge of the track.

There were also four yellow flags to make things more pressure packed and as we all know, most passed now come right after yellows so each restart was critical. However, Rivord did not slip up once, and he took the win with Nick O and Jody close behind.

It was then Late Model time and this race was won by a real “heads-up” move by Kyle Peterlin, who seems to be doing everything right this year. I would have sworn that the track would have stayed fast right up on the cushion and that's what most drivers banked on, but that changed as this race progressed.

Jayme Lautigar banked on that as he started on the outside pole, slipped to second for one lap behind Tim McMann, and then passed him back for the lead. Lautigar was flying on the cushion and opened up a nice-sized lead over the field. The pack was chasing him, as Harry Hanson moved into second with Peterlin and Darrell Nelson in a pack moving to the front.

Lautigar was continuing to fly up front. Somewhere around the lap eight mark, however, Hanson dropped to the lower groove, several behind him did the same, and the track started to take rubber low. The top runners began to reel in Lautigar at a fast pace. On lap 12, Hanson passed Lautigar for the lead on the inside and as Lautigar was stuck up on the cushion, he was freight trained and struggled to get in line down low.

Hanson looked to be good shape, with Peterlin now up to second. But, with the large field of drivers and with no yellows to bunch the pack, heavy traffic soon became an obstacle. Hanson was stuck back behind three cars and was having to throttle back so he didn't run over them. Peterlin took a calculated risk, jumping to the outside of the slower cars in what would be a “win or bust” move and he was able to tiptoe past the slower cars one at a time, dive back down low and then repeat the process, which gave him the lead with this very strategic move.

Things went down hill for Harry as he started to buzz his tires, with Nelson moving into second — only to get beat at the line by Jeff Massingill for that spot. Ben Heinle had perhaps his best run of the year in fourth as he nipped Hanson.

Peterlin's stop in victory lane was made sweeter by the fact that Pat Kapella was waiting for him with a check for $5,000 for winning the KME points at Proctor. The Late Models did a great job running 25 laps nonstop with only two drivers not finishing the race.

The biggest field of Pure Stocks of the season was on hand Sunday and Jake Smith, who has been on a roll of late, drove up from the fourth row to take the win. Aaron Bernick led the first two laps before Smith got rolling and once in the lead, he then maintained the top spot for the final nine laps.

Tom Treviranus gave him a good run before settling for second with Eric Crosby third.

For most of the Hornet feature it looked like Canadian visitor Spencer Smith was going to get the feature win in his first-ever appearance at the track. He led the first nine laps of the race, holding off both Nick Ruzich and Nathan Penney who challenged him.

However, even though he was only running fifth at the halfway point of the race, Carson Gotelaere suddenly turned on the jets and came flying through the field. He tracked down the leader and then drove away from the field in the last few laps. Ruzich was also able to edge past Smith to take second.

The show got off to a slow start as a medical emergency on the spectator side made for a 20-minute delay to the start of the show, and then several small gremlins slowed things down at times. It appeared the “what else could go wrong” bug moved from Red Cedar up to Proctor. The final checkered waved at 9 p.m., so it wasn’t too bad.

Next Sunday is the final point race of 2026, with track champions able to be crowned. It galls me to have to be mentioning that tracks are starting to wrap up their seasons already when it feels like we just got started.