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Thursday, August 20

Thursday a four-division program of WISSOTA racing was presented at Grand Rapids Speedway in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It was their second-straight night of racing as part of the Itasca County Fair. Late Models, Modifieds, Super Stocks and Midwest Mods were on the card.

They had rain overnight but not enough to cause any issues with the race track. The fair does cause other adjustments to be made, however. The main exit from the fairgrounds goes right through the pit area, one of the strangest things I have ever seen — the entrance for the race cars is the same road that is the main exit from the fairgrounds. The 90-degree turn into and out of the grounds makes for a fun game of Russian roulette for all, but no collisions were reported.

While there were just a few sprinkles early in the program that required a few extra laps of wheel packing, that was the extent of the rain. We were under a severe thunderstorm watch all evening and there were big thunderheads boiling all around us, but no hard rain fell at the track.

The Itasca County Fair seems like a nice one from what I saw of it, but at $10 just to park, it is one of the most expensive fairs around for race fans on race night. Race fans are asked to pay the $10 to park, plus their regular admission fee to see the races. I think it does make a difference in the attendance for that night. While many fairs really pack in the fans for race night, it was about an average night here. However, they do have motorsports activity going on for three straight nights, so perhaps folks have to pick the night they most want to see. Enduros and demo derbies, scheduled for later in the weekend, are big draws here also.

Much of the chit-chat in the pits before racing began was about the recent announcement that Rick Thoennes had resigned as the head tech director for WISSOTA, at the end of August. There were questions of how teching was going to be covered for the rest of the racing season. Teching is something racers don’t seem to worry about until it hits them personally.

Three heat races were needed for the Midwest Mods, with a pair of heats for the other three classes. Racing started just a bit later than normal here because of the recent rains and very humid conditions. Once they got going, they moved through the program rapidly.

A very rare occurence took place in the Late Model heats. Both of them were called back from the initial start, with the polesitters docked a row for the restart in both heats.

The nine heat races featured a total of only two yellow flags and all qualifying was completed in less than one hour. A quick break was needed to do some track packing and move the cushion down, and then it was time for feature racing action.

For the umpteenth time in his career, it was a triple-header win for Shane Sabraski. It’s likely he didn't win the Midwest Mod feature simply because he didn't have room in the hauler for his fourth car.

Before the show Sabraski showed me some video of his 15-year-old daughter doing a test session earlier this week at Granite City Motor Park and she looked to be doing quite well, having never raced cars before. She is a veteran of the karting ranks, however. We will look to see her on the track soon, likely at Granite City.

Otherwise, it was a show that the Sabraski fans on hand relished, while the rest of the field tried to figure out how to beat the orange and black No. 7A.

The Super Stock feature started out competitively; there were three different leaders during the first four laps of the race. Kevin Salin led the first couple of laps, during which there was a wild slide job sequence followed by a retaliation that brought out the black flag and got the blood pressures boiling.

Tristan Labarge then drove by Salin, but one lap later Sabraski passed him and it was then game-over.

Dylan Nelson pushed as hard as he could from the fourth row but he simply didn't have the speed to catch Sabraski, who drove on for the win ahead of LaBarge in third.

Sabraski started on the pole for the Late Model feature and after he got past Jeff Provinzino on the opening lap, he was pretty much in control the rest of the race. There was a nice battle for second between Provo and Kyle Peterlin that was entertaining for a number of laps, while Johnny Broking made a nice drive up from the fourth row to pass both and finish second.

The last hope for non Sabraski fans was the Modified feature. Adams had the initial jump and led the first three laps, but Sabraski was just too fast and after swapping sliders with Adams, he drove away from him.

After the first two laps, this race went green to checkered and Sabraski just extended his lead, winning by nearly a full straightaway. After an initial period of struggling with his new car, he appears to now have the machine all tuned up and that is bad news for the rest of the Modified teams.

It was heartbreak in the Midwest Mod feature for Tyler Kintner, who led 18 laps of the feature. Joey Jensen slipped past him as the field raced to the white flag and swiped his apparent win.

Kintner started on the pole, jumped into the early lead and was in control of the race for most of the laps. Jensen started fourth and quickly got to second. He spent much of the race trying to figure out a path past Kintner.

Jensen was all over the track, trying different grooves. He raced low, then tried the cushion, and then moved to the middle lane. No matter his plan, however, Kintner was just a bit quicker off the cushion as he continued to hold the lead. The cushion was gnarly, though, and grew increasingly so as the race continued.

Just when it looked like Jensen had given up and was settling for second, Kintner jumped the cushion in turn two and Jensen drove next to him down the back chute. He drove hard into turn three, was able to beat Kintner to the top of the track, and took the white flag as the leader. He then held on for the win. It was a surprise finish and a bitter pill for Kintner to swallow, no doubt. Josh Beaulieu came from ninth to round out the top three.

All racing was completed by 9 p.m., giving everyone plenty of time to do “fair” things.

All divisions of WISSOTA have great racing and I would never want to eliminate any of them, but I have to admit that I have been to a couple of four-division shows this year that were really nice. The short programs offered good racing and were done quickly and early. I think some of the long shows that tracks have been producing as of late are one of our biggest drawbacks when it comes to both keeping and attracting new fans.

Friday, August 21

We stepped out of our comfort zone a bit on Friday, August 21 with a trip to Fix It Forward Speedway, located in West Fargo, North Dakota. The track was formerly known as Red River Valley Speedway. When the fairboard took over promotions of the speedway, they changed the name.

Fix It Forward is a line of five full service automotive repair businesses located in the Red River Valley and they bought naming rights to the speedway. The name doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but neither do some of the other name changes we have seen in recent years for other tracks. It's just a matter of getting used to calling a familiar entity by a new name.

The reason we made the five-hour drive to North Dakota was to see the NLRA WISSOTA Late Models and the sixth annual Howie Schill Memorial race. We have been missing out on seeing these drivers all year and as time winds down, it was time to try and catch them in racing action at one of their biggest races of the year.

Cole Schill did a great job locating and signing up sponsors for this race, which this year was reduced to just a one-night show.

With a $2,404 top prize and $444 just to start the main event, a fine field of 37 Late Models signed in to race.The top 16 drivers in points and the top 19 of 20 were on hand; NLRA drivers do a great job of supporting their events and a much better job of supporting their races than Late Model drivers from other parts of WISSOTA do.

The NLRA’s philosophy has always been to ensure all drivers get a decent payback, not just the winners, and that's what keeps so many of their drivers coming back for each event.

I did get a chance to talk to a few of the drivers before the show, many of whom I had not seen since last racing season. Shane Edginton was driving the Morgan Ward-Grosz Longhorn. He was asked to run the car even though his own car is good to go. Morgan will be taking off the rest of the 2026 racing season and father Scott found out in a test session that his shoulder is still not quite ready for primetime. Edginton later put in a solid run, starting on the pin and finishing third.

Schill was a very busy guy on Friday. He worked from detail to detail to make sure the event ran as smoothly as possible. He put a new body on the car this week, with the look being the one that he finished off last year on. With all this going on, he had to change a motor this week after blowing the side out of his existing motor last Saturday at Ogilvie. He was then battling oil leak problems with the new motor, and that required long hours this week with virtually no sleep for him on Thursday night.

However, things ended up well when the event proved to be very successful with good racing, a large crowd and his own feature charge from 18th to fifth.

I got to meet rookie Late Model driver Dylan Langevin from Thief River Falls. He is a former Lightning Sprint driver who got into Late Models just this year. He told me that he is kicking himself that he didn't make the switch five years ago. He is having a blast, has a number of different tracks to race at, and has no more money in his Late Model that he had in the Sprint. In fact, he said Late Model tires are cheaper than the tires he used on his Lighting Sprint!

He is currently driving an older Rocket chassis with a Ben Adams spec engine under the hood. As a home builder, he is extremely busy this time of year but has a good crew working for him. He also has a daughter who is an excellent hockey player and he stays even busier trying to keep up with her traveling schedule.

He told me that he has a buddy who races the Lightning Sprints who has already bought a Late Model to race in 2027. He is on the lookout for a stacker trailer so they can travel and race together.

It was great to see Laine Schwehr back in racing action. Most everyone knows of his health issues after his crash at Jamestown last year. Just to see him up, around and racing once again is a blessing.

Brad Seng is out racing with a new car that he just got recently after totaling his other car in an event at Ada. It isn't a brand-new car, as the waiting list is a long one right now, but it was “gently used” by a driver down south and redone at MB for Seng. He would have a nice run on Friday, coming from thirteenth to race his way up to fourth at the finish.

Lucas Rodin found his way home from the woodlands of northern Wisconsin after racing an open B Mod show recently. He was back with the Late Model he is racing for Rusty Kollman this year. He passed on the Gierke Memorial Race to run here and after starting sixth, he did fade back just a bit in the main.

Our thoughts go out to Paul Mueller and his family, in light of his wife’s death recently.

Friday night he was a victim of the trickiest part of Fix It Forward and that is the exit off turn four. If you get a nice run off the banking on that corner, you better be prepared to cut your car hard left because the wall jumps right out to meet you down the front chute. Mueller found out the hard way, clobbering it during his heat race and ending his racing night very early.

Dustin Stand tells me that his new AK Late Model has been running well and the fact that he is only eight points behind Edginton in the NLRA standings at this point says as much.

Rusty Kollman tells me that he is a little disappointed that the schedule has them doing a lot of running this year in different directions for single shows. He hopes they do a better job next year of pairing up events. He is hoping that someone will put on some races for spec engine cars out in Arizona, as he would really like to race out there again. The open motor events are just not realistic.

I got a chance to say hello to Mitch Johnson, who tells me that some nights he runs well and then there are the others when he struggles in midpack and he’s not certain what the problem is. Friday was not one of his good nights. He had to take a provisional to make the race and ended up midpack at the finish. Johnson still gets the most applause from the fans of anyone.

The 37 drivers were divided up into five heat races with them drawing for starting positions. Because there were five heats, the top two finishers in each heat were part of the 10-driver redraw and everyone else lined straight up off heat finishes.

Fit It Forward, back in its earlier configuration, used to be a very heavy black dirt oval that pulled your shoes off if you were foolish enough to try and walk across the track. When the Schatz family took over and saved the track and shortened it, everything changed at that point. It is now about a third-mile with medium banking and they run it dry and slick. It is a real momentum track. It appears to be a real challenging track to figure out and consistent laps seem hard to accomplish.

But the feature drivers put on an excellent show for the fans on Friday. They started 27 drivers in the main event and all but one of them was still racing at the finish.

Oh, did I mention they also ran 34 laps nonstop with not a yellow to be had?

With that many drivers on the track, you can imagine that lapped traffic came early and heavy and that was certainly the case.

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