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Tuesday, July 28

The 32nd annual Street Stock Little Dream race was held on Tuesday, July 28 at Rice Lake Speedway. Without a doubt, it was the most successful Little Dream of them all, and that’s saying something.

First, the weather was perfect which is always a big plus for any event. The crowd was massive and perhaps one of the biggest ever at the track.

The car count set a record with 67 drivers from five states and Canada signing in to race. The field was probably the toughest collection of Street Stock drivers ever for this race, and most of the competitors agreed. The car count was up by 20 drivers over last year's field, even in the face of some declining numbers of Street Stocks in some areas of WISSOTA.

Much of that increase in driver participation was due to the much higher start and finish money that was offered by way of the exciting sponsorship agreement reached this year with St. Croix Casino. The $300-to-start and $1000-to-win Last Chance races, plus the $750 to start for the main event, certainly caught the eye of many teams and made their decision to make the trek more palatable.

Once again, the record top prize was broken. The winner, Parker Anderson, went home with $30,400 for his 40-lap feature win. That number is absolutely crazy, but made possible only by the great and generous fans and businesses, both locally and outside the area.

Even the 50/50 winner benefits, as that person went home with more than $2500. Super Stock driver Andrew Davis was the celebrity salesman for the 50/50 on Tuesday.

Guy Cook, who runs the Kart track next door to the speedway had a bunch of his young racers go through the crowd seeking donations and they brought in more than $800 just themselves.

FYE Promotions comes in to administer this race, a move that has paid dividends for the race itself and for the speedway. They bring in their own people and run the show with the help of some of the local track workers. It couldn't be better run. The announcing trio of Scott Tiefs, Scott Erickson and Chris Stepan, when he's not doing other duties, work well together. No one outworks them at generating interest and income for this race. They are by far the best assets toward making this race so successful.

One of the neat traditions of this race is when the previous winner comes on the track for a pre-race interview, and then contributes the first $100 to the payoff. This year it was Kyle Dykhoff who did the honors. It was also the first time he was publicly acknowledged as last year’s winner, as he was handed the honor in the middle of the night after the apparent winner was disqualified for a technical violation.

Thankfully, that did not occur again this year. Anderson’s car was ruled legal after an extensive check by a battery of WISSOTA tech officials brought in to keep the playing field level for this race. When you’re racing for $30,000, things do get serious.

Even as the amount the drivers race increases, the atmosphere of the event still remains lighthearted and fun. I can't fully explain it, but there is an atmosphere and aura surrounding this event on race night that is different and unique from any other race I go to all year. Somehow Rice Lake Speedway and race attendees have bottled it and they break it out each year, and the fun never ends.

The quality of the entries was very impressive and certainly the best overall at this event. Most of the top drivers in WISSOTA were on hand. The depth of the field made it a requirement that not only you be fast, but you needed just a bit of luck in your corner, as the competition was so close. There were drivers on hand who race every event in the country and there were others who only race a few Street Stock races a year. Some put together cars just for this event while others broke out new equipment for this race.

One of the more interesting entrants was that of Kyler Hefty from Potosi which in southwestern Wisconsin. His car was actually an IMCA Hobby Stock he and his team converted over to a WISSOTA Streeter. They said the process was not cheap. However, they were interested in doing something different and this race caught their attention, so they decided to try it. The way they talked, they were going to be back next year and better prepared.

I have seen Hefty race both in Wisconsin and Iowa, where he is a very competitive driver. While they had no illusions of winning here, they said they were here to make memories. What a cool way of looking at things.

With five drivers from the Thunder Bay area, that region was represented the best it has ever been for this race. Since they are now building such a strong field of Street Stocks at Thunder City, it only made sense that some of them would like to stretch their wings, so to speak, and try something different.

Unfortunately, they did not have the best of luck. Two of them, Tyson Waller and Darren Wolframe, were the only rollover victims of the night.

Cooper Berlin has been racing a Midwest Mod this year but back in the day raced Street Stocks. He came out with a new car just for this race. Which car and division he races the rest of the year, I'm not sure.

The margin between victory and defeat is so small at a race like this, when there are so many good teams running. It is razor-thin and sometimes, just a matter of luck whether success or failure is reached.

For example, drivers such at Kyle Genett, Jay Kesan, Nick Traynor, Cole Greseth, Zach Flickinger, Jim Gullikson, Cole Richards and Keith Tourville were all capable of winning the whole thing, but because of fluke things like flat tires in qualifying heats, their nights suddenly became much more difficult. A number of them ended up not even qualifying for the feature.

I am also struck by the determination of the teams. After two rounds of heats, when teams indeed suffered all many of issues including crashes, mechanical failures, etc. they still represented in the three B features. Every single driver except one made the call, overcoming whatever their heat race issues might have been.

And when it came time for the three drivers who finished in the top three spots in the Last Chance to take their earnings and run or hand them back and race the feature, there was no doubt in Jeff Nowak, Cole Greseth and Flickinger's mind — they were racing!

There were too many yellow flags in the main event for my taste, but sometimes that happens, especially when everyone is racing so hard. However, when I looked back at last year’s race, it had seven yellows in the 40 laps and this year there was just one more than that. Thankfully the yellows were all pretty much one-car spins and breakdowns, and didn’t involve grinding wrecks. And in fact, there were only six drivers out of the twenty seven that took the green that didn't finish the race.

There was one hard hit in a B-feature that required quite a delay, as Chanda Fjorden-Nord was transported for a possible concussion. No word on her at this time but hopefully it won't be too serious. Such a shame to see her get wrecked after just getting back into racing after a long break.

As far as the feature itself, it was a three-car battle with Parker Anderson fighting off Shawn Amundson and Dykhoff for 40 laps. Parker had to withstand all the restarts after yellows and as we know in racing, that is the most likely time that a pass might occur.

Several times it was close for him as Dykhoff nearly got by on the high side and Amundson got a nose under him on a couple occasions. Anderson fought both of them off, however. Near the end, Anderson was holding on for dear life as he indicated in his interview; his stuff was used up and he was just driving his hardest, trying to keep the hounds at bay. He was all over the track as he held on, one lap up on the cushion and the next running tight on the inside. That also may have helped him, as his competitors didn’t know from lap to lap where he might be. But his car had plenty of straightaway speed and that saved him.

Anderson started out racing at Rice Lake and for the first time in a number of years, it was two local racers who battled it out for the win.

One down side, it does make for a long show with the double heats and B features, plus Last Chance race. There is also the need to take some breaks so that more contributions can both be generated and then announced. That is the nature of the beast for this race. The extrication of Fjorden-Nord was also a time eater but necessary.

But I have to give the spectators on hand all the credit in the world. They didn't become impatient and waited out the delays with plenty of bench racing between fans, another side of this very social event. And even though it approached the midnight hour, I never saw more that just a few cars leaving the parking lot. The vast majority were there for the night, as they wanted to see the feature race. This is truly a dedicated crowd that attends this race.

If you haven't been to the Little Dream, you need to put it on you list to attend. Even if you aren't big Street Stock fans, this race is so special that everyone should be at it at least once.

Thanks to everyone involved with the production of this race. It remains as fresh and unique as ever.

Wednesday, July 29

I did something a bit different on Wednesday, July 29. I made the relatively short drive to farmland south of Menomonie Wisconsin to Thunder Hill Speedway.

Nestled in the scenic cropland of west central Wisconsin, Thunder Hill Speedway is a kart and micro sprint track owned by the Cummings family of Red Cedar Speedway fame.

It is a spotless facility and the approximately sixth-mile track is set between the rolling hills, providing both bleacher and lawn chair seating for the fans, which are comprised largely of the relatives of the many kids who race here. Of course, we know some of the sport’s rising stars started out racing karts here and at other tracks like this, and who knows how many future Blake Adams and Kennedy Swans I saw race on Wednesday.

The reason I was at Thunder Hill on Wednesday was because the WISSOTA Mod Fours made their first-ever appearance at the track. They were invited by track management and I believe XR1 Racing Supply (the Funts) were responsible for lining up drivers and putting this race together.

There were eight Mod Fours on hand to race, which I thought to be a good number for a midweek race. Thunder Hill, by the way, usually races on Thursday nights but ran this week on Wednesday due to some scheduling conflicts with other tracks.

The announcer pointed out that there are many more Mod Fours in the area, but he thought eight was a good number for their first-ever attempt here. He was half right, but for the record, there are very few Mod Fours in western Wisconsin and every one of the drivers who raced made a substantial pull from east central Minnesota to get here. For that, they should be congratulated. Those eight included Thomas Burgard, Doug Frederick, Steve Froelich, Andrew and Chad Funt, Dean Larson, Josh Madson and Gerry Nohner.

The sixth-mile track is wide, smooth and has some banking on it. It is fully capable of providing plenty of room for “big car” racing. In fact, it is no smaller than several tracks in Illinois that routinely run Modifieds and Late Models and I would like to see the management here give those classes a shot. I believe they would have a huge crowd to see something like that, and we all know a race car builder not very far at all from this location.

The Mod Fours ran well in their first attempt here, and seemed to fit right in. They ran an eight-lap heat and a 20-lap feature with just one yellow flag; Andrew Funt and Burgard tangled, with Burgard eliminated with a flat tire.

It was no surprise and perhaps appropriate that the oldest driver in the field, Dean Larson, won the feature race, another track that Larson can add to his total of tracks raced at and won at.

We all know what came next, don't we? The announcer was befuddled and the track officials puzzled, but any of us who have seen Larson race knew what came next. Of course, upon climbing out of his car, he raced across the track and scaled the wheel fence, yelling to the crowd that his performance was pretty good for a 69-year-old! The crowd loved it and it was vintage Larson. Too bad Ron Krog wasn't in the crowd to see it.

Among the competitors were some familiar dirt track last names, like Halopka, Swan and Johnsen; there were probably others I might have missed, but the point is for $10, it was good entertainment on a beautiful summer night to go out and watch. Brody Kohnke, who races a USRA Late Model, was racing in the 125/250 Winged Kart classes. However, when it comes to classes, I know nothing about this sport.

A few leftover items from last night's Little Dream. It was nice to have all the top drivers who were teched pass “muster.” It was a real bummer the last two years to have the winner disqualified in the dark of the night, and the winner not get the recognition and crowd response that was deserved.

I think the track and promotional team did a good job this year of getting the word out early on just what was going to happen tech wise, so the teams knew what to expect. The pre-tech before the race was also a good thing to eliminate some of the potential “picky” stuff that could trip up a good run.

I failed to mention that Jay Kesan continued his run as the only driver to participate in every single Little Dream race. He actually raced more this year than in the past couple. His night came to an early end, unfortunately, when something broke on the car and he slammed hard into the turn-one wall. I hope we see him back on the track yet this year, but am somewhat skeptical that might happen.

I understated the number of drivers from Ontario by one, as there were six Street Stocks on hand from the Thunder Bay area, not five.

Could there be an area anywhere where there are more drivers with the will to race than from the Thunder Bay area? I remember as a kid seeing the Thunder Bay area racers going through town north on a Sunday morning, having raced in the states on Saturday night. They were driving back up to Thunder Bay to race on Sunday afternoon. And this was at a time when the road wasn't nearly as nice as it is now. But they would do that week after week, all summer.

Much like that, the six drivers who raced at Rice Lake on Tuesday night headed back north and five of them raced on Wednesday night at Thunder City Speedway, more than likely short on sleep. The only one who didn't was Wolframe, who was involved in that single-car rollover on Tuesday.

Somehow, Tyson Waller — the other driver to flip Tuesday — was also racing Wednesday night, but it’s not known if he fixed his car or perhaps borrowed one for the night. Either way, the whole crew has to be applauded for their tenacity — and then also questioned for their sanity!

Not to be forgotten is the Randt team out of Siren, Wisconsin. While they probably got to sleep in their own beds, at least for a few minutes, they also drove up to Thunder City to race on Wednesday after waiting out tech at Rice Lake. They were in a potential position to be torn down, depending on how the top three fared.

The Kyler Hefty team, who converted their IMCA Hobby Stock over to a legal Street Stock, was also on the road after they raced on Tuesday, making it back to Dubuque, Iowa to race at their fair on Wednesday night. Their journey back through the winding hills of southwestern Wisconsin, plus making whatever changes they needed to, was probably just as taxing as that done by any of the other teams.

The Rusk County area lost two well known folks from the racing community recently. Vince Strobl passed away one day short of his 90th birthday on Sunday, July 26. Strobl was a master engine builder and just about everybody who raced out of the Ladysmith area had a motor built by Vince. His Vince's Speed Shop powerplants were well known and his expertise when it came to racing engines and racing in general was vast. I can remember having some interesting conversations with Vince and his wife Juanita over the years, as she had just as strong opinions as Vince did.

Bryan Peterson raced out of the Bruce area, driving the No. 83B in the Street Stocks and Super Stocks. He passed away unexpectedly at age 65 on July 11. I remember his cars, always with the sponsorship of his father’s business, Jim Peterson Realty, on them.

I confirmed a rumor and have the sad news to report that Dennis McCauley will be ending the Fast Lane Northland Super Stock Series after this year. This has been a great series for the Super Stocks and provided a lot of excellent racing at tracks. McCauley has been so good to the Super Stock drivers, along with the many sponsors he's cultivated over the years. This will leave a hole in the racing schedule for next year and is a gigantic loss for the Super Stock drivers. I hope the last two races for the series yet to be run at Gondik and ABC are tremendous successes.

I suggested to McCauley that he instead start a Midwest Mod and Modified series, but I don't think he bit on that. Instead, in 2027 McCauley will satisfy a long-held desire, and that is to race himself. He tells me that he will be racing a Six Cylinder car at ABC on Saturday nights, fulfilling a desire to race a car before he turns 60.

Friday, July 31

It was labeled as just a “regular race night” plus Super Stocks on Friday night, July 31 at I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls. However, just a regular race night there appears to be so much more than that. A very large car count was on hand and every WISSOTA class feature, except perhaps the Hornets, came right down to the finish. There were great battles in all classes and it was quite a night of racing.

Despite some questionable weather early in the day, and with much of the region still under either rain or the threat of such, 132 drivers in six WISSOTA classes showed up at the track. Add in another 18 Gen X cars and you're at 150 racers for a regular Friday night show.

To be fair, several other tracks were off this weekend and that likely helped the car count some. James Trantina III also put together a weekend Mini Modified Series, with increased pay plus bonuses for the weekend and I’m sure that also helped. But nevertheless, I certainly felt like a genius for zeroing in what was likely the best show around Friday.

I got a brief chance to talk to track announcer Ron Krog, who was making his nightly rounds, something that would not hurt a few more announcers to do.

Ron seemed especially pleased to welcome the Super Stocks, who made their first appearance of the year at I-94. With some other tracks that run Supers taking this night off, it was perfect timing to include them in the racing. I suspect Don Shaw's good friend Matt Sparby had much to do with this. Sparby was one of the sponsors for this event and helped the purse, and has ensured entry, for the Super Stocks at a number of tracks, including their visits to Arizona in January.

I also got a chance to talk briefly to Shaw, who rarely can be found these days at the track as he focuses his attention on track prep, now that he doesn't have to worry about a lot of the other matters he used to have to concern himself with.

Don has lost some weight (doctor's orders) but he looks good and seems to be enjoying his new life as an ex-track owner. He reported that most things are as they were, with no real changes having been made as they continue to do their thing. He said that new owner Trantina III has only been to the track twice since he bought it, and both times it was to race!

Don also said that he only guaranteed James one year and that come 2027, he probably won't be around all the time; it seems that Mrs. Shaw has some trips planned for them. He still owns a couple race cars, including the Gen X car that Dave Mass drove. Plus, he recently bought a Super Stock from Roger Host that Mass also drove on Friday. I think he wouldn't mind getting back in a Super, but someone close to him already nixed that plan!

Action was ongoing early at the track, as a motor change was already taking place in the pits when the gates opened. Jordan Henkemeyer had already pulled a motor and was installing another one. Later the car smoked during the heat race but an adjustment was made and no other problems seemed to occur.

Other smokers during heat race action included Shane Sabraski in his Late Model and Brandon Mehrwerth (heavily) in his heat; again all issues were apparently addressed in the pits and the rest of the night was completed with no problems.

Mass was a busy driver Friday, driving Shaw's Super Stock plus the Gen X car and his own Late Model. Of course, Sabraski has made a career of doing the same thing several nights per week.

It was tough to do a good race report because the scoreboard gave up the ghost after the heat races, apparently due to debris that struck the board during the program. So here is my less-than-accurate report on the evening's action.

The Street Stocks had 16 drivers on hand, a decent field for them but not overwhelmingly large. Races earlier this week might have played some part in reducing the number of travelers.

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