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Dan Plan

The MidwestRACINGRACINGRACINGRACINGRACING

ConnectionOctober, 2013

P.O. Box 22111St. Paul MN, 55122

651-451-4036www.theracingconnection.com

PublisherDan Plan

Contributing WritersDale P. DanielskiKris McMartinJason SearcyDean RellerCharlie Spry

PhotographersJim Ambruoso (815-623-3200)Rick Blewett (507-398-9483)D's Racing Imagery (608-448-2288)Martin DeFries (651-346-1199)Doug Hornickel (920-563-0993)Tom Johnson (612-309-7142)Mark Melchiori (414-463-0131)Stan Meissner (651-428-4717)Bruce Nuttleman(612-860-6622)Jerry Zimmer (715-792-2174)

The Midwest Racing Connection is published tentimes during the summer racing season by The PlanCompany, Inc. All material is copyrighted 2013 andmay not be reprinted without permission.Subscriptions are $20 for ten issues.Call 651-451-4036.

Cover photo by: Martin DeFries

Member of the NMPANational Motorsports Press Association

Racing Accordingto Plan

Publisher's Note

It’s been a busy month since our final print issuecame out over Labor Day weekend. This column willfocus on some of the highlights of what we’vewatched over the last month.

Raceway Park in Shakopee, MN held its final eventover the Labor Day weekend, and it wasn’t longbefore the heavy equipment came in to tear thingsdown. All kinds of rumors (some of them quitehumorous and unbelievable, yet people were claimingthe stories to be true) never came to the forefront.The final weekend at Raceway was entertaining as

always; close racing, point battles, rollovers andeverything else a race fan could expect on a night atthe track. The final race of the weekend (and finalrace ever at Raceway) just happened to be the GreatNorth Legends race won by Benny Van Cleve. TheLegends look similar to the Modifieds that raced backin the 1950’s and 1960’ at Raceway Park, so it onlyseemed fitting a car with a Coupe style body wouldclose out the weekend.

The joint is all but gone now, and it’s not likelyanother facility will be built. I could be wrong, butpersonally, I don’t see it happening. Fans came out indroves over the final weekend, but it was too little toolate. As the great 80’s Hair Band, Cinderella oncesang; Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone).

Following the demolition of Raceway Park, our nextshow was the annual JerryRichert Memorial at CedarLake Speedway. This is ashow that Open Wheel fansshould pack the place for.The event features the 410and 360 Sprints along withVintage cars. In my opinion,this is one of the best openwheel shows around, Northof Knoxville. The RichertMemorial provides morecars, better racing and theticket price is far less thanother open wheel tours thatcome to town. The 410’sare sanctioned by the IRA,and also have a fewtravelers from Knoxville and

Grand Forks make the trip. Grand Forks hot shoeMark Dobmeier finally had luck go his way and ranaway with the 410 portion of the show this year. The

It didn't take long for the heavy equipment toshow up at Raceway Park

(Dan Plan photo)

continued on page 5

Jeremy Wolff went for a wild ride on the final night at Raceway Park.(Martin DeFries photo)

Page 4October, 2013

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360 Sprints are sanctioned by Ron Bernhagen'sUMSS group for this event. I’ve often wondered ifthey planned on changing the name of the series tothe UMTS for the Upper Midwest Tatnell Series, butBrooke wasn’t able to win this show. Chris Graffcaptured the 360 portion of the show and walkedaway with the UMSS season championship trophy aswell. Add in the 30 or so Vintage cars from the

NVSR that were onhand and it’s a prettygood night at theraces.

Next up was theLegendary 100 atCedar Lake. Whatstarted out as beautifulweather on Thursdayand Friday evening forthe weekend, quicklyturned into a gloomy/dreary final day onSaturday. We pulledup stakes Saturdayafternoon in hopes ofcatching seasonchampionship night atElko, but the weatherwas just as lousy 60 milesaway, causing a cancellationof Elko’s final point night ofaction.

We were able to use theThursday and Friday nightshows of the Legendary 100to get our first dirt trackfootage with the kids GoProcamera. Thanks to AndreaKeeney, Jeff Keeney andMike Spraguer for letting ushook up the camera in theircars for the weekend. CedarLake utilized their rain date

of Sunday afternoonto complete the 3-day Legendary 100event. Whileafternoon dirt trackraces typically aren’tmy cup of tea, thingsstarted out well withovercast skies tokeep some of themoisture in thetrack. Unfortunately,the track didn’t wantto roll in properlyafter all of the rain,and many of thedrivers didn’t seemto want to cooperate

as well. For race fans that complain about lineupstaking too long after cautions, I would highlyrecommend buying a scanner and listening to thetrack officials. It sure seems that 9 times out of 10,the lineup is being announced properly on theRaceceiver channel and the drivers simply aren’tlistening. What started out as an afternoon of racing,eventually turned into an evening of racing. I haven’tbeen to the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, but thiswas definitely the longest short track show I’ve everattended. I’m not saying it was bad, just long, reallylong. The Late Model feature finish made up for therest of the day, with a photo finish between ScottGilberts and Jimmy Mars. Jimmy was actually beinginterviewed in victory lane, before the video replayshowed Gilberts gained the win by just inches. Other

North Dakota's Mark Dobmeier picked uphis first Richert Memorial trophy

(Dan Plan photo)

The Late Model photo finish at The Legendary 100(Vince Peterson photo)

4-Wide Modified action at the Legendary 100(Vince Peterson photo)

Defending Big 8 Thunderstruck race winner DylanMoore walked away from this incident

(Martin DeFries photo)

continued on page 6

continued from page 3

Page 6October, 2013

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winners during the final day of the Legendary 100included; Darrell Nelson (Modifieds), Ben Hillman(Pro Stocks), Skeeter Estey (Midwest Mods), SamFrankhauser (Street Stocks), George Richards (PureStocks) and Barrot Hammond (Hornets). In an effortto keep the racing surface up to par for the drivers,Butch Erickson and Bob Cook may have picked upthe awards for most laps completed on Sundayafternoon. Crazy stuff, that’s for sure.

Next up was the Thunderstruck event and ThunderCar Nationals. We’ve enjoyed this weekend at Elkosince the inception of the Thunder Car Nationalsmany years ago, and the addition Late Models to theshow the last several years is just the icing on thecake. The event has all of the ingredients to make agreat weekend; free camping, great location and greatracing.

The entire weekend was a great time and was actionpacked with side-by-side racing, spectacular wrecksand post race entertainment. Some of the post raceentertainment almost lead to the loss of all fingers onmy right hand, but that’s a story for another day. TheThunder Car race is one that I look forward to eachyear. The Thunder Car main event had severalRaceway Park regulars along with some new driversshow up to test the waters for 2014. The extra driversboosted the car count for the Thunder Cars to thehighest number of the year. This race also had itsshare of thrills & spills, leading up to Brent Kane andTed Reuvers battling for the top spot, with Kaneedging away for the win. The Big-8 drivers got off toa wild start, with defending race winner Dylan Mooreending up on his lid. Elko 2013 Big 8 track champion,Chris Marek, set fast time and held off the Big 8travelers for the win. The highest car count of the

weekend for all divisions also went to the Big 8 cars,with 30 Late Models on hand; great support from thelocal drivers and the travelers in the Big 8’s. TheARCA Midwest tour ran the majority of the race’sfirst segment caution free, with Andrew Morrisseyleading at the break. Veteran driver Rich Bickle madea show of it and exchanged the lead with Morrisseyduring several cautions following the break. Bicklewould eventually fade to third in the final rundown,with Morrissey holding on for the win and ChrisWimmer taking second. Other event winners for theweekend included Dan Gilster in the Mid Am StockCars, Camden Murphy in the Trucks, Dirk Henry andMichael Ostdiek in the Legends, and Michael WachsJr. and Brandon Plekkenpol in the Mini Stocks.

Brent "The Freight Train" Kane picked upthe win at the Thunder Car Nationals

(Martin DeFries photo)

Andrew Morrissey and Rich Bickle Jr. exchanged the lead numerous times during the finalsegment of the Thunderstruck event at Elko Speedway

(Martin DeFries photo)

Page 7 October, 2013

continued from page 7

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My only wish is that maybe next year, we can getthings started an hour or two earlier on Saturdaynight, and possibly reduce the number of divisionscompeting. This was another night that went on a littletoo long. Again, I’m not implying in any way that itwas a bad show; there was simply too much on theschedule to get done in a reasonable amount of time.Sure, people will say the amount of cautions made it alate night, but that’s just how things go at the end ofthe year. It’s just something that happens whendrivers realize they only have a few more weeks toplay with their toys and the event schedule needs totake this into consideration. As I heard a wise manonce say “you can always stall if your show is moving

along to fast. You can’t make up timeif you’re running behind schedule.”Just a few minor tweaks to the eventschedule for next year, and the 2014version of Thunderstruck should beepic.

Miscellaneous news and notes;With all of the drama/changes/fines/suspensions that recently took place onthe NASCAR Sprint Cup side ofthings heading into The Chase, I’mthat much more of a fan of short trackracing.

We recently received a book from ourfriends at Coastal 181 Publishing

(www.coastal181.com). Look for a book review ofJoyce Standridge’s Did You See That in a comingissue of The Midwest Racing Connection.

While we poked fun at Brooke Tatnell earlier in thiscolumn, our well wishes go out to the Tatnell family.A few weeks after the Richert Memorial, the familiesRV burned to the ground in their driveway. Thepictures of the aftermath were quite frightening tolook at, but all family members were OK.

Our next on-line issue will be available early inNovember. In the meantime, check us out on ourFacebook page or YouTube channel for items to keepyou entertained for the next few weeks.

The Ryan family in victory lane with Andrew Morrissey at Elko Speedway(Martin DeFries photo)

Chris "Cruiser" Marek set fast time and picked up themain event win for the Big 8 Late Models at Elko

(Mark Melchiori photo)

Page 8October, 2013

Dale P. Danielski

Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,

Observances andObservances andObservances andObservances andObservances and

OpinionsOpinionsOpinionsOpinionsOpinions

continued on page 9

It was quite the trip down memory lane here August31st as Amherst Speedway, Amherst, WI., hosted theMilwaukee area stock car group for some exhibitionracing on the new 3/8 mile dirt speedway.

Amherst is a new track in Central Wisconsin havingheld a couple events in 2012. 2013 featured moreracing but the season ended early as the searchbegins to find clay to lay down and make the tracksuitable for racing. Right now it is not but plans for2014 are ambitious and hopefully a good clay surfacecan be created to bring some dirt racing to the areanear my home stomping grounds.

Regardless of the track surface it was really cool tosee the old time modified and sportsman type carsthat raced in the Milwaukee area for so many yearsin the 1960s and ‘70s put their racing machinesthrough their paces. We didn’t get a chance to seethis racing all that much back in the day but when wedid it was a pleasure to watch. The Modified cars

were unique to say theleast in their constructionand the names of thedrivers were catchy towhere you definitelyremembered who theywere. Some were Miles(The Mouse) Melius whoruled the division for manyyears, Fuzzy Fassbender,Aaron Solsrud, NeilSederberg, Billy Johnson,Johnny Reimer, WhiteyHarris, Fred Zack, DonSchuppel, Roger Otto,Willie Goedon, EtchieBiertzer, Ken Marquardt,Dick Duston, just to namea few that come to mind.Of course the Sportsman group that racedeverywhere with the mods had a following of theirown as Frank Smith, Jim Boehles, JackAschenbrenner, Mike Klecker, Bernie Binon, JimHendricks, Tom Klippel, Charlie Weddle, JackBrewer and numerous others followed the circuit.These guysmuch likethe pavedset in the‘60s and‘70s couldrace 5-6nights aweek! Justa crazyschedulebut forthose of uswho werearound thenit was thegreatestthing!

Some ofthe few times we could witness the Mod guys inaction was when Sam Bartus who was promoting the

Golden Sands Speedway,Plover, WI., and theCapital Speedway, Oregon,WI., would bring them in tocompete against the LateModel guys on thepavement in challengeraces. Track records wereusually broken when theseLate Model vs Mod racesoccurred and it was anexciting promotion to saythe least. The Late Modelgroup would go to greatlengths to beat the modseven bringing in extremelywide soft, racing slicks likethey did the one time atGolden Sands. The mods in

that case were no match as they had very narrowtires on the front of their cars with in most casestreaded, dirt tires on the back! The mod guys didn’talways lose though as I remember Neil Sederberg,John Reimer and Dick St. John getting the best of theLM crew. And that was only fair as Trickle, Back

Reffner, etc.,shouldn’talways havehad theirway.

Anyway, itwas great tosee some ofthese carsback inaction. It surebrought backsome greatmemories.

Here andthere…Caughtthe ARCAMidwest

Tour action at Marshfield Motor Speedway hereAugust 31st and witnessed some great feature action.In what looked like a Dan Fredrickson runaway in the100 lap main turned into a nail biter of a finish asSteve Holzhausen came out of nowhere ( As he hasdone actually for about 30 years now) to win the mainevent! Rich Bickle played possum most of the eventmaking his move late and even leading briefly. It wastoo little too late however and he wound up 2nd at thefinish. Skylar Holzhausen took a 6th place car in hiswords to a podium finish in 3rd, with Jeremy Millerand point leader Fredrickson following…A grand oldtime was had by all at the CWRA Racing ReunionSeptember 21st in Wis. Rapids, WI., as in myestimation close to 70 drivers from past days of racingwere on hand to have fun reminiscing of days goneby. A few track/event promoters were there as wellincluding Sam Bartus, Ace Kasten, Phil Bickley,

#57 Chevy driven by well known racer John McNamara.

Cool CWRA Reunionphotos the FamousChicken Coupe #3

driven by LyleNabbefeldt

Page 9 October, 2013

continued from page 8

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Ralph Jacobson and Darrell Basseuner. Numerousdisplays of cars and drivers that competed from the1950s all the way into the 2000s under the CWRAbanner were on hand along with a number of racecars past and present. Old time racing footage wasshown throughout the day to give the huge crowd offans on hand a little taste of what once was. A funday and with the turnout it looks like the group willhave another Reunion in 2014. It’s something youdon’t want to miss but if you did a DVD covering thedays activities is available through this scribe topurchase…In addition if you missed this reunion youhave a chance at another as Champions Reunion Vwill be held at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway,West Salem, WI., Sunday October 6th beginning at11am. This event is part of the Oktoberfest racingweekend October 3-6 at the track and will featuredrivers that raced all though the years. Upwards of 50should be on hand which will offer a great opportunityfor fans to get an autograph or snap a photo. Pluswhile there you can’t miss on all the racing action thatwill take place over four days…

With Wausau and Wis. Rapids, WI. well representedat the CWRA Reunion we’ll take a look back at someresults from tracks in those areas. Jere O’Day wonthe Feature race at Griffith Park Speedway April 9th,1967 as the Wisconsin Rapids track opened itsseason. O’Day piloted a 1946 Chevy to the win overMarv Marzofka, Jim Back and Dick Trickle. Thesemi-feature went to Bob Hofschild with heat racewins going to Buck Linhart, Orv Buelow and TomReffner. Fast time honors went to Jim Back at 14:34seconds around the ¼ mile oval. 1,200 fans werereported on hand on a cold windy day. MarvMarzofka won the Feature race in the season openingrace on Thursday May 6th, 1971 at State ParkSpeedway of Wausau, WI. Dick Trickle finished 2nd.Heat race winners were Bob Mackesy, SonnyImmerfall and Dick Trickle. Marv Marzofka took fasttime honors at 14:81 around the ¼ mile oval and 800plus fans were on hand to witness the action. AtGolden Sands Speedway, Plover, WI., April 25th, 1971it was Dick Trickle winning the Feature over MarvMarzofka, Ron Beyer, Bill Wirtz and George

Thornton. The semi-feature went to TomJensen over Denny Clarkand Floyd Fairfield. Heatrace winners were BobMackesy, Tom Jensenand Marv Marzofka.Fast time went to DickTrickle at 13:24 aroundthe 3/10ths Sands oval.

News, notes andcomments welcome toDale P. Danielski atStarmaker Multimedia967 10th Ave N Ste A,Onalaska, WI 54650

Steve Holzhausen #97 picks up the win in ARCA MT action atMarshfield Motor Speedway.

Page 10October, 2013

Dean & JasonTalkin' Racin'

Dean Reller

When the news came out earlier in the year it was adate that many people circled on the calendar,September 1st, the last day of racing at RacewayPark. As the season went on, everyone talked aboutthe end and then, suddenly the calendar turned overand it was September 1st, the Final Final was here.

The day started with a different vibe as I Iogged ontofacebook. Nearly everyone had something to sayabout the race and the racetrack. Some posts wereinsightful, others emotional, but all set the stage thatthis would be no ordinary night at the races.

As I pulled into the parking lot there were manypeople with the same plan as me, Get There Early!Before I even got out of my car, a man exited theSUV parked next to me and a guy gets out dressed inwhite pants, a nice shirt and tie, then he grabbed asports coat and headed for the pit gate. Once again itwas evident that this wasn’t a normal night at theraces. Since it was Championship Night, there was abit of tension in the air, but mostly it was a bit offriendly camaraderie as everyone wanted to put on agreat race, one more time.

The Driver’s Meeting was a bit different than normal.Track owner John Hellendrung thanked everyone andexplained the situation with the track. Also presentwas Tom Ryan owner of Elko Speedway, who openlyinvited all the drivers to come try racing at ElkoSpeedway and to consider racing there next season.During the next few hours, two Twin Cities televisionstations would report on the final night of racing.Hence, explaining why someone was wearing whitepants and a sports coat to the races. The racingprogram went relatively smooth. Dave Nogle usedthe last ever Figure 8 race to win his first feature ofthe season, making his final race at Raceway Parkvery memorable at a track that’s been very specialfor him. “I’ve raced here since 2000 and it’s thepeople, it’s a whole different clan. They’re really

cool, they help each other out too,” said Nogle aboutthe close knit group of racers in the pits.

Jeremy Wolff would add his name in the record booksas he was the last driver to roll his car on the final lapof the intense Hobby Stock Feature. Brent Kanewould take the Hobby Stock Feature win, but itwasn’t enough to keep Conrad Jorgenson fromwinning the Championship. “It’s pretty cool to winthe last Championship ever,” said a very happyJorgenson following the race. “In 1996 I won my firstchampionship here and it’s pretty cool to end it upwinning one again.” The large crowd that packed thegrandstands made their presence known and driverslike Jorgenson took note. “It’s always fun to run infront of a huge crowd, but tonight it was incredible,”Jorgenson remarked. At 10:19 PM , the CheckeredFlag waved for the final time as Benny VanClevewon the Great North Legends Feature to become thelast ever winner at Raceway Park, ending 57 years ofracing at the historic track.

Not An Ordinary Night At The Races, The Final Final AtRaceway Park

After the race, no one was in a big hurry to leave.Many drivers and fans alike walked around the trackfollowing the races taking pictures and relivingmemories one more time. “I’ve been here a long timeas a lot of us have been and it’s a big family, so it kindof feels like we lost someone in the family,” remarkedFigure 8 driver Kari Miller as she walked around thefacility one more time following the races. “I’m justtrying to celebrate tonight, instead of being sad of theend of something; I’m trying to celebrate thememories that we have here.”

Many drivers, crews and fans took their time leavingas some were saying goodbye to not only the track,but to their racing career as well. Slowly as the nightand early morning progressed, the crowd finallydwindled and a new sound emerged over that tinylittle quarter mile track, the sound of silence.Something that will now be heard on Sunday nights inthe summer.

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Dave Nogle drove a Ford to the final Figure 8 race at Raceway Park in Shakopee, MN(Martin DeFries photo)

Page 11 October, 2013

Going inCircles

Charlie SpryJust some little tidbits from various tracks that I’vebeen to lately. Season championships night at manytracks brings out a little more intense racing, or so itseems.

Nice to see James Bell back out racing this yearagain, as he raced on the second-to-last points night atJefferson Speedway. He took a job as an over-the-road truck driver, and being the new guy, he is on theroad most of the time. He got away to race once,went out and was second fastest in the Internationaldivision, then found water leaks in the car which couldnot be repaired quickly, so he didn’t really get to race.He did get to help his Dad, Keith, on his car, as Keithplaced second in the feature.

Nice to see veteran late model racer Roger Behlkeback out at the end of the year. A victim of a crashearly in the year, Roger was sidelined for quite sometime, as both he and the car had to heal.

Took in the season championships at the State ParkSpeedway, with Mark Mackesy going for his fourthtrack title in the past six years in the super lates.Mark got the job done once again, in what he wouldadmit was kind of a trying year. His Brother, Wayne,also went home with a championship in the limitedlates, in a close battle with Clint Sillars. Mackesynoted that his car had been sitting around the shopcollecting dust, until they decided to put some timeinto it and get it ready to run in the new limited lateclass here. It paid off.

Travis Volm got the job done once again in the purestocks, his third in a row here. He said that it wasprobably time to move up in divisions, but wasn’t surewhat would shake out for next year, yet. Whatever heruns in, he will be a contender, you can be sure.

Brad Conant won the title in the Mini-Mod class, ashe pretty much dominated most of the year, whileMariah Gajewski won the title in the mini-stocks, hersecond in a row. She also elaborated in how shewould like to move up next year also, possibly to purestock.

Derek Kraus was a dominant force in the newBandolero division for the younger set, grabbing the

title with many feature wins to his credit.

Nice to see Columbus 151 Speedway racer John“The Real Deal” Beale make the long haul up torace. John had been racing a late model at Columbus,but motor issues sidelined him late in the year, so hebrought out his old Bandit, and ran at many differenttracks, both paved and dirt.

Speaking of the Columbus 151 Speedway, theirchampionship had only a couple of close pointsbattles, but they were very interesting. In the streetstocks, Scott Lawver had been pulling away in thepoints, but a badnight allowed StevenSauer to catch up.On this night, Sauerneeded to finish acouple of spotsahead of Lawver toget the title, butLawver wouldn’t lethim out of his sight.Sauer made anattempt to makesome moves to pullaway, but Lawverwas actually able togain on the insidegroove and finishahead of Sauer to gain the title. Sauer had set fasttime on most occasions this year, forcing him to startat the back each week, which is difficult.

Veteran Ron Bishofbergerhad a great year, dominatingthe late model action,winning his fifth late modeltitle here, and also becomingthe all-time leading featurewinner at the track in therecords. A very modestindividual, he just smiles andcalmly accepts accolades.No brag, just fact.

Jimmy Robinson won thefeature on the final night toput the icing on hischampionship cake in thehobby stocks. Jimmy hadwon the first three featuresof the season, then heactually tried to recruit morecars to come race, whichmade it more difficult forhim to win. “It’s more fun torace more, good cars,” SaidJimmy. “I always wantmore competition, it makesyou work harder.” CodyBuchs had a great season tofinish second.

Jamie Kohn won his secondstraight Bandit track

championship, and said he was relieved when it wasall over. He pulled away from Nick Schmidt late inthe year to take the crown.

The backup division started out the night with AndyWard holding a slim point lead over Matt Wachuta.Ward got caught up in a crash, with cars scatteringmadly about the whole contest, making for scoringdifficulties. What was initially reported as finishingorder was later corrected, with Wachuta finishinghigh enough to overtake Ward in the points by a slimmargin. Matt also won the title in 2009, while Ward

was the defendingchampion.

At RockfordSpeedway, AlexPapini had anabsolutelydominating year inthe late modeldivision. To provehow much Alex is apure racer, onchampionship nighthe raced just as hardin a heat race as anyfeature, proving thathe always runs fullthrottle. Alex made a

real nice tribute to his late father, Al, by driving up to

continued on page 12

2013 Rockford track champ - Alex Papini(Jimmy Ambruoso photo)

Page 12October, 2013

the place where his father lost his life when Alex wasa child, just as he did that tribute every night that hewon a feature. Alex noted, “This is all that I everdreamed of, just didn’t think it would become areality.” Rookie-Of-The-Year was Joel Clossey, whogot back into racing full time this year for the firsttime since 1997.

Nick Cina Jr. took the title in the American ShortTracker division, and had to run the final night of theyear behind the wheel of the car normally raced byScott Hoeft, as his own car had issues.

Doug Bennett took home the title in the sportsmandivision, his third championship here, coming backstrong after an early season that was plagued withbad luck. Fourteen year old Deanna Chandler tookthe ROY honors, as she made great progressthroughout the season, winning a couple of heat racesalong the way in a very competitive division.

Arlyn Roush was a steady performer all year in theRoadrunner division, as he took home the title. TheRoadrunner drivers race more than any other division,and it really takes a tremendous effortto get a car ready for each night. Justbecause it is a lower budget division,doesn’t mean they put any less effortinto their racing.

Jason Van Hise won the RoadrunnerChallenge championship, his third title.These events offer a variety ofdifferent things for the drivers to doeach week, from Hare-N-Hound racesto holding plywood onto the roofs oftheir cars while racing, it is alwayssomething fun and different, and this isjust what Jason said he likes to do.Something different. He seems to excelin just about any challenge.

It was nice to see American ShortTracker racer Aaron Rude on handtonight for the first time in almost a year. “We blewthe engine up last year in the short trackchampionships,” said Aaron’s Dad, Mike. “We slowlypieced together another engine and with Aaron havinga three year old Daughter, family time comes first.We are kind of testing it out so that we are ready forthe NSTC in a couple of weeks.” Aaron ran realstrong, finishing fourth in the feature.

Had a nice chat with late model racer Dave Edwards,who told me that he began racing in 1997 at the oldLake Geneva Raceway in the street stock division, ina car that was the exact same color and number ashis current late model. “I ran only one race that firstyear, then came out full bore the next year. We reallyenjoy going to all sorts of different places to race,chasing the Big 8 tour, and we usually try to race ateach track that the tour goes to at least once prior toget a feel for it.”

At the Madison InternationalSpeedway, veteran Rich Bickle Jr.was running his final race at whatmany would consider his home track.After laying back early in the feature,he came on strong and lookedunbeatable in winning. Afterward, andemotional Bickle stated “The crewworked their tails off on this car, Ithink Ray Charles could have drivenit. I kind of laid back early and savedmy stuff, and when we got to thebreak with twenty-five laps to go, Ithought that if I don’t win this thing,something is wrong.”

Young Casey Johnson won the latemodel title here, as he is not only fast at MIS, butreally everywhere he goes. He looks to have a verystrong future ahead of him.

Natalie Decker kind of made everyone sit up and takenotice, as she snuck up behind leader Chester Aceand made a last lap pass for the win in the truckseries race. She was fresh off her first ever limitedlate model feature win on the previous Thursday atState Park Speedway, and now with her first truck

victory, really had a great weekend. Another talented,young driver to watch. Jerry Wood didn’t let a littleskirmish early in the feature stop him from winningthe track title in the truck division here.

Cory Talaska took home the title in the Legendsdivision, seemingly knowing just what he had to do inorder to gain the title over Aaron Moyer, as these twoseem to run wheel to wheel with each other whereverthey go.

Specials season was upon us in a flash, and I took inthe first night of the annual “Wisconsin StateChampionships” at the Jefferson Speedway.

Had an enjoyable talk with Big 8 late model regularSteve Dobbratz. “Dobie” is racing with a car ownedby long-time crew member Aaron Larsen. He has cutback his racing efforts a bit this year, not running

weekly anywhere, trying to spend time with family,although it is hard to take the racer from the track, ashe said, “I don’t know how well that worked, really. Itseems like I was still at a race track somewherewatching if I wasn’t racing.” The car had only beenout a few times this year, but appeared to be fast rightout of the box. Anyway, Dobie is always a contenderwherever he races.

Nice to see Dave Edwards have a nice run going inFriday’s preview feature, only to getinvolved in a crash late in the event whilerunning near the front. Dale Nottestad alsohad a subpar night, as his car sufferedfrom issues early in the evening, and hehad to race himself into the feature via alast chance race. To prove his mettle, hewent out and won both features onSaturday night as well, in what reallyturned out to be a dominating weekend forhim after it started out so badly.

Forty-five Big 8 late models took to thetrack during qualifying on Friday night, astrong field to be sure. Several Jeffersonregulars ran the show, with it being nosurprise that most of them did pretty wellat their home track.

Enjoyed talking with the StorksonBrothers, Mike “Spike,” and Kenny “The tack.”These guys just really love to race and to be involvedin the sport, and it is contagious to feel the samewhenever you are around them. It seems like bothalways have a big old smile on their faces wherever.Both were racing cars in the tracks “Road Warrior”division, which is comprised of FWD V-6 poweredmachines.

Saturday we took the trip up to the Marshfield MotorSpeedway for day two of their Fall Shootout.Announcers tonight were Steve Parsons and BrandonAschenbrenner, filling in for the regular announcerswho happened to be down at Jefferson. Steve andBrandon did a fine job during the show.

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(Doug Hornickel photo)

Young Natalie Decker picked up a Truck win at MIS

(Dou

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Page 13 October, 2013

Thirty-two super lates were on hand, which is anoutstanding field for these cars anywhere. It was niceto see a contingent of cars from the Norway,Michigan track, as well as several from Kaukaunaand others.

Travis Volm wheeled his pure stock to the feature inthat division on Friday night, then wheeled the 7-11Redline Speedsports entry in the super lates, winninganother heat race. He was ready to move up indivisions, and this just proves it. Brian Goodwin wasbehind the wheel of the other entry for this team.

Talked with Brent Strelka, who had both a limited lateand a super late on hand to race during the two dayshow. A veteran racer of many seasons, it didn’t startout to be that way according to Brent. “When Istarted out, it was going to be something like race fortwo or three years and then get out of it, but youknow how that goes. You get addicted to it.” Brent isracing his own limited late model, and racing the superlate for another owner. He noted that Kaukauna andhere at Marshfield are his favorite tracks, saying,“Both tracks have a lot of character, there are somany different grooves you can try.”Tim Schendel took the win in the feature for thesupers, as he was leading when rain began falling.Not sure if anyone would have had anything for himor not had Mother Nature not rained on everyone’sparade, but he was looking very strong.

Adam Kryzkowski took the win in the Extreme fourcylinder feature, looking very stout in the process. Hehas run real strong in late season events.

This past weekend I made it back to Rockford for“One Great Racing Weekend,” otherwise known asthe National Short Track Championships.

Starting off on Friday night, the late models ran the“weekly warrior” feature event, with a good field ofcars present. To the surprise of no one, the Rockfordregulars dominated, with 2013 track champion AlexPapini continuing with his remarkable season, winningthe main event.

You see so many different things at a post seasonshow like this. Emotions can range the full gamut,with the full range of emotions present. Bobby Frischseemingly had the figure-eight finale in the bag, untilhe suddenly dropped out of the event under cautionwhile leading. Didn’t seem like anyone had anythingfor him, but you just never know. Veteran JoshThiering took the win. He is quite experienced atthese events, and it showed.

Former Roadrunner champion Terrance Robinsontook the win in that divisions main event, after TerryVan Hise had led most of the way. The Robinsonfamily had some ups and downs, but crew chiefTravis Robinson won over $1,000 for correctlypicking the top five feature finishers in the late modelfeature, as part of the Gilley’s Cool Five promotion.Not sure how many offers he received throughout therest of the weekend on ways to spend the money.

Austin Nason was a busy guy, as he ran in thesportsman and late model divisions, while Kyle Lapierran in the American short trackers and sportsmandivisions.

Several lady drivers did quite well in the Hornets/Bandits, as the first qualifier heat saw the top three allof the female persuasion, and the second qualifiersaw the top two lay claim to the race.

Saturday brought more racers to the track, with theBig 8 late models being showcased along with theGreat Northern Sportsman Series, Illini Midgets,vintage cars, and hobby stox. The super lates also

qualified and were to run some last chance races, aseyes were skyward waiting and wondering when theforecasted rain would fall. Of course, this coincidedwith the start of racing, as a light rain began fallingafter the first Big 8 qualifier, which was won by DaveEdwards, who has had more than his share of rottenluck this year. Nice to see him get the win.

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Page 14October, 2013

After a two and half hour rain delay, track dryingbegan in earnest, with racing continuing, with EricConnell winning the second qualifier. Jefferson racerTerry Wangsness won the GNSS qualifier, withdashes going to hometrack racers Johnny Robinsonand Justin Sellers, both sporting the number 99 ontheir cars. Jerry Gille won one of the Big 8 dashes,with the rain falling again before the start of the nextone. After waiting for the rain to subside, it wasdecided to throw in the towel (literally) and try to runthe rest of the Saturday night show on Sundaymorning.

Sunday morning dawned with bright blue skies and norain in sight. At any race show, some folks have gooddays, some have bad. Sportsman racer Daryl Gerkewas one who had a good day on Sunday. His seasonhas been fraught with plenty of bad luck, but thingsworked out for him today, as he took advantage ofsituations when he needed to, getting the win in theGNSS feature. Daryl has said that he plans on racingcloser to his Whitelaw, WI. home next year, in lieu ofthe long drive down to race at Rockford most weeks,so it was good to see him go out on a high note. Hehas always raced clean and hard, and is one of theguys you just want to see do well. No complaining orirrational behavior when things go bad, just comesback and tries again. Well done.

The Big 8 series feature had many twists of fate forthose involved, with “Driver X” John Reynolds Jr.taking the win, therefore starting his day off on theright foot. 2013 track champion Alex Papini and DaleNottestad fought hard, with Papini dropping out of theevent and Nottestad eventually taking second. Therewere more possibilities for finishes here than youcould believe, with the outcome totally up in the airthroughout. Top contender Casey Johnson had anabsolutely rotten day, as his car began overheatingwhile in contention for the feature win, then, whileracing in the super late model main event, also wasforced from that event with mechanical difficulties.

The Illini midget series ran a feature race in which itappeared that no driver wanted to win. One by one,the leaders were beset with various troubles, includingthe point leader of the series, who had gained enoughpoints by merely starting the feature to assure thetitle. Mike Anderson got the win.

Jimmy Robinson won the feature in the hobby stoxdivision. He won the 2013 track title at the Columbus151 Speedway, but began his career here at Rockfordmany years ago, and knows his way around the track.He had to pass fast qualifier Kyle Stark to get thewin, which is never easy. Robby Robinson placedthird, while Jason Van Hise had the highest finish ofany of the Rockford Roadrunner drivers whoattempted to run in this class, finishing fourth.

Tom Knippenberg won the vintage car feature in atribute car to the late Joe Shear, with his traditionalred, white and blue paint scheme, which went over

big with the fans. Thevintage racers heredefinitely race their carshard.

The super late model mainevent began with EddieHoffman Jr. taking the leadat the start, and keepingthat lead throughout theevent. While this maysound like an uninspiringrace, it was anything but,as Rich Bickle was on hisbumper for most of therace. As a credit to Rich,he ran Mr. Hoffmanincredibly clean, nevermoving him out of thegroove as some mighthave. Rich started racinghere as a weekly driverback in 1980 with a redand white Nova bodied latemodel. As for Eddie, hebegan racing here manyyears ago in enduro races.It is nice to see twoveteran drivers race hardand respect one another.Jon Reynolds Jr. also gotup to Hoffman’s bumper,and ran him clean as well.Many drivers seemed torun out of tires late in therace, as Slinger driverSteve Apel took third fromBickle at the end. Lots ofjockeying for position andexcitement in the race.Good day for Hoffman,great day for Reynolds, ashe finished first and secondin the two big races he ran.Pretty decent day for theothers such as Apel andBickle as well.

James Swan seems to“own” the Mid-Americanseries whenever he getsbehind the wheel of thesecars, and he did just thattoday, as he just plain olddominated.

It was still daylight whenall of the racing wascompleted, and the eventswere hurried along in finefashion to get folks on theirway early, especially inlight of the rain on Saturday and the necessarycramming of so much racing into so few hours onSunday. Great job by all.

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Photos top to bottom; Driver X (Jon Reynolds Jr.) won the Big 8 mainevent at Rockford (top), James Swan with another Mid Am win

(middle) and Fast Eddie Hoffman battles with Rich Bickle Jr. duringthe 2013 version of The National Short Track Championships

(Mark Melchiori photos)

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