The Scoop
MEMORIAL WEEKEND LEFTOVERS & UPDATED FEATURE TOTALS
Posted on: Tuesday May 31, 2022
Hometown racer Randy LeMieux Jr. put his sportmod into the Quietwoods RV Sales & Service victory lane at The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay Sunday. (Kayla Keen photo)
The Memorial day weekend was greeted across the region by clear skies for the most part from Friday on and most tracks were able to get their shows in.
And in quite a few classes a number of racers scored their first feature flags of the 2022 campaign.
With The ‘Burg Speedway in Luxemburg off on Sunday The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay kicked off their season with a solid grandstands and field of cars that included a stout field of 40 stock cars. I’ve been saying this for awhile what the folks in Sturgeon Bay are doing with an abbreviated schedule is going to truly be “the thing” in the coming years as the days of the week-after-week grind are coming to a halt.
With a few exceptions it’s becoming tougher and tougher for the weekly dirt tracks to become a profitable venture. The statement “Labor of Love” could not be more true in 2022 when it comes to the groups running the race tracks.
A hearty congrats go out the the folks keeping racing alive in Sturgeon Bay – John Sternard, Mike and Melanie Sargent, Martin Kelsey and Brandon Peterson. They host a nine race schedule that begins Memorial day weekend which kicked off with the Nathan Bouche Memorial and wraps up with The Hill Shootout Special September 3.
The more race teams I’ve talked to the more they are running fewer nights in general compared to years past. This is for multiple reasons. Lack of crew help. Rising gas prices. The cost of everything in general. I could go on and on.
My take on this is if running every second or third week at any track is what it takes for a speedway to remain financially solvent and not burning out the staff and management along the way, then so be it. It’s tough enough as it is lately to staff these race tracks and I do feel this will be the new “norm” sooner than later and those tracks who decide to continue to ‘grind-it-out’ week-after-week may struggle this summer come late July/early August when it comes to car count and fan count.
Hometown racer Randy LeMieux Jr. put his sportmod into the Quietwoods RV Sales & Service victory lane at The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay Sunday. (Kayla Keen photo)
The Hill will be back in action on Saturday June 11. Eagle River Speedway kicked off it’s 2022 season Sunday with a capacity crowd. The demographics at Eagle River are a tad different than many other tracks to the south.
They are on the southern fringes of WISSOTA country and the northern tip of IMCA country. Thus owners Pat and Patti Zdroik have opted not to sanction either.
The stock car class was a dandy with a surprise feature winner – former late model and modified ace Jimmy Zdroik. Jimmy Zdroik hasn’t raced in ten years but went elbows up in a thriller of a main event, fighting off defending track champion David Blackberg and Ryan Brown. At one point the trio traded the lead six different times in three laps.
Zdroik wasn’t the only former late model hotshoe who showed up to mix it up at Eagle River. Pittsville’s Eric Pember guest drove the Ollie Schoonover 74 in the late model field. Pember shook off the rust and placed third behind Jason Zdroik and race winner Marcus Dunbar.
The ERS late model is essentially a USRA late model without the sanction. It’s a scaled down version of what the “big boys” run essentially without the expensive shocks, motors and tires. The class is still in the infant stages (six showed up to battle Sunday) but the class is a popular one with the fans and the track remains committed to the division.
It was good to see a Seymour regular street stock racer make the tow north as Jared Spaulding scored a solid second place finish.
If you expect or demand monster car counts like some tracks Eagle River is not going to be your cup of tea. But the track has good local support in the divisions across the board and usually draws a few random travelers every week too.
Boulder Junction’s Katherine Towne won one of the 300 micro features Sunday at Eagle River Speedway (Jack Flint photo)
The 300 and 600 micro sprint classes keep the young kids racing and keeps the new blood going in the sport. With the 300 class the drivers are split into two categories – one is ‘pro’ for the more experienced racers and ‘semi-pro’ for the less experienced drivers.
Chief starter Dawn Nosser does a great job working with the kids and their parents when it comes to determining when a driver is truly ready to move up from semi-pro to pro.
At Eagle River you get a fun, family-oriented atmosphere. It’s tough enough to draw cars that far north and drivers who tow north are often greeted with a smile and handshake and a “thank you” for their effort to get there. Starting June 7 the track will switch to it’s regular Tuesday night venue which remains tradition at the D-shaped third-mile clay oval. It’s a track every race fan should put on it’s bucket list if you haven’t done so yet.
Third-generation racer Brandon Reichenberger scored the Midwest Truck Series win at Golden Sands Speedway in Plover on Memorial day. (Brandon Reichenberger Fan Zone photo)
On the pavement northeastern Wisconsin was well represented in the Midwest Truck Series at Golden Sands Speedway in Plover Monday as Appleton’s Brandon Reichenberger pulled off the win. Freedom’s Cody Vander Loop netted his first podium finish in the series with a third place.
Friday night despite graduation ceremonies in several neighboring communities Norway Speedway opened up it’s season to a fairly decent sized crowd. 20 late models showed up to compete, including Menominee’s Dick Coleman who scored a popular heat win.
The number of new racers in the 4 banger class kept this track announcer on his toes and there was plenty of new blood spread out among all the divisions.
Vulcan’s Adam Faull is a rookie in the Coca Cola late model class at Norway (MI) Speedway.
It was great to see a pair of quality drivers move up into the late model class – Vulcan’s Adam Faull and Big Bay’s Parker Cain (who we featured on this website earlier in the year). Cain made the show and Faull just missed the show.
Faull is wheeling a former Kris Kelly car while Cain’s ride is a car that was driven by Brian Stanchina. The future of the class is in good hands with these two in it.
Unfortunately Justin Mondeik’s feature win was overshadowed by a tragedy with five laps remaining when a track worker, Greg Maas, was struck by a race car at speed in an accident near the turn three track entrance from the pit area.
I want to stress this was an accident that tragically involved a young teen racer who feels absolutely horrible about what took place. Whether or not this young man, who is part of a very top shelf, classy racing family in the U.P. ever climbs back behind the wheel again remains to be seen.
The racing community is a strong one and collectively we will get through this tragedy. Greg passed away doing something he loved – working at the race track. There wasn’t a time I’ve worked at Norway Speedway where I did not see Greg working his spot in turn three.
The sport we all love does not come without it’s inherent risks and Friday at Norway was a somber reminder of this. Godspeed Greg.
Below are the updated dirt track feature win totals after Memorial Day weekend. Get out and to a track IN PERSON and support short track racing.
And don’t forget you can attend the races at The ‘Burg for just $1 on Sunday, June 5 in Luxemburg. It’s ‘Burg for a Buck’ night at the track and truth is folks you won’t find a better gig for your family entertainment. Racing starts at 5 p.m. We’re looking forward to our own return to The ‘Burg Sunday, June 12 for Rick Goral Memorial night.
2022 NORTHEAST WISCONSIN DIRT TRACK WIN TOTALS (after May 30, 2022)
(Tracks covered and included: 141, Shawano, Seymour, Luxemburg, Sturgeon Bay, Gravity Park USA & Plymouth. When a northeastern Wisconsin driver wins out of town we’ll also include those totals as well including Dirt Kings series winners).
MODIFIEDS
Tyler Wilson 3
Konnor Wilinski 2
Lucas Lamberies 2(Iowa)
Benji LaCrosse 2
Jayden Schmidt 2
Brad Lubach 1
Brian Mullen 1
Jared Siefert 1
Shawn Kilgore 1
Hunter Parsons 1
Jeremie Hedrick 1
J.J. Anderson 1
STOCK CARS
Mitch Meier 4 (Texas)
Kyle Frederick 3
Trent Nolan 2
Jeff Steenbergen 2 (Iowa)
Dave Bouche 1
Eric Mahlik 1
Dan Sell 1
Logan Rhode 1
Cole Czarneski 1
Mike Mullen 1
Vern Stedjee 1
Luke Lemmens 1
Nick Buckarma 1
Second generation racer Joel Bennett of Greenville copped the late model feature at Shawano Speedway Saturday night.
LATE MODEL
Troy Springborn 3
Brett Swedberg 2
Jim Schmidt 1
AJ Diemel 1 (Dirt Kings, Red Cedar)
Joe Bongiorno 1
Joel Bennett 1
Justin Ritchie 1
NORTHERN SPORTMODS
Cole Czarneski 3
Jon Hitzman 2
Jeffrey Teske 2
Brady Harshbarger 2
Travis Schmidt 2
Ryan Besaw 1
Tyler Sobiesczyk 1
Jesse Cullen 1
Gabe Zellner 1
Tim Warner 1
Jeff Schmuhl 1
Tom Schneider 1
Travis Rhoades 1
Dylon Waldvogel 1
Randy LeMieux Jr. 1
STREET STOCK
Paul Diefenthaler 4
Shaun Bangart 2
Mike Zitzer 2
Parker Derks 1
James Fletcher 1
Ed Anschutz 1
Dave DeGrave 1
Jason Behnke 1
Kenny Richards 1
4 CYLINDER
Nathan Lisowe 3
Adam Broehm 2
Brandon Watzka Jr. 2
Calvin Stueck 2
Tanner Westphal 1
Austin Pingel 1
Shaun Bangart 1
Nathan Lisowe 1
Lucas Hacker 1
Brad Wedde 1
Jake Peters 1
Matt Kaye 1
Thomas Schulte 1
GRAND NATIONALS
Jeff Muehlbauer 2
Matt Loehr 2
Nick Strobbe 1
Taylor Rahn 1
Dustin Weiss 1
Rick Gustavson 1
Luke Scholten 1
Derek Schrauth 1
Ryan Minster 1