The Scoop
EASTER WEEKEND RECAP – A LOOK AHEAD TO ’23 SEASON OPENERS
Posted on: Monday April 10, 2023
Although most of Wisconsin remained covered in snow Easter weekend nearly four dozen Wisconsin racers representing both IMCA divisions and winged sprint cars of the Interstate Racing Association (IRA) made the trek down to Iowa where for many dirt track teams the 2023 season kicked off.
We’ve got a brief recap of how some of those teams performed.
IRA opened its season with a stout 48 car field at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa. The two-day event April 7 and 8 was a co-sanctioned gig with the Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA). Out of that field 13 of those drivers hailed from Wisconsin.
On Friday night out of the 24 car feature field Beaver Dam veteran Scott Neitzel placed 19th – the lone Wisconsin entrant to make the show.
A pair of former IRA champions also made the feature. Springfield, IL ace Jordan Goldesberry finished 14th while North Pole, AK native Bill Balog took 21st.
The race was won by Hunter Schuerenberg of Sikeston, MO.
On Saturday night, three Wisconsinites cracked the 24-car starting field, with Gibson’s Danny Schlafer placing 14th, Dousman’s Jack Vanderboom taking 17th and Kewaskum’s Russel Borland finishing 18th.
The 30 lap A main on Saturday was won by Austin McCarl of Altoona, Iowa. The next event for the IRA Outlaw sprint car series will be this Saturday, April 15 at Beaver Dam Raceway.
In the division dubbed “Too-tough-to-tame” it was a Green Bay native, Troy Jerovetz, who mopped up in corn country. Jerovetz, who’s lived in Iowa in recent years, copped both IMCA stock car feature races at Marshalltown and Boone on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.
Among the top finishers were Beaver Dam’s Dan Roedl who took 3rd in the modified A main at Tipton, Iowa Saturday. Little Suamico’s Tyler Wilson finished 3rd in the stock car A main that same night.
Also at Boone Saturday night Green Bay native Jared Siefert finished sixth in the stock car A main and Malone’s Tim Warner finished 9th in the northern sportmod main.
Friday night at Tipton Beaver Dam’s Brandon Schmitt scored a third and Seymour’s Jayden Schmidt took a fourth in the modified A main. Manitowoc’s Brett Wenzel took seventh in the stock car A main while Krakow’s Josh Mroczkowski finished 8th.
The sport compacts even got to enjoy some racing fun in Iowa. Newton’s Adam Broehm took 3rd in the A main at Marshalltown Friday while Newton’s James Riske finished fifth.
GETTING’ DIRTY – So long as Mother Nature cooperates a trio of northeastern Wisconsin dirt ovals are set for their season opening races this coming weekend.
On Friday, April 14 Gravity Park USA is set to kick off it’s ’23 season. The tight, quarter-mile, clay oval hosts modifieds, sportmods, grand nationals, stock cars, Unified street stocks and four cylinders weekly. Racing action gets underway Friday at 7 p.m.
Track promoter Bob Schneider has posted that the track will be available for a ‘test-and-tune’ session Monday April 9 and Tuesday April 10 from 4 p.m. til dusk.
141 Speedway in Francis Creek will open its doors and jump start it’s 2023 season Saturday April 15 at 6 p.m. More than 180 pit stalls have been sold in the pre-season and high car count are expected once again at the high-banked, quarter-mile clay oval. The IMCA-based show includes modifieds, stock cars, northern sportmods and sport compacts. The two non-sanctioned divisions are the Unified street stocks and grand nationals.
141 will host a pre-season ‘test-and-tune’ session Thursday, April 13th from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Shawano Speedway’s Saturday, April 15 season opener is slated to feature the Dirt Kings late models, along with the track’s other weekly divisions IMCA modifieds, stock cars, northern sportmods and 4 cylinders.
The FanFest that was scheduled earlier in the month is set to be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Racing is slated to get underway at 6 p.m. at the legendary half-mile. This author will have all of his motorsports titles on sale at discounted prices at FanFest.
A benefit to help Oshkosh, Wisconsin racing enthusiast Russ Rieben is set for Sunday, April 16 at 141 Speedway’s Left Turn Lounge from noon to 5 p.m. Rieben has battled a litany of health issues in recent years resulting from a 2015 car accident.
Multiple bucket drops, raffles and much more will be available at this fundraiser.
PAVEMENT PONDERINGS – The annual Icebreaker 100 at Dells Raceway Park Sunday April 16 will kick off Wisconsin’s pavement racing season at the third-mile, paved oval. The Alive For Five super late model series kicks off with the 9th annual Icebreaker. A 100 lap super late model feature is on tap.
The Midwest Truck Series and the 602 Late Model Tour provide a pair of stout divisions to round this event off. The action kicks off at 2 p.m. 30 SLM teams are entered – including Chase Motorsports and their ’23 debut with their new driver – former Fox River Racing Club (FRRC) champion Maxwell Schultz of Reedsville.
The diverse entry list of truck participants is 27 strong, including veteran Brad “JJ” Mueller of Random Lake, the father-son duo of Appleton Mike and Brandon Reichenberger, Pewaukee super late model standout Grant Griesbach, Amherst’s Eugene Gregorich III, Appleton’s Cody Vanderlooop and five time and defending series champion James Swan of Pell Lake.
NASCAR NUGGETS – How about Ty Majeski? The Seymour native looked like he had been racing the dirt for many years during the Bristol NASCAR truck race on dirt Saturday night.
Majeski placed second behind Cup champ Joey Lagano. Majeski truly looked like a natural on the dirt. Anyone else wonder how well he’d do in an IMCA modified, dirt late model or even a winged sprint car?
Majeski has kept the NASCAR truck series interesting enough for me to actually watch the races. He’s a true natural talent – one that only comes along every 25 or 30 years. He did his hometown sponsor Soda Sense well with top shelf exposure.
The dirt truck race was exciting for the most part. There were multiple lanes for drivers to work. The only drawback was the large number of cautions and the subsequent laps that count under caution. NASCAR at least recognizes the popularity of dirt track racing. Michael Waltrip couldn’t even stop raving about it in the booth.
This weekend get out to your favorite race track IN PERSON if you can. NOTHING beats being there (no disrespect to the multiple streaming services available).