The Scoop
WHITMAN GETS 1ST “W” OF ’24 – WEEKEND WRAPUP & REGIONAL DIRT FEATURE TOTALS
Posted on: Monday June 3, 2024
De Pere native Johnny Whitman picked up his first feature flag of 2024 at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour Friday, May 31. (danlewisphoto.net)
Yet another weekend has passed and it was one where several promoters were truly in the ‘damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t’ category when it comes to deciding whether or not to push through with the racing program when dealing with weather issues.
On Saturday Mother Nature washed out the racing programs at The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay and also at Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth. Meanwhile 141 Speedway in Francis Creek and Shawano Speedway were able to get their races in on Saturday night.
Being a race promoter is without question one of the most thankless tasks around. That is compounded when folks who have zero skin in the game run their collective mouths on social media, bashing said promoters for their decisions.
Every single racing promoters business plan is different. There are many, many factors to consider when pulling the plug. It’s never easy and even if a track is able to salvage the racing surface you’ve got to also figure out how many paying customers you’ll get in the grandstands. It’s not easy by any means. Does it pay to start cooking any food in the mid afternoon? Again, something many race fans maybe don’t think of.
Afternoon rain showers forced the cancellation of the races at The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay Saturday.
So instead of chirping on social media when your favorite race track gets the plug pulled on it due to Mother Nature, give them a break. The promoters at each of these race tracks work tirelessly to get as many shows in as they can in any given year. They’ve got a small window of operation. Be thankful at the end of the day that we still have a some folks willing to stick their necks out to keep the sport alive.
HE’S STILL GOT IT – Veteran IMCA modified pilot R.M. Van Pay proved he’s still got ‘it’. ‘Buck’ as he’s been nicknamed earned the feature win at Luxy Raceway in Luxemburg Friday.
BY THE NUMBERS – Three is the number of Schumacher family members who’ve earned feature wins in the grand national class in 2024 regionally. To date Daniel, Nick and Will have all earned victories in ’24. 145 is the number of modified drivers who attempted to crack the starting field for the $100,001 payday in the Big Deal Championship at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City this weekend. 11 is the number of spots Benji LaCrosse advanced in that event. The Casco driver who was the only area racer to crack the 24 car starting field, finished 13th. 22 is the number of different modified drivers who’ve earned feature wins on regional ovals so far in 2024.
A LOOK AHEAD – Longtime NASCAR and open wheeler racer Kenny Schrader will be competing at Shawano Speedway with his IMCA modified Saturday night, June 8. It will be the Speedway’s Hall of Fame night, with former racers Verlyn Giguere of Green Bay and T.M. Miller of Bear Creek getting inducted into the class of 2024. Those two along with Shawano Speedway racing pioneer Paul Lehman. Action begins at 6 p.m. June 8 will also serve as Round II of the “Too-Tough-To-Tame” IMCA stock car series. 32 cars showed up for Round I a few weeks ago.
141 WHITE RACE – The $1,000-to-win ‘White Race’ will be held for IMCA modifieds at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek Saturday, June 8. That event will serve as a precursor to the Twin $10,000-to-win Clash At The Creek XVI for IMCA modifieds June 11 and 12. LATE MODELS will be back in action at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour Friday, June 7. The track’s other weekly divisions will also be in action with racing getting underway at 6:30 p.m. Yours truly will be on the mic at Seymour Friday night.
The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay will be quiet this weekend but will return with action on Saturday, June 15. The grand nationals will be in action with the track’s regular, weekly classes beginning at 6 p.m. at John Miles Park. Luxy Raceway will host a $1,200-to-win Prelude To The Clash Sunday, June 9 with racing getting underway at 7 p.m.
The Dirt Kings late model tour heads out for a western swing of sorts this weekend. Friday, June 7 the Tour stops at Mississippi Thunder Speedway for the Stars & Stripes 40 while in Saturday the Tour heads to Decorah, Iowa to Winneshiek Raceway for the King of The Bullring.
KARTING KORNER – Little Buckaroo Jr. Motorsports Park in Cecil will host a kid’s candy drop sponsored by JD Byrider/Attention to Detail. Action begins at 7 p.m. The Animal Pro division has collectively been ‘excused from class’ essentially for the next two weeks at the speedway due to poor conduct the week prior.
Meanwhile GSR Kartway in Clintonville will host it’s weekly Wednesday show of kart and lawn mower races in Wednesday, June 5. Racing gets underway at 7 p.m.
Appleton’s Taylor Vandermoss scored an emotional super late model feature win at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna Thursday, May 30. (danlewisphoto.net)
PAVEMENT PONDERINGS – Appleton’s Taylor Vandermoss scored an emotional super late model feature win at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna last Thursday night. Taylor’s father, former Fox River Racing Club (FRRC) president Rob Vandermoss passed away in December, 2022. To the north Neenah’s Braison Bennett, wheeling the Coleman Racing Products No. 119 scored the opening night super late model feature win at Norway (MI) Speedway Friday.
This Thursday, June 6 will be Veteran’s Night at WIR sponsored by Werner Electric. Racing gets underway at 6:45 p.m. The TUNDRA super late model series will be in action Saturday, June 8 for the annual Bev Aschenbrenner Memorial race at Marshfield Motor Speedway. Joining the super lates will be the Upper Midwest Vintage Series, Legends, Xtreme 4’s and Bandits. Time trials are slated for 6 p.m. with the first green flag flying at 7 p.m.
Remember get out and support your local short track IN PERSON whenever possible. Nothing wrong at all with all of the various online streaming methods but NOTHING beats the sights, sounds and smells of being there in person.
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN REGIONAL DIRT TRACK FEATURE WIN TOTALS 2024 (as of 6/02)
(Tracks included, but not limited to, include Outagamie Speedway, 141 Speedway, Shawano Speedway, Plymouth Dirt Track, Gravity Park, The Hill Raceway, Beaver Dam Raceway, The ‘Burg & Plymouth Dirt Track. These totals will also reflect any driver feature wins that occur out-of-state or at other ovals in Wisconsin)
LATE MODEL
Brett Swedberg 2
Troy Springborn 2
Mike Mullen 1
Nick Anvelink 1
Brad Mueller 1
Mitch McGrath 1
Ron Berna 1
Justin Ritchie 1
MODIFIED
Benji LaCrosse 3
Marcus Yarie 3
Cole Czarneski 3 (UMP mod win)
Konnor Wilinski 2
Jayden Schmidt 1
Shawn Kilgore 1
Lucas Lamberies 1
Marcus Hoeppner 1
Dan Roedel 1
Will Garceau 1
Cody Afelbeck 1
Jason Czarapata 1
Steve Mueller 1
Derek Janke 1
Greg Gretz 1
Steve Schneider 1
Joel Crowbridge 1 (Wilmot)
Chris Pigeon 1
R.M. Van Pay 1
Johnny Whitman 1
Scott Barnharst 1
Jeff Schmuhl 1
STOCK CAR
Mitch Meier 5
Trent Nolan 3
Benji LaCrosse 2
Tyler Wilson 2
Josh Mroczkowski 2
Tim Warner 2
Brandon Czarapata 1
Kyle Frederick 1
Cole Czarneski 1
Luke Lemmens 1
Jeremy Christians 1
Brandon Schmitt 1
Travis Van Straten 1
Dave Bouche 1
Nick Buckarma 1
Shawn Havel 1
Travis Welch 1
Brett Wenzel 1
Jesse Krahn 1
Brekken Kleinschmidt 1
SPORTMOD
Alec Wery 3
Jeffery Teske 3
Colton See 2
Matthew Radtke 2
Travis Schmidt 2
Cory Kemkes 2
Dustin White 1
Elijah Koenig 1
Robert Wittkopf 1
AJ Springborn 1
Nick Kresbach 1
Cole Thomas 1
Tommy Rindt 1
Tony Gates 1
Dylon Waldvogel 1
Colton Van Hierden 1
Jake Carpenter 1
Cole Magnin 1
Craig Dorner 1
Jay Schaalma 1
Coy Vlies 1
STREET STOCK
James Fletcher 6
Mark Hoeppner 4
Travis Zirbel 3
Jason Geyer 3
Kenny Richards 1
Courtney Atkinson 1
Paul Diefenthaler 1
Cory Romenesko 1
Nick Wunrow 1
Brooke Diefenthaler 1
GRAND NATIONAL
Dustin Weiss 2
Josh Pierce 2
Greg Haese 2
Brad Weiss 1
Daniel Schumacher 1
TJ Smith 1
Maverick Ruh 1
Aaron Streblow 1
Nick Schumacher 1
Jeff Richards 1
Will Schumacher 1
FOUR CYLINDER
James Reese 3
James Riske 3
Brian Watzka 3
Dalton Nelson 2
Lucas Hacker 2
Scott Schlafke 2
Shaun Bangart 2
Trevor Cronick 1
Adam Broehm 1
Taylor Junk 1
Carl King 1
Brett Deprez 1
Tanner Pari 1
Kenneth Becker 1
Tanner Westphal 1