The Scoop
Randy Theys
Posted on: Monday September 14, 2020
63-year-old Randy Theys of Algoma, Wisconsin is often a “one-man-band” – traveling to dirt tracks across Wisconsin with his IMCA northern sportmod.
Randy Theys thought he had a tire going down at the drop of the green in the 20 lap B mod feature at Eagle River Speedway.
The 63-year-old Algoma, Wisconsin racing veteran was trying out the D-shaped, third-mile clay oval located in Wisconsin’s Northwoods for the first time. Theys, with nearly 50 years of stock car racing under his belt, faded to the tail of the field at the drop of the green.
He would later recover in the main event, battling back to a 10th place finish in the 18-car field. He had finished second in his heat race earlier that evening. “This is a neat place and I’ll be back sometime in 2021 for sure,” said Theys, who is a one-man band most of the time, flying solo without any pit crew members. “I’m going to drive down to a truck stop in Wittenberg tonight, sleep in my truck and change gears in the parking lot and try the half-mile at Shawano tomorrow night.”
Hard to find that type of dedication anymore. Theys would most definitely be described as an “old school” driver.
In 2020 his season was put on hold throughout the better part of the summer. “I wound up totaling out my sportmod in the 2nd or third week of the season,” Theys explained. “The car was completely destroyed. Even the roll cage was broken.”
It ended being a six-week period while Theys watched and waited for that “right deal” to come along and get another race car up and rolling. “Jim Hanson up in Oconto (WI) had a brand new 2014 Slick chassis sitting up on jack stands,” Theys said. “He had built the car and just lost interest. We hashed out a deal and we got back on the track.”
By the time Theys obtained the car it was two weeks and three days and he was back racing. “For me in close to 50 years of racing it’s the first time I’ve been able to own and race a brand-new race car that’s never been on the track before,” Theys admitted. “We’re still figuring it out but we’re getting there.”
The racing bug bit Theys during his junior year at Algoma high school in 1976. “I bought a winged modified from Pat Raye up in Sturgeon Bay that year,” Theys recalled. “The car had a number 12 on it. I just kept the 12 on there and have run that as my number ever since.”
In the late ‘70’s Theys started out plying his craft on the dirt ovals at the Kewaunee County Fairgrounds in Luxemburg and the Door County Fairgrounds in Sturgeon Bay – both third-mile tracks. “I had run a hobby stock car a couple of times prior to that but mainly we were running the winged modifieds right out of the box,” Theys said. “In our heyday my Dad and I owned three of those winged modifieds. Tony Bouche (who still races an IMCA stock car) and my good friend Brad Anderegg who has since passed away ran the other car in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s.”
Running at Luxemburg and Sturgeon Bay Theys raced head-to-head against a legend from Brussels, Wisconsin “The Golden Boy” Irv Ettien. “Irv was one of the best driving for Wally Massart at Luxemburg and Sturgeon Bay,” Theys admitted. “We’d also run regularly down at Plymouth under the Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Association (EWSCA) and it was very, very tough to make a feature. We’d run time trials there where there would be 60 winged cars and you had to be on your “A” game just to qualify for a feature.”
It was down at Plymouth where Theys had the pleasure of mixing it up with a true legend of EWSCA racing “The Flying Grandpa” Etchie Biertzer. “Etchie was one of the best ever in the state of Wisconsin in my opinion,” Theys admitted. “He was fast every week. You had to have the “A” game and then some to even keep up with him.”
Over the years Theys would tow his winged racer down to other tracks in Freeport, Illinois and the now-defunct Hales Corners Speedway. “There weren’t many tracks we weren’t afraid to take on,” Theys pointed out. “There were times we’d race four or five nights a week.”
Back closer to home it was a photo finish with a Door County racing legend Greg Curzon of Baileys Harbor that stands out as one of Theys’ best memories of his racing career. “Greg and I had a bitter rivalry at those tracks,” Theys said. “I wound up beating him out by three inches during the final race of the year at Luxemburg in either ’79 or ’80 to win the track championship. We were friends off the track but on the track, we remained bitter enemies.”
Theys recalled a funny tale involving Curzon. “Tom Wagner one year wrote a story up for the Midwest Racing News about me and Curzon,” Theys said. “I had bought a race car from Greg. The title of the story was ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em!’ That was a funny one.”
When asked about his biggest racing accomplishments Theys pointed out a $10,000-to-win race he won at Superior (WI) Speedway with his winged modified. “The class really died after 1982 at Luxemburg and Door County because of cost,” Theys said. “Some rules weren’t being followed but you had to have $20,000 motors to be competitive and the tire bill got way out of hand too. The cars were a blast to run but financially it just didn’t make much sense after a while.”
For Theys the IMCA northern sportmod provides the “perfect fit.” “I love racing this sportmod class and cost is a part of it,” Theys admitted. “Financially you can do o.k. with it. I was running an “A” modified but I was struggling really bad with that. I’m having fun running in the sportmod division. And I have no loyalty to any racetrack and don’t run for points anywhere. I live 10 minutes away from the track in Luxemburg but will race when I feel like it. If it’s a weekend with the grandkids, we’ll do that and the car will sit. I always love bouncing around and trying out new tracks. It keeps this sport fun for me.”