The Scoop
VETERANS MAURER, WEDLESTADT & JORGENSON EARN FEATURE FLAGS
Posted on: Monday August 26, 2024
Fremont’s Mike Wedelstadt won the IMCA modified feature at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek Aug. 24. (danlewisphoto.net)
Once in a while a few veteran racers, who maybe don’t race three nights a week like they may have in the past pick up a feature win.
Sometimes those wins don’t come nearly as easy as they did five, ten or even twenty years ago.
This past weekend a trio of long time veteran racers both found their way back into victory lane at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek and Shawano Speedway. De Pere’s Dean Maurer and Fremont’s Mike Wedelstadt each picked up their first wins of the year along with Seymour’s Tim Jorgenson.
Maurer’s victory came behind the wheel of an IMCA stock car while Wedelstadt’s IMCA modified win was his first of the ’24 campaign. The win was also Wedelstadt’s IMCA modified career win number 116. Those victories came at 141.
As for Jorgenson’s Shawano win, the victory marked his 40th career IMCA sanctioned sportmod win.
All three racers have been making left hand turns for a few decades now. Congrats to this trio of veterans for showing the youngsters they can still ‘haul the mail’ so to speak.
Wisconsin’s All Time IMCA Modified feature winners as of August 25, 2024
Benji La Crosse, Green Bay, 142
Brian Mullen, Seymour, 130
RM Van Pay, Green Bay, 129
Mike Wedelstadt, Fremont, 116
Todd Dart, Algoma, 83
Brad Rohloff, Pulaski, 72
Eddie Muenster, Green Bay, 71
Marcus Yarie, Wausau, 64
Shawn Kilgore, New Franken, 60
Jared Siefert, Green Bay, 59
We don’t often talk about the updated IMCA sportmod totals because there aren’t many active racers remaining who sit in the top ten. Hazel Green’s Jason Roth is one of them and he competes in the northeastern Iowa ovals.
All-time Wisconsin IMCA Northern SportMod winners as of August 25, 2024
Tracy Wassenberg, Shawano, 58
Lucas Lamberies, Clintonville, 49
Jason Roth, Hazel Green, 40
Tim Jorgenson, Seymour, 40
Brad Lautenbach, New Franken, 36
Troy Jerovetz, Green Bay, 27
Jayden Schmidt, Seymour, 26
Jeremy Cota, Oconto, 24
Travis Van Straten, Hortonville, 24
Chris Budzban, Luxemburg, 21
Josh Long, Green Bay, 20
BY THE NUMBERS – A handful of local racers hit the double digit marks in feature wins over the weekend. Among them were Denmark’s Cole Czarneski (10 IMCA modified wins), Manitowoc’s Paul Diefenthaler (10 Unified Dirt Street stock wins) and Chilton’s James Reese (10 4 cylinder feature wins). 64 is the number of career IMCA modified wins earned. 178 cars in six divisions were in attendance at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek for their weekly show last Saturday.
Door County racing legend Les Sternard passed away late last week at the age of 80. (seeking photo credit)
STERNARD PASSES – Les Sternard, a racing pioneer in Door County for several decades, passed away late last week. Sternard was a fixture at the racing program at John Miles Park in Sturgeon Bay for several years. In addition to being a racer himself, Sternard was instrumental in keeping racing alive in Sturgeon Bay as he was the president of the Door County Racing Association.
Sternard was 80. Our condolences go out to the Sternard family.
IRA SPRINTERS – For the first time ever, the 900 horsepower, winged IRA outlaw sprint cars will invade The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay Sunday, September 1. Joining the fastest machines on dirt will be the WingLESS sprints and stock cars. Gates are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. with hot laps and qualifying after 5 p.m.
It’s a show you won’t want to miss. The winged warriors will be in action the night prior at Plymouth Dirt Track Saturday, August 31 with the track’s weekly Midwest Sprint Association (MSA) 360 sprint cars.
LATE MODELS @ OUTAGAMIE – The late models will return to Outagamie Speedway in Seymour Friday, August 30. It will be championship night as all other divisions will be in action. The green flag is set to fly at 6:30 p.m. at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds in Seymour.
141 OFF LABOR DAY WEEKEND – Just a reminder that 141 Speedway is OFF on Labor Day weekend. The next big event at the Francis Creek oval will be Saturday, September 14 with not only the IRA Outlaw sprint cars but also the Rod Wittkopf Memorial race for IMCA northern sportmods. A $5,000 payday is on the line with a meaty payout throughout. The IRA Lightning sprints and Midwest Legends dirt series will also be on the card. Racing is set to begin at 6 p.m.
EAGLE RIVER GRAND NATIONALS – The third annual appearance of the grand national division at Eagle River Speedway takes place this Saturday, August 31. Joining the full-bodied stockers will be the track’s regular divisions ERS late models, B modifieds, IMCA stock cars, street stocks, 300, 500 and 600 micro sprints and Dairyland Vintage racers. Action at the Northwoods oval is set to begin at 6 p.m.
The track will host it’s final Tuesday night of points racing on championship night August 27. The Tuesday show kicks off at 7 p.m.
PAVEMENT PONDERINGS – It will be championship night for the Fox River Racing Club (FRRC) during the final ‘Thursday Night Thunder” race of 2024 Thursday, August 29. Track champions will be crowned in all of the divisions on the D-shaped half-mile, quarter-mile oval and Figure 8 track. A 6:30 p.m. start time is slated for the Kaukauna oval.
Appleton’s Brandon Reichenberger emerged triumphant in the Midwest Truck Series event at Madison International Speedway last weekend. (seeking photo credit)
Appleton’s Brandon Reichenberger captured the Hougan Farms 30 Midwest Truck Series event at Madison International Speedway in Oregon over the weekend. Wisconsin Rapids Colin Reffner placed second, with Grant Griesbach and James Swan rounding out the top five finishers.
The next event for the trucks is scheduled for Saturday, August 31 as the series will run at Dells Raceway Park in support of the ASA Midwest Tour super late models for the Jim Sauter Classic. The local 602 late models will also be in action while the MT super lates will battle for a $10,000-to-win top prize. The action at DRP gets underway at 6 p.m.
TUNDRA TIME – The TUNDRA super late model series will make it’s annual Labor Day weekend stop at Golden Sand Speedway in Plover Monday, September 2 for the Cleaver Classic. Pro late models and the Wisconsin sport trucks will also be on the docket. Qualifying is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. with the first green flag racing set for 2 p.m.
KARTING KORNER – A reminder there is no racing this Friday at Little Buckaroo Jr. Motorsports Park in Cecil. The track will be back in action Friday, September 6 for Holtger Bros. Inc. (HBI) night. The first green flag of kart racing is set to commence at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile it will be championship night at GSR Kartway in Clintonville Wednesday night, August 28. Champions will be crowned in all division in the karting and lawn mower racing program. The action gets underway at 7 p.m.
Heading into this Labor Day weekend get out and attend a race at your favorite short track IN PERSON whenever possible. NOTHING beats BEING THERE! Have a great week!
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN REGIONAL DIRT TRACK FEATURE WIN TOTALS 2024 (as of 8-25-24)
(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
Troy Springborn 4
Taylor Scheffler 4
Brett Swedberg 4
Nick Anvelink 4
Mike Mullen 3
Ron Berna 2
Jayden Schmidt 2
Brad Mueller 2
Justin Ritchie 2
Mitch McGrath 1
Tom Naeyaert 1
MODIFIED
Cole Czarneski 10 (UMP mod win)
Marcus Yarie 7
Benji LaCrosse 6
Steve Mueller 5
Skylar Woods 4 (Dodge County Fair)
Marcus Hoeppner 4
Johnny Whitman 3
Konnor Wilinski 2
Jayden Schmidt 2
Cody Schroeder 2
Greg Gretz 2
Jordan Bartz 2
Brandon Schmitt 2
Kevin Feck 2
Shawn Kilgore 2
Jeff Schmuhl 2
Geoff Jeche 2
Lucas Lamberies 1
Dan Roedel 1
Will Garceau 1
Cody Afelbeck 1
Jason Czarapata 1
Derek Janke 1
Steve Schneider 1
Joel Crowbridge 1 (Wilmot)
Chris Pigeon 1
R.M. Van Pay 1
Scott Barnharst 1
Kyle Strickler 1 (BDR)
Tim Ward 1 (141)
Dan Ratajczak 1
Russ Reinwald 1
Daniel Wilcox 1
Matt Klenz 1
Brian Mullen 1
Mike Wedelstadt 1
STOCK CAR
Mitch Meier 8
Rod Snellenberger 8
Tyler Wilson 5
Travis Van Straten 5
Luke Lemmens 5
Trent Nolan 5
Jeremy Christians 5
Benji LaCrosse 4
Kenny Richards 3
Brett Wenzel 3
Cole Czarneski 3
Tim Warner 3
Kyle Frederick 3
Travis Welch 2 (Eagle River)
Josh Mroczkowski 2
Nick Buckarma 2
Brandon Schmitt 2
Caden LeMieux 2
Brandon Czarapata 1
Dave Bouche 1
Shawn Havel 1
Jesse Krahn 1
Brekken Kleinschmidt 1
John Heinz 1
David Blackberg 1 (ERS)
Eric Mahlik 1
Mike Carter 1
Scott Reinhardt 1
Jeff Steenbergen 1
Mike Mullen 1
Dan Sell Sr. 1
Dan Sell Jr. 1
John Rothmund 1
Jeremy Johnson 1
Chase Parker 1
R.M. Van Pay 1
Nate Michonski 1
Dean Maurer 1
SPORTMOD
Coy Vlies 7
Cory Kemkes 7
Jeffery Teske 5
Elijah Koenig 5
Alec Wery 4
Craig Dorner 4
Colton See 4
Matthew Radtke 3
Brady Harshbarger 3
Travis Schmidt 3
Tommy Rindt 3
Cole Thomas 3
Frank Gasperini 3 (ERS, TNT)
Jay Schaalma 2
Robert Wittkopf 2
Cole Magnin 2
Jordan Jahnke 2
Nick Kresbach 2
Zach Raab 2
Tony Gates 2
Max Oreskovich 2
Tom Schneider 2
Dustin White 1
AJ Springborn 1
Dylon Waldvogel 1
Colton Van Hierden 1
Jake Carpenter 1
Spencer Long 1
Barrett Hummelmeier 1
Derek Fehling 1
Nick Schultz 1
Rory Welch 1
Mike Plate 1
Matt Avila 1 (Captain of Creek)
Logan Brass 1
Shane Bahr 1
Tim Jorgenson 1
Dustin Wudstruck 1 (Escanaba)
STREET STOCK
Paul Diefenthaler 10
Mark Hoepper 9
James Fletcher 6
Shannon Guelette 6
Travis Zirbel 4
Jason Geyer 3
Kenny Richards 3
Ed Anschutz 3
Cory Romenesko 2
Phillip Wuesthoff 2
Mike Meier 2
Nick Wunrow 2
Trey Van Straten 2
Courtney Atkinson 1
Brooke Diefenthaler 1
Jerry Winkler 1
Kyle Gennett 1
Tyler Fox 1
Austin Steinke 1
Brian Besaw 1
Dan Van Pay 1
Derek Moede 1
Russ Davison 1
GRAND NATIONAL
Jeff Richards 7
Josh Pierce 5
Dustin Weiss 3
Greg Haese 2
Brad Weiss 2
Maverick Ruh 2
Taylor Rahn 2
Daniel Schumacher 2
Nick Schumacher 2
Mike King 2
Jake Richards 2
TJ Smith 1
Aaron Streblow 1
Will Schumacher 1
Todd Ascherien 1
Steven Weber 1
Kenny Richards 1
Will Sorce 1
Scott Kafka 1
FOUR CYLINDER
James Reese 10
Brian Watzka 7
Scott Schlafke 5
James Riske 4
Cody Booth 4
Kenneth Becker 3
Brad Wedde 3
Lucas Hacker 3
Dalton Nelson 2
Shaun Bangart 2
Brett Deprez 2
Tanner Westphal 2
Tanner Pari 2
Adam Broehm 2
Trevor Cronick 1
Taylor Junk 1
Carl King 1
Roland Van De Hei III 1
Justin Finlan 1
Dalton Nelson 1
TJ Everard 1
Thomas Schulte 1
Nick Everard 1
Al Cottrell 1
Bennett Glidden 1
Ben Schulte 1