The Scoop
AT 66 LOWELL BENNETT’S STILL ‘GOT IT’ – REGIONAL DIRT TOTALS & MORE
Posted on: Monday July 29, 2024
66-year-old Lowell Bennett showed the youngsters he’s still ‘got it’ by winning the super late model feature at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna last Thursday. (danlewisphoto.net)
As hard as it is to believe this coming weekend will already be the start of August. Most tracks and series in Wisconsin have been snake bitten by Mother Nature with some tracks losing as many as four shows in 2024.
A number of drivers earned their first feature wins of the season during this past weekend of racing. On the pavement ‘Lightning Lowell’ Bennett, who’s a very youthful 66-years-old, scored a popular win Thursday at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna in the super late model feature.
Among other dirt racers who picked up their first main event flags on the year were Oconomowoc’s Miranda Sandholm (B mod, Plymouth Dirt Track), Denmark’s Dan Van Pay (street stock, The Hill Raceway), Chilton’s Bennett Glidden (141 Speedway, IMCA sport compact), Oshkosh’s Al Cottrell (Outagamie Speedway, IMCA sport compact), Mishicot’s John Rothmund (141 Speedway, IMCA stock car),Gills Rock’s Jeremy Johnson (The Hill Raceway, stock car) and Beaver Dam’s Russ Reinwald (IMCA modified, 141 Speedway).
Here’s a look ahead to this coming week and weekend of racing in the region……..
OUTAGAMIE LATE MODELS – The late models will return to action this Friday night August 2 at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour. The tracks regular weekly divisions will also be in action – IMCA modifieds, stock cars, northern sportmods and sport compacts along with Unified Dirt street stocks. The hammer drops at 6:30 p.m. at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds in Seymour.
141 SPEEDWAY DIAMOND 46 – The rescheduled Diamond 46 Dirt Kings late model tour event will take place Saturday, August 3 at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek. Other divisions in action will be IMCA stock cars, northern sportmods and sport compacts along with grand nationals. Street stocks and IMCA modifieds are off for this night. Action gets underway at the quarter-mile, clay oval at 6 p.m. The late model feature pays $4,600-to-win.
STURGEON BAY OFF – There will be no racing at The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay this weekend. The next scheduled race at the third-mile, clay oval will be a special Thursday night race August 15 as part of the Door County Fair. The grand national division will be in action along with the track’s weekly divisions with racing action getting underway at 6:30 p.m.
LUXY TRAILER RACES – Trailer races will cap off the action on championship night at Luxy Raceway in Luxemburg Friday, August 2. The action is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. at the Kewaunee County Fairgrounds.
Casco’s Coy Vlies picked up IMCA sportmod feature win No. 6 on the year over the weekend.
BY THE NUMBERS – With his win at Shawano Speedway Saturday night, Hortonville’s Travis Van Straten chalked up career IMCA stock car win number 134. The former national champion sits in third behind a pair of fellow national champs. 92 is the number of career feature wins at Shawano Speedway held by Kaukauna legend Pete Parker and Bonduel’s Nick Anvelink. All of Parker’s 92 victories came in the late model class while of Anvelink’s victories four came in an IMCA modified while 88 of them came in a late model. Credit to Bob Schafer for keeping tabs of this information over the years. 6 is the number of wins earned by Casco’s Coy Vlies in IMCA northern sportmod action in ’24 while Denmark’s Cole Czarneski has scored 9 total victories this season – seven of them in a modified and two in a stock car.
ALL TIME WISCONSIN IMCA STOCK CAR WINS AS OF JULY 28, 2024
Rod Snellenberger, Pulaski, 226
Brandon Czarapata, Pulaski, 137
Travis VanStraten, Hortonville, 134
Jeremy Christians, Horicon, 108
John Heinz, Green Bay, 86
PAVEMENT PONDERINGS – This Thursday night, August 1 at WIR longtime Roger Regeth and Rod Wheeler crew chief Geno Weber will be inducted into WIR’s ‘Circle of Fame’ with the festivities getting underway at 6:45 p.m.
Gleason’s Justin Mondeik picked up the Larry Detjens Memorial win at State Park Speedway in Wausau Saturday. The next big event for the ASA Midwest Tour will be the Gandrud Auto Group 250 at WIR. The Midwest Truck Series will serve as the support division for the traditional Tuesday ‘Biggie.’ b
Freedom’s Craig VanderWettering placed sixth out of 26 cars in the Figure 8 special event at Colorado National Speedway for the 3rd annual ‘Rumble In The Rockies” Saturday.
HANSEN IS IN – Green Bay native Scott Hansen has been announced as one of the five inductees into the Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame. Hansen moved to Milwaukee in 1989 where he proceeded to race short track cars for Jerry Gunderman and Baker in the 1990’s on the ARTGO, ASA and All Pro circuits. Other ’24 inductees include Cambridge’s Matt Kenseth, Marshall’s Nathan Haseleu, Milwaukee’s Jimmy Fenning and Watertown’s Pat Schauer. The Induction ceremony is scheduled for November 2 at the Schauer Center in Hartford.
Wyatt Blashe following a karting win at GSR Kartway. (GSR Kartway photo)
KARTING KORNER – Wednesday night action continues at GSR Kartway in Clintonville on July 31. The karting and lawn mower racing program kicks off with hot laps at 6 p.m. and the first green flag flying at 7 p.m. Check gsrkartway.com for additional information. For information on karting rentals at GSR call (920) 915 1471.
Arrow Auto sponsors the next Friday night of racing at Little Buckaroo Jr. Motorsports Park in Cecil. Karting action at the eighth-mile, clay oval is set to commence at 7 p.m. For information on kart rental programs call (920) 265 4056.
Remember get out and attend a race at your favorite short track IN PERSON whenever possible. Online streaming is fine if you can’t make it there. But NOTHING beats the experience of BEING THERE.
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN REGIONAL DIRT TRACK FEATURE WIN TOTALS 2024 (as of 7/28)
(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
Brett Swedberg 3
Taylor Scheffler 3
Mike Mullen 2
Nick Anvelink 2
Brad Mueller 1
Mitch McGrath 1
Ron Berna 1
Justin Ritchie 1
Tom Naeyaert 1
Jayden Schmidt 1
MODIFIED
Cole Czarneski 7 (UMP mod win)
Benji LaCrosse 5
Marcus Yarie 5
Steve Mueller 4
Skylar Woods 4 (Dodge County Fair)
Marcus Hoeppner 3
Johnny Whitman 3
Konnor Wilinski 2
Jayden Schmidt 2
Cody Schroeder 2
Greg Gretz 2
Jordan Bartz 2
Shawn Kilgore 1
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
Jeff Schmuhl 1
Geoff Jeche 1
Kyle Strickler 1 (BDR)
Tim Ward 1 (141)
Kevin Feck 1
Dan Ratajczak 1
Brandon Schmitt 1
Russ Reinwald 1
STOCK CAR
Mitch Meier 7
Rod Snellenberger 6
Trent Nolan 4
Tyler Wilson 4
Luke Lemmens 4
Travis Van Straten 4
Benji LaCrosse 3
Jeremy Christians 3
Kenny Richards 3
Brett Wenzel 3
Cole Czarneski 2
Travis Welch 2 (Eagle River)
Josh Mroczkowski 2
Tim Warner 2
Nick Buckarma 2
Brandon Schmitt 2
Kyle Frederick 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
Caden LeMieux 1
Dan Sell Jr. 1
John Rothmund 1
Jeremy Johnson 1
SPORTMOD
Coy Vlies 6
Cory Kemkes 6
Elijah Koenig 4
Alec Wery 4
Jeffery Teske 4
Craig Dorner 4
Matthew Radtke 3
Colton See 3
Brady Harshbarger 3
Travis Schmidt 2
Cole Thomas 2
Frank Gasperini 2 (ERS, TNT)
Jay Schaalma 2
Robert Wittkopf 2
Tommy Rindt 2
Cole Magnin 2
Jordan Jahnke 2
Nick Kresbach 2
Zach Raab 2
Dustin White 1
AJ Springborn 1
Tony Gates 1
Dylon Waldvogel 1
Colton Van Hierden 1
Jake Carpenter 1
Max Oreskovich 1
Spencer Long 1
Barrett Hummelmeier 1
Derek Fehling 1
Tom Schneider 1
Nick Schultz 1
Rory Welch 1
Mike Plate 1
Miranda Sandholm 1
STREET STOCK
Paul Diefenthaler 7
James Fletcher 6
Mark Hoeppner 6
Shannon Guelette 4
Travis Zirbel 3
Jason Geyer 3
Kenny Richards 3
Cory Romenesko 2
Ed Anschutz 2
Phillip Wuesthoff 2
Mike Meier 2
Nick Wunrow 2
Courtney Atkinson 1
Brooke Diefenthaler 1
Jerry Winkler 1
Kyle Gennett 1
Tyler Fox 1
Austin Steinke 1
Trey Van Straten 1
Brian Besaw 1
Dan Van Pay 1
GRAND NATIONAL
Josh Pierce 4
Jeff Richards 4
Dustin Weiss 3
Greg Haese 2
Brad Weiss 2
Maverick Ruh 2
Taylor Rahn 2
Daniel Schumacher 1
TJ Smith 1
Aaron Streblow 1
Nick Schumacher 1
Will Schumacher 1
Todd Ascherien 1
Steven Weber 1
Mike King 1
Kenny Richards 1
Will Sorce 1
FOUR CYLINDER
James Reese 7
Scott Schlafke 5
James Riske 4
Brian Watzka 4
Kenneth Becker 3
Dalton Nelson 2
Lucas Hacker 2
Shaun Bangart 2
Brett Deprez 2
Brad Wedde 2
Tanner Westphal 2
Trevor Cronick 1
Adam Broehm 1
Taylor Junk 1
Carl King 1
Tanner Pari 1
Roland Van De Hei III 1
Justin Finlan 1
Dalton Nelson 1
Cody Booth 1
TJ Everard 1
Thomas Schulte 1
Nick Everard 1
Al Cottrell 1
Bennett Glidden 1