The Scoop
BRETT SWEDBERG – DIRT KING TOUR’S IRON MAN
Posted on: Thursday June 15, 2023
Shawano’s Brett Swedberg hasn’t missed a race in six seasons of Dirt Kings Tour competition.
If the Dirt Kings Tour doled out an Ironman award it would go to Shawano’s Brett Swedberg.
The 37-year-old Shawano racer hasn’t missed a Dirt Kings show since the series started six years ago. In fact he’s the only driver who’s made every single series event.
Heading into next weekend’s “King of the Bullring” at Gravity Park USA in Chilton June 23, Swedberg has made 66 consecutive tour events without missing a beat. “Honestly if it weren’t for the Dirt Kings Tour I likely wouldn’t be racing,” Swedberg said. “When I started racing late models, we raced everywhere with the Fastrak crate car. We ran Fridays at Oshkosh and Luxemburg. We also raced Manitowoc and Antigo as well as Seymour weekly. Three of those tracks have closed and Luxemburg and Seymour don’t race late models weekly. If you don’t have more than one night of racing per week, you’re not getting any better as a driver and it wouldn’t be worth the time and money into a car to be honest.”
Like many racers these days Swedberg cut his teeth wheeling karts on Wednesday nights at GSR Kartway in Clintonville as a youngster. From there, Swedberg bucked the trends, and an opportunity came up which led him from the karts directly into the late model class. “Mike Seubert offered me the chance to race one of his crate late models on Fair night at Shawano back in 2008,” Swedberg said. “That’s when Jeff Curtin ran the Fastrak series, but the deal was sort of going on a downward trend.”
Swedberg in Luxemburg Speedway’s victory lane. Dirt Kings will return to the dirt oval in Kewaunee County Sunday, July 9. (danlewisphoto.net)
Before Dirt Kings evolved, the WDLMA (Wisconsin Dirt Late Model Association) hosted racing events at clay ovals across the Badger state. Swedberg continued to ply his craft at the half-mile in his hometown of Shawano. But at the same time, he was eager to hit the road and learn as much as he could racing at different facilities.
In 2023 Shawano Speedway remains the lone eastern Wisconsin dirt track to host weekly dirt late model action. Plymouth Dirt Track, located a little over an hour south of Green Bay in Sheboygan County, does host Dirt Kings events and in ’23 hosts a “Super Six” series. Problem is Shawano and PDTR both run on Saturday nights and the amount of crossover with the drivers isn’t real strong when PDTR is off.
With such limited opportunities for late models on the eastern half of the state, Dirt Kings essentially “scratches the itch” for dirt late model teams. “Getting to different tracks outside of your own backyard is fun and one of my favorite tracks is (Mississippi Thunder Speedway) over in Fountain City,” Swedberg admitted. “When you run there it gives a lot of room to race and usually draws some really tough guys like Timm, Redetzke, Diemel, Sorenson and Mars. So you’ve got to step up your game out there and other places without a doubt. And the place always seems to provide a lot of bite.”
Swedberg is the only driver to never miss a Dirt Kings race in six years. (J and S Design)
With fewer opportunities for new drivers compared to the IMCA sanctioned divisions which have multiple options to race in northeastern Wisconsin, getting new blood into the local late model ranks can often be difficult. In ’23 Swedberg has taken Seymour standout Jayden Schmidt under his wing within the Team Seubert camp. “Jayden is a good driver and we’ve got him squared away with his shock program and such,” Swedberg said. “We’ve worked with Lukas (Postl) and he’s come a long way in recent years, too.”
In fact, whenever on the road or closer to home at Shawano the Swedberg and Postl teams pit next to each other and share each other’s spare parts and setup knowledge when its needed.
During his 17 year late model career Swedberg has run Rocket chassis exclusively. His 2023 car is a brand new one and like anything new, it’s taken some time to get a few of the bugs worked out. “Overall, our Rocket cars are a little bit stiffer but can be more forgiving too,” Swedberg explained. “Our chassis seems a little more consistent. We race on the same tire all the time. So, you get a baseline setup, and you just tweak things from there. I’m not sure the average fan realizes the technology involved with these cars. The adjustments we make are so fine.”
Swedberg has an “ace-in-the-hole” so to speak with Butch Laska. Laska was a long-time crew member for the late M.J. McBride and has been a part of the dirt late model scene for decades. “Between Butch and Tommy (Postl), Lukas’ dad another longtime McBride crew member) they’ve been in this game a long time,” Sweberg said. “Butch has always been sort of like a father to me. He calls a lot of the shots, and we always bounce ideas off one another.”
A huge part of the modern-day dirt late model technology revolves around any team’s shock program. “Honestly this technology with the shocks can change literally from week-to-week,” Swedberg admitted. “And some stuff works better at one track and another shock package will work well somewhere else. A Rocket car may thrive at this track, and yet a Longhorn can be stout somewhere else. Same thing goes with the MB Custom cars.”
Looking ahead to the balance of the Dirt Kings ’23 schedule, one event Swedberg is eager to return to is the “King of the Fair” race Friday night, July 28 at the Langlade County Speedway in Antigo. It’s been quite a while since late models raced at the big half-mile and the track hasn’t hosted weekly racing in several years. “I’m really excited to get back to Antigo,” Swedberg exclaimed. “I won the Indian Summer Classic race up there the first year they had it. I passed A.J. Diemel on the outside. I was pretty proud of that, and it was a first initial win for me.”
According to Swedberg, races are won in the shop. Swedberg and his crew members spend most nights performing general maintenance, including a nut and bolt check before every race. “It’s a massive time commitment no doubt,” Swedberg said. “We make sure there are no cracks, no bends, and no breaks on any part of the car. If you’re not working on the chassis itseld you’re doing something else like getting your tires ready. There is always something to do that you can stay on top of. You’ve got to have your stuff together when you leave the shop so when you do get to the track you can focus on your car.”
The pit crew members who wrench on Swedberg’s No. 3 car include Butch & Pete Laska, Eddie DeWane, Kevin Bartz, Scott Anderson and Swedberg’s sons Blake and Brayden. Swedberg’s boys bring their buddies around and they get assigned the tasks like fixing up the bodies and any other general maintenance that is needed.
The team of sponsors that are on board with Swedberg’s ’23 racing effort include Seubert Calf Ranches, Lumberyard Bar & Grill, Dan Nolan Livestock, Anderson Detailing, Galloping Ghost Motorsports & Transportation, Smokey Joes, Pingel Processing, BAGM Marble & Granite, Hobbytown USA, Dan Cerveny Construction, Amsoil, Precision Construction, Amy’s Roadhouse and Olson’s Rural Electric.