The Scoop
CASSANDRA FREEMAN – A ROLE MODEL FOR NORWAY SPEEDWAY’S YOUNG RACE FANS
Posted on: Friday March 11, 2022
Niagara, Wisconsin’s Cassandra Freeman will embark upon her 4th season in the 4-banger division when Norway Speedway’s season kicks off Friday, May 27 at the Dickinson County Fairgrounds. (Sierra Oman photo)
There has been no shortage of female drivers at Norway (MI) Speedway in recent years.
With close to one dozen lady drivers earning points in 2021 Niagara, Wisconsin’s Cassandra Freeman has emerged into a frontrunner in the track’s 4 banger division.
Freeman finished eighth in the division’s final point standings in ’21. The fourth-year racer is confident she’s got a fighting chance to earn that first feature flag and continue climbing weekly in the points chase for the 2022 campaign.
“I used to be a fan in the stands as a kid as we’d watch my cousins Jason and Tony Wells race,” Freeman recalled. “We were watching the Labor Day weekend race during the Dickinson County Fair and we noticed a “For Sale” sign on Devin Wilcox’s race car. I asked Mom and Dad to buy me that car. They did and we went racing the following season.”
Wells is one of the front running late model pilots weekly at Norway’s paved, third-mile oval. “When I started out Jason was there during practice days,” Freeman said. “He was good as I used his old racing suit and he got me squared away with a helmet and other stuff. He was giving me pointers like what lines to take, where to let off on the gas, where to hit the brakes and so on. He’s very helpful with always offering up some pointers on what I can do better.”
Freeman attended Kingsford (MI) High School and while she didn’t partake in any school-sponsored athletics she was a dancer for a private company. “We would practice all year long and have a recital at the end of the year,” Freeman said. “I really enjoyed it.”
Going fast and turning left on a paved oval seems like a totally different world than taking part in a dance recital. “Honestly my parents have supported me and said, ‘you can do whatever you want to do’ when it came to racing,” Freeman admitted. “I really fell in love with racing and it’s a great group of people I race with, especially in the 4 bangers. I’ve made a lot of friends through racing.”
Cassandra Freeman gives the thumbs up to photographer Kevin Lee while waiting to hit Norway Speedway’s third-mile, paved oval. (Kevin Lee photo)
In addition, Freeman has developed a fan following of sorts – younger kids who’ve begun to look up to Freeman as a role model. “A lot of little girls have become race fans and they often visit us in the pits after the races,” Freeman said. “In fact, I had a mother of one young fan reach out to me and I sent her one of my racing t-shirts in time for Christmas. She said she wants to grow up and become a race car driver like me. We always make time for the kids at Norway.”
Freeman readily admits she may not be the most ‘hands-on’ of racers when it comes to wrenching on her number 62 Chevy Cavalier. “I do things like add fluids to the radiator and adding oil,” Freeman said. “John Ostermann and Uncle Bob Wells help out quite a bit with my racing operation – especially when it comes to some of the bigger stuff that needs to be done to the racecar.”
As far as her Friday night peers go Freeman has more than earned the respect of most of them. “I have quite a bit of respect and get along with (fellow 4-banger racers) Elliot Reid and the Bellmore Boys (Dean and Alex),” Freeman said. “Racing against those guys makes you better and more importantly makes going to Norway Speedway fun for me on Friday nights.”
Last season the Dickinson County Racing Association (DCRA) made an adjustment to the race format for the 4-bangers. Instead of running a pair of feature races a B main was run – a race in which X number of racers had to race their way into the feature each night. “I personally like that format a little better and have had to race my own way into the feature a few times,” Freeman confessed. “I think it makes for better feature races as there did seem to be fewer cautions last year in those features than maybe we had the years before.”
Freeman won two B mains and scored five heat race wins along the way. That A main victory has eluded her so far with her best posted feature finish as 5th. “That’s my biggest goal I’d say heading into the 2022 season is winning a feature,” Freeman explained. “Something like winning a track championship is more of a long-term goal. A top five points finish is more of a legit, real goal that I’m chasing.”
From 2019-2021 Freeman has finished eighth in the division’s final point standings all three seasons.
Last year Freeman spread her wings on a couple of occasions – racing the “Eve of Destruction” 4-cylinder enduro on the quarter-mile paved oval at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. She even played on the dirt one night at Upper Peninsula International Raceway (UPIR) in Escanaba, Michigan. “Kaukauna is a tighter track than Norway, so it took me a few laps to get used to braking earlier entering the corners,” Freeman said. “But we got the hang of it and was a lot of fun. And we had fun on the dirt at Escanaba, too. Racing the dirt is something I’d maybe do once or twice a year. But otherwise, Norway’s our home track and we love running there on Friday nights.”
When she’s not racing Freeman works in the health car field as an X Ray Technician. With the Covid pandemic the past couple of years racing at Norway on Fridays provided the ultimate stress reliever from her day job. “I worked late many Friday afternoons during race season,” Freeman recalled. “And most days I’d be working with Covid patients and gearing up it was tough. So, it was sort of refreshing on Friday nights at the track to be able to breath without a mask on after having to wear one most of the day at work.”
When she’s not racing Freeman also enjoys skiing and going to the gym to workout. “As far as my racing I’m pretty content sticking with the 4-banger class,” Freeman explained. “Right now, I have no real desire to move up. I’ve heard of a few new people who have bought cars and to my knowledge most everyone else is coming back from the class, so that is good.”
Among Freeman’s supporting cast in the pits on Friday nights are her Mom Linda Freeman, Don Lee and Nikki Ellis. Freeman’s racing program is supported by the following sponsors – C & R Bar, Step Ahead Boots and Clothing, Neu-Cup, Fine Lines Painting & Drywall and Total Car Care.
Freeman’s first race will be at the Speedway’s opening night race Friday, May 27.
