The Scoop
DUSTIN WUDSTRACK – PULLING DOUBLE DUTY IN SHAWANO ON SATURDAYS
Posted on: Wednesday May 6, 2026
Dustin Wudstrack’s 2025 Shawano Speedway track championship IMCA northern sportmod.
Dustin Wudstrack felt the need to take on an additional challenge for the 2026 racing season.
The 28-year-old IMCA northern sportmod champion at Shawano Speedway (2025) from Tigerton has stepped up in ’26, battling in the class dubbed “Too-Tough-To-Tame” – the IMCA stock car division.
Wudstrack will keep his pit crew on their toes this season, as he will be pulling double duty on Saturday nights at the historic half-mile. Wudstrack will battle with the locally popular fendered division, along with defending his IMCA northern sportmod title.
“During the off season, I wasn’t sure if I was going to stay in the sportmod class or not after we won the championship last year,” Wudstrack said. “So, we threw around the idea of competing in another division. And the stock car class is second to none with being competitive.”
This season is Wudstrack’s 10th competing in the sportmods. He started his racing career racing on the frozen ponds in his region, ice racing at age 14. He followed that up with four-cylinder enduros, and began racing regularly at Shawano with his sportmod in 2017.
These days, it can be tough enough for a racer to solicit pit crew help to turn wrenches on one car, much less two. “It’s normally just me, a buddy of mine and my Dad Delbert,” Wudstrack explained. “So taking on another car on the same night, it can be taxing on the pit crew. So, I recruited a couple of other people to help us out on Saturday nights.”
Wudstrack’s new-to-him stock car is a 2016 Wolfe chassis with what he said had “lower nights” on it. “Everyone around here knows this car as “Frankenstein” because it had a bunch of different colored panels on it,” Wudstrack said. Opening night at Shawano earlier this year, Wudstrack elected to start in the back of the pack as he claimed he “doesn’t know a thing” about the IMCA stock cars. Wudstrack placed a respectable ninth on somewhat of a rough, opening night racing surface. “I’ve got alot of friends that race in this class. Guys like Dan Michonski. Mike Schmidt ran a stock car, too. They are helpful if I do need the help. So is Trent Nolan. There are a lot of big name drivers in this class, and I just wanted to see if I could run with them.”
While the stock car is still new to Wudstrack, he’s sticking with his proven, tried-and-true championship sportmod. “It’s actually a 2021 Razor chassis I’ve had for five years now,” Wudstrack said. “It’s the car Jayden Schmidt won the IMCA state points championship with. Funny thing is, I won the title and still have yet to win a feature race in the sportmods.”
With that being said, Wudstrack’s goals for 2026 include earning a feature win or two in the sportmods, and making a solid run for rookie-of-the-year honors in the stock car at Shawano. “I’d be o.k. with winning a heat race or two in the stock car, too,”
In addition to competing weekly at Shawano on Saturdays, Wudstrack does plan on spreading his wings a bit, and competing at other tracks whenever his schedule allows. “We’ll check out some other tracks like 141, Seymour and Luxemburg for some of their specials later in the year,” Wudstrack said. “At least with the stock car, I’ve got to figure things out a little bit more before I branch out with that car.”
Wudstrack has sported the car number 98 for several seasons now. “I always wanted the number 13, because that was the day I was born,” Wudstrack said. “When I started ice racing, there was already another driver with that number, so my dad told me to go with number 98 because that was the year I was born. I’ve stuck with it ever since.”
Dustin Wudstrack’s Wednesday night ride at GSR Kartway. (CRM Productions)
As if pulling double duty with a sportmod and a stock car weren’t enough, For the third year now Wudstrack also plays on Wednesday nights at GSR Kartway in Clintonville, where he pilots a souped up riding lawn mower on the eighth-mile, clay oval. Last season, Wudstrack was in a nasty tumble on the riding lawn mower with Jeffrey Teske. “When those lawn mowers go over in a roll, you better make sure your legs aren’t underneath the machine. They sort of buck you off like a bucking bronco in a rodeo.”
When he’s not racing, Wudstrack works on a concrete crew for Miron Construction. “We pretty much race on Saturdays, and every other night is a shop night,” Wudstrack explained.
Wudstrack’s girlfriend Holly is a big part of his racing crew, along with his cousin Levi and neighbor Nick. His father Delbert helps out. Wudstruck’s uncle Tony Wudstrack is a former competitor at Shawano. According to Dustin, it’s Tony’s racing endeavors which got him hooked into this sport in the first place.
Wudstrack’s 2026 marketing partners include Choice Management LLC, T.L. Kersten Excavating, Wehmeyer’s Tap N Sap, Northern Racing Fabrication, Sleepy Hollow Acres, The Dam Barn, Total Foam Specialists, Anita Harcut, Nolan Sign Co., Shawano Drone Service, Schmidt’s Hilltop Haven, Bowers Family Farms, Valley View Pheasants, Adam’s Small Engine Repair, Malotky Custom Creations, Chet & Emil’s, Kopitzke Young Guns Excavating, The Caroline Legion LLC, Top Dog Home Improvements, Pigeon River Acres and South Branch Ranch.