The Scoop
GSR KARTWAY – LAUNCHING RACING CAREERS SINCE 1998
Posted on: Tuesday May 20, 2025
What do Ty Majeski, Sawyer Effertz and Jordan Bartz all have in common?
This trio is among several dozens of racers – on both pavement and dirt – who’ve cut their teeth in motorsports racing karts on Wednesday nights early in their racing careers at GSR Kartway in Clintonville, Wisconsin.
Majeski has reached the highest level in motorsports, earning the NASCAR truck series crown in 2024. Effertz has won super late model titles at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna while Bartz has scored track titles at her hometrack on the dirt – Shawano Speedway.
“Obviously, GSR Kartway has had a monumental impact on Wisconsin’s racing scene,” said longtime announcer and Clintonville resident Scott Owen. “Countless drivers have cut their teeth at GSR. In addition to Jordan (Bartz) and Ty (Majeski), drivers like Marcus Yarie, Johnny Whitman, Eugene Gregorich III and Brett Swedberg all raced at GSR as kids. Johnny Holtger has also made a name for himself on the off road circuit, too. He also, raced at GSR.”
IMCA modified champion and GSR alum Jordan Bartz gives back, working every Wednesday at GSR wearing many different hats.
One of the cool things about GSR and many of their “alumni” is they truly do “give back.” Some, like Bartz, continue to work at the track on Wednesday nights. Others, like Majeski, give back in other ways. “Ty (Majeski) comes back and gives back,” Blashe said. “He’s come back the last three years, and it was his idea. He’ll setup a table, and talk to the kids and sign autographs. It’s a really a neat thing.”
(Scheduling note: Alumni night is set for June 4, while Majeski will be back at GSR July 9)
The popular karting oval was built in 1999 by Ed and Kim Bertram. “When they started this 26 years ago, they picked Wednesday nights because it was really one of the only nights that stock car racing wasn’t already going on in the area,” said GSR promoter Brandon Blashe. Blashe and his wife Sarah lease the facility from the Bertram’s. “You had WIR in Kaukauna on Thursday nights, and on Fridays it was Antigo, Luxemburg and Chilton. Saturdays, it was Shawano, 141 and Sturgeon Bay. Seymour was Sunday, and Oshkosh was on Tuesday nights. So, this Wednesday tradition of karting here in Clintonville has been going on non-stop ever since.”
GSR Kartway promoter Brandon Blashe holds the drivers meeting on opening night May 14.
Blashe is no stranger to the race promoting game. He began promoting the ice racing club in Marion, Wisconsin in the 1990’s. “It was a club deal, and I pretty much ran the club,” Blashe explained. “My uncle, B.J. Schoneck, runs the club now.”
Blashe also served as president of the Fox River Racing Club (FRRC). The FRRC is the club that runs the “Thursday Night Thunder” racing action every Thursday night at WIR. Blashe himself has raced, and so has his wife who also came from a racing family. Sarah Blashe is a Baldry – yup, that racing family Baldry. Their son, Wyatt Blashe, races IMCA stock cars in 2025.
“One year Ed (Bertram) took a job with Port City race cars and he and Kim relocated to lower Michigan and then a series of different promoters ran GSR,” Blashe said. “Scott (Owen) did it one year, and then I took it over with Sarah and we ran it for two years. We then took a break, and we came back eight years ago. When Ed and Kim returned from Michigan, they were looking for someone to run it. It’s too nice of a facility to leave sit. So here we are.”
The Blashe’s lease the property from Bertram’s, and the place is well kept, clean, and provides an A-plus facility for karters to get their racing on. Both of the Blashe’s have full time jobs, and Brandon estimates he puts in roughly 15-20 hours a week during the season in addition to his regular job. “During the off-season we don’t do much at all except host our banquet,” Blashe explained. “Things start to get busy around April, and then we wrap things up around the middle of September.”
While bumping around the pit area during my visit there for their recent season opener, it seemed everywhere I turned there were many generations of racers I know personally or have announced races they took part in down the road. There are even two generations of racers that competed at GSR at some point in time. Joe “The Show” Reuter is just one example of that, as his kid is involved in the Wednesday night program.
Local IMCA northern sportmod racers Jeffrey Teske (left) and Dustin Wudstruck (right) also race lawn mowers on Wednesday nights at GSR.
In addition to the kart races, GSR hosts another division you don’t often see in northeastern Wisconsin. They also race lawn mowers on Wednesday nights. These aren’t your typical riders that Grandpa can use to cut the grass on a Sunday afternoon. These machines are souped up with 22 horsepower engines, and one can be put together for roughly $5,000. The mowers have been in competition at GSR for 17 seasons now. “There is a club down towards Freedom that races these,” Blashe said. “A guy named Andy Mares is pretty much the ringleader of the lawn mowers up here as he custom builds them.”
Another key element to the GSR’s success is their popular kart rental program. It can save parents a ton of money, as they can “test the waters” so to speak for a $50 rental versus shelling out close to $2,500 to get started in karting, and then to find out junior doesn’t like it. “Elliott Michonski is one great example of a driver who got his feet wet through our karting rental program,” Blashe said. “He got started with us at GSR. And he won a feature I believe in his first time out. Now, he’s racing on the ice, and also in an IMCA stock car.”
Karts in staging prior to hot laps opening night at GSR.
When it comes to expenses and costs to run and maintain a kart, many of the same philosophies that ring true in the stock car world apply down to the karts. “In any form of racing, a driver can spend as much money as he or she wants to,” Blashe admitted. “I know guys who run here who buy a new chassis every year. But, I also know of some teams running competitively with chassis’ that are from 2004 and 2005. And you don’t need a fancy enclosed trailer to do this, too. We have many teams who throw a kart in the back of a pickup truck, or tow it in the back of an El Camino. That keeps the costs down, too. And if you keep those sealed motors clean, you can run them usually seven or eight seasons.”
This writer even noted some karts towed with Pontiac Grand Ams and a snowmobile trailer in the pits at GSR. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.
Another great aspect of GSR is that the Blashe’s work well with the other karting track in the area – Little Buckaroo Jr. Motorsports Park in Cecil. They run on Sunday afternoons in 2025. Blashe works closely with the Little Buckaroo promoters Brian and Kari Ambrosius when it comes to setting up classes, enforcing rules and scheduling. “We work well with Little Buckaroo, and our philosophy is that two tracks are always better than one,” Blashe said. “We talk during the season almost every week, and we meet a couple of times in the off season.”
Both tracks are sanctioned by the National Karting Alliance.
For the Blashe’s, the pros far outweigh any cons that come along with running any weekly, racing program. “Most of the time, the parents are decent,” Blashe explained. “They are passionate about their kids. Sometimes tempers get hot. But you’ve got to remember, their kids are flying around on this oval at 20, 30 or sometimes even 40 miles per hour. It’s an exciting sport. When the kids aren’t racing, the younger ones are playing with their hot wheels cars in the dirt, or throwing a football around. It’s a family-oriented deal. And that’s why we love doing this.”