The Scoop
RAIN IS RELENTLESS ON FRIDAYS, 218 CARS AT 141 & MORE
Posted on: Monday May 5, 2025
IMCA stock car driver Aaron Karcz wound up on his lid moments after this pic was snapped at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek Saturday. Karcz emerged unhurt in the mishap. (danlewisphoto.net)
Mother Nature continues to NOT be a fan of Friday night racing – at least in northeastern Wisconsin.
Last week, three area programs scheduled to run on Friday had their shows washed out.
Planned season openers at both Outagamie Speedway in Seymour and Luxy Raceway in Luxemburg were attempting to get their season opening races in, but Mother Nature had the final say in that.
Gravity Park USA in Chilton also had their show washed out.
Outagamie Speedway will attempt again this Friday, May 9 to get their season opening show in. The late models have been added in for a roughly every-other-week schedule for the Friday night show at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds in Seymour. Having a finger on the pulse of the crowd there, I’d say the late model appearances are always popular with the fans at Seymour.
Those late models will be in action this Friday, along with the IMCA modifieds, stock cars, northern sportmods, sport compacts and Unified Dirt street stocks. A 6:30 p.m. start is on tap at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds in Seymour.
Saturday was a completely different story weatherwise. A little cool, but no rain in sight.
I got the call during the week, asking of my availability to “pinch hit” behind the microphone at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek.
Mind you, the last race I had announced at 141 was their season ending race back in 2013. It had been awhile and now? The place has improvements pretty much everywhere you turn. (Disclaimer as I normally trout fish the entire opening weekend of the Wisconsin fishing season but the water levels were simply too high for the fishing to be any good.)
And what was most impressive was the car count. Is 218 cars (in five divisions) too many for a weekly show? I’d say probably. But when a show is run as efficiently as the team at 141 pulls it off, it’s quite an accomplishment. What struck me the most was in glancing at the respective lineups in all five classes, how many drivers either lived in or very near to Shawano County that opted to make the longer tow to Francis Creek to race. There were close to 40 or so that I’d estimate could or maybe should be Shawano regulars based on simple geography.
A lot of people like to compare car counts, when it comes to neighboring tracks that run against each other on the same night. 218 cars is beyond outstanding, but a track doesn’t necessarily need that many cars to put on a show. In a perfect world, you’d have a three or maybe a four division show, with between 105 to 120 cars.
That’s enough cars to have a B main in each class. That’s all you need. We need all tracks in our region to thrive and be successful. That includes Shawano Speedway. That also includes our friends in Door County, as the Sternard’s continue to keep the lights on at The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay. Everyone wants their slice of that “racing pie” per se. But let’s face it. That “pie” has shrunken over the years. The hardcore fan base local and regional race tracks have enjoyed for decades has begun to literally die off.
The successful tracks will be smart in their marketing efforts down the road. The dynamics of each track and their promotional teams are all very different. The Sternards at Sturgeon Bay, Tracy Thrun at Luxemburg and Tim Czarneski at 141 are all privately run deals. Same goes for Bob Schneider at Gravity Park USA in Chilton. They do pretty much everything there with the exception of Luxemburg and Sturgeon Bay which those are county-leased facilities.
Seymour, for example, is still run by the club Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car (EWSC). Same thing on the pavement at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR) in Kaukauna. The weekly “Thursday Night Thunder” has been run by the Fox River Racing Club (FRRC) and both Seymour and Kaukauna have done well keeping the lights on, and keeping fans entertained.
Shawano’s in a unique, and sometimes difficult situation as the Shawano County Ag Society has always seemed to have it’s collective thumb on what occurs there. Would shortening the track at Shawano make a difference? I honestly think it would help tremendously, for multiple reasons. Everyone says the track surface needs new clay. We could go on and on.
But I do know one thing. If I were running the show at Shawano Speedway, I would be inclined to at least reach out to those 40 or so drivers and ask them why they would drive past the track to race elsewhere? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Some of the answers would be obvious. Others? Not so much. At any rate, drivers these days vote with their HAULERS. And so long as we have all these tracks still running in our area, there will be competition for cars.
The successful race tracks from 2025 and beyond will do an exceptional job of drawing NEW BLOOD into our sport. It’s critical. I preach it all the time. We’ve got to get those average families to the track at least once. And then give them a fast-paced, thrilling show with minimal delays, an great racing surface with at least two grooves, good food, and great announcer and a fun experience in three to three and one-half hours. If they are entertained, they will be back.
THE HILL – Race fans in Door County will have to wait another week until the track’s Saturday, May 17 scheduled opener at John Miles Park in Sturgeon Bay. Sportmods, stock cars, Unified Dirt street stocks and four cylinders will be in action. The racing starts at 6 p.m. You can check out the track’s Facebook page for additional information.
KARTING KORNER – Things will soon get busy at our two regional dirt karting ovals located in Clintonville and Cecil, Wisconsin, respectively.
At GSR Kartway in Clintonville, a practice day is scheduled for Saturday, May 10th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The first hour of the practice session is reserved for Kid Karts only, with all other divisions getting track time after 11 a.m.
The season opening race at GSR is set for Wednesday, May 14 at 7 p.m. The track hosts both kart and lawn mower races. We plan on covering that opening night of racing at GSR, as it’s been since 2000 since we’ve attended a race there. We’re very much looking forward to it!
Meanwhile, at Little Buckaroo Jr. Motorsports Park in Cecil, a practice session is slated for Wednesday, May 7 from 4 to 8 p.m. The season opening race is set for Sunday, May 11 with kart racing getting underway at 2 p.m. Yours truly will be on the call for the opener. If you’ve never attended a kart race at either track, do so. You won’t be dissapointed.
Eugene Gregorich III of Amherst, Wisconsin won the Midwest Truck Series event at Madison International Speedway Sunday. (Midwest Truck Series photo)
PAVEMENT PONDERINGS – Eugene Gregorich III captured the Midwest Truck Series feature at Madison International Speedway Sunday. The win was Gregorich’s first ever in the series. Appleton’s Brandon Reichenberger took sixth, while Freedom’s Cody Vander Loop placed thirteenth.
In super late model action, Edgerton Ace Casey Johnson picked up the $15,000 Joe Shear Classic win in the Midwest Tour. Plover’s Gabe Sommers and Gleason’s Justin Mondeik placed second and third, respectively.
Ironically, both spotters for the big winners at MIS have local ties. Track announcer Scott Owen handled the spotting chores for Gregorich while Green Bay’s Craig Kowaleski was Johnson’s spotter. Congrats to both teams!
FRRC PRACTICE DAY – The annual Fox River Racing Club (FRRC) practice and tech day is set for Saturday, May 10 beginning at 10 a.m. at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna.
The practice session is free for fans to attend. The first Thursday Night Thunder” race of the year at WIR will be Thursday, May 22.
Remember to get out and support your local short track IN PERSON whenever possible! Nothing beats the sights, the sounds and the smell of just BEING THERE!
2025 REGIONAL DIRT TRACK FEATURE WINNERS (as of 5/4/25)
(Tracks included, but not limited to: Outagamie Speedway, Gravity Park USA, Luxy Raceway, 141 Speedway, The Hill Raceway, Plymouth Dirt Track & Shawano Speedway. We’ll also include feature wins by N.E. Wisconsin drivers scored at other tracks, including out-of-state and series victories. These include both IMCA sanctioned & non-sanctioned wins)
LATE MODELS
Nick Anvelink 1
Troy Springborn 1
IMCA MODIFIEDS
Benji LaCrosse 1
Johnny Whitman 1
Todd Dart 1
Marcus Hoeppner 1
Cole Czarneski 1
Joel Seegert 1
IMCA STOCK CARS
Cole Czarneski 4
Tyler Wilson 2
Trent Nolan 1
Brandon Schmitt 1
Phil Mott 1
Trentin Bell 1
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMODS
Coy Vlies 1
Dustin White 1
Cole Thomas 1
Ryan Schmidt 1
Jordan Jahnke 1
Jim Zdroik 1
Jeffery Teske 1
Brady Harshbarger 1
UNIFIED DIRT STREET STOCKS
Paul Diefenthaler 1
Cory Romenesko 1
Shannon Guelette 1
Trey Van Straten 1
Austin Steinke 1
GRAND NATIONALS
Jeff Muehlbauer 1
Jake Richards 1
FOUR CYLINDERS/IMCA SPORT COMPACTS
Adam Broehm 2
Ben Schulte 1
Thomas Schulte 1
James Reese 1
Dalton Nelson 1