The Scoop
RON BERNA ON RETIREMENT – “IT’S JUST TIME”
Posted on: Tuesday February 11, 2025
After a near four-decade career, “Rocket Ron” Berna has decided to hang up his helmet.
When Green Bay native “Rocket Ron” Berna recently announced his retirement from racing after a highly successful 39 year career, most in the northeastern Wisconsin racing community took note.
The 57-year-old dirt late model Ace said it was truly a combination of factors that lead him to pull the pin. Berna, who retired as the driver who scored a total of 13 track championships at Shawano Speedway (three in an IMCA modified and 10 in a late model), said it was the soaring costs of fielding a dirt late model, his longtime friend and crew chief’s own health problems and some of Ron’s own heart issues that made the decision to hang up the helmet an easy one.
Before he was a late model standout, Ron Berna was a top flight IMCA modified pilot in the early-to-mid 1990’s. (Bob Bergeron photo)
“Honestly, it was a little bit of everything,” Berna admitted. “My buddy and long time crew chief Jim (Kibilowski) was with me 25 years. He discovered he had cancer right during the middle of the season last summer. Luckily, they got his cancer out. He’s all fixed up, but that scared him a bit. He was supposed to miss a bunch of races, but he wound up only missing three. Jim talked about it and how we’ve been doing this a long time. We had talked about hanging it up. It just kept getting harder as the years went on.”
Berna held off getting his own heart issues fixed until after the racing season. “They got me fixed up but honestly, holding off as long as I did wasn’t the smartest thing in the world,” Berna confessed. “We talked about this for awhile and we’re not as quick as we used to be. You can’t do this forever. And the costs kept getting more and more. I mean, (racing) was never cheap to begin with. And with the amount of money it now takes to be competitive, I just didn’t see ourselves being competitive for much longer.”
There was a time 15-20 years ago when most of the local dirt late model teams were sponsored by either a casino or a certain calf rancher. “We never, ever had any of the big sponsors like many of our competitors did and we always looked at ourselves as the underdogs wherever we went,” Berna pointed out. “But our attitude was always racing first. It didn’t matter if we wrecked at Antigo on a Friday night. Come hell or high water, that car would be on the track the next night at Shawano. And that’s how we rolled for many, many years. And it wore us out.”
Berna was a standout modified ace in the mid-1990’s. He transitioned into a dirt late model buying an old Terry Anvelink late model chassis. However, most fans don’t know Berna gave the pavement a very serious look back in the day. “We went down to RanderCar Racing and were looking at possibly buying a pavement late model to race at (Wisconsin International Raceway) in Kaukauna,” Berna admitted. “But, I was coaxed out of it and steered in the direction of the dirt. And looking back on it, we’ve got no regrets.”
It was the well-known engine builder out of Appleton, Bruce Mueller, who kept Berna going – especially early on in his career. “We were fast in the modified and we won quite a few races,” Berna recalled. “But then we’d get caught up in those engine claims. Bruce (B and B Racing Engines) kept feeding me used motor parts so we could keep racing when we got claimed. Honestly, Bruce was a big part of me deciding to move into the dirt late models because he told me he couldn’t afford to keep feeding me all those used motor parts. We were all used up in that sense.”
Any race team that has chased a track or series championship knows full well it comes with sacrifices. Berna’s crew was no exception. “We missed weddings, graduation parties or anything else and especially if it was on a Saturday,” Berna said. “Racing always seemed to trump any other stuff we had going on, including any family activities. We could have darn near cut the car in half and we’d stay up all night to get it fixed. That was just the mentality we had.”
“Rocket Ron” Berna (Gasroots photo)
In recent years, Berna said he’d be in the cockpit, helmet on and waiting to race and he began thinking about doing other stuff. “It was weird, but I’d sometimes sit waiting to go racing and I’m thinking “how much longer am I going to keep doing this,” Berna admitted. “I’d ask myself if it was worth it anymore? The money and time spent. Looking back, I guess the fun factor started to fade away a little bit. I used to eat and sleep racing around the clock. Not anymore. This sport is addicting, like gambling.”
There were others in Berna’s corner during his career over the years, including Kibilowski. Paul Delwiche was a longtime crew member of Berna’s up until a few years ago. “Same thing with Paul – he said we’d just done this so many years. And after he got out, he said he had to stop coming around otherwise he’ll be sucked right back in. My brother Jon Berna was a big help along with his son Ray Berna. Ray’s enthusiasm and grasp of the technology of this sport really kept us going in the past few seasons.”
Berna’s stepbrother Steve Machuirck and Berna’s longtime girlfriend Jamie Springborn have also been in his corner, assisting with his racing operation for many years.
Roger “The Bear” Regeth poses with another Shawano Speedway multi-time champion – “Rocket Ron” Berna at NEW MOTORAMA in Green Bay.
When it comes to his fellow competitors, Berna has a lot of respect for all of them. “But when I look back on my career in the late models, nothing really was better than racing against M.J. McBride, Pete Parker and Terry Anvelink,” Berna said. “Sometimes we’d have some dust ups but overall, things went well racing with those guys. In later years it was always Nick (Anvelink) Troy (Springborn) and Brett (Swedberg) who always seemed to be tough competition for us. We made some great memories racing against all of those guys.”
Berna’s Longhorn chassis is for sale, but he’s going to hang on to the race hauler he and the team built. He’s got a good reason. One of the new “hobbies” Berna plans on dabbling in is working on some hot rods. He plans to eventually take some of those machines on the road to show them off. Attending events like tractor pulls and drag races are also on Berna’s list. “I won’t miss getting up at 7 a.m. every Saturday during race season and working all day to get the car ready to the track,” Berna said. “And when you talk about the cost of the dirt late model these days, it’s getting tougher to keep up with teams that pay $10,000 to chassis builders for consulting fees. For the 20 races or so a year we race, it got real tough to justify expenses like that. And let’s be honest – to really remain competitive you darn near have to have a new car every season. And the rising cost of tires. All those factors have pushed me out the door. I’ve got four grandkids and want to do some other stuff with them. I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with them in recent years and part of that was because of racing.”
With Berna’s exit and that of another longtime competitor in the division Tom Naeyaert, Berna readily acknowledges the void in the class and how so few drivers have decided to take that plunge in recent years. “Expense is a big factor and with a modified or a stock car you have so many more places to race that type of car,” Berna said. “With us, it’s pretty much Shawano and Dirt Kings in recent years. I’m going to miss racing, but I think I’ll need to stay away from it for awhile.”
(Editor’s note Outagamie Speedway in Seymour will host several late model shows in addition to a pair of Dirt Kings series events in 2025).
Many folks in the local and regional motorsports community were eager to chime in on Berna’s recent announcement:
“I think the loss of Ron Berna and Tom Naeyaert in one year is monumental to the Northeast Wisconsin dirt late model scene. Those two have been a part of that form of racing for decades. They both saw many, many drivers come and go, most of which were younger than they were. It’s impossible to replace that longevity in today’s world. For the most part, up until the last few years, they would be at Shawano every week and virtually never missed a late model race anywhere in the area. Today’s shrinking pool of dirt late models can’t help but take a hit with the Berna/Naeyaert departures.
The “old guard” will remember that Berna moved from division-to-division-to-division in his career. Today’s young drivers may do the same but stop before they take the plunge into late model racing. Northeast Wisconsin is strong IMCA country. It’s modifieds and stock cars headlining shows. The career path that Berna took, and with some others as well, is no longer the same path that the 20-something year old driver in our area sees. I see an ever-aging late model driver roster not only at Shawano but Plymouth Dirt Track as well. The Berna departure is just another nail in what may be an inevitable coffin.
Point chasing seems to be a thing of the past for about 80% of the drivers with a race car. Back in the day there were 20 or 25 guys that wouldn’t miss a race and thus be part of the championship hunt in some way until the bitter end. For Berna to win 12 championships is incredible. There are others that have done it in their area but they are old school as well. Ron Berna started racing when point titles meant the world. Financially, it didn’t mean much, if anything, in the end. But it became somewhat engrained. There are a few left standing in Northeast Wisconsin but society has changed. A bold prediction would say that no one will ever win more championships at Shawano than Ron Berna did. I just don’t see it happening.”
Robert Schafer
Oshkosh, WI
“Ron was always a good competitor and front runner who always raced you hard. Those guys always showed up to the track well-prepared and always seemed very consistent. His track championships showed that. Ron and his crew are good people and they sure will be missed.”
Nick Anvelink
Navarino, WI
“When I first started running open late models, Ron and I had a few run-ins but nothing major. I just gave him a taste of his own medicine a few times and after that, he really seemed to respect me. I never minded racing against Ron at all. I hate to see our division continue to lose cars, but I understand. The cost of racing has gotten way out of hand. While Ron will miss the driving part, I suspect he likely won’t miss all the hard work in the shop and time it takes to get the car ready.I hope he enjoys whatever his next chapter is in life.”
Brett Swedberg
Shawano, WI
“Ron was always a tough competitor, that’s for sure.”
Troy Springborn
Shawano, WI
“I’ve always respected Ron and his crew for their dedication to race weekly at Shawano. Whether it was in a modified or a late model, Ron was always a model of consistency throughout his career. He will go down as one of the greatest to ever wheel a car at Shawano Speedway. With the storied history that track has, that speaks volumes. The next stop for Ron is the Shawano Speedway Hall of Fame.”
Brad Luepke
Bonduel, WI