The John Seitz Memorial is the premier late model event in Wissota, in my opinion, and is at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks this weekend. The best part for me as a fan – only four classes! The trend at these invitationals is the opposite (for example, the Fall Classic will run 10 classes this year, which is ridiculous). But I’ll get into my thoughts on invitational racing later. The Prelude to the Johnny is on Thursday, which is the NLRA finale that pays $2,092 to wi

Fix It Forward Speedway in West Fargo concluded its 2026 season with the second night of the inaugural Minn-Kota cup. The first night of the Minn-Kota cup brought in 86 cars while Night 2 drew 73. One suggestion I would have for Fix It Forward Speedway managemnt – bump up the purse quite a bit for the Minn-Kota Cup and advertise it weeks in advance. There was a doubleheader for IMCA classes in Brainerd and a three-night show at Nodak Speedway in Minot they were up against

I decided a while back to take some of the Labor Day weekend off to watch some racing. I wanted to get out of town for a couple of days and see at least one night of late model racing, so I headed to Grand Rapids on Friday. I wanted to see my aunt and uncle who live on a lake near Brainerd as well, so I figured why not give North Central Speedway another look since I was in the area anyway. The 25th Mighty Axe Nationals brought in more than 150 cars and a nice crowd on a n

Trevor Walsh already has wrapped up one track championship this season in the Gen X Late Model class. By the time Labor Day weekend is over, he could have two more track championships added to his resume – and the Fast Threads Gen X Series championship. Walsh won the track title at I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls last week. He leads the points at Casino and Madison Speedways heading into season championships at those tracks this weekend; and is just one point behind Parker

If you have followed racing in the Red River Valley over the past 50-plus years, you know the last name Pavlicek. The Pavlicek racing tradition started in 1973 when Steve “Duffer” Pavlicek hopped behind the wheel of his first race car. He had a successful career that culminated in being elected into the Red River Valley Racing Hall of Fame in 2026. The family racing legacy is carried on by Steve’s son, Rich, who is in his 23rd year behind the wheel and Rich’s son Jayden,

Racing is a sport full of highs and lows. Brad Lorentz of Eagle Bend has seen both this season in his #36 Wissota Street Stock. The high for Lorentz came with the solid season he was putting together at Viking Speedway in Alexandria. Entering the Aug. 8 racing program, he was leading the points at Viking and in a close points race with J.J. Nieuwbeerta of Alexandria. He had recorded three top five finishes and nine top 10s in 10 feature starts and been a steady runner all s

Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon held its season championship on Sunday night on a sticky evening. Buffalo River promoter Jason Berg said this week that Don Shaw, who owned I-94 EMR Speedway from 2020 until selling it this year, did some work reshaping the track earlier in the week. I know they’ve wanted to make the higher lane a more consistent option and are hoping some of the reshaping will do that. I personally felt the track was fairly racy for most classes and there

I don’t cover a lot of the national touring series while they are in the area, in large part because they have their own PR folks that cover them well, but with the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars less than 15 minutes from my house in West Fargo I figured what the heck. There was a great crowd on hand at Fix It Forward Speedway in West Fargo for the Danny Schatz Memorial, following a big crowd at River Cities Speedway on Friday. Donny Schatz of Fargo is a 10-time WOO Sprint

I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls wrapped up its 2026 regular season with another strong field of cars. I-94 has consistently been over 100 cars all year, and piled in 125 for their season championship night, setting up for a longer night. I think part of the reason for the car counts is some cars wanting to get laps on the track before the Wissota 100 in September. I-94 had 20 Wissota Late Models on hand, just one less than the 21 signed in at River Cities Speedway for

I was hoping to make it to Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon for the season championship on Thursday, but it didn’t work out, so instead of more of a play-by-play this will be more of an editorial/summary of the results. My goal was to make it to Sheyenne Speedway in-person four times this summer and I did that. There was some uncertainty in the offseason about whether Sheyenne would even race in 2026, and some locals in the Lisbon area approached Dusty Mund about running the tra

Caleb Gardner won’t get to race much, if at all, in 2027. So he’s looking to make the most of the remaining nights of the 2026 season. The 24-year IMCA Hobby Stock driver from Glyndon isn’t retiring from racing. He’ll instead be serving his country overseas as a member of the National Guard. Beginning in May 2026, he begins a 12-month deployment, which starts in Texas for two months and ends up with him serving in Kuwait. “It’ll be a good experience,” Gardner said. “I t

Bomber/Hobby Stock driver Brent Wilkinson picked up his first career feature win earlier this season. This week, he has the chance to wrap up his first track championship. The third-year driver from Jamestown leads the Hobby Stock points at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon by just five points over former track champion Bo Gregor of Lisbon. Sheyenne wraps up its 2026 season on Thursday night during the Ransom County Fair with its season championship. “I’m hoping to finish in t

The second annual Clash at Casino was held at Casino Speedway in Watertown on Saturday with a big field of 110 cars on hand. Not surprisingly, with 110 cars on a quarter-mile bullring, it was a long night. It ended up being a good night for the Randt brothers while Joe Thomas of Glyndon picked up his second big Wissota Modified win in as many nights. A nice 28-car Tri State Late Model contingent signed into Casino, racing for $2,500 to win. Superman Mike Stearns of Aberde

The sixth annual Howie Schill Memorial NLRA Late Model special saw 37 Wissota Late Models on hand Friday night at Fix It Forward Speedway in West Fargo. I talked to Howie’s son, Cole Schill, who along with wife Erica puts together this outstanding event. Last year’s event set a record with 51 cars on hand, but that was the second night of a doubleheader. Cole told me before the race the plan is return to a doubleheader for the event in 2027. The Schills put in a lot of work

I admit I’ve lost some off of my fastball when it comes to editorials. I’ve tried focusing on more positive aspects of racing, which is most cases are the drivers, or maybe I’m just getting mellow with age. But there are some things in racing that just piss me off. Here is a big one – inconsistency when it comes to enforcing rules, on the track or off it. I’ve said it before and I will say it again – favoritism, or “home cooking,” ruins racing. I’ve been frustrated by ot

Being a contender in the IMCA Stock Car division at local tracks isn’t easy, with so many drivers capable of winning a feature. Wil Dittmer of Casselton has seen this first hand since joining the class in 2023. He has recorded one top five in the class since jumping into it. And while it’s every driver’s goal to get a feature win – his goal is simply to run with the pack more. “Now it’s get up there and mix it up with those guys as much as I can,” Dittmer said. “Competiti

Zach Wilde stopped racing after the 2021 season – but it was never meant to be a retirement. He made his racing return in 2025 for a few shows behnd the wheel of his #6 NOSA Sprint Car. This year is his first full season back behind the wheel. “I was never going to quit. I just had to take some time off,” said the Thief River Falls resident. “The stuff sat in the shop and was ready to go back out there. I’m happy to be back in there.” In fact, being a part of the racing

It was a beautiful night at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon, which was back in action for the first time since late June. The temp was around 80, little humidity and a nice breeze, probably the nicest night I’ve been at a track all year. Sheyenne’s car counts have been solid all year with 56 cars on hand in five classes, which included three heats of Wissota Midwest Modifieds and two heats each of the Hobby Stocks, Wissota Street Stocks and INEX Legends. That seems to be a very

I decided for the old-time’s sake to cover Madison Speedway remotely on Saturday. As folks who read the blog know, that is the track I grew up going to as a kid and there are tons of memories for me there. It was the Alt Arneson Memorial at Madison on Saturday. Alt Arneson was the flag man at Madison in the 1980s when I was growing up. He had to handle some real characters at that track in those days, but I always remember him as a fair-minded flagman there. With Meet the

One of the fun things about doing RaceChaser blog is covering drivers who win their first career feature races. On Friday night at I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls, Emma Nelson joined the first-win club this season with a thrashing of the field in the Wissota Hornets. If I am being honest, I-94 shows can run very long some nights, but Friday, with 103 cars, the last checkered flag waved at 10:28 p.m., a nice job by both the officials and drivers. I thought the feature race