If I go to a racetrack and make my “rounds” during the night, one guy I look for in the pits is Jonny Carter, who drives the No. 46 Wissota Street Stock out of Lisbon.
I met Jonny last summer when I did a RaceChaser blog on him at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon. Good guy and a bit of a character, as I’ve found out. Soon his pit area became a regular stop for me, and now we’ve become friends. In fact there is rarely a night I don’t stop and BS, even for a minute or two, with the guy. It’s always entertaining.
Since this is an editorial/column opinion piece I can say this: I’m happy for Jonny and him winning the 2019 Wissota Street Stock National Championship. He is a very deserving champion.
If you include his win at the Wissota Race of Champions, Carter won 25 features this summer at eight different tracks. He won a big special at Southwest Speedway in Dickinson in June, and won track titles at Jamestown and Sheyenne. He had a phenomenal year, and needed one to fend off the defending national champ, Justin Vogel of Brooten, Minn., for the national points.
Vogel is another guy I’ve gotten to know (and a good dude), and if you get a chance to meet and visit with him, do it. He has a great perspective on racing and really wants to see the sport survive and thrive. This year Vogel won 24 features, including his second straight Wissota 100, at seven different tracks.
Both guys are a fun to watch and are damn good racers.
In the case of Jonny Carter, I gave him a hard time all summer about making a run at the national title, and he was insistent on not paying attention to the national points until September. All he wanted to do was win every race and let the points take care of themselves. Turned out to be a good strategy.
Carter is a hard guy not to like — in fact I spoke to a lot of street stock drivers who compete against him and haven’t met any that don’t like him. He isn’t cocky and in fact is pretty humble, and he kinda has that “Aw Shucks” attitude. And as I mentioned he is pretty entertaining to BS with at the races.
So congrats Jonny — you made the town of Lisbon and the eastern North Dakota racing community proud.
Other National Point Notes
—In addition to Carter and Vogel, also finishing in the top 10 in national points in the street stocks were Ryan Satter of Dent (fifth) and Eric Riley of Morris (sixth).
—Lucas Rodin of Marion finished seventh in the Wissota Midwest Modified points, which were topped by Huron driver Cole Searing. Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls was 10th.
—Jeff Crouse of Alexandria finished ninth in the Wissota Super Stock national points which were topped by Kevin Burdick of Proctor.
—Winnipeg driver Ward Imrie finished second in the Wissota Modified national points behind Shane Sabraski of Rice. Imrie had won national titles in 2017 and 2018. Just a note on that — three of the top five modified national finishers were driving Lethal Chassis.
—Brad Seng of Grand Forks finished ninth in the Wissota Late Model national points. Chad Becker of Aberdeen, the Wissota 100 winner, won the national title. I-94 track champion Don Shaw of Ham Lake was third.
—Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead finished second in INEX Semi-Pro Legends national points after a terrific 2019 season. Ryan Braseth of Ulen was sixth, Dylan Johnson of Kindred seventh and Alex Braseth of Ulen eighth.
—Andrew Jochim of Glyndon finished second to Drew Papke in the INEX Pro Legends National Points. Jochim won 10 features this season and usually was in the top five at the checkered flag. Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes, another driver who had a terrific season, was third. Wilke won 17 features this season.
—Also a shoutout to 12-year-old Ashton Spieker of Sabin. A rookie in the legend class who was just getting his feet wet in 2019, he finished third in the Young Lions INEX national points.
—Torey Fischer of West Fargo finished eighth in the IMCA Lady Eagle National points. Alyssa White of West Fargo finished 18th.
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