Borgen aims to contend in tough Wissota Modified ranks

After racing for many years, Bryce Borgen of Perley stepped away from driving after the 2019 season. As time passed, a few nights as a spectator left him itching to get back behind the wheel.

“I missed it,” Borgen said. “I went and watched a couple of races. That’s all it took.”

He started a comeback in 2022, running a few shows in Cody Erickson’s 1X IMCA Sport Mod.  In 2023 he was back behind the wheel in his #7 Wissota Modified and has been in the class since.

“This is the third year back with my own car,” Borgen said. “(Having) the freedom of doing what I want to do and racing when I want to race. And it’s fun to have something to tinker with in the shop.”

The 33-year-old farmer from Perley, Minn., got an early start to his racing career at age 13.  His dad, Blake raced and that planted the seed to race for Bryce Borgen.

“We took a lot of his used parts and made a B-mod for me when I was 13 years old,” he said.

He raced in the Wissota Midwest Modified class at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, Norman County Raceway in Ada and Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon. When some of the local tracks switched to IMCA, he moved into the IMCA Modified class and for a few seasons, drove Bob Sagen’s #99 car.

He had two feature wins in 2017 and three wins in 2018, and in 2019 only raced a handful of shows before stepping away from racing.

In 2022, he drove three nights for Cody Erickson, but the desire to have his own car led him to jump into a Wissota Modified.   In his third year in the class, he’s found the opposition to be stout.

“It’s been tough competition,” Borgen said.

Driving a 2020 Hughes Chassis that was updated this winter, Borgen races weekly at I-94 EMR Speedway.  He’s also raced at Ogilvie, Granite City, River Cities and Greenbush this season.

“Everywhere you go, it’s tough now,” Borgen said. “You go down to Fergus, it’s just loaded. There are 15 cars that can win every night.”

Borgen raced 36 shows in 2024 with 12 top five finishes, describing the season as “some good and some bad.” He did pick up a feature win, his first in a Wissota Modified, on July 13 at Greenbush.

The results for 2025 have been mixed so far. In eight starts he has two third-place finishes (one each at River Cities and Greenbush) but also has a DNS and DNF.

“The start to this year hasn’t been so good,” Borgen said. “It’s been fun. But we’re not here to just have fun. I like to be in the hunt.”

He is excited about Norman County Raceway in Ada – less than a half-hour from his home – has added a handful of Wissota Mod shows this summer. The first is set for Thursday and he plans to be there. NCR is the track where Borgen got his start behind the wheel.

 As far as the overall season goes, he is aiming to get the #7 machine back in victory lane.

“I’d like to get some more wins,” Borgen said. “That’s the main goal. Just to be up front and compete with everyone and bring it home in one piece.”

Driver Profile

Bryce Borgen

Wissota Modified #7

Age: 33

Residence: Perley, Minn.

Sponsors: Shaw Trucking Inc., Sanders Metal Products,  Dakota Grinding. Fargo,ND Dyrdahl Farms, Grosz Excavating, Lawnscapers, STP Manufacturing, Hughes Racing Chassis