After spending a dozen years in the modified class, Mike Greseth made the jump into the late model division in 2021. How does he like the move?
“Love it,” he said. “It was a good change.”
The early returns indicate a smooth adjustment for the 37-year-old from Harwood, N.D. He already has three feature wins — two NLRA victories included — and has finished in the top five eight times in 13 starts.
“The car has worked really, really good,” Greseth said. “The guys are good, you just can’t screw up. I’ve noticed the draw is pretty important in these; you get the dirty air and it’s tough to move up.”
Greseth will be one of the late models competing at the NLRA show Thursday night at Norman County Raceway in Ada. Greseth is currently second in the NLRA Points, trading Canadian Shane Edginton by 22 points.
“The NLRA deal, I want to chase that and see how we end up,” Greseth said.
The Greseth name is familiar in the Red River Valley racing scene. Mike is in his 20th year of racing, and his brother Matt also raced. Now, Mike’s nephew, 14-year-old Cole, is a rookie in the Wissota Street Stock class after racing in the mini stocks for two years.
“My dad helped Greg Johnson back in the day,” Mike said. “Once we got older, my brother started and I started doing it, and here I am.”
In fact the Greseth brothers had a run on the Wissota Mod 4 national championships years ago. Mike won the national title in 2004 and 2005 and Matt won in 2006.
“It was three years in a row between the two of us,” Greseth said.
Greseth was successful in the modifieds for many years, but the urge to take on another challenge saw him purchase a late model from Buzzy Adams in Wisconsin this offseason. He is driving a Rocket Chassis that only had a handful of shows on it. Naturally, there was an adjustment going from the open wheel to the late model.
“These are really dependent on right front,” Greseth said. “The modifieds, you skate them in. It’s a new challenge.”
It didn’t take him long to get his first late model win. He picked up his first NLRA — and late model — feature win at Grand Rapids on May 21.
“This late model win that I just won was pretty cool,” Greseth said. “We had a good run in Grand Rapids.”
Greseth doesn’t chase track points weekly anymore and hasn’t for years. His goal is to chase the NLRA title and hit some of the higher-paying shows in the area, like the Wissota 100 and Jamestown Stampede later in the year.
Ultimately, though, the love for racing is front and center for the Greseth family.
“We all live in the same town we all tackle race cars and get them done. That’s what it’s all about,” Greseth said. “Especially, Grand Forks, when we won up there, the kids could come down and then my dad, I got a picture with (all of) them. That’s where you can’t put a price on racing.”
Driver profile
Mike Greseth
Wissota/NLRA Late Model #17
Age: 37
Residence: Harwood, N.D.
Sponsors: Stremick Trucking, Quality Engine, T & S Custom Homes, Innovative Air, York Furnaces, ShatterX.com
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