Highlighting some positives ON the track

This has been a bizarre week, to put it mildly, in the racing world. One track’s financial situation is so dire that some drivers are giving their winnings back to the track so they can run next week; a track owner/promoter being seriously injured in a side-by-side mishap (good news is he will recover); and of course, there’s ALWAYS some off-track drama playing out on facebook that I choose to ignore in this blog.

We wish James Trantina well in his recovery (owner of I-94, Granite City and North Central) .

So, for the sake of trying to bring some bright spots to racing, let’s highlight some things ON the track:

--Jeff Rohner of Willmar has raced his Wissota Hornet 15 times this summer. He’s won 13 features and finished in the top five 14 times.  His only not top five finish was a DNF at Viking Speedway on May 24. For those doing the math, Rohner has won 86.6 percent of his starts this season.

--One of the most improved drivers in the area, and an upcoming talent for sure, is Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes in the IMCA RaceSaver sprints.  He did not have a feature win in the IMCA sprints coming into the year and now has two and has finished in the top 10 in 11 of 14 starts. His older sister, Kate, is a formidable foe as well; she finished second at the special at Buffalo River on Saturday and has four top five finishes in her #72 IMCA sprint. She was within a few feet of a win at Sheyenne Speedway earlier this summer.

--Right now, two young drivers, Levi Randt of Siren and Cole Greseth of Harwood, are 1-2 in the Wissota Street Stock national points.  As of July 12, Randt held a 95-point lead.  Greseth’s consistency has been remarkable. He has 18 wins, which is impressive in itself, but has finished in the top five in all 30 of his starts.

Randt has 14 wins in 44 starts and 38 top fives. He’s been racing at I-94 more often this year.

Another driver to keep an eye on in the national points – Keith Tourville of Janesville. He doesn’t have the number of shows in that Randt and Greseth do, but has 20 wins in 23 starts, a very similar dominance to Rohner. Once he adds more shows, he will climb the standings. He has dominated the class at KRA, Fiesta City and Madison Speedways this season.

Maria Broksieck of Goodwin is ninth in the national points as of July 12 with six wins as of that date.

--The IMCA Modified points race at Jamestown Speedway could not be closer. 71-year-old John Corell, a legend in that region, leads veteran John Nord of Enderlin by one point. Scott Gartner of Jamestown, who drives the McDonald’s #0 machine, is only nine points back. Corell, pictured above, has seven top fives in 20 starts this year and has a feature win (overall). Nord has 15 top fives in 17 starts with three wins.

--The Wissota Street Stock Tour heads to Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen for a doubleheader this weekend. The tour has held its own this year despite rising gas prices. There has also been a lot of parity on the tour, with eight different winners in eight different shows.

Street Stock Tour winners

Viking (May 24): Eric Riley

Princeton (June 19): Jim Gullikson

Ogilvie (June 20): Parker Anderson

Granite City (June 21): Tommy Pogones

Red Cedar (July 10): Jeff Ekdahl

Rice Lake (July 11): Nick Traynor

KRA Speedway (July 16): Keith Tourville

Fiesta City Speedway (July 17): Justin Vogel

May 22 at I-94 and May 23 at Viking rained out.

Each driver can throw out two shows (which also means you can miss a pair of nights). If you factor those in, Vogel leads Wisconsin driver Cody Kummer by just three points, with Tommy Pogones of Princeton seven points back. Kammron Rose is 13 points back and Kolton Brauer is 15.

A big credit to Mason Eisenzimmer, who runs the tour. He travels to each stop and handles the redraw and is a busy man on those nights. He does a great job.

I won’t be at Brown County this weekend as I have no desire to sit through 4–5-hour racing programs, but I hope to be back at Casino Speedway on Aug. 2 for the tour. Aug. 1 I will be at the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake.

--Speaking of Vogel, I want to mention this. He was racing hard for the lead at KRA and on the final lap made a real charge at leader Keith Tourville. He unfortunately got in too hot and spun Tourville, who would get his place back and eventually win. Vogel took responsibility on his Facebook page the next day, and in a world where people blame everybody for their errors, it’s refreshing someone takes ownership of a mistake.

--Three area drivers are in the top 10 of the Wissota Midwest Modified national point standings, as of July 12. As of that July 12, Jory Berg of Grand Forks is fourth with eight wins; Kenna Breidenbach of Grand Forks is sixth with two wins and 12 top fives; and Kyle Anderson of Jamestown is 10^th with two wins and 15 top fives.

--In a class that really needed an infusion of younger talent after several drivers got out of racing, the NOSA Sprint class is seeing some young drivers rise up in 2026.

--Weston Olson, 18,  of Warren is second in the NOSA standings. He has a win at Nodak Speedway in Minot earlier this year and has four top fives and 10 top 10s in 16 features this season. He is a graduate of the lightning sprints.

--Andy Pake, 23, of Felton is fifth in the NOSA points, and has two wins and eight top fives in 15 starts this season. Pake is showing potential to be a contender for a long period of time.

--Alex Truscinski, 28, of Greenbush is fourth in the NOSA points. He’s in his third year in the 410 sprints, and has a pair of top five finishes. From 2016-23, Truscinski won 51 features in the lightning sprints before jumping to the 410s.

--Colton Young, 22 of Devils Lake might be the most improved driver in the class at River Cities. He is eighth in the NOSA points and at River Cities Speedway has two top five finishes this summer. Young has a non-winged sprint win this year as well.

--Viking Speedway in Alexandria will induct three new members to its Hall of Fame this Saturday when it resumes after a one-week break.  Don Shaw, Pat Solynjes and Ron Saurer will be inducted. What is significant is Saurer, 73, is still behind the wheel of a Wissota Midwest Modified at I-94 EMR Speedway and Viking Speedway.  Not only he is still racing, he remains a formidable foe at both tracks. He is fourth in the points at I-94 and sixth at Viking and has seven top fives in 14 starts this year.