Mittleider chasing Short Track championship at Sheyenne Speedway

Dale Mittleider spent many years helping Mike Mund with his race car at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon. About a decade ago, he decided it was time to hop behind the wheel himself.

“I was working for Mike Mund, and I just started coming to the races when we was racing,” Mittleider said. “I helped him out the pits enough years; I figured if I had to be at the races, I might as well race myself.”

He jumped into the class that has been known as Mini Stocks, Hornets and Short Trackers at the 1/4-mile oval in 2017 and has raced in the class ever since.

He’s having the best season of his career in 2026. He has three wins in five starts at Sheyenne and leads the points at the track which resumes racing in August after a one-month layoff.

Mittleider’s first career win, after nine years of trying, came on June 7 at Sheyenne Speedway.

“It was a good track that night, and I seemed to handle well,” Mittleider said. “Everything fell together and I was able to pull it off.”

He added wins on June 21 and June 28 to extend his point lead to 13 over Cameryn Taylor of Hankinson and 14 over Pokey Lukes of Lisbon. Mittleider has finished in the top six in points at Sheyenne four times, including a runner-up finish to Mason Bogart in 2023.

This year, he has a goal in mind when it comes to the point standings.

“Top three in points – hopefully first,” Mittleider said. So far, he's on track to win the track title.

He’s spent his whole career in the Short Tracker class, in part because the cost to race is lower than other classes. But he also enjoys racing the front wheel drive machines.

“The affordability is the biggest thing. They can get expensive if you want them to,” Mittleider said. “You can’t turn you wheel too much, and you’ve got to stay on the gas sometimes, You try to keep you in your lane.”

There is another interesting twist for 2026 – he is borrowing a car, as he did not get his own machine fixed in time for racing season.  The 38-year-old from Milnor is borrowing a car from Dusty Mund, who races in the INEX Legends class.

“My car, I wasn’t able to get fixed in time for the racing season,” Mittleider said. “For right now, this is what I’m running. It’s a fast car.”

For Mittleider, much of the enjoyment is the people he races with weekly at the track.

“The community of it; everybody is there to help everybody out,”  Mittleider said.

Driver profile

Dale Mittleider

Short Tracker #41

Residence: Milnor, N.D.

Age: 38

Sponsors: Winnie’s Mud Bog, Mund Farms, Job Erection, PDQ delivery, DM servicing.