I decided to put together a New Year’s Wish List for the 2021 Racing Season. Strictly my opinion, of course, but at least some food for thought.
—Steffes Street Stock Tour continues to grow. After a terrific first season in 2020 would love to see this tour continue to prosper in 2021. Benji Froemke and the support of several drivers will likely make this happen.
—Less division over sanctioning bodies. Covering two sanctioning bodies (IMCA and Wissota in this case) in the same area are often means one sanctioning body at one track and another at another. What does that mean? A large majority of IMCA drivers won’t race at a Wissota track and vice versa. It would be nice to see them be able to race together once in a while. The divide in this area is not positive for fans. Trust me.
—Buffalo River Race Park to open for a full 2021 season. Haven’t heard any firm plans yet. It was a shame to see that facility sit empty in 2020.
—More fans in the stands, and new fans get interested in racing. Both are vital to the future of the sport in our region.
—Continued growth of IMCA Stock Car class. It’s become the best local IMCA class, in my opinion, in terms of racing, talent depth and quality of competition at Red River Valley Speedway and Norman County Raceway.
—More drivers hopping into late models in this area. Even if it’s two a year, that helps. It’s a wish every year. Last year was a solid year car count wise in spite of Covid-19.
—That the Canadian drivers, like Ward Imrie, Bill Mooney, Mike Balcaen, Shane Edginton, Victoria Stutsky, for example, get to race in the United States in 2021. The Canadians, and their fans, were missed at several northern area tracks including River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks.
—The return of the Wissota Late Model Challenge Series and the Advantage RV Modified Tour in 2021. Both were idle in 2020 because of Covid.
—The return of the Wissota 100 to I-94 Sure Step Speedway after the event was canceled last year.
—Less classes at weekly tracks. I prefer four, I’m can live with five at the most. Six, seven or eight are too many.
—3-hour racing programs. It can be done, although it’s a challenge if you have 125 cars or more. I prefer shorter shows and I think most fans do as well. Would help attendance not to have so much down time.
—The start of a Wissota Hall of Fame. Sanctioning body has been around 35 years, it’s time to honor the drivers who made their presence felt in the early days.
—Better point fund pay for Wissota. Be nice if the person who finished 10th in the national points got a nice check at the end of the year…as a reward for running their division and sanction.
—Nice weather. Last year wasn’t too bad, honestly, and I’d love to see another summer that way as opposed to 2019.
—Continued growth in super stock and street stock numbers at Viking Speedway. Encouraging year in both divisions last summer in terms of car counts and nice to see some new faces.
—Continued progress at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon. Some wonderful growth the past three years. Now it’s time for the county and/or city to invest in upgrading the facility (new grandstand would be a big start.)
—Less personal attacks on people in social media (drivers, promoters, officials fans, etc.). Some of these posts are toxic and destructive, and should never be personal. It’s fine to disagree with an official’s call, or bring constructive criticism that helps make a racing program better. It’s another to indict an individual’s character.
—More females behind the wheel. This area is blessed with some talented female drivers and they’ve had such a positive impact on racing — for example, creating driving role models for younger girls.
—One solo spin and you’re in rule in heat races. I’m not talking about if a driver gets spun out, or spins out to avoid a mess in front of them. What I am talking about is a driver that spins by themselves, waits for a yellow and magically gets restarted. Really adds time to a program when you think about the time it takes to get re-lined up and restarted.
—Less equipment wrecked. A lot of time and money are invested in these race cars and it’s a shame to see them wrecked as a result of one driver’s recklessness, or in a few cases, stupidity.
--More good racing. Love the races that go down to the final lap where drivers are fighting hard for the win. Good stuff.
Happy (belated) New Year!
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