Some racing things to vent about, and the Wissota 100

The Wissota 100 is set for this week at I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls. In the past I’ve written some previews about it, and picked winners (and aside from a few times, usually wrong); this year I won't make outright predictions, though.

I’ll get to that in a minute, but I have a lot of my mind in terms of racing, including some things that bug me. The question comes up sometimes, what do you think of where racing is at right now?

There’s some good. Some not.

This blog has been written from the perspective of a fan, and not a driver (or a track promoter for that matter).  To be a competitive racer you need talent and money. I have neither.

These are my own opinions and thoughts. I am beholden to no sanctioning body or track; I treat them fair but if I don't like something I see I don't shy about from writing about it. Not everything IMCA and Wissota do is bad but I have some issues with both but that’s another blog…

I don’t get into the technical rules on here because I know very little about that stuff. I never have claimed to.  I honestly don’t care if a driver runs a Crate motor or a concept motor or an open motor, or whatever. What I want as a fan as is rules that first, do everything they can do ensure the safety of the drivers. Second, they strive to keep racing affordable (clearly most sanctions fail at that). Third, and this one is big to me as a fan, is they provide the opportunity for the fairest competition possible. I want the best drivers to win, not the driver who has the best car because he/she has the biggest checkbook.

And when it comes to rules, I want punishment to fit the crime, and I want them enforced consistently. At some tracks they are not. People ask me from time to time if there are favorites at area tracks, and some rule enforcement, or lack thereof in some cases, certainly makes me think there is.  You can’t DQ a driver for weighing in light one week, and then the next week say when another doesn’t make weight, say “well, the scale must be broken.” I have seen it before at one track I went to growing up.  Favoritism nearly killed the place.

I don’t have all the answers to fix racing and truth is it will always be a sport with flaws as long as human beings are involved. People screw up and make mistakes – drivers, bloggers, officials, promoters. I have never been to a perfect racetrack and I have never seen a perfectly run race program. They don’t exist.

That doesn’t mean some things can’t be done better. I’ve stated firmly that I believe weekly racing programs that run too long every week and are not run with urgency or efficiency have contributed to the decrease in fan attendance. It isn’t the only factor but it’s certainly a significant one.  And a primary contributor to racing programs running 4-5 hours on a regular night? Too DAMN MANY classes. Yes, I say that a lot but it always irks me. And there are too many classes that frankly do not interest fans (a few I call ‘Concession stand classes’ were folks head there or to the bathroom the minute the class hits the track).

I fully acknowledge it’s a hard job to own or promote a racetrack. You usually will have a lot of people leave unhappy – maybe a driver who didn’t get the benefit of a call, or a driver wrecked, or a fan’s hot dog was cold.  The attitude of “trying to please everyone” is unproductive          and fruitless.  The job of an owner/promoter is to work to provide the best experience possible for the drivers and the fans who patronize those tracks.  That doesn’t mean everyone goes home happy, but that means an effort was made to have a good show. Long-time fans like me can tell the tracks who try in this area.

The most common complaint I have heard from drivers this year is the quality of the racing surfaces.  Is track prep an inexact science and a hard job? Of course. And the weather can dictate that, no question. But I’ve seen too many one-lane tracks this year and I’ve seen some plowed fields out there that do nothing but bend up equipment (and not because there has been a ton of rain, either).  Doing the same thing track-prep wise every week and ending up with a mediocre or poor racing surface is the definition of insanity.  I do feel some tracks short-arm their track prep, and the racing suffers as a result.

There are good things in racing.  We have events like the Seitz Memorial, Wissota 100, Jamestown Stampede and the Corn Cob nationals within two hours or less of Fargo in September. There were 71 late models signed in at the Seitz Memorial. 71. We have some outstanding young talent in several classes.  We have more females racing – and doing well – than ever – at a time when the spot really needed the infusion of new talent.  We have drivers in their 70s winning features on the same night a teenager wins a feature. We are really lucky to have the World of Outlaw Late Model and Sprint Car series make a swing through this area. We see drivers step up and help fellow competitors in times of need, whether it’s with the race car, or helping when a family member or someone is fighting health issues. And there’s the friendships and camaraderie of racing which I hope never goes away.

But things need to be better for the sport to grow. I need to do a better job with the blog, honestly. I like telling stories of the drivers, and more than 300 have been featured, but maybe I need to dig deeper and find some stories that might just interest a non race fan who sees a driver tagged for an article in Facebook to come to a track some night.

We need sanctioning bodies to work to lower costs when they can and not answer so much to the sponsors that write the big checks. We more constructive conversations between tracks and drivers/fans. We need tracks to value each person that comes in the door or pit area each week to their track.  We need drivers to race hard but clean and not with the intent of wrecking their way through the field.

OK, I am done for tonight…

Wissota 100

I hope folks will get some time to check out the Wissota 100 at I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls this week. Tuesday night was a Wissota Late Model Challenge Series race and practice night, with the official 100 qualifying beginning on Wednesday.

The format for the Wissota 100 will never please everyone and I don’t want to go into the weeds there but I will say there are a lot of people working that event who are busting their tails (and taking time off of work) to make it go. For their efforts and the drivers I hope it’s a good event this week.

I won’t make predictions this year but I will list the drivers who I think will be in the hunt on Saturday in the respective classes. I have no idea who shows up or not, just a list of contenders:

Wissota Street Stock: Jim Gullikson, Keith Tourville, Eric Riley, Levi Randt, Kyle Dykhoff, Justin Vogel, Tommy Pogones, Cole Greseth (if I knew which Wisconsin cars were coming I’d list  them).

Wissota Midwest Modified: Tony Leiker, Landyn Randt, Blake Adams, Jory Berg, Nate Reinke, Nick  Koehler, Jake Hagemann, Tommy Nickhols, Tanner Bitzan

Wissota Super Stock: Dexton Koch, Shane Sabraski, Trevor Nelson, Jordan Henkemeyer, Dylan Nelson, Travis Scott, Ryan Satter, Karter Reents (again unsure on Wisconsin cars).

Wissota Mods: Landon Atkinson (18A in picture above), Blake Adams, Jody Belleufeuille, Brady Gerdes, Dusty Bitzan, Dave Cain, Joseph Thomas, Mike Stearns, Shane Sabraski, Travis Saurer, Tyler Peterson, Ryan Gierke (26g in picture)

Wissota Late Models: Shane Sabraski, Travis Saurer, Tyler Peterson, Kevin Burdick, Dave Mass, Ryan Mikkelson, Chad Becker, Cole Searing

Late Models