$25,000.
That is what Wisconsin driver Jimmy Randall earned for winning the Little Dream Wissota Street Stock Special on Tuesday night at Rice Lake Speedway.
The payout for that event is all based on donations and easily surpassed the previous record of $16,000 set in 2018. Keep in mind, this is a very special event that is driven by donations, it isn’t a regular occurrence for streeters.
I say, great for the streeters to run for that kind of money. They don’t have the chance very often.
I think the street stocks are the hidden gem of Wissota racing. There are DOZENs of great drivers in the division who race hard and clean. Many tracks have 2-3 wide racing. Sometimes, the street stock feature is the best race of the night at some tracks.
I think some tracks take the street stock class for granted — don’t pay them particularly well and make them run on some less-than-well prepped tracks (I.e. muddy), for example. Some never offer anything besides the weekly payout. This isn't true for every track as some do a good job of treating this class with some respect. I should be clear on that.
I say, it’s time to give this class a little more love, overall.
There are some higher-paying street specials — Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon ran a $1,000 to win for the Dakota Dream in June; Viking Speedway also had a $1,000 to win special in June; Southwest Speedway in Dickinson had a $2,465 payout for the Richard Jordan in Memorial in June; Red River Co-op Speedway had a $2,500 to win (Canadian) street special earlier this month, won by Jake Froemke. There are some others I am sure I am missing, but when you consider the number of tracks that run the class, that at isn’t a huge amount of money.
Consider also that to compete in the class, buying a good used car costs between $10-15K a year. Or more.
One thing I’d love to see, as a fan, is a Wissota street stock tour. Three or four nights, maybe $1,000 to win/$100 to start each night, with a sponsor putting up a point fund of $2,500 that pays back 6-7 spots. Let them be the show and let them earn a little cash besides. Keep the entry fees down and let them have a little fun, like they do for the Little Dream which is a one-of-a-kind event. If you paid that purse nightly and had a good point fund at the end, you’d draw 40-50 streeters a night for the tour from all across Wissota.
Truth is, the street stock class has produced some very good drivers over the years. Scott Paulson, Curt Myers, Tim Johnson, Myron Tschakert, Dave Mass and Scott Lawrence come to mind off the top of my head. There are many high-caliber younger drivers now — Jonny Carter of Lisbon, Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck, Ryan Satter of Dent, Justin Vogel of Brooten, Eric Riley of Morris, Parker Anderson of Wisconsin and Jake Froemke of International Falls, for example. Then there’s veterans like Todd Carter of Lisbon, Royce Jawaski of Horace, Wisconsin drivers Jimmy Randall and Danny Richards, Jerry Lamb of Lisbon who are highly competitive as well.
I enjoy the class, and as a fan I’d like to see these drivers get more chances to run for some money. At the least I’d like to see a small bump in weekly purses to acknowledge the value of the class.
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