Jason Marko raced for several years in the Wissota Midwest Modified class after spending six years in the Wissota Street Stocks. But even when was racing in the B mods, there was an allure to the street stocks.
“This class has always had my heart,” Marko said. “Even when I drove the B mod, I didn’t miss watching the street stock feature if I could help it.”
After taking a few years off, Marko, from Watertown, S.D., made a comeback in 2021 in the very class he had raced in years ago. He races the #31 weekly at Casino Speedway in Watertown.
What does he like about the street stock class?
“Competitiveness and the drivers,” Marko said. “Just usually less things to fix. Cost – compared to a B mod – a lot of people out there say a B mod is cheaper, it’s definitely not cheaper.”
Marko got into racing in 2004 in the NMRA Hobby Stock class.
“My uncle raced back in the 60s, and my dad pitted for Jim Haney,” Marko said of how he got interested in racing.
In 2006, he moved into the Wissota Street Stock class. He won the 2011 track championship at Casino in the class.
He moved to the Wissota Midwest Modified class from 2012-17 before taking a few years off. In 2021, he made a comeback in the street stock class. He didn’t win a feature but had six top five finishes in 18 starts.
“Some of that was cost driven,” Marko said. “We literally sold everything – every tool, every nut, bolt. We started over. There are some performance things there that you can’t afford when you’re starting to come back. You do what you can with what you’ve got.”
Marko, who owns a screen-printing shop in Watertown, made what he described as a “huge” step forward in 2022. He had 14 top fives in 19 starts and three feature wins – two at Casino and one at the Yellow Medicine County Fair Special at Canby. He finished second in the points at Casino.
“I was a little rusty the first year back,” Marko said. “We had some OK results…we didn’t win anything to talk about. Last year we won two features at Casino and one at Canby. All of four finishes were top five outside of (five).”
This season, he has finished in the top five in all five starts and has a win at Casino.
One thing on Marko’s mind each night at the track is his late father, Kent, who died in 2001, who was a big influence on his racing career.
“Every time we unload, we unload for my dad, who passed away in 2021,” Marko said. “We come out here to have fun. If we can score a few wins, or just have some good races – that’s what we unload for. Side-by-side racing and go out to be competitive.”
Driver Profile
Jason Marko
Wissota Street Stock #31
Residence: Watertown, S.D.
Age: 37
Sponsors: Technicolor Screen Printing, DirtEtees, 4 Bar Transport, Kari and Missy Anderson, Duenwald Transportation, 212 Truck and Trailer, Automatic Transmission and Gear Smoke Solutions, Conrad Trucking, Shane Wirkus Floor Covering, Woertink Plumbing, Broksieck Farms, Cartney Bearing, Crawford Osthus Funeral Chapel and Cremation
Comments