Final Michigan Points For 2025

With the temperature around ninety for the past several days it is a bit hard to believe that the 2025 racing season is drawing to a close, but a glance at the calendar says that we start the month of October tomorrow so it is time to start summarizing our point standings for the fourteen Midwest states that we track. Using the same standard 5-point scale that we use for the All Iowa Points then allows us to pull all of them together at the end of the year to give us our Best of the Midwest standings. And, for the second and likely final time, we are tracking all of the dirt tracks in the country, thanks to MyRacePass, in order to present our National Champions here on the Back Stretch.

Let's get started with Michigan where there are currently no events scheduled beyond this past weekend and in the Late Model division we have a driver who claims his second straight, and third overall title since we started tracking the state in 2016. Travis Stemler was the champion of these points back in 2020 and he back up his 2024 title with another one here in 2025. The driver from Ionia picked up fifteen feature wins this season in twenty-seven top fives to give him a 23-point edge over runner-up Eric Spangler. The champion in 2017 and 2022, Spangler rung up five feature wins in his twenty-seven top fives this year while Logan Nickerson finishes in third winning seven times in twenty-two top fives. Spengler was third in 2024 while Nickerson ranked twenty-fifth.

The 2025 Michigan Points Modified champion Jeff Reay has been setting the pace in the IMCA Modified National Points for the second half of the season and while his final standing there is of now unknown, it is official that he is a first time champion in these standings. Reay captured fourteen feature wins in thirty-four top fives in his home state to lead the way over the 2022 champion Collin Thirlby who was a fifteen time feature winner in twenty-five top five finishes, and Chase Rosebrugh who had seven wins in twenty-two top fives in his dirt Modified. Looking back at these standings in 2024, Reay ranked third, Thilby was seventh and Rosebrugh finished fifth.

Ohio based driver Jared Horstman earns his second Michigan Points Winged Sprint Car title after scoring six wins in fifteen top-five finishes on Michigan dirt tracks. This is Hortsman's second state title as he also won in 2020 and he rises from tenth in last year's standings. Dustin Daggett is the runner-up scoring points in fourteen events, but without a victory, while two time champion Max Stambaugh (2021-22) takes third with four wins in twelve top fives.

The track in Escanaba is the only one in the state that runs the Limited Modified class and for the second year in a row Matt Valiquette is the champion winning once in six top five finishes.

Check in on the Back Stretch often in the coming weeks as the racing season draws to a close in more states in our region.

Michigan Points

Late Model Final 2025

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Travis Stemler Ionia 112

2 . Eric Spangler Lake City 89

3 . Logan Nickerson Vestaburg 83

4 . Derrick Hilliker Midland 82

5 . Brandon Thirlby Traverse City 81

6 . Tyler Moore Kinde 53

7 . Chad Finley Lansing 51

8 . Kevin Juusola Muskegon 50

9 . Rylee Knoll Lake 49

10 . Karter Juusola Muskegon 44

11 . Greg Gokey Buckley 38

12 . Jeff Erickson Jr. Muskegon 37

13 . David Hilliker Midland 36

14 . Dona Marcoullier Houghton Lake 34

15 . Shawn O'Connor Elkton 33

16 . Andrew Sprague Muskegon 32

17 . Jordan Petrat Kinde 28

18 . Mike Vandermark Jr. Cedar Springs 28

19 . John Clark Twin Lake 27

20 . Ryleigh Beebe 26

21 . Rich Neiser Fruitport 24

22 . Cody Bauer Farwell 21

23 . Jason Begeman Caro 21

24 . Matthew Sprague Muskegon 21

25 . Bill Bray Spring Lake 20

26 . Don Campbell Montague 20

27 . Chase Burda Columbiaville 19

28 . Logan Love Vestaburg 19

29 . Rob Westergard Bay City 17

30 . Ryan Lanphierd Midland 17

31 . Tom Sprague Jr. Muskegon 16

32 . Garrett Wiles Hubbardson 14

33 . Josh Hendershott Houghton Lake 14

34 . Ryan Vanderveen Six Lakes 13

35 . Scott Moenart 13

36 . Troy Marciniak Muskegon 13

37 . Chevy Romans Davison 11

38 . Dave Baker Grand Rapids 11

39 . Matt Murawski Kinde 11

40 . Tyler Erb New Waverly TX 11

41 . Brenten DeYoung Crystal 10

42 . Jacob Stuhr Harrison 10

43 . Justyn Clark Muskegon 10

44 . Marc Super Munger 10

45 . Andrew Terrill Sanford 9

46 . Casey Baker Gagetown 9

47 . Jim Billett Mcbain 9

48 . Lenny Goretski Bay Port 9

49 . Rusty Schlenk McClure OH 9

50 . Steve Fairbanks Twin Lake 9

51 . Zack Swartz Muskegon 9

52 . Jeremy Spencer Deford 8

53 . Kyle Borgman Muskegon 8

54 . Taylor Wiles Hubbardston 8

55 . Torrey Ahrens Harbor Beach 8

56 . Bob Timmer Mcbain 7

57 . Dave Bowen Sterling 7

58 . Devin Shiels Britton 7

59 . A.J. White St. Joseph 6

60 . J.C. Witherspoon Kinde 6

61 . Mark Whitener Middleburg FL 6

62 . Zack Mitchell Enoree SC 6

63 . Brycen Weihl Muskegon 5

64 . Curtis Roberts Coleman 5

65 . Dillion Kohn Sheridan 5

66 . Dillon McCowan Urbana MO 5

67 . Josh Knoll Lake 5

68 . Josh Rice Crittenden KY 5

69 . Scott Wenell Muskegon 5

70 . Chris Nethers Watertown NY 4

71 . Cody Overton Thomson GA 4

72 . Colten Burdette Parkersburg WV 4

73 . Craig Vance Bay City 4

74 . Jerid Bisson Muskegon 4

75 . Michael Sylvester 4

76 . Ajay Davidson Hudsonville 3

77 . Brayden Wellman Kent City 3

78 . Bry Johnson Lowell 3

79 . Corey Ausra St. Joseph 3

80 . Dan Hersey Traverse City 3

81 . Nathan Hurley Brown City 3

82 . Trey Mills St. Augustine FL 3

83 . Austin Harnick Clare 2

84 . Chad Bauer Farwell 2

85 . Jared Guinn Walker 2

86 . Mike Staszak Kawkawlin 2

87 . Riley Bowen Sheridan 2

88 . Robert Raugh Muskegon 2

89 . Rod Conley Wheelersburg OH 2

90 . Todd Brennan Zanesville OH 2

91 . Wyatt Baker Manton 2

92 . Arthur Wroubel Pinconning 1

93 . Jordan Dahlke Caledonia 1

94 . Josh Loomis Weidman 1

95 . Michael Archer Jackson 1

96 . Rich Bell Sheffield IL 1

97 . Ted Cooper Whitehall 1

98 . Zach Calkins Milford 1

99 . Jake Rendel Adrian 1

Michigan Points

Modified Final 2025

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Jeff Reay Portland 126

2 . Collin Thirlby Traverse City 105

3 . Chase Rosebrugh West Branch 86

4 . Mitchell Hunt Greenville 74

5 . A.J. Ward Ionia 73

6 . Myron DeYoung Stanton 70

7 . Kody Johnson Vestaburg 54

8 . Jaycob Truemner Imlay 53

9 . Chad Bauer Farwell 49

10 . Nate Jones Alma 49

11 . Austin Harnick Clare 46

12 . Casey Smith Portland 45

13 . Chad Spencer Kingston 44

14 . Ryan Heskett North Muskegon 41

15 . Chad Bennett Caro 39

16 . Brenten DeYoung Crystal 37

17 . T.J. Barton West Branch 37

18 . Todd Sherman Churubusco IN 34

19 . Manix Furqueron Concord 32

20 . Corey Bevard Huntington IN 31

21 . Rich Robinson Jr. Mt. Pleasant 24

22 . Aaron Raby Carson City 22

23 . Chad Wernette Sheridan 22

24 . Dillon Nusbaum Spencerville IN 22

25 . Fred Dow Jr. Port Hope 22

26 . Nathan Patrick Pewamo 22

27 . Robby Henderson Angola IN 22

28 . Mark Anderson Lowell 21

29 . Ted Cooper Whitehall 21

30 . Calvin Stemler Ionia 20

31 . Cody Goodwin Clio 20

32 . David VanGuilder 20

33 . Josh Lolmaugh Columbia City IN 19

34 . Kevin Cavanaugh Muskegon 19

35 . Matt Szecsodi Clio 19

36 . Scott Payton Gaylord 19

37 . Shannon Fisk Lowell 19

38 . Charlie Mihacsi Sebewaing 17

39 . Brian Brindley West Branch 16

40 . Curt Spalding Watervliet 16

41 . Don Proctor Jr. Ionia 14

42 . Tylor Kay Merritt 14

43 . Terry Sroufe Huntington IN 12

44 . Austin Wonch Crystal 11

45 . Ronnie Vannatter 11

46 . Bree Wonch Crystal 10

47 . Garrett Rons Livonia 10

48 . Tanner Pray Mt. Morris 10

49 . Zack Yealey Standish 10

50 . Gavin Hunyady Chesaning 9

51 . Jeramy Lange Muskegon 9

52 . Michael Ledford Pontiac IL 9

53 . Spencer Hartwick Quitman AR 9

54 . Jerry Hunt Kent City 8

55 . Mike Harman Muskegon 8

56 . Brint Hartwick Quitman AR 7

57 . Casey Keyosky Clinton Township 7

58 . John McClure Clarksville 7

59 . Kevin Miller Mount Pleasant 7

60 . Matthew Lambrecht Watervliet 7

61 . Michael Butcher Goodrich 7

62 . Rich Robinson Sr. Sheperd 7

63 . Tyler Nicely Owensboro KY 7

64 . Richie Haynes Mount Pleasant 6

65 . Tyler Spalding Watervliet 6

66 . Brad DeYoung Wheatfield IN 5

67 . Hunter Lange Muskegon 5

68 . Mark Farber Muskegon 5

69 . Nick Ely Muskegon 5

70 . Trevor Neville Mackinaw IL 5

71 . Matthew Baker Kouts IN 5

72 . Ben Wagar Bear Lake 4

73 . Brandon Beeching Lawrence 4

74 . George Zieman Horton 4

75 . Codie Stark Mt. Pleasant 4

76 . Dan Hubbell Hastings 4

77 . David Stremme Mifflintown PA 4

78 . Dona Marcoullier Houghton Lake 4

79 . Dylan Woodling Warsaw IN 4

80 . Kevin Reeve Hanover 4

81 . Luke Hubbell Hastings 4

82 . Mike Vandermark Jr. Cedar Springs 4

83 . Robbie Sternberg Muskegon 4

84 . Zach Sweet Fremont 4

85 . Dan Wieman Traverse City 3

86 . Eric Hahne Brighton 3

87 . John Goodrich Mcbain 3

88 . John McCaul Montague 3

89 . Kendall Morrison Bay City 3

90 . Kenneth Boersma Lapeer 3

91 . Kevin McFarland Bay City 3

92 . Kyle Osentoski Owendale 3

93 . Oliver Hillard Houghton Lake 3

94 . Spencer Diercks Davenport IA 3

95 . Tim McCafferty Hillsdale MI 3

96 . Chad Mielke Beaverton 2

97 . Chris Barton West Branch 2

98 . Chris Ross Montague 2

99 . Gary Vandermark Lowell 2

100 . Kevin Strehlke Buckley 2

101 . Kyle Borgman Muskegon 2

102 . Richie Sutherland Merritt 2

103 . Rick Conquergood Harbor Beach 2

104 . Rick Gokee Jr. Owosso 2

105 . Scott Martin Valparaiso IN 2

106 . Taylor Kay Merritt 2

107 . Zachary Fritz Owendale 2

108 . Zeke McKenzie Claypool IN 2

109 . Blake Gokee Owosso 1

110 . Bobby Stremme South Bend IN 1

111 . Bryan Hofbauer Ionia 1

112 . Chuck Powell Harrison 1

113 . Daniel Adam Peru IL 1

114 . David Gulda Oxford 1

115 . Jeramie Raby Riverdale 1

116 . Sam Epling Bankroft 1

117 . Logan Beckwith III Hanover 1

118 . Andrew Hollister Hillsdale 1

Michigan Points

Winged Sprints Final 2025

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Jared Horstman Cloverdale OH 55

2 . Dustin Daggett Portland 41

3 . Max Stambaugh Lima OH 39

4 . Jason Blonde Litchfield 31

5 . Keith Sheffer Jr. Jerome 29

6 . Scotty Thiel Sheboygan WI 21

7 . Dan McCarron Britton 18

8 . Brad Lamberson Parma 15

9 . Josh Turner Osseo 15

10 . Thomas Schinderle Warren 14

11 . Bryce Lucius Findlay OH 13

12 . Tyler Gunn Napoleon OH 12

13 . Chase Dunham Leipsic OH 10

14 . Chase Ridenour Perry 8

15 . Mike Keegan Fremont OH 8

16 . Phil Gressman Fremont OH 8

17 . Ryan Ruhl Coldwater 8

18 . Sean Rayhall Fremont OH 8

19 . Van Gurley Jr. Valparaiso IN 8

20 . Gary Taylor Snohomish WA 7

21 . Logan Julien Oconomowoc WI 7

22 . Darin Naida Adrian 5

23 . Devon Borden Raymond WA 5

24 . Jac Nickles Harrod OH 5

25 . Jett Mann Goshen IN 5

26 . Joel Myers Jr. Sebastapol CA 5

27 . Justin Peck Monrovia IN 5

28 . Kalib Henry Sacramento CA 5

29 . Max Guilford Auckland NZ 5

30 . Parker Price-Miller Kokomo IN 5

31 . Sterling Cling Tempe AZ 5

32 . Zeth Sabo Tiffin OH 5

33 . Aaron Reutzel Clute TX 4

34 . Boston Mead Onsted 4

35 . Stuart Brubaker Helena OH 4

36 . Tim Shaffer Aliquippa PA 4

37 . Zane DeVault Plymouth IN 4

38 . Aaron Shaffer Tekonsha 3

39 . Brock Hallett Adelaide SA 3

40 . Darren Dryden Freelton ON 3

41 . Gage Etgen Celina OH 3

42 . Nate Dussel Bradner OH 3

43 . Rico Abreu St. Helena CA 3

44 . Ryan Turner Dunnville ON 3

45 . Tyler Rankin Angola IN 3

46 . Brandon Spithaler Buter PA 2

47 . Devon Dobie Wapakoneta OH 2

48 . Greg Wilson Benton Ridge OH 2

49 . Kasey Jedrzejek Lagrange OH 2

50 . Mark Yearling Coldwater 2

51 . Skyler Evans Scotland ON 2

52 . Tanner Thorson Broken Arrow OK 2

53 . Corbin Gurley Henron IN 1

54 . Dylan Norris Hanover PA 1

55 . Jason Ferguson Fremont 1

56 . Steve Irwin Fenton 1

57 . Travis Arenz Sheboygan Falls WI 1

58 . Tyler Courtney Indianapolis IN 1

59 . Adam Cruea Troy OH 1

Michigan Points

Limited Modifieds Final 2025

Pos. Driver Hometown Points

1 . Matt Valiquette Rapid River 21

2 . Anthony Harper Rapid River 15

3 . Jesse Denome Escanaba 15

4 . Lonnie Dalgord Escanaba 13

5 . Rick Gustavson Norway 13

6 . Bradley Seppanen Gladstone 10

7 . Evin Gagne Escanaba 10

8 . Bradley Viau Van Dyne 9

9 . Matt Maki IV Rapid River 8

10 . Robby Iverson Escanaba 7

11 . Doug Belongia Jr. Suring WI 6

12 . Cody Johnson Escanaba 4

13 . Ryan Lindbert Rapid River 4

Anderson, Dover, Albertson and Ulrich Best The Battle of the Blue Ribbon at Spencer

For the third time in the past four years I made my way to the greatest county fair in the world on Friday night as the Battle of the Blue Ribbon would be the grandstand headliner at the Clay County Fair in Spencer. Tri-State Late Models, MSTS 410 Sprint Cars, plus IMCA Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks would entertain a large crowd on a warmer than normal evening as we approach mid-September and, after having been at two shows with "mega-fields" most recently, it was kind of nice to get back to just two or four heat races and a feature in each division.

The Midwest Sprint Touring Series 410 Sprint Cars would be the headliner and I was a bit surprised that they did not surpass the twenty mark in car count, but the seventeen drivers on hand were nice a nice mix. The twenty-five lap feature would get off to a rough start though as two potential race winners Carson McCarl and Sam Henderson tangled in turn two ending their race before it really got started.

On the second try at a green flag eighteen-year-old Cole Vanderheiden would race out to a big lead in this his first night behind the wheel of a 410. The red flag would fly though on lap three when Corbin Erickson got upside down in turn three, but on the restart Vanderheiden would again drive away from the competition. The racing was tight for positions behind him and on lap twelve Scott Winters would do a 360 spin out of turn four as he was shuffled out of fourth, then just after recovering from that he would slow down the back straightaway to bring out the caution.

Again this would bring the field back to Vanderheiden and on this restart Jack Dover, who had started ninth, would take the second spot from Skylar Prochaska and now give chase to the leader. The caution would fly again for Winters when he slipped off the back stretch on lap seventeen and on this restart Dominic Dobesh would hook the cushion in turn two and get upside down.

After the cars were pushed off again, Dover pulled up alongside Vanderheiden under caution to let him know he was there as he himself was the blonde teenage phenom from suburban Omaha about twenty years ago and he was going to teach the lesson to this new one that to win one, you must first lose a few. With the green flag back on display Dover drove deep into turn one and executed the perfect slide job as Vanderheiden was not able to do the crossover and the new leader would drive away over the final laps to a convincing victory. Vanderheiden was impressive in second and hey, if you win your first race after making the step up, it makes it real hard to do any better than that going forward! Tasker Phillips started sixth and lost some ground early, only to find speed late and get to third, Christopher Thram started seventh and finished fourth while Prochaska completed the top five.

Working in a region where there were very few Late Model drivers a short time ago, the Tri-State Late Models Series has done a great job of building the car count and on this night there were twenty-six drivers on hand, several of whom that came from other divisions in recent years. Corey Zeitner would set the early pace from the pole position of the twenty-five lap feature on a track that had two distinct grooves right after the Sprint Car main. The cushion was fast, yet treacherous, and it was now at the top of the track making the low line an option as "the short way around". It was a tight three car battle early as Bill Leighton nosed ahead of Zeitner on lap two and then, on lap six, the driver in the lead trio that was running the bottom, Trevor Anderson would take the point. 

The first caution of the race would fly on lap ten when Alissa Palsrok spun in in turn one and another caution would slow the action on lap fifteen. Anderson would maintain the advantage on both restarts and was starting to pull away until Palsrok and Jay Norton tangled in turn three with six laps remaining.

On this restart Zeitner found some new speed on that high line and he would take the lead on lap twenty-one, but when he stumbled a bit on the cushion in turn two that would allow Anderson to get back to the front. As Corey tried to rally again on the following lap he would slip off the top of turn two giving up a few positions before recovering. The final caution would wave with just two laps to go when Dustin Larson would get shuffled out of a battle for a top five position and go nose first into the outside barriers on the front stretch and Jeffrey Larson appeared to identify Justin Zeitner as the culprit as he pulled alongside of him under caution.

On the final restart Leighton tried to get the cushion to propel him to the front, but Anderson was too good on the bottom and finished of the victory with Leighton close behind. Justin Zeitner started seventh and finished third while Corey Zeitner edged out Jeffrey Larson for fourth. Series point leader J.T. Wasmund finished sixth and I want to call out the remainder of the top ten as well since all of them advanced at least four positions. Former Stock Car ace Elijah Zevenbergen started twenty-fifth and finished seventh, Keith Schenkel came from twelfth to eighth, Shane DeMey fought a miss all night but rallied from twenty-sixth to ninth and Benjamin Chukuske was tenth after starting fourteenth.

The IMCA Stock Cars were the first of the four features and they would go twenty laps with just two cautions. Randy Brands would charge from the outside of row two to take the early lead only to yield to the fifth starting Mike Albertson after a lap six restart. Kelly Shryock was picking his way to the front after starting seventh and by the mid-race point he would move to second setting up a showdown between two of the top three drivers in the National Points race.

Albertson was not interested in doing battle though as he maintained about a five car length distance over Shryock as the laps clicked off and he would take the win over the current point leader. Thursday night's winner here, Jake Masters could not crack the top five for the opportunity to redraw from his heat race, so he had to rally from eleventh to finish third, Brands faded to fourth and Jason Fisher filled out the top five.

The Hobby Stocks would close out the evening for sixteen laps with some tight racing up front early on. Fourth starting John Briggs would lead the first five laps before a hard charging Dayton Ulrich came from eighth to the front on lap six. On the next circuit Bryant Johnson would catch some big air as he barrel rolled in turn one and thankfully he would crawl out of the wreckage uninjured.

Once back to green Ulrich would set a quick pace while Briggs and Brandon Nielsen battled for second behind him and that would be how they would assume the podium with Ulrich scoring the win. Pole-sitter Nick Schilling would come home fourth while Corbin White took fifth after Steven Taylor spun to the infield in turn four coming to the white flag. IMCA National Points contender Cory Probst had an off night as he started ninth and finished sixth.

The show got off to a bit of a late start due to a few sprinkles and an unexpected cloud cover during final track prep, but then ran off in fine fashion with the final checkers waving just before 11 p.m. After an overnight stay in Spencer I am ready to get back close to home after putting on more than 750 miles the last two days. My destination for tonight will be one of my favorite tracks, the Mountain Dew Bloomfield Speedway for night number two of their Fall Special featuring Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts. Perhaps I'll see you there!

WISSOTA 100 Thursday Qualifying

I added my second "new to me" track for 2025 after making the eight hour dive to Fergus Falls, Minnesota, for the second qualifying night of the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 at the I-94 emr Speedway. The trip was motivated by the opportunity to spend the evening with a good friend who was unable to be at the Knoxville Nationals this year and as I drove into the property it definitely had the feel of what we experienced at Boone ten days ago, but perhaps more like what we see when we get the chance to attend Octoberfest in LaCrosse, but on dirt!

Over 250 cars in five divisions would be in competition with passing points from the heat races determining the twenty-four car feature field in each class. No B-Mains on this night and the top eight in each main event would earn the first eight rows on the outside of Saturday's three-wide start for the championship features. I loved the format and with just one extended farming session prior to the features the program that started just past 5 p.m. wrapped up just shy of 11:00 p.m. with some fantastic racing throughout the evening.

The Street Stocks would be up first and the eventual winner definitely had an interesting story on this night leading him to victory lane. Jim Gullikson started seventh in the first heat race and quickly moved to the front, but as he raced to the inside of leader Darek Turner in turn three they would make contact with Turner going for a spin, his nose piece stuck on the right body work of Gullikson's car as he continued down the front stretch. Officials ruled that Gullikson was at fault and he was sent to the back of the ten car field for the restart.

Once back to green, Turner would fade and eventually pull to the infield and as Gullikson battled his way back toward the front, his car started trailing smoke. After Dustin Schultz scored the win and Gullikson made it back to third, officials told him to stop his car as soon as possible as a fire had erupted under the hood. After it was extinguished, Gullikson's car was pushed back to the pits and while his seventh to third run would give him enough points to make the show, he had to first diagnose the issues under the hood.

Fast forward to feature time and Gullikson would line up eighth in the fifteen lap event where pole-sitter Cole Greseth would race out to a nice early lead until a lap five restart would put Kyle Dykhoff on his back bumper. Dykhoff would pull even with Greseth and appeared ready to make the pass before the caution waved again on lap ten. Gullikson was now up to third and on the restart Dykhoff would pull to the infield with mechanical issues after one circuit and it would now be both Gullikson and Perker Anderson putting the heat on the leader.

It would be a thrilling three car battle over the closing laps with Gullikson taking the lead at the white flag and he would then hold off Anderson by a car length to take the win. Greseth would have to settle for third, Keith Tourville moved from seventh to fourth and Zachary Flickinger would complete the top five. Unfortunately the wireless microphone would cut in and out as Gullikson explained the issues at the end of his heat race, but it was obvious that he did not expect to be in victory lane the way that his night had started.

The Midwest Mods feature had a thrilling finish as well as pole-sitter Nick Koehler would lead all but the last quarter of a lap. He appeared to have things well in control as the battle for second between Joey Jensen, James Trantina III and Memphis Klassen played out behind him. Late in the race though, Trantina would establish himself in second and he would then reel in Koehler looking to take the lead. Trantina looked to have a nice run to the outside exiting turn two with two laps remaining, but when Koehler closed the door Trantina got sideways for a split second before gathering it back together.

Coming to the white flag Trantina got a big kick off of the turn four cushion to close the gap and, after a big run off the top of turns one and two, Trantina would drive to the bottom of turn three. As Koehler tried to execute the crossover move, Trantina was able to keep his car from drifting to the top and he would win the drag race to the checkers by just less than a car length. Jensen finished third, Klassen was fourth and Landyn Randt, the Wisconsin driver who also plays professional hockey for the nearby Alexandria Blizzard, charged from fourteenth to fifth.

Front row starters Chad Becker and Cole Searing were the class of the field in the twenty lap Late Model qualifier and after three cautions, all for actual or possible debris, they would drive away both working the high line around the speedway. Searing would make a couple of attempts on the low line late in the race, but there would be no catching Becker who went flag-to-flag for the victory.. Searing was close behind in second and Cole Schill was actually closing the gap some on the lead duo after he raced from eighth to third. Kevin Burdick started tenth and finished fourth while the fifth place finisher Devin Fouquette was later disqualified in the tech line.

The fifteen lap Super Stock feature likely added an extra thirty minutes to the program as they struggled through six caution flags as drivers tried to lock themselves in for Saturday's finale. For the first nine laps there were more than 1,000 career feature wins represented in the lead duo as Curt Myers tried to hold off Tim Johnson. However, Johnson would be the cause of the sixth and final caution as he came off the cushion and made contact with Jordan Henkemeyer sending Johnson for a spin. The driver with over 600 career feature wins would reluctantly go to the rear for the restart and Myers would be in control of the final six laps to score feature win number 403 of his long career. And, in victory lane, he confirmed the rumors that this would be his final year of racing so that he can focus on being the crew chief for his son Alex. Henkemeyer would finish second, Denis Czech came from ninth to third, Kolby Kiehl came from row seven to finish fourth and Carson Miller faded from the pole to fifth.

The high powered WISSOTA Modifieds would close out the evening and after Brandon Dolman and Johnny Broking crossed the stripe side-by-side on lap one, that darn old debris caution popped up again and the transponder loop had Dolman by inches to place him up front for the restart. Even after all of these laps, this track produced four-wide action exiting turn two, but just behind them a tangle between Blake Jegtvig and Blake Adams would put the field back under caution. Once back to racing both Broking and Don Eischens would keep the pressure on the leader, but the man to watch was Brandon Copp who was riding the rim after starting from ninth and he was coming fast. Once he made it to third though, with three laps remaining, Copp would clip the wall in turn two with his right rear that would then turn him to the right where he climbed the wall exiting turn two.

Copp would maintain forward progress, but a caution was called and using the "blend rule" he be placed in fifth for the restart. Damage from his encounter with the wall would cause Copp to fade to ninth at the checkers though and there would be a couple of more late cautions before this one would draw to a close. Eischens would pull even with, or even ahead of Dolman in turn two only to have Dolman rocket off the cushion to maintain the lead and on the final restart Brady Gerdes would get by Eischens for second but he could not keep Dolman from taking his first feature win in the division. Dustin Bitzan charged from eighteenth to fourth and Shane Sabraski filled out the top five.

It was a very entertaining night and I will definitely have the WISSOTA 100 on my "to do" list in the years to come. I wanted to take some time to touch on a couple of other subjects here, but I need to get on the road to my next destination, the Clay County Fair in Spencer where tonight the MSTS 410 Sprint Cars and the Tri-State Late Models take center stage at the world's largest county fair. Look for me on the Back Stretch!

Sprint Invaders, 34, The Yankee, Super Nationals Monday and More

Time to catch up on some notes from racing adventures over the past couple of weeks and we start with the Friday, August 22nd Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders show at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. This show was rescheduled from the Lee County Fair in early July and while we did not enjoy a packed grandstand that we would have seen during the oldest county fair west of the Mississippi, it was still a pretty nice crowd on a beautiful night for racing and they were treated to a spectacular feature race from the Invaders.

I have touted young Colton Fisher as a driver to watch in the years to come and he has been fast all season, but has not been delivering the results that you would see from that level of speed. Twice this year Colton has raced his way to the lead in Sprint Invader action only to crash in spectacular fashion with even him telling you that it was due to his own impatience. On this night Fisher started fourth and after trading sliders with another young prospect Cam Sorrels while racing for second, Colton was able to chase down leader Cody Wehrle in traffic and take the point at the mid-race mark in traffic. 

Lappers would continue to be a factor and this time Fisher was able to avoid calamity, but perhaps with his patience he also allowed Sorrels to make a late run and they would exit turn four side-by-side coming to the checkers. Fisher would deny Sorrels from winning his first Sprint Car feature by just a car length while he doubled up on his own win total with the Sprint Invaders, Colton's first victory also coming here at the Lee County Speedway in September of 2021. For the full story and results from this exciting evening in Donnellson, click over to Bill Wright's story here.

This past Sunday night the Sprint Invaders made the trip over to the Spoon River Speedway in central Illinois and while I was unable to make the trip due to other commitments, I was able to watch the main event on FloRacing and again Fisher had a great night holding the lead until a late restart when National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Terry McCarl slipped by him to take the win. Again, I encourage you to take a read of Bill Wright's story and results from Spoon River by clicking this link. 

Two events remain on the 2025 schedule for the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders with the annual Fall Haul at 34 Raceway on Saturday September 27th, and then the following Saturday October 4th the Invaders will headline "Open Wheel Night" during week number two of "Dirt At The Downs" where the quarter-mile pavement at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids will be covered with dirt to celebrate one hundred years of racing at the storied facility.

Following that fun show at Donnellson I took my brother-in-law Kent and my niece Phoebe to 34 Raceway for the Season Championships that was also a $5 Fan Appreciation Night courtesy of Burlington Pepsi. It would be Kent's first dirt track race while Phoebe joined me for a trip to Vinton earlier this year and it was a great night to bring some potential race fans to the track. The breeze was light and coming from behind us, so even if there was any dust from the well prepared surface it wouldn't have been a factor and there was a good car count on hand with some of the other Saturday night tracks in the area having the night off.

Normally I am not a fan of a seven division show, but on this night the nice mix of classes gave my new fans an opportunity to experience Late Models, Winged Sprint Cars, Modifieds (had fun distinguishing between the two divisions), Stock Cars, Four Cylinders and Trucks. Heat races clicked off in fine fashion then during intermission a vast majority of the cars and drivers came to the front stretch for an autograph session. and while Kent opted to stay in the stands, Phoebe had a great time meeting some of my all-time favorites, such as Gary Webb and Ron Boyse, and collecting some autograph cards from other drivers. She loves to ride her dirt bike, so I know that she has some "motorized adventure" within her and I could see her interest as we spoke briefly with young Rebekah Cevela who had towed in from Darlington, Indiana, to race her Sprint Car on this night. All of the drivers were friendly and outgoing making for a great time not only for my niece and her proud uncle, but also for the many race fans who took advantage of the autograph session. Well done 34 Raceway!

Kyler Girard did his best to hold off Dylan VanWyk and they would swap the lead mid-race before VanWyk went on to win the Sport Mod feature. Tim Schnathorst went flag to flag to top the five cars that started the Sport Compact feature, Trenton Witt held off a fast closing John Oliver Jr. to score the Stock Car win and Nate Parks enjoyed winning his first career Sprint Car feature the week before so much that he decided to do it again on this night before Logan Anderson paced the field throughout the Modified main event.

Of course with seven divisions and an extended intermission that resulted in a long night as well, so when I sensed that my newbie race fans had seen enough for the evening we made the call to leave before the completion of the features for the trucks and the Late Models, but it was a great night at 34 Raceway and hopefully Kent and Phoebe will accept my invite to return on September 27th for the Fall Haul. For a full report on 34's Season Championship event check out "Racin' Down The Road" with my colleague Danny Rosencrans.

I am impressed by the abilities of the Darkside Promotions Team, headed up by Timmy Current and Ryan Duhme, to pull together a special event in a short period of time. A few years ago when the weather forecast for the first weekend in November was well above normal, they pulled together an event at the Davenport Speedway in just three days that would tie in with the long scheduled Turkey Dash at the CJ Speedway, and it went off in fine fashion.

The 2025 edition of The Yankee Dirt Track Classic at the 300 Raceway in Farley was first teased publicly on August 4th before being announced on August 5th and just twenty-three days later more than 120 cars packed the pits and a fair sized crowd filed in for the 48th running of this legendary event. Despite the fact that this was the first, and eventually only night of racing on this track, Ricky Kay and Al Dlouhy had it in great shape and the action was very entertaining. Jason Roth was able to pass race-long leader Cole Stichter on the final lap to win the Sport Mod feature. Curt Lund, who was the hero of last year's Stock Car Rampage qualifying night here at 300 Raceway, went flag-to-flag on this night for the Stock Car win and Nathan Ballard made a late race pass to take the Hobby Stock victory.

Ethan Braaksma would pass Jeff Larson on lap ten and then cruise to victory in Timmy Current's #12TC Modified and, while I was entertained by the large field of Crown Vic's, I would have much rather seen the Late Model feature before them as there was a two hour plus drive home with an early start to work ahead of me on Friday. Part of making the track nice and racey was a lengthy rework session during intermission so when Eric Pollard completed the twentieth and final lap to win that Late Model feature, it was now half past eleven. For a full report from night one of the 48th YDC check out Danny's story and unfortunately some persistent afternoon rain wiped out the second night of the event. Look for the 49th Yankee Dirt Track Classic to be included on our Special Events Calendar much earlier in 2026 and I will once again be looking forward to being there to celebrate this traditional event. 

After watching the ever changing weather forecast over the weekend, Barry, Danny, Johnny V and I decided to spend our Labor Day Monday at the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone and what a great day, and night, that we had! While Barry spent most of his time in the infield with his camera, the rest of us enjoyed nearly ten hours of racing peppered by the entertaining comments and conversation with good friends Paul Vetter and David Schlise.

The manner in which the IMCA team and the Boone Speedway staff present this absolutely huge event is amazing and can only be fully appreciated by seeing it in person, so mark that on your bucket list if you have never been to the Super Nationals before. All totaled we saw more than 440 cars compete in sixty-one events starting right on time at 1 p.m. until we left following the completion of the Late Model feature around 10:40 p.m. and there was still several more events to be completed in our absence.

The first qualifying feature for the Sport Mods was my highlight of the evening as thirty cars waged war for twenty-five laps with the top eight finishers locking themselves in to Saturday's "Big Dance". Drivers were racing three and four wide throughout the pack, yet only two caution flags were needed, and after eight lead changes among six drivers it would be Ottumwa's Tyler Heckart taking the thrilling victory. This would be just his second win of 2025 and his first IMCA sanctioned victory of the the season as he also won the fair race in Memphis, Missouri, in July, but on this night he was the star on a huge stage!

The Late Model feature was well worth the nine hour wait with front row starters Zach Zeitner and Jesse Bodin swapping the lead in the first three laps before the fourth starting Jesse Sobbing sailed by and to the front on lap four of fifty. Cody Thompson in just his seventh start in a Late Model gave us quite a show racing up from a seventh row starting spot to put the pressure on Sobbing and would even lead briefly as the two traded sliders and crossovers late. After the white flag waved Sobbing was forced to go to the bottom entering turn one due to a lapper and it looked like Thompson might be able to diamond off the cushion and make one final run down the back stretch, but his car stumbled briefly, perhaps with the powerplant getting hot, and instead Cody would give back the runner-up spot to Zeitner at the checkers. C.J. Horn was in the hunt as well in the closing laps as he started sixth and finished fourth while Logan Veloz showed that the success of his rookie season in a Late Model has not been a fluke as he finished in fifth.

Far be it for me to even make a suggestion as to how to make this epic event any "better", but it sure would be nice for the Late Model contingent to be able to be on their way home by ten o'clock in their one and only appearance of the week and, to do that, only some minor adjustments would need to be made in the running order of Monday's program.

I love chatting with Paul and David about the state of racing and some of their "off the cuff" comments as the day and night played out were "roll on the floor" funny. Several of those came during the quick victory lane interviews and that is the reason I am pulling back up the Back Stretch entry from January of 2022 where we remind our interviewees the importance of the word "Enough" if they are going to rattle off their thank-yous, or non-thank-yous as is the case if they leave out that one VERY important word.  

At one point Paul, who is a long-time IMCA official from California, asked why East Moline closed and David's response was that they didn't listen to Jeff. Believe me, there were so many more factors than this, with perhaps the late start to signing on as the promoter being the most important that lead to a shortened season at the Quad Cities track, but one of the things that we all agreed upon is that if you just go in and do what was done before, the results will likely be the same.

We talked about the number of classes being presented at tracks throughout the country where the average car counts are less than ten per division and how it will take one bold promoter to take the lead, review his or her stats, and then make the bold move to cut back to four or even three classes and find success. The common response to this is "you can't do that, you need that back gate money to pay the purse!" As a promoter, if that is your driving factor to having seven classes with fifty cars in the pits, then perhaps you need to check your math again. Paul was also impressed with the thinking behind suggestion #5 in that post that goes a little something like this....

#5 - Pay Less To Win; More To Start

While we are pissing off the studs, let's continue to do so with a restructuring of your weekly purse. The driver that tries to be there each and every week, but for whatever reason is not a front runner at this point needs that extra money in the purse check in order to return the following week. Let's say that you are currently paying $750-to-win, $500 for second and $75 to start likely from twelfth on back. If you changed that to $500-to-win and $400 for second that would give you $350 that you could then put at the back of the purse and pay $100 to start. 

So now, let's give something back to the studs since we are abiding by suggestion #4 and running our races using an invert. I have always thought that it would be good to offer a bonus to the winner depending upon where that driver started the feature from. Sticking with the example above, if my winner comes from the second row there is a $50 bonus. A winner that starts from the third row earns a $100 bonus. Start from the fourth row and a win adds $150 to the purse check while a win from the fifth row gets a $200 bonus. In an invert system, that's where your top point driver is going to start if there are seventeen or fewer cars and if this new purse structure helps you grow your car count to eighteen or more, then the $250 bonus to win from the sixth row on back takes you right back to the $750 top prize that your studs were already looking at in the first place.

Plus, one of the complaints of using a points invert for weekly shows is that a driver who might just want to drop in for a week knows that he or she will have to start from the back of the invert. Now that comes with an incentive.

Yes, we are just three old guys that have been around the sport for more than fifty years each, and our thoughts and ideas might be just as worthless as all of the others that are shared on the internet. But what if they're not? And, with the recent announcement that a new promoter will be needed at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson for 2026, if you consider yourself a candidate I want to talk to you in person about what I believe needs to be done to be successful in southeast Iowa.

I doubt that my phone will be ringing anytime soon though!

Thanks for spending some time on the Back Stretch, up next for us will be a four race road trip that will hopefully add two new tracks to my list. Hope to see you here again soon!