First double header weekend of the season May 24 & 25

Race Reports and other random thoughts

by Stan Meissner

May 27, 2013

Forest Lake, Minnesota

gotomn.com

Saint Croix Valley Raceway Tabor Memorial and Cedar Lake Pack The Track May 24 & 25, 2013

For UMSS results and race reports visit the UMSS website at http://www.umsprints.com/

For Cedar Lake Speedway results and race reports visit their website at http://www.cedarlakespeedway.com/

View the complete photo gallery for each night at http://www.gotomn.com/gotomn-photo-gallery.htm

So far this has been an unusual season.  It's almost June and I only have three races under my belt but would have had twice as many if the weather had cooperated.  Two of those nights of racing took place at the Saint Croix Valley Raceway on May 24 and the Cedar Lake Speedway on May 25.  The question that I heard several times at CLS was "why aren't you up at Rice Lake watching the Sprint Cars?"  I can understand why people would ask that question seeing as I have been an outspoken advocate for more Sprint Car racing in our area for the past fifteen years.  I spent the night at CLS covering photo duties and will be doing that several times this season.  Fortunately I am able to follow all the UMSS action that I missed by watching the Mark Meeks Video.  Check out Mark's website at http://www.meeksvideo.com/

Speaking of video, when I announced that I'd be writing up my racing experiences here on the MDTR blog I mentioned that I'd post some video clips.  You know the old saying about biting off a little more than one can chew.  That old saying applies to me posting video.  I still plan on doing that several times this season for some of the big specials.  It hasn't worked out so far this season but I'll be posting a few clips from time to time so watch for those.

I got to know Dave Tabor and would chat with him whenever I got a chance.  When Dave's health went downhill it upset me for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost I considered Dave a friend.  Secondly, Dave was the same age as me and his circumstances reminded me of my own mortality.  Dave loved Sprint Car racing, I think it must have been comforting for him to be at the track.  I wouldn't say that Dave and I were close friends but like I said, we would chat at the track and email back and forth once in a while.  It was difficult to lose somebody that was close in age like that and had been so happy and vibrant up until he became ill.  That's why the Tabor Memorial is a must see event on my schedule.

 

The tradition lives on

The racing was pretty spectacular and Dave would have been proud to know that his name is associated with an event that attracted 27 winged UMSS Sprints. 

It was good to see Joseph Kouba back driving a race car after sitting out last season due to health issues.  

Joseph Kouba at SCVR

 Likewise Jenni Eriksen looked fast but ended up slamming one of the tractor tires and had to get checked out at the local hospital.  Jenni came back to race the next night at Rice Lake.  

Jenni Eriksen at SCVR

Tony Norem is sporting a familiar number this year.  Norem is using the number B1st, a number that brought him a lot of success during the time he was racing weekly at Knoxville in the 360 division.

Tony Norem SCVR

The action was hot and heavy as it usually is at the SCVR.  The track was in pretty good shape considering the amount of rain they have gotten up in that area.  A couple of quick track maintenance sessions were required but nothing that delayed the show.  

Tight action at SCVR

Katrina Sautbine won her first UMSS TSCS A Main on May 24 at SCVR.  This comes just a few short weeks since we last saw her own car go up in flames at Elko.  There is a lot of talent in the TSCS ranks and she came close to nabbing one a couple times last year.  I think we'll see her win a few more before the end of the season.

UMSS TSC Feature winner Katrina Sautbine

Mike Mueller has made the switch from Midwest Modifieds to a UMSS Traditional Sprint.  Mike's car sports the #87, his dad Herb's tribute to the Wilke's #87 (my 2nd cousin) who raced from the early 60's through 1976.  Herb Mueller used to hang around the Wilke's garage so he got the racing bug from the same source as I did.  Mike is too young to remember the #87 so he has done a few tweaks to the number in order to make it his own.

Mike Mueller #87 UMSS TSC

The next night I went to the Cedar Lake Speedway for their pack the track night.  The area had received heavy rain in the days leading up to the race that produced a bit of a challenge staying ahead of the track.  I think that by the end of the night they were starting to get a handle on things and the racing was pretty good.  Hopefully the rains won't be as frequent as they're predicting for this week as next Saturday will be their Triple, a big event for the Speedway.  They had a pretty good crowd for Pack The Track in spite of the cooler than normal temperatures.  In spite of having to do some extra work on the track the show moved along quickly and I was back in Forest Lake by 10:30pm. 

Things got a little crazy at times last Saturday night

I mentioned Herb Mueller's connection to the #87 a couple of paragraphs ago.  Another connection to the #87 is Jerry Hanson's Hornet ride.  Jerry would be my 2nd cousin once removed, another one who was introduced to the sport by Wilke Racing.  

Jerry Hanson at the Cedar Lake Speedway

Andy Jones has returned to Modified racing after spending a couple seasons trying his luck with the Sprint Cars.  Andy finished 3rd in the Cedar Lake Modified Feature and won at NCS the next night.  I got an opportunity to talk to his dad Dennis for a little while.  They had just returned from a funeral up in Thunder Bay so both were operating on a shortage of sleep.  Dennis is another person who has been dealing with some health issues and he looks like he's doing much better.  I don't think anybody could have had a more difficult season than these guys had last year and they looked to be enjoying themselves back in their old familiar surroundings.

Andy Jones May 25 at the Cedar Lake Speedway

Mark Froehlich won the Midwest Modified Feature at the Cedar Lake Speedway on Pack the Track night.  Mark was joined by his proud smiling daughter in victory lane.

Midwest Modified victory lane celebration

Forest Lake racer Mike Loomis won the Pro Stock Feature at CLS on Saturday May 24.  I don't have any hard facts to back this up but I would guess that Forest Lake is home to a huge number of trophies.  We've got a lot of winning drivers living up here in this little town.

Pro Stock Feature winner Mike Loomis

Darrel Nelson won the Cedar Lake Modified Feature. Nelson was hooked up and took off from the rest of the field early in the race but his pursuers closed the gap late in the race.  

Modified winner Darrel Nelson

Well, that pretty much sums up my Memorial Day weekend racing.  I had a great time chasing races two nights in a row but the only downside is that I'm sore because I'm not used to being on my feet that long.  I'm off work for the entire Memorial Day week and had planned on doing some outside painting but now it looks like the whole week is going to be rainy.  My plans are to attend the IRA Sprints at SCVR on Friday May 31 and the Triple at Cedar Lake on June 1.  We'll be keeping an eye on the weather and hoping for the best.

See you at the races!  I'll be wearing my mud shoes.

Ma Nature allows racing to begin in grand fashion + photo exclusive, Schatz caught on pavement!

Race Report and other random thoughts

by Stan Meissner

May 12, 2013

Forest Lake, Minnesota

gotomn.com

World of Outlaws and UMSS Traditional Sprints at the Elko Speedway Friday May 10, 2013

World of Outlaws Elko results:  http://www.woosprint.com/results/2111-5102013-elko-speedway

UMSS Traditional Sprint Cars race report:  http://traditional.umsprints.com/news/?i=15434&clk=featureNews

Direct Link to Stan Meissner Elko photos:  http://www.gotomn.com/Photos/2013%20photos/05102013_Elko-WoO/05102013_Elko-WoO.htm

Donny Schatz fires up his engine in the paved Elko pit area

Welcome to my first race report blog post of the 2013 season.  There is no hard and fast deadline for when my blog posts will come out but my goal is to write a report on each weekend of racing as time permits.  If you live in the upper Midwest you know that our weather turned cold on Saturday, the day after Elko.  Seeing as conditions still aren't very suitable for yard work I've got plenty of time to work on this post today.  That won't always be the case as the summer progresses so article length will vary according to circumstance.  I'll announce the blog posts at all the usual places whenever I post a new article.  This isn't meant to be a stats page so if that's what you're looking for I'll try to always provide some handy links for you to find those details.  For the most part my blog posts will consist of observations about the event and hopefully I'll catch some nice shots to illustrate my points as well.  I thought I'd try to catch some video clips at Elko too but I was so busy getting up-to-speed taking photos that I forgot to take the video camera out of the bag.  I shot without flash during hot laps and tt's then switched to a faster lens and flash but was having trouble getting adequate light from my flash during the Heats.  After the Heats I realized that I had used the diffuser during the holidays and left it in the down position.  Duhhh!!!  Overall the photos turned out pretty decent considering that I jumped right into the frying pan and was shooting the fastest dirt track rockets on the planet my first night out.  Most years I get to spend a few weeks finding my photo groove by shooting Stock Car and Modified classes before taking on 410 Sprints.  After a month of weather delays Elko ended up being the first race of the year for a lot of people and not just myself.  It went pretty good for the first time out and I was able to get some good shots.

Ma Nature finally let up on us enough for pretty much every track in the region to get a show in on Friday May 10 then slammed us with cold and wind the following day.  Originally I didn't expect to be able to attend Elko but I caught a break.  I want to thank Larry Hillerud of SLS Promotions for coming to my rescue and making this night of racing possible for me.  It was a great evening of racing and I'm grateful to have been able to attend and be a part of it.  As mentioned in earlier blog posts I am submitting content to several publications as well as helping out the tracks and sanctions so along with this blog I'm still pretty busy.  You just won't be seeing my column in the Midwest Racing Connection this season but my agent is in talks with MRC about the possibility of me coming out of retirement to write a couple previews.  The asking price my agent is pushing for me is a couple beers so I think there's a chance we might be able to work something out.

The photo at the beginning of this post is of Donny Schatz getting pushed off to put heat in the engine at Elko prior to hot laps.  In spite of my teaser subject line I'm pretty sure this is as close as he'll get to driving a Sprint Car on pavement.  From the lower end of Elko's paved pit area back to his pit stall.  Racing at Elko was very good and I don't think it would have mattered much if they had been able to go another six laps, the winner still would have been Tim Kaeding.  My sources tell me that both Madsen and Dollansky were having motor issues in the late stages of the race so if they had run another six laps the results could have been different.

Overall Elko was a great way to kick off the season in grand fashion.  I talked to Dan Shearen from the Davey Heskin crew (Dan is my second cousin's husband) while crossing the track after the B and he said there were small rocks getting kicked up into the stands.  I mentioned it later to my son Les and he confirmed what Dan told me.  The track looked great from the infield but the cars fling everything out towards the fence so we didn't see anything that looked problematic from our vantage point.  I'm sure if there was a problem that's something that the Elko Speedway will address going forward and will correct any problems.  Elko's dirt shows have shown steady improvement since their first year.  As far as having multi grooves and not slicking over I would give them an A+ because it was a very racey track all night long.

UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series is a growing class

I checked the results from a couple of other local tracks that ran this weekend, Red Cedar and Deer Creek, specifically looking at the Late Model counts.  Red Cedar drew 6 Late Models on Friday night and Deer Creek had 10 on Saturday.  The reason I bring that up is because my 14 year gig as a racing column writer turned me into a bit of a closet Late Model fan so I don't want to see the class fade away.  I'll admit to some good nature bantering back and forth with some of the hard core fendered fans but I have spent a lot of time around the Lates and got to know a lot of the racers so I do enjoy them.  Anyways, Late Models for years were so popular that I think folks took it for granted they'd always be plentiful at our local tracks.

Which leads me to my point.  One class that is bucking the trend and growing is the UMSS Traditional Sprints.  As can be seen in the above photo, a competitive car and motor comes in at around $6500.  People tell me that the cars are a blast to drive (got that straight from HoosiersUp), the smaller motors for the most part keep them Hoosiers down and total costs are low compared to other classes.  Since the majority of their races are currently taking place at the Saint Croix Valley Raceway that's probably going to discourage some people on the other side of the Metro from getting involved due to Friday traffic getting to Wisconsin but I could see this class eventually expanding to other tracks. 

Former Modified and MW Modified driver Mike Mueller has made the switch to a Traditional Sprint

Johnny Parsons III (JP3) won the night's Feature with the help of crewmen Erik and Steve Steinkraus (Steiny X 2)

The UMSS TSCS Feature was a pretty good one.  I didn't get an exact count but I think about 15 or so cars showed up and 11 or 12 started the Feature.  I'm not a stats man so you can read GRP's full writeup on the UMSS website at http://traditional.umsprints.com/   I understand that there are cars that were not ready for Elko or there could potentially have been 20 or more.  I think that's the kind of deal we're going to see with this class where a few shows will draw most of the cars and the average will hover around 15 or so week in and week out.  Obviously these teams aren't going to have spare motors and cars in their trailers like the guys we'll be talking about later in this post so it's going to take them a little longer to recover from blown motors and crashes.  Those are still good numbers considering that just about every other class is losing and not gaining cars.  Anytime a new class is started it takes a few years to build up the numbers.  I'm sure that more potential racers are keeping an eye on this class to be sure they're here to stay before taking the plunge and putting a car together.

Craig Dollansky scored a podium finish coming home in third

Hopefully you had the patience to hang in there while I made a few observations about this blog and the support class.  Your patience has been rewarded, the UMSS Heats are over so now it's time to talk about the World of Outlaws.  I was a little bummed out that Craig Dollansky couldn't hang in there until the end and win one in his home state.  I didn't get a chance to visit with Craig but we exchanged nods while he was sitting in the car in the infield waiting for the Dash to push off.  I went by his hauler after the races but it was pretty crowded so I'll catch up with him at CLS where I usually arrive earlier.  Craig had an exciting run going and it had the home crowd buzzing. 

Davey Heskin at Elko

I asked Dan Shearen how their night was going after the B and he replied with a list of problems including a cracked frame the first night out with a new short track car.  Shearan is a former Sprint Car driver that competed at the North Starr Speedway in Blaine.  As a matter of fact Dan ran sixth in the May 6, 1979 North Starr Sprint Car Feature behind John Stevensen, Darryl Dawley, Jerry Richert Sr., Cole (don't recall the first name) and Bill Dollansky.  Meanwhile former Sprint Car owner and current push truck driver Chuck Priefer ran seventh in the Sportsman Feature on that same night in 1979.  Chuck spent the night of May 10, 2013, pushing World of Outlaws Sprint Cars at Elko.

The Motter 71 is raised up from the ashes

I started taking action photos during hot laps back in 1999 so I never got a photo of the Motter car it's first time around.  From a photography standpoint I guess you could say that I lucked out because a new Motter team is back on the dirt tracks of America with Joey Saldana turning the wheel.  I was introduced to Dan Motter at the Superior Speedway a number of years back but do not recall the circumstances that led to the brief introduction.  That was after Dan had stepped down as an owner the first time around.  Motter is from up around the iron range, I think it's Hibbing, but I don't suppose the team would actually be based that far north.  Nevertheless, it's interesting to me that Minnesota would be the source of three WoO teams and the home of series announcer Johnny Gibson.  There is no 410 racing within our borders and it has been a struggle just to keep Sprint Car racing alive in Minnesota.  Joey Saldana, Sammy Swindell and Craig Dollansky are all depending on Minnesota money to keep them on the road this season.

Terry McCarl came into the night as one of the few drivers with Elko IRA experience

Terry McCarl came into the night as one of several drivers with Elko experience.  The drivers in the field that I can recall off the top of my head as having IRA 410 starts at Elko include Davey Heskin, Brooke Tatnell, Terry McCarl, Bill Balog, Austin Johnson, Travis Whitney and I think Brian Brown has been up here before too.  McCarl finished 16th in the A, Tatnell turned over and brought out the rainy red, Heskin, Johnson and Balog couldn't transfer out of the B Main and Whitney broke in hot laps and scratched for the night.  If you can think of any others let me know.  Brown finished 21st in the A.  Other drivers that have raced quite a bit in our area include Danny Lasoski 22nd place and Mark Dobeieir who flipped in the B Main ending his evening.  Brooke Tatnell had a decent run going until he flipped between 1&2 bringing out the red.  Rain showers hit during the cleanup ending the action for the evening.

Danny Lasoski at Elko

Mark Dobmeier at Elko

World of Outlaws do a four wide salute to a packed house at the Elko Speedway

Three wide Feature action at the Elko Speedway.  Brooke Tatnell (25), Kraig Kinser (11k), Kody Darah (4)

Brian Brown (21) and Skylar Prochaska (35) with his wheels up in the A Main

Here's a classic shot of Steve and Sammy dicing it up at Elko

Natalie Sather interviews Tim Kaeding in Victory Lane

I hope you enjoyed my Elko recap and photos.  Be sure to follow the link at the beginning of this post to view the complete photo gallery.  My original plan was to attend the Cedar Lake School Bus night to sub taking photos but when Saint Croix Valley cancelled I got a reprieve from the wind and cold.  I plan on getting back out to the races on May 24 for round #2 of UMSS Thunder/the Dave Tabor Memorial race.  Next up the following night I'll be taking photos at Cedar Lake's "Pack the Track night".  If you're in the area on Saturday the 25th of May you can follow the UMSS up to Rice Lake or pack the car and get the whole family into the Cedar Lake Speedway.  The following weekend will see two nights of IRA action starting at Saint Croix Valley on June 1 and the Cedar Lake Triple on June 1.  See you at the races!