July 2016 Vol. 20, No. 3

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Inside...

Racing NuggetsPhoto Gallery Touring Series Action

Slinger Nationals PreviewSlinger Nationals Preview

Page 2July 2016

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The MidwestRACINGRACINGRACINGRACINGRACING

ConnectionJuly 2016

Vol. 20, No. 3

P.O. Box 22111St. Paul MN, 55122

651-451-4036info@theracingconnection.comwww.theracingconnection.com

PublisherDan Plan

Contributing WritersShane CarlsonDale P. DanielskiJacklyn Daniels-NuttlemanDean RellerJason SearcyCharlie Spry

PhotographersJim Ambruoso (815-623-3200)Jeff Blaser (715-498-7544)Martin DeFries (651-346-1199)TJ Harron (608-301-0993)Doug Hornickel (920-563-0993)Tom Loos (715-370-7895)Mark Melchiori (414-463-0131)Bruce Nuttleman (612-860-6622)Vince Peterson (612-419-6372)Mary Schill/Forte Design (608-792-1317)Jerry Zimmer (715-792-2174)

The Midwest Racing Connection is published six timesduring the summer racing season by

The Plan Company, Inc.All material is copyrighted 2016 and may not be

reprinted without permission. Subscriptions are $20for six issues. Call 651-451-4036.

Cover photos by: Doug Hornickel, HolzhousenFamily Collection, Bruce Nuttleman and VincePeterson

Dan Plan

Racing According to PlanRacing According to PlanRacing According to PlanRacing According to PlanRacing According to Plan

Publisher's NoteThe First Win

continued on page 4

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I initially had some doubts about writing this column, asit seemed to me that it may come across to somereaders as too personal. Eventually, I talked myselfinto it. I mean, it is my paper and I can write aboutwhatever I want.

As parents, we all hope for the success of ourchildren. When your kid does well, you feel good. I’vebeen lucky enough the last 20 years or so to see anumber of friends at the tracks get their kids intoracing. Watching their reactions to their kids’ first winhas been a pretty neat deal to see.

We’re about 10 years behind schedule on the programto get our kid into racing. It seems that these days,most 17-year-olds are in Late Models, Sprint Cars oron their way to NASCAR. We’re just now gettingstarted in a Go Kart. It took my wife 17 years tofinally cave in and give the OK. She was afraid herlittle boy would get hurt. In all honesty, I really didn’tfight too hard for all of these years. There are somebattles that aren’t worth fighting. As the saying goes,happy wife – happy life.

This year the kid is racing Go Karts with the MidwestKarting Association at their home track in Eau Claire,WI. On the third race weekend of the year, the clubwas a little short staffed. They were nice enough to letme pretend to be a flag man. I’ve always joked aboutwanting to be a flag man, and jumped at theopportunity. Plus, I’ve always wanted to point the

Page 4July 2016Publishers note from page 3

black flag at my buddy Bob Synder and I finally had a chance to do it.

Now as the day went on, I found myself in an awkward, yet excitingposition. My kid took the lead about half-way through the second race ofthe day. Man, that last half of the raced seemed like an eternity. I mustadmit it was pretty cool hearing Mandy in the scoring tower come acrosson the radio and say, “Next time around is the white flag for your boy.”

As I was standing in the flag stand getting ready to wave the checkers, Ialmost felt like Ned Jarrett calling Dale Jarrett across the line for his firstDaytona 500 win. In my mind I was thinking “I know he’s got it to thefloorboard, he can’t do anymore. Take it to the inside, don’t let him get tothe inside coming around this turn. He’s gonna make it!” Sure, it wasn’tDaytona and there was no prize money, but the emotion of being a proudparent was the same. As much as I wanted to be the first one at thescales to congratulate him on his first win, having your kid win his firstrace while you’re in the flag stand was truly a special moment.

Page 5 July 2016

By Dan Margetta

KENSETH AND ELLIOT SETTO HEADLINE SLINGER NATIONALS

continued on page 6

Bruce Nuttleman photo

Bruce Nuttleman photo

Bruce Nuttleman photo

Boasting past champions such as Dick Trickle, AlanKulwicki, Joe Shear, Butch Miller, Rich Bickle, andKyle Busch, the SuperSeal Slinger Nationals presentedby Miller Lite is one of the most historic andprestigious super late model special events in thenation.

This year’s 37th edition of the nationals, set forTuesday night July 19th at the Slinger Speedway, isshaping up to be one of the most competitive everheadlined by the return of six time Nationals championand 2003 NASCAR Cup champion Matt Kensethalong with the just announced addition of NASCARSprint Cup rookie of the year competitor Chase Elliottwho will make his Slinger Nationals debut.

Once again the SuperSeal Slinger Nationals presentedby Miller Lite will feature one of the largest pursesavailable for an asphalt super late model show, paying$10,000 to the winner of the 200 lap event and $1,000to start. Often overlooked is the lap leader bonusmoney available in addition to the purse which adds tothe uniqueness of the event. Coordinated by longtimerace fan Dan Casey in a grass roots type campaign,the lap leader bonus consists of donations by fans andsponsors that is separate from the purse. The fundsare organized into separate envelopes and areawarded to the driver that leads each specified lap andhistorically every lap has been sponsored. Last year’sNationals winner, Dennis Prunty, pocketed nearly$6,000 in lap leader bonus money.

The large payouts have attracted the interest of manytop super late model drivers in the country as ARCAMidwest Tour and World Series of Asphalt championTy Majeski is expected to compete and Georgia hotshoe Bubba Pollard has verbally committed to makehis Slinger debut. Harrison Burton, whose crew chiefChris Wimmer won the 2014 Nationals, has expressed

Page 6July 2016

continued from page 6

Past winners of the Slinger Nationals include Kyle "Rowdy" Busch in 2011 (below) The four-wide salute to the fans during the 2015 running of the Slinger Nationals

Local Slinger racers such as 2015 Future's race winner Brad Kieth will be onhand to challenge for the title in this years running of the Slinger Nationals

Previous Slinger Nationals Champions

1980 Larry Detjens1981 Alan Kulwicki1982 Dick Trickle1983 Dick Trickle1984 Mark Martin1985 Dick Trickle1986 John Ziegler1987 Joe Shear1988 Butch Miller1989 Dick Trickle1990 Joe Shear1991 Joe Shear1992 Rich Bickle1993 Joe Shear1994 Matt Kenseth1995 Butch Miller1996 Rich Bickle1997 Lowell Bennett1998 Tony Strupp1999 Conrad Morgan2000 Lowell Bennett2001 David Prunty2002 Matt Kenseth2003 Rich Bickle2004 Lowell Bennett2005 Nathan Haseleu2006 Matt Kenseth2007 Lowell Bennett2008 Matt Kenseth2009 Matt Kenseth2010 Lowell Bennett2011 Kyle Busch2012 Matt Kenseth2013 Rich Bickle2014 Chris Wimmer2015 Dennis Prunty

Bruce Nuttleman photo

Bruce Nuttleman photo

Bruce Nuttleman photo

an interest to compete and 2011 Redbud 300 winnerSteve Dorer is set to return to the high banked quartermile oval. Others expected to compete include seventime IRA Sprint Car champion Bill Balog who willmake the transition from dirt to asphalt, NatalieDecker, who has already captured a win at State ParkSpeedway this season, and Rockford All Star 100winner Jeff Holtz who opened the season by settingfast time at Slinger.

In addition to Kenseth, former Nationals winnerslooking to add to their total include four-time winnerLowell Bennett and last year’s champion DennisPrunty. They will be joined by veteran drivers lookingfor their first Nationals title such as Brad Mueller whocame within inches of winning in 2000, Matt Kocourekwho finished second in his Nationals debut in 2005,and three-time and defending Slinger track championSteve Apel. The veterans are joined by a strong rookiecontingent that includes Kulwicki Driver DevelopmentProgram member Alex Prunty and dirt late modelstandout Mitch McGrath as well as 14-year old GrantGriesbach.

The super late modelranks at the SlingerSpeedway have beenextremely competitivethis season and the fastweekly racers set to beon hand include 2016feature winners ChrisBlawat and Rob Braunas well as TravisDassow, Brad Keith,Rich Loch, JamesSwan, and GaryLaMonte. TimLampman, NickWagner, Duke Long,Mike Egan, and DaveMcCardle have all timedinto feature events in2016 as well and plan tostake their claim to theNationals crown.

Page 7 July 2016

656565656511111-----346-346-346-346-346-11991199119911991199www.redlinegraphics.net

Classic CornerIn celebration of Pan-O-Prog’s 50th anniversary, a vintage racing

display has been added to the Race Car Alley event.The cars scheduledfor display are the 1970 Mustang, Purple Knight replica owned by Tom

Kamish and a 1955 Ford Fairlane built by Skip Pollack.

All “Old Timer” drivers, crews, sponsors, fans & officials are especiallyencouraged to visit the vintage racing display and share their “back in

the day” racing stories.

Page 8July 2016

Racing Nuggets

Jacklyn Daniels-Nuttleman

Hanging With Holzhousen

If you’re like me, you probably went into a bit of adepression a few years ago, when Steve Holzhausenannounced he would be retiring from racing. I haven’tfully pulled out of the funk that announcement had onme.

Not only is he a phenomenal race car driver, but he’seasily one of the funniest and nicest guys you’ll evertalk to, particularly while enjoying a beer together.While I miss seeing him deftly pick his way throughthe field to grab the checkers, the good news is thatyou can still have a post-race beer with him in the pits,as he’s generally found helping his son, Skylar, atraces now.

I remember hearing about the throttle sticking in hisrace car at the Dells several years ago. It washorrifying news, and I probably abused my friendshipby calling his cell phone to check on him, but I didn’tcare. My sources said it was one of the nastiest hitsthey had ever seen. It was ugly. I had knots in mystomach.

Steve was kind enough to return my call; chatting quitecalmly I might add, from the backseat of a vehicle that

his wife was driving, as they were motoring homefrom the hospital. He was reassuring me that thingswere going to be fine, but the reality was, theyweren’t. His left side took a brutal beating, and hisfoot was crushed. It actually required three differentsurgeries in an attempt to fix it correctly. It’s still not100%.

Funny how life experiences like that force one toseriously look at the big picture. While Holzhausen’sfoot is not as good as it was; it is as good as it’s goingto get, and he can still walk on it. The injury certainlycontributed to his decision to pull the pin on his careerbehind the wheel. He has his health, for the most part,and there is still plenty of fishing to do. Plus, he has awife who deserves more attention than she hasprobably received over the past 30-plus years, as hechased his racing dreams.

I stopped out to visit him at his race shop recently. Asexpected, it was a night full of plenty of great storiesand lots of laughs. And as is usually the case, I end uplearning something more about my husband, Toby,who used to work on Steve’s pit crew for many years.I had no idea that Toby worked 8 days a week on racecars! I’m kidding. He still does.

Everybody knows if you’re going to be fast andsuccessful, you need to work on your stuff. Somepeople, like Holzhausen get an early start on thatlesson. His father, Bud, was a racer in his own right,and owned a Ford dealership in Bangor; Coulee Ford.Steve was hands on in the body shop since he wasabout 10 or 11-years-old.

He reminisced about how he would see guys likeDave Marcis, Everett Foxx, and Fred Beckler at hisdad’s shop. He would help sort nuts and bolts, just tohang out around the racers. It was only a matter oftime before the competitive spirit was fully infused inhis blood.

I was curious what race Holzhausen was most proudof in his storied career. Without much hesitation, he

said the 1994 ASA race atAnderson Speedway. Hequalified 2nd fastest, behind MikeEddy, pulled to the lead on thefirst lap, and never gave theposition up for 400 circuits.

It’s completely understandablewhy that one would be the racehe is most proud of in his career.He beat the likes of Eddy, ScottHansen, Butch Miller, and BobSenneker just to name just a few.Twenty-six cars started thatrace, and Holzhausen lapped allbut seven of them. To say the

car was on rails is an understatement.

It wasn’t always sunshine and roses for Holzhausen’steam. A lot of work went into developing a reputationas a threat to win each race he entered. There was alot to learn. Fortunately, there were plenty ofsuccessful drivers during those early years to try toglean advice from; like Dick Trickle, Tom Reffner,Jimmy Back, Marv Marvzofka, and Larry Detjens.

Not that any of them were forthcoming witheverything Holzhausen needed to know. Don’t get mewrong, they would help; IF he asked the rightquestions. Some things never change. It’s prettymuch the same case yet today with racers.

Holzhausen said he did the best thing any racer can doto get better—raced… A LOT. Back when he wascutting his teeth in racing, it wasn’t unusual for guys torun five nights a week at various tracks.

One of those weekly stops was at the track inWisconsin Dells. It’s where he picked up his firstever super late model feature, his first ARTGO win,and it’s oddly enough, the place he suffered thatdevastating accident, which turned out to be the lynchpin to end his driving career. It’s almost a testamentto Holzhausen’s character; he holds onto the good andpushes aside the bad, because to this day, if you askhim, he’ll tell you that Dells Raceway Park is still hisfavorite track.

That first career super late win happened in a car hepurchased from Steve Burgess that was built by DickTrickle.

Like most racers, regardless of the era, Holzhausen’srace team was on a tight budget. He and Toby onceused tractor weights, mounted on the left side doorbars, because they didn’t have any lead for their car.

Another time, during a race at the Dells, he boughttwo new tires for the right side of his machine, and

Racing Nuggets continued on page 19

Page 9 July 2016

Going in Circles

Charlie Spry

Going In Circles continued on page 23

During the past month we have seen a truly diversifiedweather pattern, as we have had some nice and sunnydays, but also some downright nasty and unpleasantstuff as well. Unfortunately, the rain and heat seem tohave been present mostly on race days.

Madison International Speedway played host to roundone of the “Badgerland Challenge.” This is a three-race challenge between MIS, Jefferson and SlingerSpeedways, with an overall winner named. Withtemps in the mid-90’s and Thunderstorms loominglater in the evening, Gregg and the staff at MIS wentahead with the show, hoping to beat the storms. Anice field of cars showed, with several visitors fromthe other two tracks taking on the MIS regulars.Gregg recently stated in a drivers’ meeting that, “If wecan race, we will race”, and he means it.

The sportsman feature was rushed onto the track, witha really interesting race ensuing. Jefferson regularsJason Thoma and Bobby Selsing looked strong, with anice battle going between these two and MIS regularsRyan Goldade and Robert Hansberry Jr. WhileGoldade has dominated this division the past couple ofyears, Hansberry looks very capable in doing his shareof the winning, as he set fast time. Thoma wasleading with seven laps to go when the caution flew.It was then announced that there was some severeweather on our doorstep, and a glance over myshoulder to the north confirmed a black sky. Theraces were temporarily suspended at this time in orderto give fans time to get to the shelter of their carsbefore getting pelted with rain. Fans and race teamsalike quickly hunkered down for the impending rain,which didn’t come right away. Eventually the rain didcome, but not as hard as everyone figured. However,it was enough to make everything too wet to continueracing, so the remaining events will be rescheduled

later. Giving the fans time to get to their cars or othershelter was a very good thing to do. Saved a lot ofpeople from getting wet. Very well done. The racewas called complete, with Thoma getting the win overHansberry and Selsing.

The late model feature was shaping up to be a dandy,as the prelims were very exciting. Two drivers hereseem to be looking to have outstanding seasons, asveteran Bobby Wilberg is having his hands full withrelative newcomer John Beale. Kind of the oldgunfighter vs. the new guy in town thing. Both have alot of talent to showcase. Also took in the first roundof the super late model triple crown series here. Agreat field of super lates were on hand, with NicoleBehar joining the stellar field. Nicole was here to runthe ARCA race during the weekend, and also broughta car to run with the super lates. Ty Majeskicontinues to rule the roost in the super lates here, butCasey Johnson proved to be strong as well. The pairfinished one-two, and while Majeski is getting a welldeserved shot at some ARCA races, Johnson isanother one who deserves a similar shot. Both haveproven themselves in any car and any track.

The regular MIS late models were on hand and alsohad a stellar field. Don Wickstrum made his first startof the year, while a couple of Hawkeye Downsregulars also joined in, as Brody Willett and Zach Lessmade the trip from the Hawkeye state. Rockfordregular Tyler Hromadka also joined in the fun, andanother Rockford regular, Wayne Freimund has beencoming for the past couple of weeks. It was a night offirsts, as Kevin Knuese won his first feature here in alate model, outdistancing the strong field. The Midwesttrucks joined in tonight, with a good count as well.Again, it was a first time winner, as Dave Edwardstook his first feature win here. When asked about hispast racing wins, Dave stated, “I’ve won street stockfeatures at lake Geneva, and won a sportsman featureat Rockford, as well as finishing a close second in abracket at the Bahama Brackets there, and have hadsome good runs in the late model, career best in Big 8

was top fives, and top three in weeklylate models.” Really good to seethese first time winners.Bob Hansberry Jr. has been on a rolllately, and won the feature for thesportsman division. Some goodbattles throughout the pack here.

You may have noticed a “for sale”sign on Ryan Goldade’s potent

sportsman car here. Ryan has won many, manyfeatures and set fast times, had clean sweeps, etc. forthe past couple of years. Why would he sell? “I’dreally like to try something different,” stated Ryan.“I’m thinking maybe a truck. They run around andrace at a lot of different tracks, and I’d like to do that.I’d really love to go racing in a super late, but we justdon’t have the funds for it. I’ve driven a couple ofthem and it is just unreal, the speeds and thesensations. So much fun. I’d jump at an opportunityto drive one of them.Ryan started racing back in 2003 when he waseighteen years old, but had experience prior to that, ashe noted, “I hot lapped my Dad’s sportsman car atJefferson since I was about fourteen. I probably hadmore laps on it than he did,” he laughed.

His current car has been a dominant car quite often,and has a good lineage, as Ryan noted that it was builtby Bobby Wilberg in about three days. In addition toadvice from Wilberg, he also has help from otherplaces. “I live about three doors down from CaseyJohnson, and we talk all the time.”

Last season, Ryan and crew raced both a NASCARlate model and the sportsman car weekly, but no more.“It was very hard, it was just too much to do for all ofus. It was with the same crew guys and it was toomuch to do every week. We are just concentrating onthe sportsman car for this year, and we will see wherewe can go from here.”

The Big 8 series then visited the famed speedplant thefollowing week. A great field of cars and a packedgrandstand were highlights. Jeremy Miller took thelead early, and was quite simply, gone. MichaelBilderback worked his way into second, but couldn’treally chase down Miller in the caution-free event.Casey Johnson did the same to finish third.

The Great Northern Sportsman Series cars were alsoon hand, everyone looking to track record holder DaveTrute to continue his domination. He did, but had toreally work for the win, as Scott Luck and MarkDeporter ran up front for much of the race. Manycars came from quite some distance to compete,including a strong contingent from Minnesota.The Midwest Dash series for four cylinder cars alsoran, again with a very strong field of cars from manytracks. I figured that Kyle Stark would be right upnear the top, and also Rockford regular Zach

Mark Melchiori photo

Mark Melchiori photo

Page 10July 2016

Driver of theMonth

ScottSplittstoesser

Division - ModifiedHome Town - Cottage Grove, MN

Coming in the August issue of

USA Nationals Preview, highlights from the

World of Outlaws at Cedar Lake & Rockford,

Weekly Racing action, and More!

www.theracingconnection.com

trackratphotos.vfcfunding.comtrackratphotos.vfcfunding.comtrackratphotos.vfcfunding.comtrackratphotos.vfcfunding.comtrackratphotos.vfcfunding.com

Charlie Weber photo

Page 11 July 2016

1988 BILLY MOYER1989 BILLY MOYER1990 BILLY MOYER1991 RICK AUKLAND1992 BILLY MOYER1992 BILLY MOYER1994 JACK BOGGS1995 JACK BOGGS1996 JIMMY MARS1997 RICK AUKLAND

1998 DONNIE MORAN1999 SCOTT BLOOMQUIST2000 DAVEY JOHNSON2001 DALE McDOWELL2002 RICK ECKERT2003 SCOTT BLOOMQUIST2004 BRIAN BIRKHOFER2005 DALE McDOWELL2006 SCOTT BLOOMQUIST2007 BRIAN BIRKHOFER

2008 SCOTT BLOOMQUIST2009 JIMMY MARS2010 SCOTT BLOOMQUIST2011 JOSH RICHARDS2012 DARRELL LANIGAN2013 TIM McCREADIE2014 JIMMY OWENS2015 JONATHAN DAVENPORT

Page 12July 2016

Photo Gallery

3-wide Sportsman action at MadisonTJ Harron photo

Dustin Doughty (D1) and Randy Luedtke (77) at Spring Lake SpeedwayTom Loos photo

The Power Stocks always put on a good show at ElkoMartin DeFries photo

Justin Berg with a familiar paint scheme on his LaCrosse SportsmenBruce Nuttleman photo

The Roadrunner Summer Series at Rockford SpeedwayJimmy Ambruoso photo The Inside Dirt continued on page 17

AJ Diemel picked up the win on the opening night of the CLS Dash SeriesVince Peterson photo

Page 13 July 2016

Photo Gallery

The famous Chicken Coupe paces the field for the Nabbelfeldt MemorialJeff Blaser photo

Paul Niznik during the National Anthem at Spring LakeTom Loos photo

Chris Marek and Jacob Goede at Elko SpeedwayMartin DeFries photo

Brad Powell leads the Six for Six dash at LaCrosseBruce Nuttleman photo

The Rockford pace car gets ready to kick off the nights activitiesJimmy Ambruoso photo

"Marty on the Mic" interviews Matt Leer at Cedar Lake SpeedwayVince Peterson photo

Page 14July 2016

Page 15 July 2016

Dean & JasonTalkin' Racin'

Inside The Magic of Dirt Track Prep

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Dean RellerSome people say that trying to prep a dirt track forracing is a science, others may argue that it’s an artform, but as I recently discovered there’s a bit ofmagic involved too. Well, maybe it’s not what youwere thinking, but I had a chance to hear what it takesto make a great racing surface from Kim Webb,who’s billed as “The Dirt Track Magician”ofPrinceton Speedway.

Webb started out in 1990 at the Princeton Speedwaywith some simple instructions. “You have to be here20 Friday nights in a row AND here are the keys tothe water truck and that was it,” said Webb. Ofcourse there’s a lot more to it than that, which hequickly found out through trial and error.

“I kept a notebook in the water truck and I wrotedown the weather conditions on the days I was haulingwater. Then, I started looking at cloud cover and windand rain and how much it rained the day before.”

Besides the weather element, there are a lot of othersstudies (or science) involved in figuring what it takesto make a great race track. “I’ve spent a lot of timestudying clay from other people’s race tracks,” notedWebb. “I have a microscope to look at the clay.”

During the races Webb, dresses in all white, the safetystandard at race tracks from years gone by and standsin the infield watching. However, unlike the fans, he’swatching the track, not necessarily the cars that areracing on it. “Moisture and compaction is what I’mfocusing on,” said Webb. “Billy Joe Meyer drives the

grater and he does an excellent jobat that,” added Webb about hiscoworker on the track.

After one race night ends, thepreparation begins for thefollowing week’s races. On thisparticular night, the track becamedry-slick by the end of the racesand with rains expected the nextday, it was decided to leave thetrack “sealed”. In other words,leave the dry slick track alone,which would allow a heavy rain torun off rather than to soak in.

Webb will monitor the moisture inthe track several times a day in thedays leading up to a race program.

He employs the use of a not so high tech tool.Something that everyone reading this story probablyhas a least one of, a #2 four-inch screwdriver.

Looking at piece of clay on the tip of the screwdrivershows how much moisture there is. If you can seeyour fingerprints in the clay when you squeeze it, themoisture is right. “I pick it in the crust at the top andsee how deep it is,” explained Webb. Each tenth ofan inch matters and the further down you stick thescrewdriver, relates directly to how much more waterthe track is going to need.

Race day watering requirements have to not just focuson how much water to put on the track, but as theysay in sports and in this case magic, timing iseverything. “We have to start watering at 5:00 inorder to be ready to race on time (7:00),” noted Webb.“When it rains right before the show, that’s when wecan get into trouble. Other times, we welcome rainaround here, especially during the week.”

Drivers each have their preference, some prefer thedry slick, others a more tacky track. Race fans wouldrather not have a face full of dust, so hitting theperfect track conditions to please everyone takes alittle science and skill, almost like magic.Kim Webb “The Dirt Track Magician”

(Dean Reller photo)

Page 16July 2016

Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,

Observances andObservances andObservances andObservances andObservances and

OpinionsOpinionsOpinionsOpinionsOpinions

Dale P. Danielski

Racing Facts, Observances and Opinionscontinued on page 20

Dale's Picture's from the past

Is there a changing of the guard of sorts taking placeat La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in the NASCARLate Model Division this year? We bring this to ourreader’s attention as Mike Carlson for the first time inhis career passed his dad Steve to win the 25 lapfeature race on 6/11/18.

Mike started his racing career in the 4 cylinder divisionat the track before jumping into the Late ModelDivision there. There has been steady improvementeach year and in 2016 with a new car and a crateengine, Carlson has found the right combinationpassing his dad on lap 22 of the feature race and going

on to the significant win. Significantin that when you beat your dad onthe race track and not just finishahead of, but pass him, it is truly ahistoric feat for a young driver. It’sespecially noteworthy when youhave a racing father that’s had thecareer in the sport that Steve has.I can remember Bryan Reffnerwinning a feature race over hisfamous father Tom and saying howfrom that point on he knew he hadwhat it took to be a successful racerin this sport. It turned out just thatway as Bryan went on to a very successful career ofhis own in racing.

So will we see more of this from Mike Carlson thisyear and beyond? More than likely, but don’t count theveteran Steve Carlson out just yet as he turned thetables on Mike the following week winning the 25 lapmain at the track with Mike right behind.

What we really need now days are more familyrivalries like this in racing. More dads, sons anddaughters involved in short track racing. Car countscontinue to drop off everywhere (And we’re speakingmore of the pavement than dirt set here.) and no oneseems to be able to offer a solution to the problem.Back when you had a sanctioning group mandatingrules to keep everyone on the same page all benefitedas tracks on the circuit saw the same driverscompeting every week (Great for marketing andpromotional purposes.) and those drivers knew theycould compete with a uniform set of rules. Now daystracks are independently operated and all want to holdevents on the same night. There is not a whole lot ofcooperation between them anymore and it has really

hurt the sport at the short track level as fewer andfewer people choose to get involved in racing.

Sadly, some of it is the technological evolution that hastaken place with fabricated race cars that can easilybe purchased by anyone if the money is there. Goneare the days when home built ingenuity could competeand dad and kids would work together and alleventually race. Worse yet is the young kid catching aglimpse of the current product, showing some interestand finding out it is going to cost him $50,000 and upto get involved. We’re speaking of a top division ofracing here obviously, but this is the scenario at all toomany tracks. In addition with all the electronic devicesavailable for amusement these days dads and theirkids would rather play video games in the palm of theirhand then put a steering wheel there. It’s immediategratification for a lot less money.

In spite of all that, as long as I’ve followed this sport italways seems to reach a point where you have to takea couple steps back to move forward. With 12 or

Mike Carlson #50 driving his NASCAR Late Model

Ernie Derr #1 raced with IMCA making frequent visits to Wisconsin including La Crosse Fairgrounds. He raced this potent Dodge Chargerat Marathon Park of Wausau, WI. (From the Gary Hall collection) Minnesota traveler Don James raced this Chevelle throughout the State of

Wisconsin in 1974. Another Minnesota traveler, Bob Jusola #4 raced this Nova frequently on the Wisconsin circuit in 1973.

Page 17 July 2016

Kris Peterson

Dirty Talkin'

Upcoming EventsAugust 8 - 14

Dakota County Fair

When sixteen year old Hunter Custer was just fouryears old he had the opportunity to meet NASCARdriver Kevin Harvick and from that point forwardbecoming a race car driver was what he knew hewanted to do.

In 2009, at the ripe old age of 9, his grandpa boughthim his first go kart and he began his racing career onthe dirt of Thunder Hill Speedway in MenomonieWisconsin. He developed an interest in sprint carracing when his mom began taking him to World ofOutlaws and USAC sprint car races and that interestbecame a racing reality when the junior at ChippewaFalls Senior High School began racing his number 29non-wing sprinter with the Upper Midwest Sprint CarSeries (UMSS) in 2016. The UMSS traditional Sprints

race most often at CedarLake Speedway but alsotravel to other area tracks.

Hunter’s race teamconsists of just him and hismom, unless the races heis participating in happenon a Friday night and momis not off of work earlyenough, and then it is hisgrandma that arrives to thetrack with him. His momhas been his study crewchief and supported hisracing dream from thebeginning.

As of June 18, 2016 theyoung Rookie in theUMSS has raced 10 out of10 feature races and sits8th in the point standings.Hunter has a goal ofworking hard and giving iteverything he has to winthe Rookie of the Year forthe Traditional SprintDivision of the series this2016 race season.

As a racing mom myself Ihave watched in awe asthis quiet young man andhis mom show up at thetrack week in and weekout working together to gethim and his car ready torace. Hunter shows a lot of talent and promise as ayoung driver and gets better every week, I expect wewill be hearing his name at area dirt tracks for sometime to come.

Vince Peterson photo

Vince Peterson photo

Page 18July 2016

Full Throttle

Shane Carlson

Bruening’s Dream Weekend

For many racers, heading to a racetrack for the firsttime can be an intimidating feat. Not knowing wherethe preferred line is or what kind of setup to putbeneath the car can cause headaches and a lot ofsleepless nights. And when a driver makes their firststart at a little place known as Eldora Speedway, well,it has the potential to make for a long weekend.

Every June, the nation’s best dirt late model driversflock to Eldora Speedway for the Dirt Late ModelDream. Names such as Bloomquist, Davenport, andLanigan make the trek, but also competing throughoutthe three-day event are young guns and drivers whohave never raced at Eldora before. Tyler Bruening isof the latter.

The 30-year-old has had a successful dirt late modelcareer thus far, as he holds six track championshipsamong two different tracks in Iowa, with over 50career feature wins. Eldora is a different animal thananything he had ever raced on before. “We’re justreally excited to be here,” Bruening said. “It’s our firsttime coming.”

He turned his first laps at Eldora on day one of theDream, Thursday, just hours before he would becompeting in full race conditions. Bruening and hisrace team weren’t completely on an island bythemselves though. “We’re teamed up with CapitalRace Cars, and they’re a world of help,” he said.“We’ve walked back and forth a bunch a bunch oftimes picking their brains and seeing what they thinkand what we should try.”

On the first two nights of the Dream, Brueningmanaged to qualify for the A-Main Feature event,

finishing 18th, and 20th, respectively. Asked how hehas adapted so quickly to the track, “This is a hugemomentum racetrack,” he said. “The track is justreally conducive to my style of racing. It gets good andslick from top to bottom, so then you have to drive thecars a little more, which is good for me,” Bruening toldThe Midwest Racing Connection.

“It helps a bunch when you can come to a racetracklike this, first time coming, and you can unload withyour standard setup on and be competitive.”Driversmaking their first start at a new track are forced to dotheir homework and act as a student, soaking upinformation any way they can get it.”I feel like I learna ton every time I strap in.”

Bruening’s dream weekend didn’t quite end up theway he wanted, as he failed to qualify for Saturdaynight’s $100,000-to-win A-Main Feature, “They atleast knew we were here.”Now that he and his teamhave gotten a taste of Eldora, they want more. “We’llbe back for sure,” Bruening said. “The track is justreally conducive to my style of racing. It gets good andslick from top to bottom, so then you have to drive thecars a little more, which is good for me.”

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Four Cylinder FrenzyFour Cylinder Frenzy

Many area tracks feature front-wheel drive, four cylynder entry level divisions.While the cost of the cars may not be as much as the higher divisions, they can be

equally as entertaining as their more expensive counter parts as this three andfour-wide action from LaCrosse Speedway and Spring Lake Speedway shows.Bruce Nuttleman photo Tom Loos photo

Page 19 July 2016

Looking Forward IntoThe Future Of Auto Racing

In modern day motorsports, it is not unusual to seeteenagers driving racecars. Youthful racers havebecome a normality and can certainly have a positiveimpact on the future of auto racing. Many of the topNASCAR stars started out racing go-karts at just fiveor so years old, including top drivers like KevinHarvick, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano. But in thelast few years, auto racing has seen more and moreyoung drivers stepping into faster cars with morehorsepower and competing with men and women twoand even three times their age. Wide eyed rookiesstare right into the glares of grizzled veterans, andcompete for wins racing door to door. But the youngdrivers can definitely do just as good as the driversthat have been competing for over twenty years.

Many come from a racing family, with parents orgrandparents that once drove racecars. I am one ofmany in that group, being the son of one of the bestdrivers at Elko Speedway, Doug Brown. He has 27years of racing experience and has won fivechampionships as a driver, and was the guy whobought me my first quarter midget. Since then I havewon two track championships at Elko, and a nationalchampionship in the NASCAR Whelen All-AmericanSeries, and I’m only fifteen years old.

Other youth drivers get into racing because ofcuriosity, catch the racing bug, and end up racing formany years. The youth movement is extremely strongright now, with thousands of young men and womenstrapping in behind the wheels of racecars everyweekend at their local short tracks across the UnitedStates. The youth movement is what will make is sportas popular or even perhaps more popular than it was inthe 1990’s. Fresh faces will bring new fans and a newlook to auto racing. I strongly encourage anyone andeveryone to help get kids started in racing if theyexpress any interest in it. It teaches kids the value ofteamwork, dedication, and how to show goodsportsmanship. The youth movement is a lot more thana passing fad. It will shape the next generation ofdrivers and fans, and will determine the fate of oursport in the future. But in order for the local shorttrack teenaged driver to become the next superstar ofthe Cup Series, he or she needs the correct backingfrom friends, family, fans, and sponsors. Help theyoung drivers market themselves to potential sponsorsby making a portfolio of all of the accomplishments thedriver has, and put pictures and information about thedriver in it as well. Good sponsors pay large dividendswhen it comes to getting the driver noticed.

I am fortunate enough to have multiple sponsors thatdo whatever they can to see me succeed behind the

wheel of a racecar, like Doug Skaug of Elite AutoWorks and Joanne Zacharias of Don’t Tell Me IKan’t. Both are wonderful people and they want to dotheir best to help me move up in the ranks ofNASCAR. Also, make sure they have a good teamthat can communicate with the driver.

Communications are vital in a race team, but you alsoneed to make sure the driver is giving good feedbackso that the car can be adjusted on correctly and theyhave the opportunity to win races. Many young driversin the Midwest should get a chance to drive in thehigher ranks of NASCAR, like Derek Kraus, CalebAdrian, and hopefully myself, among many otheryoung men and women. Hopefully we will see manymore young drivers in the Cup Series that cut theirteeth on the short tracks of the Midwest.

By Grant Brown

then swung a deal for two old practice tires from JimSauter to put on the left. That night, he raced againstthe likes of Trickle, Sauter, Mark Martin, DaveWatson, and Al Schill, lapping all but six cars; pickingup that first ARTGO career win.

Savvy racers learn to make do with less; even when itcomes to a pit crew. In the early days, Holzhausenwas running with a skeleton pit crew.

Like an event in 1989, when his team consisted of hisvery pregnant wife, Sherie, Toby Nuttleman, and oneof Toby’s younger brothers, Peter. They dug out oneof the oldest, gnarliest-looking tires to put on the rightrear, to prevent the track at Hawkeye Downs fromchewing it up. They still weren’t happy with the waythe car was handling, so they decided to put differentspindles on the car. It was then that Dick Tricklewalked past their pit.

“I’ve changed a lot at a track before, but never twospindles,” Trickle said.

As it turned out, that change and the gangrene-like tiremade a huge difference, and Holzhausen would go onto win the first ARTGO show on the new asphaltwhich paved the once-dirt track at Hawkeye Downs.

Five years later, he would be piloting a Pontiac at thatsame track. Pontiac had a dandy sponsorship programin place that awarded the winning driver a $5,000bonus, if their race car was a Pontiac. If the winnerdidn’t drive a Pontiac, that $5,000 rolled over to thenext race, and the pot grew.

It was the first ASA event at Hawkeye Downs in1994, and Holzhausen pulled off the win, and pickedup a $20,000 bonus for running a Pontiac. Ah, thegood old days of racing.

While Holzhausen assures me that he won’t be gettingback behind the wheel, he will always keep his fingersin racing. Whether he’s helping his son, Skylar, or anyof Jimmy Back’s boys, or grandsons; Holzhausen sayshe just wants to work on race cars. Having a hand inracing in some way, shape, or form other than drivingseems to be enough for him.

These days, Holzhausen mostly pilots a fishing boat.If your friends with him on Facebook (or Spacebook,as he calls it), you’ve likely seen a few photos of himand his wife, Sherie holding up some dandy catches.

I pointed out that it would seem that Sherie catchesthe bigger fish. I saw a little devil dancing in his eyes,as he quickly pointed out that he always hands her thepole with the biggest fish on the line.

It’s good to know the competitive spirit is stillflickering inside of him.

Racing Nuggets continued from page 8

Page 20July 2016

Racing Facts, Observances and Opinionsfrom page 17

In the Summer of 2015, young Cody Brightbill suffered a serious injury to his arm in anunfortunate incident. Cody returned to the seat again this year at Thunder Hill Speedway

and swept his division during the mid-June race weekend. In true Brightbill fashion, the sonof the Wild Child also utilized the high groove for the majority of the laps.

better engine combinations available out there costinganywhere from $8,000-$30,000, and the hottest set upin shock absorber technology at your fingertips for$6,000 or so, along with race car bodies that are tooaerodynamically sound and unnecessarily expensive, Ithink that saturation point has been reached. If pay-offs at these tracks justified these types of expensesand maybe on a Touring Series they do, it might be adifferent story. Unfortunately purse pay-offs haveremained the same or actually gone down for over 20years. For a weekly show and to race for fun theseexpenses are just too much to overcome for theaverage racer. There are more entry level divisions ofracing out there and they are an important part of arace program, but to sell an exciting show you need topromote the stars of it, the heroes, and they should bein your top billed class of racing. Taking a couple stepsback here, bringing back more rules uniformity at thetracks that run similar divisions, and getting morepeople involved (Remember, more cars still do bringmore race fans.) again in the sport would be a goodplace to begin.

Here and there…Nice to see Terry Schoppenhorstwin the CWRA Lyle Nabbefeldt 55 lap Memorial racefeature at Dells Raceway Park, Wis. Dells, WI., hereJune 18th. If you are going to pick a time to win yourfirst ever feature of any kind as Schoppenhorst didhere, a big race is when to do it. Lax Fairgrounds helda boat race here 6/11/16 as part of the race programand to say it was wild is definitely a big timeunderstatement. Trailers carrying boats after promoterChuck Deery had watered down the front stretch tosimulate being on a lake made for great entertainment.There was so much debris lying around after the eventit probably took a week to clean it up. Jared Novakwas the happy winner of the race…After a two weekhiatus Brad Powell came back to La CrosseFairgrounds with a vengeance taking the 25 lapNASCAR Late Model Feature 6/25/16. Steve andMike Carlson followed…Good to see nice guy MarkChallet take the feature win in the Thunderstoxdivision on the night. Challet led the entire distance inthat division’s main event…

In the defunct race track category it’s the GoldenSands Speedway of Plover, Wisconsin. The track wasbuilt and promoted by Sam Bartus opening in 1967. Itheld regular racing through 1983 before beingshuttered for 5 years. Terry Preuser and yours trulyprovided a big push getting the track opened in late1988. Unlike others there is a good ending here as thetrack is still operating today.

In the Quote of the column department, “I decided togo racing to stay out of the bar. I figured that would becheaper so I bought Kevin Nuttleman’s car and wentracing.” If you can figure out who said this, yeoldescribe will buy you a beer.

And going back in time to June 20th, 1969 it was LyleNabbefeldt winning the feature race behind the wheelof the Dick Trickle 1967 Ford Fairlane. FollowingNabbefeldt at the stripe were George Thornton, JimBack, Dave Field and Homer Spink. Other resultsfound Tom Jensen winning the Semi-Feature whileRoy Gau took the consolation race. Heat race winnerswere Keith Kemnetz, Gene Theide, Ron Soma andNabbefeldt. Field set fast time on the night at 13.28seconds. On August 6th, 1971 it was Don Jameswinning the 20 lap Feature at La Crosse InterstateSpeedway, West Salem, WI. James was followed byLyle Nabbefeldt and Jim Back. The 15 lap Semi-feature winner was Buck Linhart followed by DalePennel and Dale Walworth. Heat race victors wereLinhart, Walworth and Roy Schmidtke. The fast dashwent to James. (Thanks to Jim Cleveland and all hisresearch for these race results.)Going back to August17th, 1985 in a visit to Rockford, IL., Speedway (Atrack that was in the midst of taking a couple stepsback economically in their track rules.) it was BobbyHacker taking the 30 lap Feature win over RickyBilderback, Al Papini, Dave Watson and WayneLensing. Semi-Feature victor on the night was WayneSwartout. The Fast Dash went to Jimmie Pierson withheat race wins going to Steve Moll, Gary Loos andDenny Miller. Fast qualifier around the high banked ¼mile paved oval was Lensing with a new track recordfor the “Rockford Rules Late Models” at 14:259seconds.

Questions, comments, opinions and other informationwelcome at Starmaker Multimedia 967 10th Ave N SteA, Onalaska, WI 54650 608-783-5827 or atdale@starmakermultimedia.com

In the defunct race track file this isa photo (top) of the Golden Sands

Speedway of Plover, WI. as itappeared in early 1988. The

Speedway had been closed for 5years before re-opening in late

1988. Photo of Dick Trickle (bottom)making his return to Wisconsin to

race at Golden Sands in 1989 in hisMiller beer Camaro.

Back In The Saddle Again

Page 21 July 2016

The Match Race

2016 Masters Weekend at Cedar Lake

The 2016 version of The Masters at Cedar Lake saw Billy Moyer sweep the weekend for the Late Models as part of the UMP SummerNationals Hell Tour. Jason Vandekamp Nick Oreskovich picked up wins during the Thursday night Herbison Memorial race.

(Vince Peterson photos)

Sometimes something old can become new again. This was the case at the ARCA Midwest TourAll Star 100 at Rockford Speedway as best 2 out of 3 match was took place between Ty Majeski

and Driver X - Jon Reynolds Jr. Driver X took the win.(Doug Hornickel photos)

2016 Masters Weekend at Cedar Lake

The Match Race

Page 22July 2016

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Going In Circles continued from page 9

Rodriguez. Some here have not seen Rodriguezrace, but I have, and I knew he would be rightthere. This played out, as Stark took the win withconstant pressure from Rodriguez to the end.Great race. James Bell ran well to finish third inwhat I believe to be his first time on this track.

It is not unusual to see Phil Malouf at any ofthese events anywhere in the Midwest. TheFord Probe driver runs all over on both asphaltand dirt, as well as racing a limited late model ata couple of central Wisconsin tracks. “Weweren’t going to travel as much this year,” SaidPhil, “But we are right up there in points, so herewe are again.” Phil’s Daughter, Anna, alsoraces Bandolero cars when she can, so Phil isbusy.

Took in the ARCA Midwest Tour “All Star 100” atthe famed Rockford Speedway. It was quite theshow, as in addition to the ARCAMWT cars, theregular NASCAR late models that normally run atRockford were also present, along with theRoadrunners, all as part of a “Gilley’s DoubleFeature” presentation. Jake Gille took the openingfeature for the Rockford regulars, with Jon ReynoldsJr. taking the second one. Reynolds was one verybusy guy, as he ran in the both Rockford late modelsand in the ARCA Midwest race as well. On top ofthat, he also ran in a special match race against TyMajeski, which he won. Overall, he had quite a night.Jim Olson also ran with Rockford late models, fieldingtwo cars, and also in the ARCAMW portion as well.All of this on a very hot and sweltering day/night. Acouple of guys that put out a tremendous effort alongwith their crews. Taking the upset victory in the AllStar 100 was Jeff Holtz, arguably his biggest and most

prestigious win ever. He drove a nice race and washanging around when opportunity came, and hepounced on it, as Ty Majeski had a good lead, only tomeet up with a car about to be lapped, when he dovelow the same time the other car also went low to allowhim to pass, putting both out and giving the lead toHoltz. Also of note was the drive that Casey Johnsonput out. I think he came from the back to the frontthree different times during the course of the race, andran out of time to mount a challenge to Holtz at theend.

Seventy-six year old Gene Marocco took the win inthe first Roadrunner feature, showing the youngstershow to get it done. Gene is in incredibly good physicalshape, allowing him to compete well even in theextreme heat. Chris McQuality took the secondfeature.

Page 23 July 2016

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Page 24July 2016