12/22/2017
WISSOTA
WISSOTA champs honored at 2017 banquet
ST. CLOUD, MN (November 11) - The River’s Edge Convention Center once again welcomed nearly 700 WISSOTA?racers, family and friends to the annual national awards banquet to enjoy a meal together and celebrate the accomplishments of fellow racers from the 2017 season.
WISSOTA?Executive Director Terry Voeltz opened the evening with welcoming remarks. As Voeltz moved into the business of racing in 2017, he mentioned that six tracks sanctioned Hornets, and 10 sanctioned Pure Stocks in 2017. Eight ran Mod Fours, 31 ran Street Stocks, 40 ran Midwest Modifieds, 24 ran Super Stocks, 24 ran Modifieds, and 21 tracks ran Late Models weekly.
Six tracks ran on Thursday nights; 15 tracks ran on Fridays; 16 tracks ran on Saturdays; and seven tracks ran on Sundays for a total of 44 WISSOTA-sanctioned race tracks in 2017.
WISSOTA?provided a massive payout of $216,000 at the WISSOTA?100, which complemented the $400,000 that was given away at the banquet to drivers in cash awards.
Voeltz then invited the pit crews, wives and promoters to stand for recognition of their own for all they do to support racing year-round. The emcees for the night, Jason Thoennes and Denis Czech, were introduced to the crowd and they began the ceremonies.
WISSOTA?sponsors were mentioned and included National/Title Sponsors Shaw Trucking, AFCO, Chevrolet Performance, Speedway Motors, Hossier Tire North, Hoosier Tire, and PolyDome.
Gold Sponsors included AllStar Performance, Schaeffers Specialized Lubricants, Lou Fegers Racing Equipment, Bassett Wheels, Jobbers Performance Warehouse, QA1 Motorsports, Engine Quest, Richmond Gear, and World Products.
Other sponsors honored included: MyRace Pass, Aero Race Wheels, Comp Cams, AMI Graphics, All The Dirt! Racing News, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Dominator, Bert Transmissions, Champ Pans, FAST?Ignitions, Winning Edge Graphics, C&S Specialties, Bilstein Shocks, Dirt Track Supply, Porter’s Toys for Big Boys, Icon Pistons, Fastenal, G-Force Racing Gear, Genesis Shocks, Intercomp Scales, Isky Racing Cams, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Dynamic Drivelines, Joe Provo Race Wear, Design 500, Lunati, Moser Engineering, MSD?Ignitions, Manley, Quarter Master, Wehrs Machine, Simes Graphic Designs, Jack’s Campers, Jack Link’s Beef Jerkey, MAHLE, Tschetter & Hohm Clinic, Wrisco (via Mike and Barb Fegers), Winters Performance, Out-Pace Racing Products, Eagle Specialty, and Scat Crankshafts.
After honoring sponsors, the top 10 Shaw Trucking WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series drivers were honored on stage.?There were 324 driver entries in just 10 completed shows. Three of the 13 scheduled shows were rained out, and there were eight different feature winners in the 10 events. The drivers honored included: 10th place, Marshall Fegers; 9th place, Jeff Provinzino; 8th place, Don Shaw; 7th place, Jeff Massingill; 6th place, Steve Laursen; 5th place, Lance Matthees; 4th place, Rick Hanestad; 3rd place, Jeff Wildung; 2nd place, Jake Redetzke; and this year’s champion, John Kaanta.
Kaanta, who is a six-time Challenge Series champion, accepted the award and thanked his sponsors and family.
The 2017 Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 winners were then brought on stage to receive special recognition. They included: Mod Fours: Tyler Larson; Street Stocks: Jordan Tollakson; Midwest Modifieds: Randy Klein; Super Stocks: Tim Johnson; Modifieds: Matt Gilbertson; and Late Models: Chad Becker.
State Champions in all of the divisions were also on hand. In the Late Models, they included:?Mike Balcaen (Canada); Don Shaw (MN); Rayce McCord?(MT); Dustin Strand (ND); Chad Becker (SD); Mike Prochnow (WI); and Eddie Kirchoff (WY).
In the Modifieds, state champions included:?Ward Imrie (Canada); Tim Johnson?(MN); Tyler McDonald (SD); and Kevin Adams (WI).
In the WISSOTA?Super Stocks, the state champs included: Tim Johnson (MN); Jeremy Meirhofer (MT); Brian Bernotas (ND); Cole Searing (SD); and Tommy Richards (WI).
The state champions in the Midwest Mod class included: Austin Hunter (Canada); Skeeter Estey (MN); Cody Kuglin (MT); Lance Schill (ND); Lorin?Johnson (SD); Shane Halopka (WI); and Scott Joslyn (WY).
WISSOTA?Street Stock state champs included: James Wall (Canada); Tim Johnson (MN); Cory Craver (MT); Jonny Carter (ND); Blayne Baloun (SD); Danny Richards (WI); and Duane Haines (WY).
And finally, state champs in the Mod Four class included Dean Larson (MN) and Justin Will (WY).
WISSOTA?Rookies of the Year were honored on stage; each rookie received a certificate toward a free driver’s suit from G-Force Racing Gear. Taylor Garberich (Hornets); Dusty Caspers (Pure Stocks); Michael Lind (Mod Fours); Braden Brauer (Street Stocks); Calvin Iverson (Midwest Modifieds); Jon Tollakson (Super Stocks); Andy Davey (Modifieds); and Chad Olsen (Late Models) were all honored for first-year accomplishments in their respective classes.
Members of the top 10 in each class were then honored, and included:
Hornets (10th - second): Matthew Dittman, Taylor Garberich, Jake Smith, Noah Nelson, Justin Schelitzche, Joe Martin, Corey Mehrwerth, Erik Cleasby, and Brittany Smith.
Pure Stocks (10th - second): Kade Leeper, Dusty Caspers, Dylan Shelton, Austin Carlson, Josh Berg, Andrew Hanson, Kyle Copp, George Richards, and Dustin Doughty.
Mod Fours (10th - second): Adam Prieve, Tom Manning, Ceenan Emerson, Robert Holtquist, Dustin Holtquist, Trever Roediger, Dino Gronning, Steve Schicketanz, and Tyler Larson.
Street Stocks (10th - second): Robert Petroff, Justin Vogel, Justin Tammen, Jordan Tollakson, Danny Richards, Kyle Dykhoff, Jonny Carter, Jim Gullikson, and Cory Craver.
Midwest Modifieds (10th - second): Mike Nichols, Corey Storck, Scott Hansen, Kyle Harkin, Nick Koehler, Shane Halopka, Dan Wheeler, Austin Hunter, and Lorin Johnson.
Super Stocks (10th - second): Jeff Crouse, Trevor Nelson, Cory Tammen, Jeff Brauer, Shane Sabraski, Kevin Burdick, Tommy Richards, Cole Searing, and Dave Mass.
Modifieds (10th - second): Don Eischens, Mike Anderson, Kent Arment, Scott Greer, Tim Johnson, Shane Sabraski, Dave Cain, Tyler McDonald, and Kevin Adams.
Late Models (10th - second): Curt Gelling, Mike Balcaen, Brad Seng, Kent Arment, Dustin Strand, David McDonald, Scott Ward, Ricky Weiss, and Chad Becker.
The eight champions were honored and given the opportunity to thank their families, pit crews and sponsors. The 2017 WISSOTA?champions included: WISSOTA Horents: Dustin Virkus; WISSOTA?Pure Stocks: Michael Blevins; WISSOTA?Mod Fours: Dean Larson; WISSOTA?Street Stocks and WISSOTA?Super Stocks: Tim Johnson; WISSOTA?Midwest Modifieds: Skeeter Estey; WISSOTA?Modifieds: Ward Imrie; and WISSOTA?Late Models: Don Shaw.
Not only did each take home point fund money for their respective class, but they were also able to take home their championship banner from the banquet hall.
Three special awards were presented to WISSOTA?race tracks. Those tracks honored included Red Cedar Speedway, for its promotion of the Duane Mahder “55” Memorial; Ogilvie Raceway for the WISSOTA?Strong award; and Greenbush Race Park for the WISSOTA?Award of Excellence.
The night ended with a variety of giveaways. They included:
Mahle Pistons, 1 set, won by Blayne Baloun.
World Products Cylinder Heads, won by Ward Imrie, Tyler McDonald and Brady Gerdes.
Brodix Cylinder Heads, won by John Kaanta, Rick Hanestad and Jake Redetzke.
WISSOTA?cash awards, won by:?Erik Cleasby, Noah Nelson, Dusty Caspers, Josh Berg, Jessica Stransky, Trever Roediger, Cody Hall, Cody Daly, Tommy Richards, Andy Davey, Cory Tammen, Scott Ward, Trevor Anderson, Ricky Weiss, and Greg Meyer.
Moser Engineering $1000 product certificates, won by Dexton Koch, Michael Truscott and Shane Halopka.
Six Holley carburetors, won by Jon Tollakson, Ashley Mehrwerth, Dave Mass, Kyle Dykhoff, Andrew Hanson, and Andy Jones.
A Bert transmission, won by Cory Tammen.
QA1 $250 certificates were won by Jeff Brauer, Brock Gronwold, Danny Richards and Skeeter Estey.
Complete set of driver’s underwear from Design 500, won by Eric Riley.
Intercomp gave one digital air gauge to each of the eight national champions, and also awarded the runner-up in each division with a digital angle gauge.
Wilwood Brakes gave the following champions product for their accomplishments: Don Shaw, Ward Imrie, Tim Johnson, Skeeter Estey, Dean Larson and Dustin Virkus.
And finally, Manley crankshafts were won by Kevin Adams, Kevin Burdick and Mike Nichols.
Voeltz concluded the program by thanking all those in attendance, and congratulating the winners one final time.
Submitted By: Scott Hughes