10/20/2022
WISSOTA
Holtquist Hauls In 2022 WISSOTA Mod Four National Title
Dustin Holtquist, who resides in St. Cloud, MN entered his 20th season behind the wheel of a race car during the 2022 season and raced to the WISSOTA Mod4 National Championship for his efforts this season. Dustin’s career started in the Two Man Cruiser class at Fiesta City and Canby back in 2003. After racing them for several years, he bought a Super Stock and ran in that division for a couple years until his daughter was born. After that, he raced a Cruiser for a bit until he and a buddy Dusty bought a Mod 4 and raced that for a few years until he moved from South Dakota to St. Cloud when he started driving for his current car owners Dallas and Sally. He said ‘I’ve raced for them for the last six years and can’t thank them enough.’
Holtquist earned 2210 points during the 2022 season and edged former national champions Dean Larson and Tommy Bawden by just 11 and 21 points respectively to claim the title. The Mod Four National Championship point chase came right down to the final event of the season at the Fall Classic at Ogilvie when Holtquist’s nearest competitor Larson had the opportunity to close the gap and contend for the title, but at the end of the weekend, Dustin was able to hold on and pick up the national championship for his efforts.
Dustin entered 55 events during the season, racing to 18 wins and finishing inside the top ten during 51 of his 55 starts. He entered races at the Princeton Speedway in Princeton, MN; the North Central Speedway in Brainerd, MN, the Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, MN, the KRA Speedway in Willmar, MN; the Gillette Thunder Speedway in Gillette, WY, the Sheridan Speedway in Sheridan, WY, the Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, SD, the I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN and the Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, MN. Dustin won feature races at 7 different tracks throughout the season.
When looking back on his season, Dustin said ‘winning the WISSOTA Mod Four National title means everything to me. It’s been a goal of mine since I just barely lost it by 5 points in 2018, so this just put the icing on the cake for me in my Mod4 career.’ He went on to say ‘we had some special wins during the year including winning night 1 of the Mod Wars at Ogilvie; winning the Mod 4 Blackjack Special at Black Hills and Gillette; winning all 3 nights of the East-West Clash in Gillette and winning the Race of Champions at the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 for the third time.’ Another race he remembered being memorable was when he lost a head gasket in the heat race at Mod Wars at Ogilvie and had to get it off, change it out and put back together. He then had to push start the car and started 20th in the feature. He was able to race forward to finish 6th on his favorite track.
Sponsors on Dustin’s #5H include Collins Brothers Towing of St. Cloud, Burda’s Towing, Wollak Construction, Ringdahl Architects, The Pump 2.0, Pikes Grain Bin Repair, Double L Ranch, Dirt E Tees Race Wraps and Apparel, SN Films, Wagamon Brothers Racing Engines, Halls Racing Engines, FOX Shocks by Dan Ebert, Dirt Slayer Chassis and Speedwerx Headers.
Dustin also wanted to thank his mom and dad Bob and Brenda, his daughter Ella, his brother Jeremy and sister Shannen as well as his girlfriend Kaitlyn and their pit dog Marley for all of their unwavering support.
Dustin’s 2023 season might look a little different than this past year as he plans to race at some tracks he’s never been to before, spend more time with his daughter and girlfriend and go four-wheeling more often. Dustin started building his own chassis in 2020 and between himself and his dad, they have 64 wins together over the past three years, so he plans to build a few new cars for some customers and give them whatever support they need throughout the season as well.
Congrats!
The WISSOTA Promoters Association exists to benefit its member tracks to enhance safe, profitable and successful dirt track racing, through unified, cost-effective rules, policies and procedures, enacted within a democratic environment.
The WISSOTA Promoters Association was founded in 1981 by eight track promoters in Wisconsin and Minnesota, with intent to offer uniform rules for the promoters and drivers involved in the Late Model division. Soon, the group decided to do the same for the growing Modified division.
In 1984 a voluntary steering committee was formed to oversee the business aspects that developed and to guide the future of WISSOTA’s racing divisions. That steering committee evolved into a board of directors, and the non-profit racing organization became incorporated in 1986.
Promoters who join the organization become, in essence, part owners of the racing organization and are expected to contribute to its overall success. Each November, the WISSOTA annual meeting is held; the member promoters gather annually in this forum to discuss the future of the organization. Member promoters are given the opportunity to vote on all organizational policies and procedures as well as rules for competition in the various racing divisions. WISSOTA’s member promoters and racing associations have spent approximately 30 years of hard work at the annual meetings crafting unique rules for each of the divisions, which are known as WISSOTA Late Models, WISSOTA Modifieds, WISSOTA Super Stocks, WISSOTA Street Stocks, WISSOTA Mod Fours, WISSOTA Pure Stocks and WISSOTA Hornets.
WISSOTA is proudly sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tire, Speedway Motors, AFCO Racing Products, MyRacePass, Structural Buildings, Chevrolet Performance, Engine Quest, Schaeffer’s Specialized Lubricants, World Products, Manley, QA1, Allstar Performance, Bassett, Brodix Cylinder Heads, AMI Graphics, Wilwood Disc Brakes, MSD, Minuteman Press Princeton, Simpson, Hooker Headers, Marv’s Trailer Sales, Leighton Broadcasting, Comp Cams, Aero, Joe Provo Racewear, Mahle, Moser Engineering, Winning Edge Graphics, Champ Pans, Performance Auto, ATD, Holley, American Solutions for Business, All Star Trophy and Awards, ERMA, and Garage-Tech X-treme.
For more information on WISSOTA, log on to www.WISSOTA.org.
(Photo provided by Dustin Holtquist)
Article Credit: FYE Motorsports Promotions
Submitted By: Camryn Sullivan