11/2/2025
WISSOTA
Keller claims WISSOTA Street Stock National Co-Rookie of the Year honors
Zimmerman, Minnesota’s Trent Keller decided to move from crew member to driver for the 2025 season. The move paid dividends as Trent was able to race to the WISSOTA Street Stock National Co-Rookie of the Year title, sharing honors with Montevideo, Minnesota’s Coltyn Schuler and besting the talented group of 42 other Street Stock rookies to win the award.
2025 was the first year Trent raced in any division, driving any kind of car. His racing experience included serving on the pit crew for his buddy Tommy Pogones for several years. During the 2024/2025 off-season, he was approached and given the opportunity to drive the #27 car, which Joel Bjergo had previously owned. He jumped at the chance, and it paid off as he will forever be etched in WISSOTA’s record books as a Rookie of the Year award winner.
24-year-old Keller entered 42 events throughout the 2025 season and achieved a very consistent 31 top-ten finishes, along with 8 top-five finishes, among the 42 feature races he entered throughout the season.
When asked about his excellent rookie season, Keller mentioned ‘being the Rookie of the Year is an unreal feeling. This was my first year racing anything, and I was able to learn a lot and meet a lot of great people.’ He also wanted to thank WISSOTA for honoring new drivers each year.
Trent’s #27 Street Stock is sponsored by East Central Sports, Thumbs Up and Racer’s X Performance Parts. He is also supported by his grandparents George and Charlene, Mac Johnston, Joel Bjergo, the Pogones family as well as his crew, which consists of Wyatt, Tyler, Tommy, Allie, Dylan and Brody.
Winning his first heat race at the Princeton Speedway in Princeton, Minnesota, in a photo finish, by just 0.049 seconds, was one of the moments he looked back on as a great moment of the season. He also chose the night when he led most of the feature during the Fight to the Finish night at the North Central Speedway in Brainerd, MN, and the Labor Day Doubleheader at Princeton, where he raced from 7th to finish 2nd in the feature, as another highlight of 2025 for Trent.
Trent competed at eleven different tracks including the Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, MN; the Princeton Speedway in Princeton, MN; the North Central Speedway in Brainerd, MN; the Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, MN; the Rice Lake Speedway in Rice Lake, WI; the KRA Speedway in Willmar, MN; Viking Speedway in Alexandria, MN; the Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, WI; the Bemidji Speedway in Bemidji, MN; the Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon, MN, and I-94 for the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 during the 2025 campaign.
Trent plans to build on what he learned during his rookie season in 2025 and search for his first feature win during the upcoming 2026 season as he continues to compete in the WISSOTA Street Stock division.
Congrats to Trent and his team!
WISSOTA is proudly sponsored by their official marketing partners:
Hoosier Racing Tire, My Race Pass, NAPA Auto Parts, Dirt Race Central, Speedway Motors, Gondik Law and All The Dirt Racing News, along with their Platinum partner, Raceceiver, plus their Gold sponsors, which include EngineQuest and World Products.
WISSOTA is also sponsored by Silver partners AFCO and Willy’s Carburetor & Dyno Shop, plus Bronze sponsor Stakt Products.
WISSOTA also has a great group of contingency sponsors, including Brodix Cylinder Heads, BuyRaceShirts.com, Manley, Allstar Performance, AMI Graphics, Winning Edge Graphics, Velocita, RaceCals, RaceGear Designs, All Star Trophy & Awards, Minuteman Press, Performance Auto, UEM Pistons, Mahle Motorsports, Performance Auto, Freedom Race Lifts, Victory Fuel, Power Lodge, Deatherage Opticians and MD3.
For more information on WISSOTA, log on to www.WISSOTA.org.
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 an 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.
Submitted By: Jacy Norgaard