NORWAY — The Norway Speedway Fabulous Four-Cylinder Division, AKA the Fab Fours, have withstood the test of time.

The division began in 2001 and we were one of the first speedways to race front wheel drive cars in the Upper Midwest. The class was designed to be an inexpensive way for high school kids to get their start in racing and it went above and beyond its expectations.

We had over 100 cars the first year we started the division and it opened the door for high school students and anyone else that wanted to see what it was like to race competitively at Norway Speedway for a reasonable amount of money.

The division has launched the careers of some of our best racecar drivers at the Speedway including Scott Stanchina, Tim Schultz Jr., Jason Wells, Karl Lamoreaux, Brett Bray, Robby Iverson and Joey Pontbriand.

However, like everything else, it isn’t what it once was due to the economy, availability of cars and possibly a new generation of kids that may not be interested in motorsports.

We still have a solid group of four cylinder racers that like to get out there on Friday nights and mix it up.

Elliott Reid of Faithorn is our 2016 champion and takes his front wheel drive racing very seriously, traveling throughout Wisconsin to race against some of the best that are out there.

He is also a versatile driver that has done very well on dirt at Upper Peninsula International Raceway. His best friend, Reid Devoe of Faithorn, had a breakout season last year and finished second in the points.

Brad Harter of Hermansville is another young and upcoming racer that has a tremendous enthusiasm for the sport and could challenge for the championship this coming season.

Tommy Hulce and Adam Faull both showed promise toward the end of last year.

Faull just purchased one of the top cars out of the state of Wisconsin. He could be a serious contender once he gets the feel of his new car.

A story on Fab Four racing at Norway Speedway wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t mention 15-year racing veteran Bobby Nordell, who looked good in recent practices.

The last few years we had a division called the Modified Four Cylinders, where you could take any front wheel drive four cylinder and make any modification you wanted to it producing tremendous speeds and beautiful cars.

For three years, the division was dominated by Pembine’s Anthony Schiefelbein and his father Bob Schiefelbein. They both finished first and second every year and were basically unbeatable.

Their two strongest competitors were David Loomis of Norway and Rickey Holmstrom of Kingsford. Due to a lack of participants the division was ended.

However, one door closes and another one opens. Anthony and his dad both have beautiful sportsman cars and should create an immediate impact on that division.

David Loomis shocked everyone at practice last week when he showed up with a ’79 Ford Thunderbird decked out and ready to go racing in the sportsman division.

Rickey Holmstrom, on the other hand, skipped a step and went right to the Coca Cola Late Model Division and will be running for rookie of the year against Alyssa Larson of Green Bay.

These four racers and their development are going to be a great story at the Speedway this summer.

Another new division brought to the Speedway in recent years is a traveling series from the state of Wisconsin called the Wisconsin Sport Trucks. These are not full-size trucks, they are smaller scaled pickup trucks powered by big horse power snowmobile and motorcycle engines. They look beautiful and go extremely fast as the horse power to weight ratio is off the charts.

Brent Barglind finished fifth in the points last year and won a couple of heat races. He started to make a statement, finishing second in the feature event twice.

He could be a serious contender for the Norway Speedway track championship and he is one of our locals.

Rhianna Carne of Kingsford is no stranger at the speedway as she was a standout in the Fab Four Division and has now made the transition to the Wisconsin Sport Truck Series. She was rookie of the year in 2016.

Gary Thom finished 12th in championship points in his beautiful No. 3. He also had a top five in a feature event and it is only his second year in the division.

Kelly Burcar of Norway is another teenage female that is trying to make her way into the male-dominated sport of stockcar racing. We have eight female drivers at the speedway this summer, which will be another great story to follow.

For more information please go to norwayspeedway.com or visit us on Facebook.

(John Ostermann is with the Dickinson County Racing Association/Norway Speedway).