Everyone thinks the most wonderful time of the year is Christmas, but for me it’s always been the fall season, leaves changing, temperature dropping, and racing during the Dickinson County Fair.

Norway Speedway decides its track champion during the fair and it always brings out the best, whether they are competing for the championship or not. Norway Speedway recently named this event The Bob Iverson Memorial Championship Night brought to you by the Dickinson County Fair. The event is appropriately named after Norway Speedway’s greatest of all time. Iverson, who resided in Hyde, was famously known as the Hyde Hustler. He won more championships and more feature events than any driver in the Speedway’s history. Bob’s family will be handing out trophies to all feature event winners Sunday evening.

In the Coca-Cola Late Model Division, Chad Butz from Howard, Wis., and Mike D’Angelo, Jr. from Gwinn, teamed up and became a solid force in the division. They currently have an 82-point lead over Kingsford standout Jason Wells, who is enjoying his best season ever.

Scott Stanchina of Kingsford also had a breakout year and trails Wells by six points. It will be fun to watch how these two finish up after Sunday night. Wells’ father, Bob, and Scott’s father, the late Rick Stanchina, were lifelong friends and they worked on the race car for Norway Speedway Hall of Famer Mark Miller during his championship years.

In the Auto Value Super Stock division, Joey Pontbriand of Norway has a 61-point lead over Anthony Schiefelbein and a 126-point lead over 2020 track champion Ryan Wender. The Division’s future looks great with the return of John Komp of and Nick Anderson, both of Menominee.

Kelly LaCount of Athelstane, Wis., also had his best year and could contend for his first championship while local favorite Andy Gerwig also had a solid year finishing fourth in the point standings.

Last week, three-time track champion Tim Schultz Jr. returned and looked very fast after being involved in one of the worst crashes of the season a month earlier when he hit the guard rail on the back stretch. Kevin Peterson finished sixth in the points after dealing with an illness and having Matt Charlebois take over the driving duties for a while. He could also be a strong contender next year.

With all these guys coming back, and I’m sure there will be many more names added, this division should be stronger than ever.

In the 141 Auto Stock Car division, BJ Schoneck of Marion, Wis., has a 43-point lead over Todd Schmidt of Spread Eagle, Wis.. Both drivers are talented and are the absolute gentlemen of the sport. Todd’s race car and BJ’s race car have both been racing for over 20 years which I think is very cool. Paul Bourgeois of Iron Mountain has climbed to number three in the points and is definitely the most improved driver in this division that is growing in popularity.

In the Wisconsin Sport Truck division, the championship could be the most dramatic as Green Bay’s Cody Vanderloop has only a five-point lead over Florence, Wis., speedster Andy Secrist. Brent and Brad Barglind of Kingsford are 14 and 21 points, respectively, behind the points leader. By the end of the night any one of these four could be the new track champion in the division.

In the MC Signs and Graphics division, the defending champion Dean Bellmore of Hermansville has a 23-point lead over Elliott Reid of Faithorn. These are both veteran drivers that have experienced a lot of success and either one of them could end up the champion for 2021.

We have a full show Sunday with qualifying at 2:30 p.m. and racing at 4 p.m. We have a full slate of racing including Spectator Eliminators. There is no fee for admission to the races as long as you have admission to the fair. No carry-ins are allowed.

The Dickinson County Fair Board improvements to the facility are stunning. I hope you check them out Sunday for yourself.