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Believe it or not we are into the hot August nights at Norway Speedway. The next two weeks are going to be huge events that pay big money in both divisions and set the tone for championship night at the Dickinson County Fair on Labor Day weekend.
But, first, I want to touch base on all the great things that went on last Friday night.
Starting with the Coca-Cola Late Model division feature winner Jason Wells from Kingsford and the strange phenomena that's surrounding his biggest win. The evening was sponsored by Fine Lines Painting & Drywall, which is owned by Wells' "Uncle Dale" and Incredible Bank. The strange coincidence is that this is the second year in a row that he has won the biggest race of his career on the night that his Uncle Dale sponsors it.
As a race car driver, there is nothing more gratifying than winning a race on your sponsor's night and it very rarely happens. Now this is the second year in a row that Jason and his team led by his father, Bob Wells, have won it.
Bob Wells got his start in racing by helping Hall of Famer Mark Miller win championships more than 30 years ago. He is a dedicated member of our association and rarely misses a meeting or track function in the off season. I wanted to make my way down last week and congratulate everyone, especially Bob Wells, because he's probably only smiled twice in 30 years, and I didn't want to miss that rare event.
Might I also add that once again the Coca-Cola Late Model feature went down to an amazing battle between Jason Wells and Justin Mondeik of Gleason, Wis., who is our current points leader.
Coca-Cola Late Model racing this summer has had some amazing last-lap, down-to-the-wire finishes. That division has absolutely put on a great show and I'm sure it will continue these hot August nights.
In the Auto Value Super Stock division, I couldn't help but notice former track champion and the speedway's most popular driver Ryan Wender lined up next to possibly the second-most popular driver Tony "Rocket" Wender, his son.
Ryan went on to win the fast dash and his first feature of the season holding off point leader Anthony Schiefelbein. The two were literally banging doors crossing the finish line in another exciting finish.
In the 141 Auto Stock Car division, a big field of 16 cars took the green in the Ed Hedlund Memorial race.
Hedlund and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out a way we could get all these old race cars that were sitting in corn fields and put out to pasture back to the speedway and the plan seems to be working. Interestingly enough, the first two Ed Hedlund Memorial races were won by Hedlund's car and this one was won by Brian Massicotte who worked with Hedlund for 17 years.
Current point leader Joe Ostermann came from the back in his trademark three-wide fashion and finished second. Travis Hulsizer is getting faster every week and finished third. Graeson Pankratz, who camped out at the speedway with his brother so they could attend the Wal-Mart Car show on Saturday, took fourth. Veteran stock car driver Jade Novara came out of retirement to finish an impressive fifth.
In the MC Signs & Graphics Fab 4 division, Elliott Reid won his first feature win of the season by edging out Alex Bellmore. Reid served on the board of directors last year and is basically an ambassador for the division, which has grown immensely to over 30 cars.
It was also great to see Cassandra Freeman of Niagara, Wis., return to the speedway after being in a bad wreck a few weeks back.
This division has a huge event coming up on Aug. 27 as the Impact Survival Series (ISS) once again returns to Norway Speedway. This is a race that will be 300 laps long, have about 75-100 cars participating. The event will start at 6 p.m. that Saturday. There will be no other racing in any other division that weekend.
This week is Werner Electric, and it will be $1,000 to win Late Model feature and $500 to win Auto Value Super Stock feature. We are racing in honor of the late great super stock driver from Menominee, Don Anderson, who passed away this past January.
Anderson was one of the many popular drivers to come out of the Menominee area and was a regular spectator at the races. Anderson's son, Nick, who is carrying on his father's name, will be driving a replica car with the same paint scheme as his father's. Anderson's granddaughter, Courtney, will be racing in the 4-cylinder division as well.
The purse will be increased in both of these divisions courtesy of Anderson's family.
I love the fact that we can race in honor of the drivers and people who are responsible for building our sport and making it the most amazing family sport on earth. Anderson was my inspiration for building an M&M ice racing car this past winter and I learned a lot about car sales from him over the years, whenever I would run into him at the auto auctions.
There's basically only four weeks left. Let's go out and enjoy the rest of the summer.
See you at the track.