New Dirt

December 2020

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Book Review

COVID Season ReviewCOVID Season Review

Page 2December 2020

Page 3 December 2020

The MidwestRACINGRACINGRACINGRACINGRACING

ConnectionDecember 2020

P.O. Box 22111St. Paul MN, 55122

651-451-4036www.theracingconnection.com

PublisherDan Plan

Contributing WritersDale P. DanielskiDan MargettaJacy NorgaardPJ "Jacklyn" NuttlemanJason SearcyCharlie Spry

PhotographersVance Birno (612-308-3572)Martin DeFries (651-346-1199)TJ Harron (608-301-5258)Doug Hornickel (920-723-0522)Tom Loos (715-370-7895)Mark Melchiori (414-463-0131)Jacy Norgaard (jacynorgaardphotography.com)Bruce Nuttleman (612-860-6622)Vince Peterson (612-419-6372)Jess Riedner (608-334-5329)

The Midwest Racing Connection is published six timesduring the summer racing season by

The Plan Company, Inc.All material is copyrighted 2020 and may not be

reprinted without permission651-451-4036.

Cover photos by: Dale P. Danielski, DanMargetta, Dan Plan and Jason Searcy.

Dan Plan

Racing According to PlanRacing According to PlanRacing According to PlanRacing According to PlanRacing According to PlanPublisher's NotePublisher's NotePublisher's NotePublisher's NotePublisher's Note Season Review

It can be difficult to come up with an idea for acolumn this time of year when the racing season in ourneck of the woods has been complete for over a

month. Recently Jacy Norgaard penned an article onhis website that inspired me to copy his idea. Jacy’scolumn is featured on the pages immediately following.

My year started out with my annual pilgrimage toSpeedweeks in Florida. I was able to catch 11 eventsin the span of 10 days, with no rainouts in Florida thisyear. The cool part was seeing several of the Wiscon-sin drivers (Natalie Decker, Derek Kraus, Ty Majeskiand Johnny Sauter) run on the big track for the Truckrace.

Typically, after Speedweeks, things will kick offat the beginning of April around here. This year wasnot typical by any means. COVID hit, and the worldjust about stopped.

In the middle of May, things changed across theSt. Croix and/or Mississippi River from my home. Iwas able to start catching some weekly shows in thegreat state of Wisconsin at Cedar Lake Speedway,Dells Raceway Park, LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speed-way and Tomah Sparta Speedway. Throw in theMidwest Tour Dixieland event at Kaukauna and a Flat

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Page 4December 2020

Publishers note from page 3Track Motorcycle event at New Ulm, and I put on alittle over 2200 miles attending racing by the first weekof August. I would have to wait until August before Icould see any shows at the track that’s 20 miles fromhome, Elko Speedway. The first half of the year waschallenging to say the least.

The second half of the year seemed as normal asnormal could be this year. I was fortunate enough tocatch almost all of the weekly shows at Elko andalmost all of my traditional season ending specialevents. The one special event I missed out on was theannual Punky Manor Challenge of Champions. Theevent was not held this year as Red Cedar Speedwaywas never allowed to open.

To close out the year, I added a couple ofadditional special events to book end Oktoberfest. Iattended the first day of the Autumn Extravaganza atChateau Speedway and wrapped things up withFalloween at the Dells. The Dells event made methink maybe Jerry Auby should change the name ofthe event next year. The Dells starts their season withthe Icebreaker. It was pretty darn cold for the lastrace at the Dells. Maybe Falloween should be re-named to The Icemaker in the future?

I had thoughts of heading out of town for a fewmore shows, but opted to call it quits for the year atthe end of October. I didn’t wrack up anywhere nearthe number of miles, tracks attended, or states visitedas Jacy did, but I did catch a few more shows stayingcloser to home. My final tally for the year was lowestit’s been in about 6 years, but it was worth everyminute. Thanks to all of the tracks that put on a show,the drivers and teams for showing up in great num-bers, and the awesome racing we were able to see inan abbreviated 2020 Racing season.

Here’s to hoping 2021 is the old normal and notthe new normal.

2020 Season StatsEvents 52Tracks 12States 3Miles 3,871

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My 2020 season started watching Derek Kraus pick up the best finish of the handful of Wisconsindrivers competing in Daytona. Derek also wrapped up with the season with the best points finish

of the Wisconsinites in the Gander Truck Series (top photo.) My season ended with a bunch ofhearty race fans at Dells Raceway Park (bottom photo.)

Page 5 December 2020

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Page 6December 2020

New DirtNew DirtNew DirtNew DirtNew Dirt

Jacy Norgaard

Bright Lights Calling

New Dirt continued on page 7

Walking off the track in Charlotte, I thoughtabout the winding journey that sometimes felt gruelingbut always rewarding. It all began in South Dakota infront of no fans and ended in North Carolina in frontof 1,000 fans. In the pages between those two book-ends there were events with max capacity and otherswith no fans and mandatory masks. Through mytravels this season I was able to attend 46 events at 20different racetracks in 10 states. While the number ofevents isn’t a record for me the number of tracks andstates certainly is. 13 of those tracks I had never beento before. The increased travel and map expansionwere a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.COVID forced me to hit the road to shoot races dueto closures in Minnesota. COVID also provided methe ability to work remotely while chasing racesaround the country.

As the season started, I realized I had a uniqueopportunity at hand and a couple choices to make. Icould stick around home and chase races in the areaand drum up the driver card business or I could go outand do what I actually love. I mean no disrespect toany of the photographers who chase races and slinghero cards. Our sport needs photographers like you.I’m just at a point in my career where I have realizedthat isn’t who I am. I like taking pictures, I like creat-ing art. I like finding different perspectives and pushingmy gear to its limits and seeing what happens. So,when the season got rolling, I knew that If I was evergoing to go anywhere else, If I was ever going to beanything other than a regional photographer, I had todo this.

We put in a lot of work this year to make thisseason happen and to make it successful. I realize thatI’m a one-man band and sole photo taker in thisoperation. But when I say WE I mean WE. Nothing Ihave accomplished this season would have beenpossible without some extraordinary people. I certainlycan’t possibly write about everyone who has made a

difference, but you are appreciated. But themajor players this season:

My amazing and supportive girlfriendMikayla. Your encouragement and never-ending belief in me and my work is inspiringand appreciated more than you know. Yousacrifice a lot for me, and this crazylifestyle and I only hope that you can tagalong more in the future. I would also like itknown that you make the best travel goodiebags.

Tim Hunt, the greatest travel partnerand my favorite photographer. You arequite possibly the only other dirt trackphotographer I have met that is just likeme. After all, who else travels 13 hoursthrough the middle of the night just to shoot a dirtrace? In all seriousness, shooting with you has mademe a better photographer. I look at your work and itinspires me to try new things and I hope I do the samefor you.

Brian Walker. BWalks. I can’t thank you and theWorld of Outlaws enough for every single opportunityyou have provided me this season. You’ve elevatedmy work to a new audience on a large platform and

continued to believe in my ability. Working with you asmuch as I did this season challenged me night in andnight out to be more creative and push myself to bebetter. You single handedly changed the way in whichI edit photos and process them. You’ve made me amore efficient and effective photographer. I lookforward to working with you more in the future.

Ashley and Dan Ebert. You guys have been thebiggest of supporters the past few years and havemoved my work to a new level. I appreciate havingyou as clients and as friends. And I certainly can’tforget about Brock Tobiason and all of your efforts toget my work out there.

Nate Fischer and the entire Wagamon family.For the past twelve seasons you have provided me aproven ground for my photography. You have allowedme uninterrupted access to shoot from wherever I feelnecessary and have provided me more opportunitiesthan I can count. I’ve greatly enjoyed working to-gether and wherever this photographic journey endsup, you’ll always have a special place in my heart andon my schedule.

Lastly, to every single person who became a fan,shared a post, bought a download or ordered a print.Your support may not monetarily fund my racingadventures, but you’ve played a large part in mydevelopment. Because of your support and yourefforts, I’ve been able to make it to where I am attoday.

We put JNP on the map in 2020 in a big way andwe’re here to stay. What that means and how we goabout that is still being determined. I have a fewopportunities in front of me and a long climb to the top.But I feel that we’ve proven we belong on the bigstage. There’s an excitement about being there. Thepressure to deliver and deliver well. You’ve got to beon top of your game and stand out amongst the crowd.I enjoy the challenge of trying to set myself apart fromothers at an event. There’s an unspoken competitiveelement about it that exists at a high level on thisstage. I feel I’ve done all that I can do in one arena.It’s time for the bright lights of a larger one. That’s

Jacy Norgaard photo

Page 7 December 2020

I placed my Pelican case in the overheadcompartment and took my seat on the plane. As Isettled into my seat and put some music on, I thoughtabout the wild ride 2020 was. There I was in Char-lotte, North Carolina having just finished my last raceof the year. My season would normally end some-where in Minnesota in the middle of October. Thistime it was a week and a half into November and athousand miles from home. But that was par for thecourse of this season. A season unlike any other. Aseason where things changed, and they changed fast.Races popped up out of nowhere, shows weremoved from one place to another, and sometimes thestands were empty.

For all the lessons todraw from 2020, the mostimportant one is that oursport is incredibly resilientand creative. Tracksfound ways to hold showswith no grandstandattendance or a dimin-ished amount. They foundways to make all of ourlives seem normal, if onlyfor a few hours on aSaturday night. Racingseries adapted to chang-ing guidelines and lawsand the drivers did aswell. Many of us in the racing media took

to the road to cover shows in new places and metnew people. We experienced new things and havelasting memories from a tumultuous season spent onthe road and away from the comforts of what wenormally expect.

As the season fades into the rearview and weset our sights on the 2021 campaign, now is the timeto plan for the road ahead. By now, we all know thatthe current pandemic is constantly changing anddifferent one week to the next. I feverously hope thatby the time spring rolls around and racing in theupper Midwest gets under way, that things are betterthan they were. In some ways they most certainly willbe, but we must plan for anything. Now is the timefor all of us in the sport to make plans for moreinconsistency and disruption. We should expect eventcancellations, sudden changes and adapting to thetimes as they are. 2020 was a gut punch to the worldand the industry. Many were caught unprepared andoverwhelmed by the circumstances of the year. Nowis the perfect opportunity to make those what if, justin case, if we can scenarios. I understand that someplaces or series just won’t be able to race or open ifthings remain the same. So much is sometimesoutside of their control. But it never hurts to makeplans and be ready for whatever comes our way.

Having agility will be a key compo-nent on the road ahead. Manyhealth experts predict we willreturn to some degree of normal-ity in the later quarters of 2021.Does that mean the early parts ofthe year will be much like theywere this year? It is certainly hardto say what the climate will be 5-6 months from now. But what iscertain is that everyone in theindustry should make plans toadapt and be ready for whatevercomes our way.

I’ve always said and written

that what holds our sport back, is the inability ofmany to adapt and change with the times. The worldis constantly changing, and the fan base changes withit. It is up to all of us to change along with it. Changedoesn’t mean we abandon the good things in oursport or walk away from the traditions of our past. Itmeans that we take a look at what works and whatdoesn’t. In a year that has seen so many smallbusinesses struggling, we must ask ourselves whatour sport can do to lift those up. How can wemaximize their sponsorship dollars and drive custom-ers their way? We must also look at what we can doto assure fans that racing is safe and will not behazardous to their health. We all have differentopinions on COVID-19 and that is our right. Butkeep in mind that those race fans and the drivershave their own opinions too. We should make thingsbetter for everyone and do whatever we can toensure we are able to race to the fullest capacity.This pandemic is NOT FOREVER, things will goback to normal. We all hope it will be sooner thanlater, but whatever the case ends up being, let’s doour part. Make the plans now and throughout thewinter. Prepare for those what if scenarios, even ifyou don’t end up using them. This pandemic is muchlike a dirt track and we all must nail our setups andbe prepared for whatever conditions come our way.

The road ahead

New Dirt continued from page 6

where we’re headed, that’s where we belong, andthat’s where I hope we can prove ourselves.

2020 Season StatsEvents 47Tracks 20States 10Miles 13,843

Jacy Norgaard photo

Jacy Norgaard photo Jacy Norgaard photo

Page 8December 2020

Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Auto Racing Facts,Observances andObservances andObservances andObservances andObservances and

OpinionsOpinionsOpinionsOpinionsOpinions

Dale P. Danielski

continued on page 9

In following Dan Plan’s strict orders, we will doour best to cover this past year of racing.

Unfortunately, it rates as one of the worst interms of total events attended, as we only made 18race programs this past season. That’s the leastamount for this old timer since he was probably 10years old!

The season did start out quite nicely however, aswe were able to get to sunny Florida for someSpeedweeks action as well as other entertainment.Hardly recognized the refurbished Volusia County

Speedway, out of Barberville, FL., as vast improve-ments have been made to that place. Racing wasextremely fast and watching Late Models, Sprint carsand Modifieds made for some great fun. Actually, satfar enough away from the action so that the mud clodsdidn’t hit me!

With travels limited due to the whole Covid 19fiasco, we only caught racing action at 5 differenttracks this year in two states. Not complaining, aswhen one of the States is Wisconsin, you know youare going to see some great racing. Spending most of

our summer handling CWRA duties, there was noshortage of great, competitive racing either.

Besides Volusia County Speedway, we werewitness to racing action at Dells Raceway Park, Wis.Dells, WI., State Park Speedway, Wausau, WI.,Marshfield Motor Speedway, Marshfield, WI., and LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway, West Salem, WI. Theseason officially ended for this scribe, at State ParkSpeedway for the Matt Rowe, Impact Survival Series,Creepy Classic. It’s the end of the year, but wealways look forward to this event, as where can yousee 100 cars or better do battle on a tiny ¼ mile racetrack! This year, it was more of the same, wild, crazyaction, and in the end, it was Brady Rivest taking the300 lap win. Rivest actually came close to dominatingthe action, leading for the bulk of the race. The penaltyyou pay however for being fast and winning, is losingyour car, which is per ISS rules. It usually doesn’t costthat much to go out and get another one and that’swhat most racers running this deal do. And really,that’s the beauty of this, as you can make somemoney, or at least not lose so much, and have fundoing it. Sounds a lot like CWRA racing now that Ithink of it.

So, looking at travel miles for racing this year,quite minimal compared to years past. Probablysomewhere around 2,000 and with Florida round tripadded in, a bit over 4,000. Hopefully the Covid 19issue puts us all in better shape in 2021, and the way itlooks right now that should mean a good dose ofCWRA action, let’s say 6-10 races at, at least several

The fun part of ISS racing (above) and not as much fun racing ISS (below)

Page 9 December 2020

Racing Facts, Observances and Opinionsfrom page 8

Dale's pictures from the past

different race tracks, added value with some dirtshows, both in Wisconsin and surrounding States, andwho knows, maybe even a National in scope eventsomewhere. And, potentially adding to the fun, will beanother Winter escape to Florida. We will just seeabout all of that1

Here and there…Not one to spend a tremendousamount of time or money eating at race tracks, but wemight as well throw that in as a category for DanPlan’s 2020 racing recap. Best food we had forcertain was during Oktoberfest, where you just can’tbeat the Butterfly Pork Chops. We partook in thosemore than once during the weekend and will definitelydo the same next year…

Looking back in time, on February, 19, 1981, atEast Bay Raceway of Gibsonton, FL., it was KennyBrightbill winning the 25-lap feature race over BobWearing, Charlie Swartz, Ed Sanger, and WillCagle…On February, 21, 1981, it was Charlie Swartzwinning the 50-lap feature at East Bay Raceway overLarry Moore, Kenny Brightbill, Will Cagle and TomNesbitt…Looking back on February 22nd, 1981 atDesoto Memorial Speedway, Bradenton, FL., it wasDickie Anderson winning the 100 lap Feature. Follow-

ing Anderson was Leroy Porter, Dick Trickle, RayBontrager and Butch Miller.

In the quote(s) of the column, going back to1981, “I was hoping he’d mess up, but he never did soI couldn’t pass him.” Bob Wearing on being unable topass Kenny Brightbill in the 25 lapper at East BayRaceway. “When I was running Sprint cars, I hardlyhad enough money for a pit pass. Racing Late Models,I’ve had my best year!”Charlie Swartz commentingon his year after winning thefeature at East Bay Race-way. Tried to use my Presspass for several newspapersto cover racing at East Bayback in 1981, but promoterJimmy Mingo wasn’t havingit. Says Jimmy, “You paynow and send me your articleand I’ll refund your money’Never did see that money,and I wrote a great article!

Questions, comments,opinions and other informa-tion welcome at StarmakerMultimedia 701 IndianaAvenue, Stevens Point, WI.

54481 715-344-9072 608-518-2478 or atdale@starmakermultimedia.com

2020 Season StatsEvents: 18Tracks: 5States: 2Miles: 4,000

#19 Kenny Brightbill wins in Florida, 1981 (left photo and Dickie Anderson wins at Desoto Memorial in 1981(right photo)

The 2020 racingseason in a Radio

Flyer or the differentspare parts to carryfor enduro racing.

Page 10December 2020

Talkin' Racin'Talkin' Racin'Talkin' Racin'Talkin' Racin'Talkin' Racin'with Jasonwith Jasonwith Jasonwith Jasonwith Jason

Jason D. Searcy

The Covid-19 delayed opening of Elko (MN)Speedway provided the opportunity to “get back to myroots,” during the 2020 Race season and I found itabsolutely reinvigorating. The decision to make a fewracing road trips was a much needed change from thebad news spewed daily on the news.

Dean Reller and I checked out some TraditionalSprint Car racing with the UMSS at Cedar Lake (WI)Speedway 46 miles from my home where some oldfriends are series regulars. It was fun to see the

“Iceman” Scotty Brandt, BryanRoach, Cam Schafer and Jon“lightning” Lewerer mixing it up justlike I remember over a decade agowhen Dean and I were the an-nouncing team at I-94 Raceway inSauk Centre (MN).

I also made the trip up to I-94Sure Step Speedway in Fergus Falls(MN) where I was the announcerin the late 90’s and early 00’s. Itwas just 197 miles from my homebase. The dirt track surface wassmooth and fast and the elevatedtailgate section in corners one andtwo were packed with peopleenjoying the races from their cars,that is the best viewing area I’veever seen at a local track. It wasfun to hear my idol Ron Krog announce again and feelthe thunder of the WISSOTA Late Models andModifieds when they throttle up for the green flag.

Before Elko Speedway started back up inAugust I was able to attend a couple shows at LaCrosse (WI) Fairgrounds Speedway, 150 miles frommy house. I saw numerous familiar faces in thestands and some notable ELKO regulars who adjustedto the larger track and did very well, proving that LAXis an entertaining place even when it’s notOktoberfest.

My favorite road trip of the year was to a trackDick Trickle made famous, Tomah Sparta (WI)Speedway 170 miles from my Eagan (MN) abode. The atmosphere was incredible, imagine fans sitting on

wooden boards nailed between stumps looking down aslope where kids are running and playing. The track isold and scarred with asphalt patched together and abig drop off if you get too low in the corners. Thetrack is dug into the hill so you can just see the tops ofthe cars when they motor past on the frontstretch butthe backdrop is absolutely incredible with a beautifulvalley and a thick forest of trees behind. I don’t knowif a more amazing sunset is possible, much better than

Talkin' Racin' continued on page 11

Jason Searcy photo

Jason Searcy photo

Page 11 December 2020

those beach views everyone brags about on socialmedia. Car counts were sometimes small but theracing was great, the sound of these cars echoing offthe trees is magical and Dan Deicher was the perfectannouncer for this crowd with his hometown banter. Ican’t remember who won any of the races but it wasone of the most enjoyable times of my life.

My girlfriend and I went to the Jed Cophammemorial Trans Am series event at Brainerd (MN)International Raceway a scant 148 miles away, it washer first experience with any type of racing, it wasexciting to see it through her eyes and hear herobservations like “why are there so many tires every-where?” The Trans Am cars are the coolest racecars I’ve ever seen with Tomy Drissi and ErnieFrancis Jr putting on a great show. The best news isthat the series will be returning again next year inBrainerd.

Then the Elko Speedway opener happened inAugust and we raced 9 straight weeks, it was some ofthe best racing I have seen in the 8 years I’ve beenannouncer at ELKO, close finishes and good hardclean racing 95% of the time, which is more than

anyone should expect. Drivers and fans alike seemedappreciative to have this opportunity, it was a welcomeescape from reality and a great tribute to the spirit of aracer. I wouldn’t trade back this race year foranything.

Talkin' Racin' continued from page 10 2020 Season StatsEvents: 17Tracks: 6States: 2Miles: 1,600

Dan Plan photo

Page 12December 2020

Dan Margetta

Dangerous DanDangerous DanDangerous DanDangerous DanDangerous Dan

Dangerous Dan continued on page 13

(Miranda Alam/ARCA Racing)

We’ve reached December which means onemore month and we can kiss 2020 Goodbye! It alsomeans it’s time for all of us involved with the MidwestRacing Connection to recap what was certainly anextraordinary season for all. When I finally sat downand listed the races I was able to attend this year, Iwas mildly surprised to realize I made it to 62 eventsthis season in four states (Wisconsin, Illinois, Nevada,and Arizona). That’s down significantly from yearspast but overall I’m grateful I made it to as manyraces as I did this year.

2020 actually started out quite well as a toughdecision to skip Daytona and Speedweeks this yearpaid off when the Daytona 500 was delayed by rain,meaning I would have been flying home when the raceran. My season started a week later in Vegas and theopening event was a first-time trip to the VegasBullring for the Star Nursery 100 super late modelrace and the Star Nursery 150 ARCA Menards SeriesWest event. Kyle Busch won the super late modelrace and Franklin Wisconsin’s own Sam Mayerdominated the ARCA race. Before the weekend wasover I found myself at NASCAR Truck, Xfinity, andCup Series races as well as a Vegas Golden KnightsNHL game as the season was off and running. Twoweeks later I took the advice of friends and foundmyself in Phoenix taking in Milwaukee BrewersSpring Training games in the days leading up to

ARCA, NASCAR Xfinity, and Cupraces at Phoenix InternationalRaceway. I even threw in a first-timetrip to Canyon Speedway Park forsome sprint car races. Then I flewhome and stepped off the plane into astrange new world where COVIDhad everything shut down.

After two months of wonder-ing if we would ever get to race thisyear, Slinger Speedway put in atremendous effort to open up and as Iattended practice day at the track Iwas reminded just how much theracing family is a part of my life. Theseason opener would have to wait aweek as all day rains washed out thescheduled date so Brian Schmitt andI made a first-time visit to the Gravity Park dirt trackon a Friday night. It was the only place around thatwas racing and I felt like an outlaw with my fellowracing addicts aswe somewhatcovertly gath-ered to watchthe modifiedsheadline thecard. Slingerfinally openedup two dayslater andfollowing thatevent I went upto Golden SandsSpeedway fortheir MemorialDay special.Another trip toGravity Parkwas in theworks the nextweekend, this time to see the late models on the dirttrack and that weekend closed out with anotherSlinger Speedway show. The World of Outlaws NOSEnergy Sprint Cars held a two day show at the BeaverDam Raceway and I was honored to man theDirtVision camera for both events. The WOO raceswere special as well as I was able to bring my niece

and nephew to the track and theyhad such a good time, theywanted to go back on the secondnight. The June schedule rolledon with another Slinger Sundaynight event followed by the RedRace of the Red, White and BlueState Championships at Wiscon-sin International Raceway inKaukauna.

A Mid-June weekendoriginally scheduled to beNASCAR races in Iowa and anARCA Midwest Tour date at theMilwaukee Mile, turned into

Slinger’s first SlamFest followed by the June Sprints atRoad America before heading back to Slinger forsome more of the Sunday night tradition. I made it toDells Raceway Park for their first Alive for Five super

late modelTrickle 99race and itwas cool tosee RyanFarrell finallyachieve amarquis winbeforeheading backto Slingeronce again anight later.The Fourth ofJuly holidaybegan with aspecial Fridaynight racingprogram atJefferson

Speedway where I brought my niece and nephewagain followed by trip back to the Dells for the TUN-DRA super late model series and the North AmericanCup. Slinger’s Prelude to the Nationals was up nextwhich led to the Tuesday night Slinger Nationalscrown jewel event. I don’t think I’ll ever forget themonsoon that hit the track on Tuesday along with theimpromptu waterfall over turn two or the large lakethat formed in turn one. Everyone, and I mean every-one, pitched in and the Nationals went off without ahitch on Wednesday night with a spectacular eventwon by Ty Majeski. With the Slinger Nationals in therearview, it was full speed ahead to Road America forthe Indycar double-header with fans! In between theIndycar Road America races I was able to sandwichin some World of Outlaws Late Model Series races atthe Outagamie County Speedway in Seymour (anotherfirst time track for me) and the Plymouth Dirt Trackbefore heading back to Slinger to wrap up the week-

Dirt Kings Late Model action(Dan Margetta photo)

Ryan Farrell picked up the Trikle 99 win at DRP(Dan Plan photo)

Page 13 December 2020

Dangerous Dan continued from page 12

end for the Small Car Nationals. Another drab workweek finally gave way to another weekend whichbegan early with the White Race at WIR as part ofthe Red, White, and Blue State Championships fol-lowed by the Tundra super late model series race atJefferson Speedway and then another Sunday nightshow at Slinger. Dells Raceway Park was the site ofthe Assembly Products Shootout the next weekendand the month of July wrapped up at the PlymouthDirt Track with Kyle Larson winning the RaceRudeen Foundation race for the All Star Circuit ofChampions and Interstate Racing Association sprintcars.

August was ushered in at Road America andthe IMSA Sports Car weekend where for the secondtime of the summer I got soaked by a turkey drowningrain at a race track. It was impossible to be in twoplaces at once and I was at the World of OutlawsLate Model Series event at Beaver Dam Raceway onthe same night the Dixieland 250 was taking place inKaukauna. The NASCAR Xfinity Series came toRoad America the following weekend and this timemore rain made for an interesting road course race.The Dirt Kings Late Model tour staged the Diamond42 at the Plymouth Dirt Track next in what turned outto be one of the most exciting races I witnessed thisseason. Slinger’s second SlamFest program was upnext followed by the first regular Slinger show afterthree straight weeks of rainouts. Next up was an AllStar Circuit of Champions and IRA Sprint Car show atWilmot Raceway followed by a trip to the GrundyCounty Speedway in Morris, Illinois for the ARCAMidwest Tour Wayne Carter Classic. Two moreSunday Slinger races bookended the Russ SchefflerTribute Night at the Plymouth Dirt Track and thePirelli World Challenge at Road America as the monthof August came to a close.

September opened up back at Dells RacewayPark for the ARCA Midwest Tour Joe Shear Classicand a classic short track battle between Johnny Sauterand Casey Johnson. Luke Fenhaus drove to the winthe following night at Slinger Speedway’s Labor Day100-lap special and I spent Labor Day at GoldenSands Speedway at the TUNDRA super late modelevent before rains cut the afternoon short. A finalSunday trip to Slinger completed the regular season atthe World’s Fastest Quarter Mile Oval and led into theFall Specials. A last second decision put me back atRoad America for the Ariens Art on Wheels Vintageweekend near the end of September.

October opened with a trip to Wilmot Race-way for the Dirt Kings Late Model Tour WildmanWatson Memorial followed by a trek to the RockfordSpeedway for the National Short Track Champion-ships. La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway’s OktoberfestRace Weekend was next up which featured fourstraight days of racing with beautiful weather in whatwas one of few things that went right in 2020. Myracing season came to a close at Dells Raceway Parkin frigid temperatures at the Falloween 150 where TyMajeski captured the win.

My 2021 season is tentativelyset to begin in February back inDaytona for Speedweeks with trips toNew Smyrna Speedway and Volusia aspart of the plan. I’m supposed to beback in Vegas in March as well for theNASCAR events and the WOO SprintCars. If all goes as planned I looking atdoing the Western Swing double byfollowing up Vegas with Spring Trainingand NASCAR races in Phoenix. Tripsto places I didn’t make it to in 2020such as Madison, Farmer City, andFairbury are also planned to go alongwith other marquis events like theSlinger Nationals, Oktoberfest, and theinaugural NASCAR Cup Race at RoadAmerica. I’m remaining optimistic next season will bemore the way things ought to be and hopefully this offseason will go by quickly. Stay safe everyone and I’llsee you all at the track soon!

2020 Season StatsEvents: 62Tracks: 18States: 3Miles: 5000

Tony Stewart at Wilmot Speedway(Dan Margetta photo)

Page 14December 2020

Going inGoing inGoing inGoing inGoing inCirclesCirclesCirclesCirclesCircles

Charlie SpryIt was an interesting season during 2020, that is

for sure. Dan asked what the highlights of the seasonwere for all of us, and that is easy. The highlight forme was that there WAS a season. At least at most ofthe tracks. Back in March it was not looking good atall. So, the mere fact that I got to see some racing onthe local tracks was a great thing.

Meeting some more fascinating, new people wasa big plus for me. And, talking to the usual, fascinatingpeople that I always do.

With that beingsaid, I made it to thirty-eight different racingevents in 2020. Fourmore events wererained out. In a normalseason it would bemore like sixty events.

Of those thirty-eight events, eighteenof them were atRockford Speedway.Marshfield andWausau were nextwith four each. I madeit three times to theDells and Tomah. Twotimes at Dubuque, andone each at Madison,LaCrosse, Farley and Lafayette County Speedway atDarlington.

I raced myself only two times in the Sixerdivision. Once at Marshfield and once at Tomah.

The three states involved would be Wisconsin,Illinois, and Iowa.

This was the first year in a long time that I didnot visit a track that I had never been to before.

I am sure hoping things get straightened out and Ican go full bore into the 2021 season. I would like to

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Charlie leading thepack at Tomah

(Jason Morgan photo)

travel more into Iowa. Yeah, I like both asphalt anddirt racing.

Let’s get ready for 2021!

2020 Season StatsEvents: 38Tracks: 10States: 3Miles: 6300

Page 15 December 2020

Racing NuggetsRacing NuggetsRacing NuggetsRacing NuggetsRacing Nuggets

PJ "Jacklyn" Nuttleman

What?

As I write this, it’s Thanksgiving. I realize we’veall had a lot of lousy situations to deal with in 2020, butthere is always something to be grateful for in yourlife. My grandmother liked to remind us that we hadmany blessings to be thankful for every day. Ofcourse, she was right.

Sometimes, our blessings are right in front of usand we fail to see them, because we take them forgranted.

Like the ability to hear.After working 40+ years around loud race cars,

seldom using any hearing protection, my husband Tobyhas finally admitted that he has significant hearing loss.

He’s been well aware it was happening. Likemany people, he elected to ignore it. But it was getting

worse. Watching television with him was painful. Ourboxer, Pudge would bury his head between the sofaarm and my side when Toby had the remote control.The volume level on the TV was getting out of control.

Well guess who finally has a new set of hearingaids?

Yep. Toby. His good friend, Brad Mannstedt hasa set and they’re really inconspicuous. You have toreally look to see them. I think Toby spent a lot of timeeyeballing them and pondering if they would work forhim.

If I’m being honest, I was nervous about himlosing or destroying one or both of them. He musthave been too, as he wouldn’t wear them while hewas working. While Toby can put the utmost care intobuilding and maintaining a race car, he slacks off whenit comes to his own physical body and equipment.

If he gets a burn or a bad gash on his body whileworking under a car, it results in a shrug, if anything.When he finally made the move from a flip phone to asmartphone, I prayed every night that he would becareful. Still, we’ve had to replace countless crackedscreens on his phones since that time.

I’m nervous about him losing one of the hearingaids. I worry that he might accidentally drop one intothe toilet. (Don’t laugh. I married a toddler!)

I found myself worrying a lot about what hemight end up doing to one of them. Then I finallycaught myself and had to pump the brakes on my sillyfears.

So what if he breaks or loses one of the hearingaids? What’s the worst that could happen? We have

to buy a replacement? Isn’t that price worth him beingable to actually hear again?

Yes. Yes, it is. So if you see him at the SnowballDerby, you might notice he seems more on his game.It’s because he can finally hear again. It’s funny howyou adapt when you lose one of your senses. But itsastounding how much more tuned in you are whenwhat was once lost is finally restored.

He still says, “What?” whenever I ask him aquestion. I think that’s a force of habit for him. Orhe’s buying time to decide what to answer. But I cantell he is enjoying his new world; especially when itcomes to being around his grandkids and being able tohear what they’re saying to him.

Yes, once again the scowly crew chief is show-ing he’s actually a softie. The grandkids have himeven MORE solidly wrapped around their little fingers,now that grandpa can hear them better.

The bonus is that I KNOW he can hear me toonow. Not that he’ll listen to me. J

Admittedly, I’m rather ashamed of my numbersto submit for this piece for the magazine.

However, I went to bigger races, So—go big orstay home.

2020 Season StatsEvents: 9Tracks: 5States: 2Miles: 1796

Page 16December 2020

I’ve watched Rich Bickle’scareer progress from afar. From thedays of reading about him winningweekly races at Lake Geneva,running Artgo and ASA, seeing himrace for the King in the Truck seriesand everything after his exit fromNASCAR’s top series.

The description of the bookBarnyard to Brickyard states “a rockstar lifestyle and legendary party-ing” that took place during Bickle’scareer. The sad part is Rich hadmade it to the big time just aroundthe same time they were goingpolitically correct. That was unfortu-nate for him and unfortunate formany of the short track fans acrossthe nation.

In addition to the good side,Rich also goes into detail of thedownside of racing in the bigleagues; politics, favoritism and allkinds of other questionable items.

Despite the downside of dealingwith all the stuff that takes place inthe big leagues, there’s more goodstories than bad stories in the book.There’s also plenty of things I’dnever heard of before (like thebanana debacle in Milwaukee) andplenty of other stories of days goneby that are good to see archived in abook.

Christmas is just around thecorner. If you haven’t picked up acopy of the book yet, or know some-one who would be interested in agood book to read over the off-season, the book is available throughour friends at Coastal 181 Publish-ing (www.coastal181.) or throughAmazon.

The Bickle Book RThe Bickle Book RThe Bickle Book RThe Bickle Book RThe Bickle Book ReviewevieweviewevieweviewBy Dan Plan

Page 17 December 2020

Real Point Battles

About 16 years ago, NASCAR went to theplayoff format. This was done in an attempt togenerate fan interest when the season comes to anend. This year, I found it odd that more fans didn’tthink that it was somewhat suspicious that the top 4in points ran in the top 4 positions throughout themajority of the race.

Most short track sanctioning bodies still employthe traditional season long points, without having theneed to “manufacture” a tight points battle. Twoseries that stood out to me where the Midwest TruckSeries and the USRA Modified Weekly RacingSeries.

The Midwest Trucks came into their final eventof the season at Dells Raceway Park with threedrivers (James Swan, LeVon Van Der Geest andJoe Valento) separated by just a handful of points.Swan would come out with the best finish of thethree on this day and pick up the championship overVan Der Geest and Valento with just 14 pointsseparating the top 3. Now James Swan isn’t old byany stretch of imagination, but one could say ageand experience prevailed over youth and exuberance.

In the USRA Mod point battle, Lucas Schottand Jake Gallardo. The final event of their seasonsaw a rainout causing Schott to head South to Texasto pick up points and then return to Kansas to raceGallardo head-to-head for the championship. Gallardosuffered a flat tire in the main event at Humboldt,while Schott picked up the main event win and theoverall USRA Modified championship by 10 pointsover Gallardo.

These are just two of many short track seriesthat ended their championships with close pointbattles, without feeling the need to re-set points tomake things exciting. Personally, I’m happy to seethings play out in the normal, old-school fashion.

By Dan Plan

James Swan and LeVon Van Der Geest (top photo) battled for the Midwest TruckChampionship. Lucas Schott (bottom photo) picked up the USRA Modified Championship.

Page 18December 2020

Page 19 December 2020