2011 Speedtalk Stats

Speedtalk on 1360 wants to thank race fans for another great year celebrating our favorite sport.  2011 marked the 20th year of covering Motorsports for both Jason Searcy and Dean Reller, the last three years on KRWC radio in Buffalo.

Here are some year end stats from 2011:

*Number of radio shows-27
Live on-site shows at Iowa Speedway, Brainerd International Raceway, Classics by the Lake car show and Wright County Home show.

*Number of Sponsors-5
Performance Driving School at BIR, Lou Fegers Racing, Stockholm Motorsports Park, Raceway Park, Hideaway Speedway.

*Number of drivers interviewed-55
ASA Midwest tour-14
NASCAR Nationwide-10
SCCA Trans-Am-5
Mazda MX5-5
ASA Sportsman-5
Local drivers, Drag Racers, Sprint car drivers, an ARCA owner, Track Announcers, Monster Truck drivers, Motorcycle racers and Promotors.

*Top referral web-sites:
Google
20/20 Racing message board
Facebook
KRWC
Bing
Yahoo
Racing On-line
KFAN Rubechat message board

We also want to thank Jordan Bianchi from www.theracinggeek.com
 and Dan Plan from www.theracingconnection.com
 for their great weekly contributions to the show.

We are currently planning and looking for sponsors for our 2012 season.  If you have a business that wants to support Motorsports and target a loyal audience for as little as $50 per week, please contact us!  speedtalkon1360@gmail.com

2011

Youth Dominate Monster Jam at Metrodome

By Jason D Searcy www.speedtalkon1360.com


Move over Grave Digger and Maximum Destruction, a couple young kids showed they are more than capable of knocking off the elder statesmen of Monster Jam at the Metrodome.

First time winner 21 yr old Morgan Kane driving Monster Magic shocked the Metrodome crowd with a win in the racing portion of the show.  He beat El Madador and then took advantage of a mistake by Lindsey Weenk driving Lucas Oil Crusader, who bicycled up onto Avenger in the Semi-Finals (photo above).  Then a big upset in the finals as he beat Ryan Anderson in Son UVA Digger by inches.  Morgan Kane and Ryan Anderson have been friends since childhood and now seem to be ready to take their game to the next level.

Snowball Derby 2012

The biggest Super Late Model race in the nation takes place in Pensacola Florida.  The 44th Snowball Derby saw Bubba Pollard take the fast time in qualifying with a 16.290, breaking a 31 year old track record at 5 flags Speedway.

Starting Lineup Noteables:

6th-Jeff Choquette- ASA Midwest tour winner at Iowa Speedway 2011
7th-Landon Cassill-NASCAR driver from Iowa
8th-Augie Grill current "snowflake" winner, 2 time Derby winner
9th-Chase Elliott- Son of Bill Elliott, 2010 Snowball derby winner
11th- Kennis Prunty (best looking car winner) from Knowles Wisconsin
13th-Johanna Long- defending snowball winner
17th-David Ragan NASCAR winner at Daytona
20th-Erik Darnell former NASCAR Truck series ROY from Wisconsin
22nd-Mike Garvey from Michigan, many time ASA winner
33rd-Ross Kenseth ASA Midwest tour ROY from Wisconsin
37th-Steve Wallace, son of Rusty Wallace, NASCAR Nationwide series driver

*RACE DAY UPDATES:
Jeff Choquette has lead most of the race, Johanna Long crashes and hits wall to bring out a caution at lap 100 of 300.  Erik Darnell is out with a bad tranny, David Ragan also in the pits with mechanical problems.  Bubba Pollard and Chase Elliott fighting for the lead at lap 123 as Dennis Prunty brings out the caution.  Steve Wallace is out of the race at lap 130. 

The leaders Pollard, Choquette, Grill & Elliott all have contact in turn 4 as they were going for the lead on lap 145.

Lap 200 Casey Smith is the leader, Ross Kenseth is in 13th place.  With 50 laps to go, Chase Elliott is the leader followed by Van Dorn, Smith, Hamner and Cassill.

Red Flag with 5 laps to go, Derrick Thorn rolled and Josh Hamner crashed.  Ross Kenseth fought his way up to 3rd place just behind DJ Vanderley and leader Chase Elliott.

Bill Elliott's son Chase Elliott wins, just edging DJ Vanderley.  Matt Kenseth's son Ross Kenseth (photo below) finishes third after fighting back from a lap down, Landon Cassill fourth and Heath Heinman round out the top 5.

Granite City Speedway to open in 2012

By Jason D Searcy  (www.speedtalkon1360.com)

The Golden Spike Speedway in Sauk Rapids MN has been purchased by GCR Properties LLC and will reopen in the Spring of 2012 with a new name, Granite City Speedway.  Opening night will be on Sunday May 6th 2012.

"The Spike" has been closed down for the last two years with the exception of one weekend of racing in September.  See Article here   http://racefansradio.blogspot.com/2011/09/golden-spike-back-on-track.html

The new Granite City Speedway will have a new clay surface covering the high banked 3/8th mile dirt track.  A new restaurant building and press box has been added and the entire facility has been remodeled and cleaned up for the 2012 reopening.

Long time St Cloud resident and FYE Entertainment owner Chris Stepan will be the promoter and General Manger of the race program.  They anticipate getting a WISSOTA Sanctioning and racing WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest Mods, Street Stocks and Mod-4's.  A Sixth divison of racing will rotate between Pure Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Hornets, NorthernVintage Stock cars and a possibility of specials with the UMSS Sprint Cars and USMTS Modifieds.

Chris Stepan was a guest on "Speedtalk on 1360" in September, he is a well respected announcer and promoter.  St Cloud (Sauk Rapids) is the economic hub of Central Minnesota and they have a large population base to draw from.  If done right, I think a the new Granite City Speedway could be a big success.

The new owners have a partnership with KCLD/KNSI/Wild Country radio stations and I'm sure they will promote the racing on radio and the facility will probably host concerts and events throughout the summer.

They plan on racing on the traditional Sunday nights at 5pm beginning with the opening night on May 6th.   A new web-site is not ready yet but if you have any questions you can contact Chris Stepan at Chris@FYEMotorsports.com

Here is the link to their new website
http://www.gcspeedway.com/

Here are photos from Practice day
http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=oa.10150690874766793&type=1



*Photo by Dean Reller 2011

WISSOTA Expo, As one Season Ends, a New One Is On the Horizon

By Dean Reller

(ST. CLOUD, MN) With the roar of engines silenced for the year, it was a time to celebrate the season and prepare for another one at the annual WISSOTA Expo.  The event was a display of Championship winning cars, along with vendors that featured everything needed to build just about any type of race car.

The Expo was just one event of the weekend long WISSOTA Promoter’s Association Annual Meetings and National Awards Ceremony held at the St. Cloud River’s Edge Convention Center.  Representatives from the racing industry were on hand to display their products and services.  Visitors to the show were also able to attend instructional seminars.

Attendance at the show appeared to be less than in previous years although there were some new participants at the Expo.  One of the new things on display was the Legends Modified.
 

Similar to a wingless Sprint Car, the Legends Modified sports a 1250cc water-cooled Yamaha Engine.  This is the same size engine that the Legend Cars use.  The new car was developed by Ray Evernham and looks very similar to a vintage sprint car or modified.
 

The car is new to the area and will be featured in several exhibition races during the 2012 season, which to those in attendance feel is not too far away.

For MN Motorsports news check www.speedtalkon1360.com all year long.  Speedtalk on 1360 radio resumes in April 2012.

Johnny Sauter wins at Oktoberfest

*SPEEDTALK UPDATE 10/20/11. 

The ASA Midwest tour is awarding the win to Johnny Sauter even though he did not fully pass tech inspection, he will be fined and points taken away.   Here is the Tech statement from ASA  http://asamidwesttour.com/article/101811/oktoberfest-post-race-findings-asamt-oktoberfest-100

The Oktoberfest organizer Gregg McKarns has stripped the race win from Johnny Sauter instead awarding 2nd place finisher Travis Sauter as 2011 Oktoberfest Champion.

****************

NASCAR Truck series driver Johnny Sauter (photo below) won the Oktoberfest 100 ASA Midwest tour race in LaCrosse WI.

A couple early cautions in the first 15 laps took out some of the top competetors including MN driver & defending Oktoberfest champ Danny Fredrickson, 2011 three time winner Ross Kenseth and Ntl Short Track champion Steve Carlson.

The final 85 laps went quick as Johnny and his nephew Travis Sauter carved their way through this talented 30 car field, lapping everyone except the top five cars, they finished about a half-lap ahead of third place finisher Chris Weinkauf.

Andrew Morrissey never won a race this year but he did win the ASA Midwest tour championship with unbelieveable consistency, scoring eight "top 5" finishes in only 12 races.  MN driver Jacob Goede finished second in points followed by defending champ Nathan Haseleu, Tim Schendel and Chris Wimmer rounding out the Top 5.  MN driver's Jonathan Eilen finished 6th in points and Nick Panitzke finished strong the last month of the season, he was eleventh in points.

Here are some Unofficial results from Oktoberfest, the final race event of the 2011 ASA Midwest tour season:
1-Johnny Sauter
2- Travis Sauter
3-Chris Weinkauf
4-Skylar Holzhausen
5-Erik Darnell
6-Jacob Goede
7-Nick Panitzke
8-Mark Kraus
9-Tim Sauter
10-Griffin McGrath

*notables
12th Nick Murgic, 16th Jonathan Eilen, 18th Joel Theisen, 20th Andrew Morrissey, 27th Dan Fredrickson, 28th Ross Kenseth.

NASCAR stars race at Elko Speedway

NASCAR does not hold a top series event in Minnesota, but with General Mills, 3M, Best Buy and Great Clips all sponsoring top level drivers in the sport, they come to race in our great state anyway.

Thursday night NASCAR Cup stars: Greg Biffle, Trevor Bayne, AJ Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose along with Nationwide driver Jason Leffler and former Truck series "rookie of the year" Erik Darnell all raced a 30 lap exibition race in Great North Legends cars.

The King Richard Petty (photo above) was in attendace and signed autographs he had the longest line by far, and he signed for everybody with his trademark smile the entire time.  When someone asked if he was racing tonight, he said "I brought two drivers with me for that."

NASCAR owner Jack Roush (photo above) was asked by a fan to autograph their custom Roush Ford F-150 pickup, the crowd laughed and Jack said he would.  Well, he DID, he walked right out to the parking lot and signed his name on the dash of the passenger side.  The man's wife then quickly replied, "I guess I'm not putting my feet up on the dash any more."  

18 cars competed in the 30 lap exibition race, former I-94 Raceway driver "Showtime" Tyler Sjoman (photo above) from Alexandria MN started eigth row inside and slowly worked his way up front for the win follwed by Michael Ostdiek and Kyle Hansen. 

Marcos Ambrose looked the fastest of the NASCAR guys, he was in second place with 10 laps remaining, but then got shuffled back and finished 6th.  Trevor Bayne looked good on the track, staying with the top group and finishing fourth, he jumped out of the car and said "this is the most fun I have had in a long time."

AJ Allmendinger finished 8th and Greg Biffle stayed out of trouble near the back of the pack, it was his first time in a Legends car and he didn't know what gear to race in, the first segment he was slow in fifth, but shifted to fourth in the final segment and was much better.

Ms. Sprint Cup Kim Coon (with Jason above) was the Emcee of the event and kept the program moving smoothly.

The "Bounty Hunter" monster truck (photo above) did an exibition show for the crowd, including a cyclone and a couple nice slap wheelies.

This event is named MN Motorsports teams give back, money raised during this charity event went to the Minnesota Millitary Family Foundation.  Many millitary members were on hand to enjoy the festivities at Elko Speedway. 

I was impressed with the NASCAR drivers and their interaction with fans and our local drivers.  I saw Richard Petty, AJ Allmendinger and Greg Biffle walk through the pits after the races to talk with the local drivers, take pictures and sign their race cars.  Even during the pressures of a long season, these drivers seemed to enjoy themselves and give back at the same time.

Left turns and right turns still equal great racing

Dean & Jason Talkin Racin... as printed in the Midwest racing connection

By Dean Reller
Co-host of Speed Talk on 1360

Growing up, I was always a fan of racing no matter what form it was. That however was limited to watching NASCAR and the action at my local dirt track.  Over the years I became a fan of asphalt racing.  No matter the type, the basic premise was always go fast, turn left.

Now after 20 years being involved in racing in one capacity or another I’m finally developing a following for road racing, where the premise is go fast, turn left AND right.  A recent trip to Brainerd International Raceway’s 2.5 mile Competition Road Coarse to watch the SCCA Trans-Am Series gave me an up-close look at racing in a whole new light.  First off, unlike most race track’s that I go to, there isn’t a massive grandstand for fans to sit and watch the action.  Rather, race fans watch the race from the area INSIDE the track and that allows the racing to literally surround you.  With a variety of left and right hand turns and speeds as high as 140 MPH to as low as about 30 MPH, road racing has a little bit of everything.  Trading paint isn’t common and really isn’t encouraged, but that doesn’t mean that it does happen though.
 
One of the unique things is that the races start at the line between turn 13 and turn one, in an area mostly surrounded by trees for the wandering spectator, like me.  The Trans-Am cars start their races with a rolling start, but other classes use a standing start, which to me was rather interesting to see.  As I mentioned, that’s where the races start, but that is not where they finish.  The checkered flag waves from the stand that is located between turns 11 and 12, which is right in front of pit road.

 The racing at BIR was a two-day event with separate races on both days, which ended up providing two distinct types of racing.  The first day of racing saw plenty of action as drivers tried to find grip on the track that combines the old pavement of the original Donnybrooke Road Course and the new pavement of the Competition Road Course.  Veteran driver Tony Ave, winner of last year’s race, picked up where he left off as he took the lead from the start and wasn’t challenged much as he rolled to the win.  The driver to watch was Amy Ruman who tangled with another car on lap one in the fast part of the track.  After getting back on track and making a stop to repair her car, she put on a show as she passed some of the other cars and ended up finishing fourth.

The second day of racing looked to be just as fast as Ave set a track record in qualifying with Ruman not far behind.  Drama would be the story of this race as a shower dampened the track before the race took the green.   Ave’s slipping clutch gave him problems on the opening lap as he spun in front of the field in the slowest and tightest areas of the track, which is where I just happened to be at the time.  Ruman ceased the opportunity as she took the lead and really began to pull away as Ave struggled to get back to the front.  Whenever a fast car has to come from the back, no matter what kind of racing you are watching, always makes for a fun race to watch.  Ave put on a show as he worked his way through the field.  While this was going on, dark clouds moved over the track and started out as drizzle, but quickly turned to a light rain.  Normally this is where I would see a Red Flag, the race would be stopped and I would run for cover.  But this is road racing and the race goes on.  I dawned my raincoat and didn’t do what my mother always taught me, I stayed out in the rain.  Several drivers would take off course adventures, but despite the very wet conditions, none of the drivers would go to the pits for rain tires which would have provided a lot more grip.  The wet track forced drivers to run the “Rain Line” which is a totally different way to run around the track.  Ruman ended up surrendering the lead to Ave as he didn’t seem to be phased by the wet conditions and went on to take the win.  Ruman would go off track three times during the race, but wound up finishing third.

Once thought of as some other kind of racing, road racing has really taught me a new appreciation for those who compete at it.  No wonder NASCAR has a couple events on road courses every year.  It’s truly a test of skill not only to compete, but to do it with the finesse and make it something that literally surrounds its fans.

Listen to our pod-cast from the Brainerd International Raceway road course (below), Trans-Am stars Tony Ave and Amy Ruman are featured in part one.



Podcast Powered By Podbean

Dean Reller and Jason Searcy have over 40 years combined experienced in motorsports.  They host the weekly program Speed Talk on 1360, Saturdays on KRWC AM 1360 April through September.  The program covers NASCAR and devotes a good portion of the show to local and regional racing as well.

NASCAR Stars come to Minnesota

Numerous NASCAR stars will be coming to Elko Speedway to race in a charity event, its the Minnesota Motorsports gives back & Millitary appreciation event on Thursday Oct 6th.

Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne (photo above) will be in attendace to race and sign autographs, he will be joined by Greg Biffle, AJ Allmendinger, Marcos Ambrose, Ricky Stenhouse, Jason Leffler & Erik Darnell. 

NASCAR owner Jack Roush and Hall-of-fame driver Richard Petty will also be on hand during this special event.

They will do a special meet and greet with VIP's from 5-6pm and then with the General admission from 6-7:15pm.

The drivers will compete in a match up and exibition races beginning at 7:15pm.  Great North Legends drivers will also be racing.   A Monster Truck "Bounty Hunter" will also put on a show.

VIP tickets are $35 and General admission only $10.  Special pricing for Millitary members.  Get more details here https://elko-speedway1.ticketleap.net/Member/event.aspx?event_id=F603E6B7-E203-4C68-AFF8-26B5E3D789A

Jason will be reporting on this event, keep checking back for more updates on www.speedtalkon1360.com

Final radio show of 2011

Saturday afternoon will wrap up an awesome third year of Speedtalk on 1360 radio on KRWC.
Our final show of 2011 will be broadcast after the Golden Gophers football game vs Michigan on Saturday Oct 1st, our show will go at approx 3:30 or 4pm.

In 2011 we interviewed 55 different race car drivers from all forms of Motorsports including: a Monster Truck driver, 10 different NASCAR Nationwide series drivers, 5 Trans-Am drivers, an NHRA Champion, 13 ASA Midwest tour drivers and the current Daytona 500 champion.  If you are wondering how we got so many drivers on the show, see photo below!

We were lucky to have two great weekly guests too, Dan Plan with his knowledge covering local racing and Jordan Bianchi is the best NASCAR columnist in the country.

This year Jason got to meet his hero, the Monster Jam announcer Scott Douglas (photo below).

We broadcast LIVE from the SCCA Trans-Am series race at Brainerd International Raceway and Two NASCAR Nationwide series races at Iowa Speedway.  Dean found a sign with some good advice for Speedtalk fans (photo below).

It was truely a great year, thank you race fans for supporting Speedtalk radio in 2011.

A big thanks to our sponsors: Gary at Performance driving school at Brainerd International Raceway, Sara, Mike and Barb at Lou Fegers Racing Equipment in Delano, Ted at Stockholm Motorsports park in Cokato and the whole gang at Raceway Park in Shakopee.  Please support these businesses and tell them that you hear their ad on Speedtalk and for helping promote motorsports on mainstream media.

Listen to our final show Saturday Oct 1st at approx 4pm on KRWC radio 1360am or www.krwc1360.com

Remember we will continue to cover MN Motorsports all winter long on our web-site, please keep checking back www.speedtalkon1360.com

Golden Spike back on the track

By Dean Reller
Co-host Speed Talk on 1360

September 24, 2011 (SAUK RAPIDS, MN) Sunny, but crispy skies greeted drivers and fans as the Golden Spike Speedway once again rumbled to life with the sound of racing.  It has been two years since the last checkered flag waved at the track, but race fans were treated to a special weekend of racing, with a hint that things may continue in the years to come. 

Six divisions of cars were in action and despite a few technical problems early in the program, the races ran relatively smooth.  Chad Funt turned in a clean sweep as he won both his heat the Feature in the Short Trackers.  Dylan Jones came out on top in the Hornet Feature, while Gary Ohnstad pulled off the win in the Pure Stocks.

The Northern Vintage Stock Racers were out in full force, prompting race officials to run three feature races for the various classes of cars.  Paul Dolphy won his heat and that relegated him to the back for the start of the feature.  Dolphy picked his way through the pack to take home the win.  Joe L’Allier took the win in the Coupes and John “Butch” Bethke was the winner in the very quick Super Modifieds.

Despite sitting idle, the track proved to be a relatively smooth and dry for the heat races.  That changed after some water was added at the intermission.  The track wasn’t as dusty, however it became a little rough in turns one and four.  The end result contributed to a few flat tires, but also added to the excitement as the drivers tried to navigate around the bumps.  Though nothing was formally announced, it appears as though racing will return next year at the track, which may be sporting a new name.

*SPEEDTALK UPDATE  9/25/11  Unofficial results from Sunday racing:

Hornets winner Dexter Robyn, Pure Stocks Gary Ohnstad, Short Trackers Tim Lavoi,
Vintage Cars winners Ken Varing and Mike Bjorklund.
We will update any additional information as it is announced here on www.speedtalkon1360.com

2011 Car show winners

The 2011 Classics by the lake car show in downtown Buffalo drew a large number of cars and a huge crowd of spectators.  Nearly 600 cars were on display under bright blue skies and temperatures in the low 80's.  78 total trophys were given out, here is a listing of some of the top winners.

The Braatzy Award (sponsor's choice - named after the late Mark Braatz, who was the man behind this show getting up and going) went to Dale Olson (Buffalo) for his 1934 Ford Streetrod.

The Spectator's Choice Award (spectators paid $1 / vote) went to Gerard Melgaard (former Buffalo mayor) and his 1958 Chevy.

The Best in Show Award (selected by the owners) went to Jerry and Arvy Haugen (Buffalo) for their 1948 Cadillac.

Perhaps most importantly, Morrie's Classics By The Lake donated $7,500 to the Buffalo Food Shelf and $500 to the Flora of Buffalo program.

Speedtalk on 1360 radio was happy to see so many people during our LIVE broadcast from the show.  We gave away a die-cast car set donated by HideawaySpeedway.com to one lucky fan in attendance.

Listen to Speedtalk Saturdays 10-11am on KRWC radio or www.krwc1360.com

Here is a link to a gallery of photo's from the show http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/media/set/?set=oa.10150290223261793&type=1 Courtesy of Dean Reller.
*bottom photo courtesy of Gredo Goldstein

Golden Spike to open for one last weekend?

By Dean Reller
September 10, 2011

(SAUK RAPIDS, MN) Since closing a little over two years ago, it looked as though racing had vanished completely from the once popular Sunday night racetrack.  In it’s prime it was located just a few miles east of town, but with the growth of the city of Sauk Rapids, the dormant track now sits about a half mile from the high school, just outside the sprawling city.  Many rumors have come and gone since the track saw it’s last checkered flag wave, but each time the prospect faded and never made it to fruition.
 
However, a glimmer of hope has emerged when it was announced that the Golden Spike would reopen for a pair of events billed as “The Final Events EVER” at the Golden Spike Speedway on Saturday September 24 and Sunday September 25th.  Saturday’s events will feature Hornets, Short Trackers/Hobby Stocks and Pure Stocks with the green flag waving at 3 PM, followed by a concert by the band Chaser.  Sunday’s racing will feature a 200 lap, 4 Cylinder Enduro slated to begin at 3 PM.

*SPEEDTALK UPDATE (9/21/11) The Sunday racing line-up has changed.  Hornets, Short Trackers/Hobby Stocks, Pure Stocks and Vintage cars will also race on Sunday beginning at 3pm.

Even though the track is opening for a weekend of racing, it is very unclear what the future holds for the racetrack as a For Sale sign still hangs on the front gate in advance of this upcoming event.

Race promoter Chris Stepan is putting the event together and he will join us Saturday at 10:30am on Speedtalk on 1360 radio. 

Speedtalk on 1360 radio with Jason Searcy and Dean Reller is every Saturday morning from 10-11am on KRWC radio and www.krwc1360.com


*SPEEDTALK UPDATE (9-13-11) ... we were told by a Leighton employee, that the Leighton broadcasting (KCLD radio in St Cloud) group is attemping purchase of the Golden Spike, the future of the track is unknown at this point.

*SPEEDTALK UPDATE (9-17-11)  Chris Stepan told us in the interview that he is working as a promoter with the goal of racing at the Golden Spike in 2012.

Car show broadcast

Jason and Dean from Speedtalk on 1360 (photo above) will be broadcasting LIVE from the "Classics by the lake" car show Saturday Sep 10th from 10-11am.

This is the third annual event that had gotten bigger every year, in 2010 over 450 cars were entered and on display covering the entire downtown in Buffalo.  Pictured above is Doug Rippe's Corvette race car and below is a unique Corvette pace car.

The Classics by the Lake car show is FREE for specatators and car owners, 78 total trophy's will be given away to classic car owners.  The car show is from 10am-2pm.

Jason and Dean will be broadcasting LIVE on KRWC from 10-11am.  You can hear interviews with Trans-Am drivers from BIR: Tony Ave (photo above) along with Amy Ruman (photo below).

We will also broadcast an interview with Mazda MX-5 Cup winner Mike Cooper (photo below).

We also will be talking with the crowd and interviewing any other race car drivers in attendance at the show, come and join us or listen on-line at www.krwc1360.com

Get more information  http://www.morriesbuffalofordstore.com/classics-by-the-lake-car-show.aspx

Ave sweeps at BIR

Minnesota born driver Tony Ave (photo above) wins both the SCCA Trans-Am races from Brainerd International Raceway (MN) on Labor day weekend and clinches the 2011 series championship. 

Ave lead all forty laps of the Saturday race, Dan Ramoutarsingh finished second and Derhaag driver Simon Gregg got third.  Amy Ruman (photo below) survived an opening lap wreck and two flat tires to come back and finish fourth on Saturday, she lead some laps on Sunday in the rain and finished on the podium in third.

Cliff Ebben (photo below) was involved in that lap 1 crash with Amy Ruman on Saturday, his car was not able to continue in the race, he finished in 13th place.  He came back on Sunday and finshed in second place racing Denny Lamers car on a rain soaked track.

Bob Stretch (photo below) was the top finisher both days in the new TA-2 series, which raced on the track at the same time as the Trans-Am cars.

The Playboy Mazda MX-5 cup races where exciting.  Michael Cooper (photo above with Dean) won both days, he and Jason Saini were nose to tail the entire 45 minute race on Saturday.  Kevin Kopp (photo below) was in a bad wreck as he hit the wall hard in the corner just before the bridge, he was able to walk away from this crash. 

Click on this link for more photo's of this event http://www.flickr.com/photos/speedtalkon1360

Get more detailed results on www.trans-amracing.com

We will broadcast interviews with Tony Ave, Amy Ruman and Mike Cooper Saturday 10-11am on Speedtalk on 1360 radio, listen live at www.krwc1360.com