Time to start planning

By Dean Reller
www.speedtalkon1360.com

 After watching all the action at Daytona, it’s time to start thinking about the 2012 season, when a race fan can get out and see the action first hand rather than watching it on a 42 inch HD TV.  If only I lived in Florida with the all the action around Speed Weeks and the short track racing on both the local pavement and dirt tracks.  However, the wait up here in the north is a bit longer, but there will be plenty of great racing to see as this year unfolds.

April has traditionally been cold and wet, forcing many tracks to schedule and reschedule their opening night events.  Let’s hope that the mild winter that we had will turn into a mild spring and tracks can open on time this year.  I have compiled a list of races that I would like to see this coming year and I don’t think it covers everything.

Local short track action is always exciting and each track offers a unique experience and always plenty of action.  Friday nights have long time bullring Princeton Speedway on my list as I always enjoy the tight high-banked dirt track. For many years I have had an association with the I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, it’s been a few years since I have been up there, but I have been hearing great things and I need to find a way to get back out there.

 

Saturday nights provide plenty of options as Elko Speedway (photo above) once again will have a great weekly show, with a couple of big races on schedule as well.  The one that I have circled is June 2nd, when the ARCA Racing Series makes its first ever visit to the state of Minnesota.  This series is the one for many of the up and coming drivers and should be a lot of fun to see some of racings future stars.  Ogilvie Raceway is a new track within the last couple of years and surprisingly, I still haven’t made it there yet.  Well, this year I plan on checking out the buzz at the 3/8th’s mile dirt track.

 
Rounding out the weekends are two more fantastic options.  Raceway Park (photo above) in Shakopee, “The Action Attraction” looks to live up to its billing as it caps off weekends with Sunday night racing (the figure eight races are nationally known).  This year another Sunday night track, Granite City Speedway (formally the Golden Spike Speedway) will be reopening and once again will give me another option to catch a great short track show (photo below).

The ASA Midwest Tour opens its season May 5th and 6th at Madison Wisconsin, it’s a bit of a drive, but it would be a fun race to attend.  The spotlight will shine on the series on Tuesday June 12th with a trip to the historic Milwaukee Mile.  Several NASCAR drivers are expected to participate and I’m still trying to figure out how to make this weekday race and road trip work.  Saturday August 18th the tour comes to Elko and returns again on September 22nd.  A stop at Iowa Speedway is thrown in between on September 14th, before the big finale on October 7th in the Octoberfest race at LaCrosse.  I’m a little disappointed that the series won’t be racing at Raceway Park this year, but I am glad that they added the second Elko race.  So, I should be able to catch up with the Midwest Tour at least four times this year.

Over the last couple of years, I have developed a new found interest in road racing and Brainerd International Raceway (photo above) has two huge events that are on my must see list.  The first is May 26th with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series who will be making their first trip to the track.  The other must see is the Trans-Am Series on September 2nd.  The unique thing to remember with these races is that they run rain or shine, I just have to remember to be prepared.

Finally, a couple of road trips are in order this season to “America’s Place To Race”, Iowa Speedway (photo above) in Newton, IA.  It’s really not a bad or long trip and well worth the drive.  The NASCAR Nationwide Series will be there May 20th and August 4th, the Camping World Trucks will be there July 14 and September 15 and the Indy Cars will be there June 23rd.  I know I won’t be to make all of these but at least two or possibly three I plan to attend.

As I sit in my living room, watching racing on TV, I can’t wait until I can see the cars, feel the thunder of the engines and smell (whatever it is to smell), of racecars flying around a track in front of me live and in person.  Watching racing on TV is great, but there is no substitute for actually being there.

2012 NASCAR forcast

Speedtalk on 1360 predictions for the 2012 NASCAR season

Dean Reller says....

Obvious choices would be Jimmie Johnson, well because he’s Jimmie and we know what he can do and Tony Stewart, because we saw what he did and he could very well do it again.  However, someone once said “You have to lose a championship before you can win it” and the driver that fits that bill is Carl Edwards.  Carl knows what he needs to do to win it this time around.  He’s focusing on the Sprint Cup Series and plans to run few, if any Nationwide Series races, putting his full attention to the task at hand, winning the 2012 championship.

Jason Searcy says...

I think the Fords will have an advantage with the FR9 engine in 2012 and with the new fuel injection the larger teams can draw from additional information.  Carl Edwards was incredibly consistent in 2011 with 26 "top 10" finishes but won only one race.  People forget about his Roush-Fenway teammate Matt Kenseth, he had the third most "top 10" finishes last year (20) plus scored 3 wins.  He finished 4th in points even though he had some bad luck in the Chase (thanks to Brian Vickers). 

Matt won the Championship in 2003 and his crew chief Jimmie Fennig won the title with Kurt Busch in 2004.  Plus, he has the fastest pit crew in NASCAR.  Limited sponsorship will not be a problem for the #17 car, Jack Roush showed his support in the off season saying this team will stay intact no matter what.  Smart, fast and consistent will win in 2012 and Wisconsin native Matt Kenseth fits the bill.

Jordan Bianchi "The racing geek" says....

For the last six seasons, I’ve always been an ardent believer that until someone knocked Jimmie Johnson off the championship pedestal, he was unquestionably the favorite entering the season. Now for the first time since the beginning of the 2006 season, we enter a year without Johnson being referred to as the “defending champ.” And while it’s very easy to say the man who won five consecutive titles will return to his winning ways in ‘12, I don’t think that’s the case.

In what I think will be a wide-open title race, I strongly believe when the checkered flag waves at Homestead to closeout the 2012 season, it will be the man who came oh so close a year ago to winning it all, finally seizing the brass ring.

After several near-misses, andwith the speed, smarts and the confidence needed to win, not to mention a greatteam instep with him, everything is lining up for Carl Edwards to win his first Sprint Cup championship.

While I think there is still something to be said about the “Season-After Affect” that has recently plagued the guy who finished second in points the year before, Edwards will prove to be immune from such a disease.

Speedtalk on 1360 radio will return to KRWC am 1360 in April, follow along for the best MN Motorsports news and NASCAR coverage right here on www.speedtalkon1360.com

*Photos courtesy of NASCAR/Getty Images

Bounty Hunter & Grinder win at Metrodome

John Seasock (photo with Jason above) driving Grinder wins the racing portion of the Monter Jam event at the Metrodome on Saturday January 21st.  His truck was on display at Advance Auto Parts in Buffalo on Friday afternoon before the show.

The Freestyle winner was Daren Migues driving Bounty Hunter, he scored a 23 edging out Iron Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle both with a score of 21.  The Bounty Hunter truck (photo below) did a show at Elko Speedway last summer during the Minnesota Millitary Charity event.

For full results go here http://www.monsterjam.com/Results/2012/01/21/Minneapolis,_MN/

Chad Walen awarded 2011 MN Asphalt Driver of the year

January 1 2012

By Jason D Searcy (www.speedtalkon1360.com)

Chad Walen from Prior Lake (MN) is the 2011 Speedtalk MN asphalt driver of the year.

Chad had an incredible season racing at Raceway Park in Shakopee (MN), winning the Super Late Model Points Championship after finishing second the previous two years.  He was 8 points behind defending Champion Adam Royle with three weeks remaining in the season but ended up winning the title by 11 points.

Chad scored six wins on the season at Raceway Park but said the reason for success was limiting the bad nights, "We didn't have any mistakes this year, not one DNF."

Chad was a crew member when his uncle Mel was a Champion at Raceway Park back in 1993-1995.  Walen racing might be known as a throw-back team because they draw heavily on past experience.  "We went back to what we knew back then, and the same stuff works today," said Chad.  He went from crew member to behind the wheel in 2001 driving a Modified, then moved to the Late Model division in 2005 with his father as the car owner.

Raceway park is a tight 1/4 mile track with the fast groove on the bottom but you still will see plenty of two-wide racing.  "The only way you are going to win is to figure out that second groove, it's where you've got to pass people" said Walen.  The racing is not the only reason why Chad likes Raceway Park, "its a great family atmosphere" he said "the other competitors are really good, we get along and they help each other out."

Even though Walen racing spent most of their time racing in Shakopee, they also won a race in September at Elko (MN) Speedway and travelled to La Crosse (WI) to compete in the Oktoberfest races.  They also enjoyed travelling to Charlotte (NC) for the annual NASCAR Member track National awards banquet in December.

Chad mentioned that the plans are to come back and try win another championship at Raceway Park on Sundays and hit a few more shows on Saturday nights in 2012.

"Speedtalk on 1360" is a weekly MN motorsports radio show based out of Buffalo (MN) on KRWC 1360am.

Past reciepients of this award are:
2004 Dan Fredrickson
2009 Adam Royle  http://racefansradio.blogspot.com/2009/12/2009-speedtalk-mn-driver-of-year.html
2010 Brent Kane http://racefansradio.blogspot.com/2011/01/2010-mn-asphalt-driver-of-year.html
2011 Chad Walen

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.