News & information

John Ostermann - 7/15/21  

Norway Speedway Racing Column  

Iron Mountain Daily News 

Everybody needs to hurry up and get to Norway Speedway as soon as possible. Believe it or not we are at the half way point of an amazing 2021 Racing Season. This unfortunately also means summer is almost half way over and football season is going to be starting soon. It seems like we were just organizing our preseason practices and getting ready for the season opener. It is amazing how time goes by. 

Our Mid-Season Champions at this point are all a bit of a surprise. I would of never of picked any of them to be leading the championship points at this juncture of our season last December. Chad Butz from Howard, Wisconsin who is just 21, has been a dominating force with co-driver Mike DeAngelo Jr of Marquette, Michigan. The two of them have combined for 5 Feature Wins and 3 Fast Times in a stout field of cars in the first half of the season with a 42-point lead over Kingsford’s Scott Stanchina and Jason Wells. The way Stanchina and Wells have been racing this season with 8 weeks left have plenty of time for either one of them to attain there first Coca Cola Late Model Championship.  

This week marks Auto Value Round 1 of the Challenge Series which has a Two-Race Series Champion and pays the feature winner $700. Auto Value has been a longtime supporter of Norway Speedway and has tremendous support for this division cause this type of car can use parts purchased at Auto Value Stores. There will be out of car driver introductions for our Auto Value Superstocks and an autograph session at intermission for the top 6 in points. Half way through the season surprise Championship points leader Joey Pontbriand of Norway, Michigan has a 50-point lead and has been dominant throughout the summer. Joey and his family pulled out all the stops this summer and really took their racing to the next level as they are top contenders at the Wisconsin Dells Raceway and other various tracks throughout the region. The second half of the season could be interesting for Joey as new arrival John Komp of Menominee, Michigan has recently showed up and made a strong first impression in his debut a couple of weeks ago. Defending Track Champion Ryan Wender of Upper Pine Creek, Michigan had a prior engagement last week and left the driving responsibilities to Norway Speedway Hall of Famer and Racing Legend Alan Bilski of Norway, Michigan. It seems an act of blasphemy was committed as Al drove Ryan Wender’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Myself and the rest of the world have been watching Al drive Fords successfully for close to 40 years. Al did a great job last week and was fun to watch. Anthony Schiefelbein and Ryan Wender have 8 weeks to chip in to Joey’s 50-point lead. Anthony had a strong run last week finishing second in both feature events.  

In the 141 Auto Stock Car Division, Defending Series Champion Preston Weddel who was involved in a bad crash on opening night left the door open for several other talented drivers to win their first Norway Speedway Track Championship.  Taking advantage of the situation is Racing Veteran BJ Schoneck of Marion, Wisconsin. BJ has been a front runner in the division since it started but has never been able to wave the championship banner. He is currently leading Trevor Pankratz of Oconto, Wisconsin by 13 points and Paul Bourgeois by 31 points. Anything can happen in this division. The last four championships have been decided by 5 points or less.  

In the MC Signs and Graphics Four Cylinder Division, Defending Champion Dean Bellmore of Hermansville, Michigan has a slim lead over Former Speedway Champion Trevor Cronick of Faithhorn, Michigan who has made a return to the Speedway this year after becoming a regular on the ISIS Impact Survival Series. Elliot Reid who has won 2 Features is tied with Trevor Cronick and they are both still alive in the Championship Race with 8 weeks left to go.  

In the Wisconsin Sport Truck Division, Cody Vanderloop of Freedom, Wisconsin has a slim 7-point lead over Andy Secrist of Florence, Wisconsin. Andy won his first feature a few weeks back and will be a serious contender for his first title. However, don’t count out the Barglind brothers in any way as they are tough competitors and understand what it takes to win championships.  

This week will be another great week at the Speedway.  Hope to see you all there! Summer is going by fast.  Let’s all take advantage of the great weather before its too late.

 LACOUNT SCORES FIRST CAREER NORWAY SPEEDWAY SUPER STOCK FEATURE

(Butz sweeps late model action)

(Norway, MI) July 9 – Athelstane, Wisconsin’s Kelly La Count fought off Anthony Schiefelbein and Andy Gerwing in a three lap dash to the checkers and went on to win the first of two super stock features at Norway Speedway Friday night. The win was the first of La Count’s three-year career racing at Norway.

In late model action Green Bay’s Chad Butz padded his point lead. Butz opened the night up scoring fast time and wound up winning both 25 lap features.

In the second super stock feature point leader Joey Pontbriand padded his point lead by winning the main event.

Little Suamico, Wisconsin’s Trevor Pankratz led every lap and survived a late race yellow to win the stock car feature.

Freedom, Wisconsin’s Kasey Vander Loop fended off his brother Cody Vander Loop after a late race restart to win the sport truck feature.

Hermansville’s Dean Bellmore skillfully weaved his way through lapped cars to win the four banger feature.

Next Friday, July 16 will be Round I of the Auto Value Challenge series races. Spectator eliminator races are also on the card. Racing gets underway at 7 p.m.

Please check our website norwayspeedway.com and our page on Facebook for further information or email ostermannjohn@hotmail.com.

RACE SUMMARY

BINK’S COCA COLA SUPER LATE MODEL FEATURES 1) Chad Butz, Green Bay, WI; Jason Wells, Kingsford; Greg Haese, Manitowoc, WI; Scott Stanchina, Kingsford; Cory Cootware, Iron Mountain; Ryan Hood, Vulcan; Bruce White, Kingsford; Mike Lantange, Vulcan; Wyatt Spade, Norway; Greg Borchardt, Prior Lake, MN; Scott Bolster, Marquette; Dean Varda, Vulcan (DNS) 2)    Varda (DNS)

FEATURE 2) Butz; Stanchina; Wells; Reed; White; Lantange; Spade; Borchardt; Bolster; Cootware; Haese; Varda (DNS)

FAST TIME – Butz, 14.142

AUTO VALUE SUPER STOCK FEATURES 1) Kelly La Count, Athelstane, WI; Anthony Schiefelbein, Pembine, WI; Andy Gerwig, Norway; Joey Pontbriand, Norway; Kevin Peterson, Marinette, WI; Tony Wender, Kingsford; John Komp, Menominee; Bob Schiefelbein, Pembine, WI; Al Bilski, Norway; Destiny Bullard, Marquette 2) Pontbriand; Anthony Schiefelbein; Komp; La Count; Gerwig; Bilski; Wender; Bullard; Peterson; Bob Schiefelbein

FAST TIME – Komp, 15.795

141 AUTO SALES STOCK CAR FEATURE – Trevor Pankratz, Little Suamico, WI: B.J. Schoneck, Marion, WI; Paul Bourgeois, Iron Mountain; John Ostermann, Norway; Bobby Lewis, Bark River

HEATS 1) Zachery Krans, Kingsford; Todd Schmidt, Spread Eagle, WI 2) Gary Thom, Aurora, WI; Brian Massicotte, Kingsford

FAST TIME – Schoneck, 18.064

KEN’S SPORTS SPORT TRUCK FEATURE – Kasey Vander Loop, Freedom, WI; Cody Vander Loop, Freedom, WI; Andy Secrist, Florence, WI; Brad Barglind, Kingsford; Brent Barglind, Kingsford

HEATS 1)Tanner Fickel, Appleton, WI; Bode Johnson, Ishpeming 2) Kasey Vander Loop; Brent Barglind

FAST TIME – Brad Barglind, 16.648

MC SIGNS & GRAPHICS 4 BANGER FEATURE – Dean Bellmore, Hermansville; Elliot Reid, Faithorn; Trevor Cronick, Faithorn; Cory Grondine, Hermansville; Cassandra Freeman, Niagara, WI

SEMI FEATURE – Cronick; Brent Ayotte, Hermansville; Lukas Peterson, Marinette, WI

HEATS 1) Devin Farah, Iron Mountain; Ayotte 2) Freeman; Dean Bellmore

FAST TIME – Dean Bellmore, 18.171