Congrats to our 2022 Champions!

 Joe Verdegan - 9/5/2022

BUTZ RETURNS TO NORWAY SPEEDWAY VICTORY LANE ON FAIR NIGHT; CHAMPIONS CROWNED

(Norway, MI) Sept 4 – Former track champion Chad Butz of Green Bay, Wisconsin passed Braison Bennett of Neenah, Wisconsin for the lead on lap 24 and dodged numerous yellow and red flags to capture the Bob Iverson Memorial 100 lap late model feature on championship night at Norway Speedway Friday during the Dickinson County Fair.

Track champions were crowned in the respective divisions. They were Gleason, Wisconsin’s Justin Mondeik (late model), Pembine, Wisconsin’s Anthony Schiefelbein (super stock), Hermansville’s Dean Bellmore (four banger), Norway’s Joe Osterman (stock car), and Kingsford’s Brad Barglind (sport trucks).

When the checkers flew Butz had lapped all but the other top five cars running competitively at the end of the crash filled, caution plagued event. Butz’ margin of victory was a full straightaway lead over Mondeik.

Among the red flag incidents occurred on lap 53 when Robby Iverson made contact with the lapped car of Dean Varda. Both cars sustained heavy damage while both drivers remained unhurt.

Appleton, Wisconsin visitor Andy Monday scored a podium finish with third while Bennett and his dad Lowell Bennett of Neenah placed fourth and fifth, respectively. 11 of the original 18 starters were still running when the checkers flew.

Marquette visitor Jeremy “Pork Chop” Yelle scored the super stock feature win while Aurora, Wisconsin’s Gary Thom was awarded the stock car win after apparent winner Seth Thompson “broke out” and recorded a lap under the .18 second bracket when the checkers flew.

Appleton, Wisconsin’s Jurnee Bennett made the town north pay off with a four banger feature win while Freedom’s Kasey Vander Loop emerged triumphant in the sport truck feature.

The staff and management of the Dickinson County Racing Association would like to thank the race teams, fans and track officials for their support in 2022.  Please check our website norwayspeedway.com and our Facebook page for off season updates or email ostermannjohn@hotmail.com.

RACE SUMMARY

BINK’S COCA COLA SUPER LATE MODEL FEATURE – Chad Butz, Green Bay, WI; Justin Mondeik, Gleason, WI; Andy Monday, Appleton, WI; Braison Bennett, Neenah, WI; Lowell Bennett, Neenah; Scott Stanchina, Kingsford

SEMI-FEATURE – Dean Varda, Vulcan; Reece Cavin, Marquette; John Ostermann, Norway; Jay Brady, Marquette; Scott Bolster, Marquette        

HEATS  1) Parker Cain, Big Bay; Varda 2) Michael Lantagne, Vulcan; Cory Cootware, Iron Mountain

DASH – Braison Bennett

FAST TIME – Butz, 14.246

AUTO VALUE SUPER STOCK FEATURE – Jeremy Yelle, Marquette; Tony Wender, Upper Pine Creek; Ray Koskimaki, Marquette; Anthony Schiefelbein, Pembine, WI; Cody Vander Loop, Freedom, WI

HEATS 1) Lukas Peterson, Marinette, WI; Ryan Wender, Upper Pine Creek 2) Yelle; Tony Wender

DASH – Joey Pontbriand, Norway

FAST TIME – Schiefelbein, 15.790

141 AUTO SALES STOCK CAR FEATURE – Gary Thom, Aurora, WI; Todd Schmidt, Spread Eagle, WI; Nick Kroehler, Appleton, WI

HEATS 1) Kaitlyn Schettler, Kingsford; Scott Dahlgren, Iron Bluff 2) Trevor Pankratz, Little Suamico, WI; Zackery Krans, Kingsford

FAST TIME – Travis Hulsizer, Menominee 18.056

MC SIGNS & GRAPHICS 4 BANGER FEATURE – Jurnee Bennett, Neenah, WI; Elliot Reid, Faithorn; Brock Pearman, Vulcan; Trevor Cronick, Faithorn; Brett Ayotte, Hermansville

SEMI FEATURE – Cole Brown, Aurora, WI; Dylan Tirschel, Kingsford; Gavin Goulette, Iron Mountain; Ryan Okler, Norway

HEATS 1) Brown; David Oman, Faithorn 2) Owen Eichmeyer, Powers; Tirschel 3) Cory Grondine, Hermansville; Ayotte

FAST TIME - Reid, 18.059

SPORT TRUCK FEATURE – Kasey Vander Loop, Freedom; Brad Barglind, Kingsford; Jason Plutz, Menasha, WI; Cody Vander Loop; Tanner Fickel, Appleton, WI

HEATS 1) Bode Johnson, Ishpeming; Andrew Ross, Appleton 2) Kasey Vanderloop; Brent Barglind

FAST TIME - Brent Barglind, Kingsford, 16.224

SPECTATOR ELIMINATOR – Okler

9/1/2022

Press Release Iron Mountain Daily News

Checkers or Wreckers Racing Column

John Ostermann

Well, that was fun! Last Saturday’s 300 lap 70 car Enduro race did not disappoint. The Impact Survival Series made their way to Norway and packed the motels and helped the gas stations, restaurants, and bars, but mainly provided a good crowd of people a different form of stock car racing. Local notables that had good runs included, Kyle Loberger of M&M Ice Racing fame finished 7th, Iron Mountain’s Ethan Schahczinski finishing 9th, a surprising run by Ryan Okler who ran in the Top 5 for most of the event finishing in 20th place was accompanied by former Speedway Track Champion & Father Don Okler Jr. Ryan is the grandson of another great speedway racer the late Don Okler Sr as well. Joey Pontbriand the surprise entry was driving a car that I thought didn’t exist because the price of scrap went up, finished an impressive 26th. All the rest of the Norway faithful finished 40th or below, but still put on a great show and represented the Speedway well. 

Joey Pontbriand understood the assignment! We started working on getting a new scoreboard for the Speedway back in January. And after I failed getting a couple of estimates, Joey volunteered to spearhead the project. About a month ago at one of our board meetings, we asked how it was coming and he smiled and said,” it’s in stock and will be here shortly and it’s beautiful”. It was definitely one of those situations where we looked at each other and said, “we will believe it when we see it’ and sure enough it happened. A brand-new state of the art digital scoreboard to replace our other scoreboard that has been in place for 40+ years. Joey worked vigorously with the family of Nick Bink and Coca-Cola to help fund the project. But wait, there’s more. While I was spending time trying to find a contractor to put the scoreboard in place 8 feet off the ground and mount it on telephone poles- supplied by Stock Car driver Gary Thom, Joey rounded up Ryan Okler and Okler Roofing to come in with their equipment and mount it perfectly in turns 1 and 2. I’ve always said our organization has unbelievable resources and abilities and this is just another example. We race at 4 pm Sunday, so you might not get to see the full beauty of the scoreboard because we are probably going to get done before it gets dark. But, when it’s lit up, it’s Awesome! It looks like it belongs in the infield at Daytona or some NASCAR Speedway.

This week is the Dickinson County Fair Board/Island Resort & Casino, Bob Iverson Memorial Championship night at the Speedway. The Coca-Cola Late Model Championship looks like it’s going to go to Justin Mondeik at this point from Gleason, WI, 2nd-5th could get a little bit dicey with Braison Bennett, Jason Wells, Scott Stanchina & Will Timmers. 

In the Auto Value Super Stock division Anthony Schiefelbein looks like he’s going to win his first Auto Value Super Stock Track Championship against a very stout field of race cars. Menominee’s Kevin Peterson who had a great year is 2nd but is closely followed by Andy Gerwig who is also having one of his best seasons. Tony Wender & Trevor Pankratz round out the Top 5 respectively. 

In the 141 Auto Stock Car division in its usual fashion is going to come down to Sunday night to determine the Track Champion. The top 3 drivers are Joe Ostermann who has won multiple Championships and might have an edge with experience, however Jon Maenpaa had a breakout season and is an outstanding qualifier. Brian Massicotte got caught up in a couple of wrecks but won the Ed Hedlund Memorial to keep him in the hunt. 2021 Track Championship BJ Schoneck is only 4 points behind Massicotte, so he has a chance to move. Aurora’s Gary Thom is still within striking distance of both of them. 

In the MC Signs & Graphics Fab 4 division will have its Fab 4 Frenzy this week, as it was rained out 2 weeks ago. The points battle however will go down to the final night as the year before, as Dean Bellmore has a 39-point lead over Faithorn’s Elliott Reid. 

In the Wisconsin Sport Trucks division Brad Barglind holds a slim 7 points above his brother Brent. 

Make sure you get out there Sunday. A lot of drivers coming from Wisconsin including racing legend Lowell Bennett, Bryan Monday, Former Speedway Champion Chad Butz, Sands Speedway drivers Jay Brady, Reece Gavin, & Darryl Britton and I’m sure there will be several more. In the Auto Value Super Stock division WIR Star Doogie Howser said he will be there, if he doesn’t tear off the front of his car tonight. Menominee County’s John Komp & Nick Anderson will both be in attendance. It’s quite possible you might be seeing former Speedway star Michael Bubloni make a return by a car owned by Jeff Poupore. As you can see it’s going to be a big night. I’m expecting another packed grandstand and another great night of racing. The perfect way to end the summer.