TNT SPEEDWAY

TNT Speedway Track Champions, Fall Special Plans Announced

Jeremy Mayo, Editor-in-Chief, HodagSports.com

THREE LAKES – In what was supposed to be a dramatic fight for the track championships, Mother Nature decided to put a fitting end to the 2009 regular season, raining out Season Championship night at TNT Speedway.  It was the sixth rainout out of the season, the most in TNT’s 15-year history. It also meant that Eagle River’s Jason Zdroik locked up the WISSOTA AMSOIL Dirt Track Series Midwest Modified class title, Baraga, Michigan’s Jeff Klopstein won the WADTS Street Stock title, Rhinelander’s Denny Tushoski took the TNT Bomber championship and Eagle River’s Bill Martin claimed his second consecutive TNT Stinger Title.

It was either checkers or wrecker for Jason Zdroik at TNT Speedway in 2009. He charged his way to his first TNT Speedway crown on the strength of six feature victories in ten shows. It was part of a summer of dominance in the Northwoods for Zdroik as he currently sits fifth in WADTS Midwest Mods National Points.  It could have easily been eight or nine features had mechanical problems not grabbed him. Three times this season Zdroik had mechanical problems while leading the main event.  That allowed 2008 WADTS Midwest Mod Track Champ Bruce Belland to stay in contact in the point race. But a cut tire and a crash into the outside wall on August 21 officially dashed his chances at a repeat. Belland captured two feature wins this season and finished in a tie for second with Chad Boettcher, who was the only driver to out-duel Zdroik this year at TNT, beating him for a feature win back on July 5.

Jeff Klopstein earned a track title in his sophomore season in the Street Stocks. Klopstein captured two feature wins at TNT this year. His win on July 18 put him into the point lead for good.   TNT saw a lot of part-time runners score wins in the Street Stocks. Hurley’s John Kallas, who sits fifth in national points, took the feature in each of his tow starts at TNT. Jordan Kurtti won twice in six starts. Dennis Lacrosse won once in four starts. Dave Dishaw, Tom Waara and Jeff Hoogland each made only two starts, but walked away with a feature win.  Ron Van Dusen, John Johnson Sr., Leif Gunderson and Jake Mullins rounded out the top five. Klopstein won by 37 points over Van Dusen, the largest points margin this year.

From the largest margin of the season to one of the smallest in track history, Denny Tushoski’s rain dance paid off as Saturday’s washout gave him the TNT Bomber Track Championship.  The title was decided with three laps to go in last Saturday’s feature when Ben Pitlik cut a tire while running second. Had Pitlik’s tire remained inflated and every held their positions over the final laps, there would have been a three-way tie for the track championship.  Instead the flat tire pushed Tushoski to second in last week’s feature and though Lee Bradley won his fifth feature of the season, he still wound up a mere one-point behind Tushoski in the final standings. Pitlik finished third in the points, with Jeff Fannin fourth. All four drivers had a legitimate shot at the title entering last Saturday’s feature.

Bill Martin showed once again that consistency pays off in the Stinger class. He had a fast car, but not the fastest – Elcho’s Nick Visser claimed the most feature wins with five. Martin did not win a single feature, but scored six heat race wins, finished in the top five of every feature and never scored fewer than 50 points on any race night. That was good enough to best Brandon Ross by 14 points.

TNT Speedway would like to remind fans while there will be no racing over the Labor Day Weekend at the track, the racing season is not over. As always TNT Speedway finishes the year with its annual Fall Special and to celebrate the completion of our 15^th season, we will be having twice the fun with this one.

WADTS Midwest Modifieds and Street Stocks will highlight the card both nights – Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12. While the track championships have been decided, these drivers will be racing for valuable WISSOTA State and National points in one of the final tune-ups before the annual WISSOTA 100 in Huron, South Dakota September 16-19.  TNT Bombers and Stingers will also race both nights. There will be mechanics and powder puff races sprinkled in as well.

TNT Speedway is trying to up the ante for Saturday night’s show and you can help by donating to the prize fund. Show the drivers your appreciation for a great season with your monetary donation, as large or as small as you wish. You designate which class you want the money to go to and we’ll give half of the donation pool to the feature winner and half to a driver that finishes in a randomly selected position. Donations can be made on TNTSpeedway.com or at the track on Friday or Saturday.

An awards party will follow the races on Saturday. Food will be served and beer will be on tap for drivers and pit crews. Admission prices will remain the same for the special and any fans that wish to attend the awards party may buy a ticket for $5.00.

Racing will start at the normal time on Friday with Hot Laps at 7:00 PM and racing at 7:45. The start time for Saturday’s races has been pushed up one hour. Hot Laps will begin at 6:00 PM with racing at 6:45. In the event of a rainout, a Sunday rain date has been built in with Hot Laps at 6:00 and racing at 6:45. The awards party would then follow Sunday’s racing.   So mark your calendars for September 11 and 12 as we finish another dynamite season at TNT Speedway with a bang.