Charlie Steinberg won the USRA Modified main event on Friday, July 20, 2018, at the Chateau Speedway in Lansing, Minn.

Chateau Speedway in Lansing, Minn., was finally able to swing the gates back open Friday night after10-and-a-half months. The last race ran Labor Day Weekend last fall, and after it was announced the track was for sale on March 7 and would not be reopened this spring there were plenty of long faces. Drivers and fans suffered through rumor after rumor about possible deals to sell the track but it wasn’t until June 8 that the official word came down that Mark and Annette Wytaske had purchased the facility.

The plan was to reopen the track after about four to five weeks of intensive reworking of the facility. Over 2,000 hours were put into moving fencing, sandblasting and repainting, reworking the buildings inside and out, as well as moving some buildings. The entrance and exits to the track from the pits were worked with several hundred yards of fill. A reworking of the pit entrance and all new signage were just a few of the many improvements that greeted everyone for the re-opening of the facility.

Fact is, many of the improvements fans won’t even see as the work inside the concession stand was extensive. A lot of those hours were volunteer hours as people showed up doing everything from picking rocks out of the track surface, to painting and mowing and more. The outpouring of support for the track has been nothing short of overwhelming according to track officials. Much more work will continue to go on for the remainder of the season and into fall after racing comes to an end for the year, as well as next spring before next season fires up.

Wytaske, a former track champion and one of the top 5 all-time feature winners at the track as well as many more feature wins elsewhere, has a vision for the facility which will be fun to watch unfold over the years. Rex Garr’s famous '28 Coupe was on hand for the opening night activities, taking the American flag around for the national anthem. The current owners of the car have kept pretty much the way the Albert Lea driver had left it when he quit racing it.

After getting rained out on the planned opening a week ago, officials watched a day-and-a-half of rain soak the facility but rolled up there sleeves and did the work needed to get the season started. One of the largest crowds in years turned out for the grand re-opening and the drivers filled the pits as well glad to get back to racing at Chateau Speedway. Several drivers even said they put there cars away a few weeks ago just to save them to get back to Lansing, and at least one car that was for sale this spring was pulled back off the market after word got out the track would reopen.

A couple of speed bumps led to a couple of delays in the night's action. Things started a bit late as a late-arriving field of cars delayed the posting of line-ups, then a brief shower in the middle of the heats led to repacking the track before the rest of the program could proceed. Racing concluded about midnight but without the two delays could have been done before 10:30 at which was announced as the track's goal.

Despite the delays that slowed the night's action the racing was great with one driver picking up his first career feature win in his class as Charlie Steinberg in USRA Modified action picked up his first feature win after hard-fought, side-by-side racing from green to checkered.

The Out-Pace USRA B-Mods were the second class to run on the night. A.J. Zvorak of Blooming Prairie, Kadden Kath of Owatonna and Jesse Baer of Minnesota Lake took opening night heat wins. Zvorak backed up his heat win with a thrilling win over Ben Moudry of Hastings in the feature. The two started on the front row with Moudry getting the early advantage off the outside of the front row. Zvorak kept the pressure on and on lap 6 went to the point. The two stayed nose to tail and, with three laps to go, Moudry got back to the inside of Zvorak to take the lead only to have the caution come out, putting him back in second for the restart.

From there Zvorak protected the bottom and secured the opening night Feature win. Kath came home in third ahead of Jett Sorenson of Rochester and Nate Chodur of Lake Mills, Iowa. A little bit of bad luck for Matt Brooks of Austin at the end of the race cost him a top-5 finish but a $100 nonetheless. Action Builders put up the bonus money for the ninth-place finisher in the race in memory of Roger Herrick who lost his life in a car accident earlier this summer. Herrick, a former driver at Chateau Speedway in his No. 9 machine, was best known for racing in the Super Stock class years ago at the track.

A.J. Zvorak won the Out-Pace USRA B-Mod main event on Friday, July 20, 2018, at the Chateau Speedway in Lansing, Minn.

The USRA Modifieds wrapped up the night with fifteen cars lining up to take the green flag in their Feature. Kylie Kath of Claremont, moving up from the USRA B Mod class started outside front row and grabbed the early lead ahead of Charlie Steinberg of Kasson. Charlie followed for about three laps until he went to the front. Meanwhile Brandon Davis of Hayfield, working from a row five starting spot was picking off cars one at a time and was into the top five by lap four and up to fourth on lap five. Mick Glenn of Minnesota Lake worked his way up to second just a head of Darwyn Karau of Kasson after the races only caution flag came out for a spinner on lap nine.

With the field regrouped Davis made his way to third and than up to second on lap sixteen of the twenty-five lap race. He quickly reeled in Steinberg and the two were nose to tail with two laps later. Davis found a line around Steinberg and took the lead on lap twenty only to have Charlie come back a lap later and slip back by him for the lead. The two spent much of the final laps side by side with Davis making one final shot out of turn four coming to the checkers but Steinberg held on for a very exciting finish to claim his first USRA Modified feature win. Karau took third ahead of Glenn with Charlie's brother Billy Steinberg coming home in fifth in his newly purchased ride. Heat wins for the class went to Jacob Dahle of Morristown, Davis Schuster of Waterville and Karau.

All seven classes of cars are scheduled to be on hand next Friday night, July 27, for week 2 of racing at Chateau Speedway. Gates open at 5 p.m., draw cut-off is 6:45 and the first green flag is slated for 7:15.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Racing Association
Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series
Chatea Speedway, Lansing, Minn.
Friday, July 20, 2018

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown.

USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1:
1. (1) 2 Jacob Dahle, Morristown, Minn.
2. (4) 50III Brandon Davis, Hayfield, Minn.
3. (3) 24 Charlie Steinberg, Kasson, Minn.
4. (2) 21 Troy Gudmonson, Savage, Minn.
5. (5) 73JR Greg Pfeifer Jr., Austin, Minn.
DNS – 61T Tammy Soma-Clark, Rochester, Minn.

Heat #2:
1. (1) 72 David Schuster, Waterville, Minn.
2. (5) 72H Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
3. (2) 3C Chet Atkinson, Hugo, Minn.
4. (4) 11V Alex Hanson, Northwood, Iowa
5. (3) 90R Ryan Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
6. (6) 29H Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn.

Heat #3:
1. (1) 23 Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
2. (6) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn.
3. (3) 83 Kylie Kath, Claremont, Minn.
4. (5) 77 Jacob Stark, Austin, Minn.
5. (2) 11 William Steinberg, Kasson, Minn.
DQ – (4) 20 David Wytaske, Grand Meadow, Minn.

Feature:
1. (5) 24 Charlie Steinberg, Kasson, Minn.
2. (9) 50III Brandon Davis, Hayfield, Minn.
3. (12) 23 Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
4. (4) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn.
5. (14) 11 William Steinberg, Kasson, Minn.
6. (15) 20 David Wytaske, Grand Meadow, Minn.
7. (7) 21 Troy Gudmonson, Savage, Minn.
8. (6) 3C Chet Atkinson, Hugo, Minn.
9. (13) 90R Ryan Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
10. (2) 83 Kylie Kath, Claremont, Minn.
11. (11) 72 David Schuster, Waterville, Minn.
12. (8) 2 Jacob Dahle, Morristown, Minn.
13. (1) 77 Jacob Stark, Austin, Minn.
14. (10) 72H Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
15. (3) 11V Alex Hanson, Northwood, Iowa
DNS – 73JR Greg Pfeifer Jr., Austin, Minn.
DNS – 29H Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn.
DNS – 61T Tammy Soma-Clark, Rochester, Minn.

OUT-PACE USRA B-MODS

Heat #1:
1. (4) Z29 A.J. Zvorak, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
2. (7) 44 Matthew Brooks, Austin, Minn.
3. (1) 0 Greg Pfeifer Jr., Austin, Minn.
4. (8) 18Y Jerry Young, Blooming Prarie, Minn.
5. (5) 54 Jett Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
6. (3) 99 Noah Grinstead, Austin, Minn.
7. (6) 02K Hunter Kennedy, St. Ansgar, Iowa
8. (2) 17 Justin Murray, Owatonna, Minn.

Heat #2:
1. (6) 83X Kadden Kath, Owatonna, Minn.
2. (1) 88 Nate Chodur, Lake Mills, Iowa
3. (3) 4 Derek Clement, Spring Valley, Minn.
4. (2) 30 Scott Demmer, Ellendale, Minn.
5. (7) 88C Eric Condit, Austin, Minn.
6. (5) 39T Cody Torgerson, Pemberton, Minn.
7. (8) 97W Shawn Voeltz, Dodge Center, Minn.
8. (4) 26G Bryce Gerber, Austin, Minn.

Heat #3:
1. (7) 5 Jesse Baer, Minnesota Lake, Minn.
2. (4) 85 Ben Moudry, Hastings, Minn.
3. (6) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
4. (5) 60 Colby Mann, Caledonia, Minn.
5. (2) 39 Dan Torgerson, Nicollet, Minn.
6. (1) 91 Tom Kaiser, Waseca, Minn.
7. (3) 55 Brody Shaw, Brownsdale, Minn.

Feature:
1. (1) Z29 A.J. Zvorak, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
2. (2) 85 Ben Moudry, Hastings, Minn.
3. (3) 83X Kadden Kath, Owatonna, Minn.
4. (11) 54 Jett Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
5. (6) 88 Nate Chodur, Lake Mills, Iowa
6. (10) 0 Greg Pfeifer Jr., Austin, Minn.
7. (4) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
8. (5) 30 Scott Demmer, Ellendale, Minn.
9. (9) 44 Matthew Brooks, Austin, Minn.
10. (14) 99 Noah Grinstead, Austin, Minn.
11. (17) 02K Hunter Kennedy, St. Ansgar, Iowa
12. (12) 88C Eric Condit, Austin, Minn.
13. (13) 39 Dan Torgerson, Nicollet, Minn.
14. (20) 17 Justin Murray, Owatonna, Minn.
15. (16) 91 Tom Kaiser, Waseca, Minn.
16. (19) 55 Brody Shaw, Brownsdale, Minn.
17. (7) 18Y Jerry Young, Blooming Prarie, Minn.
18. (8) 5 Jesse Baer, Minnesota Lake, Minn.
19. (21) 26G Bryce Gerber, Austin, Minn.
20. (15) 39T Cody Torgerson, Pemberton, Minn.
21. (18) 97W Shawn Voeltz, Dodge Center, Minn.
DNS – 4 Derek Clement, Spring Valley, Minn.
DNS – 60 Colby Mann, Caledonia, Minn.