AUSTIN, Minn. -- The 2011 racing season at the Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minn., was celebrated at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Austin on Friday. Close to 200 people attended the event that honored the top five in point standings.

The evening started with a moment of silence for Maynard Swanson. Swanson, along with his brother Bernie, operated S & S Auto Salvage & Repair and they were sponsors of the Hornet class. Swanson was heavily involved in the sport and will be missed by everyone.

Racers For Christ Chaplain Dustin Steinbrink gave the invocation before the meal was served.

After the meal was completed, track owner Darin Toot addressed the crowd to thank everyone for a good season. He also recognized sponsors that were in attendance. Toot then gave some updates for 2012.

The biggest changes will be that RACEceivers will be mandatory in all classes with the exception of the Hornets. Toot commented that the addition of the one-way communcation to the driver will not only speed line-up formation but will help with on-track safety.

The other change will be the addition of the USRA Karl Performance Parts B-Mod class for 2012. The other divisions remain the same with USRA RHS Modifieds headlining the action along with WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Street Stocks, IMCA Stock Cars, Pure Stocks and Hornets.

In the French’s Repair & Fabrication USRA RHS Modifieds it was Jason Cummins of New Richland who took home top honors for the second year in a row. Cummins scored seven feature wins, sixteen top-fives and won seven heat races to win the track title. Brandon Davis was second with A.J. Wiste, Todd Scharkey and Jacob Dahle third through fifth.

The Rookie of the Year awards were also handed out with Davis the top USRA RHS Modified rookie for 2011.

There were excellent prizes that were given away through ticket drawings. A big thank you to Miner’s Outdoor & Rec, Power 96, Action Engineering, R & S Racing, Fast Company Performance, Reinertson’s Embroidery and Dawn Toot for the prizes.

The 2012 season is tentatively scheduled to open Friday, April 6. Other special dates of note include the USMTS Modifieds on May 25, the return of the UMSS Sprint Cars on June 22 and the annual fireworks show on July 6. There will be no races on July 27, the USMTS returns on Aug. 31 and the season concludes on Sept. 14 with the Border Wars.

The Toot family would like to thank all of the sponsors, drivers, crews, fans and employees for a great 2011 season. Keep an eye on www.chateauraceway.net for more news on the fast approaching 2012 season.