Deer Creek winners, from left to right: Mark Teske, Bruce Angst, Dan Wendt, Jim Gustafson, Neil Eckhart, Bill Clemens

SPRING VALLEY, Minn. (Nov. 18, 2002) - Deer Creek Speedway held its banquet on November 16 at Grumpy's in Grand Meadow. A packed house was on hand to receive the accolades and awards from the 2002 season. The night started off with a great meal catered in by Hardee's Bar-B-Que in Rochester and was followed up shortly with the distribution of plaques thanking all of the sponsors from the season. Over 65 plaques were handed out to the track/race sponsors from the season.

On the agenda next were the trophies and prize money for the drivers.

In the Modified Lite class Rick Utley finished the season in fifth place followed by Tate Bestor in fourth, David Lewison in third, Jeff Jech in second and Dan Wendt bringing home his first track championship with four feature wins during the season.

The WISSOTA Street Stocks were up next with Greg Erickson finishing the season in fifth, Chuck Nerland fourth, John Bushman third, Jeff Brauer second and Jim Gustafson in the first place with eleven feature wins. Gustafson will be running part time next year so a new track champion will be decided for the 2003 season.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds took the stage with Jesse Frerichs finishing the season in fifth, Chad Herman fourth, Dan Fagerlind third, Nick Kramer second and taking home the title was Neil Eckhart with five feature wins on the season. Eckhart was recently crowned the 2002 National WISSOTA Midwest Modified Champion with his performance through the forty-eight races that he attended during the racing season. Eckhart's experience over the past nine years of racing paid off as the season began without the intention of running for the national points. As the season progressed Eckhart found himself in the lead and decided to add another night of racing to his normal two nights a week which helped to solidify his lead. Eckhart competed against approx. 300 other licensed drivers in the Midwest Modified class. Eckhart has purchased a new Specialty Fabricating car for use in the Open Modified class next season in SE. MN.

WISSOTA Super Stocks made their way to the front with Mark Teske finishing a strong fifth. George Batzel came home with a fourth place run following Kevin Hager in third, Dave Haberman in second and Bill Clemens with a track title. Clemens won five feature races en-route to the track title and will be back next year in the same car to run for another title. Teske also was recently crowned WISSOTA Super Stock National Champion with his performance during 52 shows throughout the 2002 season. Teske was hampered late in the season by a broken leg during an accident at this home and was unable to race the last month of the race season as the injury sidelined him. Teske was able to hold off an estimated 600 drivers in the class to take home the first national title for the veteran driver. Teske also ran Late Models during most of the 2002 season at the local tracks and has been found in Modified Lites in a previous season. Teske will be focusing his driving in the Late Model class during the 2003 season.

Open Modifieds drivers were brought to the stage with Jay Poindinger finishing the season in fifth, Todd Scharkey in fourth, Dave Siercks in third, Jordan Steier in second and Bruce Angst proved consistency wins championships. Angst did not record a feature win at the track this season. Next season the Modifieds will be sanctioned by USRA (United States Racing Association). USRA is a new sanctioning body founded by long time United States Modified Touring Series promoter Todd Staley. The car rules for the USRA sanctioned tracks are the same as USMTS so none of the local drivers will have to make changes to their cars for use next year. The sanctioning body runs a unique sanctioning system that allows participants to race without a license. During the 2003 season a driver who wants to run for track or national USRA points must purchase a license which is valid for any USRA track. The point fund for each track is a guaranteed $1,000 for the winner with a progressive payout down through the top ten. A National champion is also crowned based on a performance index for the season. For those drivers who only occasionally want to run a USRA sanctioned event no license is required but those drivers are not eligible for track or national points. This allows drivers to participate when they are traveling to other tracks because of rainouts etc without having to buy a license for only one or two races.

WISSOTA Late Models were the final class to take their accolades. Finishing in the fifth spot was double duty driver Bob Timm, Jon Chrest fourth, Ben Mattick third, Brad Waits second and Mark Teske with the track title. Teske had one feature win to take home a close points race over Waits. The WISSOTA Late Models will again be on hand during the 2003 season as the premier class run at the facility. In talking with the drivers on hand their sounds like a good field of cars will be on hand for the Late Model class next year as all driver's who raced this season will be on hand next season. Brad Waits also has purchased two new modifieds to be used during double duty work next season at the track running both modifieds and late models.

Earlier in the day Deer Creek Speedway was busy at work preparing for the upcoming season as 2000 yards of clay were brought into the speedway via 170 truck loads. The new clay was virtually rock free and the rocks that were found were small boulders. The lack of rocks will make for a very nice track next season. The clay will be worked in during the next couple weeks to set in for the winter. The new clay was added to the upper two lanes of the track which should help setup the track for great three wide racing next year. They clay was brought in from a local source and is a very stable clay used during lining of ponds and other things as it sets up very solidly and will not break up easily under the racing action. It should also have better moisture holding abilities than the dirt/clay surface currently on the track. Other improvements that will be looked at or will be done during the off season and next racing season is the addition of a scoreboard, Indoor restrooms, Outdoor Patio VIP booths and new bleacher sections. Some or all of these items will be done during the next year depending on bids and timeframes offered by contractors. The track located just north of Spring Valley MN on Hwy 63 has a vision of additional VIP tower and concession stand to be built in the near future along with a seating capacity of approx. 5,000 spectators on the front stretch as they continue to build on their long term plans.

Other exciting news for the drivers is next season the track champions in the WISSOTA Late Model, USRA Modifieds and the WISSOTA Super Stocks will be awarded additional items. The winner in the Late Model class will have their choice of a new Mastersbilt Chassis or the use of a 28' Featherlite trailer for one year. The champion in the USRA Modifieds will receive a EZ-Chassis Modified or the use of a 24' Featherlite trailer for one year, while in the Super Stock division the track title winner will receive an EZ-Chassis Super Stock or the use of a 24' Featherlite trailer for one year. The item that is not taken by the title winner will be drawn by the other drivers in the top ten in track points. So any driver inside the top ten will have the chance to win either a new chassis or the use of a trailer for a season. The trailers will have lettering applied to them by Deer Creek Speedway acknowledging the sponsors of the trailer, and each trailer will keep that lettering for one year as the racer uses the trailer during the 2004 season. At the end of the 2004 season the driver who used the trailer will be offered a pro-rated price on the trailer for their option to buy the trailer they had been using.

A tentative schedule has been set for the 2003 season with a test and tune session scheduled for April 5th. On May 24th the first USMTS show will be at the track followed up by a return visit on the 18th of June. On June 21st the WISSOTA Sprint cars will invade the track and on the fifth of July will be the return of the Firecracker 40. The year will be capped off by the fifth annual USMTS Fall Jamboree on the 19, 20 & 21st of September and on the 27th a one day Fall Festival.