Memorial Weekend Racing Preview with Dean Strom

Dean Strom joins the podcast and shares his thoughts on the super late model, the Midwest Tour and weekly racing.

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Midwest Racing Central Today is hosted by Pete Pistone and produced by Mia Pistone

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Hi everybody and welcome to Midwest Racing Central today. I'm Pete Bestoni. You can't believe it, but it's Memorial Day weekend, and that means a lot of racing around the Midwest. And uh let's bring in this week's guest, a guy who's been part of the Midwest racing scene for a lot of years. Dean Strom is with us here on Midwest Racing Central today. Dean, how are you doing? I'm good, Pete. How are you doing? I'm doing good. It's good to see you. Uh, you know, I I gotta be honest with you, I get to see you when you're uh, you know, working at Slinger because I watch it here on Flow Racing, so I see you there. Uh, so you're a busy guy. Well, let's just start there. What are you involved with this year? Where are our viewers and listeners going to see you this year?

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Let's back up one sec. And uh, I was trying to think, getting ready for this, I was trying to think where our paths first crossed. Okay. And I think it was the Rockford, and correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm I'm getting a little older and the memory ain't what it used to be. I think it was Rockford Speedway National Short Track Championships 2000.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

When when Pete Pistoni was our uh that race was on TV. Yeah, it was tape delayed. I think it was Speed Channel or Speed Vision, whatever they called it back then. And uh, so it was tape delayed, and there was two people that were on site live. It was the cameraman and it was you, yeah. And I was the uh I was the series media coordinator. So I was I was charged with giving you all the stuff to make you look good, and you did a good job because I remember that. And I was did Alan Bestwick, wasn't he like back in the studio and showing?

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Alan Bestwick, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

I had to look it up, yeah. Uh I you can Google it, boys and girls, and see a young Pete Pistpon Pete Pistoni. But yeah, it was Alan Bestwick and Michael Waltrop were in the studio, so it was tape delayed, so they were voicing it over. But you were the on-site live guy doing your stand-up right there on the front straightaway of the Rockford Speedway during pace laps.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Oh man, the memories of all of that in Rockford Speedway. All right, well, so it's been almost okay, you brought it up a quarter of a century that you and I have been around this at least. So in 2026, I mentioned I see you on Slinger on Flow Racing. What else is Dean going to be up to this year?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Well, yeah, I'm one of the voices at the Slinger Super Speedway on Sunday nights. Um, and that partnership with Flo has really opened up a whole bunch of eyes to the Slinger Speedway. So that's a lot of fun. Um, I'm helping Jim Trado out on his podcast, Racing Roundup Show from time to time. And uh I am one of the uh one of the voices for track TV for the ASA Midwest Tour. Um, I don't know if Track and Flow know that I I play both sides of that fence, but we'll just we won't tell anybody. So yeah, so that that's just a whole lot of fun. We've been doing that since 2021 um on track TV covering the ASA Midwest Tour. And it's just such a fun series that um I really enjoy that. And that's that's where I'll well, I'll be at Slinger on Sunday, this coming Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and I'll be on Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend. I'll be at Jefferson Speedway covering the uh ASA Midwest tour.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Well, look forward to it. As I said, it it's hard for me to believe that we're already at Memorial Day weekend. So we've had some uh weekly stuff happening, we've had some tours, the Midwest tour has been out there a couple of races already. What's sort of your general takeaway, Dean, of what you've seen in 2026?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Well, from uh from the pavement super late model world when uh yellow 91 shows up, um, as Dennis Prunty said uh on the stage at Slinger last Sunday, there ought to be a prize for the guy who finishes second when the 91 is there because we're racing for second. Ty Majeski is of course the yellow 91 that I speak of. Um, he is just he is so good, and that team is so on top of their game. Um, and and they've been working together for 10 plus years, and they're just they're so so good. Um, and we're gonna get to see Ty Majewski here in the Midwest at Short Tracks, um, uh more so this year than in years past with his Menards sponsorship. Um, turns out Menards likes to see their car race in the Midwest on Short Tracks. Um, so yeah, we're gonna see him. It's and that he's just like I say, he's just so good and so dominant. Austin Nason got the better of him at Madison for the Joe Sheer Classic. Um, but yeah, that that team is really on top of their game. Um, other takeaways, you know, you mentioned it, it's it's coming up on Memorial Day weekend. We haven't seen the weather um like we would like to see um to to really get the fans out to the racetrack. Um, so that I think is is unfortunately been a storyline so far this season. But the other storyline that I think is we're seeing is just so much young talent, so much really good young talent. Um, Penn Sauter, 16 years old, uh Johnny and Courtney's boy, third generation solder, uh, finished fourth at the Joe Shure Classic and was disappointed because he led a bunch of laps. It was his best career finish in the Midwest tour. It's only his second season of Superlate Medals. He finished fourth and he was disappointed. So I think that kind of shows where that where the expectations in the bar are set for that young man. Uh Ty Frederickson, 17 years of age out of Minnesota, Dan Frederickson's boy. Dan, of course, a former series champion of the Midwest Tour. Um he won uh Ty won twice last year on the tour, Kawicki Driver Development National Champion. So, I mean, the the the young talent we're gonna see at Jefferson on Saturday night, we're gonna see a youngster by the name of Jaden Johnson. He's uh under the no relation, he's under the tutelage of Casey Johnson, and uh he won the track championship last year in the late model division at Slinger, and he's getting out and stretching his legs a little bit now. So it's just it just never ceases to amaze me the young talent that that comes through this sport and through the Midwest, really.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Well, what I like about what you said about all those guys, um, the different racetracks they've been able to race at. You know, I know we're talking about kind of a shrinking world of super late model racing because things are so expensive. I get it, but there are obviously Dina's you laid out places and series that those guys can race. Madison, Grundy's doing stuff down here. Slinger's got the triple crown, Jefferson with the you know, Midwest tour this weekend. I feel like even though it's not like the old days where you could race Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, there still are an opportunity, I think, for some of these young drivers and veterans as well to race super late models here in the Midwest.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Yeah, and let's not forget about Dell's Raceway Park. Yes, you know, they ran there a live for five series for the super late models. Um, Wisconsin International Raceway, a little north of here, but still in the upper Midwest. Um, and Kalkana, they they opened their season this past Saturday, and Ty Frederickson actually won the Tundra Super Late Model Race. Yeah, so there is there is opportunities for those guys uh to to get out and and run and learn and get experience uh at a bunch of different tracks. I mean, they're when you think about the diversity of the tracks here in the upper Midwest, probably more so than any other region of the country. Um, the Kaukana, that unique track, Dell's Sling, um, Grundy County, uh, you know, it's just so many unique features of these racetracks here in the upper Midwest. And they're all kind of worn because, as we know, the winters can be a little harsh on them. Um, and and it just really, yeah, that's probably you know a great point by you, Pete. That's probably one of the reasons why we see so many good young drivers come out of the upper Midwest.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

I think so. So the other part of what you mentioned, we're talking super late model, but you mentioned kind of the pro-late model, sort of the next division that's sort of coming along. And I know a lot of our viewers and listeners get a little confused, you know, when you say I'm running a super late model up here, what that means versus when you go down south, I'm running a pro late model versus a big eight lot late model, Dean. It gets a little bit convoluted, I think, but I feel like the big eight kind of slash prolate model divisions are sort of getting a little traction these days. What do you think about that plan?

SPEAKER_00 8:11

They are, and uh Slinger, Slinger this season confused matters even more when they put the pro-late models on a 10-inch tire because they were on an eight-inch tire, like the big eight series is on an eight-inch tire. Um, yeah, it is confusing, I feel for the fans, because uh on the surface, when you look at the tracks, uh or the cars, I should say, a super late model and pro late model, you look at them on the track, you're like a novice was gonna would say, What's the difference? Why is why is this car eight tenths of a second slower um that than this other car? Yeah, it's a little confusing, but the the Big Eight Series is got such good history, and it has produced some great race car drivers um on that small eight-inch, narrow eight-inch tire. Um, and you know, Grundy's kind of going that way as well, running more and more shows with that pro-late model style. I think those there's there's some confusion though between a pro-late model in the south and a pro-late model here up in the in the uh upper Midwest. You know, the pro-late model in the southeast part of the country is on a 10-inch tire, and it's I think it's exactly like a super late model, except for what's under the hood. Um little little more differences here in the upper Midwest as far as what we call the pro-late model, but it it really still is a great launching pad. Um, it's it's still economical by racing standards, and it's uh a great launching pad for the super late models.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Yeah, and Dean mentioned the Big Eight Series are at Madison on Friday night. So we've got a pretty big weekend here in the Midwest between that, and you mentioned the ASA Midwest tour on Saturday at Jefferson, got the trickle 99 at Golden Sands on Monday for Super Light Models. So again, Memorial Day weekend's not a lot going on. So you're involved at Slinger. We had Travis Das out with us a few weeks ago about the weekly program. Dean, I want to ask you about that. I mean, there are some tracks that have almost gotten away from a weekly show, they're just doing more specials, but it seems like Slinger is one of those that does put together, it's different on every Sunday night, there it feels like, but the weekly show seems to be pretty important at a place like Slinger. Where do you see the weekly show going in Short Track Show in the Midwest?

SPEAKER_00 10:20

You know, uh Pete, from a from a business model, just as a put your businessman hat on, um, running a racetrack is it's tough because there's really about 20 nights that you can open your business. Imagine having a coffee shop or a fast food restaurant where you can only open 20 20 days a year. So um it's it's a it's a challenge. It really, and I'm sure Travis told you that it's a it's a challenge. Um, so at Slinger, they they really they it's a very diverse schedule because they also um learned that to run the super late models of premier class every week was really um wearing on those guys um to to get them out there every week. So that's been a little bit of a challenge for the Super Lates, but what they've done at Slinger is they've put together a different schedule, a different division, different divisions, I should say, um, pretty much every week. So it gives fans an opportunity to um see something different, something new, uh maybe something they haven't seen in a while. Um, so at Slinger, it's still the weekly racing is still really important, um, but it might feature the late models one week and it might feature the super late models the next week.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

So you and I are kind of somewhat more focused on the pavement world, but I don't want to leave out the conversation with us with the dirt world, because there's a lot of great dirt tracks, as you know, in our area of the country, uh running weekly shows, lots of specials happening out there. Think about Wilmot or Plymouth up there near Road America. Why is it in your mind, Dean, when I go to a dirt track, I feel like the car out there is a lot healthier than what I see sometimes when I go to some pavement racetracks. What do you think there might be a reason for that?

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Well, don't tell anybody. Um, but I'm a dirt guy at heart. I was born and raised on the dirt. That's where my dad, that's where my dad raced. So I was going to dirt tracks, you know, four dirt tracks a week, three, four a week when I was growing up. I I love dirt track racing. It's just really in the last several years that I've kind of shifted more towards the pavement, but my heart um is still in the dirt. And it's it's really perplexing because a dirt late model is not cheap. It's it's not cheap at all. Um, and they seem to be racing for 10, 15, 20, $30,000, you know, every weekend, which uh again, as a businessman, I scratch my head and I wonder how they can do it. Um, but I I actually I had this conversation uh a few days ago with uh Brad Keith, who was a super late model racer um at Slinger and on the pavement for a lot of years. And last year he went, he put the put the super late model, still has it, but put it in the back corner of the shop and went and bought um a B mod, a sport mod that he races. It's an IMCA style modified um that he races on the dirt wherever and whenever he wants. And he can go to Francis Crick 141, he can go to Shano Speedway, he can go to Gravity Park, he can go to any number of places and run this car. And he just goes out and has fun, uh brings family along and just has fun. And yeah, we were talking about that just this past Sunday, Brad and I were, and it's really a head scratcher. I it's you know, I don't I don't know why they have more cars on the dirt side than on the pavement side. I do know that it seems to ebb and flow um over the years, you know, um, even on the pavement side, like uh Wisconsin International Raceway. It wasn't too long ago that they had healthy, healthy car counts, and other tracks were struggling, and now it seems to have kind of flipped. So I don't know, maybe it's just as a society, we're more and more fickle these days. I I I don't know. I don't know what it is. Um, dirt track racing's fun. It's it's uh you got to put your hand over your beer when you're sitting in the stands. Um, but it's it's uh it's still a lot of fun, I think.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

It is the commonality though, between both of those, I'll put my fan hat on, is when you go to a dirt track or go to a pavement track as a fan, you want to have a good time, right? You're going out for entertainment. Yep. How do you think that is progressing here? Because again, there's some tracks that I've gone to, I won't name them, where I feel like, why am I still here at 11 o'clock at night? You know, especially if I have a family. There are others, and you know, I always use Rockford as my blueprint, boy, 707. That bomb went off. We put the green flag out for the trophy dash, and we had everybody on their way by 10 o'clock. What do you think that is in terms of the fan experience at these short tracks, Dean?

SPEAKER_00 14:48

I get frustrated with the dirt tracks, even though I'm a dirt fan. Yeah, I get frustrated. In fact, I watched a dirt race, I won't name which series, but I watched a dirt race on uh a streaming service just the other night. And yeah, they were open wheel cars which have to be pushed, but I was going, come on already, let's go. Um, so as a fan, that gets a little frustrating, but maybe as I get older, maybe I'm maybe I have less patience. I don't know. Um, but it it um I think the other thing with dirt tracks is you know you can catch a really good race. If track conditions are just right, man, you can catch a really good race. You can go back the next week and it can be a it can be a dud. Um, so yeah, I don't know. From the fan experience, um I like both, obviously, pavement and dirt. From the fan experience, I don't know. It's I guess you're gonna have your dirt snobs and you're gonna have your pavement snobs out there. And I like to say, I like to think that I can go both ways.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

I'm I'm the same way. I I love it. We have some dirt tracks around my area still. LaSalle's come back to life, and yeah, Sycamore puts on a good weekly show, Kankakee. You know, they were almost done and they were able to bring it back. So so I'm with you. As long as the racing is good and the fans have a good time, I'm all I'm all for it.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah, and there's um, you know, there's a gravity park in Chilton by us. That's new. It's it's really, I mean, you don't see very many racetracks open up these days. Um, usually they're going the other way. So to see uh a LaSalle reopen and to see Gravity Park open up from new just a couple years ago, that's exciting. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

That is good stuff. Well, again, I appreciate you giving us some time. It's really good to see you and catch up with you. Uh, we'll look forward to watching the things you're gonna be doing. I'm sure I'm gonna run into you this summer when we're out there and about up there in Wisconsin. We appreciate it, Dean.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Sounds good. I'll buy you a popcorn.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Sounds good. Even though he's a brewer fan, he's a good guy. That is Dean Strom with us here at Midwest Racing Central today. I'm Pete Pistoni. Thanks for watching. Make sure you check it out, Midwest RacingCentral.com. We'll have everything covered this weekend from around the Midwest. We'll see you next time. So long, everybody.