HURON — A total of $10,300 is on the line during two nights of racing for the RepairableVehicle.com Tri-State Late Model Series during two nights of racing at Dakota State Fair Speedway.
The first is Wild Race Car Night, presented by Dakotaland Federal Credit Union, on Thursday, which will pay $3,000 to win, with the second being Challenge Cup XXI presented by Prostrollo General Motors, which will pay $7,300 to win on Saturday.
Both events are slated to begin at 7 p.m., and are included in the Wheel Jam festivities on the South Dakota State Fairgrounds.
“I’m assuming we’re going to have a good field of cars,” DSFS track promoter Orville Chenoweth said. “The Tri-State Late Model Series had a good field at Huset’s Speedway on Monday, so we should get a lot of those, along with our regular cars from around here.
“Then we’ll have the WISSOTA street stocks and Midwest modifieds on Thursday, which usually have good fields of cars,” he said.
Cole Searing of Huron won two of the four Tri-State Late Model events in 2022 at hometown track and is the defending Challenge Cup champion. He is one of three drivers to earn a win on the series this season.
“They have a tough crowd, some of their regulars are fairly fast and then of course we’ll have all the guys from around here who will be quick,” Searing said. “I think you’ll see a good field of really competitive late models this weekend.”
In addition to a victory with the Tri-State late models, Searing also posted a third-place finish at event in Fergus Falls, Minn.
“I haven’t really raced that much, the weather has been playing games with us,” he said. “I went over to Huset’s (Speedway in Brandon) on Monday night and ended up getting rained out before the feature, so we’re just really looking to get going here.”
At the Huset’s event, time trials were used to set the lineup for the late model heat races. While traditionally for events at DSFS a blind draw is used to set the heat race lineup, Searing was hoping maybe officials would opt for the time-trial format.
“Time trials kind of allow you to line your heat races up from fast time to slow time. It just kind of seperates things a little better,” he said. “However they do it, it will be a good show. If they don’t go with time trials, we’ll just kind of hope for a good night, a good draw and let the rest pan out from there.”
Also record victories this season with the Tri-State Late Model Series are Chad Olsen of Hendricks, Minn., and Gary Brown Jr. of Brandon, who have both inked wins during previous seasons at Dakota State Fair Speedway.
Trevor Anderson of Watertown is the defending Tri-State Late Model Series champion.
Another Huron driver looking forward to getting back on the track at DSFS is Adam Brotherton in the Midwest modified division. He owns a total 15 career wins at the Huron oval, including the most recent one on Aug. 20, 2022.
“I’m super excited to come back to Huron this week on Thursday and Saturday,” Brotherton said. “Hopefully we can end up how we ended up last year on the last night.”
Brotherton owns a pair of wins in just seven events this season. The first came at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen on May 19, with the second coming two days later at Casino Speedway in Watertown.
“So far things have been going pretty good, I have no complaints,” Brotherton said. “Everything seems to be running pretty good right now. The competition is tough like usual.”
The WISSOTA street stocks will also be part of the racing lineup for Thursday’s event.
Luke Johnson of Miller is the most recent winner in the division at DSFS, but since has moved into the Midwest modified division with his father, Lorin, and brother, Lane.
The Tri-State late models and Midwest modifieds will return for Saturday’s racing program.
Drivers in all three divisions will be eligible for a shot a Orv’s $5,000 Pot of Gold, which will be awarded during the final event of the 2023 racing season at DSFS on Aug. 19. The Tri-State Late Models will be competing, along with the WISSOTA street stocks, Midwest modifieds and super stocks.
