MORRIS, Ill.— Sixteen-year-old second-generation racer Ty Fredrickson scored his first ASA Midwest Tour late model stock car victory, winning the Wayne Carter Classic 100 presented by Rod Baker Ford and D’Arcy Chevrolet this past Saturday night at the Grundy County Speedway.
Numerous yellow flags and an hour or so rain delay couldn’t keep the high school junior out of victory lane. Hailing from Webster, Minn., Frederickson, son of longtime Midwest stock car ace Dan Fredrickson, wheeled his Herman’s Landscaping/North Equipment/MFR-sponsored No. 36 to the win.
Fredrickson had a 1.211-second advantage over second place finisher Ricky Baker at starter Tom White’s checkered flag. Local auto dealer, D’Arcy Motors in Joliet, Ill., was also part of the sponsorship of Frederickson’s winning Toyota.
With 34 laps complete, rain hit the speedway, causing the 100-lap chase to be delayed with Gabe Sommers the leader. Frederickson wasted no time getting by Sommers once the race restarted and led the rest of the way.
“I was glad we could get the race restarted,” said Fredrickson. “I had a really good car and got by Gabe (Sommers) on the restart. We maintained from there. I’m glad that we got our first win on the Midwest Tour.”
Wheeling his Rod Baker Ford No. 52, Baker, a two-time late model champion at the Grundy oval and winner of the 2017 Carter Classic, charged passed Sommers on the last lap to secure second place.
Sommers, the two-time defending Midwest Tour champion, finished third, followed by Max Kahler, Levon Van Der Geest and current series points leader Casey Johnson.
“That was a race,” said Baker, who started ninth in the 22-car field. “You know, starting so far back I just think we used the tires up at the beginning. On the long runs, I think I was better than a lot of them. But we kept having those cautions.
“I had no tires left on the restarts. And these guys run hard. It was a lot of work today. I’ll take second with these guys (Fredrickson and Sommers). They race all over the country and they’re both good. I knew they would race me clean.
“Not many of the home guys here tonight ran well. I feel good that at least one of us did.”
Indiana’s Paul Shafer Jr, a two-time winner (2023 and 2020) of the Wayne Carter Classic, set a new series qualifying mark with a lap of 14.559 seconds, just a bit shy of the all-time mark of 14.440 set by Jim Weber this past May. Shafer finished seventh Saturday night.
Who Is Wayne Carter?
Wayne Carter brought automobile racing to Grundy County area in Illinois in the 1920s. Carter was part of the Grundy County Fair team that promoted fair date races at the old Grundy County Fairgrounds dirt tracks and later at the Mazon Speed Bowl.
Carter, who was instrumental in building the new Grundy County Speedway, which opened in 1971, passed away in 1980 at the age of 84.
Carter was honored in 1975 when the first Wayne Carter Classic, under the banner of the newly-formed ARTGO Racing, was held at Grundy with Wisconsin’s Tom Reffner scoring the win in the inagural race.
Midwest Truck Series
Driving his Chevy Silverado No. 3, Brandon Reichenberger won the accompanying 50-lap feature race for Midwest Truck Series competitors.
Winning for the first time this season, Reichenberger, from Appleton, Wis., the defending series champion and current points leader, defeated fastest qualifier Dillon Hammond and early race leader, rookie Austin Warner.
Six-time series champion James Swan finished fifth behind Grant Griesbach.
The Midwest Truck Series last raced at Grundy in 2013 with Jerry Wood visiting victory lane.
NASCAR In Chicago
The likely hood of NASCAR returning to the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet next year seems to look better and better each day – at least according to rumors, social media posts, etc.
The 1.5-mile track hosted NASCAR Cup Series racing from 2001 through 2019 until the pandemic altered NASCAR’s schedule in 2020. The NASCAR Chicago Street Race took place the past three years with series officials announcing that event has been put on “pause” two weeks after Shane van Gisbergen won this year’s street race.
For history buffs, the last Cup Series winner at Chicagoland Speedway was Alex Bowman in 2019.
Promoter Out
Billy Knippenberg will not return as the promoter of the Kankakee County Speedway next year.
A post on Facebook a few weeks ago, Knippenberg said, “I deeply regret to inform all my volunteers, staff, sponsors, racers, crews and fans that I will not be returning as promoter of the Kankakee County Speedway for the 2026 season.”
Knippenberg has been the Kankakee promoter since 2022, taking over the track from Tom Smith. Prior to Smith’s 13-year run, the likes of the O’Connor Family, Sherri Heckenast and Tony and Kerry Izzo tried their skills at promoting the dirt quarter-mile.
No doubt – it’s a tough job!
