Wissota races will test new surface at North Central

Wissota Championship Sprint Car racers will be on a new surface when they hit the track at North Central Speedway in Barrows Saturday for the first of five Sprint Specials.

The one-third-mile dirt track had several loads of clay hauled in during the offseason.

Roger Rager of Pequot Lakes, the track's lap-time record holder and a sprint feature winner last year at NCS, said he has no idea what to expect Saturday.

"Everybody will be starting over fresh," Rager said. "There will be no notes left over from last year. It will be interesting."

Another racer, Gary Walton of Baxter, said he talked to racers at the speedway's opener last weekend and was told the track was faster and had more traction.

The track might not be the only thing faster. Rager, who has raced in the Indianapolis 500, will drive an experimental car.

"So we'll see how she goes," Rager said. "Maybe we'll finish first, maybe we'll finish last."

This weekend's special also will be the first of two Rager will race at NCS. The rest of his time will be spent racing his United States Auto Club Silver Crown Series racer on dirt and pavement.

Race notes

* There have been three races in the Wissota Championship Sprint Series so far, two at Fargo, one at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis. Walton said 38 racers have competed in the series.

* Walton has posted two eighth-place finishes, both at Fargo, this season.

* Three of the four classes raced nightly at NCS will compete Saturday: Wissota Midwest Modified, Wissota Super Stock and NCS Pure Stock.

* Rager is fifth in national season points, followed by Sye Anderson of Brainerd in seventh place and Walton in eighth. Tony Norem of Dassel is the points leader.

* Racers to watch include Loren Langerud of Harwood, N.D., who has finished in the top three at both Fargo races, and Canadian Lou Kennedy of Winn, who is third in national points.