Founder and director of one of the largest and most prestigious dirt-track racing tours in the country, John Gartner has faced adversity bringing the annual Dakota Classic Modified Tour to life in the past.
But 2020 has been a different beast altogether.
“We’ve went up against tornadoes, we’ve went up against floods, and now we’ve went up against a worldwide pandemic,” Gartner said. “I’ll tell ya, I’ll take the floods and the other stuff before I take this.”
The 31st Dakota Classic Modified Tour invades Jamestown Speedway tomorrow evening (Saturday) for the second leg of the six-night tour beginning at 7 p.m. The tour had 83 IMCA modifieds from 15 states pre-registered, along with 44 street stocks in support -- a new tour record.
The glaring omission is the absence of Canadian drivers due to COVID-19 and the closure of the international border between the United States and Canada. Estevan, Saskatchewan driver Aaron Turnbull won the tour championship in 2013.
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The tour begins tonight at West Fargo, returning to Red River Valley Speedway for the first time since 1991.
“Pretty consistently, we’d get 25 to 30 Canadian drivers for the tour and now there isn’t any,” Gartner said. “We contacted a lot of states that we knew weren’t racing. One of them’s Oregon, they haven’t raced anything out there and they’re not going to for the foreseeable future.”
Oregon drivers Collen Wineberger and Grey Ferrando join an entry list that includes past champions Ricky Thornton Jr. (2015), Jeff Taylor (2014), Hank Berry (2012, ‘08, ‘04, ‘03) and Marlyn Seidler (1994). Former Jamestown Speedway tour winners signed up include Spencer Wilson (2017) and Justin O’Brien (2014).
The defending tour champion, Tom Berry Jr. of Des Moines, Iowa, defeated a field of 75 modifieds at Jamestown Speedway last July to win the 30-lap feature. Berry, who was not pre-registered, won the tour title by 17 points over Thornton.
“We got a bunch of guys that still haven’t (registered), they’re waiting till the last minute,” Gartner said earlier this week. “I’ve been on the phone and talking to them and they’re coming.”
The tour schedule came together on the fly. Estevan Motor Speedway was originally scheduled to host the first two dates, but those shows north of the border were able to be replaced following the cancellation of both the North Dakota State Fair in Minot and the Red River Valley Fair in West Fargo, which opened up those two facilities.
The tour moves to Minot on Sunday, wrapping up Wednesday in Mandan following stops in Williston and Dickinson.
“Minot’s a major track for us on the tour, so we wanted to make sure that they were on board,” Gartner said. “We knew that there was going to be a major problem with the Canadian border, so just anticipating that I called West Fargo because they’ve been wanting to get into the tour for a number of years. They jumped on it real quick.”
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In relation to the coronavirus pandemic, North Dakota is allowing outdoor events to move forward if approved by community leaders and local health authorities.
“They’re letting the local communities decide that, and the local communities have been pretty good to work with,” Gartner said. “(Tracks) are already doing the social distancing wherever they can and all of that has been going pretty well.”
Local modified drivers pre-registered include John Corell, Lucas Rodin, Andrew Michel, Rusty Kollman, Scott Gartner, John Nord, Jarrett Carter and 2020 Jamestown High School graduate Cole Babcock.
Babcock said he only plans to run West Fargo, Jamestown and Mandan but is excited to go head to head with some of the nation’s best modified drivers in his 2018 Harris chassis.
Nightly tour winners will pocket $2,400 in the modifieds and $1,000 in the streets.
“It’s gonna be wild,” Babcock said. “I’ve always watched most of the nights of the tour growing up. They’re the best in the country, so you’ve gotta be on your game.”
Dakota Classic Modified Tour
Schedule
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July 10: Red River Valley Speedway, West Fargo, 7 p.m.
July 11: Jamestown Speedway, Jamestown, 7 p.m.
July 12: Nodak Speedway, Minot, 6 p.m.
July 13: Williston Basin Speedway, Williston, 7 p.m.
July 14: Southwest Speedway, Dickinson, 6 p.m.
July 15: Dacotah Speedway, Mandan, 7 p.m.
Recent Jamestown Speedway winners
2019: Tom Berry, Des Moines, Iowa.
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2018: Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Missouri.
2017: Spencer Wilson, Minot, North Dakota.
2016: Feature rained out.
2015: Feature rained out.
2014: Justin O'Brien, West Union, Iowa.
2013: Allen Kent, West Fargo, N.D.
Past Champions
Modifieds
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2019 – Tom Berry Jr.
2018 – Hunter Marriott
2017 – Hunter Marriott
2016 – Hunter Marriott
2015 – Ricky Thornton Jr.
2014 – Jeff Taylor
2013 – Aaron Turnbull
2012 – Hank Berry
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2011 – Jay Noteboom
2010 – Brian Mullen
2009 – Jay Noteboom
2008 – Hank Berry
2007 – Steve Arpin
2006 – Troy Cordes
2005 – Dean Mahlstedt
2004 – Hank Berry
2003 – Hank Berry
2002 – Ed Turnbull
2001 – Joren Boyce
2000 – Mike Spaulding
1999 – Joren Boyce
1998 – Joren Boyce
1997 – Ron Schreiner
1996 – Kent Arment
1995 – Leo Burkhardsmeier
1994 – Marlyn Seidler
1993 – Leo Burkhardsmeier
1992 – Leo Burkhardsmeier
1991 – Jeff Decker
Stock Cars
2019 – Ricky Thornton Jr.
2018 – Elijah Zevenbergen
2017 – Elijah Zevenbergen
2016 – Elijah Zevenbergen
2015 – Elijah Zevenbergen
2014 – Dalton Flory
2013 – Elijah Zevenbergen
2012 – Shawn Havel
2011 – Nathan Burke
2010 – Kelly Henderson
2009 – Nathan Burke
2008 – Nathan Burke
