Bulldogs thrive on hectic baseball schedule
It was a bright, fairly clear and fairly mild spring day in Duluth, but it would turn into typical Duluth spring weather soon.
By the time the UMD baseball team had whipped Bemidji State 11-4 and the second game of Tuesday’s Northern Sun doubleheader had begun, the clouds had swept in, the temperature plunged about 15 degrees, and the handful of fans who remained zipped their jackets up to the top and wished they had worn heavier ones.
It was a critical doubleheader for the Bulldogs, who had gone into last weekend with a 2-3 league record, and stood 6-8 overall. But they swept Minnesota-Morris 10-4 and 7-1 on Saturday, and took Morris again, 7-2 and 10-0, on Sunday. A rescheduled doubleheader at Carleton was played on Monday, with UMD winning 3-1 and 12-4.
So the Bemidji State doubleheader meant doubleheaders on four consecutive days — eight games in four days. Winning the opener was huge, as ace pitcher Chris Swiatkiewicz, who set a school record for career strikeouts on Saturday, struck out 11 more.
“Chris is a great pitcher, he’s something like 15-1 now,” said coach Scott Hanna. “The Dukes are looking at him, and the White Sox have scouted him.”
Robert Rothe hit a home run in that first game, while Dave Tafelski, Bryan Spaeth and Jed Meyer had two hits each.
The second game, the team’s eighth game in four days, became enormously important to the Bulldogs in the league picture, and Hanna started Jamie Swenson, a sophomore from Woodbury, on the mound. “He worked his way up from pitching relief to become one of our four starters,” said Hanna, who is in his 21st year as UMD coach.
Swenson had good stuff, chilly weather or not, as the second game stood 2-2 in the last of the fourth. With two out and a runner on third, Kiel Kreidermacher attempted a squeeze bunt that went foul. But two pitches later, Kreidermacher, a senior from Mendota Heights, lined a single to right-center to break the tie.
Matt Joesting, the team’s top hitter at .390, socked his fourth home run of the season in the fifth to make it 4-2, and Andy Dooley, a junior from Albert Lea, and another reliever who has earned a starting slot, relieved Swenson and finished off the last two innings of a 5-2 victory.
The back-breaking task of eight games in four days had resulted in eight straight UMD victories. The Bulldogs, once 1-3 in the Northern Sun, vaulted to 9-3, and from 6-8 to 14-8 overall.
It’s been a team effort, with Joesting (.393), Tefelski (.388), Kreidermache (.357), Ryan Skubic (.349); Steve Battaglia (.333), Rothe (.306), Bryan Spaeth (.302), and Marty Spanish (.300) leading the way offensively. As for pitching, Chris Swiatkiewic is 5-0, Swenson 3-1 and Dooley 3-0, seeing double-duty between staff rotations.
“It’s a stretch on the pitching staff, and it wears me out, but the players seem to thrive on it,” Hanna added. “It was tough, because we played at Carleton last night, then bused home late, and had to play Bemidji today. But it’s the same for everybody.
“Besides, next week we’ve got 10 games in six days. We play Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.”
Monday’s game is against Wisconsin-Superior at 1 p.m. at UMD; Tuesday is a return trip to Bemidji State; Wednesday, Mount Senario comes to Duluth for a 1 p.m. doubleheader; and Southwest State visits UMD for Friday and Saturday doubleheaders. Before that, though, UMD hit the road on Thursday to play doubleheaders at Northern State in Aberdeen, this Friday and Saturday.
As for the jammed-up schedule, Hanna described it best.
“It’s kind of like a fight with a muskie,” said Hanna. “It’s a short, violent fight.”
]That was one of the equalizers in playing Bemidji State, which is possibly the only school on the schedule with a shorter, less-predictable baseball season than the springtime in Duluth.
Laaksonen, Bottoms lead state team to Chicago
Those of us who are stubbornly proud of the caliber of Minnesota high school hockey might be so bold as to proclaim “We could whip any other state’s top players with one arm tied behind our back.” Well, the equivalent of tying one hand behind their collective backs is what makes Minnesota’s entry in the 24-team Chicago Showcase tournament such a fantastic endeavor.
The tournament, which is in its 15th year, will be held in two weeks and it brings together teams from different cities, states and combined states. There are teams from Colorado, Missouri, Alaska, Ohio, Illinois, California, Colorado, Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Buffalo, New Jersey, and, of course, the mainstays from Massachusetts, New England, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minnesota.
But there is a difference. While those other states send their top prep players, Minnesota organizers and co-coaches Ted Brill and Dave Hendrickson take Minnesota’s top high school prospects — EXCEPT: no players who already have a Division I commitment, or who prefer to play spring sports.
Obviously, that cuts down dramatically on candidates. But Minnesota is overflowing with players, and even when you skim off those elite players who decline for the above reasons, the selected team is proof of the depth of skill in Minnesota.
“We won the tournament last year and the year before,” said Brill, from his home in Grand Rapids. “The year before that, we lost 2-1 to Massachusetts, and they went on and won the tournament. We had quite a few boys turn us down, and that’s great, because it means they’ve got something solid to look forward to.
“The players we take are sort of the unsung heroes. They’re really good, but maybe they’ve been overlooked. We tell them, when they’re sitting at home with their parents at the dining room table, they know how good they are, and we know how good they are, but maybe by playing in this tournament somebody else will find out how good they are.”
Up North players selected for the Minnesota team include Cloquet goaltender Adam Laaksonen, Hibbing forward O.J. Bottoms, and Roseau’s forward tandem of Mike Klema and Jesse Modahl. Several others that Brill said they would have liked to have had to decline. Players such as Jon Francisco of Hermantown, Josh Miskovich and Beau Geisler of Greenway of Coleraine, Andy Sacchetti of Eveleth-Gilbert, Jay Dardis of Proctor decllined because they are committed.
Minnesota will play in the elite level pool against Buffalo on Wednesday, April 14; against Northern New England on Thursday the 15th; and against Wisconsin on Friday the 16th. Teams are paired by their records in pool play against the other brackets for a game on Saturday the 17th, with the semifinals at 9 a.m. and the championship game at 4 p.m. on Sunday the 18th.
The full Minnesota team: Goaltenders–Laaksonen and Adam Berkhoel of Stillwater; Defensemen–Brian Skrypek of Roseville, Greg Zemple of Blaine, Joe Martin of Buffalo, Josh Singer of Holy Angels, John Dubel of Maple Grove and Bryan Schmidt of Bloomington Jefferson; Forwards–Bottoms, Modahl, Klema, David DuBord and Brett Hammond of Roseville, Matt Koalska and Dan Miller of Hill-Murray, Gabe Hilmoe of Anoka, Dustin Lick of Eagan, Dave Ianozzo of Maple Grove, and Josh Bertelson of Wayzata.
WCHA NOTES:
* The hot rumor circulating around the WCHA all week was that University of Minnesota coach Doug Woog had already been fired and replaced by Colorado College coach Don Lucia. There were even details, such as a five-year deal, eliminating the whole Gopher staff to start anew, and complete recruiting freedom. The rumor, if anything, is certainly premature. Preliminary contacts had been made several weeks ago to North Dakota coach Dean Blais, who is from International Falls, and to Lucia, who is from Grand Rapids. Secondary contacts also have been made more recently with both, but nothing official, such as asking official permission from those colleges to discuss job details. The whole thing has just been a scouting mission, in case Minnesota decides to remove Woog as coach. Those coaches logically did some preliminary scouting on their own, which may have caused the assumption it was done, and led to the rumors. Until Minnesota administrators meet with Woog to discuss options — which might be anticipated in the next few days — all such rumors are premature, if not unfounded.
* Indications are that the Nashville NHL franchise might offer UMD freshman Kent Sauer a contract to turn him pro after only one year of WCHA hockey. Sauer said he hasn’t heard anything concrete and, unless an outstanding offer presents itself, he intends to stay in school. Sauer, only one year out of high school, had to battle to become comfortable at the WCHA pace. Nashville, a new team, may be looking for a young tough guy as a fighter, and Sauer’s size (6-2, 225) make him a worthy candidate. He probably would have a better chance to develop as a complete player by staying at UMD, but it could come down to how much money is offered to him.
‘Cloquet Connection’ helps Cup-favorite Stars
DALLAS, TEXAS
It seemed strange, with the temperature in the 90s, to be fighting rush-hour traffic to get to Reunion Arena in downtown Dallas for a hockey game in late April. At that, it was sort of a reverse homecoming, because the Dallas Stars were once the Minnesota North Stars, and there are still some familiar faces.
The best Up North touches, however, are newcomers to the Stars this season. Among them is Duluth resident and former UMD star Brett Hull, who came in from St. Louis and is the No. 2 scorer on the club, which took the NHL’s top regular-season rating into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
More to the core of Up North hockey, Jamie Langenbrunner and Derek Plante are both regulars in the Stars lineup. Langenbrunner, in his second full season with the big club, scored the game-winning goal in last Friday’s 3-2 victory over Edmonton in Game 2 in Dallas. For good measure, Langenbrunner set up linemate Joe Nieuwendyk for the winner in Edmonton on Sunday night for another 3-2 victory — this one after the Stars rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a victory that put them on the brink of a four-game sweep against the Oilers.
The odds of two hockey players from Cloquet both making it in the NHL are pretty steep; the odds of both of them playing on the same team are off the scale.
“It’d be fun to figure out the odds on that,” said Plante. “Not bad for a town of about 11,000. And not only are we both here, but Corey Millen, who’s now playing in Europe, played for the Stars a few years ago. And Rick Mrozik was drafted by the Stars. So there could ha ve been four Cloquet guys playing for the Stars.”
At 28, Plante is five years older than Langenbrunner, and while Plante started his sixth NHL season in Buffalo, he has had to make a major weather adjustment. “I’m not high on heat, but at least in Dallas you can see the sun,” said Plante.
Langenbrunner saw the light last season, when he followed up a 13-26–39 rookie season by scoring 23 goals and 29 assists for a 52-point season that earned him a spot as a solid regular in Dallas. But he missed the start of this season when negotiations for his second pro contract broke down. Since signing, he has been satisfied to work hard, skate hard, and increase his assists to 33 while scoring only 12 goals.
“It’s been frustrating at times,” said Langenbrunner. “But I’ve been playing with Nieuwendyk quite a bit this season, so it’s not like I haven’t been on a line that can score. Sometimes the pucks go in quite a bit and sometimes they don’t.”
Langenbrunner’s output indicates how NHL has changed since its days in Minnesota. Defense is everything, and scoring chances — let alone scoring — are at a premium. So Langenbrunner’s hustling, hard-charging style is a tremendous asset, and when the chances come, he can score.
It was that way Friday. Langenbrunner might not have had another good chance all game, but in the third period, with the Stars leading the rugged Oilers 2-1, Langenbrunner moved off the right boards to pounce on a loose puck at the top of the circle. He veered toward the net with the puck on his backhand, and, with no chance to shift to his forehand, he snapped off a wicked backhander at goaltender Tommy Salo.
“I got it just over his blocker,” said Langenbrunner. “The odds are, you won’t get many chances, especially in the playoffs, so it’s nice to put it in when you get the chance.”
While Langenbrunner and the Stars established themselves as the stingiest defensive team in the NHL, Buffalo was having a decent season across the continent. But Plante wasn’t playing much. He’s a quick, light, creative player and the Sabres decided they needed beefier players in the lineup. His ice time diminished last season, and lessened this season, where he only scored 4 goals and 11 assists in part-time duty in 41 games. Things had reached such a low point that Plante asked for a trade from the Sabres, the only team he had played for in the six years since he left UMD.
“It got pretty frustrating in Buffalo,” said Plante, who was sent to Dallas for a second-round draft pick on March 23 for a second-round spot in the amateur draft. “Their plan was to be more physical, so I probably only played in half their games, and not many shifts in those. I’d asked for a trade earlier in the season, but it never came. I was praying I’d get traded, anywhere, even though I knew I could get sent to a rebuilding team. So to finally get traded right before the deadline, and to have it be to what possibly is the best team in hockey, it couldn’t have been better.
“We were in New Jersey when I heard I’d been traded, so I had to go back to Buffalo and then be on a 10 a.m. flight to join the Stars in Los Angeles. My stuff just got sent here.”
While both of them grew up in the Cloquet youth and high school system, they were separated by five years, which meant they never played together.
“I watched Derek play when I was younger,” said Langenbrunner. “My dad was an assistant coach of the high school team when he played, and then I watched him at UMD, and we’ve skated together some in the summer. We didn’t know each other all that well growing up, but I’m really glad we go him. He’s a great guy and he’s played well since coming here.”
Plante went on to UMD, where he made sensational progression in four years, with scoring stats that went from 10-11–21 as a freshman, to 23-20–43, as a sophomore, 27-36–63 as an outstanding junior, and finally to 36-56–92 in his splendid senior year as captain. Langenbrunner chose a different route.
After leading Cloquet to the state tournament as a junior, he bypassed his senior year after being drafted by the North Stars, and went to play at Peterborough, in the Ontario Hockey League’s Tier I junior competition. He played 62 games at Peterborough for two seasons, scoring 33-58–91 and 42-57–99. In 1995-96 he got to play a dozen games with Dallas and spent the other 59 games in the International Hockey League, scoring 25-40–65 for Michigan, before getting his chance to stick with the big club for a 13-26–39 rookie year in 1996-97.
With such high-profile stars as Hull and Mike Modano, both Langenbrunner and Plante know and accept their roles with the Stars.
“This team has a system where it doesn’t matter who scores, we focus on defense,” said Plante. “It’s basically the same system — a basic trap — that we played in Buffalo. You always have to make sure some forward is back defensively.”
General Manager Bob Gainey is always cautious with his praise, but he has built this team according to his own defensive playing-style. “Jaime has struggled at times this season, but only because, with his tools, we’d like to see him be a bit more noticeable,” said Gainey. “We’re hoping that Derek may be able to pop a few goals. They’re both good kids — good people.”
In that Friday game, Modano centered Hull and Jere Lehtinen, while Guy Carbonneau centered Blake Sloan and Dave Reid on lines that accounted for the Stars first two goals. Langenbrunner played left wing with Nieuwendyk at center and Benoit Hogue on left wing, while Plante centered Mike Keane and Grant Marshall. The lines got jumbled from frequent power plays and penalty kills, but coach Ken Hitchcock did an excellent job of juggling lines to keep everybody in the game.
“It’s so funny how this game goes,” said Plante. “You start thinking about how much luck has to do with it. You get a chance and take a great shot, and hit the goaltender in the helmet. Then you get a lousy shot and somehow it goes in. But it’s great to win.”
The Stars, with their Cloquet Connection, are likely to still be winning when the playoffs of April and May turn to June.
Hockey world mourns death of Don Clark
An array of hard-core amateur hockey notables made their way to the tiny town of Cumberland, Wis., last Saturday for the sad and reluctant task of bidding farewell to one of the most beloved hockey personalities in Upper Midwest history.
Don Clark, a tireless promoter for the sport and its leading historian, died a week ago Monday at his home in Cumberland at the age of 83.
Outside St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Cumberland, official Bob O’Connor, a leading hockey clinic instructor for USA Hockey, paused and looked at the bright sunshine and blue sky.
“It’s been a week of constant rain, and now look at this,” said O’Connor. “It’s a perfect day, and it’s just like God made this day, just for Don.”
Inside the church, Robert Fleming and Roger Godin gave eulogies for Clark’s long and wide-ranging lifetime in hockey. Fleming, a longtime official in both state and national amateur hockey operations, told of driving northward from his home in Rochester and stopping in Cumberland to pick up Clark and drive to countless hockey games in Northern Minnesota. He said he finally bought a cabin in Cumberland.
Godin, who operated the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame during its first decade of operation, recalled how Clark had helped found the hall and provided numerous fact and artifacts to the hall, even though he kept countless other bits of historicaly hockey memorabilia at his humble home in Cumberland.
Cal Marvin, from Warroad, and Buck Riley, from International Falls, made the six-hour trip to Cumberland, and numerous other veteran hockey types were present. Mostly, though, they were the type of hockey people who worked behind the scenes, more than prominent big shots in the game, and maybe that was appropriate, because that was Clark’s legacy. He always tried to get things done for the sport, but he worked just as hard to avoid credit for his accomplishments.
Clark, whose intense interest in hockey covers more than 50 years, founded the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association in 1947 with Riley and Robert Ridder. Clark later managed various amateur and U.S. National teams, and became an official in the Amateur Hockey Association of the U.S. (later USA Hockey).
Ever-humble, Clark was best known as a historian — virtually a walking encyclopedia who could relay countless elements tracing the development of hockey in Minnesota and the country. He was such a devoted and influential part of the sport that he was inducted to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth in 1978.
Clark’s health had been faltering since he suffered a heart attack last Nov. 1, and he was treated for congestive heart failure during the winter, which confined him to his home in Cumberland.
“But he got out of bed to attend the opening ceremonies of a new arena that was built in Siren (Wis.) about six weeks ago,” said John Clark, one of his three sons. “He was on oxygen, but nothing stopped him. He was hoping to go out in a little while for another new arena in the Baldwin area.”
Clark is survived by his wife, Harriet, and sons Mark of Cumberland, Tom of St. Paul, and John of Inver Grove Heights.
His wife and sons were with him through his final days. “He knew he was dying, but he still had a lot of curiosity, and we had some touching conversations with him last Sunday,” said John Clark. “He was so weak the last few weeks that you could hardly hear his voice, but he was still able to comfort my mother.”
Clark was born May 25, 1915, in Kensal, N.D., and grew up in Faribault, Minn., where he played amateur baseball and hockey. He was a good enough baseball player to be named to a Southern Minny League all-star team that played against the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, when Ted Williams was on the Millers team.
He was in the Civilian Conservation Corps before graduating in dairy science from the University of Minnesota. He worked for 20 years as a chemist for the Twin Cities Milk Producer’s Association, and was one of the founders of the Minnesota Dairy Technology Society. He held various administrative officers in MAHA from that date until 1988, during which time the number of registered hockey teams grew from 45 to nearly 4,000, and the number of indoor ice facilities grew from 13 to more than 220.
In 1952, Clark organized the first statewide tournament for Bantam hockey teams — the first state tournament of its kind in the U.S. He was the manager of the 1958 U.S. National hockey team, which was the first U.S. sports team to ever compete in the Soviet Union, and in 1959-60, Clark was manager of the Green Bay Bobcats, which won the U.S. Hockey League championship.
In 1961, he was hired as lab supervisor at the Stella Cheese company in Cumberland, and from there he continued to stay deeply involved in hockey well beyond his retirement in 1980. He served in administrative positions and as a director of organizations such as AHAUS and MAHA, and his interest in hockey history and collecting of memorabilia made it logical to help organize the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Along with his induction to the Hall, Clark was presented with the National Hockey League’s Lester Patrick Award, the Hall of Fame’s Heritage Award, the Minnesota North Stars “Maroosh” Award, and the annual award for dedicated service presented by the Minnesota high school coaches association.
As a historian, Clark was constantly consulted by authors and writers and provided endless supplies of information. He was responsible for compiling the AHAUS and Olympic hockey guide books from the 1950s until the 1980s.
Memorials may be sent to Regional Hospice of Ashland, Wis., or to the Donald M. Clark Hockey Scholarship Award at the University of Minnesota.
Indy 500 seeks to regain past glory
For the fourth year in a row, the Indianapolis 500 will be conducted only by drivers and teams from the Indy Racing League, and the bigger names with their more-exotic race cars will be off racing somewhere else.
You can take sides as you choose, but you have to agree with one distinct fact: The Indianapolis 500 used to be THE race in the world, where the best drivers from all over the world came to compete in the world’s largest single sports event, and now it’s something less than that.
The split came when Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss, Tony George, decided to regain control of the kind of racing that would run at Indy by outlawing the extremely expensive cars from the Championship Auto Racing Teams.
It has been a rocky rivalry, and both sides have lost a lot.
In its first year without CART, the bigger names at CART ran a 500-mile race in direct conflict with Indy at Michigan International Speedway. The CART superstars were understandably a bit haughty in their superiority — right up until they had a massive crash at the start of their race, the kind of crash they assumed the novice-filled racers at Indy might suffer.
Buddy Lazier won that Indy 500. There was no question the CART cars were faster, because that first Indy-without-CART-stars required all entries to use year-old or older race cars, in order to curtail costs.
However, the Indy folks overlooked the fact that the main reason for the outrageous expense of CART cars was because of constantly escalating safety alterations. That was proven tragically when Indy pole-sitter Scott Brayton was killed in a pre-race crash when his head whiplashed to the side and he broke his neck. Experts agreed that had he been in a CART car with its new-that-year body cowling around the back and sides of the driver’s helmet, Brayton undoubtedly would have escaped uninjured.
Jimmy Vasser won the CART series, and Alex Zanardi, his Target-Ganassi teammate, had a sensational rookie season. Fans who went to Indy never saw them.
The next year, CART decided to abandon its head-on competition and inaugurated the Motorola 300 at Madison, Ill., which is in suburban St. Louis. The IRL went to its own specific race cars, with body designs by Dallara or G-Force, and non-turbocharged stockblock engines produced by only Oldsmobile(Aurora) or Nissan. The cars proved tail-heavy and had a dangerous tendency to swap ends and smack walls rear-first, and the new engine formula was met with a whole bunch of blown engines. Arie Luyendyk won that Indy 500, while, over in CART, Zanardi won the season points title and teammate Vasser was runner-up, but Indy fans still hadn’t ever seen them.
Last year, that format continued, and the gap between the two seemed to widen. Zanardi dominated CART’s season, while a dazzling array of new young stars, including Greg Moore, Dario Franchitti, Gil deFerran, Bryan Herta, Helio Castro-Neves, Patrick Carpentier, Tony Kanaan and more seriously invaded the stronghold of veterans such as Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Paul Tracy, Christian Fittipaldi, and Vasser.
Eddie Cheever won an exciting Indy 500, but the race had changed a lot. It was better, by far, in 1998 than it had been in 1997 or 1996, but it still wasn’t the ultimate race for the best drivers. Tony Stewart, the IRL’s top developed driver, left the IRL for NASCAR after last season, although he is coming back to race at the Indy 500, then dashing off to a private jet to race in the World 600 NASCAR event the same day, Sunday.
There are other impressive young drivers in IRL racing. Greg Ray, Kenny Brack, Billy Boat, plus former CART chargers Cheever, Roberto Guerrero, Raul Boesel and Luyendyk will lead the way at Indy.
Both the IRL and CART are consumed with safety nowadays. Last year, three CART fans were killed when a wheel popped off the crashing car of Adrian Fernandez at Michigan International Speedway and flew over the guardrail and into the stands. So CART raised the guardrail along the stands from 15 feet to 17 feet, curving out over the track as well to better contain such debris.
Track officials at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte looked over Michigan’s situation and checked its own fence, which is 15 feet high. Tragically, when Stan Wattles and John Paul Jr. crashed in Turn 4 in the IRL race on May 1, the tire and suspension flew off Wattles’ car, and witnesses said it glanced off the top of the guardrail and then into the stands, killing three fans and injuring eight more. Sad that Charlotte didn’t raise its fence from 15 to 17 feet because that might have been enough to catch the broken parts, but we’ll never know.
The result is that cars at the Indy 500 will have their wheels attached to the race cars by tethers, just like Formula 1 cars are, to prevent such flyaway parts.
It’s ironic that Tony George stated his reasons for splitting off into the IRL as desiring to put the Indy 500 back within reach of middle-American oval-track sprint-car types, keeping costs down, and trying to eliminate the domination by the exotic and costly cars and foreign road-racers. Yet, last year’s series champ was Kenny Brack, a road-racer from Sweden. And Tony George’s next move is renovating the Speedway to also include a road course, so Indy will be host to a U.S. Grand Prix Formula 1 race next year — the most expensive and exotic cars, ALL driven by foreign drivers.
But that’s in the future. This weekend, the two factions will go at it again. CART will run at Madison on Saturday, with Zanardi gone to Formula 1, and in his place a Colombian rookie named Juan Montoya, who has won three straight CART races in Chip Ganassi’s car that Zanardi would have been driving.
And the IRL will have a go at the Indy 500 again, with the promise of a faster, more competitive race than ever. Luyendyk, in his final race, is on the pole, with Greg Ray in John Menard’s team car in the middle and Billy Boat, A.J. Foyt’s driver, on the outside of the front row. Brack, Goodyear, Steve Knapp, Cheever, Lazier, Stewart and the rest are scattered throughout the rest of the 33-car field.
Maybe CART and the IRL will eventually get back together. Maybe not. For now, CART still has the better names and the swifter, more advanced race cars. But the IRL is improving, both in the level of driving and in equipment. Maybe there’s room for both.
DOUBLEHEADER SET
FOR PROCTOR RACES
All Proctor Speedway needs is a break from the weatherman, and the schedule for Memorial Day weekend should do the rest. Along with the usual Sunday night races, Proctor will run a special Monday night program as well, with a $24,000 expanded purse for the two dates.
On Sunday, starting at 6 p.m., Proctor will run Late Models, Super Stocks and Pure Stocks, and on Monday, also at 6 p.m., those same three classes will be augmented by Modified and Street Stocks in a race that will also be the first in a five-race joint venture with Superior Speedway.
That Monday race is the first of the Amsoil $11,000 series for all Wissota licensed Late Models, which will pay $5,000 to the winner of the five-race series. Other designated races in the series are Tuesday, June 15 at Superior; Wednesday, July 7 at Proctor; Thursday, Sept. 2 at Proctor; and Saturday, Sept. 11 at Superior.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
Click here for sports