Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends
Notes: Mod ace adds second Late Model title at I-94
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt managing editor
Travis Saurer (Nick Anderson Motorsports Photography)
With more than 500 victories in a variety of modified divisions over a nearly 30-year career, Travis Saurer of Elizabeth, Minn., didn’t need any validation of his dirt racing talents.
But in his first two full-time seasons behind the wheel of a WISSOTA Late Model, he’s shown that fenders aren’t an impediment to more success for the 48-year-old racer.
Saurer recently wrapped up his second consecutive Late Model title at I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minn., this season’s coming alongside a WISSOTA modified division championship. With weekly racing wrapped up, he’s got his eyes on a few late-season specials, particularly the WISSOTA 100 that I-94 has hosted in recent seasons.
“I’m just looking forward to finishing off the year here hopefully strong and see if we can work a deal on this Late Model and keep it rocking,” Saurer said of his Scott Rachels-owned car. “It’s been a blast to drive.”
Saurer comes from a family of racers — his 73-year-old father Ron (Midwest mods) and older brother Trevor (super stocks) are also competitors — but it was the rodeo arena that satisfied Saurer's competitive nature as a teenager.
There aren’t many times when auto racing is considered a safer spot, but Saurer’s father didn’t like to see his son get hurt, like the bull-riding competition that knocked out two front teeth, broke his nose in multiple places and left him with a concussion.
“Rodeo is one of them sports where like you're gonna get hurt at some point,” Saurer said. “There ain't no way around it.”
In the late 1990s, Saurer's father “kept on me and on me that he'd help me out to get me going racing as long as I quit rodeo,” Saurer recalls. “I guess he finally got to me … it gets tougher and tougher, the rodeo on your body, and so I ended up taking his opportunity and starting racing a mod-four and just haven’t looked back since.”
Saurer brought his competitive edge — and a nickname, the Cowboy — to the track and became a successful mod-four, Midwest mod and modified racer. As a four-time WISSOTA Midwest mod champ, the multiple-title season he enjoyed in 2026 isn’t unusual. In 2011, he captured a whopping eight track titles in one season, winning championships in the modified and Midwest modified divisions at I-94 Speedway, Jamestown (N.D.) Speedway, Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon, Minn., and Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minn.
His longtime mod success broke the 500-victory mark several years ago, and he’s dabbled in the Late Models since but got more serious about the division when Rachels, who operates a machine shop in Fergus Falls, offered Saurer a full-time ride in the WISSOTA Late Model division after what amounted to be a late-season tryout in 2024.
"Scott gave me the opportunity. I raced his car at the (WISSOTA) 100 the previous year,” Saurer recalled. “And then he approached me after that and asked me if I wanted to drive like a car for the next year. … I didn't hesitate to take him up on that.”
Saurer, who had a handful of Late Model victories entering the 2025 season, won a single I-94 feature race last season en route to his first division title, but this season tallied three Late Model feature victories and posted a track-best seven top-five finishes in 10 starts.
“We just kind of got better with the car and you know, MB (Customs), we got both my mod and my Late Model, they're both MB Custom Race Cars and we've been getting some good help from them,” Saurer said. “We’ve just been on top of it, I think a little better and learning. Learning Late Model stuff is different than modified stuff, and there’s a lot of little things we've learned that's probably helped this year.”
Shifting the location of the team’s car to Saurer’s shop from Rachels’s shop helped, too.
“I can take care of everything, which I think has kind of been helpful because when you're around the race stuff a lot, you keep up on everything,” he said. “And to win you gotta just outwork the next guy, so if you ain't fast, you gotta figure it out. The car's been really good.”
There’s only one hiccup with the Late Model plans for Saurer. Rachels, who previously fielded a Late Model for Sam Zender, has signaled he’s done owning a race team.
"His plan was he was gonna race that one year (2025) and then retire,” Saurer said. “We ended up winning the track championship and then he decided to do one more year, this year. Then I guess at the end of this year he’s done-done. He’s retiring and selling everything.
“I said, ‘Maybe one more year since we won another (title)?’ But he’s looking to retire and do other stuff, so I guess it's his car and stuff, so we gotta sit down and see what (we’ll do). I've raced modifieds, even with the B-mod stuff, I've accumulated over the years lots of parts and stuff for the modified side, but the Late Models, I don't have a (single) part for a Late Model. It would be a lot to start.
“I don't know what's gonna happen there, you know. Scott says he wants to sell it to me, but we haven't sat down and crunched any numbers or anything to see if it's feasible to do. But it's definitely a blast to drive. I mean, both the mod and the Late Model are a blast.”
While the age of 50 is creeping up on Saurer, he's not making any plans to retire from racing. And if he has the longevity of his 73-year-old father, the Viking Speedway Hall of Famer who made more than 25 starts this season, he’s got plenty of years left.
"I guess last five or six years, he's said, ‘No, this is my last year.’ But I think every year he gets faster and he's enjoying it, so he keeps racing and I guess if you can keep doing it, keep doing it,” Saurer said.
"I hope I can follow in his footsteps and keep doing it like he's doing it,” Saurer continued. “He's raced as far back as I can remember.”
I-94 fans are certain to see Saurer back at the track next season, certainly in a modified and perhaps in a Late Model, if he can work out a deal with Rachels.
"I'm just an average guy that loves racing, I guess,” Saurer said. “I’d race whatever … I just love racing.”
Weekly highlights
• Winning his first Super Late Model feature in nearly six years, Boom Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., collected $3,000 in Bradford Speedway’s Mike Reed Memorial at the Rew, Pa., oval.
• Scoring Sept. 5-6 victories in his home state, Andrew Yoder of Middleburg, Pa., won at Port Royal Speedway and Selinsgrove Speedway.
• Hometown driver Eddie Kirchoff swept three Late Model features Sept. 4-6 at Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder Speedway’s East-West Clash, an event that drew no drivers significantly east of Gillette.
• In Brown County Speedway’s Big Buck Nationals, hometown driver Chad Becker and Cole Searing of Huron, S.D., split features at the Aberdeen, S.D., with Searing collecting $3,000 in the finale.
• C.J. Field of Chatham, Ontario, earned $2,500 for Sept. 4’s Late Model Open Shootout victory at Ohsweken (Ontario) Speedway.
• Hometown driver Brett Swedberg captured Shawano (Wis.) Speedway’s $2,500 season finale for the Late Model division. Troy Springborn wrapped up another track title.
• Ionia, Mich., driver Travis Stemler had a pair of holiday weekend victories Sept. 4-5 at Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn, Mich., and Crystal (Mich.) Motor Speedway.
First things first
Recent first-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• Winning his first feature in a Late Model-style car, fourth-year Limited Late Model racer Jonathan Raley of Hollywood, Md., captured Sept. 6’s $3,000 feature at Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, Md. Raley has more than 50 victories between hobby and street stocks and ran two winless seasons in Crate Late Models.
• Winning Sept. 5 at Willard (Ky.) Speedway, Chase Hunley of Salyersville, Ky., captured his first career Crate Late Model feature victory.
Weekly news briefs
• Joey Tanner of Portland, Ore., this week moved atop NASCAR’s Local Racing Series points nationally. He’s got 424 points overall to lead asphalt drivers from Virginia and Wisconsin.
• Former Late Model racers Chris Combs of Isom, Ky., and David Powers of Salyersville, Ky., were inductees in the 201 Speedway Hall of Fame over the Labor Day weekend. Combs was a track champion and Battle of the Bluegrass winner at 201 while Powers won 277 feature races in his career in Late Models and street stocks, many in the potent Barker Motorsports entry. Also inducted was the late Leo Hopson and family.
• Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa, has included Late Models in the 28th Fall Futurity Central Iowa Nationals scheduled for Oct. 8-10. Late Model programs are scheduled for the final two nights.
• The Jent family, which since purchasing and reopening Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park ran a single event at Mudlick Valley Raceway in Wallingford, Ky., pledged to continued operating the Kentucky oval next season with a limited schedule.
• Nick McCrady is joining K&S Promotions next season to serve as a co-promoter at East Moline (Ill.) Speedway, the track announced.
• Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown, Pa., cancelled its Sept. 11 event citing small car counts.
• Fort Payne Motor Speedway in Fyffe, Ala., asked for prayers after one of its track officials had a medical emergency and was taken by ambulance to be examined at a hospital during Sept. 5’s program.
• Fresh off a Labor Day weekend paying $25,000 in winning purses, Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park on Sept. 6 announced a single-day $50,000-to-win Super Late Model event on Oct. 31. No other details were announced by the Jent family, which this summer purchased and reopened the 3/8-mile oval that had been dark under the ownership of the founding Boone family since the conclusion of the 2024 season.
Weekly points
DIRTcar (Supers): Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., has 2,312 points to lead Tanner English (2,259) and Mike Spatola (2,152).
IMCA (Limiteds): Zach Zeitner of Bellevue, Neb., has 792 points to lead Tommy Elston (788) and Drew Baker (771).
WISSOTA (Limiteds): Kevin Burdick of Proctor, Minn., has 1,592 points to lead Tyler Peterson (1,583) and Shane Sabraski (1,578).
American All-Stars (Crates): Brandon Fouts of Kite, Ky., has 596 points to lead Logan Walls (566) and Corey Almond (512).
Crate Racin’ USA (602 Crates): Chace Pennington of Steens, Miss., has 600 points to lead Landon Mathews (592) and Spencer Moore (585).
Crate Racin’ USA (604 Crates): Brady Walton of Greenwell Springs, La., has 594 points to lead Shannon Lee (590) followed by Taylor Jarvis and Waylon Vining (587 apiece).
DIRTcar (Crates): Braden Johnson of Taylorville, Ill., has 1,174 points to lead Chase Wilson (996) and Ryan Miller (958).
Gen X (Crates): Parker Gilbertson of Watson, Minn., wrapped up the championship.
RUSH (Crates): Devin Brannon of Winchester, Va., has 1,338 points to lead Jeremy Wonderling (1,335) and Kurt Stebbins (1,312).
Ultimate (Crates): T.J. Salango of Glen Daniel, W.Va., has 289 points to lead Brandon Adkins (267) and T.J. Hicks (249).
USRA (Crates): Lucas Peterson of Stockholm, Wis., has 5,953 points to lead Jason McFadden (5,692) and Josh Wahlstrom (5,634).
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events coming up for Late Models at dirt tracks around the country:
Dixieland Speedway, Elizabeth City, N.C. (Sept. 11): The United We Stand 60-lapper pays $5,000-to-win for the Limited Late Model division.
Gallatin Speedway, Belgrade, Mont. (Sept. 11): Late Models are on the card for the first night of the Big Sky Super Nationals (action continues for other divisions Sept. 12).
Eldon (Iowa) Raceway (Sept. 11): Limited Late Models are part of a five-division card while the track is also in action the following night (with no Late Models).
River Cities Speedway, Grand Forks, N.D. (Sept. 11-12): The John Seitz Memorial pays $9,292-to-win with a record purse of nearly $59,000 for the 20th edition, with second and third earning $9,200 apiece. NLRA action opens the weekend Sept. 10 with its season finale.
Stateline Speedway, Busti, N.Y. (Sept. 11-12): The Northwest Service Fall Brawl includes two complete Super Late Model programs paying $5,000-to-win apiece.
Elkins Speedway, Kerens, W.Va. (Sept. 11-12): The rescheduled Bobby Hart Classic pays $5,000 for the opener while the sixth annual Jim Stout Memorial pays $3,737, both for Super Late Models in the final points races.
Harris Speedway, Rutherfordton, N.C. (Sept. 11-12): The Race City Performance 525 Nationals pay $6,500-to-win with practice set for Sept. 10.
Gondik Law Speedway, Superior, Wis. (Sept. 11-12): The 38th annual Northern Nationals include a pair of $2,500-to-win programs for Late Models.
Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway (Sept. 12): The Nathan Durboraw Tribute pays $5,200-to-win for Super Late Models with the Hub City 100 card including $2,000-to-win Limited Late Models and $1,500-to-win Crate Late Models.
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