Twenty years on Tour

• Rusty Corneliusen

AP Photo Rusty Corneliusen, right, is the Southwest Speedway’s IMCA Modified points leader heading into this week’s Dakota Classic Modified Tour. The tour makes its annual stop at the Dickinson race track at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Talk about it

The idea for the Dakota Classic Modified Tour began, oddly enough, thousands of miles away from North Dakota’s dirt race tracks.

The DCMT blossomed from the mind of Dacotah Speedway promoter John Gartner in February of 1990 during a promoter’s workshop at Speed Week in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Gartner asked Evan Schoefisch, then the promoter at the Nodak Speedway, to cooperate with him and help organize a series of races that would span consecutive nights on North Dakota’s tracks.

After beginning as a three-night series in Mandan, Minot and Jamestown, the DCMT has grown into a six-night event that draws drivers from across the United States and Canada.

As the DCMT enters its 20th year, Gartner believes it is now the largest tour in the nation sanctioned by IMCA.

“We’re a rural state,” Gartner said. “My dream was that one day we can get 50 cars. Now we’re averaging over 50 cars. … I never ever thought it would get to be the IMCA’s biggest touring series.”

The DCMT kicks off tonight at the Nodak Speedway in Minot and wraps up Friday with championship night at the Dacotah Speedway in Mandan. The tour will be at Dickinson’s Southwest Speedway on Thursday night.

The Southwest Speedway became a track on the tour in 1992, Gartner said. That same year was when the DCMT expanded to its current six-night format.

While the length of the series is the same as it was when the Dickinson track came into the fold, the money awarded to the drivers continues to grow.

The champion of each 30-lap A-Main feature race along the tour wins $1,200. Sponsors throw in more cash for points funds.

The prize money and the thrill of racing against some of the nation’s best is what keeps drivers coming back to the tour said Hank Berry, the three-time and defending tour champion from Sidney, Mont.

“There’s some pretty good heavy hitters coming through for that deal,” Berry said.

Along with winning one A-Main feature during last summer’s championship run, Berry won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004 and believes he may have raced each year of the tour.

But, he’s not positive about that.

“I ain’t so sure I haven’t done all of them to be honest with you. … I know I haven’t missed very many,” Berry said with a laugh. “… I’d kind of like to know that myself.”

Two years ago, Berry was fourth behind Canadian Steve Arpin, who ran away from Bismarck’s Shawn Strand to win the tour title. Arpin has since moved on to asphalt racing and drives for the group owned by NASCAR star Carl Edwards.

Speaking of NASCAR, Kenny Wallace has entered Tuesday’s race at Estevan (Saskatchewan) Motor Speedway. The 45-year-old veteran plans to race only that night, Gartner said.

“Rub fenders or something with him, that’d be alright,” Berry said of racing against Wallace.

Gartner said, for many North Dakota drivers who plan to compete in the tour, getting to race against someone of Wallace’s caliber for a night, or beating another proven winner such as Berry or Iowa’s Mike Hansen can help affirm their ability to be competitive.

“The nice thing about the tour is our local guys feel they’re competitive and in a lot of touring series, it’s all about money. While money is still a big part of the racing in IMCA, it’s not near as big of a situation … it’s more about driving,” Gartner said. “… They all feel they can get in there and sometimes just making their feature is a big accomplishment.”

Note: Last year, the DCMT added a five-night IMCA Stock Car competition. That portion of the tour began Saturday night in Rugby and crowns a champion Wednesday at the Basin Speedway in Williston. The Stock Cars will not race at the Southwest Speedway. However, the Southwest Speedway will also have regular Pure Stocks and WISSOTA Street Stocks races.

Tags: auto racing, dakota classic modified tour, sports