Goodaker Photography
Morris, IL- When the ‘Stars and Cars’ of the ARCA Midwest Tour roll into town for the 34th Wayne Carter Classic presented by Rod Baker Ford and Illinois Truck and Equipment this Saturday Night July 11 at Grundy County Speedway, they know they will have their hands full with a contingent of Chicagoland Champions and Challengers. With three Wayne Carter Classic feature wins, multi-time and defending Grundy Champion Eddie Hoffman along with two-time Grundy titlist Ricky Baker will both look to add to their win tallies in the prestigious $5,000 to win, 100-lap feature event.
Doug Hornickel Photo
With Championships at both Grundy as well as the former Illiana (IN) Motor Speedway, Eddie Hoffman continues to win at his home track, picking up the opening night checkered flag last weekend at the Grundy County Fairgrounds speedplant. Following his 1997 ARTGO Challenge Series Championship, Hoffman was able to collect his first of three Wayne Carter Classic trophies during the 1998 season and has since won in 2012 and 2015.
The most recent hometown winner of the Wayne Carter Classic is Ricky Baker, a two time Grundy County Speedway Champion who also has two Tony Bettenhausen trophies on his mantle. Baker, the 2017 winner will be debuting a brand new Kyle Busch Motorsports ride on Saturday night under the new LED lighting at the one-third mile paved oval.
Josh Nelms won the 2009 National Short Track Championships at Rockford (IL) Speedway and visited victory lane following the Frank Welch Memorial last season at Grundy. With limited Midwest Tour starts, Nelms has proven to be a strong Super Late Model ace. Joining Nelms will be open wheel Champion Scott Koerner, Joe Vinachi and ARCA Menards Series competitor Alex Clubb.
Their Dad’s are all former Grundy County Speedway Champions and now these four second generation drivers are making a name for themselves in their own right. DJ Weltmeyer (David) returned to racing last season after a short break and continues to run up front in weekly competition. Likewise, Nathan Kelly (Pat) recorded his first career Late Model feature win last year, working with former Midwest Tour Champion Andrew Morrissey, Nathan will make his first career Tour start this weekend. Jumping behind the wheel of the Keith Tolf #52 machine on Saturday night is Andy Jones (Tom). Jones has had a mixed bag of success in Tour action and will make a rare appearance as a driver, having become a sought after crew member throughout the region. Another driver making his first Tour appearance is Eric White (Mike), who will wheel one of his uncle’s, Boris Jurkovic, late models.
Joining the ARCA Midwest Tour will be the Midwest Dash Series and the Northern Outlaw Vintage Series. The Wayne Carter Classic began in 1975 when Tom Reffner defeated Bob Roper in what was the first ever ARTGO Racing event. Spectator Gates will open at 4:30pm, qualifying begins at 5pm with the First Race starting at 7pm.
Adult General Admission Tickets are $20, Seniors (62 and over) are $18, Students (ages 12-17) are $10 with kids ages 11 and under admitted Free. Tickets will be available for purchase at the gate or can be purchased in advance through Friday night on the tour website. For additional information or to buy tickets for this event, please visit www.midwesttour.racing
Expected Entries
34th Wayne Carter Classic presented by Rod Baker Ford and Illinois Truck & Equipment
ARCA Midwest Tour
Saturday July 11, 2020
Grundy County Speedway, Morris, IL
26 as of 7/8/20
| Car # | Name | Hometown | State | Sponsor | Make |
| 0 | Josh Nelms | Lockport | IL | McMahon Transport/Vandoorn Racing Development | Chevrolet |
| 3 | Alex Clubb | Morris | IL | A. Clubb Lawn Care & Landscaping | Chevrolet |
| 6 | Eric White | St. John | IN | Reliable Recovery Services | Toyota |
| 7 | Paul Shafer, Jr | Portage | IN | Paul’s Auto Yards | Chevrolet |
| 8 | Eddie Hoffman | Wheaton | IL | Feece Oil/Advanced Generator | Chevrolet |
| 13 | Andrew Brocker | Jefferson | WI | American State Equipment | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Austin Nason | Roscoe | IL | Montgomery Ward/Haase Builders/JRS Shocks/Kar Korner | Ford |
| 15 | Gabe Sommers | Plover | WI | DeKalb/Kwik Trip/Tasteful Selections Potatoes/Allied Co-op | Toyota |
| 16 | DJ Weltmeyer | Dyer | IN | Engine Masters/DeNovi Heating & Cooling | Chevrolet |
| 16 | Cayden Lapcevich | Grimsby | ONT | A Services/AP Race Engines/All-Star Perf | Ford |
| 25 | Jeff Storm | East Troy | WI | Great Lakes Components/Duramax Trucking/All Pro Mechanical | Chevrolet |
| 28 | Nathan Kelly | Wilmington | IL | Elite Tradeshow/Greg and Sons Const/Whip FX Graphic Wraps | Chevrolet |
| 36 | Dan Fredrickson | Lakeville | MN | Herman’s Landscape Supply/Justman Freight | Toyota |
| 39 | Andrew Morrissey | DeForest | WI | B&B Racing Engines/MRI, Inc Chassis & Fabrication | Ford |
| 44 | Justin Mondeik | Gleason | WI | AGRA Industries/Aqua Finance/Industrial Accessories Company | Chevrolet |
| 45 | Rich Bickle, Jr | Edgerton | WI | T1 Racing/Wegner Automotive/Barnyard to Brickyard | Chevrolet |
| 47 | Casey Johnson | Edgerton | WI | Montgomery Ward/Hougan Farms/UAW Region 4 | Chevrolet |
| 52 | Andy Jones | Waukegan | IL | KBR Performance/Evolve Concepts/Pomp’s Tire Service | Ford |
| 52 | Ricky Baker | Plainfield | IL | Rod Baker Ford/Illinois Truck and Equipment | Ford |
| 55 | Scott Koerner | Joliet | IL | Advanced Powder Coating/Brandolino’s Encore Music/Sontag | Toyota |
| 72 | Jacob Goede | Carver | MN | Baby Gowdy/Goetz Trucking/Northern Racing Products | Chevrolet |
| 73 | Joe Vinachi | Morris | IL | Midwest Industrial Sales/Indicom Electric/Oval Engineering | Chevrolet |
| 77 | Jonathan Eilen | Hampton | MN | Eilen & Sons Trucking & Landscape/Graber Auto Body | Ford |
| 78 | Skylar Holzhausen | Bangor | WI | Kempf Logging/Wehrs Machine/Fechner Motors | Ford |
| 80 | Ryan Farrell | Big Bend | WI | Lingford Construction & Transport/Able Plumbing | Chevrolet |
| 119 | Dalton Zehr | Daytona Beach | FL | Gildan/American Apparel/Comfort Colors/Prim + Preux/AMS | Chevrolet |
Wayne Carter Classic Winners
1975 Tom Reffner
1976 Dave Watson
1977 Larry Phillips
1978 Mike Miller
1979 Mike Miller
1980 Mark Malcuit
1981 Larry Schuler
1982 Jim Sauter
1983 Tom Reffner
1984 Dick Trickle
1985 Butch Miller
1986 Joe Shear
1987 Dick Trickle
1988 Joe Shear
1989 Ted Musgrave
1990 Steve Carlson
1991 Kevin Cywinski
1992 Steve Holzhausen
1993 Joe Shear
1994 Joe Shear
1995 Joe Shear
1996 Dave Weltmeyer
1997 Joe Shear
1998 Eddie Hoffman
1999 Steve Carlson
2011 Ross Kenseth
2012 Eddie Hoffman
2013 Jonathan Eilen
2014 Chris Weinkauf
2015 Eddie Hoffman
2016 Ty Majeski
2017 Ricky Baker
2018 Dalton Zehr
