10/31/2024
WISSOTA
SCHELITZCHE SPEEDS TO SECOND WISSOTA HORNET NATIONAL TITLE
Justin Schelitzche is a two time WISSOTA National Champion. He won the 2022 WISSOTA Hornet National Championship and settled in for a runner up finish in last year’s national points as well, so with his 2024 title, he officially proved that he is a threat to win titles in any year that he decides to chase them.
Justin’s 2024 season saw him race to 18 feature wins in the 42 events he competed in, nearly winning half of his starts. Along with his 18 trips to victory lane, he finished inside the top ten on 39 of those occasions and inside the top five a staggering 37 times as well. Consistency certainly does win championships and the 2024 season for Schelitzche was definitely a consistent and winning one as he nipped Jeff Rohner by just 13 points to win his second career title.
Of the 18 victories Justin raced to this season, he mentioned several that were special or memorable, including winning the Northern Nationals at the Gondik Law Speedway, the Hornet Nationals at the Proctor Speedway, both nights of the Labor Day Shootout at the Hibbing Raceway, the Hornet Special at the Grand Rapids Speedway and Championship Night at the Madison Speedway. He said ‘winning both the heat and feature five nights in a row at specials
in Hibbing, Madison, Grand Rapids, Gondik Law and KRA to take over the points lead was fun and also winning both nights of the Labor Day Shootout, where we got custom made belt buckles as trophies, which are some of the coolest trophies I’ve ever received.’
Schelitzche, from Chaska, MN competed at eleven different tracks across Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota throughout his WISSOTA season, winning races at ten of them. The only track he wasn’t able to win at got rained out just before the feature started, so he wasn’t able to finish the night. Justin said ‘it was pretty cool to be able to win at every track we got to run a
feature at this season. I’m not sure if anyone has ever done that before. We had a lot of fun traveling and running tracks that I had never previously been to. We put on a ton of miles and put in a ton of time. A lot of effort went into this year, especially at the end of the season.
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Justin went on to say ‘none of this would be possible without our sponsors, the help and support from my wife Noel and Chad, along with Chad’s wife Natasha for letting him be gone so much traveling with me. He made just about every single race this year. Also, my sister Cindy, her daughter Nicole and Noel’s parents Eric and Brenda for always watching the dogs if needed and our best friend Nikki for house sitting and dog watching a few times. It’s pretty hard to take off for days on end without bringing the dogs and that’s’ not always possible, so a big thanks to them for the help, along with all of our family and friends for the support. It’s a 100% team effort and I couldn’t be more thankful!’
At age 40, Justin has had several major life moments tied to racing, including getting engaged to Noel at the 2022 WISSOTA National Banquet, after winning the championship that year. The couple did their engagement photos at the Granite City Motor Park and to start the 2024 season, they got married. Justin said ‘now to win the national championship again and to become only the second person ever to win multiple national titles is pretty awesome. It’s hard
to beat having three huge moments in our lives and 3 huge years in a row racing all tied together.’
Justin is sponsored by U Pull R Parts, Greater MN Sign and Graphics, Minnesota Truck Headquarters, Hopper’s Bar & Grill, Waconia Saloon, Centra Sota, TBG, Bob’s Repair, J&L Collectibles, Haines Logging & Trucking and Haines Farms & Custom Harvesting, and he is also
supported by his wife Noel, crew chief Chad and dogs Charlie and Bear.
Justin’s final win in the Hornet division came on the final weekend of the season after an epic battle for the lead at the Topless Nationals at Ogilvie. The win was not only his final Hornet victory, but was also his milestone 100 th career Hornet victory as well. Justin has competed in the WISSOTA Hornet division in each of the past ten seasons and has different plans for 2025
and beyond. Fans will need to wait and see what is officially in store for Schelitzche as plans are revealed this off-season.
Congrats to Justin and his team!
The WISSOTA Promoters Association exists to benefit its member tracks to enhance safe, profitable and successful dirt track racing, through unified, cost-effective rules, policies and procedures enacted within a democratic environment. The WISSOTA Promoters Association was founded in 1981 by eight track promoters in Wisconsin and Minnesota, with an intent to offer uniform rules for the promoters and drivers involved in the Late Model division. Soon, the group decided to do the same for the growing Modified division.
In 1984 a voluntary steering committee was formed to oversee the business aspects that developed and to guide the future of WISSOTA’s racing divisions. That steering committee evolved into a board of directors, and the non-profit racing organization became incorporated in 1986.
Promoters who join the organization become, in essence, part owners of the racing organization and are expected to contribute to its overall success. Each November, the WISSOTA annual meeting is held; the member promoters gather annually in this forum to discuss the future of the organization. Member promoters are given the opportunity to vote on all organizational policies and procedures as well as rules for competition in the various racing divisions. WISSOTA’s member promoters and racing associations have spent approximately 30 years of hard work at the annual meetings crafting unique rules for each of the divisions, which are known as WISSOTA Late Models, WISSOTA Modifieds, WISSOTA Super Stocks, WISSOTA Street Stocks, WISSOTA Mod Fours, WISSOTA Pure Stocks and WISSOTA Hornets.
WISSOTA is proudly sponsored by their official marketing partners: Hoosier Racing Tire, My Race Pass, NAPA Auto Parts, Dirt Race Central, Speedway Motors, Suburban Chevrolet and All The Dirt Racing News, along with their Platinum partners, Raceceiver and Chevrolet Performance, plus their Gold sponsors, which include EngineQuest, QA1, and World Products.
WISSOTA is also sponsored by Silver partners Motul, AFCO and Willy’s Carburetor & Dyno Shop, plus Bronze sponsors, including Hanco Corporation and Statk Products. WISSOTA also has a great group of contingency sponsors, including Brodix Cylinder Heads, BuyRaceShirts.com,
Manley, Allstar Performance, AMI Graphics, Winning Edge Graphics, Velocita, RaceCals, RaceGear Designs, All Star Trophy & Awards, Minuteman Press, UEM Pistons, Mahle Motorsports, Performance Auto and MD3. WISSOTA’s Late Model Challenge Series is proudly sponsored by Structural Buildings, Momentum Truck Group, Freightliner, Western Star, Minnesota Truck Headquarters, NAPA Auto Parts, Garage Tech X-treme, Raceceiver, AT21
Spoiler Factory, Velocita, BuyRaceShirts.com, Sunoco Race Fuels by Woodie’s Racing, Gorsuch Performance Solutions, Speedwerx, Hiller Auction Inc., Shaw Trucking Inc., Collins Bros Towing of St. Cloud, ServPro, Olsen Custom Farms, Joe Provo Racewear, My Race Pass, Hoosier Racing Tire, Motul, White City Glass, Champ Pans and MD3. WISSOTA’s Official Supporters include:
American Heritage Bank, After The Checkers, Bid-2-Buy, Carlson Service Center, Engine Shop, Extreme Tint LLC, Frankman Motor Comp. Inc., FYE Motorsports Promotions, Hanso Paving, Heights Pizza Man, H&S Heating & Cooling, Hilmerson Spots Center, K&A Autobody, Kal’s Motor
Group, Kramlich – Deede Meats, Landwehr Construction, Line-X of St. Cloud, Manheim Minnesota, Nyhus Family Sales, Outlaw Graphics, Select Electric, LLC, Sharptruck.com, Specialized Auto Glass, St. Cloud Financial Credit Union, TP Fabricating, Town & Country Excavating, Westwind Logistics, Woodie’s Racing, Woodie’s Manufacturing and Zeuli’s Race Engines.
For more information on WISSOTA, log on to www.WISSOTA.org.
Submitted By: Nikki Cook