11/2/2024
WISSOTA
LARSON LOGS MILES; LANDS SECOND MOD FOUR NATIONAL TITLE
2017 and 2024 WISSOTA Mod Four National Champion Dean Larson lives in Pennock, Minnesota, a small central Minnesota community, approximately 600 miles from the Wyoming border, yet he hauled his #37 West weekly and competed in Western South Dakota and Eastern Wyoming during 48 of his 71 events throughout the 2024 season. Larson made the weekly trek down Interstate 90 from mid-April through late September and logging all those miles paid off with his second national title over the last 8 seasons.
Larson won 33 times during 2024 with 11 coming at the Gillette Thunder Speedway in Gillette, Wyoming, 10 coming at the Sheridan Speedway in Sheridan, Wyoming; another 8 at the Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, South Dakota, plus he raced to 2 wins at the Bemidji Speedway in Bemidji, MN, and one a piece at the Casper Speedway in Casper, WY and at the Princeton Speedway in Princeton, MN. Dean also picked up 42 heat race wins, 29 clean sweeps, and finished inside the top ten in 69 of the 72 events he entered.
Throughout the season, other than the long weekly trips back and forth to Wyoming, Dean mentioned that winning the Mod Nationals at Princeton and the Paul Bunyon Stampede were the two races that stood out the most to him over the course of the season, while also winning 3 track championships this season (Black Hills, Gillette, KRA) and winning the Wyoming Mod Four State Championship as well.
At age 67, Larson has been racing Mod Fours for 24 years and isn’t slowing down at all as he keeps winning and winning year after year. Larson has amassed 18 track championships, 228 feature wins, 423 heat race wins and has finished inside the top ten in the final WISSOTA Mod Four national point standings in each of the last 22 consecutive seasons. Larson jumped out the national point lead early in the season and had to hold off another former champion Dustin Holtquist as the season wrapped up for the title. If Holtquist could win the Fall Classic and Gopher State Showdown during the last two weekends of national points, as long as the class had a full car count (16 or more), Holtquist would eclipse Larson for the title by just one point. Well, Holtquist ended up winning both the Classic and Showdown, but Larson could breathe easy as the car count was smaller than expected at the Showdown, clinching the title for Larson by one single marker.
Dean, who has also spent time in Late Models, Sprint Cars, Street Stocks and Super Stocks, is sponsored by Advanced Styling, Halls Racing Engines, Laske Chassis and Andy’s Fab, and he is also supported by his girlfriend Rhonda Miller, daughters Shanna and Kristi and sons Justin and Tyler.
Congrats to Dean 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