11/3/2024
WISSOTA
BRAUER BESTS HIS BOTHER, OTHERS FOR FIRST WISSOTA STREET STOCK NATIONAL TITLE
Eyota, Minnesota’s Braden Brauer became the 2024 WISSOTA Street Stock National Champion after a dominating 35-win season to best his younger brother Kolton, who finished second in the final national point standings just 17 points back, and the 397 other Street Stock drivers once the season wrapped up in mid-October. Braden and his team live by the quote ‘Never die
easy – no matter how hard you get knocked down, you always have to get up and keep fighting.’ That mantra kept the national championship dream alive all season long through all the miles traveled, late nights and unexpected bumps along the way. At the season’s end, the Brauer brothers became the first brother tandem to finish 1 st and 2 nd in the national point chase in the history of any WISSOTA division.
Brauer, just 20 years old, won a total of 35 feature races in the 71 events he entered and finished inside the top ten on 65 occasions, with 60 top five runs throughout the year. Brauer, who finished second in the final 2023 national point standings and fourth the year prior, set out to do one thing this year – win the national points and he did just that!
Braden raced a ton this year and picked up wins at sixteen different tracks across four states and two Canadian provinces, including Buffalo River Speedway, Viking Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Devils Lake Speedway, Brown County Speedway, Redwood Speedway, KRA Speedway, Bandit Speedway, Greenbush Race Park, Thunder City Speedway, Dead Horse Creek
Speedway, Renegade Speedway, Victory Lane Speedway, Fiesta City Speedway, I-94 emr Speedway and Sheridan Speedway.
Of the 35 victories Braden raced to this season, he mentioned several that were special or memorable, including winning the first night WISSOTA 100 Qualifier and winning his first 2 Street Stock Tour races at Redwood and Viking. He also mentioned one of his most memorable moments of the year was when he had his engine protested in September at Greenbush after his 32 nd win of the season. The Pederson family (Joey, Tucker, Kelsi & Cole) were quick to lend a hand to start the process of the tear down in their shop. The engine was deemed 100% legal.
Braden has been around racing his whole life as his dad Jeff was a very accomplished racer throughout his career. Braden has raced for a total of twelve years, with eight of them coming in the Street Stock division. He also raced in the Slingshot and Super Stock divisions in the past as well. Since moving into the Street Stock division and racing to his first ever Street Stock
victory at the Chateau Speedway in August of 2019, Braden has won 94 times in the division.
Braden is sponsored by Brauer Roofing, BK Engines, Factory 43 Motorsports, Adams Racing Chassis, Arvig, VBRO, Wood Haven Lodge, Brauer’s Silver Sugar Bush, and Apples R’ Us, and he is also supported by his family, which consists of his dad Jeff, mom Janene, brother Kolton, girlfriend Nora, their dog Gracie and his other crew members, Alex, Lewis, Scott, Greg, Gabe
and the Kramer family.
The Street Stock division was first sanctioned by WISSOTA in 1994 and Brauer becomes the sixth Southern Minnesota racer to win a national championship since then.
Congrats to Braden 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