11/4/2024
WISSOTA
ROOKIE ROMULD RACES TO WISSOTA MWM ROY TITLE
MaKenna (Kenna) Romuld, from Grand Forks, North Dakota raced to the 2024 WISSOTA Midwest Modified national Rookie of the Year title after a solid first season in the division. She moved from the Go Kart ranks into the Midwest Modified division this past season and entered approximately 40 events during her rookie campaign and once the season was wrapped up, she finished inside the top ten 24 times, landing her rookie honors for her efforts during the season.
MaKannea, who is just 15 years old, graduated from the Forks Karting Association after the2023 season, where she spent the majority of the past ten years competing in Karts. From age 5 when she began, she raced regularly with the association until breaking through with her first feature win at age 11 in 2018.
She competed regularly at the River Cities Speedway in her hometown, plus at the Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon, MN, the Devils Lake Speedway in Doyon, ND, the Sheyenne River Speedway in Lisbon, ND, the Casino Speedway in Watertown, SD, the Jamestown Speedway in Jamestown, ND, the Greenbush Race Park in Greenbush, MN and the I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN during the course of the 2024 season, with her highest finish of the year coming at Buffalo River as she recorded a third place finish in the night’s feature race. She also finished inside the top five another pair of times, both at Greenbush and Devils Lake.
MaKenna’s aspirations were, and still are, to race a Sprint Car one day, but her family came across a Midwest Modified for sale owned by local racers Dustin Strand and Jory Berg and thought it was the perfect move to make to get into ‘big car’ racing. Her family knew that with the local support of both Dustin and Jory, she would go that route and learn from two of the area’s best during her rookie season. Of the nearly 40 events that MaKenna competed in over the course of the season, she recalled the John Seitz Memorial weekend as one of her favorites. She has never had the opportunity to compete in the event before, but knew it was one of the biggest events at her hometown track each year. She was able to win a b-main during the event, qualifying for the feature and then racing from 17 th up to finish 12 th in the feature that night. She also raced from 24 th up to finish 10 th the night before against a stacked field of competitors in town for Seitz Memorial weekend.
MaKenna is sponsored by Sound Decision, Senske & Sons Transfer, NAPA Crookston Welding, Premier Homes & Builders LLP., Grinch Service & Sales, Best Used Trucks, Stenvold Ag, Southgate Casino, Bar & Grill, Chuck’s Carpentry, LLC., Homes by Hobbs, Knutson Printing Company, Mallory Britton, Independent Aflac Agent, Advanced Ag Solutions LLC., Dawes Detailing, LLC., Boxcar Brand, Millennium Chassis / SRT Specialties, Dylan Castoreno – Dilly Dilly, Backstretch Productions and Steven Louis and she is also supported by her Mom Kaylie, and Stepdad Joe, along with her sisters Kamber and Ava. Her Grandpa Bobby and Hannah do all the tire work, dedicating the entire nights to the tire machine. She also wanted to give a big shoutout to Tim and Jory Berg, as they are brains of the operation. She said ‘they know exactly what the car needs and have provided driver coaching and set up direction for us all season.
Also, Cody Hansen is our best teammate, showing up to just about every race this season. Mike Stenvold and Kyle Britton also joined as many events as their schedules allowed. If they couldn’t make it, they’d be watching the live feed or texting for updates.’
When asked about becoming the WISSOTA Midwest Modified Rookie of the Year, MaKanna said ‘in the best words I can describe this feeling is like a dream that I’m still waiting to wake up from!’ She also said ‘I could not have done this without the help and support from my sponsors, but especially from my team. From something small like fans coming down to say hi after the races, to l the support my sponsors and family have given me, to form into something big like winning the national rookie of the year award. One thing that goes completely unnoticed is the time, money and effort my stepdad Joe and grandpa Bobby have blessed me with. These guys not only paid thousands of dollars out of pocket, but also stood by my side the entire season throughout all the ups and downs and they were both there through all of it and I couldn’t be more thankful for them!’
The Midwest Modified division first was sanctioned by WISSOTA in 2001 and because of her efforts, Romuld becomes the first female to ever win the award.
Congrats to MaKenna and her 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