11/5/2024
WISSOTA
PETERSON PUSHES THROUGH; SNAGS BACK-TO-BACK WISSOTA LATE MODEL NATIONAL TITLES
There wasn’t much change to the first paragraph of Tyler Peterson’s National Championship article from a year ago. Last November, the article said, 2021 and 2022 WISSOTA Modified National Champion Tyler Peterson made the leap into the WISSOTA Late Model division for the 2023 season and as a rookie, outlived expectations and raced to a 40-win season to capture the Late Model National Championship AND Rookie of the Year honors, ‘en route to his third straight national title across WISSOTA’s top two divisions. Well, now that the 2024 season is over, we can update that tag line to state, he just raced to his second straight Late Model national title and for the fourth consecutive season, he picked up a national championship for his efforts throughout the season.
Peterson’s 2024 stats included 26 victories, including 22 Late Model features and 4 in the Modified, where he only ran 22 events during the course of the season as he focused mostly on his Late Model, but was a threat every time he unloaded his potent #1TPO Modified as well.
Peterson, 28, from Hickson, ND ended up with a 16-point margin over a pair of drivers who were tied for runner up honors, Shane Sabraski and Dustin Strand in the final Late Model 2024 season standings. With 26 victories in his 81 starts between the two cars, Peterson finished inside the top ten an astounding 62 nights and ran inside the top five on 48 occasions proving not only was he fast all season long, but he was consistent as well night in and night out.
Peterson, who has been a front runner in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and WISSOTA Modifieds throughout his entire career, added a Late Model to his stable in 2023 and quickly got up to speed, resulting in his third straight WISSOTA National Championship and first in the Late Model division. He didn’t slow down at all in 2024 as he raced away from the pack and picked up his fourth consecutive title and second straight in the Late Model division at the conclusion of the season in mid-October.
Sponsors on Tyler’s #1TPO Race Cars include QuickLift by TP Fabricating, Allfab Railings and Metalworks, Powdercoat Specialists, Northwest Autobody, Aggressive Towing & Recovery, Heinrich Excavating, The Pit Stop, Hanson Ag Service, KoC Beebe Agency, Rocket Chassis, Fox Shocks, Performance Auto, Cain Designs & Wraps, Thiele Family Farms and JS Small Engine.
Tyler is supported by his wife Sierra, his dad Matt, his mom Donna, his sister Emily, as well as his crew, which consists of his crew chief Matt (his dad), his tire specialist Zach Polaschek, Jon & Haven Beebe, Sierra Peterson and Jake Froemke.
Tyler has been racing for 14 seasons, with his first 4 spent in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified division, before he moved into the WISSOTA Modified class, where he has been a driving force ever since and just completed his second season behind the wheel of his WISSOTA Late Model.
Notable wins for Peterson this season included winning with the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series five times on his way to picking up runner up honors in the series final point standings. His series victories came at the Proctor Speedway, I-94 emr Speedway, Granite City Speedway and twice at the Fiesta City Speedway. Other key victories were winning the King of the Dirt at the I-94 emr Speedway, the Golden Hammer at the Devil’s Lake Speedway and the Big Al Delaine Memorial in his Modified at the River Cities Speedway as part of Seitz Memorial weekend.
Just like in 2023, Tyler won races at eleven different tracks during the 2024 season, including victories in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Arizona, showing his versatility to run well on every size and shape of track across WISSOTA-country and beyond all season long.
When asked what it means to win his second straight Late Model National Championship, Tyler said ‘it’s pretty special, back-to-back in the Late Model after going back-to-back in the Modified in ’21 and ’22. Four in a row is more than I could have ever dreamed of.’ Tyler plans to keep doing what he does as the 2025 season rolls around as he looks to race his Late Model and Modified as often as possible, win as often as possible and try to keep his national championship streak alive and go for his fifth in a row at season’s end.
Congrats to Tyler 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