It’s been said that you can never go home again. In some instances, that theory rings true. But when it comes to ice oval racing there are a few drivers who would disagree.
Over the past 10 years, the modern Eagle River World Championship and Vintage W.C. title rolls show the names Goede and Stephenson in several locations. Their recent successes in several disciplines prove when a track feels like home, their racing style, consistency and speed are hard to match. Round eight of nine on the 2024-25 ProStar Cup Tour showed evidence of how two of the premier drivers in North America take to the track in Eagle River, Wisconsin.
Round eight was held during a Friday afternoon race program on January 22 that was part of the Oval Sprint World Series weekend. This unique weekend format allowed the USSA organization to run the program on Friday. Saturday’s race program will be a combination of USSA and Pro Vintage Racing (PVR) followed by a Sunday program run strictly by PVR. A note of congratulations to the Derby Complex, USSA, and PVR for putting together a weekend of mixed sanctioning bodies with a variety of classes.
ProStar Cup Tour Pro Champ Qualifying Heats
A total of 18 ProStar Cup Tour Pro Champ drivers entered round eight, leading the race organizers to draw three heats of six drivers for each of the three rounds of qualifying. Even at this late point in the season, there will still new faces appearing among the ranks of North America’s best ice oval drivers.
In the first heat of round one, Canadian driver Jordan Sobetski lined up for his very first lap on the famed Derby Track. In the same heat, Griffin Lepak lined up for only his second Tour event of the season. At the end of lap one, Sobetski and Lepak were nearly even for the lead while Ski-Doo powerhouse Gunnar Sterne was running fourth. Within five laps, Sterne moved past Sobetski for the lead and never looked back. The finishing order was Sterne, Sobestski, Fred Manke, Will Garceau, Lepak and Ryder Redell.
The second heat of that first round Matt Goede and Blaine Stephenson kicking off what would a day of fiercely contested racing. In addition, tour newcomer Dane Klinger (PDF Racing No. 9) made his debut in a stacked heat race. Goede passed Stephenson in a late race move and claimed the first head-to-head battle of the day. Stephenson was followed by Klinger, impressive in his first Pro Champ start, then Dustin Schwandt, Gavin Peterson and Hunter Sears.
Tour rookie Reed Klinger took the third heat of the first round followed by Danick Lambert, Tanner Foss, Justin Peterson, Calvin Cook and Calvin Peterson, who fell out early with a mechanical issue. With seven lap heat races, the stage had been set for close and contested racing throughout the rest of the race program.
In round two, Danick “Hollywood” Lambert took the first heat in an uncontested fashion followed by J. Peterson, Garceau, Sobetski, Schwandt and Lepak. In Heat Two, Goede briefly high-sided coming out of turn four coming to the white flag allowing a close-following Sterne to sneak underneath for the win. The finishing order included, Sterne, Goede, G. Peterson, and Sears. C. Peterson and Cook were DNS (did not start) in heat two.
In heat three, Stephenson used his extensive track knowledge to pass for the lead on lap two and pull away for the uncontested win. Champ rookie Dane Klinger visited the turn three hay bales on his new ride. He was up quickly and able to restart from the back of the pack. At the end, Stephenson was followed by R. Klinger, Foss, Manke, D. Klinger and Redell.
With a rapidly moving show, turn-around time between heat rounds was at a premium. When added to the strain of a long race season, drivers and teams were pushing to be prepared both physically and mentally. With many of the Champ drivers also racing in the F-III class, there were many opportunities for mistakes and the fatigue of a long race season slowly began to show its effects.
Each of the heats in round 3 saw at least one driver either not start or not finish a heat.
In heat one, Sterne continued to show speed in his Red Bull Ski-Doo, By winning the heat, Sterne secured the number one qualifier spot for the upcoming 15-lap final. Sterne was followed by J Peterson, Manke, Redell and Lepak. Hunter Sears didn’t show up to take the starting flag and was finished for the day.
Heat two looked to be one of the most competitive of the day. Dustin Schwandt took a pretty hard trip to the hay field between turn three and four and was unable to finish the race. Reed Klinger took the heat win followed by Cook, Lambert, Sobetski and G Peterson.
Heat three found Goede and Stephenson facing off again in a very tight and close battle. With straight line speed nearly identical, similar cornering lines and a ton of track knowledge, very little separated this battle. At the checker it was Goede, Stephenson, C. Peterson, Foss and Garceau. D. Klinger was not able to start the heat.
With 18 drivers entered, half of the field qualified directly through to the front row of the final. The remaining nine drivers lined up for the last chance qualifier (LCQ), with the winner earning the last remaining spot on the front row of the final. The second and third place finishers earned back row starting spots for the 12 sled final. At only five laps, the LCQ went quickly. Both Calvin Cook and Hunter Sears failed to answer the bell for the race placing seven drivers on the line. After five quick laps, Gavin Peterson earned the final front row starting spot with Calvin Peterson and Will Garceau earning spots 11 and 12 on the back row.
ProStar Cup Tour Pro Champ Final
The 15-lap ProStar Cup final for round eight kicked off with the sun setting in the western sky. Marred by three red flags, the final struggled for any sense of flow or rhythm.
Sterne took the early lead and had stretched out to a 10 sled-length advantage. With clean air, good visibility and a fast Ski-Doo, it appeared Sterne was setting up to put an exclamation mark on a pretty good friday. But four laps in, Danick “Hollywood” Lambert found himself upside down and sliding up the steep turn four banking. Lambert was shocked and stunned, waiting momentarily for medical assistance. His sled left on the tow board and Danick was done for the day.
The restart lined up Sterne followed by Stephenson, R Klinger, Goede and the rest of the field. The restart was just what Stephenson was looking for. He passed Sterne coming out of turn four. At the halfway point, Goede got past Klinger in turn one as Klinger drifted slightly high and Goede drove underneath him.
The top three were all familiar names as Stephenson led Sterne and Goede. But the second of three red flags was soon to come. Tanner Foss on the Wahl Brothers #111 took a hard ride into the north end hay bales after some contact in turn three. Foss made a valiant effort to save the sled but too much speed and not enough distance simply didn’t allow it.
Foss got back on his Polaris and rejoined the field. Eight laps had been complete and a second staggered restart was called for. Stephenson lined up tight to the inside followed by Sterne, Goede, Klinger, J Peterson, G Peterson, Garceau, C Peterson, Manke, Sobetski and Foss for the seven lap shootout.
After one lap, it appeared that the sled of Tanner Foss wasn’t race ready and threw Foss for a hard tumble down the front stretch. The red flag was displayed again. Foss was removed on the tow sled and done for the night. The No. 11 of Fred Manke also pulled off with mechanical issues. Another staggered restart was racked up.
Nine sleds lined up for the final seven laps. Sterne left the bottom of the track open allowing the No. 28 of Goede to move under for second place. Sterne elected a higher line than most competitors at times giving up valuable real estate. Sterne would ultimately finish fifth. The Stephenson/Goede match up had six laps remaining and those six laps were some of the most exciting laps of the entire season.
The last two and a half laps saw Goede and Stephenson nose-to-tail, side-to-side, front-to-back. They swapped lines, swapped positions and possibly swapped a little paint. It was some of the closest racing seen all season. Goede ran a perfect line through turns three and four not allowing Stephenson the look he needed and therefore putting his No. 28 Ski-Doo atop the Tour podium for the first time this season. Stephenson finished a very close second followed by rookie Reed Klinger, J. Peterson, Sterne, C. Peterson, Garceau and Sobetski. G. Peterson, Manke, Foss and Lambert were all DNF.
The 2024-2025 ProStar Cup Tour wraps up its nine race season next weekend at the Canadian Power Toboggan Championship facility in Beausejour, Manitoba, on March 1. The season champion will be crowned at the historic venue just outside of Winnipeg. Live stream service will be available for the season finale.
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Are any of the oval races televised. If so when and what networks. Thanks