Superior, Wisconsin’s Jack Rivord made the jump from the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds into the WISSOTA Modifieds at the start of the 2022 racing season and ran off with the WISSOTA Modified Rookie of the Year title for his efforts on the year, becoming the youngest WISSOTA Modified Rookie of the Year in the nearly 40-year history of the sanctioning body in the process. Rivord is used to setting records as he not only just became the youngest WISSOTA Rookie at age 17 but back in 2019 he became the youngest driver to win a feature at the ABC Raceway at age 14 and in 2020 became the youngest driver to win an invitational – winning the Midwest Modified portion of the Northern Nationals at age 15.
Rivord, a 4th generation racer, who comes from a very successful Twin Ports-based racing family, had a successful Go Kart, Mini Mod and WISSOTA Midwest Modified career leading up to moving into the Modifieds this season and made the most of the jump into the Mods by topping the other 35 WISSOTA Modified rookies en route to the ROY title. Rivord beat out Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada’s Colin Chaschuk by 143 points to secure the title.
Rivord, who picked up three feature wins during his rookie season also finished 10th in the final WISSOTA Modified National Points at season’s end after entering 47 events at tracks such as the Gondik Law Speedway in his hometown of Superior, WI; the Rice Lake Speedway in Rice Lake, WI; the Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, WI; Halvor Lines Speedway in Proctor, MN; the Hibbing Raceway in Hibbing, MN; the Grand Rapids Speedway in Grand Rapids, MN; the Thunder City Speedway in Thunder Bay, ON and the Emo Speedway in Emo, ON. Jack’s three wins came at Rice Lake, ABC and Thunder City.
Jack would have entered more events if he was able, but he is a straight-A student in high school at Superior High School and is also a standout football player, and his senior season of football started in August, so the team wrapped up their season before his football schedule began, therefore they raced as hard as they could earlier in the season to try to secure the rookie title before he had other commitments in the fall.
When looking back on his rookie season, Jack remembers one night especially that stood out, which was his first-ever win in the Modifieds, coming at Rice Lake. Not only was it a special night because it was his first Modified win, but the way it unfolded was truly special. Jack recalls ‘my most memorable moment from this year was for sure my first win in the Modified at Rice Lake’s Season Opener. In the heat race, we blew apart the fifth coil and lost the spring for it. After looking for the spring throughout all the rest of the heat races and walking the track at intermission to no avail, we decided we would pack up and go home. Then, one of the track workers found the spring in a pile of mud and we had to race to get the spring back on the car and make it out to the start at the back of the feature. We ended up working through the pack, and with the help of a few cautions, we found ourselves in the lead with three laps to go and took it home from there!’ He went on to say that the goals he set for this season were to consistently compete and run in the top five, which he was able to do and he mentioned the biggest challenge from the Midwest Modifieds to the Mods was to learn how to drag the brake and the horsepower and traction difference from one class to the other.
Sponsors on Jack’s #19J include Tipsy Beaver Bar, Dave Evans Transport Inc., Belknap Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, Bowfest, Peak Vestibular Center, Rayus Radiology, Mike Raivala – Re/Max, Rivord Auto Repair, Billings Park Electric, The Erickson Bros., Sandy and Larry Rivord, The Anchor Bar, M.I.R.A., Rick’s Auto Body, M Property Services LLC., Mains Lawn Service, Spartan Football Coaches, Birchgrove Campground and Aiden.
He wanted to also throw a special thanks to Skip’s Performance, MB Customs Race Cars, CMD Shocks, OFI Performance and Buzz Signs & Graphics along with his support system, which consists of his mom Becki, dad Ryan, girlfriend Samantha and pit guy John. He went on to say ‘I can not thank everyone that supports me enough. Without my sponsors, fans, pit crew, and especially my dad, none of this would have ever been possible.’
Jack said ‘being the Modified Rookie of the Year heals the wound from my rookie season in the Midwest Modifieds four years ago when I finished a very close second in the rookie standings, so this year definitely makes up for that.’
Jack plans to race hard in 2023 and hopes to run the full season and enter all of the fall invitationals as well since he will be graduating high school in June and won’t have fall football commitments to get in the way.
Garage Tech X-treme Floor Coatings is a full-service coating company that installs every type of coating to fit every application including but not limited to; garage floors, residential, showrooms, restaurants, offices, warehousing, and manufacturing. This year at the 2022 WISSOTA National Awards Banquet, one of the crowned WISSOTA Rookie of the Year winners from all eight classes will be the recipient of a 600-square-foot garage floor refinish valued at over $4,200.
Congrats!
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 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 Hoosier Racing Tire, Speedway Motors, AFCO Racing Products, MyRacePass, Structural Buildings, Chevrolet Performance, Engine Quest, Schaeffer’s Specialized Lubricants, World Products, Manley, QA1, Allstar Performance, Bassett, Brodix Cylinder Heads, AMI Graphics, Wilwood Disc Brakes, MSD, Minuteman Press Princeton, Simpson, Hooker Headers, Marv’s Trailer Sales, Leighton Broadcasting, Comp Cams, Aero, Joe Provo Racewear, Mahle, Moser Engineering, Winning Edge Graphics, Champ Pans, Performance Auto, ATD, Holley, American Solutions for Business, All Star Trophy and Awards, ERMA, and Garage-Tech X-treme.
For more information on WISSOTA, log on to www.WISSOTA.org.