Minnesota State Route 210 wound its way through thick woods and along a river about 100 feet below the road. Steep rock cliffs lined the other side of the snake-like highway. The landscape was quite different from the rolling farmland just a few miles to the south and west.
A sign on the outskirts of a small town near the state line warned against hunting inside the city limits. I wondered what was there to hunt and why there was a need for such a sign.
Just past the state line the road flattened and straightened. What was supposed to be a shortcut ended up taking longer than the interstate. But it was worth the drive. Two lanes are better than four, when you have the time.
The day’s destination was now just a few miles to the north.
Superior Speedway, located at a fairground like any good dirt track should be, lies just south of the town and lake it’s named for. You can barely go any farther in Wisconsin.
I remembered the phone call I’d made just 10 days before. The man had told me about the racing at his track. Although I’d never seen it, I believed him because I’d heard it before from others.
On this night, a Wednesday, the WDRL series was in Superior for a $5,000-to win show. I checked in with track management and made an initial swing through the pit area.
Upon that first walk-through, two of the first cars that drew my attention were the white No. 10 of Pete Parker and the blue No. 1 of Tom Nesbitt. For a long-time dirt late-model fan like myself who doesn’t make regular trips to the upper Midwest, that was a pretty cool deal to see them both in attendance.
Parker, from Kaukauna, Wis., and Nesbitt, from across the Canadian line in Thunder Bay, Ontario, might not be household names anymore in late-model circles. Or maybe they never were, at least outside of their region, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, either.
Their combined age is 127. Between them, they have 86 years of driving experience. Best estimates have their win total at about 1,000 or more.
They are legends who helped build the sport.
Both drivers still race a fairly aggressive schedule but have minimized their traveling over the past several years. I had never met either driver and knew I should take the opportunity to do so.
Nesbitt, slightly cantankerous as I’d heard he could be, said this year of driving, his 50th, will be his last.
“I bet you’ve said that before,” I said.
“This is it,” he replied. “I’m tired of working all the damn time.”