By: Eric Huenefeld

What started back in 1966 as a territorial battle between Wisconsin short track aces and Illinois hot shoes has become a staple on the short track racing scene in America.

Legendary promoter Hugh Deery christened the event the “National Short Track Championship” and over the years, drivers from twenty-four states and Canada have tried to add their name to the incredible list of drivers who have claimed glory on Rockford’s “high banks.”

And even though scores of drivers have tried to become the one who stands in victory lane wearing the famed wreath, only thirty-one drivers have been lucky enough and skilled enough to end their Sunday drive parked on the piece of real estate every driver craves.

Joe Shear and Steve Carlson were the masters of the National Short Track Championship (NSTC). Both won an amazing EIGHT NSTC titles. Shear won his first in 1972, the same year he won his sixth and final Rockford Speedway track championship. Shear’s final NSTC win came in 1997, topping Carlson in a memorable battle which saw Shear pass Carlson late for the win. The conquest was Shear’s last, as he died just six months later following a bout with cancer. Carlson had the most dominant run of anyone in the history of the event, capturing seven of his eight NSTC wins over a nine-year span from 1992 thru 2000. Carlson came back to claim his record-tying eighth NSTC in 2011.

Even though he is fourth on the all-time NSTC wins list, the name Dick Trickle may be most associated with the National Short Track Championships. Trickle, then a 20-something central Wisconsin racer, was the man who won the first ever event back in 1966, lapping the entire field over the course of 200 laps on his way to victory. The triumph was one of the first major wins of over 1200 in Trickle’s career. Trickle also added NSTC victories in 1978 and 1979, making him one of just five drivers to win the race in consecutive years.

Many other legends have forged their way to victory at NSTC. Eddie Hoffman, who began his career running enduro races at Rockford, was built for the long-distance race as much as anyone. Hoffman is a four-time winner of the event, jumping to number three on the all-time wins list behind only Shear and Carlson and ahead of Trickle after his win in 2013. Rich Bickle, who started his career at Rockford, won two NSTC crowns (1990, 2012) and sandwiched some of short track racing’s biggest wins and a solid NASCAR run in between those two wins. Batesville Arkansas’ Mark Martin still credits his NSTC win in 1977 as the win that propelled him to what would become a NASCAR Hall of Fame career.

Other big names through the years who have won at NSTC include Jim Sauter (1980), Canada’s Junior Hanley, Iowa’s Ramo Stott (1969) and Michigan’s Butch Miller (1991). Drivers like Wayne Stallsworth (1970) from Colorado and Tim Fedewa (1989) from Michigan accomplished their crowning achievement in racing by capturing the gold at the National Short Track Championship.

Martin was the youngest winner of the NSTC (18 years old) and was the only teen to conquer the 200-lap race until the year 2020, when 17-year-old Max Kahler won in a wild finish by storming to the lead on the final lap. Kahler’s win was also significant because it was the last Super Late Model race in the history of the NSTC. One year later, the Big 8 Late Model Series became the headlining act for “One Great Racing Weekend,” with Austin Nason commanding the field and winning his first NSTC.

Will a new name be etched into the record books this weekend? Will a driver like Nason or Jon Reynolds Jr (2015) add their name to the list of multi-time winners? One hundred and eighty-eight laps on a Sunday afternoon in northern Illinois lie ahead.

The 57^th Annual National Short Track Championship takes place this Friday Saturday and Sunday September 30, October 1 and 2 at Rockford Speedway. Friday’s “Opening Night” includes racing with the Sportsmen, American Short Trackers, Roadrunners, Bandits and Sixers and gets the green flag at 6 PM. “Short Track Saturday Night” goes racing at 5 PM and includes the Jody Deery Invitational for Super Late Models, plus preliminary races for the Big 8 Late Model Series and features for Hobby Stocks, Midwest Dash Series and Area Sportsmen. “Championship Sunday” starts at 1 PM and features the 188-lap National Short Track Championship for the Big 8 Late Models along with the Mid Am Racing Series and the first-ever Roadrunner Rumble.

For more information on the 57^th Annual National Short Track Championships, please visit rockfordspeedway.com or call 815-618-1051.