Gondik Law Speedway Introduces 2023 Hall of Fame Class
by Nick Gima
Superior, WI, July 14 – Seven new inductees were introduced as members of the Gondik Law Speedway’s Hall of Fame during ceremonies held at intermission of Friday’s race program at the northwestern Wisconsin speedplant.
Those inducted include retired drivers Ryan Aho, Dale Carlson, Mike Chamernick and Dick Wilhelm; active drivers Jimmy Mars and Rick Rivord; and pioneer/contributor John Kimmes.
Aho, a five-time national WISSOTA Super Stock champion (2000, ’04-’07), scored 16 regular-season and 1 Northern Nationals feature win on Superior’s big oval en route to earning five Super Stock track titles (1996, ’04-’07). He still holds the track record for consecutive feature laps completed in the division at GLS, and his father Rudy was inducted into Grand Rapids (MN) Speedway’s Hall of Fame the night before.
Carlson’s racing highlights in Superior include a top-five finish in the 1973 Street Stock points, followed by one top-five and three top-10s in the Super Stocks, and three top-five and seven top-10 points results in Late Models during his career. Dale’s son Kevin is a popular veteran Late Model competitor at GLS and other area tracks.
Chamernick won his first career Late Model feature in Superior, and although not from the Twin Ports area he would return often and become a fan favorite, eventually capturing the 1991 WISSOTA Late Model points title here, along with five regular-season and one Northern Nationals feature win.
Wilhelm is credited as the first-ever Super-Modified track champion, back in 1962. During his career he collected four regular-season feature wins at Superior.
Mars is widely considered one of the greatest Dirt Late Model racers ever to come out of the Midwest, and he has collected feature wins all over the country. His first LM win, however, came here in May 1991, and he would go on to win two more regular-season features, five World Dirt Racing League A-mains, and one World of Outlaws Late Model Series feature on Superior’s four-tenths-mile oval.
Rivord, who started racing in 1991, is in his 15th season running WISSOTA Modifieds and continues a family tradition in which a Rivord has raced every season at Superior since 1962. He joins family members Ollie, Al and Steve Rivord as the fourth member of the family to be inducted into the Hall of Fame here, with two regular-season feature wins in the Superior Stocks, one win in the Super Stocks, and five top-five and 13 top-10 points finishes in the Mods.
Kimmes, who is in his 33rd season working at Superior, has become a fixture at GLS, serving as a pit steward, lap counter, statistician and, beginning in 2004, points director for the track. He has also served as the official points director and statistician for the FastLane Motorsports Northland Super Stock Series during its nine years of existence, and has directed or helped with the scorekeeping duties at Rice Lake, Proctor, Ashland, Hibbing, and several other area tracks.
Village Lanes of Superior hosted a celebratory luncheon for the inductees and their guests prior to the race program, and Mike’s Place of Superior donated a sign to be displayed at Gondik Law Speedway listing all members of the track’s Hall of Fame. Former long-time announcer Fred Pearson emcee’d the presentation, with assistance from Jerry “Crash” Carlson and Jeff “Chops” Christman.
The track’s Hall of Fame was begun in 2002, in conjunction with the Speedway’s 40th anniversary of operation.