There was no quit for WISSOTA modified champion and rookie of the year Cole Chernosky. He started in more than 100 features across 18 tracks and among three WISSOTA divisions — modifieds, Midwest modifieds, and super stocks.
“At first, I was just trying to maybe get rookie of the year,” said Chernosky, of Thunder Bay, Ontario. “I had 13 modified wins at that time, so I decided to focus more on the mod and less on the other two divisions. It was in late July that my U.S. buddies at Rice Lake Speedway and Gondik Law Speedway convinced me that I had a chance at national championship. I was neck and neck with Buzzy [Adams] and Mike Stearns in points.”
The Long Haul
Chasing points meant Cole Chernosky needed to go beyond racing Wednesday nights at his hometown’s Thunder City Speedway.
“There would be no looking back once I decided to go for it,” Chernosky said. “We were used to racing two or three nights a week. Now, we would have to race four or five nights for the rest of the season.”
From Thunder Bay, Ontario, that meant hours-long tows.
Thursdays: Grand Rapids Speedway in Minnesota (4-½ hours), KRA Speedway in Wilmar, Minn. (7 hours), or Proctor Speedway in Minnesota (3 hours, 45 minutes).
Fridays: Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Wis. (3 hours, 45 minutes), I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minn. (7-½ hours), or Madison Speedway in Minnesota (8 hours).
Saturdays: Emo Speedway in Ontario (4 hours, 15 minutes), Hibbing Raceway (4 hours), or Rice Lake Speedway in Wisconsin (5 hours).
Sundays: Bemidji Speedway in Minnesota (5 hours, 45 minutes) or Greenbush Race Park in Minnesota (6-½ hours).
The Weekly Grind for Cole Chernosky
“We put 16,000 miles on our hauler,” Chernosky said. “We came home every Sunday. Monday night we washed the cars. My mom prepared 15 tires every Tuesday [while] we worked on the cars — hopefully there was no body damage or repairs. Travel started all over again on Wednesday. We are efficient on the road, [with] parts on hand in our trailer and usually could fix the cars when we arrived at the next track. We took turns driving and resting — me, Dad, Chad Whittingham all drove, usually four-hour shifts. It was a long week, but it had to be done if we wanted the championship.”
His longest one-way haul came going to Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, South Dakota — a tow of nearly 10 hours.
“It wasn’t always good times,” said Chernosky. “We lost a motor 10 nights into the season. Midway through the season, we lost a rear end.”
Chernosky credits his SSR Race Cars’ Jake Hartung and William Moelter for much of his success.
“SSR has a hell of a baseline,” Chernosky said. “We bought our first modified — a used SSR — and brought it to them. In the beginning of the season, they scaled it and gave us a binder with everything about the car.
“When the pinion gear went in the rear end, we brought the car there and they immediately swapped it out with a new rear end, keeping us on schedule.”
Down to the Wire
His biggest win came at Madison Speedway in late September.
“It was the best night of the year,” said Chernosky. “We won, making it impossible for Buzzy to beat me.”
Four-time WISSOTA national modified champion Kevin “Buzzy” Adams finished 23 points behind Cole Chernosky. The 2013 WISSOTA national modified champion, Mike Stearns, finished 26 points behind.
“Whether it was Mike or Buzzy, it was great to know they were in contention with me and it could of been any of the three of us winning in the fall,” Chernosky said. “Near the end of the season, when I took the lead in points, people were congratulating me, spraying champagne and stuff, before I officially won the championship. I told them let’s wait until the season is over — there’s nothing to celebrate just yet. Anything could still happen, it’s Buzzy we were up against and he is one of the best modified drivers ever.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
