History

 In the mid 1970’s his son Steve and Steve’s stepfather,

Dave Runnion, restored the Fenske racing tradition. They, like Buddy, raced in the sportsman class

 at the Northstar speedway.

 Steve raced a 1956 big block Chevrolet.

In 1978, when his son Rob was born, Steve

 decided to stop racing to raise his family.

Fenske Motorsport is in its third generation of racing,

 which started in the late 1950’s with Buddy Fenske.

 Buddy raced mostly coupes in the sportsman class

 around the upper Midwest. Tragically, Buddy lost his life in a car

accident at early age.

 Over the next thirteen years Steve and Dave

spent time taking Rob to races, playing on

ATVs, and driving go-carts.

When Rob was 14 they built two ice racing cars to compete in Rogers, MN.

 There were about 20 other cars that raced on a weekly

 basis during the winter months. Steve and Rob raced very

well. After a couple of years, Steve decided

that it was time to get back to the dirt track.

Highlights

• 1995 - Raced at Golden Spike Speedway on Sunday nights. Rob finished 5th in points and received the Rookie of the Year award.

• 1996 - Built a brand new Street Stock. Raced at Golden Spike Speedway (GSS) and occasionally at Princeton Speedway. Finished 4th in point at GSS.

• 1997 - Competed at multiple tracks. Rob won his first three feature races of his career. Rob also won many heat races.

• 1998 - Moved into the Modified class. Raced at Princeton and Grove Creek speedways. Rob finished 5th in points and received the modified Rookie of the Year award at both race tracks.

• 1999 & 2000 - Raced at various race tracks around the upper Midwest. Competed against the top racers in the area, winning many heat races.

• 2001 - Upgraded to a new Fegers racing chassis and continued racing around the upper Midwest.

• 2002 to 2005 - Continued to race around the upper Midwest. Rob became more and more competitive while racing among the best racers in the area. During this time, Rob also raced a street stock for his uncle. Rob won 9 feature races, 16 heat races, and finished 2nd at the Street Stock Little Dream race in Madison, MN.

• 2006 – Purchased a J-Car racing chassis. To help create a more powerful engine, Fenske Motorsports welcomed aboard a new racing engine sponsor: PDA Motorworks. With a more powerful engine, Rob picked up his first three features wins in the modified class, won seven heat races, and qualified for the Legendary 100 race at Cedar Lake Speedway. The Legendary 100 is a prestigious race where the best 90 modifieds compete each year. Rob finished in 8th place.

• 2007 - Decided to run for the track championship at Princeton Speedway. We finished 2nd, losing by only 4 points on the last night of racing due to a faulty toggle switch. Rob won 4 more features as well as many more heat races. The highlight of our career was winning the Mighty Axe Nationals in Brainerd, MN. This is a prestigious race in the upper Midwest, where over 80 modifieds come to compete.

• 2008 - Traveled around the upper Midwest to race at different race tracks. Rob continued to race at Princeton Speedway on Friday nights. While we had some bad luck in the early part of the season, we came on strong at the end. Rob finished in the top-five 6 times at the end the season.

Fenske Motorsports is planning for a successful upcoming season. We have completely rebuilt the entire front and rear suspension components. A new shock package, which will improve the handling on the different racing surfaces, has been purchased. A new body has been installed and will soon be wrapped with a new graphic wrap. The wrap is a full body graphic for the whole car and looks very professional. This year Dave and Marilyn Runnion (grandpa and grandma), have supplied us with a brand new engine. Now our team will have two very strong engines.

Our goal for this season is to win several feature races and one or more track championships. We will be competing around the area at various racing invitationals. The tracks that we will be visiting this year include: Princeton, Ogilvie, Brainerd, Willmar, Cedar Lake, Alexandria, and possibly more at the end of the year.

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