Three Grand Marais residents headed to the Brainerd International Raceway over Labor Day weekend for the Muscle Car Shoot Out. (L-R) Jessie Backstrom in a 1988 GT Mustang, Bev Wolke in a 1974 Barracuda and Rick Backstrom in a Dodge Super B.
Three Grand Marais residents headed to the Brainerd International Raceway on Labor Day weekend for the 24th Annual Muscle Car Shoot Out. Hitting the quarter-mile straight track were Jessie Backstrom in a 1988 GT Mustang with a 347 stroke engine; Bev Wolke in a 1974 Barracuda with a 360 engine under the hood, and Rick Backstrom driving a Dodge Super B with a 499 stroker engine.
The Grand Marais racers competed in different classes. Jesse Backstrom raced in the ICE class. Unfortunately it wasn’t Jessie’s day, and he placed out of the trophies. In seven years at Brainerd Jessie has placed second four times and third once in a variety of classes.
Rick Backstrom raced in the SE/2 class, and also had an off day. The first couple of runs didn’t go well, and then Rick noticed his throttle cable wasn’t hooked up properly. “Once he fixed that, his last run was great. His tires even came off the ground when he took off down the track,” said Bev Wolke, a cousin of the brothers.
Rick has also placed well in the past at Brainerd, said Wolke.
In her first race ever, Wolke, racing her late brother Dan Schlienz’s classic Barracuda, participated in the Muscle Car Shoot Out in the SE/3 class. Her friends and fans at the track dubbed Wolke the “one-wheel wonder,” as the posi-traction on the Barracuda was not working properly. Her response time was great, but the wheels on her car spun for a few seconds, slowing her speed in the quarter mile.
Despite that, Wolke finished well. From a starting line-up of 40 races, she hung in the race until the field had been narrowed to seven.
When asked if she and her cousins would race next year, Wolke gave an enthusiastic, “Yes. It was a blast. For my first time I thought I did pretty well, especially with my car not working quite right. And both Rick and Jessie have had a lot of success at Brainerd, so they were a little bit disappointed. Still, it was a lot of fun and we will all go back next summer and race again,” said Wolke.
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