ALTOONA, WI -  Opportunities for competitors in the WISSOTA Late Model division that live in and around northwest Wisconsin have dwindled in recent years, which has presented the racers with a choice: make the most of what’s available in terms of events or hit the road.

Jake Redetzke and the #27 race team chose to do the latter in 2011 and went on to enjoy a dream season that included winning the championship of the Dart Challenge Series for WISSOTA Late Models.

When the planned 16-event Dart Challenge Series schedule was completed during the Labor Day Shootout at Hibbing (MN) Raceway, the 23-year-old Redetzke finished atop the heap with 761 points, 32 better than close friend Adam Hensel of Barron, WI. Former Dart and WISSOTA national champion John Kaanta of Elk Mound, WI, was 10 points behind former national champ Hensel with 719 total, while Eric Breeschoten (668) of Buffalo, MN was fourth and two-time defending series champion Lance Matthees (653) of Winona, MN rounded out the top five.

Redetzke’s list of accomplishments doesn’t end there: he won a WISSOTA-best (in 2011) payout of $10,000 for winning Hibbing Raceway’s Governor’s Cup in
July; he placed second to Matthees during the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100; he won his first Red Clay Classic feature (worth $4,000) at ABC Raceway during the second-to-last weekend of the season, and he finished seventh in the final national points standings.

And one can’t forget the $4,000 Redetzke pocketed on June 23 at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, ND for winning the main event - during which NASCAR champion Tony Stewart failed to complete a lap before hitting the outside wall and being scored a DNF.

The aforementioned wins and top finishes combined with three Dart Challenge Series wins (worth $8,000 total) and the $6,500 check for the Series championship give Redetzke thousands and thousands of reasons to remember the 2011 campaign for a long time.

For those that haven’t heard the phrase “everything else was gravy,” it’s very applicable when it comes to what Redetzke set out to accomplish in 2011.

“The biggest goal our team had was to win the Dart Challenge Series,” said the second son of 1985 WISSOTA Late Model national champion Jerry Redetzke. “I have never won a points championship let alone in the Late Model division. And to win more races than the pervious year.”

Redetzke started out in racing by splitting time in a Pure Stock with his older brother, Jesse, at their area tracks.

“When I was 15 I asked my dad to get a car for my brother and I to share because I wanted to race and see what it was like,” Jake said. “After driving once I fell in love with it!”

Jake won the point championship at Red Cedar Speedway his second year in the class, then spent the next year in a WISSOTA Super Stock. He made the jump to WISSOTA Late Models in 2006 - earned national Rookie of the Year honors - and has been working his way up the ladder of success ever since.

Hensel started out the Dart Challenge Series with a feature win at Dakota State Fair (SD) Speedway on June 4. Redetzke finished seventh in the main event, but came back with a runner-up finish the next night at Casino (SD) Speedway behind Marshall Fegers to remain close to Hensel early on in the point standings.

The tour made a three-night swing through western North Dakota June 10-12, during which Jeff Wildung won at Dacotah Speedway in Mandan and former national champion Zach Johnson won at Southwest Speedway in Dickinson. Redetzke finished second and third, respectively, and returned home that weekend with the point lead after the event at Nodak Speedway was cancelled due to flooding in the area.

Redetzke won the Dart Series event at Mississippi Thunder (WI) Speedway on July 1, placed seventh at Deer Creek (MN) Speedway the next night and second
to Hensel at Eagle Valley (WI) Speedway on Sunday, July 3 and emerged from another multi-stop stretch in the series with a modest point lead.

He never trailed again the rest of the way, and registered wins at Casino Speedway on July 14 and Brown County (SD) Speedway on August 17.

Hensel tied Redetzke for the most wins during the series with three, while Jimmy Mars, Brian Diede, Justin Fegers, Brady Smith, Jeff Provinzino and Tom Waseleski, Jr. each registered a feature win.

Redetzke’s average finish in the 15 events was 4.1. In all during the season, he ran 48 total shows (44 in WISSOTA) and notched nine feature wins. He also registered 29 top-fives in his MB Custom Late Model powered by Wegner Motors and 43 top-10s.

In addition to the Dart Challenge Series venues already mentioned, Redetzke and his crew - Mark “Muck” Mathews and Jerrod “JRG” Smith - raced at Rice Lake Speedway, Shawano Speedway, AMSOIL Speedway in Superior, WI; Red Cedar Speedway, Proctor (MN) Speedway, Viking Speedway in Alexandria, MN; Grand Rapids (MN) Speedway, Fiesta City Speedway in Montevideo, MN; I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN; and Cedar Lake Speedway.

As for 2012, Redetzke said he plans to begin the season racing in Arizona and “then everything is still up in the air.”