Todd Rose | Daily Press Tyler Winling (51), Neil Aaberg (4), Jason Piron (181) and Eric Mathieson (27) battle in the early laps of the Street Stock feature Saturday night at the Upper Peninsula International Raceway in Escanaba.

ESCANABA — The Upper Peninsula International Raceway closed out its 2021 points season Saturday with the crowning of eight division champions in Escanaba.

In addition to championship night, the features for each class were all make-ups from the Christian Groleau Memorial that was cut short by rain last month.

After last week’s dry and dusty conditions, the track crew rebounded. It was fast and smooth all night with several drivers commenting about how good the conditions were after the races.

Two of the track champions feature a unique bond aside from both being drivers. They’re father and son.

Riverside Auto Group Youth Micro Sprint champion Karl Warm and 600 Micro Sprint Champion Kevin Warm — both of Escanaba — each took home a track title, with Kevin also winning the night’s feature race.

“For Karl and I to win a championship in the same year is a huge accomplishment not just for us, but for the whole family,” Kevin Warm said. “We dove into this adventure together five years ago and got the whole family involved at the track. Every year we have both made progress with improving results.

“It’s definitely an extra level of work at the track and behind the scenes to make everything happen with multiple cars. It could not happen without the help of both his grandpas and of course Krista Warm.”

For Karl, the season was, in many ways, the complete opposite of last year. While he visited victory lane six times, mechanical issues kept him out of the title hunt.

This year, he only grabbed one feature win but kept his nose clean and stayed out of trouble on a weekly basis to earn as many points as he could on his way to the championship.

The 600 title, Kevin commented, came as a bit of a surprise.

“I was a little surprised to be in the championship hunt at the end of the season,” he said. “At the start of the year, I wasn’t sure I’d even make it to all the races. I was just hoping to improve off last year’s two-win season.”

When it came down to crunch time, the reality of the Warm’s situation set in.

“The last couple weeks started to get stressful when I realized that it was possible for both of us to win championships,” Kevin said.

Battling in the points and on the track all season with Kevin was Logan Getzloff (Wilson), who Kevin gave high praise.

“(Logan) has developed into a great driver, competitor and young adult,” he said. “He has been great to race against over the last few years, and I look forward to future on-track battles.”

Another driver to take the feature and title in the same night was Bink’s Coca-Cola Sport Modified champion Matt Valiquette (Rapid River) who — as was the case most of the year — dueled for the win with Jamie Iverson (Escanaba).

Valiquette gave kudos to his team — Bullet Racing.

“I’ve won a lot of races. I’ve won multiple championships, but this one here was all about that team,” Valiquette said. “These guys busted their butts all year to make sure I had a perfect hot rod with the best parts and perfect maintenance. Brian (Bowden), Bob (Bourdeau) and my cousin Jeff, they slaved away. That win was for them.”

As he has in the past, Valiquette commended the performance and respect Iverson — who finished second in the points — showed on the track.

“(Jamie) is an amazing driver,” he said. “He races hard, he’s respectful and I always enjoy racing with him and I have since he got into the class.”

The title win for Valiquette — who is a major proponent of commemorating racing history — was extra special because of the legacy shared between the Valiquette and Iverson families.

“Forty-four years ago my dad (Jake Valiquette) won this track championship, his only one, in a modified, and he was out there racing with Bob and Herb (Iverson),” he said. “For us to be out there as second-generation drivers together and still be putting on a show for the fans is awesome. I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel, and I think Jamie feels the same way. He’s first-class and a true-class competitor, and he is tough to beat. He is tough to beat.”

For 2021 Sportsman Micro Sprint champion Brennan Swanson (Menominee) a multi-year and multi-division hunt for the title finally paid off Saturday night.

The last three years, Swanson has lost out on titles by three points twice and six points once.

“It feels really good,” said Swanson. “It feels awesome. I feel really good.”

Despite having the points lead, Swanson was focused on winning the night’s races. This was evident when he went three-wide on the outside into turn one during his heat race.

“I wanted to go for the win because it was the Christian (Groleau) race, and I wanted to win that because me and Christian were good friends,” he said. “But, I was also going for the points too. I was going for both.

“I just want to say thank you to my dad (Matt Swanson) for spending his money and time on the car so I could go out and win the championship.”

Track champions also crowned Saturday night were: Charles Peterson (Vintage Modified, Rapid River), Scott Degnan (Super Vintage Modified, Escanaba), Tyler Winling (Street Stock, Escanaba) and Tom Waselesky (Island Resort Sport Compacts, Harvey).

In addition to the points battles, fans were treated to a great night of racing in every division with the highlight being the Street Stock feature.

After several weeks of multiple cautions and ending under the yellow, the Street Stock division put on a clean race with Eric Mathieson (Escanaba) forcing his way past Tyler Winling on the final lap to take home the win. Neil Aaberg (Escanaba) finished in third.

In the Bink’s Coca-Cola Sport Modified feature, Valiquette and Iverson battled through lapped traffic in a race that, after a lap one yellow, ran green flag for its entirety. Bonduel, Wisconsin driver Sean Falk finished in third.

Top three finishers for remaining divisions were: Riverside Auto Group Youth Micros Sprints — Griffin Iverson (Escanaba), Karl Warm (Escanaba), Brody Steinhauer (Escanaba); Sportsman Micro Sprints — Drake Degnan (Escanaba), Brett Labre (Escanaba), Jeffrey Latsch (Escanaba); 600 Micro Sprints — Kevin Warm (Escanaba), Matt Peterson (Escanaba), Kyle Getchell (Escanaba); Vintage Modifieds — Charles Peterson (Rapid River), Kevin Lustila (Germfask), Allan Yelle (Sands); Super Vintage Modifieds — Scott Degnan (Escanaba), Jesse Denome (Escanaba), Drake Degnan (Escanaba); Island Resort Sport Compacts — Dean Bellmore (Hermansville), Trever Cronick (Faithorn), Zach Gazda (Vulcan).

While the track championships are decided, the racing isn’t over yet at the Upper Peninsula International Raceway. September 17 and 18, UPIR hosts a two-day show for the Annual Yooper Fall Classic. With increased payout for all of the divisions on hand, the action should be intense.