DULUTH — As veteran dirt-track racer Donnie Lofdahl made his way around the track in the Modified feature July 17 at Halvor Lines Speedway in Proctor, Jack Rivord pressured him for the lead for much of the race before Darrell Nelson came on late.

Lofdahl’s wife, LeAnn, watched from the pits with their three-year-old son Revin as the tension built.

“I was happy for him,” LeAnn said. “I was trying to be calm and not be overly dramatic. Anything can happen in 20 laps, but with three laps to go I knew he had it in the books, so I