KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WFRV) - Saturday, September 14 was a routine afternoon for Randy Klitzke. The 65-year-old race car driver from Black Creek brought his drag car to Wisconsin International Raceway as the season was winding down, with just a few weeks to go. "He’s been racing for what, 45 years. So he’s been there, he knew what he was doing. He knew what could happen," his longtime partner of 17 years, Leslie Calkins, said. “I never missed a race when he was racing except Saturday.” Wisconsin State Patrol conducts 800+ traffic stops on significant highway over summer months Calkins was in Seattle for a family reunion and had an odd feeling that something just was not right. The night before, she thought a dream in which she got the sense that she and her daughter Maria would be separated from Klitzke was a bad omen. For that reason, the two were nervous about their flight, but they landed safe and sound in Seattle. Shortly after, their world was turned upside down. “I got a phone call from one of the guys at the track right after it happened. And he told me, he says, ‘Leslie, I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but he’s gone.’ And I was like, ‘what?’” According to witnesses, Klitzke crashed near the finish line on the quarter-mile drag strip, hitting the wall. “He let off the button, car was straight, and then I just seen him veer off," WIR safety crew member Tyler Veldman said. “And he hit the wall, and I was like, ‘yep, car in the wall.’ And then I turned around and kept everyone else from running out onto the track. And that's the last I saw, and everyone else said they just saw a cloud of white smoke, and from there, it was lost until smoke settled.” The Combined Locks Fire Department reported that the driver was ejected. "A vehicle using the drag strip had struck a concrete bridge rail, and the driver was ejected from the vehicle into a ditch near the track," the statement said. Veldman says that safety is the track's number one priority. Klitzke passed a technical inspection conducted by track officials and had all the proper safety devices. “Safety’s the number one priority. I race too and I say ‘you can’t put a price on safety," Veldman said. “Drag cars, they have to have a five-point harness. If it passes tech, you have to have your helmet up to date, your HANS, and your neck brace. The [roll] cage has to meet specific requirements by the IHRA. They all got to have roll cages in them, so that’s the loop going over the main part of the car, and then the seat has to be attached to the cage itself.” While Klitzke and Calkins did not talk often about the dangers of racing, it was always in the back of her mind. "I'd be terrified [watching him race]," she said. “You always know that something could happen. But once he crossed the finish line, I always felt like he was okay.” Klitzke and Calkins' relationship took off like a drag car on the strip. A mutual friend paired them together on a blind date, and it turned out that they first knew each other in childhood. “Oh my God, I know him. Like I’ve known him my whole life, but we hadn’t seen each other since we were kids," Calkins said. “And we weren’t apart since. Within a couple of weeks, I moved in. He had never lived with anyone else. He never really dated a whole lot.” Weeks turned into months, months into years. They were not sure how long they would be together, but once they knew it, 17 years had passed. Recently, Klitzke and Calkins realized they were partners for life when buying a new car. “The guy asks, at this address, are you renting, or are you the owner?' And [Randy] said, 'We own.' And he added, ‘She lives at this address and is never going anywhere,'” Calkins said. “The last couple of years, [our relationship] was even stronger. Because I both think we decided we were going to grow old together.” Klitzke worked as a concrete construction worker for Martell Construction Company. He and his brother, Buster, were inseparable, having previously worked together at Sam Sommers Construction and for their father. “I think he liked going to work as much as he liked going racing," Calkins said. They also shared a passion for drag racing, and it was a joint effort to get the car ready to race each week. "Randy was good at doing more of the bodywork, and Buster really knew how to assemble the engine well," Calkins said. Randy initially did most of the racing, and then he continued to help Buster as he took over driving the car most of the time. The brothers were inseparable but had to hit the brakes on their racing endeavors when Buster was diagnosed with cancer. "One of the last times Buster stopped by the house, it was just me and him and it wasn't looking good. And he says, 'This is really going to hurt Randy, isn't it?' And I said, 'more than either of us could possible know,'" Calkins said. “Randy changed after his brother passed. And I knew it was hard for him to get back out [on the race track].” Randy spent a few seasons away from the track. Calkins and his friends begged him to return to his beloved hobby, but it was too painful for him. "Randy never worked Saturdays. But after Buster passed, then he would work Saturdays and say, 'I've got a side job to do,'" Calkins said. "I think he tried really hard to stay away from racing, because it would make him miss his brother so much. So he and his coworkers would make up these 'side jobs' so he'd have an excuse not to go to the track, I learned." As hard as he tried, by the end of the 2023 season the racing itch won over Randy's mind. The then-64-year-old spent hours working on the car in his shop and eventually made a triumphant return with two weeks to go in the season. “Randy decided to race again after all those years," Calkins said. “Took the car out, and he raced down the track, and I cried the whole time because I was so proud of him because he did it all himself. He won, and I was just so proud of him that night.” Today, Calkins has many photos saved of Randy and his prized, color-streaked drag car. Randy was never one to smile for the camera, and many were discreetly taken, like the one of him on the day of his return to the track. Another depicts him with his dog, napping on the couch, and another of him shielding his dog in his rain jacket during a downpour. Calkins says he never acted for the camera; it was just a class act. “Never had to ask him to help you with anything. It’s like he always knew,” she said. “If anybody needed anything, he was there for you. He was the kind of man that never had to tell you he loved you because he showed you all the time.” Two people in Wisconsin arrested following armed robbery of a grocery store A GoFundMe has been created to help Calkins with expenses and an upcoming move. If it receives enough success, there is also hope for a memorial fund to be created to help at WIR and have an award in Randy's name. A memorial service for Randy will be held on Friday, September 20, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. at the Valley Funeral Home, 2211 N. Richmond Street. A time of visitation will be held on Friday at 1:00 p.m.