Aberle wins IMCA Stock Car special, Hoffman goes back-to-back in WOO Lates at Norman County

Norman County Raceway dodged the thunderstorms that went through the region to get its highly anticipated World of Outlaws Late Model show in. NCR had put a ton of time and promotion into this event and was going to do everything it could to get the show in.

I’ll be honest, the radar and forecast looked like crap for getting the show in, but the folks with NCR and WOO deserve a ton of credit for their efforts to get the full racing program in. It was a good night for NCR.

I want to add an editorial comment: This is a BIG thing for Norman County Raceway and for Ada to have the World of Outlaw Late Models there two years in a row. Very few small-town tracks get an opportunity to bring in a national touring series.

Growing up going to small-town fairgrounds tracks Madison, Redwood Falls and Montevideo, we didn’t get WOO caliber shows at those kinds of tracks. Once a year the Busch Tour would go to Viking, 95 miles away, and that was a big race; the UMP Gopher 50 was about three hours away in Owatonna, and the USA Nationals were 4 hours away at Cedar Lake. So for a small-town track to attract a World of Outlaws event, is huge for local racing, for the city of Ada and local race fans in general.

NCR added some new bleachers to the north of its historic wood grandstand which is a good addition. It is uncovered but has some bar-type seating on the top for fans. It’s a nice addition for NCR.

NCR is described as a “paper clip” track by some with longer straightaways, and it’s not easy to pass. Add to that a hammer-down track because of the moisture, and you had to be on your game

Starting out the features was the IMCA Stock Cars, which I think is IMCA’s best class for one simple reason: the competition is even. There are so many cars that could win, and they race hard side-by-side at most tracks and always put on a show. The gap between the first and 10th place car isn’t much.

Dan Aberle of Finley and Aaron Olson of Mekinock paced the IMCA Stock Cars to the green with Aberle grabbing the lead up front. Olson was second with Rob VanMil of Barnesville moving into third. Jonny Carter of Fairmount was running in the top five.

The first caution waved when Randy Klein of Buffalo spun entering turn four, fortunately no other cars were collected.

Aberle had some pressure from Olson underneath as Carter and Nick Thoreson battled for fourth behind VanMil. Andrew Jochim of Glyndon and Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead were lurking outside the top five.

Olson stayed within striking distance of Aberle the whole race.

Jonny Carter would pull pitside at about the halfway point with a problem.  Carter has not raced a ton this summer, but did run the big special at Mississippi Thunder in late May.

Aberle stayed up higher with Olson sticking lower in one and two, and that is where he would make up some serious ground.  Another contender, Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada, would also pull pitside with an issue.

Olson would get really close out of turn two, but Aberle was better in three and four on the cushion. VanMil lurked behind the top two for much of the race, looking for an opportunity to pounce.

Jochim had passed Thoreson for fourth. With three to go Olson made a big run on the inside of Aberle and the two went side-by-side for the top spot.  Aberle held off that challenge.

VanMil made one late run, getting by Olson for second and throwing one last shot at Aberle up front in turns three and four but would come up short as Aberle held on for a thrilling win worth $800. VanMil settled for second as Olson took third.  Jochim, who started 10th, finished a solid fourth to be the hard charger with Thoreson having a good night in fifth. Carlsrud ran close to the top five all night and was sixth.

Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., was the defending WOO race winner at NCR, and won Friday at River Cities and kept the momentum going on Saturday.

Cody Overton of Thomson, Ga., made a move into second on the initial lap but slid back. Tyler Bruening of Decorah, Iowa, moved into second as Hoffman pulled out to a one-second lead.

Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., winner of the last-chance race, climbed from 17th to ninth in a span of a few laps.

Bruening was slowly eating to the lead ss lapped traffic became a factor and was within .4 seconds. Pennsylvanian Drake Troutman was third, and making a charge was Ethan Dotson if Bakersfield, Calif.. He started xxth but was challenging Troutman for third.

Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., had a near miss after contact and lost some valuable ground but made a tremendous save to stay in the top six.

Hoffman, meanwhile was pulling away from Bruening, building the lead to 2.9 seconds with 26 to go. Dotson had moved to third and Dennis Erb Jr. was in fourth.  Pierce recovered from his near-miss to get back to fourth past Erb.

Ethan Dotson was putting on a heck of a show and got together coming down the backstretch, and Dotson would move into the second spot with 21 to go.

Hoffman’s lead stood at 3.0 seconds with 16 to go as he was not slowed in the least by lapped traffic.

The first caution of the race waved with 13 to go as Ashton Winger slowed. Winger was third at River Cities but wasn’t a contender on Saturday.

On the restart Erb went to the bottom and moved into third and went side-by-side with Dotson for third as Bruening slid back.  Dotson had second as Pierce was all over Erb for third.

Jake Timm of Winona was having a good night and challenging Overton for fifth, and Ryan Gustin was doing the same

There were no cautions for the first 37 laps but there were plenty over the final 13.

Bruening’s good run was halted by a flat right rear and he would call it a night.

The final restart saw Hoffman stretch his lead to more than a second to pick up his second straight WOO win and ninth overall. Dotson was second, Erb third, Cody Overton fourth and Timm edging Gustin for fifth.

Brent Larson of Lake Elmo, Minn, was the hard charger, going from 18th to ninth.

Ussatis wins Cliff Reeves Memorial at Devils Lake

Kasey Ussatis of Nome won the Cliff Reeves Memorial Wissota Street Stock special Saturday night at Devils Lake Speedway.  Ussatis started sixth in the 14-car field.

Cole Greseth of Harwood was second, Cory Dykhoff of Perham was third, Greg Jose of Grand Forks was fourth and Dustin Ebensteiner of Devils Lake was fifth.

Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes topped Dustin Hagen of Lincoln, N.D., for the INEX Legends win. Ryan Erdahl of Jamestown was third, Rylan Vetter of Wishek fourth and Brandon Bunnis of Detroit Lakes was fifth.

Myles Tomlinson of Turtle Lake won the Western Renegade sprint feature over Parker Vilandre of Devils Lake.. Steve Nordrum of Devils Lake was third.

Joe Armstrong of Crary topped Tate Bullis of Lakota for the Pure Stock win.

Imrie, Vargason lead Greenbush winners

Ward Imrie of Headingley, Man., won the Wissota Modified feature at Greenbush Race Park on Saturday. Shawn Teunis of Stony Mountain was second, Josh Beaulieu of Bemidji was third and Joe Thomas of Glyndon was fourth.

Cylen Vargason of Edinburg won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature over Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls. Bailey Cousins of Stanley, Man., was third, Taylor Jacobson of Roseau fourth and Justin Olson of Thief River Falls was fifth.

Dustin Puffe of Laporte topped Dusty Caspers of Bagley for the Wissota Pure Stock win. Kiefer Kainz of Goodridge was third.

Emmitt Isane of Badger topped Dexter Dvergsten of Greenbush was second. Kate Taves of Detroit Lakes was third, Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes was fourth.

Saturday notes

Viking Speedway in Alexandria and Madison Speedway were among the tracks to cancel. Ogilvie and North Central also cancelled. Jamestown Speedway had a scheduled night off.