The Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour presented by Shocker Hitch wrapped up its 2023 season on Sunday at Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, Minn. A total of 23 Wissota Street Stocks were on hand at the track.
More than 180 drivers raced the DRC Street Stock tour this summer, and the nightly average, according to tour director Benji Froemke, was a very solid 30 cars for the 21 shows. One added incentive was a $500 attendance bonus for drivers who race at least 10 shows. Froemke also said the tour will pay out its largest point fund as well.
Justin Vogel of Brooten had clinched his second straight tour title prior to Sunday’s race, but there was a fight for second between Ty Agen of Chippewa Falls and Kyle Anderson of Jamestown. Anderson was a DNF and Agen would finish second, more on that later.
But beyond the racing is the rapport between the drivers on the tour. Sure, there are incidents and dustups that happen, but for the most part, they seem to get along well. These are drivers who get along well and have fun and hang out after the races, and that to me is the best part of racing. And there is a lot of cooperation between the drivers when it comes to borrowing parts or working to get another car on the track.
The youngest driver in the field, 13-year-old Levi Randt of Siren, Wis. – who rolled his machine at Ogilvie on Saturday -- led the Wissota Street Stock feature early but a multi-car pileup occurred on lap two that involved at least five cars, including the now two-time tour champion Justin Vogel, Kolton Brauer, Ty Agen and Pogones. Pogones took the blame for the caution, a cool move, as it was initially charged to Agen.
This was a very slick racetrack and tested the patience of many.
Former tour and national champion Parker Anderson of Phillips, Wis.,, driving Scott Bintz’s 1S machine, was battling Charlie Shiek of Foley for second. The caution would wave with 21 to go with Kolby Kiehl spinning in turn two. Anderson went to the high side on the restart and took over the lead, but shortly after the caution waved – again – when a dreaded tractor tire was struck in turn four.
The fourth caution waved when Sam Fankhauser’s 11 was spun in turns one and two. Andrew Hanson of Iron River, Wis., was charged with the caution. On the restart with 20 to go Anderson opened up some breathing room on Randt. Shiek and Vogel were trying valiantly to make the higher lane work but not making much headway.
Agen was staying close to Randt while Fankhauser was running fourth.
Jim Gullickson of Nowthen and Eric Riley of Morris both moved into the top six. Riley was running towards the middle and making it work. Jonny Carter of Lisbon moved up into seventh.
Anderson had a commanding 3.8 second lead but that was erased when Lucas Boyce spun in turns one and two with nine to go. Anderson reestablished a good lead on the restart as Agen kept chase on Randt.
The best battle was about a multi-car group for the fourth and fifth spots, which included Gullickson, Vogel, Riley, Carter and Fankhauser. Of course, just as that heated up, the caution waved with three to go when Shiek, who had run in the top three early in the race, spun in turn two.
Agen took over second on the restart and was glued to Anderson’s bumper as the white flag waved. He raced the 1s clean and Anderson, 20, would go on to the win, becoming the 12th different winner in 21 races this season. Agen, 17, settled for second ahead of Randt. The average age of the top three drivers, by the way, was just under 17 years old.
Fankhauser would finish fourth, Vogel fifth and Gullikson sixth. Carter would finish seventh after starting 14th. Trey Hess of Grand Forks, who started 22nd, finished 11th to earn Hard Charger honors. The big race for the Wissota Street Stocks is Tu
Corey Mehrwerth of St. Stephen was the early leader in the Wissota Midwest Modified feature. His older sister Ashley Mehrwerth moved into third and set her sights on second-place Derek Stanoch.
The caution would wave with 16 to go as Taven Woodie spun the #873 in turn four.
I was keeping an eye, on traffic, was Zach Benson of Princeton, who is the national point leader. Entering the night he had 15 wins, and 27 top fives in 37 starts in what is an outstanding season.
Stanoch got out of shape and lost several spots.
Jake Hagemann of Little Falls moved into second and was running low while Corey Mehrwerth was up top as the top fought hard for the top spot. Benson, who started eighth, had moved into third past Ashley Mehrwerth and was closing on the top two. Benson would take over second with nine to go as Corey Mehrwerth slid up in turn four and lost some ground.
Ashley Mehrwerth passed her brother for third, but the fight was up front. Hagemann stuck the #33 to the bottom with Benson moving up higher and higher. The lead was .231 seconds at the white flag. Hagemann held on for a well-earned win by .231 seconds over Benson. Ashley Mehrwerth ran well all race long and finished third.
One driver who made a lot of progress through the field was Landyn Randt of Siren, Wis. He started 13th but worked up to four by the checkered to cap off a real nice race. Corey Mehrwerth rounded out the top five.
Hagemann has raced both IMCA Sport Mods and Wissota Midwest Modifieds this summer. He has six wins in the sport mods but by my calculation this was his first in a Midwest modified.
Eric Martini of Avon took the lead in the Wissota Super Stock feature. The bigger picture in the super stocks, however, was the top four drivers in Wissota national points – Dexton Koch of Becker, Shane Sabraski of Rice, Jordan Henkemeyer of Sauk Rapids and Dylan Nelson of Merrifield – were in attendance.
Unlike the street stocks, who were bottom heavy, the top line was the place to be.
Koch hit the wall in turns one and two and lost second asw Nelson took over second. Dennis Czech was battling Sabraski for fourth.
Sabraski, like he usually does, was working towards the front. He moved past Koch for third and was working on Nelson for second. Martini had built a 2.6 lead on Nelson, who was overtaken by Sabraski with four to go.
Nelson would kiss the wall in turns one and two as well as the margin for error on that line was razor thin.
Things went three wide between Martini, Sabraski and Koch on the restart. Sabraski made a furious charge on the final lap and had a big run but came up inches short as Martini prevailed by .036 seconds. Sabraski, who won Saturday at ABC Raceway in Ashland and Thursday at Grand Rapids, settled for second with Koch taking third. Czech and Nelson rounded out the top five.
Presley Patrin of Milaca and Blake Hawker of Rice fought for the lead in the Wissota Hornet feature. Joseph Wilber of Foreston was on the move and closing fast on the top two.
Ellie Lange of Staples, who was sent to the back at an early caution, stuck the #40 machine to the high side and was moving towards the front. She moved into third. As Wilber took over the lead from Patrin, Justin Schelitzche of Chaska was making a big-time charge to the front and moved past both Lange and Patrin into second.
Jenna Hagemann of Fort Ripley had worked up to fourth as Schelitzche was working hard to find a way past Wilber. Wilbert, however would hold on for the win with Scheltizche taking second, Lange third and Hagemann fourth. Schletizche is fifth in the Wissota national points while Lange is seventh.
Casino Speedway Wins to Broksieck, Johnson, Ames, VanDerostyne and Becker
Maria Broksieck of Goodwin, who is seventh in the Wissota Street Stock national points, won that division’s feature at Casino Speedway in Watertown on Sunday over Jason Marko of Watertown. Wade Tirrel of White was third, Cory Giessinger of Watertown was fourth and Andy Rossow of Florence was fifth.
Luke Johnson of Miller topped Lane Johnson of Miller for the Wissota Midwest Modified win. Mike Nichols of Watertown was third, Cory Berquist of Huron was fourth and Tommy Nichols of Watertown was fifth.
Charlie Olsen of Hendricks won the Gen X Late Model main event over Scott Harrington of Waubay. Tony Croninger of Watertown was third, Trevor Walsh of Watertown fourth and Curt Kranz of Watertown was fifth.
Dale Ames of Huron topped Joseph Thomas of Glyndon for the Wissota Modified win. Mike Stearns of Aberdeen was third, Nate Heinrich of Bellingham was fourth and Tyler Peterson of Hickson was fifth.
Adam VanDerostyne of Canby topped Brayden Begalka of Elkton for the Wissota Hornet win. Bradley Rossow of Florence was third.
Chad Becker of Aberdeen topped Curt Kranz of Watertown for the Wissota Late Model feature win to cap off the evening. Tyler Peterson of Hickson was third, Chuck Swenson of Watertown was fourth and Jayson Good of Watertown was fifth.
Jacobson, Odden, Pederson Highlight Buffalo River Winners
Andrea Jacobson of Fargo entered the 2023 season without a feature win in her career. This season she now has three after picking up another win in the IMCA Hobby Stock class Sunday at Buffalo River Speedway near Glyndon.
Brad Orvedal of Fargo settled for second with Caleb Gardner of Glyndon third and Todd Gettel of Mahnomen fourth. Tyler Hehn of Horace was fifth.
Jeff Odden of Relies Acres picked up his first career feature win by capturing the IMCA Modified main event. Jamie Schulz of Harwood was second, Nick Curtis of Rothsay was third, Jesse Skalicky of Fargo was fourth and Jeff Nelson of Perham was fifth.
Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton won the INEX Legends feature over Shawn Wiest of Fargo. Joshua Wiest of Jamestown was third, Zander Compson of Valley City fourth and Scott Richardson of Pelican Rapids fifth.
Kelsi Pederson of East Grand Forks picked up her fourth POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint feature over Kate Taves of Detroit Lakes. Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes was third, Dexter Dvergsten of Greenbush fourth and Hayden Koehmstedt of West Fargo was fifth.
Chris VanMil of Barnesville topped Patrick Brejcha of Wahpeton for the IMCA Sport Mod feature. Rich Pavlicek of Casselton was third, Vince Jegtvig of Dilworth fourth and David Siercks of Princeton was fifth.
Hunter Goulet of Fargo edged Weston Clauson of Kathryn by inches for the Short Tracker win. Chandler Dick of Lisbon was third, Braiden Mund of Lisbon was fourth and Travis Roush of New York Mills was fifth.
Cole Greseth of Harwood won the Wissota Street Stock feature for his first feature victory of the season. Greg Jose of Grand Forks was second, Tyler Klugman of Wheaton, Kasey Ussatis of Nome was fourth and Nick Shumansky of Perham was fifth.
Johnson, Honer, Matthews Among Bemidji Speedway Victors
Adam Johnson of Hill City topped Lance Schilling of Laporte for the Wissota Modified feature win Sunday night at Bemidji Speedway. Tanner Williamson of Fort Frances, Ont., was third, Jeff Reed of Bemidji was fourth and Devin Fouquette of St. Cloud was fifth.
Kalin Honer of Laporte won the Mini Stock feature over Cory Nelson of Leonard. Conrad Schwinn of Little Falls was third, Peyton Emerson of Grand Rapids was fourth and Justin Honer of Laporte was fifth.
Josh Berg of Bemidji won the Wissota Pure Stock feature over Austin Carlson of Cohasset. Joshua Bitker of Bemidji was third, Cameron Labelle of Laporte was fourth and Kade Leeper of Guthrie was fifth.
National point leader Carter Matthews of Clearbrook won the Wissota Hornet feature over Chad Reller of Waskish. Cejay LaValley of Bemidji was third, Brooklyn Vernlund of Bemidji was fourth and Jordan Thayer of Bemidji was fifth.
Brandon Bahr of Tenstrike topped Brennan Schmidt of Bemidji for the Wissota Midwest Modified main event win. Devyn Weleski of Blackduck was third, Logan Bauer of Erskine was fourth and Cory Peterson of Red Lake was fifth.
Blake Erickson of Bagley made a final-lap pass of Conrad Schwinn for a thrilling Wissota Mod 4 feature win. Dustin Holtquist of St. Cloud was third, Nick Seitz of Bemidji was fourth and Tommy Bawden of Clear Lake was fifth.
Nic Lewis of Bemidji won his first Wissota Super Stock main event over Matt Sparby of Bemidji. Brandon Bahr of Tenstrike was third, Doug Koski of Chisholm was fourth.
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