Bemidji wins to VanMill, Kiker, Nelson, two Schwinns, Smith, Williamson and Sparby

Tanner Williamson won the Wissota Mod feature (photo by Lisa Rhen)

Bemidji Speedway had 104 cars on hand for Kids Night. Bemidji was one of the few tracks to dodge the rain and get a full show in on Sunday night. I had thought about taking Sunday off with Casino Speedway in Watertown cancelling, but it’s hard for me not to write about racing when there’s a chance. Call it an addiction or whatever.

Bemidji ran eight classes on Sunday – I am not a fan of that at all as a fan or blogger – but the car counts were solid in every class except the Wissota Street Stocks, who do not run every week at the 1/4-mile and only had seven cars.

The Wissota Street Stocks didn’t make it a lap before Billy Binkley spun in turn four but fortunately no one else was collected.  After the restart it didn’t take long for national point leader Kolton Brauer of Eyota to take control up front.

Bagley driver Doug VanMill was running second and Scotty Messner of Bemidji was running third.  VanMill was closing on Brauer and was within a car length or two but couldn’t make a pass. Messner was close behind.

However, Brauer’s hopes to add to his win total ended with a mechanical failure and he would pull into the infield.

It turned into a tense duel between VanMill and Messner up front with Chris Dudley of Bemidji in third. Messner tried valiantly but fell a bit short as VanMill prevailed by half a car. Messner settled for second with Chris Dudley running a solid third. Nick McCann of Brainerd and Binkley rounded out the finishers.

The Wissota Hornets had a wreck at the conclusion of the first lap with Jada Lore of Embarrass and Dylan Black of Bemidji making hard contact.  Lore had the hardest impact and left on the hook but was OK.

Ryker Larson of Grand Rapids was the leader with Russell Kiker Jr. of Brainerd in hot pursuit. William Lange of Staples was running in third.  Larson and Kiker were having a good fight up front.  Chad Reller of Waskish was also moving into the top four after starting ninth.

Larson slid high out of turn four and Kiker took the lead briefly but the caution came out, reversing that pass.  Kessler was charged with the yellow and went to the tail.

Chris Isensee hit the guard rail hard in turn four to bring out a brief red flag; he was OK and drove away but his race was over.  Reller and Kiker were now on Larson’s tail on the restart, and Kiker was all over Larson’s 81R.

Kiker made the move for the lead with four laps to go pulled away to a 1.2 second win over Larson. Reller was third, William Lange made a late move past Jayme Gordon to get fourth.

Dean Eggebraaten of Bemidji was the lap 1 leader of the 19-car Wissota Midwest Modified feature before a multi-car incident in turns one and two brought out a caution.  Unfortunately, the race was plagued by cautions early as the starts were, in a word, messy.

Eggebraaten resumed the lead with Gary James Nelson of Blackduck giving chase.  Hibbing driver Michael Blevins Sr. was in third with Cejay LaValley running fourth and Skyler Smith of Bemidji running fifth.

LaValley spun in turn two to bring out a caution and would go to the tail.

Eggebraaten led but Nelson and Blevins were right there, and Mikey Blevins of Hibbing had climbed to fourth ahead of Smith. The caution waved with seven to go. Eggebraaten summed up front with Nelson worked the low line trying to make a move. The Blevins were running thirdand fourth with Smith in five.

The finish was crazy, as Eggebraaten pushed big time out of turn four, and Nelson capitalized to grab the feature win, his first of 2025. The race was a perfect example of why you race hard to the finish no matter where you are running.

Michael Blevins Sr. also got by Eggebraaten to grab second as Mikey Blevins was fourth and Smith five.  Mikey Blevins went from 15^th to fourth in a very good run.

The times I’ve watched the Midwest modifieds at Bemidji, the race has been shortened because of the time limit, and that would frustrate me as a driver. I understand time limits are necessary, but some of the driving and constant spinouts would drive me crazy. When there was racing on Sunday, it was competitive especially with the top five. But only 10 of the 19 starters finished.

Conrad Schwinn of Little Falls took the lead from the outside pole of the Mini Stock feature.  Cameron Schwinn was running second but had Nick McCann of Brainerd applying a lot of pressure and would take second.

The top two opened a big gap on the field. Cody Bush of Bemidji was fourth and Hayden Engen of Gonvick was running fifth. Shannon George would break and spin in turn two and would leave on the hook.

Conrad Schwinn resumed control after that and would win by six car lengths with McCann taking second. Engen made a nice run into third with Bush and Cameron Schwinn rounding out the top five.  There was only one caution in the Mini Stocks, that raced moved along nicely.

It was a good field of Wissota Pure Stocks with Brandon Puschinsky taking the lead of Jake Smith of Cohasset and Dudley, who was doing double duty on the night. Mason Smith had smoke coming out of his 21 machine stalled to bring out the first caution.

Dudley and Smith both got a great start and cleared Puschinsky on the restart, with Dustin Puffe moving into third. Puffe and Kade Leeper were looking to challenge Jake Smith up front. Dudley was running fourth but smoke was pouring from his 70 machine.  Leeper was working on Puffe for second while Caylyn Binkley was battling Puschinsky for fifth.

Leeper and Puffe resumed their fight for second as Smith had about 2-3 car lengths on second place.

Billy Binkley was running just behind Dudley in sixth but appeared to lose a motor late, ending his night.

Smith  resumed the lead with Puffe and Leeper right behind.  Puffe was right there but Smith prevailed by less than a car length over Puffe. Leeper was third, Dudley was fourth and  Puschinsky held off Caylyn Binkley for fifth.

Puffe, with 12 feature wins this summer, is second in national points behind Eric Crosby of Amery, Wis. Jake Smith is sixth and now has seven wins on the year.

Canadian Tanner Williamson and Bemidji veteran Jeff Reed led the 10-car Wissota Modified feature to green. Williamson surged into a 2-car length lead on lap one. Doyle Erickson of Bagley was fighting Bryce Borgen of Perley for third with defending Bemidji champion Lance Schilling of Laporte running fifth.

Reed stayed within two car lengths of Williamson while also holding two car lengths on Erickson in third. The caution waved when Jonathan Feda and Peyton Emerson spun in turn two.

After another spin, Williamson resumed his lead with Borgen getting by Erickson for third. Schilling and Josh Beaulieu were fighting for sixth.

Williamson’s lead was consistent throughout; it wasn’t a runaway but was stayed at 2-3 car lengths. Borgen was about a car length behind Reed.  

Williamson would take the victory for his third victory of by 1.07 seconds with Reed, the point leader at Bemidji, taking second. Borgen, Erickson and Schilling rounded out the top five. All 10 starters finished.

Ashton Schwinn of Little Falls is second in the national Wissota Mod 4 points; the car he is chasing is Dean Larson of Pennock, who held a 14-point lead over Schwinn as of July 27.

Schwinn moved ahead of Brooke Erickson at the tart with Blake Erickson in third. Dawson Oelrich, ho won his first career feature earlier this summer at Bemidji, was in fourth. After a two-car spin in turn two, the race resumed with Schwinn leading over Blake Erickson with Oelrich in third. Rowan Trann moved past Brooke Erickson for fifth.

Schwinn had a straightaway on Blake Erickson and was cruising when the caution waved for Christopher Roller’s spin in turn two. Schwinn resumed up front in pretty firm control. Tramm and Oelrich had a good fight for the third spot which was the only position battle on the track.

Matt Sparby took the lead of the Wissota Super Stock feature over Brandon Bahr with Ellie Lange running third and Dalton Carlson. Carlson would get by Lange for third with Grand Rapids driver Justin Barsness running in fifth.

Sparby opened a 1.3 second lead on Bahr, but that was erased when Mike Johnson of Menahga spun under the flagstand.

Dalton Carlson of Cohasset would look to challenge Sparby for the top spot as Barsness moved to fourth. Cameron Labelle was on the move into the top four.  The caution would wave with two to go as there was a big pileup in turn two that involved Bahr, Barsness, Alexa Sparby and Labelle. Bahr and Labelle would both leave on the hook, ending hopes of a top five finish for each.

Sparby picked up the win over Carlson. Alexa Sparby of Bemidji, who started seventh, made a late move up to third with Lange fourth and Barsness fifth.

Sunday notes

--Casino Speedway canceled because of rain on Sunday. It was their seventh cancellation of the summer and third in a row. It’s been a brutal year weather wise for the ¼-mile bullring, but at least this week there was no tornado.

Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon also rained out.