Big night for Dykhoff at I-94; Randt, Schroeder, Gierke, Grosz and Rohner win

 I-94 EMR Speedway had a busy night with 125 cars on hand on Friday. Plus, there was the makeup for the King of the Dirt Wissota Sttreet Stock feature to conclude the night.

There was some great quality in every class on hand and some good racing.  It turned out to be a huge night for Kyle Dykhoff in the streets, more on that in a moment.

If you have been to I-94 in the past, you know Don Shaw is no big fan of B features. Hence the 31-car Wissota Midwest Modified feature on Friday night.  There were A LOT of cars capable of winning that race, and it will give people a taste of what the Wissota 100 looks like in September, when 33 cars start the feature.

However, in this race, there were some cars that were just plain hazards out there; those folks that should take advantage of the Saturday morning practice sessions at I-94. Sorry, I call it like I see it.

Landyn Randt of Siren, who won at KRA Speedway on Thursday, took the lead with Haley Dykhoff into second. Tyler Bitzan was fighting Scott Oeltjen of Villard for third with Matt Schow of McIntosh battling his brother-in-law, Reise Stenberg of Argusville.

Stenberg grabbed fourth as Randt quickly encountered lapped traffic.

The first caution happened when Mike Hart – racing in yet another class (I counted eighth off the top of my head) – got into the wall out of turn four and came down into Stenberg, sending the 87s into the infield and Hart turned around on the frontstretch. Ron Saurer of Dalton couldn’t avoid Hart and hit the 24 hard, leaving both cars damaged. Both left on the hook. Stenberg was able to continue in fourth.

I’ll be honest, there were some cars that were borderline dangerously slow in that race. That’s where a B-feature would have helped.

The second caution waved for debris. Dykhoff elected the high side on the restart – she normally likes the low lane – and looked to make a run. Two more cautions waved for solo spins – IMO time for the yellow black after four cautions – as the race struggled to stay green.

On the restart Stenberg slowed and spun into the infield with a program – not sure if that was the result of the contact with Hart earlier.

Schow was on the move. He passed Bitzan and Dykhoff to grab second with 11 to go.  Tanner Bitzan had moved to fourth ahead of his brother Tyler. The caution waved when Kurt Mursu hit a tractor tire in turn four and pushed it to the track. 

Dykhoff was the next lead pack car to slow and lost a couple of spots, but was able to continue. After the sixth caution of the race, Jaren Wibstad of Jamestown moved into the top five. Schow was working valiantly for the top spot and the top two raced very hard for the top spot. A lapped car slowed Schow just for a second, and Randt would regain the lead.

Tanne Bitzan was running in third, and Oeltjen was solid in fourth. Randt would survive for a .405 second win over Schow. Tanner Bitzan was third, Oeltjen was fourth, and Dykhoff edged Wibstad for fifth.  Teenager Noah McFarlane of Brandon was the (unofficial) hard charger of the race, going from 26^th to 13^th. The race had six cautions and lasted 23 minutes, and you could have convinced me a B feature might have helped that.

Like the Midwest mods, there were a lot of cars capable of winning the main event. One of those was on the outside pole, Cole Greseth of Harwood, who won Thursday at Sheyenne and entered the night with 23 victories in 45 starts.

Justin Vogel of Brooten was originally scheduled to race at Fiesta City Friday – in fact I picked him in my fantasy there – but made the trip north to I-94, in large part because the King of the Dirt feature from early June was being made up. He would start in the back of the 26-car feature – right next to his good friend, Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck, who was a DNF in his heat. I was keeping an eye on those two drivers.

Greseth took the lead over Cory Dykhoff of Perham, who was fighting side-by-side Jeff Ekdahl of North Branch. Wade Bergerud was third with Tyler Klugman of Wheaton running fifth. Greg Jose of Grand Forks soon was fighting for a top five spot.

Greseth opened a 1.4 second lead on Cory Dykhoff. Jose was challenging Bergerud for fourth as Eric Riley of Morris was closing. Not far behind them were Trey Hess of Grand Forks and Levi Randt of Siren. Four laps into the feature, Vogel was up to 13^th, and Dykhoff was up to 15^th.

Greseth had a 1.4 second lead erased when a few cars spun in turns three and four. It didn’t look like any major damage for any of them.  When the race resumed with 12 to go, Greseth moved ahead but Ekdahl took a shot at the lead.

Randt and Bergerud got together in turns three and four and led to a multi-car tangle; fortunately no one had to leave on the hook. Bergerud, who was having a nice run up to that point, had to go to the tail.

Cory Dykhoff was making his presence felt for the lead as he went to the bottom of Greseth for the lead. Riley was on the charge and up to fourth.  With nine to go, Vogel was up to sixth and Kyle Dykhoff was up to eighth, by the way.

Cory Dykhoff passed Greseth for the lead, but soon Riley went to the high lane and took the lead.  The caution waved with seven to go, and Cory Dykhoff would pull off with a problem, which was a terrible break; if I was making a list of drivers with the worst luck over the past five years, Cory Dykhoff would make the top five.

Riley was now the leader, and Kyle Dykhoff wss now on his tail, and he would take the lead with six to go. Keep in mind, he started 25^th.  Jose was having a great run and moved into second, Riley slid back to third and Vogel was fourth. Hess was running fifth ahead of Ekdahl.

Riley fought back to regain second, and Vogel followed past Jose for third. Hess and Greseth were fighting side-by-side for fifth.

Kyle Dykhoff just took over after taking the lead, and pushed the lead to 1.4 seconds by the checkered inh what of the great performances I’ve seen all year. I am going to make a statement – Kyle Dykhoff is having a better season than he did when he won the national title a few years ago. This year, he won the Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour title, won the $30,000-to win Little Dream, and now has 12 wins in 26 starts. He has finished in the top five 24 of 26 starts.

Riley held off Vogel for second; Vogel went from 26^th to third in a big-time charge through the field.  Jose ended up a solid fourth and Hess edged Greseth for fifth.  The hard charger, well, you can easily figure that out.

Mike Anderson of Walcott won Thursday at Sheyenne, but didn’t make it through the first lap of the Gen X Late Model feature as he was involved in an incident on the opening lap. He left on the hook.

Rick Schroeder of Montevideo and Jarrett Huus of Fergus Falls led the group on the restart with Schroeder in the top spot. Blake Boelens of Garfield was fighting Travis Saurer of Dalton for fourth behin Huus. Ben Wolden of Fergus Falls was fifth.

Schroeder had pushed the lead to 2.3 seconds with 15 to go as Huus and Saurer fought for second. Wolden got by Boelens for fourth. Trevor Walsh of Watertown was luking outside the top five; he has some wins this summer.

Saurer moved into second as Schroeder got into lapped traffic, and was cutting into the lead, which was down to 1.65 seconds with 8.5 to go. Boelens had moved past Wolden for fourth.  Saurer had reduced the margin to 1.09 seconds with five to go.

Schroeder had to be smooth in lapped traffic. He didn’t want to get into one of those cars, and but also needed to keep moving with Saurer on the chase. Schroeder didn’t make any mistakes and would prevail by 1.01 seconds. Saurer was second, Huus was third, Boelens fourth and Wolden fifth. The Gen X class did a very good job; after the first caution on the opening lap the race went straight through without another yellow.

They threw a bit of water on the high side after the Gen X Late Model race, and the Wissota Mods went up to the top and flew around top.

Ryan Gierke of Villard, who won the Bob Gierke Memorial last week, and Brett Hoium of Villard had the front row for the Wissota Modified feature. Gierke jumped out front  with Hoium in second and Travis Saurer, doing triple duty, running third. Brady Gerdes was fourth and Bryce Sward of Nelson was in fifth.

Gierke was up 4.2 seconds on Hoium, who had some breathing room on Saurer as things got spread out.

The field got very spread out until a caution waved when Talan Thoennes slowed with an issue with seven to go, which erased a 4.3 second lead for Gierke.

Hoium did not get a good restart with seven to go, but Sward did as he pulled a slider on Saurer to take second.  Dusty Bitzan of Evansville was running the bottom looking to climb into the top five.  Gerdes and Saurer were putting on a show with sliders for the third spot as Sward was within .7 seconds with four to go. Saurer got him into the wall in turn two for a moment, opening the door for Hoium to move back into fourth.

Gierke was not seriously threatened over the final two laps to win by .997 seconds over Sward. Gerdes was third, Hoium fourth and Saurer was fifth.

Watertown driver Lee Grosz moved ahead in the Wissota Late Model feature with Mike Greseth of Harwood second and inside pole sitter Zach Johnson of Lowry in third. Dave Mass of East Bethel was fourth and Travis Suarer was fifth.

Grosz had a lot of lapped cars to work through as Greseth was closing the gap. Once he cleared a few of those he ahd some breathing room.

With 10 to go several cars were involved in a pileup in turns three and four, which included Don Shaw, Mike Hart, Jack Koranda, Travis Robertson of Fargo and Tim Johnson of Breckenridge. On the stream I didn't see what triggered it, but happened to catch a FB phone video the next day; my opinion was the 8R had help. He ended flipping over and had a lot of damage. You can look on FB to find that video and make your own call.

The race didn’t make it another lap as Tim Johnson spun again in turns one and two.

On the restart Grosz stayed in front with Greseth running second. Grosz was way up high while Greseth worked the very bottom. Mass was a solid third and Saurer fourth.

Grosz –a former sprint car pilot – was riding the high side around the 3/8-mile oval and had a 1.1 second lead when a caution waved with two to go for debris, the last thing he wanted to see.

Mass made a charge on the outside with two to go, but Grosz slid high to protect the spot and Mass nearly spun, and that cost him valuable ground. Grosz would go on for the win by 1.01 seconds with Saurer edging Mass for second. Greseth was a solid fourth and Koranda had a really strong showing in fifth despite being in an early mishap.

Jeff Rohner of Willmar has been a top runner where he has raced in the Wissota Hornets as he stormed ahead over Hunter Goulet of Fargo. Kevin Wahl of Fergus Falls was running third, with Christian Kast pressuring him. Eli Green of Osakis was in fifth.

Rohner’s lead was about one second over Goulet as Kast worked into third. Kreg Anderson of Alexandria was in fifth.

The caution would wave with three to go as Kody Crabtree’s 27 suffered a flat right front and slowed. He would pull pitside.

They went three-wide on the restart with Goulet and Kast making a run at Rohner out front. Goulet would try a slider in turns one and two – a rare site in the hornets – as things heated up at the front. Rohner would survive those challenges and prevailed by .448 seconds over Goulet. Kast was third, Wahl was fourth and Green was fifth.

The King of the Dirt Wissota Street Stock makeup feature capped off the night with some outstanding racing, and Hunter Carter of Mapleton, a former KOD champion at I-94, who led the opening lap over Vogel. Klugman, Riley, Kyle Dykhoffand Ekdahl were all fighting for spots in the top five.

Riley made a move on the bottom of Carter to take the lead as Carter was contending with Dykhoff and Vogel for second. The racing went three-wide between Vogel, Carter an Ekdahl for third.

Kyle Dykhoff was challenging Riley for the lead as Vogel would take over third for a few laps before Ekdahl grabbed the spot.

Riley stuck the 51 to the bottom as Kyle Dykhoff was trying about every line on the track to look for an opening. Klugman got by Carter for the fifth spot.

Riley and Dykhoff ran side-by-side in the fight for the front as Klugman climbed past Vogel for fourth. Riley had a near calamity as a lapped car came down into him, but he continued and actually pulled away from Dykhoff. Carter had fought back into fourth.

Josh Schroeder’s 12 car slowed to bring out the yellow with 12 to go. On the restart Dykhoff went back to work outside of Riley as Carter and Ekdahl battled hard for third. Klugman was having a good run in fourth.

Dykhoff edged ahead of the lead as top two put on one heck of a slow side-by-side for the lead. Carter wasn’t far behind in third, but he continued to have his hands full with Ekdahl.

Levi Randt had joined a four-car battle for third which included Carter, Klugman and Ekdahl.  Riley was staying close to Dykhoff and took a shot with a slider  with two to go as the racing stayed intense as Riley threw another slider, but the caution waved with two to go as Hunter Carter’s machine was spun on the bottom of turn two. I didn’t see it; Carter got his spot back, I suspect a lapped car was involved.

Riley threw a slider just before the white flag, but Dykhoff retook the top spot and opened a few car lengths on the final lap to pick up the win. Riley settled for a well-earned second while Carter got third, Ekdahl fourth and Randt edged Klugman by .011 seconds for the fifth spot. It was a very good race between about the top 8-9 cars.

16 of the 24 original starters of the KOD feature took the green on Friday.  The race was originally supposed to be a DRC Street Stock Tour race but that part was cancelled after the rainout.

I-94 notes

--A very interesting name was in attendance in the Wissota Late Models – that was Viking Speedway Hall of Famer Scot Danzeisen of Herman. Danzeisen is the all-time modified wins leader at Viking and also won super stock track titles there. I don’t know how much late model racing he’s done – I know he drove Brad Staples’ Gen X late model car last summer – but as far as modifieds go, he was as tough as there was in western Minnesota from the mid-1990s to the mid 2000s. Smooth, and loves to run the bottom of the racetrack.

--It was good to see Chris Mensen back on the track in the late models. He had a very hard crash early in the season at Viking Speedway and was sidelined for a while. He had a solid night, going from 21^st to 10^th in the feature.

Strand wins Late Models at River Cities

Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks won the NLRA/Wissota Late Model feature Friday night at River Cities Speedway. The late models ran along the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars.

Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks went from eighth to second, while Tom Corcoran of East Grand  Forks, in his 56^th season behind the wheel, finished a strong third. Tyler Peterson of Hickson was fourth and Ryan Corbett of Grand Forks  was fifth.

 Michael Kofoid of Penngrove, Calif., topped David Gravel of Watertown, Conn., for the WOO Sprint victory. Carson Macedo of Lemoore was third, Logan Schuchart of Hanover was fourth and Emerson Axsom of Franklin, Ind., was fifth. Mark Dobmeier of Grand Forks was the top local finisher in sixth, while Fargo’s Donny Schatz was eighth.