Bitzan captures Race for Fallen Linemen for 2nd straight year at Viking

Dusty Bitzan won the Fallen Linemen Race at Viking for the second year in a row. Photo by Collin Nelson/Outlaw Action Photography

The Race for the Fallen Lineman Wissota Modified special is a big event at Viking Speedway each year, and a stacked 29-car mod field was on hand racing for the $3,000 top prize.

The Race for the Fallen Linemen raises money for the Fallen Linemen Organization, which helps care for families who’ve lost a loved one or had a loved one severely injured while working electrical lines. Corey Svor of Alexandria owns the 6X machine driven by Bryce Sward; his brother, Ryan died of high voltage electrocution in 2013 and Corey has been heavily involved in the race since its inception. Money is raised through T-shirt sales and a portion of the grandstand as well.

Svor raises the purse money with several sponsors kicking in It paid $2,500 for second, $2,000 for third, and fifth place would get $1,000 and 10^th place would gete $500. There were also some contingencies such as long tow, the leader of Lap 6, and $500 for Hard Charger. Heat winners got $100 as well.  It’s an outstanding event and Svor has worked his tail off for several years to make it so.

Superman Mike Stearns of Aberdeen and the Ice Man Don Eischens of Richmond led the Wissota Modified field to green.  Starting in row 2 was former national champion Dave Cain of Corcoran, driving Justin Froemming’s 33X machine. The race didn’t make it a lap as Erv Grossman of Fargo spun in turn two.

Stearns took the top spot over Eischens was second one lap into the feature but Austin Chyba’s 11X machine spun in turn two. On the restart Eischens put some pressure on Stearns for the lead with Joe Thomas of Glyndon grabbing third. Cain and Dusty Bitzan of Brandon were fighting for fourth with Josh Thoennes of Nelson closing in.

Stearns pushed the lead to nearly a second with 24 to go as Thomas was pushing underneath Eischens for second. Bitzan had captured third. Cain and Josh Thoennes were dueling for fifth. Bitzan, meanwhile, caught Thomas for third as Eischens was slowly cutting into Stearns’ lead.  Meanwhile, multi-time Viking champion Brady Gerdes of Villard was lurking outside the top five.

With 16 to go and with lapped traffic becoming prevalent, Eischens closed on Stearns; but hit a hole at the bottom of turns three and four and nearly spun, but made a big-time save and still was in the top five.  Honeslty, I don’t know how the 9E didn’t spin.

With 10 to go, Bitzan had caught Stearns and in lapped traffic made his move on the bottom to take the lead.  Eischens and Gerdes were fighting hard for the fourth spot as Thomas  was solidly in third.  Bitzan, meanwhile was pulling away from Stearn, pushing the lead to 2.6 seconds with five laps to go. Thomas closed on Stearns for second. Eischens  and Gerdes raced extremely hard for fourth in a duel between two really good race cars.

Bitzan could run wherever he needed to – the bottom or the top – and that was crucial in lapped traffic. His lead over Stearns kept growing and was up to 4.0 seconds at the checkered as he took home the $3,000 top prize, winning the Fallen Linemen race for a second straight year.

 Stearns captured second in an excellent run. Thomas held off  a late charge from Gerdes for third with Eischens rounding out the top five. I thought it was a very racy track for the mods and a damn good race after a couple of early cautions.

This shows value of continuing to race, even in traffic: Jonathan Olmscheid of Dassel, who started 28^th but worked up to 19^th. He picked up $500 for the Hard Charger Award.

The Wissota Midwest Modified feature, well, if I am being blunt, was a cluster of cautions and lasted more than 25 minutes and I am sure there were plenty of frustrated folks – drivers, fans and track officials. Myself included. I counted seven cautions.  It was ridiculous, frankly, and the race should have been shortened because of time.   Sorry, this time of year, my patience for unnecessarily long features is about gone.

Travis Engebretson of Cyrus has been the dominant Wissota Midwest Modified at Viking and he redrew the pole for Saturday’s feature and grabbed the lead. Haley Dykhoff of Starbuck, however, was racing hard on the bottom and was challenging Engebretson for the lead and moved away with 12 to go.

Former Viking champion Shawn Olson of Alexandria was in third ahead of Tyler Bitzan of Brandon with Scott Oeltjen in fifth. The caution waved for Scott Samuelson’s spin in turn three with 11 to go.

Dykhoff stayed on the low lane as Engebretson ran up high, as he has most of the year. Tyler Bitzan was working on Olson for third while the 72-year-old Ron Saurer of Dalton captured fifth.

Engebretson opened a 1.5 second lead with six laps to go when Nic Hiles spun in turn four to bring out the yellow. And unfortunately, it led to three subsequent cautions without completing another lap. One of the spins was top five runner Ron Saurer, who was done for the night after spinning on the backstretch.

Engebretson opened some breathing room once the race finally resumed. Dykhoff had Tyler Bitzan pressuring her for second. Olson went off of turn four for another caution; Tanner Bitzan was charged with the caution and with the yellow/black out, the 42B was done.  

Engebretson resumed control to pick up another win as he is closing on his first track championship at Viking. He has seven wins at Viking this year. Tyler Bitzan made a late pass to take second from Dykhoff. Olson was third and Taylor Bitzan of Brandon, who started  way back in 14^th, took home fifth.  Another driver who made good  progress through the field  was  Maddie Swenson of Alexandria, who went from 19^th to 10^th.

Derek Wettstein of Little Falls led early in the Wissota Street Stock feature but it wasn’t long b efore national point leader Kolton Brauer of Eyota, who started seventh, was challenging for the lead. After a spin for Tyler Kunz and Josh Schroeder in turn four, Brauer was in second and surged into the lead. Eric Riley of Morris, however, was up to the task and would go around Brauer on the outside with 12 to go.

Wettstein ran third with Joe Martin of Willmar in fourth and his brother Peter running in fifth, ahead of defending Viking champion Davey Kruchten of Glenwood.

Riley took control of the race with a 1.5 second lead over Brauer, Wettstein was solidly in third and Joe Martin was in fourth. Kruchten would grab fifth but had Gardner on his tail. Joe Martin edged ahead of Wettstein for third.

Riley whipped the field, and it’s not often Brauer has been beaten by the margin of 1.7 seconds this year. Riley is up to five victories on the summer.

Martin, in a fight with J.J. Nieuwbeerta of Alexandria for the points lead at Viking, took third with Wettstein surviving Kruchten for fifth. Gardner would be sixth; the early call on his spin I did not agree with where he went to the rear.

Ryan Satter of Dent took the lead from the outset of the Wissota Super Stock feature with former Wissota 100 winner Trevor Nelson of Warner, S.D., climbing into second. He had closed within a car length of the top spot.  Outside pole sitter Justin Tammen of Clara City slid way high on the opening lap and lost a lot of ground.

Gerdes was third ahead of Bailey Rosch of Alexandria. Travis Scott of Glenwood, who won at Fiesta City Speedway on Friday, had moved to fifth, ahead of last week’s winner Karter Reents of Glenwood.

Satter was pulling away, opening the lead 1.3 seconds, but the caution would wave with five to go as Jeff Crouse and Carson Miller were stopped in turn three. On the restart Nelson went way down to the bottom to put some pressure on Satter with Gerdes facing heat from Rosch.

Satter had about 4-5 car lengths on Nelson when the second caution waved; Scott, Reents and Tammen were among the cars involved.  Tammen would call it a night after the caution. On the restart Nelson made a big push on the bottom of Satter but the 67 had the momentum on the high side of the backstretch and would hold on for the win.  Nelson was second, Rosch was third, Scott got by Gerdes for fourth.

Satter picked up his third win of the year; on Aug. 1 he won out at Big Sky Speedway in Montana. He has not raced as much as years past; he and his wife, Carly, had their first child, a son, in the offseason, and that certainly changes your life and priorities.

The point race in the Wissota Super Stocks entered the night seeing the top three cars – Rosch, Trevor Saurer of Dalton and William Lund of Brandon – separated by three points. That will go down to the final points night on Aug. 23.

Jeff Rohner of Willmar took command of the Wissota Hornet feature with Kreg Anderson of Alexandria in second. Matt Dittman of Lake Lillian was in third but had pressure on the outside from Travis Bruns of Alexandria. Christopher Winter Jr. of Hoffman was running fifth.

Anderson and Dittman were battling for second but were also closing on Rohner.  There was contact between Anderson and Dittman, and Dittman nearly went around but made a great save to keep things going.

The fight for second allowed Rohner to pull away to a 1.3 second lead on Dittman. Bruns wasn’t far behind Anderson for third.

Dittman was closing quickly on Rohner and was right there when the caution waved with three to go when 1 went off turn four. He left on the hook. ON the restart Dittman was working a higher line while Rohner stuck to the bottom and it led to quite a fight for the top spot. The two went side by side when the white flag waved.

Rohner, would survive for his second Viking win of 2025 and his 11^th of the year overall.  He is second in Wissota national points.  Dittman was second, Anderson third, Bruns fourth and Winter fifth. There was only one caution, a nice job by the hornets.

Viking notes

-- Nelson, the top super stock at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, entered the night with 15 wins in 25 starts.  He doesn’t have a lot of options to race in South Dakota, with Aberdeen and Miller being his closest weekly tracks.

--Jason Blascyk of Kensington was back behind the wheel of a Wissota Modified; his son Brendan drives  the 9B mod.

--I am going to come out and say a person opinion  – I don’t like the draw/redraw format for weekly racing. It is fine for specials, but it seems too often the same people are starting in front, at least at the races I cover.  I don’t have perfect solution for how to line up cars that would keep everybody happy (in racing you rarely do), however.

Kyle Dykhoff in victory lane in Jamestown. (Photo by Kayla Koth)

Dykhoff clinches DRC Street Stock Tour title with win at Jamestown; Mikkelson, Langland pick up big victories

Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour point leader Kyle Dykhoff grabbed the lead of the feature at Jamestown with a fierce fight for second between Rory Opp, Cole Greseth and Hunter Carter. Levi Randt of Siren was running third with Andrew Hanson of Iron River, Wis., running fifth.

Greseth stuck his 19G to the bottom as he closed on Dykhoff with Carter, who won Thursday at Lisbon, joining him. Greseth and Dykhoff had a great duel before Greseth moved ahead with 19 to go. Greseth has been the dominant car all summer at Jamestown and entered he night as the point leader with six feature wins at the ¼-mile. Dykhoff then had his hands full with Carter as Hanson was fourth. Randt had Dustin Erickson and Trey Hess chasing him.

The caution waved for a spin in turn two and on the restart Dykhoff went to work on the outside of Greseth with Carter and Randt fighting for third. Hess had climbed past Hanson. With 13 to go Dykhoff had edged ahead by .114 seconds as the two ran side by side. Two laps later Greseth edged back in front. Dykhoff fought back on the outside and with nine go regained the top spot as the duel up front continued.

Randt continued to fight for third with Hess in tow. With four to go Rory Opp, who had run in the top five earlier, spun on the frontstretch to bring out the yellow.

The restart brought a new contender for lead – Levi Randt – and he and Dykhoff made some contact, which allowed Greseth to move back in front. With two to go Dykhoff, who ran in the middle of the track, took the lead and would take the win, putting a wrap on the DRC Street Stock Tour title. It was a tremendous race.

Greseth, who started fifth, settled for second. Carter held off Hess for third. The Hard Charger, easily for the race was the Wolverine Justin Vogel of Brooten, who went from 22^nd to fifth.

Ryan Mikkelson of Alexandria got by Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks for the lead on a restart and win on to win the Wissota Late Model feature, which featured 28 cars. Tyler Peterson of Hickson was third, Zach Johnson of Lowry was fourth and Cole Schill of Hawley was fifth.

Kyle Langland of Enderlin outdueled Brennon Weight of LaMoure for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature win. Kyle Anderson of Jamestown was third, Jason Grimes of Jamestown as fourth and Landyn Randt of Siren was fifth. For Langland, it was his first feature win since 2020.

The ageless John Corell of Jamestown started 12th but picked up another IMCA Modified win over Jeremy Keller of Bismarck. Chris Tuchscherer was third, Travis Tooley of Dickinson was fourth and Andrew Kapp of Jamestown was fifth.

Joe Jacobson of Jamestown topped Kelly Hoerner of Bismarck for the Bomber win. Clay Gentzkow of Berlin was second and Travis Edinger of Jamestown was fourth.