I made it to Viking Speedway in Alexandria on Saturday for Hall of Fame night, with a good field of 77 cars signed in. It was a warm summer evening that tested the track’s ability to keep moisture in it .
Long-time driver Dennis Bitzan and long-time track employee Elaine Thoennes were inducted into the Viking Speedway Hall of Fame at intermission. Bitzan was as tough as they came in the modified class while Thoennes has been a long, long-time score keeper and worker at Viking. Both are very deserving inductees.
Jon Carlson of Brandon, looking for his first career win, jumped out to the lead in the Wissota Midwest Modified feature while the Blascyk brothers. Brendan and Tayten, fought for second. Avery Anderson of Alexandria was running in fourth as Travis Saurer and Ron Saurer of Dalton were closing in.
Brendan Blascyk cleared his brother and set his sights on Carlson who had opened up a nice lead. The gap was shrinking when the caution came out for a spin with nine to go.
On the restart Brendan Blascyk went to work on Carlson as Ron Saurer moved into third. Also working his way to the top five was Alexandria driver Josh Muzik who started ninth.
Ron Saurer moved into second past Carlson who facing a lot of pressure from Travis Saurer and Muzik.
Brendan Blascyk had opened some breathing room on Ron Saurer as the laps waned. Muzik was working hard on Travis Saurer for the this third spot.
Brendan Blascyk would go on to win by 2.32 over Ron Saurer. Travis Saurer, winner of the Gierke Memorial at i94 on Friday, outlasted Muzik for third. Taylor Bitzan of Brandon made a late pass of Carlson for fifth. It was good to see Carlson have a good run, he’s had some tough luck this season.
Being honest, Ryan Satter of Dent has been the dominant Wissota Street Stock at Viking this season. There’s a gap between him and the rest of the field right now, honestly. Satter’s 67 car works wherever it needs to on the half-mile and he has a lot of laps on that track. Many of the street stock drivers at Viking aren’t quite as experienced at this point and some are pretty early in their careers. The gap is closing some but there’s a ways to go.
Satter moved from eighth to second in about two laps during Saturday’s feature. Scott Horn of Wadena — back behind the wheel after a layoff of about five years — set the early pace but soon found Satter on his heels.
Jason Thimmesh of Garfield, who is second in the points at Viking, was among the cars battling in the top five. JJ Nieuwbeerta of Alexandria was also running well. On the move was Roger Berkness of Eagle Bend.
Satter cleared Horn who had his hands full with Thimmesh and Nieuwbeerta as there was a lot of good racing for position. Berkness had worked into the top five.
With six to go Derek Wettstein of Little Falls rolled his #21 machine in turn two to bring out the red flag. Wettstein was OK, the car was badly damaged.
Berkness had worked into second past Nieuwbeerta, but spun the #28 in turns one and two and had to go to the tail, costing him a top three finish. The race was shortened to a green-white-checkered and Horn was able to get past Nieuwbeerta for second at the finish. Satter’s win was by .906 seconds over Horn, who had a really nice run. Nieuwbeerta was a solid third. Keagan Stueve of Greenfield was fourth and Thimmesh was fifth.
A shoutout to Daniel Harstad of Fergus Falls. He has had miserable luck mechanically since moving into the street stock class. But the past two nights, he recorded top 10 finishes, including a solid eighth on Saturday at Viking. That’s a sign of progress.
Satter hasn’t lost a feature at Viking since Memorial Day weekend and has six wins in eight starts at the half-mile. The bounty word may need to come up with that kind of dominance.
Shawn Beto of Wahpeton bought his uncle Kevin Youngquist’s #00 car after last season. Youngquist won a track title and a bunch of features in that car. Beto is picking up where his uncle left off this season.
Beto started fifth on the 16-car field on Saturday, and it took him two laps to get the #0 car to the front as he passed Hunter Goulet of Fargo.
Shawn Robinson of Dalton was moving towards the front in the #00 machine, and was battling Goulet for second. Tristan Raths of Donnelly moved into fourth ahead of Maddie Swenson of Alexandria. Kevin Wahl of Fergus Falls was battling his son, David just outside the top five.
Beto built a big lead on the field as Robinson was able to clear Goulet for second. Raths was solidly in the third as the Wahls battled for fifth.
The caution-free race saw Beto win by 3.248 seconds over Robinson. Beto has eight wins in 11 starts as he is having an outstanding season. Robinson, who started seventh, finished second with Goulet third and Raths fourth. Kevin Wahl survived the battle for fifth.
Earlier this season, Ryan Kostreba of Elk River had a straightaway lead in the Wissota Super Stock feature at Viking before a broken gear derailed him. This time he wasn’t going to be denied.
Twin brothers Ryan and Russell Kostreba shared the front row of the 14-car Wissota Super Stock feature. Ryan Kostreba took the early lead over his brother.
Defending Viking champion and current Viking point leader Trevor Saurer of Dalton started eighth, but was fast once again. He moved into third past Travis Scott of Glenwood and began to work on Russell Kostreba for second.
Jeff Crouse of Alexandria started ninth but also was on the move into the top five. Karter Reents of Glenwood, the winner at Fiesta City Speedway on Friday, also was in the hunt.
Ryan Kostreba had a decent lead over his brother, who was soon overtaken by Trevor Saurer. Saurer had gone up to a higher line and was fast, and was starting to eat into Ryan Kostreba’s lead when the caution waved.
Saurer, however, would encounter trouble on the caution and get pushed in. The Saurer crew looked under the hood at the #21 machine in the pits but he did not return to the race.
After the restart, Matt Miller of Glenwood — who is chasing Saurer in the points — had worked into the top five, as did Jack Koranda of Bluffton.
Ryan Kostreba’s #17 reestablished control after the caution, and he would pick up his first victory of 2022 by 2.210 seconds over Russell Kostreba. Reents ran solid all night and finished third with Miller taking fourth and Koranda fifth.
Jason Thoennes of Garfield took the early lead in the Wissota Modified feature over Travis Saurer. But the car on the move was the #51 of Josh Thoennes, who stuck his car to the bottom and soon worked into second past Saurer.
The lead turned into a battle of the Thoennes brothers — Jason running up high and Josh down low.
Brady Gerdes of Villard had moved into third, and running up high, was starting to eight into a pretty sizable advantage Jason and Josh Thoennes had opened on the field.
Jason Thoennes opened up 4-5 car lengths on his brother as Gerdes was eating into the advantage. Dusty Bitzan of Brandon and Saurer were in a close fight for fourth.
Jason Thoennes had some breathing room but Gerdes had caught Josh Thoennes for second. Gerdes was flying around on a higher line and finally made the pass with two to go. But he would run out of time.
Jason Thoennes had a big gap on second, on his way to his second Viking win of the year and his third overall of 2022. Gerdes capped off a good run in second with Josh Thoennes third. Bitzan was fourth and Saurer fifth in the caution-free main event.
Remember, Jason Thoennes “retired” after the 2019 season, but the racing bug bit again, and he’s having a really good year — three wins and eight top fives in 15 starts.
Vogel Puts Finishing Touches on Steffes Street Stock Tour Title.
The Wolverine Justin Vogel of Brooten put the finishing touches on the Steffes Street Stock Tour title on Saturday by winning the tour finale at Cedar Lake Speedway. Vogel is the third different winner of the tour in three years, joining Jonny Carter (2020) and Parker Anderson (2021).
Vogel finished with a tour-best five wins. Andrew Hanson of Iron River finished second, Ty Agen of Chippewa Falls was third, Jeff Nowak of Wausau was fourth and Jonny Carter of Lisbon fifth. Carter started dead last (18th) on the field to earn Hard Charger.
Carter finished second in the points with Kyle Anderson of Jamestown third, Agen fourth and Hunter Carter of West Fargo fifth. A shoutout to Ashley Wampler of Hecla, S.D., who was a regular on the tour and finished in sixth place.
Vogel had five wins to lead the way. Jonny Carter and Agen won two each. Anderson, Hunter Carter, Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck, Kasey Ussatis of Nome, Daniel Aberle of Finley, Ryan Satter of Dent, Geoff Hellman of Mandan and Hunter VanGilder of Rice Lake were the other winners.
Rodin Wins Big Prize at Cedar Lake
Lucas Rodin of Marion won the Midwest Modified feature Saturday night at Cedar Lake Speedway near New Richmond, Wis. Rodin picked up $5,000 for the win, besting a 57-car field for the victory.
Rodin is the Rebel Midwest Modified Tour champion (back-to-back) and is the defending Wissota National Champion.
Notes
---Congrats to Wissota Street Stock driver Tucker Pederson of East Grand Forks for winning the 2nd Annual Cliff Reeves Memorial Saturday night at Devils Lake Speedway. the victory was worth $1,004. Dustin Erickson of Jamestown was second.
---Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature Saturday night at Greenbush Race Park.
The bounty still stands in the Wissota Modifieds for Tyler Peterson of Horace who won another feature at Greenbush. Ryan Johnson of Karlstad finished second, his best finish so far in a modified. Alex Truscinski won the POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint feature.
—Justin Froemming of Elbow Lake now has a Wissota Modified, an SSR Chassis. He has had some mechanical issues with the 33X machine during this first two outings at KRA Speedway and I-94 Sure Step Speedway.
—Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck in a battle for the national points lead, won the Wissota Street Stock feature Saturday night at Madison Speedway. Dykhoff, who was second at I-94 Sure Step Speedway on Friday, topped Eric Riley of Morris for the win. Riley won at Fiesta City on Friday.
Jamie Thorstad of Morris won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature over Jake Smith of St. Joseph.
---Jade Hastings of Grand Forks won the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint feature Saturday at the Governor's Cup at Dacotah Speedway in Mandan. Brendan Mullen won the main event on Friday.
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