Braseth Wins INEX Legend Special at NCR while father-son VanMil team gets a sweep

Norman County Raceway in Ada is in the homestretch of its 2025, as Thursday’s program was the second-to-last night of the season. The program ran crisply and efficiently with some very good racing at the 3/8-mile oval, capped off by the INEX Legends special.

One thing I hope NCR  considers next year is to go to five classes for the weekly show. I think that’s an OK number for a Thursday night program, and a show that is done in 2 1/2 hours, for those of us who work the next day, is about as good as you can expect.

I haven’t talked much about points this year but this is the time of year to do it.

Rich Pavlicek of Casselton and Ryan Schow of McIntosh came into the night tied atop the Wissota Midwest Modified points heading into Thursday.  But there are two other drivers still in the hunt – Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls is two points behind those two while Taylor Jacobson of Roseau is four back.

Brennan Schmidt of Bemidji led early with Jacobson in second with Schow in third. Reise Stenberg of Argusville was fourth and Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls was in fifth.

Tucker Jacobson spun to bring out the first caution on Lap 2 which would be the only stoppage of the race.  Schow bobbled on lap 3 and lost spots to Jacobson and Blacklance as Schmidt opened a 1.69 second lead.

Schmidt was nearly a straightaway ahead of Blacklance, who had some breathing room on Stenberg who passed Schow and Jacobson to get into third. The high line was the place where the leaders ran.

Schmidt never wavered and rolled to a 2.462 second win over Blacklance for his second victory of 2025. Stenberg was third, Schow fourth and Jacobson fifth. Pavlicek, driving Bob Sagen’s 99, finished sixth.  The points will go down to the finale next week, as it was a beneficial night for Blacklance who finished ahead of Schow, Jacobson and Pavlicek and now has a one-point lead over Schow, unofficially.

There was plenty of drama in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature, which was the second of the night as the class ran a makeup feature earlier in the evening. Reid Randall of Park Rapids took the lead over Robb Reierson of Moorhead in the opening moments.

The drama started when Brad Orvedal of Fargo and Tim Otterness of Brainerd made hard contact on the frontstretch, sending Orvedal’s 3XL into the guardrail and leaving Otterness with a flat tire and some other damage. Orvedal would go pitside  I don’t either driver was happy after that deal.

Otterness would fix his tire after going back to his trailer – but did not change the in the designated area in the pits, and the black flag was waved at him. He was not the least bit happy with that call and made sure that opinion was known to track officials. He was credited with a DNF in the myracepass results.

Jaeden Strandberg of Worthington, who won at Red River Valley Speedway earlier this summer, was pressuring Randall on the restart and would take the lead on Lap 7, but Randall fought back and was within .204 seconds. Reierson was in third and Eckerdt in fourth, with New Ulm driver Brad Jones.

Randall regained the lead with two laps to go in what turned out to be fierce duel between him and Strandberg.  There was some rubbing in the fight for the lead and turned into a drag race down the frontstretch with Randall winning by .110 seconds in a thrilling finish. Reierson was well back in third, Eckerdt was fourth and Jones in fifth.  Unofficially Eckerdt leads Randall by one point in the standings with one week left.

Cayden Westcott of Ada took the lead of the IMCA Sport Mod feature with a huge fight for second between Ryan Restad of West Fargo, Kyle VanMil of Barnesville and Jayden Pavlicek of Casselton. VanMil went up to the top and was flying and would take the lead on lap five.

Pavlicek moved into third with Broddy Enter running in fourth, and Restad and Andy Wagner of Ada fighting  for fifth.

VanMil was on a rail and pulling away s the lad grew to two seconds on Westcott, who was having a great run in second. Broddy Enter of New Ulm – who started back in ninth -- and Wagner were challenging Pavlicek for third.

Kyle VanMil put on one heck of a display with a 2.4 second victory over Enter, who made a late move on Westcott for second. Wagner edged Pavlicek for fourth in a battle for the points lead.  Wagner and Pavlicek entered the night tied for the lead with VanMil eight points back; that very tight race will go down to next week’s finale as well.

The top five in the points in the IMCA Stock Cars are separated by five points. Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead entered the night with a two-point lead over Dan Aberle of Finley and Rob VanMil of Banresville. Rick Schulz of Horace was just three points behind and Aairon Olson of Mekinock.

Rob VanMil, looking to join his son Kyle in victory lane, grabbed the lead over Aberle with Olson in third and Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada in fourth. Carlsrud was running fifth but was working on Kesselberg for third.

VanMil’s lead was a little more than a second with nine laps to go and Olson stayed within striking distance of Aberle. Carlsrud moved past Kesselberg for fourth. Aberle cut the lead in half with six laps to go, while Carlsrud was all over Olson for third.

Aberle had moved within a car length with two to go as Carlsrud continued to work on Olson for third.  VanMil would fend off the challenges of Aberle for the win; it is hard to believe, after his dominance in the class over the past several years, that it was Rob’s first victory of 2025. Aberle finished .332 seconds back in second with Olson edging Carlsrud for third. Kesselberg rounded out the top five.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks ran a makeup feature from way back in June with Dan Beckman of Mahnomen moving in front. Otterness was second with Orvedal in third. Otterness would grab the lead on lap 3 with Beckman in second and Eckerdt, the point leader into going into the night, moving into third.

There was contact between Beckman and Eckerdt that put the B2 into an infield tire; he kept going but lost a ton of ground.

Tim Church and Brad Orvedal were fighting for third with New Ulm driver Brad Jones closing quickly.

Otterness was in firm control up front and rolled to the win. Beckman ran a solid second with Jones third, Orvedal fourth and Church fifth in a caution-free main event.   Eckerdt, who came into the night with a six-point lead over Todd Gettel of Mahnomen and Reid Randall of Park Rapids, would finish eighth and lose a little bit of ground in the points.

Brandon Bunnis of Detroit Lakes held a two-point lead over Howie Briss in the INEX Legends points with Noah Lewis just eight points behind.

The INEX Legends were led by two strong cars – Ryan Braseth of Ulen and Ty Olson of Mandan. Olson inched ahead for the lead on Lap 1. Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes, the dominant car locally this year, climbed ot third ahead of Tanner Riewer. Scott Richardson of Pelican Rapids took over fifth.

Olson would have a serious challenge from Wilke for the top spot with Braseth not behind in third. Richardson was up to fourth and Howie Briss was running fifth. The caution waved with eight to go when Owen Broden spun.

On the restart Braseth was the threat to Olson, and would take the lead with six to go. Richardson was having a heck of a run and moved into second past Olson and Wilke. Briss was running a solid fifth.

The caution waved with four to go with Alexander Clark spinning in turn two, just as things were heating up at the front. Braseth’s challenger was now Richardson, who got beside him with two to go before the caution would fly again for a multi-car tangle in turn four. Wilke would pull the 72 car in under the caution.

Richardson took a final swing at the lead on the last lap, and nearly pulled off a dramatic win but Braseth held on for a .085 second victory. Olson was third, Briss and Tyler Riewer of Vergas, who started 13^th, was fifth to cap off a good run.

For Braseth, it was a sweet victory. He had missed much of the year after having surgery for a herniated disc in his back,  It was only his sixth feature of the summer and his first victory, and his cheering section in the stands sure appreciated the win.

The 21 INEX Legends on hand were a season high at NCR.

Thursday notes

--National point leader Tyler Vernon of Mason, Wis., was at NCR for the Wissota Midwest Modifieds. He won Wednesday at Thunder City Speedway in Thunder Bay, Ontario – beating a field of 40 midwest mods. But he had trouble in his heat and scratched for the feature and he left the track early.

--KRA Speedway in Willmar got a late afternoon rain shower and had to cancel for the night.

Sheyenne Speedway wins to Huus, Machart, Michel, Bogart, Greseth and Jacobson

Jarrett Huus of Fergus Falls won the Gen X Late Model feature Thursday night at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon. Parker Gilbertson of Montevideo was second, Kevin Youngquist of Barney third, Jeff Nelson of Perham fourth and Cade Skytland of Kindred fifth.

Kody Machart in Moorhead won the INEX Legends feature over Dusty Mund of Lisbon. Regan Reinke of Lisbon was third, Bo Gregor of Lisbon fourth and Clay Smith of Wahpeton fifth.

Aaron Michel of Jamestown topped Jaren Wibstad of Jamestown for the Wissota Midwest Modified win. Lucas Rodin of Marion was third, Kyle Anderson of Jamestown fourth and Scott Hansen of Garden City, S.D., was fifth.

Mason Bogart of Milnor won the Short Tracker feature over Hunter Goulet of Fargo. Kody Crabtree of Fargo was third, Dale Mittleider of Milnor fourth and Pokey Lukes of Lisbon was fifth.

Cole Greseth of Harwood won the Wissota Street Stock feature over Trey Hess of Grand Forks. Mike Mund of Milnor was third. Kasey Ussatis of Nome was fourth and Ryan Mund of Milnor fifth.

Tanner Jacobson of Jamestown won the Hobby Stock feature with Billy Carow of Jamestown taking second. Matthew Stoppleworth of Ypsilanti was third, Dalton Aabrekke of Lisbon fourth and Dylan Stoppleworth of Ypsilanti fifth.