I made it to Casino Speedway in Watertown for the first time in 2023. It's a place I've been to several times over the years and I will say it is one of the more unique tracks in Wissota.
Let me say first of all that it is a drastic change going from watching the big half-mile at Viking Speedway in Alexandria to the ¼-mile bullring in Watertown. You see some bumping and banging in tight quarter-mile racing and a lot of close calls, and for fans, that is part of the appeal.
There was a packed house in the stands for a second straight week, and there were 88 cars signed in, led by 23 Wissota Street Stocks and 20 Wissota Late Models. Some excellent quality in all classes. Thanks to the folks at Casino Speedway for the hospitality I will be back a few more times this summer.
I will admit that I was a bit nervous seeing 23 Wissota Street Stocks line up on a quarter-mile track for the feature, that we would see some pileups. There were plenty of cautions unfortunately, even though the racing towards the front was clean.
Wade Tirrel of White, S.D. was the initial leader, but Maria Broksieck of Goodwin, S.D., a long-time top runner in the streets in that region, was working the low line and took over the top spot four laps into the race.
Eyota, Minn., driver Braden Brauer moved past Tyler Lamb of Clark for third and went to work on Tirrel.
I was keeping an eye on three Grand Forks-area drivers – Trey Hess, Tucker Pederson and Greg Jose – to see how they were maneuvering through a crowded field. Hess was working hard on Troy Cepak Jr. for fifth. Pederson, who started 20th, was methodically moving into the top 10.
The bottom was the place to be for the street stocks, and Broksieck shines running that line. Brauer had moved into second with several cars battling for positions behind.
One driver who had a consistent race was Jason Marko. He had slid back early but had stayed in the top five. He eventually moved into third.
After a series of restarts, Hess had moved to fourth, while Pederson displayed patience through the field to get into the top five.
Some drivers ventured to the higher line - Jeremy Castro and Andy Rossow were among them -- looking to move up – but it was pretty dirty up there and they didn’t make any headway.
Brauer was within 2-3 car lengths of Broksieck but couldn’t get close enough to mount a serious threat. Broksieck would win by .546 seconds. Marko capped off a good night in third with Hess and Peterson capping off good nights in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Mike Nichols of Watertown jumped out to the lead in the Wissota Midwest Modified feature with Todd Stark in second and Tommy Nichols of Watertown third.
Derek Rieck of Ortonville, a usual contender at Casino, was also in the top five along with veteran Scott Hansen of Garden City. Week 1 winner Adam Brotherton of Huron soon moved into the top five past Hansen, using a higher line.
Rieck would drop out with 15 to go; I didn’t honestly see what happened with the 34 car so I couldn’t comment.
There were a series of cautions which slowed things, but Mike Nichols wasn’t slowed as he continued to be in control. Tommy Nichols and Brotherton were battling for second while Hansen and Cory Berquist of Huron were battling for fifth. A caution would wave with eight laps left.
On the restart Brotherton darted low and pulled beside Mike Nichols for the lead. HE couldn’t make the pass but did move into second. Stark was also still in contention as he would battle Tommy Nichols for third.
Mike Nichols had things in hand up front, however and would go on to a 1.948 win over Brotherton. Tommy Nichols fended off Start for third with Berquist rounding out the top five.
Bodie Croninger led the Gen X Late models early with Trajan Schmidt of Watertown in hot pursuit. Tony Croninger took over third.
Schmidt went high and passed Bodie Croninger with 12 laps to go. Fergus Falls driver Jarrett Huus was running in fourth ahead of Curt Kranz of Watertown. After a caution waved Tony Croninger moved into second and set his sights on Schmidt.
Tony Croninger was persistent in his pursuit of Schmidt and looked to get close enough to try a slider on the 12, but couldn’t do so. Schmidt would win by .845 seconds. Tony Croninger was second, Bodie Croninger third, Kranz fourth and Charlie Olsen of Hendricks, Minn., finished fifth.
Cayden Schmeling of Watertown and Dave Brooker led the Wissota Mods to the green. Brooker led the first two laps; but he would get into the wall in turns one and two and have to go to the tail.
Schmeling assumed the lead with Kenny Mayer moving into second. On the prowl was Joseph Thomas of Fargo, the Week 1 winner as he moved into second past Mayer. Former national champion Mike Stearns of Hecla moved into fourth ahead of Dale Ames of Huron.
Schmeling had some breathing room but Thomas was steadily eating away at the lead. Those two had a big gap on the rest of the field. Ames, Mayer, two-time defending national champion Tyler Peterson and Stearns put on a show in a four-car battle for third.
Thomas was running an interesting line – he was going higher in turn three but darting low and getting a big run off of turn four. A caution would wave for a spin in turn four with 11 left.
Another driving who quietly was inching towards the top five was the Hermantown Hammer, Darrell Nelson.
ON the restart, Thomas pulled a slider for the lead; Schmeling would make contact with the left rear of Thomas, and that left Schmeling’s 13 machine with front suspension damage, ending his night.
Tyler Peterson was now the primary challenger for Thomas. Ames was running solidly in third.
Thomas is now 2-for-2 at Casino, winning by nearly a second over Peterson, who had earned runner-up honors after starting 11th. Ames was third, and Mayer held off Nelson for fourth.
Defending national champion Chad Becker of Aberdeen drew the outside pole for the 20-car, 25-lap Wissota Late Model feature. He stormed out to the lead over Trevor Anderson of Watertown, who is the defending Tri-State Late Model series champion.
Scott Ward of Watertown went from eighth to fourth on the first lap and was pressuring Dave Thomas of Aberdeen for third when the caution waved with 20 to go. Morgan Ward Grosz was running in fifth.
On the restart Ward passed Anderson for second as Week 1 winner Curt Kranz took over fourth. Another caution would wave with 17 to go.
Becker was very strong on the restarts and opened a lead on ward. Kranz and Anderson battled for third. Darrell Nelson was in a tight battle for fifth with Jayson Good of Watertown.
Becker had the field covered and Ward had second in hand, Nelson was working on Kranz for fourth with Good right there.
The winning margin for Becker was 3.392 seconds with Ward capping off a good run from eighth to second. Kranz outlasted Nelson for third with Good rounding out the top five.
Eight Wissota Hornets capped off the night for Casino with Bradley Rossow of Florence taking the early lead. But it was clear quickly Dylan Tirrel of Toronto was the car to beat, as he would overtake Rossow for the lead.
The best battle was for second as Adam VanDerostyne of Canby and Brayden Begalka of Elkton, S.D., went at it hard. Tirrel was never threatened when he was out front and picked up the easy win. Begalka was second, VanDerostyne was third, Rossow fourth and Brett Alexander fifth.
Casino Notes
Jayson Good has raced a modified for several years but added a late model this year. He looked solid on Sunday, going from 13th to fifth.
I got some driver interviews done with Morgan Ward Grosz, Scott Ward, Jason Marko and Tony Konold for feature stories in the weeks ahead. Tony Konold is the brother of Broksieck.
Nate Heinrich of Bellingham was a good modified driver for many years in western Minnesota, and he made his comeback on Sunday. That was good to see.
Darrell Nelson make the long trek from Hermantown to race his mod and late model. He finished in the top five in both features. His son, Kade, had a limited late model.
Broc Stout of Winner won opening night at Casino in the street stocks, but did not have a good night on Sunday and was a DNF.
Long-time veteran Al Schmidt, 72, is still out there in the street stocks. He also was a DNF after some damage from incidents.
Payton Asche of Granite Falls has moved to the street stocks this year after racing in the Hornets previously.
Castro and Cepak were on quite a weekend trip from their Montana homes. They raced Friday at Dacotah Speedway in Mandan (Castro won, Cepak was third), Saturday at Jamestown and Sunday were at Casino. They could make it a four-night weekend if they race at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon on Monday.
Vogel Picks Up Tour Win at Viking
Justin Vogel of Brooten won the second night of of the Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour presented by Shocker Hitch Sunday night at Viking Speedway.
Vogel started third on the 24-car field. Ty Agen of Chippewa Falls was second, Kolton Brauer of Eyota third, Saturday’s winner Nick Traynor of Barron, Wis., fourth and Kolby Kiehl of Barron was fifth.
Carson Miller of Carlos won his first career Wissota Super Stock feature over Ryan Kostreba of Elk River. Trevor Saurer of Dalton was third, Travis Vanderby of Alexandria was fourth and Matt Miller of Glenwood was fifth.
Haley Lee of Starbuck picked up her second career feature win in the Wissota Midwest Modifieds topping Ron Saurer of Dalton. Travis Engebretson of Cyrus was third, Buzz Muzik of Alexandria fourth and Scott Oeltjen of Villard was fifth. Oeltjen went from 12th to fifth on the final grid.
Travis Saurer of Elizabeth topped Brady Gerdes of Villard for the Wissota Modified feature win. Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls was third, Saturday’s winner Jason Thoennes of Garfield was fourth and Dusty Bitzan of Brandon was fifth.
Hunter Goulet of Fargo won the Short Tracker feature over Kole Kampsen of Belgrade. Joe Martin of Willmar was third, Tristan Raths of Donnelly fourth and Blayne Sweet of Sauk Centre fifth.
Comments