Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon welcomed a good field of 98 race cars for its Sunday night show. The track was nice and smooth and there was good racing in all five classes.
Bo Gregor of Lisbon and Jonny Carter of Lisbon both repeated from Week 1 while three new drivers found victory lane.
If the track is dry and Bo Gregor’s car is working, it’s going to be awful tough to beat the defending track champion. Gregor originally started eighth and after a couple of cars dropped out on cautions wound up starting on the outside of Row 2. It didn’t take the Lisbon driver long to take control as he took the lead and built almost a straightaway advantage on the field to pick up his second straight win.
The real battle was for second as Aberdeen’s Jayden Michaelsohn, New Rockford’s Matthew Duchscherer and Jamestown’s Dylan Steele. Those three waged quite a battle before Michaelsohn finally secured the spot. Duchscherer was third and Steele was fourth. Steele, only 19, has raced four times this season and has finished in the top five all four times. Nick Thoreson of Valley City rounded out the top five.
Ryan Braseth of Ulen, Minn., set the pace early in the INEX Legend feature. But giving persistent chase was defending track champion Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead. Carlsrud, interviewed above, was patient and eventually made the pass, and eventually built a nice lead on his way to the win. It was Carlsrud’s first win of 2020 and his third career win overall — and he drove a smooth, consistent race to get there. Braseth edged Donovan Wiest of Wishek for second.
Some notes on the INEX Legends feature. Getting an ‘A’ for effort was Sean Johnson of Kindred. Johnson was determined to make the high side work in his #58 machine; he slid outside the top five for a while but kept plugging away and wound up fourth. Last week’s winner, Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes, was running in the top five but spun in turns three and four and pulled in with apparent mechanical issues. Teenager Ashton Spieker of Sabin earned the best finish of his young career, taking eighth after starting 10th.
Defending national champion Jonny Carter of Lisbon remained undefeated in the Wissota Street Stocks with an impressive win. Carter started eighth and began to pressure early leader Kasey Ussatis of nome on the outside. Carter made the high side work — as he has many times before — and picked up the win. Ussatis finished second for his second top three finish of the weekend. Billie Christ of Jamestown, who is back in the street stocks for 2020, has looked good both weeks at Sheyenne and took third. He’s finished in the top five both times.
Eric Riley of Morris had some issues that prevented him from taking the green in the heat, forcing him to start dead last on the 12-car field. He was patient and avoided trouble and finished a solid fourth. Ryan Satter of Dent, Minn., also had a nice run, finishing in the top five.
Todd Carter of Lisbon moved up to second for a while, and was really pushing hard to close the gap on Jonny Carter, who happens to be his nephew. But he made a rare slip-up, getting too high going into turn three and sliding off to lose several positions. He recovered and finished sixth.
Lucas Rodin’s nickname is the Nightmare, and unfortunately for him the start of the season has been a nightmare. He’s been credited with two 19th-place finishes (including a DNF while leading at Devils Lake) and a 17th-place finish. On Sunday, the Marion, N.D., driver erased some of the sting of that rough start with a nice win. Rodin, interviewed above, started third and using the low line, battled Zach Reinke of Lisbon for the lead. Reinke was running the high line. Rodin was able to open a few car lengths on the field before the caution came out.
After the caution, Rodin moved up to a little higher line in turns three and four and took off to a commanding advantage. The car making some noise was Kyle Langland’s 66 machine. Running effectively on the bottom, Langland, of Casselton, passed Nate Reinke of Lisbon, Jaren Wibstad of and eventually Zach Reinke to take over the second spot, which is where he finished. Randy Klein of Lisbon started ninth and finished third, ahead of Zach Reinke and Jaren Wibstad. Haley Lee of Starbuck, Minn., had a nice run and finished sixth, just outside the top five.
Joshua Abney of Lisbon looked poised to win the Mini Stock feature, but a persistent Kelby Anderson was the one that found victory lane. In a race that went down to the wire Anderson, of Fort Ransom, picked up the win with Cole Bogart of Milnor taking second. Abney settled for third. 13-year-old Cole Greseth of Harwood, N.D., was fourth and Week 1 feature winner Neil Walton of Englevale came home fifth. A total of 23 cars took the Mini Stock main and it was a pretty clean race for the most part. That group did a nice job.
Notes
—Austin Lammers of Pelican Rapids made his season debut with a new-look 33L car. He finished a solid ninth. I expect him to be a top contender once I-94 Speedway opens.
—There is a lot of young talent in the INEX Legend class — Wilke, Carlsrud, Garrison Miller of Fargo and Ashton Spieker of Sabin are among them. There are also good veterans like Wiest, Sean and Dylan Johnson and Tony Brockhouse. The class has a nice mix right now.
—Jack Koranda of Sabin, Minn., had a tough weekend in his Wissota Street Stock. He was involved in a wreck and got damaged at Devils Lake on Saturday and also pulled in with issues — also with some damage — on Sunday at Sheyenne. He looked really good in his heat on Sunday.
—Congrats to Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck for picking up the Wissota Street Stock win at Casino Speedway on Sunday in Watertown, SD.
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