I was back at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon for championship night of the Steffes Street Stock Tour. Eric Riley of Morris came into the night with a two-point lead over Jonny Carter in the standings; Carter needed to win the feature on Sunday to win the tour title.
Turns out, Jonny Carter won the battle and the war.
Carter won the feature — holding off a furious challenge from Billie Christ of Jamestown and claimed the inaugural tour title. Dylan Steele, Brody Carlsrud, Zach Reinke and Cole Bogart also found victory lane.
Todd Carter of Lisbon took the lead from the pole in the Wissota Street Stock feature. Soon Jonny Carter of Lisbon was in hot pursuit, with Billie Christ of Jamestown, who already has two wins this week, closing in.
Jonny Carter, interviewed above, passed Todd Carter for the lead using the low line a few laps into the race, and Christ followed into second.
Christ applied pressure to Jonny Carter as Todd Carter, running a little higher line, was still in the hunt in third. Parker Anderson of Phillips, Wis. and Kyle Anderson of Jamestown meanwhile had a great battle for fourth. Kyle Anderson spun and was charged with the yellow (I didn't see the incident so no comment).
After the restart Parker Anderson passed Todd Carter for third and Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck - who had went to the tail earlier for a caution -- had worked back into the top five.
Christ actually might have been a tad quicker on this night, and he gave Carter a few bumps to try to get him off the low line, but to no avail. It was hard racing but in my mind pretty clean. Jonny Carter picked up the win which clinched the tour title for him over Eric Riley. Christ, who won at Brown County on Friday and Jamestown on Saturday, settled for second to cap off an excellent week. Parker Anderson came home third with Dykhoff moving into fourth. Todd Carter placed fifth.
Dylan Steele of Jamestown, interviewed above, took the lead early in the Pure Stock feature. But season point leader Bo Gregor of Lisbon was closing quickly. He looked quicker on the high side and was close to making the pass when a caution came out.
Steele adjusted to a little higher line, and while Gregor was all over him over the closing laps, it proved to be a wise move as he held on for the win. It was his fourth win of the season and second at Sheyenne. Gregor extended his point lead slightly over Aberdeen driver Jayden Michaelsohn, who finished third. Nick NOrd of Enderlin was fourth while Billy Carow of Jamestown took fifth.
The INEX Legend feature was a dandy and turned into a seven-car breakaway. Brody Carlsrud of Fargo had the lead but Ashton Spieker of Sabin - looking for his first career victory -- was applying the heat. Spieker had his own challenge as Alex Kukowski of Edgeley was pressuring him for second. Meanwhile, Drew Papke of Bismarck was making up some ground on a higher line, as was Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes. Also in the battle in the top seven were the Braseth brothers from Ulen, Alex and Ryan.
It was a very tight pack for the top seven, and unfortunately Kukowski got into Spieker in turn three and that resulted in Spieker spinning. Kukowski was charged with the yellow and sent to the rear while Spieker regained his position.
After the restart, Papke moved into second and was all over Carlsrud; Wilke was also in the hunt. It turned into a three -car tussle with Carlsrud, Papke and Wilke running three wide. Carlsrud won by a narrow margin with Wilke taking second and Papke third. Ryan Braseth edged Alex for fourth. It was perhaps the best Legend feature of the year at Sheyenne.
Mason Bogart of Milnor and Shawn Beto of Wahpeton had the front row in the Mini Stock feature. On the move was Cole Bogart of Milnor, interviewed above, in the #97 machine; he started eighth.
It turned into a battle between Bogart and Kelby Anderson of Fort Ransom that went down to the final lap. Anderson slid up and Bogart got the opening he needed to make the pass and get the win. Anderson was second. Justin Hainline of Lisbon extended his point lead with a third-place finish while Gavin Walton of Englevale was fourth. Dalton Aabrekke of Lisbon was fifth.
The midwest modified feature, well, let's just say a few drivers were unhappy afterwards. Ten of the 16 starters finished. And it was a half-full night for the Reinke family from Lisbon -- as you will see shortly. It was a race filled with early cautions and as a result, the yellow/black came out quickly.
Nate Reinke of Lisbon had the point lead going into the night; he was running in the pack when he suffered a right flat front tire to bring out the caution. I didn’t see what happened as far as contact goes and I don’t want to speculate. Because of the yellow/black rule, it meant his night was finished to the frustration of the Reinke crew. He was the victim of circumstances -- to me, I'd be more upset at the people who caused the numerous cautions earlier that resulted in the yellow/black having to be used in the first place.
Back to the race -- Haley Lee of Starbuck, Minn., was in a battle early with Scott Bintz of Jamestown and then Kyle Langland of Enderlin. Zach Reinke of Lisbon, Nate's brother, meanwhile was on the move on the high side, and he soon passed Lee on the outside for the lead.
Lee and Langland waged a good battle for second as Zach Reinke pulled away for his first Sheyenne win of 2020. Langland finished second, while Lee was a season-best third. It was a good run for Haley who has been plagued with crappy luck this year. Bintz was fourth, and Brennan Urbach of Lisbon had his best run of the year, finishing a solid fifth.
The points race got more interesting, though as Zach Reinke is now within five points of Nate for the season championship. Lucas Rodin is now nine points back; Rodin also was a DNF on Thursday.
Sheyenne Notes
—There were 18 streets on hand -- lower than many nights of the tour. I wonder if having to reschedule affected that since the finals were supposed to be after a night in Jamestown. Some is the perception Jonny and Todd Carter are tough to beat there...some may be time of year. I don't have a sure fire answer.
--Visited with Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck. He's sported a new scheme since June -- blue car with while lettering (opposite of what he ran previously). He still has his midwest modified and hopes to have that ready by next week.
—Alex Langland's sharp looking #6 Wissota Midwest Modified is a tribute to his dad, Larry's former #66 car he ran back in the day. And if you know the Langlands, you know it will a Ford-powered race car. Alex had some misfortune in the feature as the throttle cable came off.
—Rich Pavilcek of Casselton was behind the wheel of Bob Sagen's #99 midwest modified. Rich pilots the #17 IMCA Sport Mod at Red River Valley Speedway and Norman County Raceway weekly.
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