Casino championship night wins to Broksieck, Stark, Stearns, TPO, Larson and Begalka.

Todd Stark celebrates his feature win and track championship at Casino Speedway Sunday (Photo by Darin Stein)

The points races took center stage at Casino Speedway in Watertown with season championship night on Sunday on a nice late August evening.

One thing I’ve learned this year is the blog gets good traffic when there’s a variety of drivers and tracks covered, and that’s one reason I was covering Casino on Sunday. The last month was the best site traffic of the year, I should add. That, I’ve enjoyed covering the track and gotten good responses when I have covered their drivers and events. I went to that track quite a few times in my younger years.

Three of the six feature winners wrapped up track titles on the night.

Maria Broksieck of Goodwin led Andy Rossow of Florence by 7 points in the Wissota Street Stocks heading into Sunday’s program. But the front row was manned by Browns Valley’s Tony Miller and Aberdeen’s Jodie Michaelsohn; Broksieck started third and Rossow started fifth.

Michaelsohn edged ahead of Miller on the start as those two raced hard. Jason Marko of Watertown was third before Broksieck moved into the spot. Cory Giessinger of Watertown was fighting Rossow for fifth.

Broksieck and Marko were both pressuring Miller as Michaelsohn opened a one-second advantage. Rossow and Tyler Lamb of Clark were challenging Giessinger for fifth in a good battle.

Broksieck was eating into the lead and with 10 to go the lead was down to .281 seconds as the top two opened a big gap on the field. Miller was running a solid fourth. AS the top two encountered a lapped car and cleared it as Broksieck looked for an opening.  The first caution waved with six to go when Rossow suffered a flat left rear; his luck the past two weeks has been terrible as he was a DNF last week too.

That set up a shootout over the final six laps to go and Broksieck made her move on the outside of turn four to grab the lead. Marko was third while Giessinger, Miller and Wade Tirrel of White were fighting for fifth.

Michaelsohn kept pace with Broksieck and was within a car length at the white flag but didn’t have enough as Broksieck clinched the track championship with a feature win, her eighth of 2025.  Michaelsohn ran well all night and took second, finishing .611 seconds back. Marko was third, Giessinger a solid fourth and Tirrel edged Miller for fifth. There was only one caution in the 20-lap main event.

Watertown drivers Tommy Nichols led Todd Stark by two points in a very tight Wissota Midwest Modified points race going into the night, and that was tied after the heat race competition.  Nichols was starting seventh and Stark was starting fifth. Taylor Schmidt of Aberdeen and Jason Anderson of Clear Lake manned the front row.

Schmidt took the lead with Luke Johnson of Miller running second and Anderson in third. Shane DeJong of Boyd, Dawson Zabel of Selby, Terry Reilly of Watertown and Tommy Nichols were among the cars fighting for fifth. DeJong would pull off with a problem about five laps into the feature.

Schmidt was 1.1 seconds ahead of Johnson as Anderson was in third. Reilly was fourth with Stark pressuring him. The caution waved when Watertown driver Tom Neitzel spun in turn two; the caution was charged to Carter Frost of Watertown.  Johnson was all over Schmidt on the restart as Stark climbed to third past Anderson. The four were running close but the caution waved for Clear Lake’s Trevor Rush and Frost, who spun in turn two.

Stark and Johnson were fighting for second and Stark would grab the spot as Johnson got crossed up and into the wall. Reilly was up to third, Anderson fourth and Zabel was in fifth. Stark was working the bottom as Schmidt was up high as the top two fought side-by-side for the win. Stark would grab the lead with two go; Schmidt took alook on the bottom of turn two on the final lap but Stark weathered the storm to pick up win and wrapping up the 2025 track championship, his first ever at his hometown track. Much like Broksieck, he left no doubt about the title by winning the feature. Stark also won track titles at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen and Miller Central Speedway.

Schmidt was second, Reilly third, Zabel fourth and Anderson fifth.

Superman Mike Stearns of Aberdeen led Tony Konold of Clear Lake by 16 points for the Wissota Mod points entering the night.

Stearns flew to the lead from the outside pole of the Wissota Modified feature with Nate Heinrich of Madison in second. The caution flew on the second lap when Aaron Sowers slowed on the frontstretch. His 18 machine had a fire underneath; he was able to escape OK and officials put the fire out.  On the next lap as Dylan Zabel of Selby spun in turn two.

Stearns had about two car lengths on Heinrich as Joe Thomas of Glyndon, who won at Brown County on Saturday, pulled a slider on Kenny Mayer of Goodwin to take third.  Alex Guthmiller of Milbank was running fifth ahead of last week’s winner, Tony Konold of Clear Lake. Stearns had pushed the lead to 1.1 seconds with 12 to go as Thomas pressured Heinrich for second.  Konold had grabbed fifth and was working to reel in Mayer.

Stearns pushed the lead to 2.4 seconds and was in control to put the exclamation point on the 2025 track championship at Casino with a dominant win. Heinrich held off Thomas for second, Konold was fourth and Guthmiller would capture fifth on the final lap.

Chad Becker of Aberdeen led Jayson Good of Watertown by one point going into the Wissota Late Model feature, and things got off to an interesting start as Becker spun in turn four to bring out the caution. Chad Williamson of Watertown was charged with the yellow and Becker got his spot back.

Stearns, looking to go 2-for-2 on the night, had the early lead over Thomas Weisgram of Aberdeen with Curt Kranz of Watertown third, Ryan Engels of Watertown fourth and national point leader Tyler Peterson (TPO) in fifth. Becker, needing to finish ahead of Good to wrap up the points title, climbed to third as Peterson got by Engels.

Stearns opened a 2.4 second lead over Weisgram as Becker challenged Kranz for third. The late models were mainly up on the cushion of the ¼-mile oval.  Stearns had opened a commanding advantage on Weisgram with the best battle being for third between Kranz, Becker and TPO. Becker slid above the caution

The race took a stunning turn as Stearns broke and ended up stopped by the wall in turn three; he would leave on the hook, and his hopes of two feature wins in one night were dashed.

Weisgram inherited the lead but TPO  would grab second on the restart as Becker and Kranz fought for  third. Engels was fourth ahead of Konnor Sperle of Aberdeen. TPO ran up on the top and I got the feeling he was biding his time for a slider attempt as the laps waned,m and that happened on the pentiulmate lap; TPO got the slider in turn two and made it stick; Weisgram tried the crossover but TPO had taken the lead, and would go on for a victory by .709 seconds.

TPO wasn’t in the points battle at Casino but has a much bigger picture in mind. His feature win is very valuable as he chases a third straight Wissota Late Model national title. Weisgram was second while Kranz outlasted Becker for third. Becker, however, by finishing two spots ahead of Good, clinched the points title at Casino. Engels ran a solid fifth, eding Good by .002 seconds.

Curt Kranz of Watertown led Trevor Walsh of Watertown by 18 in Gen X Late Models going into the night but it was Parker Gilbertson of Watson taking the lead on Lap 1. Matthew Larson of Lake Elmo was quickly pressuring him on the low side and took the spot. Trevor Walsh of Watertown, the leader of the overall Gen X points, was up to third with Kranz in fourth and Blake Swenson of Watertown in fifth. Swenson, however had pressure from Jarrett Huus of Fergus Falls.

Larson would clear Gilbertson for the lead and was pulling away when the caution waved for Hope Swenson’s stalled machine on the backstretch. She would get pushed to the pits. Larson  moved to a big advantage on Gilbrertson on the restart with Walsh and Kranz fighting for third. Blake Swenson was still dueling with Huus for fifth.

Larson stretched the lead to 4.17 seconds by the checkered in a total runaway. Gilbertson was second, Walsh third, Blake Swenson fourth and Kranz put the finishing touches on a track championship in fifth.

One note on the Gen X Late Models. Brittany Swenson of Watertown, the wife of Blake Swenson, borrowed Tyler McFarland’s 19 machine for the week after rolling her 11x machine hard the previous week. Why you ask? She was fourth in the points coming into the night and wanted to try and secure a top five finish.

Entering the evening, Christian Kast of Fairmount led Nathan Smith of Watertown by five points in the Wissota Hornet feature.  Kast, who was crowned the KRA Hornet champion on Thursday, started third in the feature while Smith was right to his outside in fourth.

Bradley Rossow of Florence and Brent Moffenbier of Watertown  led the field with Moffenbeier taking the early lead. Smith was determined and climbed to second while Rossow and Brayden Begalka of Brookings squared off for third.  Kast was

A determined Smith was working hard on Moffenbeier with some contact but Smith would take the lead. Begalka would make it three-wide, and just as that was happening, Dean Roe’s 988 would catch fire; he was able to get out of the car without incident but his night was finished.

Smith had about a car length on Begalka  as Kast was now up to third. Moffenbeier waws fourth and Rossow fifth. Smith’s right side door was loose and Begalka found an opening; the two made contact out of turn four and Begalka would win by inches (0.069). That pass was huge, as Kast would clinch the track championship by finishing third. Smith was second in the race and points with Moffenbeier fourth and Joshua Gebhart in fifth.

Casino Speedway will wrap up its 2025 season with the 8^th annual Autumn Classic doubleheader on Sept. 19-20.

Matt Dittman and his crew celebrate in victory lane at Viking after winning the Dustin Virkus Memorial (Photo by Collin Nelson)

Dittman wins Dustin Virkus Memorial at Viking

 Matt Dittman of Lake Lillian survived a hard-fought battle with Jeff Rohner of Willmar to win the Dustin Virkus Memorial Wissota Hornet special Sunday night at Viking Speedway in Alexandria.  Dittman took home $4,060 for the feature win, a record for the Wissota Hornet class; he had won $3,000 at Casino Speedway earlier this month as the 22 machine is having a profitable month.  Rohner, second in the Wissota Hornet national points, settled for second.

Kreg Anderson of Alexandria was third, and earned Hard Charger honors after starting in 21^st. Brendan Bockwitz of Cambridge was fourth and Adam VanDerostyne of Canby was fifth. There were a ton of contingency awards for the field as well, including Hard Charger, Long Tow, Worst Draw, Tough Luck, among others. But I will let others sort how who won what on that.  Virkus, a two-time Wissota Hornet national champion, died tragically in an accident earlier this month at the age of 51 and was well known in the western Minnesota racing scene.

72-year-old Ron Saurer of Dalton topped Tyler Bitzan of Brandon for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature win. Taylor Bitzan of Brandon was third, Haley Dykhoff of Starbuck fourth and Travis Engebretson of Cyrus was fifth.

Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck completed a weekend sweep of the Wissota Street Stocks with another win. Eric Riley of Morris was second, Justin Vogel of Brooten was third, Kegan Stueve of Greenwald fourth and Joe Martin of Willmar was fifth.

Trevor Saurer of Dalton also completed a weekend sweep in the Wissota Super Stocks with Brady Gerdes of Villard second. Ryan Satter of Dent was third, Russell Kostreba of Zimmerman was fourth and Bryan Hellerman of Parkers Prairie fifth.

Dusty Bitzan of Evansville also completed a weekend sweep by winning the Wissota Modified feature. Brady Gerdes was second, Josh Thoennes of Nelson was third, Jason Thoennes of Garfield fourth and Brendan Blascyk of Hoffman fifth.

The racing program wrapped up the 2025 season at Viking Speedway.

Buffalo River wins to Langland, Olson, Goulet, Gardner, Pavlicek and Greseth

Kyle Langland of Enderlin won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature Sunday night at Buffalo River Speedway. Rich Pavilcek of Casselton was second, Zach Reinke of Lisbon third, Phil Christlieb of Fargo fourth and Alex Langland of Lisbon fifth.

Ty Olson of Mandan topped Joshua Wiest of Jamestown for the INEX Legend win. Ryan Braseth of Ulen was third, Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes fourth and Scott Richardson of Pelican Rapids was fifth.

Hunter Goulet of Fargo topped Kody Crabtree of Fargo for the Short Tracker win with Dayton Kent of West Fargo third.

Caleb Gardner of Glyndon won the IMCA Hobby Stock feature over Andrea Jacobson of Fargo with Brad Orvedal of Fargo taking third. Jayden Pavlicek of Casselton topped Scott Jacobson of Fargo for the IMCA Sport Mod win with Chris VanMil of Barnesville third.

Cole Greseth of Harwood added another Wissota Street Stock feature win with Blaine Barnes of Grand Forks in second. Tony Smith of Jamestown was third.

Sunday notes

--Mike Greseth of Harwood won the NLRA Late Model feature Sunday night at Greenbush Race Park. Cole Searing of Huron was second, Shane Edginton of East St. Paul, Man., was third, Brad Seng of Grand Forks was fourth and Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks was fifth.

Skyler Smith of Bemidji went 2-for-2 in the Wissota Midwest Modifieds with the win over Landyn Randt of Siren with Connor Graff of Greenbush third.  Jordan Duray of Halma topped Ward Imrie of Headlingley, Man., for the Wissota Modified win with Jason Strand of Portland fourth and Aaron Holtan of Newfolden taking fourth

Hayden Engen of Gonvick won the 4-Cylinder feature while Chris Dudley of Bemidji won the Wissota Street Stock feature.

--Austin Hunter of Winnipeg won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature Sunday night at Devils Lake Speedway. Jory Berg of Grand Forks was second and Tanner Theis of New Rockford was third.

Greg Jose of Grand Forks topped Stoney Kruk of Langdon for the Wissota Street Stock win. Ken Hron of Grand Rapids won the non-winged sprint feature over Colton Young of Devils Lake.