Casino opening wins to Marko, Nichols, Gilbertson, Konold, Stearns and Rohner

I made it to Casino Speedway in Watertown for opening night on Sunday with 72 cars signed in.

As I’ve said I won’t be evaluating car counts in my recaps until we get past Memorial Day (I know several who are not ready), nor will I focus much on track conditions this early in the year as I have yet to see a perfect racetrack during an opening night of a track. We need to get into the season for a good 3-4  weeks before I make much of the track conditions unless it is a total plowed field.

Overall, I thought it was a solid opener for Casino, as the heat races were done in about an hour and 10 minutes, and there was some good racing in the features.  

Honestly, last time I was at Casino in-person there was a tornado on the ground miles west of town, so this seemed like a piece of cake. Some may ask while I cover Casino, and there are three reasons: first, I have a soft spot for tracks I used to go to growing up; second, it’s an area that I think is a bit untapped coverage-wise, and third, the staff and drivers have been friendly and welcoming to me and willing to share my stories. And it’s an easy trip down I-29, too with the 80-mph speed limit (about an hour 40 to the track for me).

Onto the racing…

Tony Miller of Browns Valley had the inside pole for the Wissota Street Stock feature and jumped out to the lead on Lap 1; unfortunately, he spun in turn four on the second lap and brought out the caution.

Jayden Bogh of Huron would inherit the lead with Jason Marko and defending Casino champion Maria Broksieck in tow. The long-time veteran Al Schmidt of Watertown tagged the frontstretch wall one lap later to bring out the second caution.

A driver who had moved into the top five with all the shuffling was Coltyn Schuler of Montevideo, who found speed on the lower lane.

Marko would pass Bogh for the lead with 12 laps to go as Bogh was fighting Schuler for second. Aberdeen driver Chris Serr was fourth ahead of Broksieck.

Schuler had grabbed second with nine to go and was closing on Marko, with Serr and Broksieck fighting hard for fourth. Schuler was making the bottom work and with six to gotook the lead for a moment. Marko, however fought back and the two raced hard side-by-side with five to go before Marko edged in front.

Behind them was a tight three-car battle for third between Bogh, Serr and Broksieck as Marko was still facing heat from Schuler as the white flag waved. Marko, however  didn’t flinch and held on for a win by just .172 seconds. Schuler, who started fifth, capped off a really good run in second. Bogh outlasted Broksieck for third with Serr rounding out the top five.  It proves you don’t need 20 cars to have a good, competitive race.

Watertown’s Tommy Nichols took the lead from the pole in the Wissota Midwest Modified feature, and he had a challenger throughout the race – Taylor Schmidt.  Darren Engesser of Gary settled into third while Terry Reilly of Watertown and Nick Wranek of Sioux Falls rounded out the top five in the initial moments.

Nichols had about 1-2 car lengths on Schmidt as Engesser was comfortably in third. A caution waved with 12 to go for Carter Frost’s spin in turn four.  Moments later there was a three-car tangle in turn two that saw the long -time veteran Scott Hansen tagged with the yellow.

Engesser took a look under Nichols on the restart but couldn’t complete a pass, and Schmidt would resume his pursuit of the leader. Meanwhile Reilly had moved to third while defending Casino champion Todd Stark of Watertown moved into fifth.

Schmidt worked the bottom under Nichols and with three to go made contact as things heated up at the front. The battle cooled for another caution. Over the final few laps Nichols kept Schmidt at bay to pick up the victory by .265 seconds. Schmidt ran a solid second with Reilly taking third and Engesser fourth. Stark rounded out the top five.

The Scott’s Gen X Late Models had a good field on hand but struggled with early cautions. Once the racing  started Tyler Mcfarland gabbed the lead but had a lot of heat from Parker Gilbertson of Watson, who won Friday at I-94 EMR Speedway.  Gilbertson would put the slider on with 17 to go to take the lead. Alex Tschakert of Kent and Tony Croninger were fighting for third. Cade Skytland’s spin in turn three brought out the caution with 17 to go.

Gilbertson resumed the lead as McFarland faced a challenge from Trevor Walsh of Watertown.  Bodie Croninger was running fourth ahead of defending Casino champion Curt Kranz. With 13 to go Hope Swenson’s Xjr machine got into the wall entering turn one to bring out the yellow; she left on the hook, I think she had some help but didn’t see it.

Once the racing resumed Tony Croninger had worked into the top five as Walsh was threating McFarland for second. Kranz had settled into fourth. Tony Croninger was having a good run into the top five but would pull in with an issue. With seven to go the 12 car of Brandon Fisher tagged the frontstretch wall to bring out the yellow.

On the restart Walsh seized second with Bodie Croninger into fourth and Blake Swenson of Watertown climbing into sixth and chasing Tschakert in fifth. Gilbertson was strong out of turn two as Walsh would close in the corners. After another caution with two to go, Gilbertson got a great start and that was enough to prevail for his second win of the weekend. Walsh settled for second with McFarland, Bodie Croninger and Tschakert rounding out the top five.

Tony Konold of Clear Lake jumped out front in the Wissota Modified feature with Superman Mike Stearns of Aberdeen on his heels. Andy Brooker of Tulare settled into third as Dawson Zabel of Selby and Nate Heinrich of Bellingham ran side-by-side for fourth. Stearns kept the pressure on Konold who was running the middle lane in what was a good duel up front.

Stearns took a look under Konold a few times, but Konold would have the momentum out of the corners to fend off the challenges. Brooker was having a solid run in third. Konold couldn’t afford a mistake, and he didn’t make any in picking up the feature win by .589 seconds. Stearns, a former national champion, settled for second with Brooker crossing third. Zabel and Heinrich capping the top five.  The race lasted four minutes with no cautions.

A competitive 16-car Wissota Late Model feature took the green with Stearns jumping out front from the inside pole. Justin Karlen of Howard ran second ahead of Charlie Olsen of Hendricks. The caution waved when Walsh spun in turn four, just two laps into the main event.

It seemed like several contenders were having issues; defending Casino champion Chad Becker of Aberdeen would pull off about five laps into the feature. Three-time defending national champion Tyler Peterson of Hickson would also pull off later in the race. That is an aberration for those two, whom I expect to be in the fight for the national title.

On the restart. Olsen got around Karlen for third as Kranz moved into third and Ryan Engels followed into fourth. With 15 to go a big wreck happened on the frontstretch as Karlen spun and collected several cars, including Trevor Anderson of Watertown, Chad Williamson of Watertown and the Eisenschenk twins, Laela and Amelia and Konnor Spehrle. Karlen, Spehrle and Laela Eisenschenk were all done for the night. Anderson and Williamson were able to continue.

Once that wreck was cleaned up Stearns, Olsen and Kranz ran the top three as Anderson pressured Thomas Weisgram of Northville for fourth. Olsen started to threaten Stearns for the lead as the caution waved for Williamson’s spin in turn two. After another caution two laps later Weisgram movedi into second with Anderson third and Walsh, who had made a big comeback through the field, moving into fourth. Kranz and Engels were in a tussle for fifth.

Stearns, once the race finally settled in, began pulling away to about a one-second lead on Weisgram, and was not threatened the rest of the way to bring up the victory by about. 8 seconds. Weisgram settled for second with Anderson, Walsh and Kranz rounding out the top five. Only seven cars finished in what was a tough race for many competitors.

I remember there were nights over the past few years when Casino struggled to get to six or seven Wissota Hornets. Well, that changed on Sunday as 17 were signed in. Dylan Tirrel of White was the early leader over Brett Moffenbier with Adam VanDerostyne of Canby in third. Jeff Rohner of Willmar climbed from eighth to fourth with Bradley Rossow of Florence running fifth despite having some smoke pour off his 555 machine.

Rohner was fast from the get-goand would take the lead with seven laps to go. Rossow and Moffenbier were fighting for fourth in what the was the best racing on the track.

Rohner took  control once in front, and the only thing that might have caused him any stress was lapped traffic. His lead was up to three seconds with three laps to go when a car slowed in turn three.  After another caution for a broken wheel on the 16 car, Rohner resumed his lead and cruised to a 1.2 second win. VanDerostyne ran third; Moffenbier crossed the line fourth but was DQed postrace, moving Rossow to fourth and Paxton Tjaden of Boyd to fifth.

Casino Notes

--Andy Rossow of Florence, a normal top runner in the Wissota Street Stocks, had engine trouble at Aberdeen on Friday and did not race on Sunday. Once that issue is remedied, he will be a regular weekly at Casino.

--Blake Swenson has moved from the Wissota Late Models to the Gen X Late Models, which makes things interesting for him: he is racing against his wife, Brittany AND his sister, Hope.

--Trevor Walsh and Curt Kranz (Gen X and Wissota Late Model) were among the drivers doing double duty on Sunday, joining Stearns (mod and late).

--Rohner was the national runner-up in the Wissota Hornets last year, losing by just five points to Anthony Jenson.