Clash at Casino wins to Ward, Sabraski (2 times), Nichols, Randt, Dittman

Scott Ward of Watertown won the Tri-State Late Model feature. Photo by Darin Stein

After covering Night 1 of the Howie Schill Memorial on Friday, I decided to cover the inaugural Clash at Casino held at Casino Speedway in Watertown as I was home on a Saturday night with family. Thanks to Dirt Race Central, I was able to cover the Clash, which was put on by FYE Motorsports. There was a good turnout with 116 cars coming in.

The Tri-State Late Models were the highlight with 30 on hand. The amount to win in each class was $3,000 to win late models, a whopping $2,000 to win the Wissota Hornets, $1,500 to win the Wissota Modifieds, $1,200 Wissota Street Stocks and Midwest Modifieds and $1,000 to win the Wissota Super Stocks. With a first-time event, guessing car counts is a crapshoot. I expected more Wissota Street Stocks, honestly and a few more Midwest modifieds with Viking and Madison off this week. The quality in each class, was there which is what matters at a ¼-mile bullring like Casino.

It was a long night with a lot of cautions in the features – not unexpected on a ¼-mile bullring with a lot of new drivers on hand -- except for the Wissota Street Stocks, who went caution free.

Mike Nichols of Watertown, a former Casino champion, was back behind the wheel for the first time in 2025 with Justin Bjorklund of Danube beside him on the front row for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature.  Nichols led the opening lap but there was a mutli-car mess that led to the caution.  The 15 cars of Ryan Flaten of Madison and Jayme Peterson of Highmore were both done after the opening lap. Flaten had won at Casino last Sunday.

On the restart Bjorklund chased Mike Nichols with Scott Hansen running third

Todd Stark of Watertown came to a stop in turn two and had to leave on the hook for the second caution. Mike Nichols resumed the lead on the bottom with a three-car tangle for second between Hansen, Bjorklund and James Trantina of St. Joseph. Scott Tofte of Madison was in a good duel with Lane Johnson of Huron.

Nichols pushed the lead to 1.4 seconds over Bjorklund, who was racing side by side with Trantina as Hansen fell to fourth.  Trantina would grab the spot but faced a 1.5 second deficit to Nichols.  As Nichols encountered some lapped cars the lead dropped to 1.1 seconds, but Mike Nichols would prevail for a one-second win. Trantina ran a strong second with Bjorklund third, Hansen fourth and Tofte fifth.

Cory Giessinger of Watertown and Jayden Bogh of Huron led the Wissota Street Stock field to the green flag. There was a 17-car field with some very good cars on hand.

The race saw everybody side by side on Lap 1 with Bogh edging ahead. Teenager Levi Randt of Siren was fighting Giessinger for second with Maria Broksieck of Goodwin, who won at Miller last night, was fourth ahead of Tony Miller of Browns Valley.

Randt cleared Giessinger and  was pressuring Bogh with Broksieck and Giessinger fighting for second. Joe Martin of Willmar had climbed to fifth. Randt was all over Bogh up front and Broksieck and Giessinger were in a hard side-by-side fight for third.  Broksieck grabbed third and started to pressure Randt for second. Giessinger now had Martin fighting him for fourth.

Lapped traffic came into play and Bogh got the raw end of that deal, as he made contact with Gladis and damaged th e front of his 20Jr; he would pull off after that. That was not his doing, just wrong place at wrong time.

Broksieck and Randt put on a heck  of a show for the lead with Broksieck running the ditch. Randt was a little quicker in turns three and four and that seemed to be the difference as the 11 would capture the win in a caution-free main event by about one second. Broksieck, who won at Casino last week, was second with Martin capping off a good night from eighth to third. Giessinger, who has had terrible luck when I have seen him this summer, was a solid fourth and Miller capped off a good night in fifth.

Jeffrey Larson of Reading, Minn., is the Tri-State point leader entering the night, but it was a pair of South Dakotans, Scott Ward of Watertown and Josh Skorczewski of Aberdeen, manning the front row for the 40-lap feature. Ward had won the Wissota Late Model Challenge series race at Casino in June.

Ward moved ahead with Skorczewski in second with Trevor Anderson of Watertown and Mike Stearns of Aberdeen fighting with Shane Sabraski of Rice for third. Stearns had to check up in turn two and Sabraski had to hit the brakes and lost three spots, which moved Jayson Good of Watertown into fifth.

 The caution waved for Travis Saurer’s 21; he had some left rear damage from contact but was able to continue. Iowa driver Elijah Zevenbergen, who has had some outstanding success in the stock cars, would pull into the pits during the yellow.

Ward, who likely hsas more laps on the ¼-mile than any late model in the field, continued out front. There was contact between Sabraski and Good as they fought for fourth, and the 85 spun. Charlie Olsen had no where to go but into Good’s 85, and Konnor Sperle of Aberdeen was also collected. Olsen, a promising young talent, was done with major right side damage. Good went to the work area and would return at the tail of the field.

Things went three-wide for the lead on the restart as Anderson and Skorczewski made a shot at the lead. Anderson took over second running in the ditch as Ward put his 37 up high. J.T. Wasmund and Sabraski. The caution would wave on Lap 8 as Chad Olsen of Hendricks, Shane Demey, Lane Brendon of Mitchell and Chad Williamson were all involved in a piellup. Brendon’s night was done.

Ward got a great jump on the restart as Skorczewski and Anderson  were giving chase. Wasmund moved past Sabraski for third  with Demey  and Superman Mike Stearns fighting for fifth.

Wasmund went up to the high side and was closing on Anderson as Ward’s lead stood at .929 seconds at the halfway point.  The fight for second intensified between Skorczewski and Anderson as Sabraski passed Wasmund for fourth.

Sabraski  meanwhile was charging on the high side and inched  ahead of Anderson for third.  Ward’s lead stood at a second with seven to go over Skorczewski but he had some a lapped car to contend with.  It turned into a great three-car battle for second between Skorczewski, Sabraski and Anderson for a couple of laps, but Skorczewski broke with four to go and pulled in, ending a great run.

Ward was the happiest to see the battle behind him as his lead stood at a second. Anderson had cleared Sabraski for second but the 7A had his hands full with Wasmund.  Stearns was running a solid with with Morgan Ward Grosz of Watertown, who advanced from the B main, running well in sixth.

Ward would win by 1.08 seconds with Anderson in second. Sabraski held on for third with Wasmund and Stearns completing the top five.

Ward Grosz, who started 20^th, had an excellent run through the field and finished sixth.

The Wissota Mod feature was frustrating with a bunch of cautions derailing the racing, especially over the first half.

After a caution during the opening lap for a pileup, Sabraski – doing triple duty grabbed the lead over Tony Konold of Clear Lake.  Stearns was fighting Huron’s Adam Brotherton for third with Joe Thomas of Glyndon running fifth. Saurer was challenging for a spot in the top five.

The caution waved on Lap 3 as Ryan Gierke, coming off of a huge win Friday at I-94, was turned around in turns three and four.  The race would make it two more laps before another caution; Thomas had climbed to second before Brandon Dolman’s 24 was turned around on the bottom of turn four.

Thomas went up to the high side to challenge Sabraski with Konold solidly in third and Stearns in fourth. Watertown driver Cayden Schmeling had worked to fifth. With 16 to go a big pack of cars was collected in a crash which involved Gierke, Nate Heinrich of Bellingham, Erv Grossman of Fargo, Dale Ames of Huron and Brooker.  The caution would come out again when Dylan Zabel’s 11Z broke on the backstretch.

On the restart Stearns was working the low side of Thomas as Brotherton passed Saurer for fifth. Brandon Mehrwerth of St. Stephen was running up to seventh after starting back in the seventh row. Thomas and Konold were running up on the high side. The caution would wave again for Cayden Schmeling’s spin in turn four.

After that caution things settled down, finally, and Sabraski stuck the 7A to the bottom and was smooth as Thomas desperately worked the high line trying to gain ground.  The best battle was for fifth between, Brotherton, Saurer and Gierke as Sabraski was in complete control up front. He’d win by 1.9 seconds over Thomas. Stearns was a strong third with Konold and Brotherton rounding out the top five. It was career feature win 986 win for Sabraski.

Sabraski and Dexton Koch of Becker – two former national champions – were on the front row for the Wissota Super Stock main event. The supers do not run weekly at Casino, and they struggled to get the race going as spins and cautions occurred.  Once the race got going Sabraski pulled ahead of Koch with Trevor Nelson of Warner running third. Austin Arbogast of Huron was fourth with James Trantina pressuring him.

Sabraski stuck the 7A to the ditch as Koch and Nelson raced side-by-side for second. Arbogast was fourth. Travis Scott of Glenwood, who started at the back after having issues before his heat race, had charged to sixth. The caution waved as Kopecky was turned around in turn two.

Koch and Nelson resumed their duel for second as Sabraski pulled away. Kopecky, Trantina, Scott and Dan Nissalke were fighting for fifth with some hard side-by-side racing. Sabraski’s lead grew to 1.7 seconds over Koch. Scott had worked past Trantina for fifth as the track locked down on the bottom.

Sabraski cruised to a 3.7 second win in a dominant victory with Koch taking second. Arbogast was third, Scott went from 17^th to fourth and Nelson was fifth.

The Wissota Hornets started three-wide for their 30-lap, $2,000 to win main event and Matt Dittman of Lake Lillian grabbed the lead as Travis Bruns of Alexandria, Christian Kast of Fairmount and Dylan Tirrel of White fighting for second. Adam VanDerostyne of Canby had climbed to fifth ahead of Bradley Rossow of Florence.

Dittman pushed the lead to 5.0 seconds over Bruns with Tirrel in third. The caution would wave with 19 to go when Skylar Burgher lost a wheel on the frontstretch.

There was also a $10 bonus for every lap led, and Dittman had compiled $110 when that caution flew.

Tirrel stayed within striking distance of Dittman on the restart as VanDerostyne was on the move. He cleared Bruns for third and was pressuring Tirrel for second. Kast was running a solid fifth.  Dittman’s lead grew to 2.5 seconds again when the caution waved with 12 to go with Brett Moffenbier’s Lightning McQueen look-alike spun in turn two with a flat.

Dittman pulled away again as Tirrel and VanDerostyne rubbed fenders a bit in the square off for second. Bruns was fourth and Eli Green of Osakis was fifth, but had pressure from Kast.

Dittman was rolling up front as the lead was up to 3.5 seconds as Tirrel and VanDerostyne continued side-bye-side in a terfic duel for second.

Dittman led every lap – winning $300 for that – and that was added to the $2,000 top prize to make it a very good financial night for the 22. The win came by 4.3 seconds. VanDerostyne was second, Tirrel third, Bruns fourth and Kast fifth

Howie Schill Memorial win to Don Shaw

Don Shaw of Ham Lake won the second night of the Howie Schill Memorial Late Model special Saturday night at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo. Tucker Pederson of East Grand Forks was second, Travis Robertson of Fargo third, Billy Kendall of Walker fourth and Cole Schill of Hawley fifth. A huge 51-car Wissota Late Model field was on hand.

Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes wrapped up the track championship in the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint class with Friday’s winner Dylan Waxdahl of Hartford in second. Brandon Rekow of Ellendale was third, Ty Hanten of West Fargo fourth and Monty Ferriera of Lincoln, Neb., was fifth.

Scott Jacobson of Fargo topped Ryan Restad of West Fargo for the IMCA Sport Mod feature win. Kyle VanMil of Barnesville was third, Jayden Pavlicek of Casselton was third and Andy Wagner of Ada was fifth.

Rick Schulz of Horace won for the first time in 2025 in the IMCA Stock Cars with Rob VanMil of Barnesville taking second. Brennan Borg of Harwood was third, Todd Heinrich of Fargo was fourth and Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada was fifth.

Jeff Carpenter Memorial win to Jake Smith

Jake Smith of St. Joseph, Minn., won the Jeff Carpenter Memorial Wissota Midwest Modified special Saturday night at Jamestown Speedway. Matt Schow of McIntosh was second, Aaron Michel of Jamestown was third, Kyle Anderson of Jamestown was fourth and Brennon Weight of LaMoure went from 19^th to fifth.

Lindsey Hansen of Fargo topped John Corell of Jamestown for the IMCA Modified win. Zach Nord of Enderlin was third, Jordan Sours of Lisbon was fourth and Derek Hanson of Britton, S.D.,

Jodie Michaelsohn of Aberdeen topped Kasey Ussatis of Nome for the Wissota Street Stock win. Dustin Erickson of Jamestown was third, Kolton Brauer of Eyota fourth and Trey Hess of Grand Forks fifth.

Bradley Stoppleworth of Jamestown topped Lane Stoppleworth of Buchanan for the Bomber feature win. Erik Busche of Jamestown was third.

Andrew Bargmann of Bismarck topped Regan Reinke of Lisbon for the INEX Legend win. Trever Sehr of Jamestown. Ty Olson of Mandan was fourth and Preston Martin of Jamestown was fifth.

Saturday notes

Skyler Smith of Bemidji topped Justin Olson of Thief River Falls for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature on Saturday night at Greenbush Race Park. Cylen Vargason of Edinburg was third, Brennan Schmidt of Bemidji fourth and Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls was fifth.

Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes topped Dexter Dvergsten of Greenbush for the Lightning Sprint win.  Dustin Puffe of Bemidji won the Wissota Pure Stock feature.

Brendan Mullen of Grand Forks won the NOSA Sprint feature.