RaceChaser was back at Viking Speedway for a regular race program on Saturday. A total of 59 cars were on hand on a pretty nice evening.
The Short Trackers were on hand for the first time at Viking. By the sounds of it, the Short Trackers will become a weekly part of the Viking Speedway program for the rest of the year. It was stated at the pit meeting that if 10 cars showed up that the class would be added — and there were 16 cars at the half-mile on Saturday.
Only eight Wissota modifieds were in attendance. Showing how the A mods have been down in numbers — Ogilvie had eight on Saturday, Madison had seven, Hibbing had nine, Worthington had eight, Brainerd had 10 and on Friday, Fairmont, a long-time IMCA track, had eight. So it’s not just Viking Speedway battling that numbers game in the A mods.
I did feel Viking’s intermission ran a little too long for my taste. If I have an issue with Viking or most tracks, it’s keeping the show moving along, and trying to be done in a reasonable time window. That’s a constructive criticism, not a gripe. The other issue I had is the lack of participation in the dash races (which pay $100 to the winner) --- the midwest modified dash had three cars and the modified feature had two. I don't think the dash is working out as some had hoped.
I thought the Wissota Midwest Modified field was pretty wide open, considering standouts Brock Gronwold and Brendan Blascyk were not in attendance. And it turned into quite a night for Randy Laage of Brooten, interviewed above.
Jon Carlson of Brandon, looking for his first career win, took the lead from the outside pole. On the move through the field was Ron Saurer of Dalton, who started dead last in the 11-car field. He was into the top five quickly.
Laage was charged with an early yellow and went to the tail, but it was clear the #EZ-1 was on the move. He was into the top five and soon passed Saurer for third.
Carlson had his hands full with season point leader Shawn Olson of Alexandria; Olson worked and worked on Carlson for the lead but couldn’t get around him. This battle allowed Laage to close in quickly on the top two; and in a few laps he’d passed both and taken the lead.
Carlson and Olson continued to fight for second, but neither had anything for Laage who picked up his first win of 2021. Laage is armed with a new car this year, and in four starts this season, he’s been in the top four all four times. Laage also captured the clean sweep bonus by winning the heat, dash and feature.
Carlson held off Olson for second with Saurer settling for fourth. Josh Muzik of Alexandria rounded out the top five. Olson, by the way, has a commanding 169-point lead over Taylor Bitzan in the season points standings.
It’s proving difficult to beat Ryan Satter of Dent, interviewed above, in the Wissota Street Stocks at Viking. Former track champion Andrew Bangsund of Alexandria took the lead from the outside pole and opened a nice lead. But Satter, who is on his way to the track title at Viking, was fast. He quickly moved into second and erased Bangsund’s advantage. With eight laps to go, Satter made the pass for the lead.
There was a caution with three laps left — and that gave Bangsund another shot at Satter. Also looking to make a late run was JJ Nieuwbeerta of Alexandria, who moved into third on the final restart. Also factors in the top five were Tanner Horn of Wadena and Craig Gardner of Alexandria.
Satter pulled away to his 12th win of 2021. Satter has seven of the nine wins at Viking this season. Bangsund was second, with Horn capping off a good run in third. Gardner was fourth and Nieuwbeerta was fifth.
Jason Thimmesh of Garfield literally smoked out the place in his #85 street stock. His motor was still running in the pit area but man for smoke!
Speaking of drivers who are tough to beat right now, that would include Short Tracker driver Kevin Youngquist of Barney, N.D. He started on the outside pole of Saturday’s feature and once he got out front, checked out on the field. Even a caution couldn’t derail Youngquist as he won by a comfortable margin over Shawn Robinson of Dalton.
Devin Goulet of Fargo and Hunter Goulet of Fargo had a good battle for third along with Curtis Huseth of Underwood. The rest up front was settled as Youngquist won going away. Robinson, Devin Goulet, Hunter Goulet and Curtis Huseth rounded out the top five.
Jeff Crouse of Alexandria was pretty determined in the Wissota Super Stock feature. He quickly got to the lead and was not threatened the rest of the way to pick up his fourth win of 2021.
The real battle was for second — Trevor Saurer of Dalton, Matt Miller of Glenwood and Ben Johnson of New London put on quite a show, racing hard for the spot. Saurer eventually won the battle to secure runner-up honors behind Crouse. Miller was third, Johnson was fourth and super stock rookie Jack Koranda of Bluffton was fifth.
Tyler Kaeter of St. Cloud was the early leader in the Wissota Modified class but he was pressured by outside pole car Josh Thoennes of Nelson. Thoennes soon took over the top spot and held off Brady Gerdes of Villard for the feature win.
Travis Saurer of Dalton was third, Dusty Bitzan of Brandon fourth and Tyler Kaeter was fifth.
Dykhoff Wins Steffes Street Stock Tour Feature at Madison
Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck won the Steffes Street Stock Tour feature Saturday night at Madison Speedway in Madison, Minn. It was his first career tour win and he is the sixth different driver to win on tour this season.
Dykhoff topped former Madison Speedway track champion Mike Jans of Clarkfield for the feature win. Todd Carter of Lisbon was third, Kyle Gennett of Auburndale, Wis., fourth and Jim Williams of DeGraff was fifth. An excellent 29 car field was on hand at Madison after 27 were at Fiesta City on Friday.
Steffes point leader Parker Anderson has nine tour wins, followed by Vogel with three and Kyle Anderson, Royce Jawaski, Jonny Carter and Dykhoff with one apiece.
The tour goes to Casino Speedway in Watertown on Sunday.
Blacklance, Zach Johnson Win Specials at Greenbush
Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls won the Rebel Midwest Modified Tour feature Saturday night at Greenbush Race Park. He took home $2,000 for the win.
Between his midwest modified and street stock, Blacklance has 14 wins this season.
Lucas Rodin of Marion, who won Friday at River Cities Speedway, was second with Nate Reinke of Lisbon taking third. Jason Grimes of Jamestown was fourth and Corey Storck of Morris was fifth. An excellent 38-car field was on hand at Greenbush.
Zach Johnson of Lowry topped Jeremy Nelson of Alexandria for the Advantage RV Modified Tour win. Shane Sabraski of Rice was third, Billy Kendall of Baxter fourth and Ryan Gierke of Villard was fifth.
Johnson is the eighth different winner on the tour this season. Sabraski leads Tyler Peterson of Hickson by one point in the standings with Johnny Broking of Grand Rapids just 14 points back.
Ryan Johnson of Karlstad won the Wissota Street Stock feature over Tucker Peterson of East Grand Forks.
Mullen Wins NOSA Sprints at Jamestown
Brendan Mullen of Grand Forks topped Wade Nygaard of Grand Forks for the Buffalo Wild Wing NOSA Sprint feature win at Jamestown Speedway. Only 14 sprints were on hand.
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