Buffalo River Speedway hosted the Buffalo Wild Wing NOSA Sprints as part of Sunday’s program. Two drivers would go on to pick up their first career feature wins on the night.
My original plan was to cover Casino Speedway in Watertown for the Rebel Midwest Mod Tour, but rain has plagued that tour this summer. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were all rained out. So switched up and decided to cover the NOSA Sprint Special at Buffalo River.
Buffalo River got about an inch of rain on Saturday night and spent a lot of the day working the pit area to get it to dry. They got some sunshine and wind which helped. The track was fast but had some real character – some would call it a Cowboy track -- that really challenged drivers, but it did lead to plenty of action. The racing wasn’t dull by any means.
There were 103 cars on hand overall, including 18 sprints, which I think was a solid field. It was a very long night of racing, getting done around 10:49 p.m., but people got their money’s worth in terms of number of races held.
My pre-race favorite, and I’m guessing the pre-race favorite of many, in the sprints was Mark Dobmeier of Grand Forks, who started fourth. He entered the night with nine feature wins this season and was second in the NOSA Sprint point standings entering the night.
Nick Omdahl of Grand Forks, however, had won earlier this season at Buffalo River and had the inside pole along side Shane Roemeling of Grand Forks.
Omdahl led the first lap with Dobmeier moving into second. The race didn’t make it very far as Josh Swangler spun in turns one and two. It was a bad fast racetrack with some holes to navigate and cars were often on three wheels around the ¼-mile oval.
The sprints struggled with cautions early, with three in the first three laps.
Once the racing got going a little, Dobmeier opened a big lead over Omdahl as 410 sprint rookie Adam Sobolik of Grand Forks – who has a bunch of wins in the wingless sprints – was in third ahead of NOSA point leader Jade Hastings of Grand Forks. Blake Egeland of Climax was running a solid fifth.
The caution would wave when Zach Omdahl spun in turn two, which was the fourth caution of the race. Dobmeier had a commanding lead erased.
Hastings got a great restart and moved into second and set his sights on Dobmeier with Omdahl in third. Adam Sobolik was running well in fourth ahead of Roemeling, who had a challenge from Brendan Mullen of Grand Forks as the caution waved for a fifth time.
ON the restart with 13 to go Hastings was beside Dobmeier, but the #13 machine powered to the lead. The top line was the preferred line for the sprints from the get-go.
Brendan Mullen’s 11 machine tumbled in turn two to bring out the red flag with 10 to go. It didn’t look like a vicious roll as some, but it did its share of damage, particularly to the wing. He was OK. Mullen entered the night third in the NOSA points.
Rookie Weston Olson had moved into the top five as Sobolik got by Omdahl; however, Sobolik would go around in turn two for the seventh stoppage of the race.
Dobmeier had opened a straightaway on Hastings by the time the white flag waved on his way to a dominating win. Hastings was second. Omdahl was third, while Olson finished a solid fourth. Egeland held off Jack Croaker of Grand Forks, who had started in the back, for fifth. Croaker went from 18th to sixth and avoided the incidents in front of him. It was not a classic feature race to say the least as the cautions really disrupted the flow of the race.
There were major national point implications for the Wissota Street Stocks. Braden Brauer (first in national points), Tucker Pederson of East Grand Forks (second), Justin Vogel of Brooten (fourth), Trey Hess of Grand Forks (fifth) and Kasey Ussatis of Nome (eighth) were all in attendance. Only Kolton Brauer of Rochester, who is third in the national points, was missing from the top five in the national standings.
Pederson had the outside pole and was coming off wins at Sheyenne Speedway on Thursday and Devils Lake on Saturday. Vogel successfully defended his Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour last weekend.
Pederson led the first lap, but Vogel was peeking down low. Brauer, who started sixth, moved into third. Greg Jose of Grand Forks was solidly in fourth.
The top three pulled away as Vogel and Brauer stayed close but were also fighting for the second spot as things heated up at the front. Hess was running fifth.
If you know Vogel, he will drive the wheels off to try to get a win, and he was fighting hard trying to find a way around Pederson, who could ill afford a mistake. Brauer slid back a few car lengths.
With seven to go Vogel went for the slider in one and two but Pederson regained the spot on the crossover.
Jose, Hess, and Ryan Satter of Dent were about a straightaway behind but having a good fight for the fourth spot. However, with three to go Jose went around on the frontstretch to bring out the first caution of the race, erasing a .7 second lead for Pederson.
On the restart Vogel chose the outside line and that allowed Brauer to move into second. Brauer then got a big run out of turn four with the while flag out as Pederson got a bit tight and slid up, allowing Brauer to edge in front.
Pederson went for broke during the final corners, driving the 27P machine as hard as he could and made some contact with Brauer but completed the slider and would go on to take a thrilling win. The top three raced extremely hard and there was a little contact – but no equipment was destroyed. It’s three of the top four drivers in national points fighting for a valuable win. Pederson went 3-for-4 on the week, by the way, finishing runner-up to Brauer on Friday at River Cities. Do not count Vogel out by any means. The Wolverine usually rises to the occasion this time of year and with national points on the line will be hungry for wins.
Vogel was third with Hess and Satter rounding out the top five.
Nathan Kelley and 15-year-old Braiden Mund led the Short Trackers to the green as Mund jumped out to a commanding lead over Chandler Dick, who has a win at Sheyenne Speedway this season.
The caution would wave with 10 to go as Troy Lesmann of Fargo got turned around on the front stretch, but fortunately no other cars were collected. Weston Clauson, who was a runner-up to Mason Bogart of Milnor Thursday at Sheyenne, was tagged with that caution. That was a case of too many cars in too small of a spot.
Mund and Dick opened a big lead on the field as Goulet, who has dominated at Buffalo River this season, worked into third. Goulet went way up to the high side.
Dick made a run on the high side to take over the lead with seven to go as Goulet was closing.
Tyson Roush was running in the top five but slid off the top of turns three and four to bring out the caution with six to go.
Dick had the lead on the restart but now had Goulet to contend with. There was contact between Dick and Goulet down the backstretch to bring out the caution. The caution was called on Dick, who had to go to the tail.
Mund was now the lead with Goulet and Nathan Kelley behind him on the restart. Mund got off to a good restart as Goulet went back up to the high side. Christian Kast of Fairmount was having a good run and moved into third. The caution would wave with three to go as Travis Roush stalled in turns three and four.
Mund got a good restart with three to go and opened a few car lengths and was able to pick up the feature win – the first of his career. Goulet, who had not lost in that 701 car at Buffalo River since the car was put together, settled for second. Kast went from seventh to third while Lesmann was a solid fourth. Adrian Kubitz was part of a multi-car tussle for position mid-pack and finished fifth.
Reid Randall led the IMCA Hobby Stock feature with Miranda Borg fighting Nicholas Dillenburg of Pillager and Caleb Gardner of Glyndon for second.
Randall had the lead with Dillenburg all over him. He went to the outside and took over the lead with nine to go. Gardner had moved into third and Chad Visser of Ironton had moved into fourth.
Marv Priem of Glyndon and Tyler Hehn of Horace were locked in a good fight for fifth, but Priem got turned around in turn four to bring out the caution. Priem would go pitside.
Dillenberg had the lead with Randall and Gardner on his heels on the restart. Soon, he opened several car lengths on second as Gardner and Randall continued to fight for second. Visser was running fourth. Visser, however, slid up high with a flat tire and would drop out of contention.
The best battle was for second between Gardner and Randall although Hehn and Brad Orvedal of Fargo were fighting for the fourth spot.
Dillenburg would cruise to a 1.449 second win over Randall, who outlasted Gardner for second. Hehn held off Orvedal for third. It was Dillenburg’s first career feature win. Orvedal went from ninth to fifth. Borg, making only her third start of 2023, was sixth.
Young Kyle VanMil shot off to the lead in the INEX Legends feature with Lundquist in second. Kody Machart of Moorhead moved into third and soon took over second. Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton moved into third. Machart was on a rail and moved into the top spot. The caution would wave for debris with 16 to go.
On the restart Hendrickson moved into second and was pressuring Machart for the lead as VanMil ran in third. Ryan Braseth and Richardson were looking to move into the top five.
Hendrickson took the lead with 13 to go as Braseth moved into second. Machart has been plagued with bad luck lately and would pull in with an issue with 12 to go. Jamestown driver Ryan Erdahl moved into the third spot ahead of Richardson and Collin Compson of Valley City. The caution would wave for Skylar Seckerson’s spin with 11 to go.
Compson moved into third on the restart as Richardson, Erdahl and Josh Wiest of Jamestown were now engaged for fourth.
Braseth got a surge on the bottom of turn two and took over the lead with seven to go when yet another debris caution waved. That would put Hendrickson back up front as the race went to the last completed lap.
Wiest went up to the high side – everyone else was down on the bottom – and was looking to make some noise. Hendrickson stuck the 67 to the bottom but Wiest was moving as the white flag waved. Wiest then put together a huge run off turn four on the final lap to edge Hendrickson for the win by .022 seconds over Hendrickson. Braseth was third, Compson fourth and Richardson was fifth.
The IMCA Mods did their share of bouncing on the rough spots and it led to some close calls and very tight racing. Erv Grossman of Fargo was charged with the first yellow after getting crossed up which led to a chain reaction.
Tyler Hall of Fertile first lap but was under heat from Marcus Tomlinson of Turtle Lake for the top spot. Tomlinson, however, would loop his #5 machine on its own and had to go to the tail with 17 to go.
That caution brought Jamie Schulz of Harwood and John Nord of Enderlin to Hall’s bumper. Nord surged into the lead as Hall faced pressure from Zack Docter of Minot and Allen Kent of West Fargo. Hall, however, would fight back and would edge back in front. Kent was closing in on both.
Scott Bintz of Jamestown was having a great charge through the field after starting 18th and moved into fourth. Kent was pressuring Hall as Nord pulled away by a few car lengths. Bintz would pass Hall for the third spot. Hall would pull off shortly after; I know Tyler pretty well and he prefers a hard, slick racetrack, and this was not that type of track.
Turtle Lake driver Isaac Sondrol had moved into fourth as Kent was making up some ground on Nord. Sondrol got around Bintz for third. Lapped traffic would be costly for Nord, as he was slowed enough for Kent to surge into the lead with two to go. Kent would go on to take the win by .606 seconds over Nord. Sondrol was third, Bintz fourth and Tomlinson, who had gone to the back for an early caution, got back to fifth.
George, Matthews, Dondelinger Lead Bemidji Victors
Shannon George of Bagley won the Mini Stock feature over Ashton Schwinn of Little Falls. Kalin Honer of Laporte was third, Hayden Engen of Gonvick fourth and Conrad Schwinn of Little Falls was fifth.
National point leader Carter Matthews of Clearbrook won the Wissota Hornet feature over Justin Barsness of Grand Rapids. Cejay LaValley was third, Brooklyn Vernlund of Bemidji was fourth and Chad Reller of Waskish was fifth.
Maxwell Dondelinger of Grand Rapids held off national point leader Dexton Koch of Becker for the Wissota Super Stock win. Matt Sparby of Bemidji was third, Brandon Bahr of Tenstrike was fourth and Doug Koski of Chisholm was fifth.
Josh Berg of Bemidji topped Dustin Puffe of Laporte for the Wissota Pure Stock feature win. Barsness was third, Bonnie Farrington of Akeley fourth and Kade Leeper of Guthrie was fifth.
Tommy Pogones of Princeton topped Dustin Holtquist of St. Cloud for the Wissota Mod 4 feature win. Nick McCann of Brainerd was third, Ashton Schwinn of Little Falls fourth and Tommy Bawden of Clear Lake was fifth.
Devyn Weleski of Blackduck won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature with Brandon Bahr of Tenstrike in second. Doyle Erickson of Bagley was third, Landon Gross of Bemidji was fourth and Brennan Schmidt of Bemidji was fifth.
Nicholas Jacobson of Bemidji topped John Farrington of Akeley for the Wissota Modified win. Jeff Reed of Bemidji was third, Skyler Smith of Bemidji was fourth and Tanner Williamson of Fort Frances was fifth.
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