RaceChaser blog capped off the weekend at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon. Car counts were good as 75 cars signed in, including a real nice 17-car Wissota Midwest Modified field. The one class I worried about, car-count wise, was the street stocks; several had received damage or had trouble earlier in the weekend that I didn't figure would make it. There were nine on hand, good quality, just not quite enough for two heats.
A solid 15-car IMCA Modified field was on hand at Sheyenne. The Mini Stocks led the way with 22, and I was impressed with an 11-car hobby stock field; I think anything above 10 at this time of year is a good field.
Point leader Bo Gregor of Lisbon won his hobby stock heat in convincing fashion, but transmission trouble brought an end to his night; he took the green in the feature but had to pull in. He still holds a 23-point lead over Zack Nord of Enderlin.
Nick Nord of Enderlin drove a smooth race on the lower line and led for several laps, but it was Jordan Sours of Lisbon who found speed on the higher line. Sours took over the lead but by no means was his second win of 2019 a runaway. Nord finished a solid second and did a really nice job, with Hayden Aberle of LaMoure, who challenged Nord for the lead for several laps, was third. Jayden Michaelsohn of Aberdeen and Zack Nord of Enderlin rounded out the top five.
The midwest modified main event went caution free as Kyle Langland of Casselton took the lead from the green. He opened up a decent advantage but Cody "The Cobra" Lee of Alexandria, Minn., was narrowing the gap. Things really got interesting in lapped traffic when Lee seemed to inch ahead briefly, but Langland (interviewed above) weathered each challenge, and held on by a slim margin to pick up the feature win, his first of 2019. Zach Reinke of Lisbon ran in the top four all night and took third with Lucas Rodin of Marion fourth and Haley Lee of Starbuck, Minn., having a solid run in fifth.
The battle between Langland and Lee was tense, especially in lapped cars, but very clean between those two. Good to see that kind of racing.
Todd Carter of Lisbon passed Kasey Ussatis of Nome for the lead early in the Wissota Street Stock feature and went on to open a nice lead. Ussatis, Jerry Lamb of Lisbon and Jonny Carter of Lisbon put on a whale of a show in the battle for second and were soon joined by Royce Jawaski of Horace, N.D.
A caution came out late and bunched up the field, giving Jonny Carter a shot at his uncle, but Todd Carter was simply too fast this night and picked up the feature win. Lamb used the lower line to sneak past Jonny Carter for second. Jawaski and Kyle Anderson of Jamestown rounded out the top five.
Todd Carter could be a factor at some of the bigger events like the Jamestown Stampede in the months ahead. The 19 car looked very good last night and has for a while.
The IMCA Modifieds also went caution free. Pole sitter Randy Klein of Lisbon took the early lead from Zach Dockter of Minot; Klein opened a 3-4 car length lead, but the guy on the move was someone who knows Sheyenne Speedway very well -- former super stock champion Dave Shipley of Argusville (interviewed above). Shipley went to the middle line and passed Klein for the lead. Klein slid off of turn two but made a big save, and regained second from Dockter. Those two had a big advantage on third place, which turned into a battle between Jarrett Carter of Lisbon, Dockter, Allen Kent of West Fargo and Myles Tomlinson of Turtle Lake.
Shipley went on to win for his first victory of 2019 with Klein settling for second. Kent continues to impress me; he started 12th in the caution-free race and worked up to third at the checkered. Tomlinson snuck into fourth ahead of Dockter and Carter. A very impressive clean race from start to finish with multiple lanes working.
The points race in the IMCA Modifieds couldn't be tighter. Carter leads Shipley by three points with Tomlinson four points back.
Add Gavin Walton to the first-career wins list! The 14-year-old from Englevale started fourth but worked up to the front and survived all challengers -- and some late cautions for his first career win. Matt Bogart of Milnor was second, Justin Hailinline of Lisbon, Roger Lukes of LIsbon and Kevin Youngquist of Barney rounded out the top five. If you can beat Bogart for your first win, that is pretty impressive.
One item to note about the Mini Stocks -- there has not been a repeat winner this season.
It was a good show at Sheyenne done in 2 hours, 45 minutes. My kind of night.
Next week, the NLRA Late Models are in town, which should be fun.
Sheyenne Notes
--One interesting entrant in the Wissota Midwest Modified class was long-time veteran Ron Saurer of Dalton, Minn. Saurer is a regular at I-94 Speedway and Viking Speedway; Viking Speedway rained out last night. I've seen Saurer and his sons, Travis and Trevor, race for a long time at Viking. Ron Saurer was in the Mod 4 class many years ago.
--I took a picture of the IMCA Modifieds of John Corell, left and Don Gumke both of Jamestown and posted on Facebook. Both are in their 60s and have raced forever. Imagine the amount of wins and laps run between those two. Both still hold their own, by the way.
--One thing mini stock driver Neil Walton is trying to do is get new people into racing. He has let different people get behind the wheel of some of the cars he's built. The reason? It gives people a chance to try racing and if they like it, maybe they will hop behind the wheel of their own car as a result. Good idea.
--It's interesting that Sheyenne pulls a few IMCA Mods from out west. That includes Myles Tomlinson of Turtle Lake; it is about a 3 1/2 hour drive for him. He is in contention for the points title at Sheyenne, trailing Jarrett Carter heading into the night. And besides that, Tomlinson loves to race. Also pulling in from out west were Zack Dockter of Norwich, N.D.,(which is about a 250 mile drive one way) and Drew Christianson of Minot.
Notes
--Congrats to Tyler Peterson of Hickson for his Wissota Modified win on Sunday at Casino Speedway in Watertown, S.D.; Peterson holds the point lead at Casino by 48 points.
Justin Vogel of Brooten finished second in the Wissota Street Stock feature while Maria Broksieck of Goodwin, S.D. was fourth.
--Dan Ebert of Lake Shore won the Wissota Modified feature Sunday at Bemidji Speedway.
Comentários