I covered the Wissota Late Model special at Fiesta City Speedway in Montevideo remotely thanks to Dirt Race Central on Saturday night. The main event would pay $3,500 to win; it was the second night of a doubleheader at Fiesta, as Friday’s late model feature paid $2,500 to win.
I didn’t see the payout through the whole field, but it was $300 to start (which was also the case on Friday). I don’t have a firm theory why the numbers weren’t higher than 17; keep in mind, Hibbing ran a $5,000 to win special in July and got 17 lates with only one out of the area driver in attendance, and Halvor Lines in Proctor ran one a night later, with the same amount to win and the same number of cars.
You had some quality – Matt Gilbertson, the Tollakson brothers, Scott Ward, Morgan Ward Grosz and Chad Becker are strong foes – but I thought after getting 23 on Friday there would be at least 20 on Saturday. I know a few had problems on Friday.
Gilbertson should have gone to the casino this weekend with his luck in the redraw. He drew the outside pole on Friday and won, and on Saturday he drew the inside pole, alongside Morgan Ward Grosz of Watertown.
I was watching Becker, who is second to Tyler Peterson in national points, from his seventh spot, and Jordan Tollakson and Scott Ward in row five.
Gilbertson, who has been a top modified driver in that area for a long time, jumped out to the lead in his MB Customs machine. Curt Kranz of Watertown was battling Kyle Jensen of Brookings for third.
Becker won Thursday at Red River Valley Speedway, besting a field of 34 cars, but his fortunes would change after that. He hit a tractor tire Friday at West Fargo and pulled in, and on Saturday ran a handful of laps and before pulling in with an issue.
Gilbertson built a 2.616 second lead on Ward Grosz about halfway through the feature, and that margin continued to grow. Ward Grosz had a big margin over third-place Jensen. Kranz was running fourth as Jayson Good of Watertown moved into the top five.
The biggest obstacle for Gilbertson would prove to be lapped traffic, and this allowed Ward Grosz to cut almost a second off the lead, and she was getting closer. There were four lapped cars ahead of Gilbertson, and he was very patient trying to maneuver through that group. He wasn’t going to take any unnecessary chances.
Gilbertson completed the weekend sweep, picking up $3,500 a night after he won $2,500. IT was a good two nights. I am hoping Gilbertson brings the late model to the Seitz Memorial in Grand Forks, he has raced his modified at that race several times.
Ward Grosz cut the lead to a second on the white flag lap but that was as close as she’d get, but would finish a very strong second. Jensen was third, Kranz was fourth and Good rounded out the top five.
The good news, it was a caution-free main event; but as a fan I didn’t think it was a very exciting race. There wasn’t much passing or side-by-side racing, unfortunately as the track was dominant on a lower line. Aberdeen driver Chase Gelling was the hard charger, going from 14th to 10th.
The Pure Stocks did not have a good night on Friday, as I went back and watched that event. It was a caution-filled mess, and only eight of 13 cars finished.
Landon Albertson of Cottonwood and TJ Brockman led the Pure Stocks to the green, and Brockman would lead early over Coltyn Schuler. The caution would wave for Carter Rice’s spin in turn two with seven to go.
Brockman led Schuler on the restart as Sophie Anderson of Chokio moved into third, and she was closing on the top two. Joe Arndt of Ortonville was running fourth.
Schuler went to work on the bottom of Brockman as Anderson faced a challenge from Arndt. Rice spun for a second time with four to go to bring out the caution.
On the restart Anderson got a fantastic start made a move for the lead and got by Brockman. The race for second went three wide between Schuler, Brockman and Arndt .
Anderson, who started sixth on the nine-car field, picked up her third win of the season – and career – with an impressive showing on the final three laps. I talked to her for a story last weekend – very well spoken for a 17-year-old -- and she set a goal of winning a feature at Fiesta City after winning at KRA and Madison earlier. She did a heck of a job on Saturday to get the win.
Brockman was second, Arndt was third, Tyler Schuler was fourth and Landon Albertson was fifth. Full disclosure, I grew up about 3 miles from where Landon’s dad, Ben, lived. Ben has raced in the street stocks for many years in Madison and Montevideo.
I don’t know what has happened to the Wissota Midwest Modified numbers in that area, but they have declined. Only nine were on hand for Saturday’s show and eight would start the feature. A dozen were there on Friday.
Derek Rieck of Ortonville won on Friday at Fiesta City and was on the inside pole next to Matt Everts of Burnsville. He would take the lead over Dawson Zabel of Selby, S.D.
At one point there were as many cautions (four) as laps completed as the race did not get off to a great start. Rieck assumed control on the restart with 11 to go as he opened up a .758 second lead on Zabel. Everts, who had a win at Fiesta City earlier this season, was third ahead of Darren Engesser of Gary, S.D. Shane DeJong of Boyd moved into fifth after going to the rear for a caution. However with nine completed another caution would wave when two cars spun in turn two. As I said, this race was a struggle to keep going and frankly the yellow/black should have come out quickly.
Rieck was the last guy who wanted to see the yellows, as each time he had some breathing room the caution would wave.
On the restart, Zabel made a run on the outside and pulled beside Rieck on the backstretch; Rieck would hold off the challenge to take the win, his sixth of 2023. Zabel settled for second, Everts was third and Colton Kramer of Pine Island, Minn., was fifth. Only five of the eight cars finished and aside from the cars up front it was a very shaky race back in the field. Sorry, I have to call it like I see it.
The Wolverine Justin Vogel, in the top five of national points, had the inside pole for the Wissota Street Stock feature and that usually spells trouble for the field. Sixteen of the 18 cars signed in started the feature.
Vogel led early over Jacob Aarhus of Canby. The Brauer brothers – Kolton and Braden of Eyota – were fighting for third ahead of Michael Brockman of Echo.
Aarhus was running well on the outside and challenged Vogel for the lead and would make the pass off turn four the lead. Vogel would slow on the backstretch on the ensuing lap and pull in with mechanical trouble.
Kolton Brauer, who won Friday at Fiesta City, would make the move for the lead with his brother moving into the top three. Braden leads the national points, Vogel is third, and Kolton Brauer is fourth.
Aarhus settled into third with Cody Hatch of Olivia and Ty Agen of Chippewa Falls, Wis., fighting for fourth. Agen would take over fourth and then went to work on Aarhus. Eric Riley of Morris, the runner-up at I-94 EMR Speedway on Friday, was looking to move into the top five.
The caution would wave as Brockman’s car was stopped by the wall in turn one, he would leave on the wrecker. He had been running in the top five early.
Agen moved into third as Kolton Brauer led up front. Hatch was running third and Dustin Schultz of Marshall was running fifth. Riley, who got sent to the back for a caution, was back up to sixth and trying to get into the top five.
The best race was for second as Agen and Braden Brauer fought extremely hard for second. While they were battling Kolton Brauer built a lead of two seconds over the second spot. Agen would take over second with two to go but the battle wasn’t over.
Kolton Brauer had zero to worry about up front, winning by 2.618 over Agen for victory #14 of 2023. Braden Brauer, who won at I-94 on Friday, was third. Hatch had a good run in fourth with Riley making a good comeback to get back in the top five. I felt for Aarhus, who was running so well early, as he would slow with a mechanical issue later in the race and pull in.
There were only five Wissota Super Stocks on hand on Saturday, one more than the night before. Super stock numbers are down at most tracks; Viking has hovered around 10-12, Bemidji and Grand Rapids have been in the single digits. Ogilvie had 10 on Saturday. I don’t know if it’s a cyclical thing or cause for concern about the future of the class.
Bailey Rosch of Alexandria led the five-car field from the green as Karter Reents of Glenwood was giving chase. Reents would take over the lead and once in front, took total control.
Travis Scott of Montevideo was running well and battling towards the front; he would have a little contact with Rosch on the front stretch, and would pull in shortly after, I didn’t see if he cut a tire (one disadvantage of covering things remotely 😊 )
Reents just ran away with this race, building a commanding 5.5 second lead by the checkered for his third win of 2023. Rosch ran well in second. Shawn Schnabel was third and Jaden Friauf was fourth. There were no cautions in the 12-lap main event.
Kole Kampsen of Belgrade is leading the points at Viking Speedway, and with that track off this week, he made the track south to Fiesta City. He would get to the front quickly of the Wissota Hornet feature.
Justin Erp of Montevideo moved into second. There was a good battle for third between Matthew Dittman of Lake Lillian and Adam VanDerostyne of Canby.
Kampsen built a lead of more than two seconds over Erp, who was well ahead of the battle for third. Kampsen picked up his fifth feature win of the season by 2.277 seconds over Erp. VanDerostyne outlasted Dittman for third with Dalton Haag rounding out the top five.
Superman Mike Stearns of Aberdeen passed Buddy Thorstad of Morris to grab the lead in the Wissota Modified main event. Thorstad would slide way high and brush the wall on the second lap and dropped well out of contention.
Scott Ward, doing double duty on the weekend, moved into second. Modified rookie Jake Knapper was in third ahead of Brian Haben of Holloway.
Ward was closing the gapa little on Stearns, but the 24S machine had found a good line and still maintained a 3-car length cushion. Haben was making up some ground, as he moved past Knapper for third and was closing on Ward for second. Aaron Sowers was running fifth.
Stearns was never seriously threatened once out front as he would win by 1.203 seconds over Ward, who had won on Friday at Fiesta. Haben, who leads the points at Fiesta City by a large margin, was third ahead of Knapper, who is second in the points. Sowers rounded out the top five in a caution-free event.
Weight Captures Rebel Tour Finale, Jones Wraps Up Series Title
Brennon Weight of LaMoure won the Rebel Midwest Mod Tour finale Saturday night at Jamestown Speedway. Weight has won the last three Rebel races, including earlier this month at Sheyenne Speedway and at I-94 EMR Speedway on Friday. Two-time tour champion Lucas Rodin of Marion was second, Justin Jones of Bemidji, the point leader going into the week, was third. Jarod Klein of Jamestown was fourth and Jaren Wibstad of Jamestown, who won Thursday at Sheyenne, was fifth.
Jones is the 2023 Rebel Midwest Modified Tour champion. Unofficially Rodin was second, Klein was third, Nate Reinke of Lisbon fourth and Scott Bintz of Jamestown was fifth.
Collin Compson of Valley City won the INEX Legends feature. Kasey Ussatis of Nome topped Royce Jawaski of Adrian for the Wissota Street Stock feature win.
Pederson Wins Golden Hammer Challenge at Devils Lake
Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks won the NLRA Golden Hammer Challenge Saturday night at Devils Lake Speedway, and took home $5,000 for the feature win. Tyler Peterson of Hickson, the national point leader, was second with Brad Seng of Grand Forks third. Brody Troftgruben of Grand Forks was fourth and Cole Schill of Horace was fifth.
It was a good night for the Pederson family as Tucker Pederson, Joey’s son, won the Wissota Street Stock feature. Tucker is second in the national points. Seth Klostreich of Grand Forks was second, Shane Swenson of Devils Lake, Greg Jose of Grand Forks was fourth and Drew Peterson of Langdon was fifth.
Jason Schuh of Lakota won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature over Jory Berg of Grand Forks.
Myles Tomlinson of Turtle Lake won the Western Renegades Non-Winged Sprints feature over Nick Shirek of Thompson.
Saturday night notes
--Congrats to Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead for picking up the IMCA Stock Car feature win Saturday at North Central Speedway in Brainerd. Carlsrud crossed the line second, but first-place finisher Aaron Johnson was DQed postrace.
--Speaking of North Central, Jack Koranda of Bluffton won the Wissota Super Stock main event. Rich Pavlicek of Casselton was second in the IMCA Sport Mod feature.
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