Jacobson, Wilke, Braseth, Kesselberg, Mueller and Goulet capture Buffalo River victories

Buffalo River Speedway near Glyndon held its 5^th annual Paint the Track Pink night with 74 cars on hand.

BRS donates a portion of ticket sales, $5 for every Paint the Track Pink T-shirt to two recipients battling serious health issues.  Lend a Hand Up, which is a part of the Dakota Medical Foundation, boosts that by 20 percent. A wing of Tye Wilke’s IMCA RaceSaver sprint car and roof of Marvin Priem’s IMCA SportMod were also auctioned off to help raise money. One thing people don’t realize for folks battling serious diseases such as cancer is the cost. Not only the cost of the medical treatments, but also the cost of travel and missed time from work.

Promoter Jason Berg’s goal is to get the show completed by 9:30 p.m. on Sundays; with the presentation and auction of the wings, that pushed it a few minutes beyond that. But, that is something I understand (this was an important event the track put a lot of time into) and not what I am talking about when it comes to shows running long. I appreciate BRS making the effort to get their shows done at a reasonable time.

Now that we are into the season a few weeks, starting this week on this blog, I am going to start making my thoughts known on shows that take too long (again, nothing to do with BRS on Sunday).

The IMCA Sport Mods kicked off the night with 13 cars taking the green.

James Taves of Glyndon took the early lead over Kelly Jacobson of Fargo. Jayden Pavlicek of Casselton was third, Scott Jacobson of Fargo was fourth and Kyle VanMil of Barnesville was fifth. The caution flew for Marv Priem of Glyndon, who was off turn four. He would pull pitside.

Taves continued to lead with some pressure from Kelly Jacobson with Scott Jacobson working on Pavlicek for third. VanMil soon joined that battle with six laps to go.

Scott Jacobson took over third from Pavlicek as VanMil also got by. Kelly Jacobson meanwhile was making a big charge for the lead, and got beside Taves for the lead as the white flag waved. Kelly Jacobson completed the pass going into turn one, and prevailed by .495 seconds for his first feature win since Night 2 of the Corn Cob Nationals on Sept. 8, 2024. It was a well-earned win.

Taves ran well all night and took second with Scott Jacobson, the opening night BRS winner, going from eighth to third. VanMil was fourth and Pavlicek rounded out the top five.  Cole Slaubaugh of Wolford, N.D., went from 10^th to seventh and for a while was closing in on a spot in the top five. It was a good, clean race for the sport mods with just one caution and 12 of the 13 starters finishing.

The IMCA RaceSaver sprints saw Tye Wilke pick up where he left off Friday at Fix It Forward Speedway by taking a big lead over Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes. Brandon Rekow of Ellendale was third with Ty Hanten of West Fargo in fourth and Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton in fifth, ahead of Jerzee Rosinski of Grand Forks, who started seventh.

Matthew Taves, a rapidly improving driver, was closing on Wilke with eight to go as Rosinski moved into fifth. The caution flew for the veteran Tom Cummings who went off of turns one and two. On the restart, Wilke pulled away to a half second lead over Taves with Rekow trying to fend off Hanten for third. Hanten would grab the spot with five to go.

Wilke was pulling away from Taves as the lead grew to two seconds by the checkered.  Taves capped off a good race in second with Hanten third. Rekow held off Rosinski for fourth. Again, there was only one caution flag in a good, clean race.

There were 20 INEX Legends on hand but an early caution on lap two.  Btandon Bunnis of Detroit Lakes, Payton Hruby  and Colton Miller were involved in a melee in turn one; Miller ended up on the hook and Hruby, who made the long trek from Wilton, N.D., would pull pitside.

Bubba Samuelson of Frazee took the lead from Shawn Dement of Fargo with Ryan Braseth of Ulen moving into second quickly after starting 12th. Wilke , who dominated Friday at Fix It Froward Speedway, was up to third after starting 11th.  Joseph Lewis of Hawley was running fourth and Ty Olson of Mandan was in fifth.

On the fifth lap John Johnson of Harwood had a hard hit off of turns three and four. He was OK but left on the hook.  On the restart Wilke and Braseth were all over Samuelson with Wilke taking the lead with Braseth working on Samuelson. Olson was up to fourth .

Braset was challenging Wilke for the lead by running a higher lane with Olson not far back in thir and soon it was a three-car fight at the front.  Of course, as things were heating up at the front the caution waved for Easton Olson’s spin with three to go.

Braseth got a fantastic restart to open a lead on Wilke, who had his hands full with Olson.

Alexander Clark ran a steady, consistent race in the top five all night and claimed fourth. Samuelson edged Lewis for the final spot in the top five.

Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead and Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada led the 10-car IMCA Stock Car field to the green.  Kesselberg, who had his night ended by an electrical fire on Friday at Fix it Forward, grabbed the lead over Carlsrud, who had Daniel Aberle of Finley on his tail. Aberle would spin in turn two to bring out the caution.

On the restart Kelly Jacobson, doing double duty, grabbed second as Carlsrud was fighting Jonny Carter of Lisbon for third. Rob VanMil of Barnesville was running side-by-side with Carter. Tim Gonska of Brainerd also was on the move and soon joined that battle.

Kesselberg was in total control with a 2.7 second lead with Carlsrud working on Jacobson for second. Carter and VanMil got to know each other pretty well with their battle for fourth.  Carter, who won Friday at Fix It Forward, was trying to run a little higher lane.

Kesselberg turned the race into a total rout, winning by 2.8 seconds and was never challenged. Jacobson fended off Carlsrud for second with Carter close behind. VanMil held off Gonska for fifth. Again only one caution.

Seven Wissota Hornets were on hand but didn’t make it very far with a pair of spins in turn four.

Bryce Mueller of Mahnomen led Nathan Kelley early before Adrian Kubitz moved  into second while Christian Kast of Fairmount. Kelley, who was battling overheating issues Saturday at Viking Speedway, would slow with an issue and pull into the infield. On the restart Mueller’s 11 was smoking a little bit as Kast and Kubitz raced side-by-side for second, Kody Crabtree of Georgetown, who picked up his first career win two weeks ago at BRS, was up to fourth ahead of rookie Cassidy Hamre of Fargo.

Kast took over second and went over Mueller as Crabtree closed on Kubitz; there was some heavy contact in t urn one between those two. Kast was looking for any kind of a lane around Mueller when Hamre slid off turn two to bring out the yellow.

Kast seemed to be the quicker carbut finding a lane to get by was the issue. Kast was working a higher lane but couldn’t get a pass to stick. Mueller held on for a .157 second win over Kast. Crabtree crossed the line third with a pile of smoke coming out with Kubitz fourth and Jason Kast of Fairmount fifth. Hamre ran in the top five much of the night and took sixth.

Hunter Goulet, coming off a runner—up finish at Fix It Forward on Friday, led the IMCA Hobby Stock feature with Todd Gettel of Mahnomen  fighting Daniel Beckman of Mahnomen for second. Reid Randall of Park Rapids was fighting Nicholas Dillenburg of Pillager for fourth.

Dillenburg was on the move into third as Beckman got crossed up briefly and was closing on Gettel. Goulet, meanwhile, was running away from the field, stretching the lead to 3.5 seconds. The battle for second heated up with Gettel trying to find off both Dillenburg and Randall.

The last thing Goulet wanted to see was a caution, and with three laps to go as Andrea Jacobson of Fargo and Andrea Jacobson of Fargo got together. Jacobson would head to the pits.  That caution brought Dillenburg to Goulet’ss bumper for a green-white-checkered finish.

The restart saw more contact with Randall and Gettel getting together and spinning. Randall went to the rear after being charged with the yellow.

Dillenburg was looking to make a move on Goulet on the final lap and got a run on the high side on the final lap. He came within a few feet but Goulet edged him for a thrilling .0062 feature win in the best finish of the night. For Goulet, a rookie in the hobby stocks, it was his first win in the class.

Dillenburg settled for second with Gettel taking third. Caleb Gardner of Glyndon finished fourth and Orvedal was fifth. I am thinking there were a few drivers not real happy with some of the contact during that race as things got a little physical.

Buffalo River Notes

--Dan McCain of South Haven, Minn. (located south of St. Cloud) was in attendance in his IMCA Stock Car. I did a RaceChaser story on his sister, Andrea last year. She also races in the IMCA Stock Car class, running mainly at Arlington Raceway.

--The good news for BRS manager Jason Berg is that his engine issues in his #100 IMCA RaceSaver Sprint car seem to be resolved, as he finished a solid seventh in Sunday’s feature.

—Will Dittmer of Casselton had his IMCA Stock Car on hand; he also will race an IMCA Modified this summer at Fix It Forward Speedway.

Sheyenne Speedway wins to Kuzel, Wilkinson, Greseth, Gregor and Zach Reinke

Brock Kuzel of Wyndmere won the Short Tracker special Sunday night at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon. Pokey Lukes of Lisbon was second, Camryn Taylor of Hankinson third, Dale Mittleider of Milnor fourth and Camden Kelsen of Wahpeton fifth.

Never Alone out of Fergus Falls – which seeks to raise mental health awareness and break down stigmas surrounding mental illness – had its hornet cars in attendance. That organization is about building relationships and creating a brighter future for youth in the region, and getting teenagers involved in racing is a big part of that.

Brent Wilkinson of Jamestown won the Bomber feature over Bo Gregor of Lisbon. Dillon Thorpe of Ellendale was third, Travis Edinger of Jamestown was fourth and Dalton Aabrekke of Lisbon was fifth.

Cole Greseth of Harwood topped Kasey Ussatis of Nome for the Wissota Street Stock win, his second in as many nights. Adam Dehne of Medina was third, Ryan Mund of Milnor fourth and Jayden Michaelsohn of Aberdeen was fifth.

Bo Gregor won the INEX Legends feature over Regan Reinke of Lisbon. Zach Reinke of Lisbon was third, Cody Jawaski of Kindred fourth and Sean Johnson of Kindred fifth.

Zach Reinke of Lisbon won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature with Kyle Anderson of Jamestown taking runner-up honors. Lucas Rodin of Marion was third, Nate Reinke of Lisbon was fourth and Jarod Klein of Jamestown was fifth.

Sheyenne had a solid 63 cars on hand, and I was told by a creditable source that racing was completed by 8 p.m.  which is an excellent night.

 Casino victories to Kranz, Marko, Konold, Wranek, Karlen and VanDerostyne

Curt Kranz of Watertown won the Gen X Late Model feature Sunday night at Casino Speedway in Watertown. Bodie Croninger of Watertown was second, Trevor Walsh of Watertown third, Blake Swenson of Watertown fourth and Jarrett Huus of Fergus Falls fifth.

Jason Marko of Watertown won the Wissota Street Stock feature over Jayden Bogh of Huron. Zach Flickinger of Madison was third, Tony Miller of Browns Valley fourth and Coltyn Schuler of Montevideo fifth. Tony Konold of Clear Lake topped Mike Stearns of Aberdeen for the Wissota Mod win.

Jake Wranek of Sioux Falls won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature with Tommy Nichols of Watertown taking second. Lane Johnson of Miller was third, Luke Johnson of Miller fourth and Darren Engesser of Gary fifth.

Justin Karlen of Howard won the Wissota Late Model feature over Mike Stearns. Jayson Good of Watertown was third, Kranz was fourth and Anderson was fifth. Adam VanDerostyne of Canby won the Wissota Hornet main event over Dylan Tirrel of White. Bradley Rossow of Florence was third, Matthe Moes of Watertown fourth and Brett Alexander of Brookings was fifth.

Casino Speedway