Jacobson, Wilke, Otterness, Hanten, VanMil and Hall Win Fix it Forward Speedway openers

Fix it Forward Speedway in West Fargo, formerly Red River Valley Speedway, kicked off the 2026 season on Friday night with 94 cars on hand.

The track is under the direction of Kevin Nathe and Duane Peterson, who folks in the Red Rivar Valley known from running Glyndon for several years. Talk about getting dealt a crappy hand weather-wise – Fix it Forward sure was on Friday. There was a shot of rain shortly before race time that delayed the start, and sprinkles off and on during the heat races. I thought for sure the way the radar looked the night was going to be toast, but they got through it.  It led to some slimy conditions in the heat races, and by the features, it was a full-fledged hammer-down track. Not much the track could do with that shot of rain and no sunshine or wind.

There are always things for tracks to iron out after the first night, and that has been the case at every track I’ve covered this season.  Getting the scoreboard running and scale operational will be priorities, I am sure.

The IMCA Sport Mods kicked off the features on the night, and the race went green to checkered, and got a little crazy in lapped traffic.

Scott Jacobson of Fargo set a good pace and built a lead as Ryan Restad of West Fargo was chasing dpwm Payce Herrera of Price, Utah. Landon Maatz of Walcott was fourth as the top four encountered heavy lapped traffic. Charlie Jensen of Pelican Rapids was running fifth as the top five had a straightaway advantage on the rest of the field.

Restad would get around Herrera with about six laps to go and set his sights on Jacobson as Maatz caught Herrera for third and would take over the spot with about three laps to go.

Restad was within .186 seconds at the white flag as the top three were in major league lapped traffic. Restad looked in turn two but Jacobson had the momentum and held on for a .266 win over Restad, who also finished second last night at Norman County Raceway.

Maatz, who started eighth, finished a strong third and might have been the fastest car on the track at  the checkered.  Herrera took fourth and Jensen fifth in a caution-free, 20-lap main event. The IMCA Sport Mods did a heck of a job of driving a clean race under the circumstances.

Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes on the pole usually spells trouble for the INEX Legend feature, but Carter Restad of West Fargo jumped out front early. Ryan Braseth of Ulen was in third with Joshua Wiest of Fargo fourth and Sean Johnson of Kindred in fifth. Johnson and Wiest were having a good battle for fourth.

Wilke opened a .9 second lead on Braseth, who along with Wiest had gotten around Restad. Noah Lewis was running a solid fifth. The best battle was between Wiest, Johnson and Restad for third.

Wilke’s lead stayed about a second on Braseth as Wiest and Johnson dueled for third.  Lewis had Scott Richardson of Pelican Rapids all over him for sixth with Brian Frederick of Gwinner closing.

Things got crazy in lapped traffic as Braseth quickly closed on Wilke as the white flag waved. He looked beside him but Wilke weathered the challenge to pick up the win, only by .150 seconds.  Braseth ran a solid second with Johnson edging Wiest for third.  Restad had a good night and took fifth in another caution free race.

Minot driver Kyler Satran took the lead of the IMCA Hobby Stock feature as Tanner Engen of Detroit Lakes and Tim Church of Moorhead fought for second. Brainerd driver Tim Otterness was fourth and Daniel Beckman was fifth.

Engen was quickly closing on Satran as Otterness pulled away from Church. By the halfway point Engen was challenging Satran for the lead and both were a straightaway ahead of Otterness.

Engen was trying to make a pass of Satran for the lead but got into a tractor tire in turn four, sending it out onto the track. He was charged with the caution and had to go to the tail. For those wondering, I am seeing that called more at tracks – if you hit a tractor tire and it comes onto the track, you go to the tail.

That moved Reid Randall of Park Rapids, the winner Thursday at Norman County Raceway, into the top five but also brought Otterness to Satran’s bumper. On the restart Beckman made a move into third as Randall pressured Church for fourth.

The top three pulled away as Engen had climbed up to battle Randall and Church for fourth with two to go.

Otterness made his move at the white flag and made the pass going into turn one and prevailed by a car length over Satran. Beckman was third, Engen made a great comeback for fourth and Randall rounded out the top five.

Marcus Rothenbacher of Ulen, who won Monday at Sheyenne Speedway, stormed out to the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint lead over Ty Hanten of West Fargo. The Taves siblings of Detroit Lakes, Matthew and Kate, fought for third with Matthew taking the spot.  Wilke soon moved into fourth.

The first and only caution flew for Travis Christenson, who slid off of turn three with 14 to go. He was unable to refire and was pushed to the pits.

Hanten and Rothenbacher resumed their fight up front with Matthew Taves in third and Wilke fourth. Kate Taves had Brandon Rekow of Ellendale and Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton giving chase. 

Hanten would grab the lead by the halfway point and began to pull away with Matthew Taves closing quickly on Rothenbacher.  Hanten turned the race into a runaway, opening a 1.9 second lead as Matthew Taves got around Rothenbacher for second.  

Hanten was not threatened over fhe final laps to pick up his first feature win since July 28, 2024 at Sheyenne Speedway. Matthew Taves, who started fifth, capped of a good run in second with Rothenbacher third, Wilke fourth and Kate Taves in fifth.

Rob VanMil of Barnesville led Todd Heinrich of Fargo early in the IMCA Stock Car feature. Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead was third ahead of Rick Schulz of Horace with Brennan Borg and Kelly Jacobson of Fargo fighting for second.

VanMil and Heinrich were setting a feverish pace up front with Heinrich staying within a car length. Carlsrud was in third with Schulz and Borg manning the final spots in the top five.

Heinrich peeked under VanMil for the lead; Schulz would break and pull off just before the halfway point. That moved Dan Aberle of Finley into the top five. After a challenge from Heinrich, VanMil pulled away to a 1.2 second lead with eight laps left.

Things got very spread out over the final eight laps as VanMil cruised to the win. Heinrich, Carlsrud, Borg and Aberle rounded out the top five in a caution free race.

Tyler Hall of Fertile jumped out to the lead in the IMCA Modified feature over multi-time track champion Dave Shipley of Argusville. Jamie Schuilz of Harwood was running third with John Nord of Enderlin, who won at Jamestown last week, running fourth and Jesse Skalicky of Fargo in fifth.

Nord executed a slider on the third lap to grab third and went to work on Shipley for second. Skalicky, the defending Fix it Forward champion, would pull off with an issue. Hall had a 1.2 second lead erased after debris caution on lap 5.

Nord passed Shipley for second on the restart with Schulz in fourth and Erv Grossman running in fifth. Hall’s lead over Nord was about three car lengths but the 98 was inching closer.  Shipley, who had run second early, would pull off with an issue.  The caution waved for a spin in turn two.

Hall resume the lead on the restart as Grossman was trailing Schulz for third.  Also having a solid run was Jacoby Traut of Jamestown in fifth.

Hall’s lead was about a half-second over Nord with Schulz comfortably in third. The top five got a little spread out as the laps waned but Nord was within about four car lengths with the white flag in hand, and he drew within two at the white flag.

Hall held for a .275 second win with Nord taking second, Schulz ran in the top four all night and took third. And how about a shoutout for Grossman; he’s a guy who is there every week, doesn’t run towards the front very often, but finished fourth to pick up his first top five finish since the 2020 season (according to myracepass.com). Traut capped off a solid night in the top five.

Fix it Forward Notes

--It was a tough opening night for Austin Veralrud of Audubon, who blew a motor in the warmup laps of his IMCA Sport Mod heat.

--There is another Jacobson in the sport mods – Nicholas Jacobson is a rookie in the class. He is racing against his dad, Scott and his brother, Kelly. His sister Andrea races in the IMCA Hobby Stock Class. The Jacobsons are a true racing family.

--Two young drivers have hopped into the IMCA Modified Class. Dayton Kent of West Fargo moved up from the Hornet/Mini Stock class while  Clay Smith of Wahpeton moved up from the INEX Legends.

--Tom Andring of Detroit Lakes is back behind the wheel this summer. He lasted raced ion the Wissota Midwest Modifieds several years ago but is back with an IMCA Modified. He had a pretty solid debut, finishing 10^th after starting 12^th.

--The long haul award goes to Herrera, who is listed from Price, Utah. He is only 17 years old.

--Wilke (INEX Legends and IMCA Sprint Cars), Kelly Jacobson (IMCA Sport Mod and Stock Car and Carter Restad (INEX Legends and IMCA Sport Mod) were double-duty drivers on Friday.

Macedo, Edginton Win at River Cities

Carson Macedo of Lemoure, California won the World of Outlaws Sprint Car feature Friday night at River Cities Speedway. David Gravel of Watertown, Conn., was second. Donny Schatz of Fargo finished eighth.

Shane Edginton of East St. Paul, Man., topped Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks for the Wissota Late Model win. Brad Seng of Grand Forks was third, Brody Troftgruben of Grand Forks fourth and Nick Corbett of East Grand Forks fifth.

 I-94 Crowns King of Dirt Champions

Joe Chisholm of St. Cloud won the USRA Northern Lights Modified feature Friday night at I-94 EMR Speedway.  I-94 crowned its annual Kings of the Dirt on Friday. Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas was third, Dusty Bitzan of Evansville fourth and Ryan Gierke of Villard was fifth.

Dave Mass of East Bethel topped Tyler Peterson of Hickson for the Wissota Late Model feature. Travis Saurer of Elizabeth was third, Cole Schill of Hawley fourth and Danny Vang of Deerwood fifth.

Jake Smith of St. Joseph topped Corey Storck of Dilworth for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature win. Lucas Rodin of Marion was third, Memphis Klassen of Winkler, Man., fourth and Nate Reinke of Lisbon was fifth.

Levi Randt of Siren, Wis., won the Wissota Street Stock feature over Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck. Cole Greseth of Harwood was  third, Eric Riley of Morris fourth and Justin Vogel of Brooten fifth.

Ben Wolden of Fergus Falls won the Gen X Late Model feature over Adam Prieve of Litchfield. Bryce Borgen of Perley was third, Tony Croninger of Watertown fourth and Alex Tschakert of Kent was fifth.