RaceChaser headed over to Buffalo River Race Park for Season Championship night. A field of 68 cars was on hand to compete at the 1/4-mile oval during Meet and Greet Night, which is pictured above.
Car counts in the IMCA Stock Car class were thin with just four. There were six NLSA Lightning Sprints and nine INEX Legends. Otherwise every class had two heats.
Michael Johnson of Moorhead (interviewed above) had a really nice run in the IMCA Modifieds to earn his first feature win of 2019. Johnson passed early leader Brennan Borg and led the rest of the way. Cody Peterson of Glyndon was second, with Rob VanMil of Barnesville third, Jesse Skalicky of Fargo fourth and Borg fifth. VanMil was the 2019 BRRP IMCA Modified track champ.
Johnson hasn't had the best season -- his best finish was third prior to tonight - but has been running better of late and the 84 car was dialed in on Saturday. He led for a while at Norman County Raceway on Thursday before eventual winner Tyler Hall got by him.
Kelly Jacobson of Fargo (interviewed above), like his father Scott, had some struggles in June and July in the IMCA Sport Mod class. But now the #51 car seems to be finding his groove as the season winds down. He took the lead early from Matt Clark of West Fargo and went onto take the win in the caution-free event. Kelly Jacobson now has two straight wins at BRRP.
Clark finished a season-best second while Chris VanMil of Barnesville, the 2019 IMCA Sport Mod track champion at BRRP, was third. Scott Jacobson of Fargo and Doug Gardner of Glyndon rounded out the top five. Watch for the 51 car to be a factor at some of the IMCA Sport Mod events in September like the Corn Cob Nationals and Jamestown Speedway.
Daniel Harstad of Fergus Falls has been the dominant Sport Compact car locally this year and went on to pick up his 10th win of 2019 -- and wrapping up the track championship as well. Harstad started seventh. Kevin Youngquist of Barney was second, Cole Greseth of Harwood, only 12, was third, ahead of Randy Thompson of Lake Park and Chase Golliet of Fargo.
Adam Goff of Minot had quite a summer at BRRP, going undefeated in the IMCA Hobby Stock class on his way to the track championship. He started 10th and benefitted from some cautions, but was clearly was the fastest car at the end. He reeled in leader Brad Orvedal of Fargo and made the pass with five laps to go and opened up a nice lead by the checkered. I visited with Goff a few weeks back and he has family in northwest Minnesota by Mentor; he is also running for IMCA Hobby Stock national points.
Orvedal had a good week, with one win and three top three finishes. He held off Tim Shiek of Fargo for second. Eric Novacek of West Fargo and Tanner Engen of Detroit Lakes rounded out the top five in the hobby stocks.
In a battle for position in the INEX Legend feature, Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead got into Ryan Braseth in turn two and the 29 car spun; Alex Braseth of Ulen had nowhere to go and piled into his brother's car. Both were OK but done for that night. Carlsrud, to his credit, took responsibility for the incident (which I don't think was intentional at all) and dropped immediately to the tail. A sign of a young racer who gets it.
The restart put Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes (interviewed above) up front and man did he check out, opening a nearly half-lap lead on the field and he was never challenged on his way to the win. Carlsrud came back and worked his way to battle for second, but Tony Brockhouse of Fargo fought back to take the spot by the checkered. Carlsrud was third, Blaise Deckert of Fargo fourth and Garrison Miller of Fargo fifth.
Wilke, by the way, has two track titles this season -- one at BRRP and one at Norman County Raceway -- and is battling with Kaitlyn Skalicky of Fargo for the title at Red River Valley Speedway with one night remaining.
Travis Sureus of Fargo won the NLSA Lightning Sprint feature for his first career victory. Dev Malmlov of Moorhead was second, Jason Berg of Fargo third and Danny Hazeman of Moorhead fourth.
Brennan Borg of Harwood and Rob VanMil put on a good show for a while in the four-car IMCA Stock Car feature, but Borg would open up a 2-3 car length advantage on his way to the win. VanMil and Erv Grossman of Fargo were the top three.
BRRP Notes
--"The Innovator" Bob Sagen of Arthur was back behind the wheel of his #99 IMCA Modified. Aside from a night in Jamestown where he was trying something last year, it's been four years since he was racing regularly. Of course, Sagen was trying something new -- his forte -- with his leaf spring suspension. Talked to Sagen a couple of times on Saturday and he admitted he was a bit rusty behind the wheel, but the car setup showed some promise. He hinted on racing a few more times in the weeks ahead.
--The IMCA Hobby Stocks seem to always have 10 cars or more at Glyndon; 12 were on hand on Saturday. I wonder if the shorter track is a little more favorable to some drivers in that class compared the longer tracks in Ada or West Fargo.
--The youngest INEX Legends driver to my knowledge is 12-year-old Ashton Spieker of Sabin. He finished seventh. His dad, Chad, said the goal for Ashton this year was to get seat time and finish races.
--I was happy to see 12 IMCA Modifieds on hand. The first night I was there were four as Mandan was running a two-day special. Matt Aukland of Glyndon was there for the first time in addition to Sagen but did not start the feature.
The Corn Cob Nationals -- which I believe is the longest running special in Minnesota dirt track racing -- are set for Sept. 1-2 at BRRP.
Mullen Wins First Career Sprint Feature
Sixteen-year-old Brendan Mullen of Grand Forks won his first-ever Sprint Car feature Saturday at Devils Lake Speedway.
Mullen topped Wade Nygaard of Grand Forks for the win.
Bradon Miller of Lakota won the Wissota Street Stock feature over Dan Aberle of Finley on Saturday at Devils Lake. Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls was second in the Wissota Midwest Modified feature.
Zach Reinke, Christ Lead Victory Parade at Jamestown
Greg Moore of Jamestown topped Dylan Sandberg of Bismarck for the Bomber win Saturday at Jamestown Speedway. Billy Carow of Jamestown was third.
Zach Reinke of Lisbon outdueled his brother Nate Reinke for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature. Jeffrey Schwind Jr. of Jamestown was third and Reise Stenberg of Argusville fourth.
Billie Christ of Jamestown topped national point leader Jonny Carter of Lisbon for the Wissota Street Stock win. Royce Jawaski of Horace was third and Jerry Lamb of Lisbon fifth.
Casey Arneson of Fargo is on a roll at Jamestown, picking up another IMCA Modified win over John Corell of Jamestown. Josh Eberhardt of Jamestown was third, Trent Grager of Carrington fourth and Greg Friestad of Valley City fifth.
Donavin Wiest of Wishek won the INEX Legend feature. Sean Johnson of Kindred was third and Andrew Jochim of Glyndon was fourth.
Congrats to Collin Compson of Valley City on winning the Jr. Slingshots.
Hoium, Zender Win at Viking
Brett Hoium of Villard won the Wissota Modified feature Saturday at Viking Speedway. Brady Gerdes of Villard was second, Blake Jegtvig of Hawley third, Danny Bayer of Elrosa fourth and Dusty Bitzan of Brandon fifth.
Sam Zender of Fergus Falls won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature for his first win of 2019. Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls was second, Nick Bruder of Long Prairie third, Shawn Olson of Alexandria fourth and Ron Saurer of Dalton fifth.
Ryan Satter of Dent won the Wissota Street Stock feature over Jim Williams of DeGraff. Brian Tomford of Long Prairie was third, Travis Scott of Glenwood fourth and Bryan Crandall of Herman fifth.
15-year-old Bryce Sward of Nelson won the Limited Late Model feature over Dustin Johanneck of Litchfield.
Ben Johnson of New London topped Trevor Saurer of Dalton for the Wissota Super Stock feature.
Saturday Night Notes...
--Mike Greseth of Harwood won the Wissota Modified feature Saturday night at Greenbush Race Park. Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks won the NLRA Late Model main event with Shane Edginton of Winnipeg second and Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks third. Tucker Pederson of East Grand Forks won the Wissota Street Stock feature. Kelsi Pederson of East Grand Forks was second in the Lightning Sprint feature.
—Justin Vogel of Brooten won the Wissota Street Stock feature Saturday at Madison Speedway with Eric Riley of Morris third.
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