Casino Speedway in Watertown hosted the Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour and the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Cars on Sunday night with another great crowd on hand.
There were 18 Buffalo Wild Wing NOSA Sprints in attendance, which I think is about the right amount for the ¼-mile track at Casino.
It was a later night than it should have been as qualifying for the sprints took a lot of time, but the fans did not seem bothered by it and cheered loudly when asked if the sprints should return in 2024, so from that standpoint it was a win for Casino.
The fourth night of a four-night swing usually sees car counts drop that unfortunately this happened at Casino with 19 street stocks on hand for the Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour. There were more than 30 at Fiesta City and Madison the previous two nights. But understandably, several Wisconsin drivers returned home with long trips back after racing Saturday. I am thankful they have chosen to travel and run the tour, they have added a ton in terms of depth and competition to it.
Two cars in the top 10 of Wissota national points – Maria Broksieck of Goodwin (seventh) and Justin Vogel of Brooten (third) – re-drew the front row for the Wissota Street Stock main event. Both drivers entered the night with 11 wins on the season.
Kyle Anderson of Jamestown finished second in his heat but was slowing as the laps waned with a mechanical problem. Anderson made the redraw but elected to start in the tail of the feature and would take the green. Aside from a big tour win at Brown County Speedway earlier this month, Anderson’s luck has not been good in recent weeks.
Vogel took the lead from the green with Hunter Carter of Mapleton moving into second past Broksieck. Jonny Carter of Lisbon quickly moved up to fourth after starting eighth. The caution would wave as Darak Turner and Kenneth Clements of Madison, S.D., were around in turns one and two. I didn’t see what happened to his car, but Jason Marko’s night would come to an end there too as he left on the hook.
Vogel resumed the lead with Broksieck and Hunter Carter fighting for second. Jonny Carter was right there in the fourth spot.
The bottom line started to come around, and that’s where Broksieck is at her best at Casino. She was closing the gap on Vogel as Jonny Carter took over third.
Broksieck made an uncharacteristic mistake and looped the 14 machine in turn one to bring out the caution with 16 to go. She would go to the rear, and that would put Jonny Carter into second and Hunter Carter into third. Andy Rossow of Florence was having a solid run in the top five and had worked up to fourth with Cory Giessinger of Watertown, who won at I-94 EMR Speedway earlier this season, moving into fifth.
Jonny Carter had speed on the restart and took over the top spot with 15 to go. Rossow got past Hunter Carter for third; the 19H now had Wade Tirrel of White to contend with. Ty Agen of Chippewa Falls was also lurking outside the top five behind Tirrel, as was Tony Miller of Browns Valley and Giessinger.
Cooper Butterfield of South Shore spun in turn one and would need the wrecker with eight laps to go. On the next restart Vogel chose the high line with Rossow to the inside of the second row.
Carter’s 46 was a rocket on the bottom, and he opened a few car lengths on Vogel, who had Rossow fighting him for second. Agen was having a nice run into fourth past Hunter Carter.
Jonny Carter was in firm control up front, building a 1.450 second lead on Vogel by the checkered to pick up his fourth tour win of 2023. Vogel, who had two wins at Canby and Fiesta City Speedway to start the week, took second with Rossow capping off an ice night in third. Agen went from 12th to fourth with Hunter Carter rounding out the top five. Giessinger was sixth; Broksieck made some progress through the field to get back up to eighth.
If anyone needed a good run, it was Jonny Carter. He had three DNFs in a row to start the week but the 46 looked like its old self on Sunday with a lot of speed on the low line. Vogel won the first two nights of the week while Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck won Saturday at Madison.
Jack Croaker of Grand Forks led the opening lap of the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint main event. A caution waved for a two-car incident in turn two that ended the night of Laela Eisenschenk of West Fargo and Ryan Bickett of Ramona.
Dobmeier tagged the wall in turn four – I do not know how he did not flip the car or at least damage it more severely – and lost several spots. Smoke began to come out of the 13 machine after that contact but he didn’t seem to lose any speed.
Croaker stayed out front with Sam Henderson of Sioux Falls and Brendan Mullen of Grand Forks fighting for second. Mullen was working a higher lane with Henderson running low. Mullen had a lot of speed and would pass Croaker for the top spot with 20 to go. Dobmeier was fighting back after the scrape with the wall, going up high to move into second.
Croaker was facing a challenge from Jade Hastings of Grand Forks for the third spot. Dobmeier, meanwhile, was narrowing the gap on first-place Mullen.
With 11 to go Mullen got loose up high and Dobmeier nearly got by, but Mullen served. The caution would wave with nine to go with Blake Egeland of Climax, Minn., ending up sideways by the wall in turn two.
Justin Jacobsma of Hull, Iowa, was having a nice run through the field into fourth.
Shortly after the restart Dobmeier went for a slider in turn two and Mullen did the crossover. Dobmeier finally won the slider battle to take the lead with Hastings moving into second.
Mullen’s night would come to a harsh end as he got into the wall in turns three and four and flipped the #11M machine a couple of times. He was OK, the car was heavily damaged and done for the night.
Nick Omdahl of East Grand Forks had been running near the top five most of the night and had moved into fifth after Mullens’ misfortune.
After the red flag Dobmeier opened a big lead on Hastings, who had Jacobsma to contend with for third.
Dobmeier would pick up his seventh win of 2023 by 1.039 seconds over Hastings. Jacobsma was a solid third with Croaker fourth and Henderson rounding out the top five.
The Wissota Hornets capped off the night with a five-car feature. Nathan Smith battled Brett Alexander of Brookings for the early lead but soon Bradley Rossow of Florence was moving into the top spot. National point leader Carter Matthews of Clearbrook, Minn., tagged the wall down the frontstretch and would pull pitside.
Rossow opened a half straightaway lead on second place and cruised to an easy win. Smith finished second and Alexander was third. The hornets went caution free.
Broking, Schmidt, Labelle Lead Bemidji Speedway Winners
Johnny Broking of Grand Rapids made a final lap pass of Skyler Smith to win a thrilling Wissota Modified feature Sunday night at Bemidji Speedway in Bemidji. Tanner Williamson of Fort Frances, Ont., was third, Alan Olafson of Blackduck was fourth and Lance Schilling of Laporte was fifth.
Brennan Schmidt of Bemidji topped Skyler Smith of Bemidji for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature win. Doyle Erickson of Bagley was third, Gary James Nelson of Ponemah was fourth and Devyn Weleski of Blackduck was fifth.
Cameron Labelle of Laporte topped Kade Leeper of Guthrie for the Wissota Pure Stock win. Josh Berg of Bemidji was third, last week’s winner Dustin Puffe of Laporte was fourth and Bonnie Farrington of Akeley was fifth.
Justin Barsness of Grand Rapids won the Wissota Hornet feature over Chad Reller of Waskish. Cejay LaValley of Bemidji was third, Brooklyn Vernlund of Bemidji was fourth and Malakai Wilson of Bemidji was fifth.
Ashton Schwinn of Little Falls topped Blake Erickson of Bagley for the Wissota Mod 4 feature. Nick Seitz of Bemidji was third, Kalin Honer of Laporte fourth and Rowan Tramm of Mora was fifth.
Conrad Schwinn of Little Falls topped his son Ashton for the Mini Stock feature win. Justin Honer of Laporte was third, Cory Nelson of Leonard fourth and Cameron Schwinn of Little Falls was fifth.
Ken Hron of Grand Rapids won the Northern Renegades Wingless Sprint feature over Travis Case of Grand Rapids. Zach Olson of Grand Rapids was third.
Taves, Hess, Jones Highlight Buffalo River Winners
Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes won his first career POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint feature on Sunday at Buffalo River Speedway. Taves, only 12, topped Kelsi Pederson of East Grand Forks for the win. Kate Taves of Detroit Lakes, Matthew’s older sister who recorded her first career win on Saturday at Greenbush, was third. It was a great weekend for the Taves family.
Loki Bjerke of Argusville was fourth and Richard Rygg of Grand Forks was fifth.
Trey Hess of Grand Forks outdueled Cole Greseth of Harwood for a thrilling Wissota Street Stock win. Hess also won Saturday at Greenbush. Kasey Ussatis of Nome was third, Nick Shumansky of Perham was fourth and Tyler Klugman of Wheaton was fifth.
Justin Jones of Bemidji dominated the IMCA Sport Mod feature with Scott Jacobson of Fargo taking second. Kelly Jacobson of Fargo was third, Chris VanMil of Barnesville was fourth and Rich Pavlicek of Casselton was fifth.
Tim Anderson of Minot took advantage of lapped traffic to get past Andrea Jacobson of Fargo late on his way to the IMCA Hobby Stock win. Anderson started 10th. Jacobson, who won Wednesday at Buffalo River, was second. Todd Gettel of Mahnomen was third, Brad Orvedal of Fargo was fourth and Chad Visser of Ironton was fifth.
Ryan Braseth of Ulen moved up from 10th to win the INEX Legends feature. Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton was second with Collin Compson of Valley City was third. Ty Olson of Mandan was fourth and Zander Compson of Valley City was fifth. The Australian, Glenn Mitchell, moved up from 20th to sixth at the checkered.
Hunter Goulet of Fargo topped Weston Clauson of Kathryn by a few feet to win the Short Tracker feature. Christian Kast of Fairmount was third after starting seventh while Travis Roush of New York Mills was fourth and Chandler Dick of Lisbon was fith.
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