Kinzley Outduels Johnny C for Don Gumke Memorial victory at Jamestown
- tombergie01
- Jun 8
- 7 min read
The original plan was to cover the King of the Dirt at I-94 EMR Speedway; I got down there and took some pictures and gave out a few stickers. But I also saw the skies darkening to the west and knew it was going to rain, it was a matter of when. Unfortunately, after the late model B main the rain started too fall and it was too much to restart the show, postponing it to another date to be determined. I had thought about going to Jamestown but wanted to hit I-94 on their big event, but took a gamble the forecast was wrong – turns out it was right.
I got home in time to watch the end of the Late Model Dream at Eldora, but also in time to tune in on Dacotah Speedway TV to watch the Don Gumke Racers Memorial at Jamestown. I confess I haven’t been to Jamestown in a while but have kept an eye on their results and their drivers, and I’m hoping to incorporate the ¼-mile into some coverage this year if time and travel allow.
The Gumke Memorial is in honor of former Jamestown racer and promoter Don Gumke, who tragically passed away in Jan. 2020. The Grinder was a very popular figure in Jamestown for a long time. The winner of the IMCA Modified feature would take home $2,222. Also, the Legendary Tour was on hand for the INEX Legends; the tour had been to Dickinson, Mandan and Underwood previously and was rained out Thursday at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon.
I thought the feature racing was pretty good with some good side-by-side battles.
Jordan Sours of Lisbon and Marcus Tomlinson of Turtle Lake dueled early in the IMCA Modified feature. Quintin Kinzley of Bismarck though was making a charge on the high side and used that momentum to go into the lead past Tomlinson. The ageless John Corell of Jamestown, known by race fans as Johnny C., had edged past John Nord of Enderlin, who won the $2,000 Bison Battle Friday at Red River Valley Speedway, for third. Argusville’s Dave Shipley, runner-up to Nord at RRVS on Friday, moved into the top five.
After a multi-car pileup, Kinzley resumed the lead over Johnny C. with Tomlinson and North fighting for third.
Johnny C was working on the lower lane on Kinzley who had some issues with lapped traffic. With nine to go Corell’s 5 edged ahead for the top spot as Kinzley had some issues with lapped cars. Tomlinson had passed Nord for the third spot.
A spin for the 00 of Ben Hunt brought out the caution with, and honestly that was the last thing Corell wanted to see as Kinzley was mired in some lapped traffic.
On the restart Kinzley went back to the high side and that proved to be the winning move of the race. Kinzley would inch ahead a little further each lap on his way to a .315 second win over Johnny C. Shipley is always a threat in his modified and came across third. Tomlinson was fourth and Jordan Sours of Lisbon nipped Nord for fifth. I thought it was a very good race with two very distinct grooves, the only issue was a few of the cautions seemed to disrupt some of the racing up front.
Tanner Jones of Glengarden, N.J., took the lead over Noah Madler of New England in the INEX legends feature. Donovan Wiest of Jamestown was fighting Preston Martin of Lincoln for third with Ty Olson of Mandan, a driver who won at Sheyenne Speedway earlier this year, moving into fifth.
Martin went up top to try and make up some ground as Jones had a car-length on Noah Madler. Martin found something and got around Wiets and soon cleared Madler for second.
After taking over second, Martin made a serious challenge for the top spot. There was contact between Jones and Martin on the frontstretch as they fought for the lead, sending Jones sideways. Olson came with a head of steam and had nowhere to go and hit the 24J machine hard. Both drivers were OK, but both left on the hook, a tough break for them as they were racing well in the top five.
The call was made on Martin, and I would agree with that that. I don’t think it was malicious, it was two drivers racing hard for the lead, but I think Martin initiated the contact.
Noah Madler, the defending Jamestown Stock Car Stampede Champion, inherited the lead but Wiest was going up high to try and make a run, and he edged ahead.
Kody Machart of Moorhead started way back in 16th but had climbed to third. Machart, however broke while running third with about four to go, ending his hopes for a top five.
The race ended under yellow//caution as Machart’s machine couldn’t reach the pit area, giving Wiest a win. Noah Madler was second and Gage Madler was third. Ryan Erdahl was fourth and Martin made a big-time comeback through the field to get fifth.
The Bomber feature had 21 cars on the starting grid. It’s a class that Jamestown has run for many, many years as unsanctioned – a move I highly recommend for hobby stocks/bomber classes – and it’s been a good starter class for many. I like the class because there are some old-school bodies on some of the cars that remind me of the street stocks of the 1980s. There was some outstanding side-by-side racing in Saturday’s feature.
Travis Edinger of Jamestown took the lead over Erik Busche of Jamestown, but Busche quickly challenged for the lead. Ryker Vetter of Wishek was in third ahead of former Sheyenne Speedway track champion Clay Gentzkow. Brody Michaelsohn moving through the field was running fifth after starting 11th. After a caution, Edinger had all kinds of pressure from both Busche and Vetter as Michaelsohn grabbed fourth.
Busche and Edinger ran side by side for the top spot with Vetter and Michaelsohn of Wishek side by side for third. Karlie Horner of Bismarck had moved into fourth and was close behind the battle for third.
Busche got crossed up for a second and lost some valuable ground. Edinger’s primary foe was now Michaelsohn although Busche was fighting back. The caution would wave for a spin on the backstretch, setting up as single-file restart with four laps remaining.
Under caution Michaelsohn stalled on the top of turn two and would require a push to the pit area, which was unfortunate since he was running in second.
Edinger weathered the restarts and numerous challenges from Busche to secure the win. Busche, a winner earlier this year at Jamestown, Vetter ran a solid third. Horner went from seventh to fourth and Cade Gentzkow of Lamoure finished fifth.
The Wissota Midwest Modified feature saw Arin Beyer of Jamestown take the lead over Jaren Wibstad of Jamestown. Phil Christlieb of Fargo was running in third with Brennon Weight of Lamoure in fourth. Wibstad ran the high lane as he worked on Beyer, and those two raced hard side-by-side. Kyle Anderson of Jamestown started ninth but had climbed up to fourth by the time the caution flew with 13 to go.
Jaden Christ’s bad luck on the weekend. He flipped violently in the late models at Brown County Speedway on Friday, and his #79 midwest modified broke with 12 to go on Saturday. Brennon Weight would also pull in under the caution.
On the 12-to-go restart Wibstad led with Beyer and Anderson giving chase. Memphis Klassen was running fourth. Beyer regained the lead with Wibstad in second. Klassen would break in turn four and stalle on the frontstretch.
Anderson moved into second as Wibstad lost a bunc hfo spots after sliding high on the backstretch. Anderson worked to the bottom of Anderson with Cylan Vargeson moving into third.
Wibstad would rebound and moved back into fourth past Christlieb, who was fending off Tanner Theis of New Rockford.
Anderson, hungry for his first Wissota Midwest Modified win, was putting the heat on Beyer up front. He got a great run on the final lap and made the pass in turns three and four for his first win of the season. Beyer settled for second. Wibstad worked back up to third with Vargason and Christlieb rounding out the top five.
Dustin Erickson of Jamestown had the upper hand early in the Wissota Street Stock main event. Contact between Erickson and Jodie Michaelsohn of Aberdeen opened the door for Cole Greseth of Harwood – having the best season of his young career -- to surge into the lead.
Greseth opened almost two seconds on Erickson, who had Kasey Ussatis of Nome chasing him. Michaelsohn was running fourth and Jordan Johnson was running fifth.
Greg Jose of Grand Forks, who has three wins this season including on Friday at Grand Forks, broke in his left front suspension, ending his hopes of two feature wins in two nights. He would leave on the hook.
After a spin in turn four, Greseth opened a big lead as Ussatis, Erickson and Michaelsohn went three-wide for second. Greseth used that battle to open up some distance on the field, about 1.8 seconds on Ussatis. Ussatis, however, was charging on the high side and got beside Greseth with four to go. Michaelsohn was also closing in on the top two.
Ussatis got a great run out of turn two and got beside Greseth, and out of the final corner the 2U made one last charge for the win – but Greseth would hold on a .041 second win. He is now 3-for-3 at Jamestown this summer, and has eight wins in 16 starts, about a .500 batting average.
The late charge by Ussatis came up short but he ran a strong second. Michaelsohn was third, Erickson was fourth and Jordan Johnson rounded out the top five.
Saturday notes
--Maria Broksieck of Goodwin topped Zach Flickinger of Madison for the Wissota Street Stock win Saturday night at Madison Speedway. Jeff Rohner of Willmar (Wissota Hornets), Brian Haben of Appleton (Wissota Modified) and Landon Albertson of Cottonwood (Pure Stock) also won features.
--I-94 EMR Speedway didn’t quite make it to intermission for its King of the Dirt Show. Officials did their best but the cold front hit, and brought too much rain to get the show restarted. Check out the I-94 Facebook page for rescheduled dates.
--Devils Lake Speedway and Greenbush Race Park both rained out on Saturday.
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