Lund, Tanner Bitzan, Schafer, Dykhoff, Serbus, Rohner and Dusty Bitzan capture Viking Speedway wins

William Lund (54) edged Bailey Rosch for the Wissota Super Stock win. (Photo by Collin Nelson/Outlaw Action Photography)

It was a busy night at Viking Speedway in Alexandria as the UMSS High Roller Sprint Series was in town for the first and only time in 2025.  There were 110 cars on hand on a humid summer evening.

There was a great crowd at Viking, and the only appearance of the non-winged and winged sprint cars (34 cars between them) certainly contributed to that. But on July 4 weekend a lot of people go to the lake and Alexandria is in the heart of lake country. There were also several tracks off this weekend and some, including I-94, rained out on Friday.  Either way, it was good to see so many fans in the stands.

The UMSS sprints run frequently at Cedar Lake Speedway but will run at various tracks in the region. Part of the appeal of the class is they travel to several tracks, giving the drivers a chance to race different tracks while also giving fans from different areas a chance to see sprint cars.  According to UMSS announcer Marty Gallagher, the non-winged sprints have very few rules. The cars can run a 305, 360 or 410 motor and have no weight rule.  The winged sprints have more rules. Because of rain outs, it was only the second race in the high roller series, the first took place at ABC Raceway in Ashland, Wis., on June 7.

After all the rain on Friday night, the track had some character, with a big hole in turn one. But considering the way things looked Saturday morning, and the way the radar looked in the afternoon, I think most folks understood about the track. Several I talked to were just happy to have a chance to race with all the rainouts.

Even though the sprints were the special of the night I’ll start out with the best feature, which was the Wissota Super Stocks. Bailey Rosch of Alexandria and William Lund of Brandon led the Wissota Super Stock field with Rosch jumping out front. Travis Scott of Glenwood moved into third ahead of Brady Gerdes of Villard.

Lund was all over the outside of Rosch in the fight for the lead as Gerdes moved into third past Scott. Carson Miller of Carlos was running solidly in the top five.  The caution would fly six laps into the main event as Matt Miller was turned around in turn two.

On the restart Rosch and Lund resumed their fight for the top spot with Gerdes not far behind in third.  Lund was working the high side while Rosch was running the bottom. Scott and Carson Miller also were close in the fight for fourth.

Lund and Rosch were putting on a great show up front as Lund would grab the top spot with nine laps left. Gerdes was third while Scott had moved back to fourth. Lund started to pull away and opened a 1.523 second lead with three to go before the caution flew for Jeff Crouse who went off the backstretch; he would pull into the pits.

The caution set up another exciting duel between Lund and Rosch for the lead as they went side-by-side over the final three laps. It literally was decided by inches as Lund nipped Rosch by .051 seconds in a tremendous finish. It was the best race of the night. For Lund it was his second feature win of the year, he had won at I-94 EMR Speedway earlier.

Gerdes was third, Scott was fourth and Carson Miller held off Karter Reents of Glenwood for fifth.

72-year-old Ron Saurer had the early lead of the Wissota Midwest Modified feature with Reise Stenberg of Argusville moving into second. Tanner Bitzan charged from seventh to s third and Haley Dykhoff of Starbuck moved to fourth. The caution would wave as Tim Pederson of Osakis spun in turn three.

On the restart Tanner Bitzan made a move to the top spot as Stenberg cleared Saurer for second. Dykhoff was in a tight battle with Saurer for third with Travis Engebretson of Cyrus, the track point leader, moving into fifth.

The caution waved with seven to go for a car off turn two, and a spin by Tyler Bitzan on the ensuing restart brought out the third caution.

Saurer slid high on the restart and it was costly, losing a bunch of positions..  Bitzan led Stenberg by about two car lengths as Dykhoff and Engebretson dueled for third.

Blake Boelens of Brandon, driving Maddie Swenson’s 52 car, was having a nice run in fifth after starting 10th. Engebretson got by Dykhoff for third with about four to go.

Tanner Bitzan was flawless up front and would win by nearly a second with Stenberg taking a solid second. Engebretson was third, Dykhoff fourth and Boelens was fifth.

Cam Schafer, formerly of Glenwood, won the non-winged sprint feature (photo by Tom Berg)

Scott Brandt of Andover took the lead of the non-winged sprint cars with Ken Hron of Grand Rapids fighting Cam Schafer of Shoreview for second. The caution would wave as Xander Coleman of Fargo stalled in turn two, he would get pushed pitside.

Schafer, originally from Glenwood, made a charge for the lead on the backstretch and cleared Brandt for the lead with Bryan Roach of Goodhue – who used race asphalt at I-94 back in the day -- getting by Hron for third. Chris Lewis had moved into fifth.

Hron would get up in the marbles on the backstretch and slid off turn three to bring out the caution.

Schafer pushed the lead to 1.2 seconds with Lewis moving into third behind Brandt. Roach was fourth and Johnny Parsons III was fifth. Lewis was quick on the bottom and went to work on Brandt.

There wasn’t much drama for the lead thanks to a dominant performance from Schafer, whose lead stayed between 1.5 and 2.0 seconds. Lewis was close to Brandt for a while before there was some separation late.  

Brandt made up some serious ground over the final few laps but ran out of time as Schafer prevailed by .370 seconds for the $1,300. Lewis was third, Roach was fourth and Parsons fifth.

I remember a time when Kyle Dykhoff didn’t like Viking Speedway as much as some other tracks. That has clearly changed as now he’s almost unbeatable at the half-mile.

Davey Kruchten of Glenwood and Kasey Ussatis of Nome, N.D., were on the front row for the Wissota Street Stock feature but Kyle Dykhoff surged between the two to grab the lead on the opening lap. The Wolverine Justin Vogel of Brooten was also charging into the top three.

After Craig Gardner’s 8x car was forced off the backstretch, the field was bunched up. Dykhoff pulled away as Vogel and Kruchten fought for second. Ussatis, Joe Martin of Willmar and 38 were fighting for third. Tommy Pogones, who had a mechanical issue in the heat, started 14^th and worked into the top five.

Kruchten and Vogel had a good battle for second with Kruchten finally edging ahead.  Pogones was pressuing Martin for fourth.

Dykhoff, meanwhile was in his own area code, pushing the lead to 5.1 seconds with two to go. Pogones was in fourth and putting pressure on Vogel for third with Martin close behind.

Dykhoff prevailed by 5.6 seconds in a whipping of the field. Kruchten, the defending Viking champion, held off a charging Vogel for second. Martin, a good, steady competitor each week, edged Pogones for fourth. Only one caution in the Wissota Street feature, a nice job by that class.

Dykhoff has raced five times at Viking this summer, and won four. He was second to Eric Riley on May 10. The 11 car is on a rail at Viking right now.

Trevor Serbus of Olivia, a good runner in the IMCA RaceSaver sprints for several years, stormed to the front of the Winged Sprint feature from his seventh place starting spot. Owen Graf of Glencoe settled into second as Chase Viebrock of New Richmond and Jeremy Snow of Princeton battled for third. Matt Johnson of St. Peter was running fifth.

Serbus was crushing the field, opening a lead of nearly six seconds on Graf, who had his hands full with Viebrock. Johnson took over fourth from Snow.

Serbus pushed his lead to a whopping 10.8 seconds over Graf with six to go. Bill Johnson pressuring Snow for fifth in the only real battle in the top five. However, the caution would wave with five to go – erasing the massive lead for Serbus. The caution was for Graf, who spun in turns one and two, which sent him to the tail.

Serbus now had Viebrock on his tail on the restart with Matt Johnson now in third. The car that had made a huge charge through the field after a DNF in the heat was Owen Carlson of Somerset, Wis., he climbed to fifth. Serbus picked up where he left off and ran to a 3.2 lead by the checkered for the win. Viebrock was second, Matt Johnson third, Carlson fourth and Bill Johnson in fifth. Carlson started 20^th on the field.

Jeremy Kerzman of Grey Eagle, a guy with a lot of laps at the Viking half-mile, including back to the days when the track ran Mod 4s finished sixth.

The Wissota Hornet class had good car counts with 15 cars on hand and 14 taking the green.  There was a multi-car pileup in turn one that included Travis Bruns of Alexandria getting the worst damage, ending his night.

Matt Dittman of Lake Lillian took the lead, but Brendan Bockwitz of Cambridge was in hot pursuit. Jeff Rohner of Willmar was soon challenging Bockwitz with Kreg Anderson of Alexandria in fourth.  Christopher Blume was running fifth.

Rohner would pull ahead with seven laps to go with Dittman now contending with Kreg Anderson for second.  Bockwitz was solidly in fourth.

Anderson moved into second past Dittman with seven to go as Dittman and Bockwitz squared off for third. Bobie Arnes of Foreston was running  fifth.

Rohner wasn’t seriously threatened to pick up a 10-car length win over Anderson. Bockwitz topped Dittman for third with Arnes rounding out the top five.

Dusty Bitzan surged into the lead of the Wissota Modified feature over Josh Thoennes of Villard, who was fighting with Bryce Sward of Nelson for second.  Travis Saurer of Elizabeth grabbed fourth ahead of Gerdes.

Bitzan’s lead was up to two seconds over Thoennes, who had pulled away from Sward for second. Gerdes was close to Saurer for fourth.

Things got pretty spread out for the top five aside from Saurer and Gerdes  in the battle for fourth. Bitzan stuck the 10x to the high side and never left as he would cruise to a x.x- victory over Josh Thoennes. Sward was third, Saurer was fourth and Gerdes fifth in a caution-free race that lasted about 7 ½ minutes.

Viking Notes                                 

--Jason Thimmesh of Garfield, previously a Wissota Street Stock and Midwest Modified competitor, has hopped into the Wissota Super Stock class and made his debut in the division on Saturday.  He should be a good addition to that class at Viking, which could use a boost in numbers in the class. Thimmesh went from 11^th to seventh in the feature, not a bad debut at all.

--Michelle (Lund) Hutt of Boyd made her season debut in the Wissota Midwest Modifieds on Saturday. Hutt and her husband, Mason, welcomed their second child in early May, and she told me she planned to be back behind the wheel this summer. Hutt ran well in the heat, finishing third to make the redraw for the feature but was a DNF in the main event.

--Nic Hiles of Miltona has moved up from the Wissota Hornets to the Wissota Midwest Modified this summer. He’s running a 2002 Cobra chassis in his first year in the class as he looks to get valuable seat time this summer.

--Paul Ripley of Duluth made the long trek south for the Wissota Midwest Modifieds. He won his heat but was DQed post race, forcing him to start 22^nd in the feature. He ran well in the feature, going from 22^nd to 10^th in the main event.

Hess, Reinke win at Greenbush

Trey Hess of Grand Forks, the national point leader in the Wissota Street Stocks, won the feature in that division on Saturday night at Greenbush Race Park. Canadian A.J. Kellar was second and Cole Greseth of Harwood was third.

Regan Reinke of Lisbon won the feature in the INEX Legends division; he picked up his first career win earlier this month in Sheridan, Wyo.

Tyler Vernon of Mason, Wis., topped Gary James Nelson of Blackduck for the Wissota Midwest Modified with Matt Schow of McIntosh in third.

Blake Adams of Cameron, Wis., topped Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks for the Wissota Modified win at Greenbush. Dylan Langevin of Thief River Falls topped Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes for the Lightning Sprint feature.

Dustin Puffe of Bemidji won the Wissota Pure Stock feature.

Saturday notes

Landon Albertson of Cottonwood won the Pure Stock feature Saturday night at Madison Speedway. Levi Randt of Siren, Wis., topped Kolton Brauer for the Wissota Street Stock feature with Zachary Flickinger of Madison taking third.

Brian Haben of Appleton won the Wissota Modified feature with Kyle Kirberger taking second and Justin VanEps of Kandiyohi in third.

Landyn Randt of Siren topped Ryan Flaten of Madison for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature. Mid Mod rookie Sophie Anderson of Chokio won her first heat race in the division.