Marko, Stearns, Olsen, Stark, Walsh and Tirrel claim Casino victories

Casino Speedway was back in action with 66 cars on hand. It was the second show in four nights for the Watertown track, which hosted an USMTS show on Thurssday.

The final checkered flag waved at 8:58 p.m., a great job by Casino officials and drivers. As I said, I will compliment racing programs that run efficiently and are done in a good time, and this was one of those nights. But I won’t hesitate to point out shows that I think run way too long because of a lack of urgency or too much constant track farming.

 It was a bit unusual night at the 1/4-mile where the leaders just checked out in the features – and all went up to a higher lane to pull away.

Jason Marko of Watertown led Maria Broksieck of Goodwin early in the Wissota Street Stock feature. Andy Rossow of Florence was fighting  Cole Greseth of Harwood for third .

Jayden Bogh of Huron went around in turn four to bring out the first yellow. Marko reassumed control but the real fight was for second between Broksieck, Rossow, Greseth, Kyle Bertram of Dallas and Tyller Lamb of Clark.

Marko meanwhile was ahead by a straightaway, with Rossow and Greseth battling  for third and Lamb and Wade Tirrel of White now dueling for second.  Broksieck slipped up in turn one and that was the opening  Rossow needed to grab second. Broksieck, who entered the night as the point leader, would soon pull off with a right rear flat.

This was a total domination by Marko as he won by almost 1/3 of a lap over Rossow. Greseth was third, Bogh made a great run back to fourth and Bertram edged Lamb for fifth.

Garrett Gross grabbed the lead of the Wissota Modified feature but soon was pursued by Mike Stearns of Aberdeen, who won the big USMTS Thursday at Casino.

 Stearns would grab the lead about six laps into the feature. Tony Konold of Clear Lake was challenging Andy Brooker for second.

The caution flew with six to go when Brooker’s 8 got turned around in turn four, which collected Konold and Arne Anderson of Watertown. Brooker was charged with the yellow.

Gross would spin on his own in turn two to bring out the second caution.  On the restart Stearns pulled away from Konold, and the top four stayed the same the rest of the way as Stearns rolled to the win.  Stearns is having quite a week – he won the USMTS show Thursday at Casino, won the late model feature Saturday at Dakota State Fair Speedway and picked up another win on Sunday. I would say the USMTS would have to be one of the biggest of his career, considering the caliber of competition.

I was watching the fourth row, where a pair of Wissota Late Model national champions lurked – Chad Becker and Tyler Peterson.   

Charlie Olsen of Hendricks took control of the Wissota Late Model feature with Stearns in second and Thomas Weisgram of Northville in third  Trevor Anderson of Watertown, last week’s winner, was fourth ahead of Becker. The late models rode around the high side as Becker was closing on Anderson for fourth. Olsen had a half-straightaway advantage on Stearns. There was a battle shaping up for third between Weisgram, Anderson and Becker. The caution flew for Jayson Good’s spin in turns three and four.

On the restart Becker made a move into third and was trying hard to make the bottom lane.  TPO had been uncharacteristically quiet during the first part of the race, had climbed to fifth.

But no one touched Olsen, an 18-year-old whose father Chad is a long-time racer. He re-built a half straightaway to pick up his first feature victory of 2026. His last win at Casino came in the Gen X Late Models three years ago.

Stearns held off Becker for second with Anderson fourth and TPO  fifth. I wish the bottom had been a little better

Todd Stark of Watertown grabbed the lead of the Wissota Midwest Modified feature  as Tommy Nichols of Watertown grabbed second from Joel Waba of Watertown.  Chad Williamson, driving Dakota Larsen’s 9L car, soon was challenging Waba for third. Darren Engesser of Gary was fifth.

Stark had built a half straightaway on Nichols, who was well ahead of Waba. Engesser was running alone in fifth. Stark would brush the wall in turns one and two and that shrunk his lead a little.

Nichols was closing as the white flag waved but didn’t get close enough to make a challenge as Stark, the defending Casino champion, prevailed for his second victory of 2026. His first came at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen in May.

Nichols, who entered the night 11 points ahead of Stark, took second. Waba was third, Williamson fourth and Engesser fifth in a caution-free race.

Trevor Walsh and Tyler McFarland of Goodwin led the Gen X Late Models to the green. McFarland would hit the hall on the oping lap and it was costly, dropping him out of the top five. Walsh built a nice advantage over Alex Tschakert of Kent, who had Curt Kranz and John Winge on his heels. Parker Gilbertson of Watson was fifth.

Walsh was blowing away the field as Tschakert ran second; Gilbertson was working on Winge for third as Croninger and Blake Swenson were closing on Kranz.

Walsh, who was involved in a big crash Friday at Fiesta City Speedway, was a straightaway ahead of Tschakert, who had a big advantage on third-place Winge. It looked like Walsh would win in a breather but Chad Duenwald’s 33 car stalled at the bottom of turn two to bring out the first caution.

Winge passed Tschakert for second as Gilbertson and Blake Swenson dueled for fourth. Walsh had zero concerns at the front, pulling away to a comfortable win.

Dylan Tirrel, who holds a slim point lead over . Rossow underneath Natthew Moes for second as Dalton Pedersen of Estelline was right there as well. Adam VanDerostyne of Canby, only five points behind Tirrel going into the night, was close behind. Winge ran a solid second with Tschakert third and Gilbertson fourth. McFarland, who had slid well back at the start, made a good recovery to top Swenson for fifth.

Miron Fisk’s 4 machine made contact with the wall in turn four and he stalled to bring out the yellow. Fisk left on the hook. On the restart things went three-wide for second as  VanDerostyne was looking to make a move.

The car on the move was Christian Kasat of Fairmount, who had started xxth in the field and had climbed to fourth and joined the battle with Pederson and VanDerostyne. Rossow, who got crossed up for a moment, fell back to fifth.

Tirrel was long long as VanDerostyne had climbed to second. Kast was working the bottom line. Pedersen was fourth and Rossow fifth.

Tirrell rolled unchallenged to the win, which padded his point lead.  Kast made a late pass of VanDerostyne for second.

Sunday notes

--Brennan Schmidt of Bemidji won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature Sunday night at Bemidji Speedway. Schmidt has been racing at River Cities Speedway and Norman County Raceway this summer.

--Justin Vogel of Brooten won the Wissota Street Stock feature Sunday night at Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids.

--Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon is off for the month of July. Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon held a sprint car special on Saturday night,