Mikkelson wins Jeff Hinkemeyer Memorial at Viking Speedway

The Jeff Hinkemeyer Memorial kicked off the 2026 season at Viking Speedway. The Structural Buildings Wissota Late Model Challenge Series was on hand for the first and only time at the half-mile with a solid 32-car field on hand.

The night was in honor of Jeff Hinkemeyer, a Viking Hall of Fame member and many time late model track champion, who passed away from lung cancer earlier this spring. He was a very well-known late model driver in central Minnesota for a long time.

One big positive on the night was the return of Nitro Jimmy Williams in the Wissota Street Stocks. He suffered a major heart attack in the pit area last year and faced a long road back, and to see him return is a great boost to kick off the season at the half-mile.

The focus is on the late models, and with Viking not running the class weekly, you have to feel the race was wide open going into the night.  I know there are those who’d love to see Viking add the class weekly again – well, if someone wanted to volunteer to pay the weekly purse required for the class, I am sure Viking board members would consider adding them again. Just my two cents, it’s easier said than done in today’s racing world.

Onto the racing.

The Wissota Late Models were second on the feature schedule after the street stocks. The front row consisted of two-time challenge series champion Cole Searing of Huron and defending series champion Dave Mass of East Bethel. Donnie Lofdahl was one of the pace cars in the late model feature with a Hinkemeyer-look alike 4F machine. For Viking fans that car looked awfully familiar and was in victory lane a lot.

Searing led from the get-go as Mass and Shane Sabraski of Rice fought for second.  Friday’s winner, Kevin Burdick of Proctor, ran fourth ahead of Chris Mensen of Carlos. Sam Mars’s 28 was turned around in turn four to bring out the first caution on the second lap; he would get his spot back but I didn’t see who the caution was called on.

On the restart Sabraski put the heat on Searing as Burdick moved into third. Wisconsin driver Joel Bennett had climbed into the top five.

On the fourth lap Sabraski edged ahead as the fight for the lead intensified. Burdick was now closing on Searing for second.

Sabraski’s lead grew to 2.1 seconds over Searing as he got into lapped traffic.  Back in the field there was a good fight for eighth between Mars and Grand Rapids driver Johnny Broking, who had smoke coming out of his 45 machine.

The caution waved with 18 to go for a car stalled at the bottom of turn three.

On the restart the car on the charge was Ryan Mikkelson of Alexandria, as he flew into third and got around Burdick for second. Tyler Peterson (TPO) of Hickson also making his presence known, climbing into fourth with a pass of Mass.

Mikkelson was quickly closing on Sabraski by the halfway point. Travis Saurer of Elizabeth also made big progress through the field after qualifying from the B; he took fifth from Mass.

Mikkelson was a bullet on the high lane, and that was the difference IMO. Burdick stayed close to Sabraski in the fight for second, and soon TPO and Saurer were closing on those two as the late models set a feverish pace around the half mile.

Mikkelson had one hell of a run, one of the best I’ve seen in a late model in a long time. He drove around Sabraski on the high side and once in front, stuck his car up there the whole night and wasn’t touched over the final 12 laps, winning his first challenge series race ever by 2.4 seconds over Sabraski.  Burdick finished in the top three for a second straight night, with Saurer edging Peterson for fourth. Saurer went from 18^th to fourth while TPO went from 15^th to fifth.

It was a very good race with some passing, only two cautions and 23 of the 26 cars finished.

For Mikkelson, who had been so close to winning a challenge series before only to experience heartbreak late, the win was satisfying, as he indicated in victory lane.

Brad Lorentz of Eagle Bend and Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck led the Wissota Street Stocks to the green and Dykhoff surged into the lead and immediately Lorentz had his hands full with the Wolverine Justin Vogel of Brooten and defending national champ Kolton Brauer of Eyota. Tommy Pogones and Eric Riley were in that group, and not far behind them was Levi Randt of Siren and J.J. Nieuwbeerta of Alexandria. Riley was DQed in the heat when his muffler fell off and started dead last but charged through the field.

Vogel would break and pull in with 12 to go, ending his hopes for a first win of 2026.

Dykhoff opened a 2.7 lead over Lorentz, who was overtaken by Pogones with nine to go. Riley charged into fourth with Randt and Brauer fighting for fifth.

Lorentz got sideways for a second and that allowed Riley and Randt to move past him.

Dykhoff simply dominated this race from the green. With four laps to go his lead stood at four seconds. Riley, meanwhile, was challenging Pogones for second as lapped traffic became a factor and would grab the spot with two laps left. 

You know, I remember the days Dykhoff struggled at Vikng; those days are long gone. He won by 4.2 seconds to pick up his fifth win in six starts this summer. I fully expect him, once the national points heat up later in the summer, to contend for the national title.

Riley had a heck of a run from 15^th to second, and who knows what he would have done with a late-race caution. Pogones was a solid third ahead of Randt, with Lorentz capping off a nice night in fifth. The caution-free street stock feature lasted 6 minutes and 35 seconds, excellent job by those drivers.

The ageless Ron Saurer, 73, was the early leader of the Wissota Midwest Modified feature but faced a  real challenge from Thief River Falls driver Aaron Blacklance.  Blacklance would grab the lead  as Tyler Bitzan moved into second. Landyn Randt of Siren was flying on the bottom and took third and was closing on the top two.

Randt stuck his 11R car to the bottom and was challenging Bitzan for second. Saurer was running a solid fourth and Travis Engebretson of Cyrus, the defending Viking Midwest modified champion, was running fifth, ahead of Canadian Memphis Klassen.

Randt went to work on Blacklance for the lead as the two ran side by side; Randt would grab the top spot with four laps left. Blacklance, however, fought back but slid up a bit high in turn two and fell out of the top 10.

Engebretson had climbed to second and was close to Randt for a while, but the 11R would pull away over the final laps to take a 1.486 win. Engebretson was second, and Klassen capped off a really nice night, going from 11^th to third. Bitzan was fourth and Jon Carlson of Brandon had a good night,, taking home fifth after starting seventh.

It was a clean Midwest modified race with only two DNFS and two cautions, nice work in a 24-car field.

Bryce Borgen of Perley had the inside pole for the Wissota Modified feature but it was Dusty Bitzan moving into the lead from the outside of the front row. Multi-time Viking champion Brady Gerdes of Villard was third with Travis Saurer in fourth and Bryce Sward of Nelson in fifth.

Justin Froemming’s 33x was turned around in turn two for the first caution with 17 left. On the restart Gerdes took the second spot from Borgen and Saurer and Shane Sabraski were pressuring Borgen for third. Avery Anderson of Alexandria was running well in sixth and closing on Borgen.

Bitzan ran the high lane and Gerdes stuck his 2x to the bottom as they opened up  distance on the field.  Bitzan’s lead stood at 2.5 seconds by the halfway point of the 20-lap main event. The top was the lane over the final 10-12 laps of the main event.

The caution flew with six to go to erase a 1.8 second lead for Bitzan and brought Gerdes and Saurer to his bumper on the restart. Saurer and Gerdes were fighting for second, however, and Bitzan would open a half straightaway lead in the process. Sabraski went to work on Saurer as Josh Thoennes of Nelson had climbed to fifth.

Bitzan was in control with the white flag in hand but the caution would wave as Anderson was off the backstretch, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. The final restart didn’t deter Bitzan as he rolled to the win where he led every lap. Gerdes, Saurer, Sabraski and Josh Thoennes rounded out the top five.

Viking had 16 mods in attendance, and if they can hover around 15 weekly, that would be a good number.

Dexton Koch of Becker and Bailey Rosch of Alexandria dueled for the lead to open the Wissota Super Stock feature with Koch taking the spot. Karter Reents of Glenwood  would move to second as the multi-time national champion Sabraski would pressure him for that spot. Trevor Saurer of Dalton grabbed fourth. The caution would fly with nine to go as Rosch suffered a flat. He got the tire changed and tagged the rear of the field.

On the restart Sabraski stuck his 7A to the bottom and threatened Koch for the lead as Reents settled into third. Koch would survive that challenge and begin to pull away as Sabraski moved to the high line. The best battle on the track was for fifth between Carson Miller and Rosch.

Koch cruised to the win as he pulled away from Sabraski for a two-second victory. Reents was a solid third with Saurer and Miller rounding out the top five.  Koch is a former national champion who is running for the Wissota Late Model Rookie of the Year.

The Wissota Hornets capped off a busy night with the 10:45 p.m. curfew closing in. Jeff Rohner of Willmar jumped out front as Zander Zuhlsdorff of Underwood dueled with Matthew Dittman of Lake Lillian for second. Hibbing driver Brady Rosso was fourth, and soon passed Zuhlsdorff for third. Paxton Tjaden of Boyd was running fifth.

Rohner was on a rail from the get-go and had a big lead over Dittman, who had a good distance on third-place Fosso. Rohner had a little smoke coming from his 08 machine, but it didn’t seem to slow him at all as he demolished the field by almost seven seconds.

Dittman slowed on the final lap, allowing Fosso and Zuehlsdorff to get by on the final lap. Chase Golliet of Fargo edged Eli Green of Osakis for fifth.

The final checkered waved at 10:45 p.m. – just at curfew.

Viking Notes

--McKenzie Mikkelson of Alexandria was back in her 13X Wissota Modified for the first time since August 2024. Mikkelson is the wife of late model pilot Ryan Mikkelson, who won on Saturday. Life is busy for the Mikkelsons with three young sons and two race teams. Her return is a good boost for the local mod ranks.

-- The Wissota Midwest Modifieds had 25 cars on hand, and one encouraging sign for Viking officials – I counted 19 of those drivers within a 40-mile radius of Alexandria.

--Rohner is a guy to keep an eye on for the Wissota Hornet national title later this summer.  He finished second nationally last year with 17 Wissota wins, just five points champion Anthony Jenson. Rohner has two wins in two starts so far. Another driver who I expect to be in contention is Brady Fosso of Hibbing, who is doing a lot of traveling early in the year before the tracks in his home area open. He was third in the national points last year.

--There were three former Wissota Street Stock national champions on hand on Saturday – defending champion Kolton Brauer, 2018 and 2023 champion Justin Vogel, and 2022 champion Kyle Dykhoff.

--Defending Viking Wissota Hornet champion Kreg Anderson of Alexandria has moved into the Wissota Street Stocks for 2026. Chris Winter Jr., the hornet runner-up at Viking at 2025, is also back in a street stock this year after racing in the class for a handful of nights a few years ago.  Anderson unfortunately was a scratch for the feature.

Saturday notes

--Cole Greseth of Harwood won the Wissota Street Stock feature Saturday night at Devils Lake Speedway. Kasey Ussatis of Nome was second, Greg Jose of Grand Forks third, Stoney Kruk of Langdon fourth and John Halvorson of Warren was fifth.

Jory Berg of Grand Forks topped Austin Hunter of Winnipeg for the Wissota Midwest Modified win. Kyle Anderson of Jamestown was third, Cylen Vargason of Edinburg fourth and Ryne Uhlrich of Langdon fifth.

Myles Tomlinson of Turtle Lake won the Western Renegade Non-Winged Sprint feature.

--Maria Broksieck of Goodwin won the Wissota Street Stock feature Saturday night at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron.  Scott Hansen of Garden City won the Wissota Midwest Modified main event.

--Ryan Gierke of Villard won the Wissota Modified feature Saturday night at Ogilvie Raceway. Christian Kast of Fairmount won the Wissota Hornet main event at Ogilvie.