Nord, Jochim Win Bison Battle at RRVS; VanMil, Wilke and Engen Win

tombergie01
Jun 6
8 min read

The Bison Battle was on tap Friday night at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, with the IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars running for bigger money. Those two classes ran time trials to determine heat lineups, with the feature lineups coming from the heats.

Car counts in those two classes were solid – 18 IMCA Modifieds and 12 IMCA Stock Cars. The INEX Legends once again led the way in car counts with 28 on hand.

The IMCA Modifieds were racing for a nice $2,000 top prize. Tyler Hall of Fertile led early with John Nord of Enderlin on his heels; Nord would edge ahead for the lead. Josh Anderson of Barnesville was fourth.

Lindsey Hansen of Fargo was the second-fastest qualifier in the IMCA Mods and ran well in his heat but scraped the wall on the frontstretch early in the feature, but I found out later engine issues were the culprit of why he would pull outside. The 32H is showing some promise in its first year in the IMCA Mods but his feature luck was lousy on Friday.

I always watch the 72 of Dave Shipley of Argusville at RRVS. He is bad fast in the mods at the 3/8-mile, and would pass Anderson for third. The caution would wave when Jordan Sours’ #02 machine stalled off of turn two, he would go to the work area for repairs.

Nord led Hall with Shipley and Anderson fighting for third. The ageless veteran John Corell of Jamestown had climbed into the fifth spot. Shipley would clear Anderson for the third spot. Nord was about one second ahead of Hall with 18 to go. Shipley stayed close behind Hall; the top three had quite a gap on the field.

Lapped traffic helped Shipley find his way past Hall for second. The caution waved with 11 to go as Will Dittmer spun in turn four. On the restart Hall climbed past Shipley for second with Anderson also moving back into the top three. Nord pushed the lead to 1.1 seconds over Hall, but the caution would wave for Corell, whose night was over.

Jesse Skalicky of Fargo had climbed to fourth with Chris Tuchscherer of Burlington now in the top five. Shipley got by Hall for second but was facing a 1.6 second deficit with three to go. Skalicky, meanwhile was catching Hall for third.

Nord was the class of the field on his night with an impressive 1.6-second win over Shipley. Hall ran a strong third with Skalicky fourth and Tuchscherer was fifth.

Hall was the fast qualifier in the IMCA Mods (17.174) with Hansen second at 17.201.

Todd Heinrich of Fargo took the lead in the IMCA Stock Car feature over Chris Tuscherer of Burlington with Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead in third. Andrew Jochim of Harwood was fourth and Dan Aberle of Finley, who won Thursday at Norman County Raceway in Ada, was fifth but had Rob VanMil of Barnesville chasing him.

Heinrich had about a second lead on Tuscherer when the first caution came out. Rick Schulz slowed on the backstretch with a flat tire and Emmitt Curtis had nowhere to go and got into the four to bring out the caution with 19 to go. Both cars were able to continue as Schulz got his tire changed in the pits.

Heinrich was the fast qualifier in the IMCA Stock Cars at 18.307 seconds. He was the only stock car to break the 19-second mark.

Jochim moved into second on the restart behind Heinrich with Tuchscherer and VanMil and Carlsrud fighting for fourth. Jochim started to reel in Heinrich and took a look underneath the 38 but could not finish the pass.

Tuchscherer’s top three run ended with hard contact with the wall with 14 to go. He needed wrecker assistance to get back to the pits. On the restart Jochim charged to the front past Heinrich with VanMil in third and Aberle in fourth.

Jochim’s lead stood at 1.1 seconds over VanMil with 10 to go. Heinrich was third with his nephew, Aberle, in fourth.

Carlsrud, Heinrich and Aberle were having a good fight for the fourth spot. Jochim, already with two wins at Dacotah Speedway in Mandan this year, was slowly pulling away VanMil as the lead stood at 1.4 seconds with two to go.

Jochim picked up his third feature win of 2025 with a 1.24 second victory which was worth $1,200. VanMil claimed second with Carlsrud third, Aberle fourth and Heinrich fifth.

Kyle VanMil, a 14-year-old rookie in the IMCA Sport Mods and the son of stock car driver Rob VanMil of Barnesville, built a 3.5 second lead on his uncle Chris VanMil before the first caution with 10 laps to go. Scott Jacobson of Fargo was running in the top five, but had a mechanical issue and would have to drop out.

Austin Veralrud of Audubon was challenging Chris VanMil for second. Landon Maatz of Walcott was fourth and Brody Johnson of Moorhead in fifth.

Kyle VanMil reassumed control up front after the restart with a more than two second lead.. Veralrud worked past Chris VanMil for the second spot. Ryan Restad of West Fargo was on the move into fifth and was closing on Maatz.

The 4D of Kyle VanMil was untouchable on this night, as he stretched his lead to 6.3 seconds by the checkered for his first career feature win.

I felt for Veralrud, as his great run would be dashed by a huge puff of smoke and he would drop to ninth at the checkered. Chris VanMil ran a strong second at the finish with Restad third, Maatz fourth and Brody Johnson fifth.

Mason Lemar of Casselton led the first lap of the INEX Legends feature over Braydee Hanson of Fargo. Cody Jawaski of Kindred would capture the lead over Hanson. Carter Restad of West Fargo would move into third.

Clay Smith of Wahpeton was in fifth ahead of Scott Richardson of Pelican Rapids in sixth. Jawaski opened a 1.6 second lead on Hanson who had his hands full with Restad.

Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes started 15th but wasn’t there long, and six laps into the feature, he was up to fifth. The caution waved with 12 to go when Brandon Bunnis stopped in turn two. Bunnis won his first career feature Thursday at Norman County Raceway but would leave on the hook on Friday.

On the restart, Wilke made a big-time charge from fifth to the lead, and from there, it was a race for second. Restad moved into second when Shawn Dement of Fargo climbing into fourth behind Jawaski.

Wilke is a guy in the INEX Legends that once in front, is almost impossible to catch. His lead grew to 3.1 seconds over Jawaski, who was comfortably in second. Dement was running a solid third with Alex Braseth of Ulen running fourth.

Wilke won in dominating fashion; his lead had grown to more than a straightaway. Jawaski finished second with Dement in third, Braseth in fourth and Joshua Wiest of Jamestown nipping Richardson for fifth.

There were only six IMCA Hobby Stocks who took the green for the feature. Tim Church of Moorhead was the leader over defending track champion Tanner Engen of Detroit Lakes. Brodee Eckerdt of Grand Forks, who won Thursday at NCR, was third with Reid Randall of Park Rapids in fourth.

Engen would pass Church for the top spot with Church facing pressure from Eckerdt for second. Brad Orvedal of Fargo was running fifth but got by Randall for fourth. Andrea Jacobson of Fargo moved into fifth.

Engen’s lead grew to 1.284 seconds with Church still fending off Eckerdt. The best battle was between Orvedal and Jacobson for the fourth spot. Engen was never threatened once getting out front and picked up the win with Church surviving Eckerdt in the battle for second. Jacobson made a late pass of Orvedal for fifth. It was a caution-free main event that lasted about four minutes.

RRVS notes

--Cole Neset of Fargo debuted an IMCA Stock Car; unfortunately, he appeared to lose a motor at the end of his heat race and was done for the night. Neset still has his Wissota Midwest Modified and plans to race that some this summer. Brennan Borg’s night ended with a puff of smoke in his IMCA Stock Car heat. Borg does win the unofficial award for the brightest-looking car on the track at RRVS this season.

--Will Dittmer is doing double duty. He was racing in the IMCA Stock Cars and now has added an IMCA Modified to his racing stable.

--70-year-old John Corell of Jamestown had his IMCA Modified in attendance. Corell, a legend in the modified ranks over the last 30-40 years, is in his familiar yellow and red colors this year. He was the fourth-fastest of the 17 cars that attempted to qualify.

--Carter Restad of West Fargo, son of IMCA Sport Mod driver Ryan Restad, won his heat in the INEX Legends and also won his IMCA Sport Mod heat.

Kyle Dykhoff won the DRC Street Stock Tour at I-94 EMR.

Dykhoff Wins DRC Street Stock Tour at I-94 EMR Speedway

Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck is on a roll on the Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour as he picked up his third straight tour win Friday night at I-94 EMR Speedway. Dykhoff started sixth on the field. Eric Riley of Morris finished second, Andrew Hanson of Iron River, Wis., was third, Justin Vogel of Brooten was fourth and Jeff Ekdahl of North Branch, who started back in 21st, climbed to fifth in the checkered. What made Eldahl’s run more impressive was he rolled his 11 machine in the heat, but his crew got it fixed in time for the B main!

Dykhoff has won all three tour races so far, including a doubleheader sweep at Viking Speedway on Memorial Day weekend.

Landyn Randt of Siren, Wis., topped former national champion Lucas Rodin of Marion for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature win. Reise Stenberg of Argusville went from 16th to third with Haley Dykhoff of Starbuck in fourth and Ron Saurer of Dalton in fifth.

William Lund of Brandon topped Shane Sabraski of Rice for the Wissota Super Stock win. Tommy Bawden of Clear Lake was second, Shawn Fernkes of Danube was third and Ryan Satter of Dent was fifth.

Ben Wolden of Fergus Falls won the Gen X Late Model feature over Parker Gilbertson of Montevideo. Trevor Walsh of Watertown was third, Rick Schroeder of Montevideo was fourth and Jarrett Huus of Fergus Falls was fifth.

Brady Gerdes of Villard captured the Wissota Modified feature over Don Eischens of Richmond. Shane Sabraski was third, Dusty Bitzan of Brandon was fourth and Travis Saurer of Dalton was fifth.

Strand wins NLRA Show at River Cities; Jose, Hunter and Hastings Victorious

Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks won the NLRA Late Model feature Friday night at River Cities Speedway. Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks was second, Jason Strand of Portland was third, Tyler Peterson of Hickson was fourth and John Seng of Grand Forks finished fifth in a 25-lap, caution-free race.

Greg Jose of Grand Forks won the Wissota Street Stock feature over Seth Klostreich of Grand Forks. Weston Ramsrud of Bagley was third, John Halvorson of Warren was fourth and Josh Barker of Thompson was fifth.

Austin Hunter of Winnipeg topped Tanner Theis of New Rockford for the Wissota Midwest Modified win. Memphis Klassen of Winkler, Alberta was third, Cylen Vargason of Edinburg was fourth and Jory Berg of Grand Forks was fifth.

Jade Hastings of Grand Forks made a late pass of Mark Dobmeier of Grand Forks for the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Car win. Andy Pake of Felton led much of the race and settled for third with Austin Pierce of Grand Forks fourth and Nick Omdahl of Grand Forks in fifth.

The final checkered waved at 9:53 p.m. at River Cities, a nice job by the officials and drivers there for running a good, efficient program.