RaceChaser was back at Buffalo River Race Park near Glyndon for Night 2 of the Corn Cob Nationals. A field of 94 cars were on hand in seven classes plus two junior slingshots.
What a great crowd was on hand at BRRP. It was probably the biggest I’ve seen at the track in the 10-12 times I’ve been there over the years. I had to park across Highway 9 which I’ve never had to do.
My peeve, as fan and blogger, is tracks that don’t show a lot of urgency, especially when there is potential weather approaching. A mist began to fall as the IMCA Modifieds took the track, and it affected both the modified and sprint features, leading to a good 15-20 minute delay.
BRRP didn’t show a lot of urgency during the features, in my opinion and honestly could have sped up the postrace celebrations (or maybe avoided them all together) to keep things rolling. Maybe save the interviews or trophy presentations until later if there is weather approaching -- and a delay could be avoided all together. Just my opinion. BRRP is far from alone with this issue; I like to see shows move along more efficiently that most tracks do.
I also heard some criticism of the Sport Compact format, an event was spearheaded by a driver (and not the track). It was billed as a potential $5,000 to win weekend; however the format was changed Sunday afternoon to the top five finishers receiving $500 for Sunday’s show — which would be fine, but switching things irked some fans and drivers who thought Sunday was $5,000 to win for the feature.. There was some major confusion and frustratoins for fans and I know a few drivers did not return from Saturday. Some fans came to watch a $5k to win race on Sunday and were not happy at the late change.
The fans that stayed through the delays saw a heck of a NOSA Sprint feature. To the track's credit they did a nice job working and getting the track back in shape and it was really racy for the sprints with two good lanes.
The drama in the NOSA Sprint feature started early, as pre-race favorite Mark Dobmeier of Grand Forks bounced off the wall in turn four and later spun in turns one and two. He left on the wrecker, made repairs and tagged the rear of the field. He ran a few laps but pulled to his trailer once the next caution came out ending his night.
Jade Hastings of Grand Forks took the early lead, but long-time veteran Wade Nygaard, who had dropped back as far as third, wasn’t through in his pursuit and was closing the gap. After a late caution with six to go, Nygaard went back up to the high line and pressured Hastings, finally making the pass with less than two to go. Nygaard hasn’t won the amount of features he has by accident, and that veteran savvy came in handy in that race. Hastings was second, Jack Croaker of East Grand Forks third, Jordan Adams of Reynolds fourth and Ty Hanten of West Fargo fifth.
I felt for the IMCA Modifieds as the mist started to be pretty prevalent during their feature and it led to a tricky track. Marcus Tomlinson of Turtle Lake had the early lead, but was passed by Jesse Skalicky of Fargo, Saturday’s winner. There was a brief delay as they had to work in some of the moisture that had fallen, and it led to a completely different race track — tackier and fast. Skalicky probably did not want to see the track change. Tomlinson regained the lead with a pass on the high side after the delay, and moments later, Skalicky spun in turn four to end his hopes for the win.
Marvin Priem of Moorhead (interviewed above) did a great job in winning the IMCA Hobby Stock feature. He started eighth on the field and worked his way to the front for his first feature win of 2019. Todd Gettel of Mahnomen was second, Caleb Gardner of Glyndon third, Brad Ordeal of Fargo fourth and Maranda Borg of Harwood fifth. Priem, by the way has hopped into a Limited Late Model this year as well.
The race turned into a duel between the Tomlinson brothers, as Myles began to pressure Marcus as the laps wound down. Myles Tomlinson gave a valiant effort but Marcus took the win. Myles Tomlinson was second, Matt Aukland of Glyndon third, Tyler Hall of Fertile fourth and Michael Johnson of Moorhead, who started 12th, finished fifth.
There may not be a hotter driver in the area than Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes. He won the final six Legend Car features at BRRP, including sweeping both Corn Cob Nationals events after winning again on Sunday. That is 16 wins, including an early-season in win Iowa, for Wilke. Alex Braseth of Ulen was second, Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead third, Andrew Jochim of Glyndon fourth and Tim Estenson of Fargo fifth.
Cody Erickson of Ulen hopped into Luke Johnson’s 8J car and just dominated the IMCA Sport Mod feature, winning by a straightaway. Chris VanMil of Barnesville got by Brandon Schmidt of Kindred late to finish second. Matt Clark was fourth and Torey Fischer of West Fargo fifth.
Speaking of Fischer, it was her third top five finish in three nights in her #9 sport mod. She has really made some strides over the last six weeks of the season.
Fargo driver Jason Berg probably wishes the season wasn’t over at BRRP. He swept both Lightning Sprint events on the weekend at the Corn Cob Nationals with a dominant performance on Sunday. Travis Sureus of Fargo was second and Dev Malmlov of Moorhead third.
Jason Reinke of Moorhead doesn’t race all that often, but he seems to win when he does. He took the 40-lap Sport Compact feature, taking advantage of Grady Shearer’s misfortune with 11 laps left. Shearer had by far the most dominant car — it seemed like was toying around a bit at times — but had mechanical trouble late and ended his night. Reinke topped Brennan Urbach of Englevale for the win. Joe Zrostlik of Long Grove, Iowa was third and Justin Hainline of Lisbon was fourth.
Thoennes, Satter Win at Viking Speedway
Viking Speedway in Alexandria wrapped up the weekend with Night 2 of the NLRA Late Model doubleheader. Viking had to be pleased with the car counts late model wise, with 31 on Saturday and 30 on Sunday. I'd love to see the class added weekly back to Viking in 2020, as a fan at least. Or at least bring them in more often.
It was good to see Jason Thoennes of Garfield get back into victory lane. He didn’t have a great night on Saturday and was a DNF in the feature but bounced back for the Wissota Mod win on Sunday. Zach Johnson of Lowry was second, Mike Stearns of Hecla third, Dusty Bitzan of Brandon fourth and Brady Gerdes of Villard fifth.
Jason VandeKamp of Scandia went 2-for-2 at Viking for the weekend with another Wissota Midwest Modified feature win. Nick Bruder of Long Prairie was second, Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls third, Ron Saurer of Dalton fourth and Randy Laage of Brooten fifth.
A night after engine trouble ended his night, Ryan Satter of Dent bounced back with a feature win in the Wissota Street Stocks. Justin Vogel of Brooten, Saturday’s winner, was second with Bryan Crandall of Herman third. Jim Williams of DeGraff and Russell Kostreba of Zimmerman fifth.
Dave Mass of East Bethel won the Wissota Super Stock feature over Jon Tollakson of Montevideo.
Of course, Don Shaw and Jeff Wildung, two long-time late model favorites at the half-mile, shared the front row for the NLRA . Shaw was a sponsor for the weekend, remember. Like I said it seems like Wildung starts on the front a lot at Viking when they hold late model events...that’s my conspiracy theory for the week.
Shaw topped Wildung for the late model win. Shawn Kirwin of Morris was third, Shawn Meyer of Wahpeton was fourth and Dave Mass of East Bethel fifth. Dustin Bluhm of Herman had a nice run, finishing sixth.
Sunday notes
—Lucas Rodin of Marion is running as well as anyone in the Wissota Midwest Modifieds around here. He won the feature Sunday at Devils Lake Speedway. Eric Haugland of Lawton was third and Tony Smith of Jamestown was fourth.
National point leader Jonny Carter of Lisbon won the Wissota Street Stock feature for his 23rd win of the year. Trey Hess of Lakota was second, Kasey Ussatis of Nome third, Kyle Anderson of Jamestown fourth and Dan McNamee of Arvilla fifth.
--Congrats to Tyler Peterson of Hickson who won the track title in the Wissota Modifieds at Casino Speedway in Watertown. Peterson wrapped up the title in style with a feature win.
—Ward Imrie of Winnipeg won the Wissota Modified feature at Greenbush Race Park on Sunday.
Cody Lee of Alexandria was second in the Wissota Midwest Modified feature. His sister, Haley Lee was third to continue a great weekend: she was second Friday at I-94, second at Greenbush on Saturday and third on Sunday.
Kyle Dykhoff of Perham was third in the Wissota Street Stock feature which was won by teenager Jake Froemke of International Falls. Ryan Johnson of Karlstad was fifth.
-—Eric Riley of Morris won two Street Stock features out in Gillette, WY over the weekend. He finished fourth in the other event he competed in.
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