With all the rainouts late in the week, I ventured to Casino Speedway in Watertown on Sunday for their regular racing program.
Casino is a true bullring — a tight 1/4-mile track with a lot of action. Those type of tracks produce good racing but also some beating and banging in the corners. Watertown is a track where it seems drivers either love it or hate it — some like the tight racing, some don’t. I
I thought it was a good show, the racing was pretty good in all classes with multiple lanes. My only knock on a Sunday night is running six classes — that’s too many for a Sunday — but for the most part the show ran pretty smooth. There was a great crowd on hand, as I’ve seen many times before at Casino. There are some very loyal fans there.
I hadn’t been there since 2015, and the facility hadn’t changed all that much. I do remember the days way back when when the pit area was off the backstretch — now it’s south of the speedway with pretty ample parking.
The results can be found on myracepass, so I won’t venture down that path. But it’s a good time to talk about some Wissota national points, since several contenders were in there.
It was a good weekend for Huron, S.D., driver Cole Searing in terms of Wissota Late Model national points. He won Friday at I-94 Sure Step Speedway among a field of 19 cars, and then added a win on Sunday at Casino. Searing leads former national champion Chad Becker by 30 points in the latest standings. Winnipeg driver Shane Edginton is third, 140 points out of first. Searing is running away with the Wissota Late Model Rookie of the Year honors as well.
Tyler Peterson picked up a valuable win on Friday in his #1TPO Wissota Modified as he continues his fight with Shane Sabraski and Brandon Copp for the national title. Peterson was leading the modified feature at Casino when a spindle broke, ending his night. Mike Stearns of Aberdeen — who is seventh in the national points but is within striking distance of fifth — picked up the feature win at Casino. Interestingly, four of the top 10 drivers in national points were in attendance in the mods at Casino.
Watertown, S.D., driver Mike Nichols — who has one of the sharpest looking Wissota Midwest Modifieds out there — trails Lucas Rodin of Marion by 14 in the national points. He picked up a big win Sunday in Watertown over Adam Brotherton of Huron, who is sixth in the latest points. Nichols leads Derek Rieck of Ortonville in the points. The top three in the national standings are separated by 17 points in what is turning into a great race.
Parker Anderson picked up win #30 at Granite City Motor Park on Sunday as he puts the finishing touches on the Wissota Street Stock national title. His lead is 124 points. Former national champion Justin Vogel of Brooten is fourth, 126 points back; Ryan Satter of Dent is sixth, 146 points back. Kyle Anderson of Jamestown (ninth) and Jonny Carter of Lisbon (10th) are also in the top 10.
Kyle Dykhoff of Perham is 12th in the national points. He picked up a nice win at Casino on Sunday after starting eighth, holding off a late charge from Maria Broksieck, a multi-time track champion at Casino. Andy Rossow of Florence leads Broksieck by 39 points in the Wissota Street standings at Casino.
Travis Scott of Glenwood is well on his way to the Wissota Super Stock Rookie of the year honors. He leads Bailey Rosch by 288 points.
Racing Schedules
A rainout wiped out Norman County Raceway’s season finale last week. Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo is scheduled to hold its season championship this Friday. Viking Speedway in Alexandria will wrap up its season with a doubleheader this Saturday and Sunday; I-94 Sure Step Speedway will host its season championship on Friday, but the big Wissota 100 is coming up at the track in mid-September.
Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon wraps up its season on Labor Day with the Dakota Dream.
River Cities Speedway hosts its season championship this week, but has a big week the following week. The prelude to the Johnny is on Sept. 9; the annual Seitz Memorial, one of the events I really look forward to on the year, is Sept. 10-11.
IMCA Points
Torey Fischer of West Fargo is fifth in the IMCA Lady Eagle National Points; she drives the #9 IMCA Sports Mod a tracks in the Red River Valley. Andrea Jacobson of Fargo is ninth in those standings while Skyla Miller of Harwood is 10th.
Fischer is sixth in the Minnesota IMCA Sport Mod points while Rich Pavlicek of Casselton is eighth.
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