It must be August in racing season. Tempers are short, so is patience, and the drivers are racing hard -- and in some cases not being as polite.
That was the kind of night it was at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon for SpeedFest on Sunday. 79 cars signed in, including a very good 20-car IMCA Modified field. There was some rubbing on the track and a few fireworks afterwards in the pits.
The racing was very good; the track had two lanes, with the top line being a little quicker. Some three and four-wide racing took place. It was Sheyenne's first race since June 30, by the way.
John Nord of Enderlin and Jesse Skalicky of Fargo won't be getting together for beers any time soon. I didn't see what happened on the track so I can't speak to that but they were clearly pissed at each other after their IMCA Modified feature. One thing to think about: there is a history between those two as they also had a post-race disagreement following a modified feature last year. And of course, drivers in those situations seem to find each other on the track. There was some postrace stuff but I didn't see any punches thrown. One guy did kick Skalicky's car which I am not sure is the most effective way to do things...haha.
It was Race of Champions qualifier night in the Wissota classes.
The midwest modified feature turned into a battle of the Reinke brothers. Zach Reinke of Lisbon led early but his brother Nate was on the move. Nate started eighth and quickly moved to the front. The battle was far from over, as Zach found speed on the high side and pressured Nate. Nate Reinke held on by a few feet for his second Sheyenne win of the year with Zach taking second. Dan Wheeler of Savage, Minn. -- the likely most well-traveled racer in Wissota -- ran a solid third. Jared Wibstad of Jamestown and Lucas Rodin of Marion rounded out the top five. Nate Reinke, interviewed above, earned the ROC qualifying spot as a result of his victory.
Brennon Weight of Lamoure ran second for several laps but slid off of turns three and four. He made a nice comeback to finish sixth and was pressuring Rodin for that spot at the checkered.
Jonny Carter's feature win total is up to 17 after another impressive performance in the Wissota Street Stocks. The Lisbon driver started sixth on the grid and worked his way into the lead using the high side. His uncle, Todd Carter, was a persistent chaser the rest of the way but didn't quite have enough. Jonny Carter can do about anything with that 46 car right now and it's fun to watch, frankly.
Todd Carter was a strong second, and Morris, Minn., driver Eric Riley was a solid third. Riley had a good weekend -- third at I-94 on Friday, second at Greenbush on Saturday and third at Sheyenne. Royce Jawaski of Horace held off Kyle Anderson of Jamestown for fourth. Because Jonny and Todd Carter have already qualified for the ROC with wins at other tracks, Riley will be the Sheyenne representative in the street stocks.
What a show Billy Kendall put on in the IMCA Modifieds. The Baxter, Minn., driver -- making a three-hour plus trek to Lisbon -- tracked down leader Randy Klein of Lisbon by running the high line and the two put on a good battle. After a caution, Klein moved up to a higher line and opened up a few car length advantage before anothe caution came out. This time, Kendall made a great move in turns one and two and overtook Klein for the lead.
Klein was pushing hard in his 88 car, but he got a bit too high in turns one and two and that cost him a top three finish. Kendall pulled away from there in taking the win. Using a lower line, Jarrett Carter of Lisbon ran well all night long and took second. Allen Kent of West Fargo started 11th but worked his way to third. Tyler Hall of Fertile, racing for the fourth night this week, was a solid fourth ahead of Rodin, who took home his second top five finish of the night.
Speaking of Hall, it was his third top five finish of the weekend. He was fifth at Red River Valley Speedway on Friday and third at Buffalo River Race Park on Saturday.
I visited with Marcus Tomlinson of Turtle Lake, who made the 3 1/2 hour trek east to run in the IMCA Modifieds. This is a guy who loves to race, plain and simple. He is in contention for the point lead at Sheyenne and plans to keep returning as long as he is in that race.
Andrew Jochim, interviewed above, dominated the INEX Legends feature. The Glyndon driver took over the lead about five laps into the race from Sean Johnson and then checked out on the field. Brody Carlsrud started fifth on the field but moved up to second; Jochim's lead was insurmountable as he picked up win No. 8 (by my count) in 2019. Carlsrud was second, well ahead of third-place Garrison Miller of Fargo. Johnson and Chuck Christ rounded out the top five.
It takes a pretty good performance to beat Bo Gregor in the Hobby Stocks, and Aberdeen driver Jayden Michaelsohn did just that. He took the early lead and for several laps, it was an exciting three-car battle between Michaelsohn, Jordan Sours and Gregor. Sours spun in turn three and was unable to refire, ending his night. Gregor ran out of time as Michaelsohn won his first Sheyenne feature of the year. Zack Nord of Enderlin was third, Hayden Aberle of Lamoure fourth and Nick Nord of Enderlin fifth.
Seventeen Mini Stocks took the green, and the race went caution free. Kudos to that group of drivers for a nice, clean race (some other tracks in that class could take a lesson). Roger "Pokey" Lukes picked up the win over Mason Bogart of Milnor. Drew Bixby of Milnor was third, Matt Bogart of Milnor fourth and Cougar Axtman of Milnor fifth.
IMCA Mod veteran John Corell of Jamestown, who is not having a particularly good summer that we are used to seeing from him, brought out his old Shaw modified, which sports his familiar yellow colors. He had some mechanical trouble in the heat so that forced him to start in the back of the feature. That car is for sale, by the way.
Other Notes
Tyler Peterson of Hickson was third in the Wissota Modified feature Sunday at Casino Speedway in Watertown. It was the final night of the Advantage RV Tour.
Justin Vogel of Brooten topped Maria Brocksieck of Goodwin for the Wissota Street Stock feature.
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