Racing back on track in Canby: Broksieck, Flaten, Nelson and Rohner win main events

I think almost every driver I’ve interviewed, and its at 300, says something like this: I grew up watching races at _______.  It could be Viking, Buffalo River, Red River Valley, Jamestown, Lisbon or whatever track that driver went to as a kid.

For me, that comes down to two tracks in western Minnesota. Madison was the primary one, but the other was about 21 miles to the south, in Canby, Minn..  I think my first race was at Canby, maybe 5-6 years old, when my dad still raced. (He ran in the Late Model ‘B’ class, some tracks called it Sportsman.  Canby quit racing weekly in the mid 1980s, but would always run during the Yellow Medicine County Fair. The YMC Fair has always been a source of pride for Canby, I can’t tell you how many times I went to the fair race there.

Canby did run weekly in the early 2000s, and actually had solid car counts for a few years. At that time, it was known as Renegade Speedway. I think, according to my research, the last year of weekly racing was in 2007. Thursday night was the annual fair race and thanks to presenting sponsor Dirt Race Central, I got a chance to watch – so might as well write about it. I have a soft spot for tracks in my home area. Casino Speedway officials ran the program.

For those who have never been to Canby, it’s a tight 1/4-mile oval, I would say semi-banked, maybe comparable to Buffalo River. It has never been an overly wide track, so the hope is you can get two grooves working. At the same time, it is difficult, at least in my mind, to get a track inj very racy shape that runs only once a year.  The stands were full, as usual during the fair. I know the YMC Fair Board over the years wanted to see weekly racing but in today’s racing climate I don’t think it’s feasible, unless you have someone with a very deep pocketbook.

I have memories of a few post-race scuffles there, including one year at the fair where there were fans shouting at each other as we left.  I know because my dad and I were shouting at some loudmouths from South Dakota. Ah, the memories of youth…

Car counts were solid with 47 cars; only the Wissota Street Stocks, which had nine cars, did not have two heats. The Vintage cars were also on hand and honestly, fair night is the perfect night to run those cars. I don’t know who all of them were, but I did recognize the Oftedahls from Hanley Falls; I’ve seen that family race for 40 years. Wayne was driving a familiar red and white ford Mustang.

The racing pretty clean in the heats but was typical tight quarter mile racing in the features, with a few cars getting beat up.

Maria Broksieck of Goodwin took the lead over Mike Jans of Clarkfield with Chris Behrens of Montevideo in third. Zach Flickinger of Madison was fourth. Josh Long of Canby  got crossed up early and slid back out of the top five. Flickinger would grab third from Behrens.

Jans was all over Broksieck, driving about as low as you could go in turns one and two. He took a shot on the outside of turns three and four but got into the marbles and spun.  Long’s 71 had some front-end damage.

Flickinger became Broksieck’s primary challenger and was applying the heat. Behrens was third, and Long, with a battered 71 machine, was fourth. Jans climbed back to fifth.

The battle up front remained close but Flickinger was pushing hard. He was trying to get a little higher lane to work in turns one and two and actually was better in those corners, but Broksieck was better in 3 and 4. Jans was all over Long for fourth.

Broksieck weathered the heat from Flickinger and began to pull away, stretching out a comfortable lead over the final five laps to pick up the victory. Flickinger, who started fifth, ran a good race in third while Behrens was third. Long held off Jans for fifth.

There are a lot of nice people you meet in racing and Broksieck is certainly one. Her maiden name is Konold, and that family is from Clear Lake, about 20 miles west of Canby and includes her brother Tony, who races in the Wissota Modified class. I remember seeing Kevin Konold race occasionally at Canby and Madison as a kid.   Broksieck has eight wins this year and has won at four different tracks. She is a model of consistency, too, with 21top fives in 26 starts.   

Speaking of consistent, Flickinger certainly qualifies. He has 14 top fives in 21 starts and is knocking on the door to get his first win of the year. Long is a third-generation racer from Canby; his grandfather, Denny, raced many years out of the Canby area. His dad Brian and uncle Jason, I watched race a lot of laps at Canby and Madison.

Speaking of consistent, Ryan Flaten of Madison has been a rock this season. He entered the night with 25 top fives in 27 starts and with 13 wins (10 in the Wissota Midwest Modified class, three in the Wissota Mods), and had the inside pole for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature.  Yellows plagued the feature race.

Veteran Scott Hansen of Garden City was running second but got sideways and lost several spots.

Flaten was with Tim Kanten of Milan second. Darren Engesser of Gary went around in turn four to bring out the yellow. Jason Anderson of Hendricks clear Kanten for second as 8 was trying to fight off Hansen in fourth as those two put on a good show. Doug Neitzel spun in turn two to bring out t

The 8 car went around for the third caution; moments later Risacher and Engesser got together in turn four to bring out the fourth caution.  Engesser would call it a night

On the restart Hansen moved into third and was working on Katen for second. Anderson was fourth and xx was fifth.

Devan Dobbs of Browns Valley and Neitzel got together in turn four to bring out the fifth caution.  On the restart Hansen went to the outside of Kanten and grabbed second as Anderson sought to hold off Brent Hansen of Canby, who ran solid all night, for the fourth spot.

Flaten went unchallenged to pick up his 14^th win overall and 11^th in the Midwest modified class. Scott Hansen, who had slid back early, climbed back to second for a real nice recovery. Kanten was third. Anderson fourth and Brett Hansen, who started dead last on the field in 11^th, took home fifth.  While I have seen guys like Anderson, Kanten and Flaten race for a long time, there are several new faces in the mid mods in that area, which is good for the feature of the class.

The Gen X Late Models got off to a rough start to say the least. Adam Prieve of Litchfield and Tony Croninger made contact in turn four and that led to a big pileup which also included Curt Kranz of Watertown, Dale Tomes of Dell Rapids, Brittany Swenson of Watertown and Bodie Croninger of Watertown.  Croninger’s car seemed to take the worst of I and he was pushed to the pits. Prieve was tagged with the yellow. Kranz and Tomes were also done.

Jeff Nelson of Perham made the long trek south and grabbed the lead as Tony Croninger settled into second and Blake Swenson of Watertown third. Kris Wilke of nearby Porter was fourth with young Parker Gilbertson of Watson challenging him on the outside. Tai Engels of Watertown was chaing those two.

It turned into a three-car fight at the front between Nelson, Croninger and Swenson and Gilbertson soon joined the fun. Swenson was working a higher lane and got into second. Gilbertson would follow into third with Wilke in fourth.

Swenson was working diligently on the high line but could not get enough momentum to make the pass. Gilbertson meanwhile was now running side-by-side for second, which is exactly what Nelson wanted to see. Nelson opened a few car lengths to pick up his first victory of 2026.  Swenson edged Gilbertson for second with Tony Croninger fourth and Wilke fifth.

If you are wondering why a guy like Nelson would drive that far to race, keep in mind there is a good point fund for the Gen X Late Models at the end of the year that pays all the way back to 15^th. The winner gets $2,500; according to MRP, Gilbertson leads Trevor Walsh of Watertown by 12 points as of July 19. Swenson is third, 41 points back. Nelson is in fourth but well back of the top three.

There were some good Wissota Hornets on hand, with four of the top 11 cars in national points on hand.  Canby driver Adam VanDerostyne fought Bradley Rossow of Florence for the early lead before taking the top soot.  Dylan Tirrel, the point leader at Casino Speedway, would spin in turn four and collect some cars; he would leave on the hook.

On the restart Jeff Rohner of Willmar, who started in the second row, was working the inside of VanDerostyne and would take the lead. Rossow was third. Thomas Kruger of Clara City and Christian Kast of Fairmount were soon closing on Rossow in third.

Rohner, the dominant car at Viking and I-94 EMR Speedways all year, was pulling away and was catching lapped traffic.   VanDerostyne was safe in third as Rossow was still fighting off Kruger in third.

Rohner controlled the race after the final restart and rolled to his 14^th win in 16 starts. VanDerostyne was second, Kruger got around Rossow for third and Brandon Louwagie of Marshall edged Kast for fifth.

Johnson wins NLRA show at NCR

Zach Johnson of Lowry won the NLRA Late Model feature Thursday night at Norman County Raceway in Ada.  Tyler Peterson of Hickson was second, Jason Strand of Portland third, Jack Koranda of Bluffton fourth and Cole Schill of Hawley was fifth.

Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead dominated the IMCA Stock Car feature with Aaron Olson of Mekinock taking second. Rick Schulz of Horace was third, Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada fourth and Daniel Aberle of Finley fifth.

Rich Pavlicek of Casselton won the IMCA Sport Mod feature over Cayden Westcott of Ada. Andy Wagner of Ada was third, Jayden Pavlicek of Casselton was fourth and Brody Johnson of Moorhead was fifth.

Ryan Braseth of Ulen captured the INEX Legends feature. Ty Olson of Mandan was second, Scott Richardson of Pelican rapids third, Alexander Clark of Moorhead fourth and Owen Broden of Fertile was fifth.

Tyler Hall of Fertile won the IMCA Modified main event from the inside pole. Lindsey Hansen of Fargo was second after starting ninth while Dave Shipley of Argusville was third. Brennan Borg of Harwood was fourth and Tom Andring of Detroit Lakes was fifth.

Jory Berg of Grand Forks won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature over Matt Schow of McIntosh. Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls was third, Justin Olson of Thief River Falls was fourth and Reise Stenberg of Argusville was fifth.

First time visitor Austin Jahnz of Lewisville, Minn. was a surprise winner in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Reid Randall of Park Rapids was second, Hunter Goulet of Fargo third, Daniel Beckman of Mahnomen was fourth and Tim Church of Moorhead was fifth.

Thursday notes

--Justin Vogel of Brooten won the Wissota Street Stock feature Thursday night at KRA Speedway in Willmar.