Rekow, Jacobson, Braseth, Nord, Randall and Crabtree win Buffalo River opening nights

I made it to opening night for Buffalo River Speedway near Glyndon. Once again the weather threw a curveball with some sprinkles, much like Fix It Forward faced on Friday, but for an opening night I thought it was good show.

It is clear to me that BRS officials are working to speed up their show and Sunday was a good step forward. They moved their heats along nicely – when one heat was exiting the next was coming on the track. Intermission wasn’t overly long, either.  I have been a critic in the past of the length of shows at Buffalo River Speedway but I applaud their efforts to keep their show moving.  And considering the weather, the track seemed pretty good to me and didn't have a lot of character. If BRS can run a good, efficient show and have a good track weekly, the cars will show up.  The final checkered waved at 9:30 p.m., and that included about a 10-15 delay for a rain shower during the INEX Legend feature.

Brandon Rekow of Ellendale led the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint feature over Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes.  Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes was chasing Taves as Ty Hanten of West Fargo, who won Friday at Fix It Forward Speedway( settled into fourth.

After a caution, Wilke passed Taves for second and set his sights on Rekow out front. Hanten started to pressure Taves for third. Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton was running in fifth.

Rekow’s lead seemed to grow a bit until he encountered the lapped car of Tom Cummings, which only slowed him briefly. Hanten would take over third with five to go as Rekow encountered

Rekow got around Cummings and Wilke faced heat from Hanten as the two encountered the lapped car.

Rekow wasn’t threatened after the caution, winning by a 2.1 second margin over Wilke, who held off Hanten for second. Taves was fourth while Hendrickson rounded out the top five. The sprint feature lasted a little less than six minutes.

A solid 15-car IMCA Sport Mod field was on hand with Scott Jacobson of Fargo grabbing the early lead over his son Kelly Jacobson. Scott Jacobson was coming off a win Friday at Fix It Forward Speedway in West Fargo.

The caution few on lap two as Kody Machart of Moorhead, James Taves of Glyndon and Nicholas Foster of Pequot Lakes were involved in a tangle.  Foster’s night was over. Jayden Pavlicek’s 74 machine  also stalled and he would go pitside, his luck this week sucked to be honest.

When things restarted Kyle VanMil of Barnesville was working the high side of Kelly Jacobson as Scott Jacobson pulled away. Brandon Ferris of Fargowas running fourth  as Chris VanMil and Justin Jones fought for fifth. Scott Jacobson opened a two-second lead on his son with eight to go.

VanMil would get around Kelly Jacobson for second as Chris VanMil continued to contend with Jones for fifth.  With five to go the caution would fly for Brodie Johnson’s 84 car which was turned at the bottom of turn four. That wiped out a 2.2 second lead for Scott Jacobson.

On the restart Kelly Jacobson and Kyle VanMil fought for second with Chris VanMil and Justin Jones in the top five. The caution would come out with three to go for Ryan Seward’s spin in turn four.

Scott Jacobson survived the final restart and prevailed by .257 seconds over Kyle VanMil. Kelly Jacobson was third, Jones was fourth and Chris VanMil fifth.

It wasn’t shocking to see Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes jump into the lead from the outside pole in the INEX Legends; he entered the night as the all-time leader in Legend feature wins at BRS with 25. Carter Restad of West Fargo was second while Ty Olson of Mandan was third and Ryan Braseth of Ulen fourth. Regan Reinke of Lisbon was fifth.

Braseth, pictured above, passed Olson for third as Wilke built a 1.4 second lead on Restad. The caution came out for Brandon Bunnis on Lap 6. The red flag would come out as some rain fell, requiring track trucks to come out and do repacking. A credit to them for quickly getting the track in shape in a quick manner.

On the restart Braseth moved into second and was challenging Wilke for the lead.  He made his move with about four to go, and for those who follow the Legend cars locally, it isn’t often Tye Wilke gets passed.  Restad was running a solid third with Olson putting pressure on him. Reinke remained a solid fifth.

It turned into an intense fight at the front between Braseth and Wilke, two of the top guns locally in the Legends over the past 5-6 years.  Wilke was driving the wheels off the 72 and pushing hard in the corners trying to regain the top spot.  On the final lap Wilke got close and had a shot going into turn three; there was a little contact but no major incidents and Braseth held on for a hard-fought victory by .341 seconds. Wilke settled for second, Olson was third, Restad fourth and Reinke fifth.

Brennan Borg of Harwood and Zack Nord of Enderlin were dueling early for the IMCA Modified lead as Jacoby Traut of Jamestown was trying to hold off John Nord of Enderlin.  Borg was fighting a tight race car and had Traut chasing him.

John Nord was closing on his son when Traut spun his 25 machine in turn four; he would go to the rear of the 10-car field. The IMCA Modified rookie, Dayton Kent, was now in the top five.

John Nord went down to the low line in efforts to get around his son Zack, and would grab the lead by the halfway point.  The caution flew again as Travis Traut and Shawn Wiest were both were turned coming out of turn four.

John Nord, who has been fast wherever he has unloaded this year, resumed control at the front. Jeff Odden of Reiles Acres had climbed into the fourth spot.

Borg, meanwhile was getting the bottom lane to work and got by Zack Nord for second.  Jacoby Traut climbed to fourth after the final restart ahead of his father, Travis.

John Nord was never challenged over the final laps, rolling to a 3.3  second win over Borg. Jacoby Traut would climb into third by the checkered with Travis Traut fourth and Zack Nord in fifth. John Nord was second on Friday at Fix It Forward Speedway and won earlier at Jamestown.

Eight IMCA Hobby Stocks were on hand. Reid Randall of Park Rapids was fighting Caleb Gardner for the top spot. Brad Orvedal of Fargo settled into third ahead of Andrea Jacobson of Fargo. The caution flew for Hunter Goulet’s spin in turn two.

Orvedal moved int second on the restart as Daniel Beckman of Mahnomen snagged fourth ahead of Jacobson. Randall had some smoke coming out of the 95 but it didn’t seem to slow him as he built a 2.0 second lead. The best battle on the track was for fourth between Beckman and Jacobson.

Randall’s lead grew to 2.5 seconds over Orvedal, who was well ahead of third-place Gardner. Jacobson continued to pressure Beckman for fourth.  Randall would cruise to a 2.7 second win over Orvedal as Gardner took third. Jacobson made a late pass of Beckman for fourth to cap off a good, solid race. Just one caution for the IMCA Hobby Stocks.

A group of 11 Wissota Hornets capped off the night. Chase Golliet and Nathan Kelley headed the front row as Golliet took the lead. Cameron Taylor was running third with Devin Goulet of Fargo in fourth.  Christian Kast of Fairmount was on the move and moved into fourth and was looking to catch Taylor.

I don’t think Mueller and Goulet will be getting together for beers any time soon. They were racing hard for position with some contact, and the black flag would come out for Goulet. This seemed like a late-season race with all the contact back in the field.

Kelley was all over Golliet at the front with four to go.  Kelley got around Golliet briefly but had to take evasive action for Mark Harmon’s 21 car which brought out the yellow.  It was a bad break for the 80K as he went back to second for the restart.

Golliet had a new challenger – Kody Crabtree of Georgetown. On the final lap he made his move in turns one and two and would take the win. Golliet settled for second, Taylor was third, Kelley was fourth and Mueller was fifth. It was the first career win for Crabtree.

BRS is off next week before resuming in two weeks.

Buffalo River Speedway Notes

--Kody Machart has two B mods this year – the IMCA Sport Mod he drove on Sunday and also has a Wissota Midwest Modified he’s raced a handful of times this season. Machart is a product of the INEX Legends class. Justin Jones of Bemidji is doing the same in those two classes.

--This proves you do not quit in heat races – Scott Richardson spun coming out of  turn two and fell well behind the field; but he kept going. Later in the heat the caution came out, and he moved into the top five. Why was that important? By finishing in the top five in the heat, he avoided having to race a B main.

--Adrian Kubitz of Fargo has a new car this year in the Wissota Hornets. He finished second in the points at Buffalo River last year in a Ford Escort but has switched to a Chevy Cavalier for 2026.

Sunday notes

--Casino Speedway in Watertown and Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon both cancelled because of rain and wet conditions. Casino is battling 2-for-4 on shows this year while Sheyenne is 1-for-3 on rainouts, let’s hope that trend reverses for those track. The World of Outlaws Sprint show at Nodak Speedway in Minot was postponed until August because of rain.

--Cole Greseth of Harwood won the Wissota Street Stock feature Sunday night at Bemidji Speedway. Scotty Messner of Bemidji was second.