Riley Wins DRC Street Stock Tour Opener; Muzik, Goulet, Henkemeyer and Thoennes add victorious

After a pair of rainouts, the Dirt Race Central Wissota Street Stock Tour kicked off with 27 cars on hand Sunday night at Viking Speedway. The first night of Viking’s doubleheader was canceled but much better weather, around 80 degrees, was in place on Sunday night.

It was also the Collin Nelson Memorial, in honor of the long-time Viking photographer who passed away in the offseason. Krystal Ostenson, a long-time friend, gave a great speech in honor of her friend. I will admit it’s weird being in the infield at Viking and not see Collin riding around on his famous scooter. He is missed by many.

It was a long night at Viking – two red flag rollovers (both drivers were OK), a delay for a medical situation in the crowd, some cautions that took a little time to get cars on the hook and just a lot of cautions in general. For the second straight week Viking hit the 10:45 curfew on the dot; but keep in mind both nights were special events, and some of it was beyond their control.  I don’t expect Viking to push curfew weekly.

Jeff Ekdahl of North Branch and Nitro Jim Williams of De Graff led the 26 Wissota Street Stocks to the green with Ekdahl having the early advantage. Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck was looking to get to the front quickly after starting fifth, and Eric Riley of Morris was also in the top three.

Cautions plagued the race, especially early.  On one restart, Ekdahl got into the marbles entering turn two and got a little sideways, and as he attempted to correct was tagged by a passing Brauer, sending the 11Jr rolling off of turn two.  He was OK, the car had a lot of damage unfortunately. Ekdahl, of all of the street stock drivers I’ve seen, just has terrible luck.

Dykhoff resumed out front as Riley and Vogel fought for second. Cody Kummer of Medford, Wis., was running in fourth ahead of Brauer, the defending national champion.

Former Viking track champion Mark Blom of Glenwood, back out of retirement, was running just outside the top five, ahead of Brayden Fleck of Cold Spring.

After Kreg Anderson’s spin brought out of the caution, Riley took a look at Dykhoff for the lead as Kummer took over third.  Nick Traynor, driving the 19C machine, climbed into the top five.  Brauer would slow and pull pitside; he had incurred some right-front damage after the contact with Ekdahl.

Dykhoff and Riley opened some distance on the field as Kummer held third. However, Dykehoff was starting to pull away to a 1.3 second lead when the caution flew with 10 to go with Ashley Wampler’s spin in turn three.

With 10 to go, Dykhoff’s left front broke, causing him to get sideways and allowing Riley and Vogel to get by. Dykhoff would have to pull pitside, a terrible break when it looked like the 11 was on its way to another win.

With nine to go Riley was the leader with Vogel chasing him. Traynor slid high in turn two and that allowed Brayden Fleck of Cold Spring to move into the top five.

The top side never really cleaned off for the streets which meant the bottom was the lane to be.  Riley moved to a 1.9 second lead over Vogel. Traynor was chasing Kummer for fourth.

One car who made a lot of moves through the field was Josh Long of Canby. He had trouble prior to his heat race and was a DNF, and started in 25^th, and climbed into ninth.

Riley looked well on his way with the white flag in the air, but a caution flew for Kummer’s spin in turn four.  On the restart Vogel looked under Riley in turns one and two but Riley opened up some a couple of car lengths to pick up the $1,000 win.

Vogel ran a strong second with Blom going from 11^th to third. Traynor was fourth and Fleck fifth. Long went from 25^th to seventh to easily earn hard charger honors. Another driver who made up a lot of ground was Peter Martin of Willmar, going from 21^st to sixth.   Derek Wettstein of Grey Eagle went from 22^nd to 11^th.

There were several good cars who were DNF – Dykhoff, Ekdahl, Brauer, defending Viking champion Joe Martin and Kammron Rose.

It was clear from the green flag of the Wissota Midwest Modified feature that Buzz Muzik of Brandon was one determined race car driver. Muzik stormed into the lead from the outset of the main event, passing Taylor Bitzan of Brandon and Shawn Olson of Alexandria on the opening lap – and never relinquishing the lead.

Taylor Bitzan battled his brother Tyler for third with Olson and defending Viking champion Travis Engebretson of Cyrus looked to grab fifth over Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls.

Muzik was a bullet the entire race. He surged into a big lead over Taylor Bitzan.  After a pair of cautions, Muzik resumed at the front with the Bitzan brothers fighting for second. Chance Kodet of Becker was running a solid fifth. Engebretson went to work on Tyler Bitzan for third and took the spot with seven to go.

Muzik never flinched, even through a series of cautions. Engebretson meanwhile moved into second. The car charging through the field was 73-year-old Ron Saurer of Dalton, who started 20^th but had climbed into the top five.

Muzik’s lead stood at about .8 second with two to go but the caution would fly for Scott Oeltjen, who was off the backstretch.  Muzik survived that caution and puled away on the final restart to pick up his first feature win since July 20, 2024. Engebretson was second, Tyler Bitzan third, while Saurer capped off a fabulous run from 20^th to fourth. Taylor Bitzan rounded out the top five.

Jeff Rohner of Willmar jumped out front of the Wissota Hornet feature and was gone, opening a three-second lead.

Hunter Goulet of Fargo, Zander Zuehlsdorff of Fergus Falls and Chase Golliet of Fargo were among the cars fighting for spots in the top five.

Rohner was in total command when the 08 broke in turn four with seven to go, and that completely changed the complexion of the race.

Hunter Goulet of Fargo took over the lead over Zuehlsdorff, who was looking for his first career feature win. Adam Throener of Swanville was running well in third and got around Zuehlsdorff for second.  Andy Booke of Wahpeton was running in fourth with Jason Kast of Fairmount, N.D., running in fifth.

Golliet got around Throener for second as Goulet was up to a two-second lead with  one to go. Goulet won handly with Golliet taking second. Throener, Zuehlsdorff and Kast rounded out the top five.

Jordan Henkemeyer and Karter Reents led the Wissota Super Stocks to the green flag but a spin in turn two by brought out a caution on the first lap. When the race got going Henkemeyer surged to the front. Russell Kostreba was putting pressure on Reents as Carson Miller and Ryan Kostreba fought for fourth.

Henkemeyer had about a one second lead on Russell Kostreba as both were well ahead of third-place Reents, who was running my himself. Ryan Kostreba would move into fourth with Matt Miller of Glenwood taking fifth. The caution waved for debris on the frontstretch with seven laps left, erasing Henkemeyer’s lead.

It didn’t matter as Henkemeyer pulled away on the restart over Russell Kostreba with Ryan Kostreba in third. A driver who had really moved through the field was William Lund of Brandon, who started 11^th but had climbed into the top five and was working on Reents for fourth.

Carson Miller of Carlos and Travis Scott were involved in a tangle in turn four that ended the night for both drivers.  Once the race finally resumed Henkemeyer opened breathing room  to capture the victory over Russell Kostreba. Lund capped off a great run in third. Ryan Kostreba was fourth and Reents wrapped up the top five.

The Wissota Modified feature did not get off to a good start as Josh Thoennes spun in turn one and collected Bryce Borgen of Perley and Taylor Bitzan of Brandon. That shuffled the lineup and put Week 1 winner Dusty Bitzan of Brandon on the outside of Jason Thoennes of Garfield. Jason Thoennes moved to the lead with Brady Gerdes of Villard and Bitzan fighting for second. Travis Saurer of Elizabeth was fourth ahead of Matt Thoennes of Osakis.

Jason Thoennes opened a one-second lead on Gerdes and Bitzan who were locked in a tight battle for second with Saurer in tow. Bitzan would clear Gerdes for second and set his sights on Jason Thoennes with 12 to go.

Jason Thoennes is a veteran who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and has more than 100 feature wins in his career.  That meant he wasn’t going to give Btizan an opening on the lower lane. Gerdes was staying close in third, trying to get the higher line to clean off.

Bitzan decided to go up to the higher lane as Jason Thoennes stuck to the bottom.   Bitzan threw everything but the kitchen sink at Jason Thoennes, trying the low lane and the high lane and got close on the final lap, but Jason Thoennes held firm to take the feature win. Bitzan was second, Gerdes third, Saurer fourth and Matt Thoennes had a good run in fifth.

Viking Notes

--The good news for Ryan Satter of Dent was his won his Wissota Super Stock heat race. The bad news is he dropped a valve about halfway through the race, and did not make the start of the feature.

--I spoke with Nitro Jimmy Williams in the pit area. What a welcome sight to see the 22W back on the track. Williams suffered a major heart attack last season and required CPR by EMT personnel in the Viking pit area. Thanks to the efforts of doctors and EMT personnel, Williams’s life was saved. It was a lot recovery time for Nitro, but he told me he is feeling well; last week was his first night back in the car.  Nitro Jimmy will be in the Viking Hall of Fame when he retires.

--It was a tough night for Alexandria driver Bailey Rosch, who rolled his No. 28 Wissota Super Stock in his heat race. He was OK but the car endured significant damage. There was contact between a couple of cars and Rosch’s 28 got tagged in the right rear, a bad racing deal.

--Mason Thoennes had a major break in the rear end of his Wissota Midwest Modified during his heat race, ending his night.

Casino wins to Becker, Tirrel, Randt brothers, Peterson, Croninger

Chad Becker of Aberdeen prevailed in the Wissota Late Model feature Sunday night at Casino Speedway. Thomas Weisgram was second, Tyler Peterson of Hickson was third, Jayson Good of Watertown was fourth and Mike Stearns of Hecla was fifth.

Dylan Tirrel of White topped Adam VanDerostyne of Canby for the Wissota Hornet win. Bradley Rossow of Florence was third, Skylar Burgher of Watertown was fourth and Joshua Gebhart of Watertown was fifth.

Levi Randt of Siren topped Tony Miller of Browns Valley for the Wissota Street Stock feature win. Maria Broksieck of Goodwin was third, Coltyn Schuler of Montevideo was fourth and Jason Marko of Watertown, the Week 1 winner, was fifth.

Landyn Randt of Siren won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature over Jake Wranek of Sioux Falls. Tommy Nichols of Watertown was third, Joel Waba of Watertown was fourth and Scott Hansen of Garden City was fifth.

Bodie Croninger of Watertown was victorious in the Gen X Late Model feature over Trevor Walsh of Watertown. Jeff Nelson of Perham was third, Tony Croninger of Watertown  fourth and John Winge of Harrisburg was fifth.

Peterson won the Wissota Modified feature over Stearns. Tony Konold of Clear Lake was third, Jayson Good of Watertown fourth and Garrett Gross of Aberdeen was fifth.