RaceChaser was back at Sheyenne Speedway for the annual Memorial Day race. The event is popular each year as the track is filled with race cars after the anthem, taking a few laps to honor those who lost their lives serving our country. A nice crowd was on hand along with a field of 96 cars.
One story of the night, to me, is how fast Lucas Rodin is right now in his #19R Wissota Midwest Modified. Another was the performance of Kyle Anderson in the Wissota Street Stocks as he picked up his second career win at Sheyenne.
The track was dry and dust was an issue as the sun baked on the 1/4-mile. One thing that is going to be a challenge for all tracks this summer is getting moisture and keeping moisture in the track — at least until the drought conditions subside. Otherwise I expect to see a lot of hard, dry and dusty tracks in our region this summer. The midwest modifieds were able to run somewhat on the higher line but for most of the night the lower line was the place to be.
Dalton Aabrekke of Lisbon and Nick Nord of Enderlin shared the front row for the 13-car Hobby Stock feature. Nick Nord took the early lead but moving up to challenge was Kelby Anderson of Fort Ransom and Jayden Michaelsohn of Aberdeen, who was looking for his second straight feature win.
The top pack ran three wide at times with a lot of racing for position behind. Michaelsohn made his move to the front and took over the top spot. Behind him was a lot of battling — Bo Gregor of Lisbon was able to work through traffic to take over second, but needed a yellow as Michaelsohn had opened a big lead. With four to go, the caution came out.
Michaelsohn opened up a few car lengths on Gregor over the final three laps, and picked up his second straight win. Gregor, who had to contend with Zack Nord on the late restarts, finished second. Zack Nord, Nick Nord and Kelby Anderson rounded out the top five.
What a show the INEX Legends put on. It turned into a four-car breakaway late with Alex Kukowski of Edgeley, interviewed above, leading the pack. But all over him was Ryan Braseth of Ulen in his green #29 machine. Braseth looked for an opening anywhere as Kukowski stayed steady on the bottom line. On the final lap, he got beside Kukowski down the backstretch and that set up a heck of a finish. Kukowski would hold on for the hard-fought win with Braseth settling for second. Braseth had won the first two weeks at Sheyenne and has figured out the 1/4-mile oval.
Kukowski, by the way, has four wins in seven starts in his new car. That’s a nice start to the season for the fourth-year driver.
Australian driver Glenn Mitchell had a nice run, taking third after starting sixth. More on him later. Drew Papke of Bismarck was fourth and 14-year-old Ashton Spieker, who started back in 10th, finished a solid fifth. There were 21 legend cars signed in and 19 that took the green flag. And it produced a good race.
It was a long weekend of racing for Kyle Anderson of Jamestwn, interviewed above. He ran all three Steffes Street Stock Tour events in Minnesota, making the starting field in all three, and Monday was his fourth night of the weekend. He capped off the weekend in a good way by picking up his first win of 2021. Clay Gentzkow of Lamoure and Jaden Christ of Jamestown shared the front row.
Anderson worked into the lead and stayed on the preferred bottom line in a caution-free race. Jonny Carter of Lisbon started eighth and tried to make the higher line work and was up to third at one point but couldn’t gain more spots. Anderson drove a flawless race to win for the second time ever at Sheyenne. Billie Christ of Jamestown, the Week 1 winner at Sheyenne, was second, with veteran Todd Carter of Lisbon — in his 41st year of racing — taking third. Jonny Carter settled for fourth and Jaden Christ finished fifth.
A total of 25 cars took the green for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature. And the car that has emerged early on as the fastest at the 1/4-mile oval got to the front again — Lucas Rodin of Marion, interviewed above. Corey Storck of Morris and Kyle Langland of Enderlin shared the front row.
Rodin took over the top spot while Storck battled with Nate Reinke of Lisbon for second. Zach Reinke of Lisbon was running the higher line and battled with Langland for the fourth spot.
Rodin opened up some breathing room, but each time he did, a caution would wave, bringing Storck and Reinke to his rear. However, each time, Rodin got off to a good start and opened up a several car length advantage.
Storck lost some ground on a late restart, allowing Zach Reinke to move into third. Also moving into the top five was Scott “Rebel” Bintz of Jamestown.
Another car who was putting together a solid run was Lindsey Hansen of Fargo. Hansen was lurking outside the top five but worked into the fifth spot later in the race.
Rodin won by a comfortable margin with Nate Reinke topping brother Zach for second. Bintz was fourth and Hansen, who started way back in 15th, capping off a real nice run to take fifth. Brennon Weight of Lamoure started 13th and got up to seventh.
Rodin is batting .667 at Sheyenne this season with two wins in three starts. The other start, he finished second to Scott Bintz on opening night.
Roger “Pokey” Lukes of Lisbon scored a popular win in the Mini Stocks from his outside starting spot. It was his first win of 2021. Last week’s winner Neil Walton of Englevale was second. Kelby Anderson, who earned a top five in the Hobby Stocks earlier in the evening, was third. Cole Bogart of Milnor and Gavin Walton of Englevale rounded out the top five. A nice field of 19 Mini Stocks were on hand.
There have been three different winners (Anderson, Neil Walton and Lukes) in three weeks in the Mini Stocks.
Sheyenne Notes
—The 33 Wissota Midwest Modifieds were a season-high, and part of the reason was Jamestown cancelling on Saturday. Another reason is some cars were in town to check out the track for the RHR Swag Tour, which comes to Sheyenne on June 20 and concludes with a $5,000 to win event on Aug. 22. The two kicks off next weekend with a doubleheader at I-94 Sure Step Speedway.
—Rocker arms. I’ve heard of four Wissota Street Stock drivers breaking them in the last two weeks — Eric Riley, Kyle Dykhoff, Justin Vogel and the latest was Jonny Carter at Viking on Sunday. Sounds to me like Wissota should look at this issue — like allowing drivers to put more durable parts in. Because it seems to be a growing problem and often, comes a a bad time.
—Zack Nord of Enderlin blew a motor last time out in his #98 Hobby Stock. He told me the hole in the block was the size of his foot. Armed with a new motor this week, he looked strong, running in the top three for the last third of the feature and taking the third spot.
—I did a quick interview with Glenn Mitchell, the Australian driver who is running in the INEX Legends. He’s an interesting story as he races in the United States this summer. Look for a story on Mitchell this week.
Monday Night Notes
--Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck won the Wissota Street Stock feature Monday night at Madison Speedway in Madison, Minn. Justin Vogel of Brooten was second, and Jimmy “Nitro” Williams of DeGraff was third.
--Cody the Cobra Lee was third in the Wissota Midwest Modified feature.
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