Rothenbacher, Olafson, Michaelsohn, Greseth, Olson and Anderson claim Sheyenne opening wins

Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon kicked off 2026 with its annual Memorial Day race. A solid crowd was on hand with 95 cars signed in to compete.

Dusty Mund and his team are in their first year of promoting Sheyenne. It is the fourth different promoter in four years at the 1/4-mile oval. Several locals asked Mund – who owns the successful Job Erection and Engineering Business in Lisbon – to take the leadership role of running the track. It is an all-volunteer run track, and there were a ton of people in the yellow Sheyenne shirts working to make this a go. It's clear Mund and the folks at Sheyenne are going to put their best foot forward to make this work. I hope fans and drivers alike give them a chance.

One clear priority for Sheyenne is running a faster show, something that over the years, has frustrated me a little as a fan. While Sheyenne has made a lot of strides over the past 8 years, the urgency to keep things moving has been a struggle at times. When you are racing on a Sunday night, you want one thing – to get drivers and fans on the road by a reasonable time, say 9 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. at the latest.  Long-time Lisbon racer Todd Carter has taken over as race director, and he made it clear at the pit meeting running a timely show is a priority. If you know Todd Carter, he will tell like it is. If you want drivers and fans coming on Sunday nights, running a 3-3 1/2 hour show is a must. The final checkered waved at 9:30 on Monday, not a bad opening night.

EVERY TRACK needs a race director that oversees the whole program and keeps things moving, in my opinion as a fan. Honestly, you can tell the tracks who do not have someone overseeing the operation side of racing (getting cars on the track next for the next race, lining up after a caution, watching the time at intermission, etc.).

The IMCA RaceSaver Sprints were the special class on hand on Monday and really put on a heck of a show. There were 10 cars on hand – a perfect number for Sheyenne – and they ran well. It was the best finish of the night.

Kate Taves of Detroit Lakes jumped out to the lead of the IMCA RaceSaver sprint feature but was soon challenged by Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton. Marcus Rothenbacher of Ulen was running third and soon got by Hendrickson for second.

Veteran Ty Hanten of West Fargo was running fourth while Brandon Rekow of Ellendale was in fifth.

Rothenbacher was applying heavy pressure to Taves but had his hands full with Hendrickson. Hanten would make a move into third. Rothenbacher was right in Taves’ tire tracks when the caution waved on lap 12 for Zayden Braaten’s spin in turn three.

The caution set up a frantic finish as the duel between Taves and Rothenbacher heated up at the front in what turned into a heck of a finish. Rothenbacher would make a late move edge Taves for a win by a few feet after a great battle over the last half of the race. For a class that does not run at Sheyenne weekly, they put on a heck of a show at the 1/4-mile oval. Hanten ran a solid third as Rekow and Kate Taves’ brother, Matthew, rounded out the top five. Again, only one caution flag in the IMCA sprints.

Kate Taves, by the way, also races a NOSA 410 sprint at River Cities and is one of a group of young, promising drivers in the class in Grand Forks.

Sheyenne did something interesting – they elected to run the Mini Stock feature before intermission instead of last on the grid which has been done previously. One reason I suspect is the Minis rarely get a chance to run in fans when they run so late, and another might be getting those drivers a chance to get on the road early. It’s an interesting experiment; we will see how it goes.

Cassidy Hamre of Fargo, a rookie driving one of Hunter Goulet’s former cars, took the lead from the get-go of the Mini Stock feature with Travis Olafson running in second. Cameryn Taylor of Hankinson was running third ahead of Milnor driver Dale Mittleider, with Kody Crabtree of Georgetown, who had trouble in the heat race, running in fifth.

The first caution waved on lap four. On the restart Hamre led Olafson but Hamre would slow with trouble off of turn four to bring out the yellow. I confirmed she blew an engine, which was a tough break.

Once the race resumed, Olafson dominated and was in his own area code. His lead was up to seven seconds over Mittleider by the white flag and he cruised to an easy win. Devin Goulet of Fargo, who started dead last on the field, ran a solid third at the finish. The Lisbon Legend Pokey Lukes was fourth and Brock Kuzel of Wyndmere, who I believe is a rookie in the class, was fifth.

Dillon Thorpe of Ellendale led the Hobby Stock/Bomber feature early with Jamestown’s Joe Jacobson giving chase. Caleb Gardner of Glyndon was running third with Brody Michaelsohn of Wishek running fourth and former track champion Bo Gregor running fifth.

Thorpe opened a one-second lead on Jacobson with Gardner facing a lot of heat from Michaelsohn for third. The first caution waved for a multi-car pileup in turns 1 and 2 on Lap 5.

Thorpe pulled away on the restart with Jacobson and Gardner battling side-by-side for second. Gardner would slide back briefly and Michaelsohn would take over third. Ryker Vetter climbed into fourth. Gardner would slow with trouble a few laps later and pull off, ending a potential top five night.

It turned into a three-car fight at the front with Michaelsohn and Jacobson both pressuring Thorpe for the lead.  Michaelsohn would take over the top spot with about six laps to go and opened a 1.2 second lead with three to go and was never threatened to pick up the victory.

Thorpe ran a solid second with Jacobson third, Wilkinson a solid fourth and Bradley Stoppleworth rounding out the top five. The Hobby Stocks did an excellent job with just one caution flag.

Cole Greseth of Harwood led Hunter Carter of Mapleton early in the Wissota Street Stock main event. The first caution waved on the second lap  On the restart Greseth pulled away from Carter with Kasey Ussatis of Nome running third. Mike Mund of Milnor was running fourth while Jodie Michaelsohn of Aberdeen was in fifth, ahead of Billie Christ of Jamestown, who won Saturday at Jamestown Speedway.

On the restart Carter made a charge on the outside of Greseth off of turn two but couldn’t make the pass. Christ meanwhile had climbed to fourth. The caution would wave for Mike Mund’s 4 machine which went off turns three and four.

Joe Deede of Medina was running in the sixth spot, not far behind Michaelsohn. By lap seven Greseth’s lead had grown to one second when Christ’s 79 spun in turn three, he would pull pitside.

On the restart. Carter slid high and Ussatis made a pass for second, while Tony Smith of Jamestown would sneak into the fourth spot. The battle for second allowed Greseth to pull away to a 1.7 second by the halfway point.

The best battle was for fourth between Michaelsohn and Smith as the top three got spread out on a longer green flag run. Also running well was Bob Banish Jr. of Milnor who moved into sixth and was closing on fifth-place Michaelsohn.

Greseth’s lead grew to nearly three seconds over Ussatis, who was 2.8 seconds ahead of Carter. Carter had Smith hot on his trail for third.

Greseth rolled to a 3.2 second win over Ussatis with Carter holding off Smith for third. Michaelsohn rounded out the top five.

Dusty Mund of Lisbon led Brian Frederick of Gwinner early in the INEX Legend feature with Regan Reinke of Lisbon running third. The caution would come out on Lap 2.

After the restart Mund had the calvary behind him with Ty Olson, Colton Miller and Reinke all over him for the top spot.  Olson took over the lead on Lap 5 by a few feet with Miller, Frederick and Reinke also in that battle. As that race was heating up the caution flew on lap seven.

Olson got a lot of pressure from Mund after that yellow with Miller, Reinke and Frederick also staying close.  By lap 11 Olson had opened a little breathing room on Mund when the caution flew for the third time.

Olson controlled the race the rest of the way, but the best battle ended up being for third between Regan Reinke and his dad, Zach.  Zach Reinke started in 20^th after being in a crash in the heat but had methodically worked through the field into the top five.

Mund would pull off with an issue, ending his hopes for a top five finish, as Olson would top Colton Miller by about one second for the win. Regan Reinke edged his dad by .379 seconds while Frederick had a solid run in fifth.

The Wissota Midwest Modifieds capped off the night with a 20-car main event.  Kyle Anderson of Jamestown grabbed the early lead over outside pole car Cole Neset of Fargo Ffith-starter Jarod Klein quickly grabbed third with Ryan Ost of Adrian running fourth and Zach Reinke of Lisbon in fifth; he was soon overtaken by Brennon Weight of LaMoure, who won Saturday at Jamestown.

Anderson had Klein and Weight in close pursuit as Jaden Christ of Jamestown moved into fifth. Nate Reinke of Lisbon was also lurking outside the top five after starting in eighth.

By the halfway point Anderson had a .657 lead over Klein with Weight about .3 seconds behind him.  Anderson, coming off a pair of top seven finishes at Ogilvie over the weekend, didn’t waver the rest of the way to top Klein and Weight for the win. Ost went from seventh to fourth while Nate Reinke rounded out the tp five.

Kyle Schell of Aberdeen, formerly of Lisbon, ran solid all night, going from 13^th to seventh. He owns the Pizza Ranch in Aberdeen and says business is good. Zander Compson of Valley City, who had a flat in his heat race, went from 17^th to eighth.

Sheyenne Notes

--I talked to Wissota Street Stock driver Hunter Carter of Mapleton, formerly of Lisbon. He had been running the DRC Street Stock Tour in recent years but won’t follow the tour this summer. Because of other commitments he plans to pick and choose when and where he races in 2026.

--Zach Reinke of Lisbon is doing double duty – running his Wissota Midwest Modified and also has hopped into a INEX Legend Car with the chance to race against his son, Regan, a promising young talent in the class.

--Bo Gregor is doing double duty this year as well, running both a Hobby Stock and driving one of Dusty Mund’s INEX Legend machine. Gregor is a former track champion in the Hobby Stock at Sheyenne.

--Hunter Goulet of Fargo – who I joke drives a different car every time I see him – has bought a Hobby Stock to run at Fix It Forward and Buffalo River Speedways this summer. It was a car out of the Brainerd area. He ran solid on Monday, finishing sixth.  Goulet won the Wissota Hornet feature Sunday night at Viking Speedway.

--Brennan Urbach of Lisbon had raced a Wissota Midwest Modified and an IMCA Sport Mod in recent years. He had worked for several years at Skalicky’s Auto Repair in Fargo, commuting from Lisbon, but now has opened his open repair shop in Gwinner called Elite Repair. He also is scaling down to one car this year and will run weekly in the mid mods at Sheyenne.

--I spoke with 16-year-old Jerzee Rozinski of Grand Forks, who pilots the No. 25 IMCA Sprint car. Look for a RaceChaser blog story on her in the weeks ahead. She also has run some with the 410 sprints at River Cities to get valuable seat time.