A whopping 125 cars registered at Red River Valley Speedway – the most at the track since 2005 – including a strong field of IMCA mods -- who were on hand racing for the $2,000 to win Bison Battle. The final mod count was 29, as I did not see one of the registered drivers in attendance, so we will go with 124 cars on hand which meant there was going to be a lot of racing. Bn
The weather played all kinds of games with RRVS. It looked very ominous to the north and west, and not far from the track, there were puddles standing from an early downpour. A light rain began to fall during the IMCA Mod time trials (part of the Bison Battle), and it led to a long delay. After a more than 90-minute delay to work the track, things resumed with the INEX Legends heats.
If you want to know why RRVS worked so hard to race, keep in mind you had modified drivers from a long ways away – from Minot, Bismarck, Brainerd, New Richmond, Wis. – who pulled in. Hats off to the RRVS folks for their work to get the show in, even though it was a very long night.
The final checkered waved at 12:37 a.m., and for the diehards that lasted the whole night, they were treated to a terrific modified feature, and one of the closest finishes in track history.
It was clear after the first 10 laps who the contenders were – Dave Shipley of Argusville, Aaron Johnson of Brainerd and Kollin Hibdon of Pahrump, Nev. Those three established themselves as the fastest cars all night and would put on a great show up front.
Cody Peterson of Glyndon was having a great run; he started 10th but had worked up to fourth.
Johnson and Shipley would duel for what seemed like the entire race. Shipley led for a while, but Johnson would take over the lead after a restart about midway through. Things got really tense in lapped traffic as Johnson would scrape the wall but keep going. Hibdon was in second on a few occasions as well.
Johnson would lead as the laps slowly waned, thanks to several cautions. In fact, the race came down to a one-lap shootout with a caution waving with 1 lap left; Johnson was leading at that point.
On the final lap, Shipley went for broke and a slider in turns three and four; he cleared Johnson and pulled beside, and it turned into a drag race to the finish on the frontstretch. Shipley would literally inch ahead – by .006 seconds – to claim the $2,000 win. It’s as good a finish as you can ask for. Johnson finished second and Hibdon third.
Crist Pittenger of Bismarck finished in fourth while Lucas Rodin of Marion, who started 18th, would round out the top five. Minot driver Jerad Thielen was the hard charger, going from 25th to sixth.
Only 11 cars of the 28 starters finished, and several pulled off very early in the race. It was a fast track and I’m guessing some had concerns about wrecking equipment.
Andy Wagner of Ada, who won on Thursday at Norman County Raceway, took the lead from the green in the IMCA Sport Mod feature over John Sandvig of West Fargo.
Ryan Restad of West Fargo moved into third ahead of Austin Veralrud. Brennan Urbach settled into fifth.
Rich Pavlicek of Casselton started back in 16th but was on the charge, moving into the top five.
Wagner was never seriously threatened, winning by 2.286 seconds over Sandvig, who had a good run in second. Veralrud was third, Pavlicek fourth and Restad fifth.
The INEX Legends feature looked like it would come down to a battle of the Braseth brothers, much like it did on Thursday at NCR. But it was Preston Martin of Lincoln, N.D., who came in late and stole the show.
Ryan Braseth would take the lead but Alex Braseth moved into second and was closing. Sean Johnson of Kindred was moving into third. Martin, who started 12th, was making a big charge through the field into the top five.
The red flag would come out when Kody Machart’s engine blew and caught fire briefly; he was OK.
Martin moved into third and soon took over second, and set his sights on Ryan Braseth. Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton had started eighth but was battling Alex Braseth for third.
Martin had caught Ryan Braseth for the lead as the white flag waved. He would make a big surge on the final stretch to edge Braseth by .056 seconds for the feature win. Braseth settled for second while Hendrickson finished third. Alex Braseth and Sean Johnson rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Mopar of Tim Compson jumped out to the lead in the IMCA Stock Cars over Kelly Jacobson of Fargo, who was doing double-duty driving in the sport mods as well.
The caution waved early into in the feature as Keaten Froemke went for a ride off of turn three. HE was OK but his night was over.
Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada, who won Thursday at NCR, was soon putting pressure on Compson and would take over the top spot with 11 to go. Defending RRVS champion Rob VanMIl of Barnesville moved into third past Jacobson.
Tyler McDougall of Hawley was solidly in fifth.
Kesselberg led VanMIl, who passed Compson for second, by .726 seconds, but VanMiil was inching closer. However with five to go he’d pull in.
Randy Klein of Enderlin was making a serious charge in the feature event. VanMil would slow and pull In and Klein would take over second. There was a lot going at that time with cars pulling off and slowing all over the place.
With five to go Klein and Compson were on Kesselberg’s bumper. Jacobson moved into third past Compson on the restart.
Klein was pressuring Kesselberg for the lead as the laps waned and they were side by side for the lead as the white flag waved. Kesselberg weathered a major challenge from Klein to pick up his second win in as many nights. Jacobson was third, McDougall fourth and Compson fifth.
Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes is starting to catch fire in the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars. He started sixth on Friday night in the 11-car main event but it did not take him long to get to the front.
Ty Hanten of West Fargo led early with Tyler Rabenberg of Princeton in the hunt. Wilke would get to the front and make the pass for the lead, and from there, would check out.
Two cars started toward the back but were making treks through traffic. That included Andy Pake of Felton and Trevor Serbus of Olivia. Pake started eighth and worked through the field into second. Serbus started 10th but moved past several cars into fourth.
Wilke had no worries up front, opening up a 3.645 second lead to pick up his third win in his last three starts. Friday was the second night of the Red River Sprint Car series and Wilke has won both.
Pake capped off a nice showing in second with Rabenberg in third. Serbus and Hanten rounded out the top five.
Brodee Eckerdt of Grand Forks has been the fastest IMCA Hobby Stock in the region over the past couple of years, and he was once again in contention for a win on Friday.
But Tim Church of Moorhead had other things to say. He took the lead from the outside pole and opened up a decent lead. Eckerdt, who started fifth, would work past Tyler Hehn of Horace for second.
Church was the dominant car on this evening, and would go on to a 1.868 win over Eckerdt. Hehn would settle for a solid third with Blake Anderson of West Fargo taking fourth. The veteran Brad Orvedal of Fargo was fifth.
RRVS Notes
Rick Schulz rolled his No. 4 IMCA Stock Car hard on Thursday in his heat race at Norman County Raceway in Ada. The crew worked all day to get the car back in shape for Friday and while the roof still showed effects of the rollover, the car was ready to go.
I talked to Dan Aberle of Finley, the IMCA Stock Car rookie. Aberle had success in the Wissota Street Stock class before moving to the stock cars. His first night in a stock car didn’t go well – he rolled his #33 machine at NCR. He’s looking to get more seat time as he adapts to a new class. Aberle would finish eighth on Friday and I think he'll take that result.
I visited with former Wissota Street Stock national champion Myron Tschakert of Kent in the pits. His two sons, Alex and Tucker, are in the B mod class this year. They’ve done some Wissota racing but were in town to compete in the IMCA Sport Mod class. Myron said aside from changing tires that not a lot of changes were required to switch to IMCA. If it only were that easy in all classes…
Lucas Rodin returned from Iowa after competing in a $10,000 to win USRA B Mod special in Mason City. He made the main show against a stacked field of cars but pulled in with overheating issues. Rodin had his IMCA Modified, which is an SSR Chassis, on hand for the $2,000 to win show on Friday at RRVS.
Josh Johnson of Harwood has a new look to his IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car, and it’s sharp. Johnson – who knows a ton about racing history in this region – has also raced A mods and late models in the area over the past several years.
Cole Schill, Hess Lead River Cities Speedway Winners
Cole Schill of Hawley picked up the Wissota Late Model feature Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. Mike Greseth of Harwood went from eighth to second while Tyler Peterson of Hickson went from seventh to third. Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks was fourth and Brad Seng of Grand Forks was fifth.
Trey Hess of Grand Forks is having a good year in the Wissota Street Stocks; he picked up his third win in his last five starts on Friday. All three wins came at different tracks. Hess topped Greg Jose of Grand Forks for the win. Cole Greseth of Harwood was third, Seth Klostreich of Grand Forks fourth and John Halvorson of Warren fifth.
Brendan Mullen of Grand Forks picked up the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint feature win over Austin Pierce of Grand Forks. Mark Dobmeier of Grand Forks was third, Jade Hastings of Grand Forks fourth and Nick Omdahl of East Grand Forks was fifth.
Lance Schill of Langdon topped Austin Hunter of Winnipeg for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature. Jamie Dietzler of Larimore was third, Brandon Rehill of St. Andrews, Man., was fourth and Jory Berg of Grand Forks was fifth.
Friday Notes
Corey Storck of Morris won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature – by 9.4 seconds – at Fiesta City Speedway in Montevideo on Friday night.
The Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour presented by Shocker Hitch was rained out at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen. The tour goes to Jamestown on Saturday.
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