Taves, VanMil, Olson, Kesselberg, Goulet and Shipley capture Minn-Kota Cup victories at Fix It Forward

Fix It Forward Speedway in West Fargo concluded its 2026 season with the second night of the inaugural Minn-Kota cup. The first night of the Minn-Kota cup brought in 86 cars while Night 2  drew 73.

One suggestion I would have for Fix It Forward Speedway managemnt –  bump up the purse quite a bit for the Minn-Kota Cup and advertise it weeks in advance. There was a doubleheader for IMCA classes in Brainerd and a three-night show at Nodak Speedway in Minot they were up against.  There were Facebook ads for the Minn-Kota Cup but no listing of any kind of detailed purse; if drivers are going to these late season events, advertising a purse seems like a must to me (for example, see what North Central Speedway did for the Might Axe Nationals).

With context that this was the first year for the current management structure at Fix It Forward, and knowing they will certainly work to improve things, I would suggest more advertising and content geared towards drivers throughout the year – (listing of purses, more special events for 2weekly classes, etc). They did a fine job with the fan part advertising wise but, in my opinion, need to do more to try and get drivers to come to their events Having a specific website for the track might help with a schedule, weekly purse, and maybe more info on special events. Just my opinion because as a fan, I want to know those things before deciding which events I will either cover as a blogger or attend as a paying customer.

Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes took the top spot early in the IMCA RaceSaver sprint feature over Saturday’s Fix It Forward winner, Brandon Rekow of Ellendale. Kate Taves of Detroit Lakes settled into third with Jerzee Rosinski of Grand Forks in fourth and Justin Lundeen of Grand Forks in fifth.

Taves built a 1.2 second lead over Rekow who had more than two seconds on Kate Taves, who had Rosinski staying close. Rekow cut the lead down to down to .622 seconds with seven to go as the top five stayed the same.

Matthew Taves began to open up a bigger lead as the laps waned and by the time the checkered flag waved the lead was at 1.8 seconds as he recorded a dominant win. Rekow, Kate Taves, Rosinski and Lundeen rounded out the top five in a caution-free race.

The story of the INEX Legends class was how many cars started near the back of the field – and made progress. It was a bizarre race with several cautions and it never seemed to really have a good flow.

Alex Clark of Moorhead, looking for his first career win, seized the top spot in the INEX Legends feature but had a lot of heat from Scott Richardson of Pelican Rapids.  Ryan Braseth of Ulen was third, Regan Reinke of Lisbon fourth and Zach Reinke of Lisbon fifth.

After caution Clark built a two-car length lead on Richardson as Regan Reinke moved into third. Joseph Lewis of Hawley, who won his first career feature earlier this summer at Norman County Raceway, moved into fifth.

It was a great battle for second between Reinke, Braseth and Richardson as Clark built nearly a one-second Reinke moved into second and was cutting into the lead; with seven to go it was down to .191 seconds. Braseth was a few car lengths back in third.

Riding the high side was the 2026 Fix it Forward champion Sean Johnson of Kindred, who had charged up to fifth. With six to go, the caution flew as a fender flew off of Richardson’s machine; he was sent to the tail. That was part of a big shuffling in the top five as Braseth went into the hot pit for a tire change.  Joseph Lewis also pulled off while running in the top five.

Johnson was on a rail. He was driving his brother Dylan’s 57 machine and running the outside lane – one of the few to do so – and edged in front by .911 seconds with three to go.  Ty Olson of Mandan, who started back in 19^th, was also on the move in the 4E machine.

Johnson and Ty Olson got together on the frontstretch, and Olson tagged the wall and would go off of turns one and two. Johnson was charged with the yellow and went to the tail.

Reinke made a move on the final restart and grabbed the lead by the white flag with Clark taking a peek on the low side.  Olson used a crossover move on the final lap to nip Reinke by .162 seconds in a thrilling finish to a bit of a bizarre race. Clark was third, Mason Lemar of Casselton was fourth after starting ninth and Dylan Johnson, driving his brother Sean’s 58, capped off a nice night in fifth after starting way back in 21st.. Sean Johnson, by the way, came back from going to the rear to get back up to seventh.

Ryan Restad of West Fargo was the early leader in the IMCA Sport Mod feature over 2026 Fix It Forward champion Scott Jacobson of Fargo. Kyle VanMil of Barnesville was third, Saturday’s winner Austin Veralrud of Audubon was fourth and Landon Maatz of Walcott was battling Rich Pavlicek of Casselton for fifth.

Restad was up by 1.4 seconds when the caution came out for Dean Precht’s spin. VanMil moved into second on the restart, going around the outside of Jacobson, who was committed to the bottom. Pavlicek was up to third with Veralrud fourth and Jacobson fifth.

VanMil pulled a slider for the lead and took the spot  at the halfway point as Pavlicek was closing on both. Veralrud was running alone in third with Maatz dueling with Kelly Jacobson for fifth.

VanMil stretched the lead to about a half second over Restad who was in a tight battle with Pavlicek for second. The caution came out with seven to go.

Restad worked the middle line to take the lead with sixh to go but VanMil fought back on the outside to regain the spot. Pavlicek was running down in the ditch, as was Veralrud who was closing on the battle for second.

VanMil’s 4D machine stuck to the high side and it was effective as the lead grew to .718 seconds by the white flag. He would pick up

Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada was looking for his second straight win in the IMCA stock Cars  and blasted to a 2.8 second lead over Rob VanMil by the sixth lap. Kelly Jacobson was third, while Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead moved into fourth. Todd Carter of Lisbon, who has been racing longer than many of his foes have been alive, was fifth.

The battle was for second was intense between Jacobson and VanMil with Carlsrud soon joining the battle. The r

Kesselberg was demolishing the field by the halfway point as the lead grew to 5.4 seconds. Jacobson had taken second with Carlsrud in third. However, the caution flew for Trent Grager, who was driving Todd Heinrich’s 38 machine, who spun off the top of turns one and two. Carlsrud would clip a tractor tire in turn three and damage his left front, ending his night on the hook.

 And based on what I saw, I don’t think Jacobson and VanMil were grabbing beers together after the race after that hard racing for second. Kesselberg was untouchable as he pulled away again on the restart, pushing the lead back to two seconds with four to go. Jacobson had a good advantage on third-place VanMil as Todd Carter moved into fifth.

Brodee Eckerdt of Grand Forks, who has not raced much this year, took the lead of the IMCA Hobby Stock feature over Daniel Beckman of Mahnomen. Hunter Goulet of Fargo was third and Andrea Jacobson of Fargo in fourth. The caution came out on the second lap to reset the eight-car field.

Eckerdt led Goulet with Beckman third and Jacobson fourth. Todd Gettel of Mahnomen climbed to fifth. Goulet stayed close to Eckerdt but Beckman was challenging him for second by the halfway point.

It was a tight trio at the front as Eckerdt, Goulet and Beckman locked in quite a race. The caution came out on the 13th lap.

Goulet took over the lead as Eckerdt and Beckman were out of contention; both ended up with DNFs. Jacobson was up to second with Gettel in third and Church in fourth. Holden Gagnes had moved into fifth.

Goulet built a 1.8 second lead by the finish as they took firm control over the final seven laps. 

Dave Shipley of Argusville took control early in the IMCA Modified feature with Tom Andring of Detroit Lakes in second. John Nord of Enderlin, the 2026 Fix it Forward champion, was fighting with his son Zack for third with Jacoby Traut of Jamestown  in fifth.

Shipley led by 1.1 seconds as Zack Nord grabbed third. Hall was challenging Traut for the fifth spot.  Shipley encountered some lapped traffic but the lead didn’t shrink much during that time. The Nords put on a good fight for third with Hall grabbing the fifth spot from Traut.

The lead stayed around a second for Shipley over Andring as John Nord moved back into third. Hall was up to fourth and chasing down John Nord as Zack Nord fell back to fifth.  As the race got down to five to go Shipley had pushed the lead to two seconds over Andring. Hall passed John Nord for third and was running lap times faster than the leader Shipley, who was dealing with more lapped cars.

Shipley wasn’t challenged to pick up his second win in as many nights. Andring ran well in second with Hall crossing third. John Nord was fourth and Zack Nord was fifth in a caution-free main event that lasted less than seven minutes.

Fix It Forward Speedway track champions for 2026 were John Nord (IMCA Modified,), Ty Hanten (IMCA RaceSaver Sprint), Rob VanMil (IMCA Stock Cars), Scott Jacobson (IMCA Sport Mod), Reid Randall (IMCA Hobby Stock) and Sean Johnson (INEX Legends).

Saturday feature winners at Fix It Forward were Sean Johnson (INEX Legends), Austin Veralrud (sport mods), Kalvin Kesselberg (IMCA Stock Car), Dave Shipley (IMCA Modified), Nicholas Ronnebaum (IMCA Hobby Stock) and Brandon Rekow (IMCA RaceSaver print).

Sunday notes

--Ryan Satter of Dent won the Wissota Super Stock feature during Night 2 of the Mighty Axe Nationals at North Central Speedway in Brainerd. Travis Saurer of Elizabeth won the Wissota Modified main event with Ryan Gierke of Villard second.

--Upcoming racing in the region includes the Seitz Memorial at River Cities (Thursday is the NLRA Finale, Friday and Saturday are the Seitz Memorial). The Corn Cob Nationals are next at Buffalo River Speedway on Sept. 19-20 (two-day event). The Wissota 100 is at I-94 EMR Speedway on Sept. 15-19.

--Casino Speedway in Watertown rained out for its season championship night; it will host the Autumn Classic in a few weeks. Viking Speedway in Alexandria rained out as well, and that completed its season.