TPO Takes 2, Hess, Reilly, Croninger and Rohner Claim Opener at Casino
- tombergie01
- May 18
- 7 min read
Casino Speedway in Watertown kicked off its 2025 season on a cool, breezy Sunday afternoon.
There was some question of whether the race would be held after the wet and cool few days later in the week, but Casino officials put in a lot of time to give the show a shot.
Casino management moved up the start time to 5 p.m. – from the usual 6:30 p.m. slot. The track had character, but context here is important. It was the first night of the season and it had been a wet, cool few days. While the sun was out on Sunday, temps were in the mid 50s, not exactly great drying weather.
Casino holds its Memorial Day show next week, which typically draws a lot of cars and fans, and hopefully the weather will improve after what looks to be a rainy beginning of the week.
As I’ve said here, I don’t judge car counts or length of shows at this point of the year. When new get into June, I will start making some evaluations.
Defending track champion Maria Broksieck of Goodwin and Kyle Bertram of Dallas led the Wissota Street Stocks to the green. Bertram’s race did not get off to a good start as he spun in turns three and four. Unfortunately Jason Marko of Watertown, a driver who I expected to contend, suffered right front damage which included a flat tire and he would be done. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That moved the most traveled street stock driver so far in Wissota – Trey Hess of Grand Forks – to the outside pole. Broksieck took the lead running where she is so tough at Casino, in the ditch with Hess settling into second.
Andy Rossow of Florence, who won at Brown County Speedway earlier this month, was third with Michaelsohn running fourth and Cory Giessinger of Watertown in fifth.
Hess stayed close to Broksieck and was persistent in his pursuit. Rossow was about two car lengths behind Hess. Jodie Michaelsohn was running solid in fourth with Giessinger in fifth.
Broksieck didn’t waver from her low line, but Hess was searching, and was starting to close in turn four, and it turned into a great duel between the two veterans over the final five laps.
With two laps left, Hess got a run out of turn four and made the surge into the lead. Broksieck fought back on the low side on the same lap, but had to hit the brakes in turns one and two on the white flag lap and that allowed Hess to open some breathing room on the final lap. Broksieck was second, Rossow third, Jodie Michaelsohn fourth and Giessinger capped off a solid run, going from eighth to fifth.
When I say Hess is well traveled so far this year, I mean it. He has raced at nine different tracks already, including on Friday and Saturday at Big Sky Speedway in Billings, Mont. He raced at Thunder City Speedway in Thunder Bay, Ontario on Wednesday night. In his last 10 starts he has not finished worse than third and now has three wins on the season. He’s been fast everywhere he’s gone so far.
The veteran Terry Reilly took the lead of the Wissota Midwest Modified feature. There nearly was a big pileup behind him as the 17 car got crossed up and forced several to check up, but the race stayed green.
Carter Frost spun in turn one after something broke in the rear and would bring out the caution, he would require a tow to the pits.
Reilly led Todd Stark and Tommy Nichols of Watertown lined up behind Reilly on the restart. Shane DeJong of Boyd and was battling with Luke Johnson of Miller and the steady veteran Scott Hansen of Garden City for the fourth spot.
Stark was all over Reilly with 14 to go and looked for an opening. Reilly couldn’t afford to flinch as Tommy Nichols wasn’t far behind Stark.
By the halfway point Stark was applying all kinds of pressure on Reilly as Hansen got by DeJong for fifth. DeJong would spin with eight to go to bring out the caution.
On the restart Reilly opened up a nice advantage on Stark. Hansen moved into third past Nichols, who was fighting Johnson for the fourth spot.
Reilly would prevail with Stark in second. Hansen ran third after starting seventh with Nichols going from eighth to fourth. Johnson rounded out the top five.
Curt Kranz of Watertown was the early leader over Tai Engels of Watertown in the Gen X Late Models. Trevor Walsh of Watertown would soon move to second with Brodie Croninger running in fourth.
Teenager Parker Gilbertson of scenic Watson, Minn., was working on Tony Terrill for fifth.
Walsh was putting a lot of heat on Kranz up front as the two veterans put on a heck of a show. With 11 to go lapped traffic had become a factor. Things got really dicey with seven to go as Kranz got together with the soon-to-be lapped car of Gilbertson, sending the 23 spinning. However, Hope Swenson had spun on the backstretch shortly before, and was charged with the caution, giving Kranz a reprieve and the top spot back.
On the restart Kranz slid high in turns one and two – I honestly didn’t see if he had help -- and Brodie Croninger took advantage, surging into the lead with Walsh in second. Brittany Swenson’s spin in turn two brought out the caution with six to go.
On the ensuing restart Kranz and Walsh got together on the front stretch but kept going. Tyler McFarland, who had been in the top five, spun with five to go and had to leave on the hook.
Brodie Croninger had Kranz to fend off for the lead with Walsh in third and Tony Croninger in Watertown in fourth. Scott Harrington of Waubay, running the ditch, had quietly worked into the top five.
Croninger would pull away up front, taking the win by .950 seconds over Kranz. Walsh was third, Tony Croninger fourth and Parker Gilbertson was fifth. Harrington, who started 11th, ended in sixth.
Tyler Peterson of Hickson (TPO) is very tough on bullring tracks, and he grabbed the lead of the Wissota Modified feature from the inside pole. Tony Konold of Clear Lake was second with Watertown driver Aaron Sowers and Joseph Thomas of Glyndon fighting for third. There were three cautions in the first three laps as the race struggled to get going.
TPO stormed to a six-car length lead over Thomas who had taking over second. Konold was fighting Sowers for third with Superman Mike Stearns of Aberdeen, who had been bottled in traffic, fighting Nate Heinrich of Bellingham for fifth.
Up front, TPO was in control, opening up a 4.2 second lead on Thomas by the halfway point. Heinrich – who in my opinion has one of the best looking mods out there – was third while Stearns, a former national champion, was running fifth.
The mods all went up to the high side over the final portion of the race, and TPO ran away from the field to pick up a 6.1 second win. Thomas was second, Heinrich third, Stearns fourth and Adam Brotherton of Huron, a rookie in the Wissota Mods, made a late move past Sowers for fifth.
Watertown drivers Ryan Engels and Chad Williamson led the Wissota Late Models to green with Engels leading early. TPO, the two-time Wissota national champion, moved past Williamson for second.
Aberdeen driver Chad Becker, normally a contender for wins at Casino, broke about two laps into the main event and had to get pushed into the pits, ending his night.
Engels had his hands full with TPO on the restart with Kranz moving up into third. Jayson Good of Watertown was making the ditch work and grabbed fourth.
Engels and TPO put on a show up front with Good taking over third. The caution waved for Doug Walsh spinning in entering turn one; I got to see the replay and he had help.
With 16 to go Kranz and TPO were chasing Engels up front. Good and Chad Williamson of Watertown were dueling for fourth ahead of Trevor Anderson of Watertown. The caution would wave again for debris.
Engels was making the middle lane work, and TPO was riding the highside. Kranz’s good run ended with a mechanical issue with 14 to go, moving Good to third.
TPO was patient up front ended up going to the low side to work past Engels with about 10 to go, and it was all over after that. Anderson had moved into the top five. TPO’s second feature win of the night also came by a comfortable margin. Engels capped off a nice run in second with Good, Anderson and Williamson completing the top five.
The Wissota Hornets, with a good 11-car field, capped off the evening. Willmar driver Jeff Rohner had the inside pole and moved to the front as Bobie Arnes of Foreston, Minn., and Bradley Rossow of Florence battled for second. Canby driver Adam VanDerostyne was running in the top five.
Arnes was running the high side and making it work and nearly had made the pass before the caution waved. On the restart Rohner moved to the higher lane as VanDerostyne settled into third ahead of Rossow. Brayden Begalka, who started dead last, had moved up into fourth about halfway through.
Rohner and Arnes had a great battle for the top spot, but Rohner slowly pulled away as the laps waned. Arnes slid high and almost into the wall in turn two and lost a bunch of spots, moving VanDerostyne into second. Begalka was in third and Rossow was fourth. Rohner cruised to the win. VanDerostyne, Begalka, Rossow and Nathan Smith of Watertown were the top five.
Casino Notes
--Brotherton was a strong runner in eastern South Dakota in the Wissota Midwest Modifieds but is in his first season in the Wissota Mods. He should do well in that class.
--The ageless Al Schmidt, 74, is back in his #12 Wissota Street Stock. He has raced since 1978 and I would venture a guess that he’s one of the longest-tenured drivers currently racing in the street stocks.
--Speaking of ageless, Rich Thomas, 84, of Aberdeen is still out there in his familiar No. 3T late model. He has raced for more than 50 years and is a faithful supporter of South Dakota tracks.
--There are three female drivers in the Gen X Late Models at Casino – Hope Swenson, Brittany Swenson and Tai Engels. Engels is only 15. They were all three in the first heat.
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