Two Dykhoffs, Gerdes, Dittman and Bitzan capture wins at Viking

It was Hall of Fame night at Viking Speedway with 82 cars signed in the pits.

Congratulations to Larry Lund and the Merten brothers – all long-time parts of the racing at Viking – on going into the Hall of Fame.  I remember when both Larry Lund and Terry Merten raced in the Sportsman class at Viking decades ago, if that tells you how long I’ve been going to racing there. Two of Larry’s children, son William Lund (super stock) and daughter Michelle (Lund) Hutt (midwest modified) were racing on Saturday, making it a true family occasion at the track.  Fittingly, Viking HOFer Ron Krog was back behind the mic of a track where he announced for more than 30 years.

Former Viking champion Shawn Olson of Alexandria and youngster Noah McFarlane of Brandon led a strong 22-car Wissota Midwest Modified to the green. The hottest car at Viking in the class this year has been Travis Engebretson of Cyrus, coming into the night with five wins. He was starting fourth.

It was Ron Saurer of Dalton, one of the few people to beat Engebretson this season at Viking, who surged past Olson in the lead on Lap 1.

Haley Dykhoff of Starbuck worked past Olson for second with Engebretson running fourth and McFarlane in fifth. Tanner Bitzan of Brandon was running in sixth and closing on.

I didn’t see what happened here, but Olson, running third, would go off of turn three to bring out the caution, and his night would end on the hook with 10 to go.  

After a multi-car tangle in turn four wiped out the restart, Engebretson surged on the bottom past Saurer to take the top spot. However, moments later, the two 42 cars – Tanner Bitzan and Saurer – got together in turns one and two. Saurer would go to the work area. The caution was apparently going to be charged to Bitzan, who was not happy with the call, and would eventually call it a night and go to the pits.

Dykhoff was putting pressure on Engebretson on the restart, and with six to go would take the lead on the outside. Taylor Bitzan was running third and his brother Tyler wass pressuring him. McFarlane was a solid fifth ahead of Buzz Muzik of Alexandria.

Dykhoff opened up a one-second lead on Engebretson’s 1X was starting to smoke. And the smoke would be the sign of something more as the 1X would leave on the hook with two to go. Dykhoff now had two of the Bitzan brothers, Taylor and Tyler, behind her as Muzik climbed into the fourth spot.

Dykhoff would hold on for her first win of the year by just a few car lengths over Taylor Bitzan with Tyler Bitzan taking fourth.  Brooke Hellerman of Parkers PraIrie had a solid run all night, and finished in the top five for the first time this season. Scott Oeltjen of Villard went from 17^th to sixth. In her postrace interview, Dykhoff apologized to Olson, but I didn’t see what happened at all so I won’t say anymore.  

There were a lot of good cars on hand for the Wissota Street Stock feature with 20 making the call for the main event.

Cory Dykhoff of Perham led Lap 1 of the Wissota Street Stock feature before there was some chaos saw the 16A go off the backstretch after some contact.  On the restart Eric Riley, one of the few drivers to beat Kyle Dykhoff at Viking this year, surged into the lead.  The Wolverine Justin Vogel of Brooten was in fifth ahead of J.J. Nieuwbeerta of Alexandria.

The Dykhoff brothers fought for second as Riley opened a half straightaway lead. Vogel was fighting with 16S for fourth.  Ty Schuler and Vogel both got by Cory Dykhoff, who had Nieuwbeerta and Joe Martin of Willmar chasing him.

Riley’s 51 had a 1.4 second lead but it was erased when Ty Schuler went spinning out of turn two, going around several times.

The restart brought Kyle Dykhoff and Vogel to Riley’s bumper, while Martin was challenging Cory Dykhoff for fourth.  Kyle Dykhoff went to the low line trying to make a move, and Riley was stuck to the top.

The caution waved with three to go for a multi-car incident in turn three, which involved several cars. Cory Dykhoff would pull pitside, ending his hopes of a top five finish. On the restarting Kyle Dykhoff stuckto the bottom and got a big run in turns three and four to grab the lead. Martin was chasing Vogel for third as Nieuwbeerta had defending Viking champion Davey Kruchten of Glenwood on his heels.

Dykhoff would win by 1.7 seconds as his late surge was impressive. He also leads the Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour standings; that series resumes next weekend in South Dakota. Riley settled for second, Vogel was third, Martin fourth and Kruchten edged Nieuwbeerta for fifth.

The Vintage Cars raced their feature next but without knowing the drivers it’s impossible to comment on the race.

Brady Gerdes of Villard took the early lead of the Wissota Street Stock feature with William Lund of Brandon in second. Bailey Rosch of Alexandria was third with 17 Kostreba and Jordan Henkemeyer also in the top five.  Rosch moved into second with 12 laps to go as Lund was now fighting with Ryan Kostreba for third. Russell Kostreba had moved to fifth.

Gerdes had a 1.4 second lead on Rosch as Lund and Ryan Kostreba fought for third.  Henkemeyer was all over Russell Kostreba for fifth. The battle for second turned into a three-car battle as Lund and Ryan Kostreba had closed. Lund was running about as high as you can at Viking without ending up in the weeds.

Gerdes was more than content to let the battles take place behind him as the lead grew to more than two seconds, on his way to the win.  Lund outlasted Rosch (third) and Ryan Kostreba (fourth) in a great battle for second. Russell Kostreba finished fifth in a caution-free main event.

Jeff Rohner grabbed the Wissota Hornet feature lead from the outside pole with Matt Dittman of Lake Lillian moved into second. National point leader Anthony Jenson of Milaca grabbed third as the top three broke free from the field.  Kreg Anderson of Alexandria, a winner earlier this season, was fourth ahead of Christopher Blume.

Dittman was mounting a serious challenge for the lead as the top two went side-by-side as the caution waved with seven to go.  On the restart it turned into a four-car fight as Jenson went to the bottom and made it three-wide. Dittman soon went back to the bottom as he and Rohner went side-by-side again. Anderson had moved into third.. Travis Bruns of Alexandria was in fifth.

Dittman threw about everything he had at Rohner got a huge run on the bottom on the final lap and was able to pull ahead for the win.  Rohner would settle for second.  Jenson edged Anderson for tghird with Brendan Bockwitz of Cambridge taking fifth.

Dusty Bitzan of Evansville surged into the lead from his second-row of the Wissota Mod feature with Talan Thoennes of Nelson running in second. Gerdes worked by Matt Thoennes for third with Jason Thoennes moving into fourth.

Gerdes grabbed second with 17 laps to go but had a 2.3 second deficit as Bitzan was cruising. Jason Thoennes was battling his nephew, Talan for third.

Bitzan’s lead grew to 2.8 seconds as the 10X was absolutely ripping up laps on the half-mile. Gerdes, with 12 laps left, had cut the gap to 2.1 seconds. He was well ahead of third-place Jason Thoennes. Brendan Blascyk of Hoffman had cleared Matt Thoennes for fifth, and son worked past Talan Thoennes.

The high line was were the mods were roaring, and Gerdes had cut the lead to 1.7 seconds with seven laps left.  However, the caution would wave shortly after as Jason Thoennes went off the backstretch after something broke; he would require a 4-wheeler push to the pit area, ending a good top three run.

That caution erased Bitzan’s lead completely and brought the 2X of Gerdes and Blascyk close to him. Gerdes went down to his patented low line on the restart looking for an opening as the top t wo pulled away. Jonathan Olmscheid was running well and moved into fourth ahead of Matt Thoennes.

Bitzan opened 5-6 car lengths on Gerdes who tried valiantly to close the gap.  Bitzan’s final margin of victory was one second. Blascyk was third, Olmscheid fourth and Matt Thoennes was fifth for his first top five of the year.

There were only 10 Wissota Mods on hand, and A mod numbers are down at several tracks (Wissota or IMCA) aside from Deer Creek, and I may write a blog about it at some point, but I need to gather more data. I have some theories but I’d like to run those by a few people before I publicize them.

Just an observation here: There is the Big Deal at Ogilvie next weekend which pays $125,000 to win the A mods and $25,000 to win the B Mods. I think a good handful of drivers have raced there ahead of time in both classes a few times to get a feel for the track, which is completely understandable. There was also a USMTS show at Ogilvie on Saturday that pulled a few cars.

Pake wins MSTS show at RRVS

Andy Pake of Felton won the MSTS feature on Saturday at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo.  Jack Dover of Springfield, Neb., was second, Weston Olson of Warren was third, Jack Croaker of East Grand Forks was fourth and Jade Hastings of Grand Forks was fifth.

Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes won the Lightning Sprint feature over Bryce Haugeberg of West Fargo. Emmitt Isane of Badger was third, Dexter Dvergsten of Greenbush was fourth and Hayden Koehmstedt of West Fargo was fifth.

Monty Ferreira of Lincoln, Neb., topped Trevor Serbus of Olivia for the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint feature. Lee Goos Jr. of Hartford was third, Thomas Meseraull of San Jose was fourth and Cole Vanderheiden of Papillion, Neb., was fifth.

Greseth, Anderson Lead Jamestown winners

Cole Greseth of Harwood won the Wissota Street Stock feature Saturday night at Jamestown Speedway. Billie Christ of Jamestown was second, Dustin Erickson of Jamestown was third, Kasey Ussatis of Nome was fourth and Jodie Michaelsohn of Aberdeen was fifth.

Kyle Anderson of Jamestown picked up his second Wissota Midwest Modified feature win of the weekend  over Jarod Klein of Jamestown. Aaron Michel of Jamestown was third, Jaren Wibstad of Jamestown was fourth and Zach Reinke of Lisbon was fifth. Scott Gartner of Jamestown topped Marcus Tomlinson of Turtle Lake for the IMCA Modified win with John Corell taking third. John Nord of Enderlin was fourth.

Myles Tomlinson of Turtle Lake topped Ken Hron of Grand Rapids for the Western Renegade Non-Winged Sprint Car feature.

Joe Jacobson of Jamestown won the Bomber feature over Matt Gumke of Jamestown. Erik Busche of Jamestown was third. Preston Martin of Lincoln won the INEX Legends over Gage Madler of New England. Andrew Bargmann of Bismarck  was third and Ryan Erdahl of Jamestown was fourth.

Saturday notes

--Taylor Jacobson of Roseau won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature Saturday night at Greenbush Race Park. Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls was second and Justin Olson of Thief River Falls was third.

John Halvorson of Warren won the Wissota Street Stock feature while Aaron Holtan of Newfolden won the Wissota Mod feature with Dustin Wahl of Greenbush taking second.  Connor Bruss of Nelson won the Wissota Mod 4 feature.

--Trey Hess of Grand Forks topped Greg Jose of Grand Forks for the Wissota Street Stock win Saturday night at Devils Lake Speedway.  Jory Berg of Grand Forks topped Preston Carr of Carrington for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature.  Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks beat Travis Robertson of Fargo for the NLRA Late Model win.