I said I wouldn’t cover much weekly racing to close the year, but wanted to hit Viking Speedway in Alexandria one more time before the 2023 season ended. I admit that I have a little loyalty to the place, having gone there since I was 10 years old, and since I plan to take next weekend off, I decided to recap it for RaceChaser blog.
My patience for caution flags, as a fan, is about shot at this point in the year. And there were a ton, leading to a long night that wrapped up a little after 10:30. A lot of times they waved on Saturday when the racing was heating up. Aside from the super stocks, who had just one yellow by my count, the other four features had more than their share of cautions. I’m guessing flag man Justin Nieland’s patience was about gone by the end of the night. The only person that might have happy to see the cautions is Justin Anderson, the owner of SHAA Construction – which sponsors the caution flags at Viking. SHAA got a lot of mentions on Saturday!
The points race in the Wissota Midwest Modified saw 70-year-old Ron Saurer of Dalton leading Taylor Bitzan of Brandon and Shawn Olson of Alexandria by 13 points going into the night. With 21 cars on hand, the points could change quickly. And they would.
Corey Storck of Morris started third but was quickly battling Shawn Olson for the lead, with Taylor Bitzan running third. Haley Lee of Starbuck moved past Jon Carlson of Brandon for fourth.
Saurer was sent to the back for a caution on the first lap, and that threw the points race into a mess. The best Olson or Bitzan could do was win, and hope Saurer did not have a good finish.
Olson opened a few car lengths on Storck, but the caution would wave with nine to go. Carlson, who got his first career win earlier this summer at Viking would pull in under yellow, ending his hopes for a top five.
Bitzan got by Storck on the restart but as Lee had Travis Engebretson of Cyrus to contend with. Bitzan was within a car length with three to go, and those two had opened a pretty good gap on Storck in third. Lee, who was running fourth, slowed suddenly with four to go, ending her hopes of a top five as well. Olson took the white flag with about a two-car length lead on Bitzan, but the caution would wave for Maddie Swenson’s spin in turn four.
Olson took the while flag with pretty good breathing room but again, the caution would wave in a race that seemed like it would never end. This race had far too many yellows.
The cautions simply killed Olson, who twice had a couple car length lead twice at the white flag, only to see the yellow. On the last restart he slid a bit high in turns one and two and that opened the door for Taylor Bitzan to sneak ahead. Olson fought back with a slider, but Bitzan would take the lead as the white flag and hold on for a thrilling win. He not only won the feature, but also won the points championship as well in about as dramatic a way as you can.
I felt for Olson. When you lead almost all the race, and twice have the lead at the white flag, and aren’t able to finish, that stings. He finished second in the feature, which is nothing to sneeze at, and ended second in the points. Sometimes, it comes down to getting a break.
Engebretson would take third, and Buzz Muzik of Alexandria capped off a good run in fourth. Easily the hard charger of the race was Shane Howell of Buffalo, who went from 21st to fifth.
Nitro Jimmy Williams of DeGraff led Roger Berkness of Eagle Bend by 22 points and J.J. Nieuwbeerta of Alexandria by 24 in the Wissota Street Stock standings.
Craig Gardner took the early lead in the Wissota Street Stock feature but on the move was Kolton Brauer of Eyota, who is fourth in the national points. You always watch the Wolverine Justin Vogel of Brooten when he is at Viking; he started ninth but it took him about three laps to get to second. With 10 to go, Vogel would make the pass for the lead, and quickly opened a nice advantage.
Willmar driver Joe Martin was running third ahead of Gardner. Berkness’s hopes for a track title ended when he went off on the hook with nine to go. Martin moved into second and Davey Krutchen moved into third. Brauer would slow and pull in with mechanical trouble.
Also running very well was Canby driver Jacob Aarhus, who is a regular at Fiesta City and Madison. He was in fourth and pressuring Krutchen for third . Vogel, third in the national points, built a 4.157 lead over Martin but the caution would wave with five to go for Scott Horn’s spin.
Vogel was pretty much untouchable, but there was a good fight for second between Martin and Krutchen. Aarhus, Brad Lorentz, Williams and Nieuwbeerta were putting on a good show for the fourth spot.
Vogel cruised to a 3.9 second victory. Krutchen edged Martin for second. Williams, the cagey veteran, drove a very smart race, avoiding trouble and moving up to fourth to clinch the points title. Aarhus capped off a good night with a fifth-place finish, ahead of Nieuwbeerta, who finished in second in the points. Nieuwbeerta picked up his first feature win earlier this summer.
Kole Kampsen of Belgrade had a commanding 85-point lead over Kevin Wahl of Fergus Falls in the Short Tracker points going into the night.
After a couple of early cautions, Jeff Rohner of Willmar would take the lead with Wahl taking over second. Kampsen moved into third but Carter Matthews – the Wissota Hornet national point leader – was challenging him. Andy Booke of Wahpeton was fifth.
Things went three-wide for second as Matthews, Kampsen and Wahl fought for second while Rohner opened a 1.158 second lead with four to go. Wahl and Matthews started to duel for second as Booke passed Kampsen for fourth when the caution would wave with four to go when Travis Roush stalled in turns three and four.
Matthews – who has 18 wins this season – continued to fight with Wahl for second on the restart. The happiest guy to see this battle was Rohner, who opened a few car lengths on second. Again, the caution would wave with three to go.
Rohner was never really challenged for the lead as Matthews, Wahl and Kampsen ruined the fight for second. Rohner, who won at I-94 EMR Speedway on Friday, would post a 1.569 second win over Wahl, who edged Kampsen for second. Matthews was fourth and Booke rounded out the top five. Kampsen is the 2023 Viking Short Tracker champion.
Trevor Saurer of Dalton led Matt Miller of Glenwood by 25 points in the Wissota Super Stock points race.
Karter Reents of Glenwood, who won at Fiesta City Speedway on Friday, jumped out to the lead in the super stock main event with Travis Scott of Montevideo running second. Scott had Saurer challenging him on the low line as Miller was in third.
Jim Critser spun off of turns three and four to bring out the first caution. ON the restart Saurer stuck the 21 to the bottom of the track and went to work on Reents up front. The caution would wave as Jeff Crouse slowed into turn three; he has a feature win this summer but has been plagued with mechanical issues for much of the year. The good news was he was able to return to the track.
IT was a three-car battle up front and Saurer would take over the top spot with Scott and Reents dueling for second. Reents would clear the 71X and fought back on the high sideas he tried to close Saurer’s lead.
Trent Brutger of Watkins – who started dead last – had worked up to fourth with Miller chasing him. Saurer, meanwhile, was cruising in the lead with a 2.412 second advantage by the checkered to wrap up another points championship at Viking. Reents finished second, Scott capped off a good run in third. Brutger and Miller rounded out the top five.
Danny Bayer surged out front in the Wissota Modified feature with Travis Saurer of Elizabeth moving into second. The caution would wave when a car went off the backstretch with 16 to go.
Bayer led on the restart with Brendan Blascyk of Hoffman fighting with Jason Thoennes of Garfield for third. Brady Gerdes of Villard was also in the mix, and would take over third. Thoennes stuck his 52 machine to the very bottom, one of the few in the mod feature to do so. Dusty Bitzan of Brandon was running fifth; he entered the night with a 40-point lead on Thoennes in the points.
The caution would wave for a pair of cars in turns one and two. On the restart Gerdes, who wrapped up the Moonshine Mod Tour title on Thursday, made a move into the lead, but the caution would negate that as Gerald Thorstad went off the backstretch. The battle for the lead went three-wide briefly and Gerdes would make the move into the lead when Bayer slid high. Thoennes continued to stick to the bottom in the fight for second as Bitzan moved into fourth. Blascyk was fighting Josh Thoennes of Nelson for fifth.
After yet another caution, which seemed to be the theme of the night, Gerdes stormed to a big lead. Thoennes slid high on the restart and also a couple of spots, moving Bitzan to third. He had Blascyk and Thoennes all over him for that spot, and Josh Thoennes was closing.
Another caution with two to go would bunch up the field. It seemed like every time the racing would heat up for the mods, a yellow would wave. Frustrating as a fan.
Gerdes resumed control over the final two laps to pick up a 1.264 win over Jason Thoennes, who edged Bayer for second. Bitzan was fourth to clinch the points title with Blascyk rounding out the top five.
Saturday Night Notes
--Andy Pake of Felton won the Danny Schatz Memorial IMCA RaceSaver Sprint feature Saturday night at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo.
--Cole Greseth of Harwood won the Wissota Street Stock special Saturday night at Greenbush Race Park. Jeremy Gust of Strathcona was second and Jerome Berger of Roseau was third. Dustin Wahl of Greenbush won the Wissota Mod main event.
--Alex Johnson of Karlstad won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature at Greenbush over Justin Olson of Thief River Falls. Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls was third.
--Tyler Peterson of Hickson has raced in three Wissota Late Model Challenge Series main events – and hasn’t lost any. HE picked up the win over Jeff Massingill Saturday night at Ogilvie Raceway.
--Tucker Pederson of East Grand Forks won the Wissota Street Stock feature Saturday night at Devils Lake Speedway. Mike Mund of Milnor was second. Preston Carr of Carrington won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature.
--Kyle Anderson of Jamestown won the Wissota Street Stock feature over Maria Broksieck Saturday night at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen. Kasey Ussatis of Nome was third. Superman Mike Stearns of Hecla won the Wissota Mod feature
--Jack Koranda of Bluffton won the Wissota Super Stock feature Saturday night at North Central Speedway in Brainerd. Rich Pavlicek of Casselton finished second in the IMCA Sport Mod feature while Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead was second in the IMCA Stock Car feature.
Comments