Vogel moves closer to DRC Street Stock Tour title with Jamestown feature victory

The Wolverine Justin Vogel of Brooten moved a step closer to clinching his second Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour title by grabbing the feature win Friday night at Jamestown Speedway. Jamestown is hosting the final two nights of the tour this weekend.

I figured there would be around 25 Wissota Streets on hand, so I was disappointed only 19 were on hand, especially with Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen off this week. But the quality was there with a good amount of the field capable of winning.

The track was in nice shape and racy for all the features, which also saw the veteran Shawn Strand of Mandan put on a heck of a show on the high side in the IMCA Modifieds.

Vogel had the street tour point lead coming into the night ahead of Medford, Wis., driver Cody Kummer. Tommy Pogones of Princeton – the only driver with more than one tour win this year – was third. Vogel, Kummer, Kammron Rose and Kolton Brauer of Eyota are the four drivers who have raced every tour race. Pogones has missed only one.  I credit to those drivers for all of the traveling they’ve done in spite of the higher gas prices (thanks to the cluster of a war in Iran STILL  going on).

Vogel took the lead from the inside pole over Brauer, the defending national champion with Pogones in third. The caution waved for Larry Hanson spin in turn four.  Defending Jamestown Stampede champion Hunter Carter of Mapleton was fighting with Sam Fankhauser of Rice Lake for fourth. Tony Smith of Jamestown would pull off with an issue.

Vogel was hauling at the front and pushed the lead to more than a second with Pogones and Brauer battling for second. Fargo driver Darak Turner spun in turn four to bring out the second caution.

Vogel reassumed control up front with the Pogones-Brauer fight continuing for second.

Fankhauser was running in fourth but tagged the frontstretch well and went sliding off turn one. The 11, with some damage to the right side, would go to the pits. Pogones moved into second on the restart  with a pile of cars fighting for fourth, including Carter, Billie Christ of Jamestown, Kummer, Dustin Erickson and Jonny Carter of Lisbon, who was driving Joe Deede’s 77 machine, started dead last but had worked into the top eight.

Carter would go around in turn four and fortunately a big pileup was avoided. Jonny Carter did spin to make a little contact with his cousin but was able to continue.

Pogones was putting the heat on Vogel at the front as Kummer moved into fourth ahead of Erickson. With 12 to go Pogones took the lead but Vogel made the crossover to regian the spot as the top two put on a show. Those two had a big advantage on third-place.

Vogel opened some breathing room as Todd Carter, who was flying on the high side, got around Kummer for third.  Josh Long of Canby had climbed to seventh.

After the intense battle for a few laps Vogel was pulling away from Pogones.  As the white flag was in hand Long spun in turn four to bring out the caution. Jonny Carter – who put on a heck of a show the whole race – was now up to third after riding the high side.

On the final restart Jonny Carter made a run at Vogel but the Wolverine held on for the win, leading all 25 laps. It was his second tour win. Carter was second; however because that team did a driver swap after the heat, which is against Wissota rules, he was DQed postrace. Still, the show he put on was worth the price of admission.

That moved Pogones to second, Kummer to third, Brauer to fourth and Erickson, who started 15tth, to fifth. Erickson was the hard charger and ran solid all night.

The Bombers had another good field with Brent Wilkinson of Jamestown leading Lane Stoppleworth and and Bradley Stoppleworth fighting for second. The car on the move was Ryker Vetter, who won the Governor’s Cup in Mandan last week. He moved around both Stoppleworths and claimed second. He was all over Wilkinson for the lead with eight to go. The Stoppleworth brothers were running third and fourth with Joe Jacobson of Jamestown in fifth.

The caution flew with eight to go for Billy Carow’s stalled #7 machine; he left on the hook, and there was a drive shaft laying in turns one and two.

Vetter, who looked like the fastest car on the track, blew a tire in turns one and two and headed to the pits.  Wilkinson opened about two car lengths on Lane Stoppleworth as Jacobson grabbed t hird. Gavin Edinger, running way up on the high side, had climbed to fifth.

Wilkinson wasn’t going to be denied on this night, opening a .9 second lead by the checkered to pick up his first Jamestown win; it was his second career win as he had won at Sheyenne on June 14. Lane Stoppleworth edged Jacobson for third with Bradley Stoppleworth fourth and Edinger fifth. The Bombers, who had 23 cars on hand, only had one caution and did an excellent job running a clean race.

This was a stout Wissota Midwest Modified contingent on hand, led by former national champion Lucas Rodin of Marion and Jaren Wibstad of Jamestown. In fact the top four rows were pretty stacked. Wibstad took the early lead over Rodin as Arin Beyer of Jamestown fought Ryan Ost of Adrian for third. Kyle Anderson of Jamestown was fifth ahead of Brennon Weight of Lamoure.

Rodin was working underneath Wibstad as the two raced side-by-side; Rodin would grab the top spot with 15 to go.  Beyer haken taking third and Weight, who won the big $10,000 prize in Sheridan earlier this summer, had climbed to fourth past Ost.

A big crash happened on the backstretch with 13 to go involving Steve Ost of Jamestown, Jason Grimes of Jamestown, Jaden Christ of Jamestown and Brian Hanson of Jamestown. All were able to continue but none left unscathed. Grimes was tagged with the caution. On the restart Weight was challenging Beyer for third as Wibstad closed on Rodin as the caution flew for Todd Wallner’s spin.

Wibstad was trying to make a move on Rodin but Weight was staying close in third. Ost was up to fourth and Beyer. Rodin and Wibstad raced hard for the lead and Wibstad made his move when Rodin slid up in turn two. The caution flew for a spin in turn four. Wibstad pulled away up front as Weight got around Rodin for second. Beyer was still a solid fourth. Ost nearly slid off the backstretch and lost fifth to Aaron Michel of Jamestown.

Weight had a final charge in him over the final laps, and took a shot underneath Wibstad out of turn four – but fell a few feet short. Wibstad held on for a thrilling .074 second win over a charging Weight to cap off a heck of a race.  Rodin was third, Beyer fourth and Anderson made a nice move to finish in the top five.

Jamestown promoter Tim Baldwin issued a challenge of sorts to the INEX Legends class earlier this week as the numbers have dwindled at Jamestown this season, which included one night with four cars. He suggested the class’s days could be numbered unless there is an uptick in cars over the last month of the season.  I say with West Fargo racing on Friday,  maybe Saturday is the day to get a better indication of where things stand for the Legends. Nine were on hand on Friday.

The father-son tandem of Zach and Regan Reinke led the INEX Legends to the green and Regan stormed out to the lead. Austin Wiest would move into second with  Donavin Wiest, Zach Reinke and Andrew Bargmann fighting hard for third. The caution flew with 13 to go when Duston Hagen spun in turn two.  The race resumed with Regan Reinke in control while Austin Wiest and Donavin Wiest dueling for econd. Bargmann was in a good battle with Zach Reinke for fourth.

Austin Wiest was picking up speed as the race went on, and he caught Regan Reinke and took over the lead just after the halfway point. Bargmann had climbed to third. Austin Wiest stuck his 471 to the bottom and it just stuck around the 1/4-mile, and he pushed the lead to nearly a second on his way to the win. Regan Reinke settled for second with Bargmann, Donavin Wiest and Zach Reinke capping off the top five.

Jeremy Keller was the early leader of the IMCA Modified feature as Andrew Kapp and John Corell raced hard for second. Shawn Strand of Mandan was battling side-by-side with Jacoby Traut of Jamestown for fourth. With 16 to go Dwight Wegner went around in turn three.

Keller resumed his lead as Strand moved into third and went to the work of the outside of Kapp. Traut passed Corell for fourth.

The car making a move was Lindsey Hansen of Fargo, who had climbed to fifth and was pressuring Traut for fourth. Kelller was working a lower line while Strand was riding the high side of the quarter mile – and closing. Those two were well ahead of Kapp in third.

Strand’s 99 was flying on the high line and he’d take the lead with six laps to go. Hansen was working on the outside of Kapp for third. I tell you, Strand was absolutely flawless once he stuck his 99 to the high line and he pulled away over the last five laps.  Keller settled for second. Hansen had a great run from 11^th to third with Kapp fourth and Traut fifth.

Aubrie Edinger won the Junior Slingshot feature with Hailey Keller of Bismarck second. Eight slingshots were on hand, which I would say is about the perfect number, and all are kids. I say you run that class every week whether there are two cars or 10. That is the future of racing.

Jamestown will host Night 2 of the doubleheader on Saturday.

 Fix It Forward victories: Briss, Sandvig, Rosinski, VanMil, Hall and Jahnz

Howie Briss of Glyndon won his first career INEX Legends feature Friday night at Fix It Forward Speedway. Sean Johnson of Kindred was second, Alexander Clark of Moorhead third, Ryan Braseth of Ulen fourth and Robert Andring of Lake Park was fifth.

Thomas Sandvig of West Fargo won his first IMCA Sport Mod feature of the year over Austin Veralrud of Audubon. Kyle VanMil of Barnesville was third, Chris VanMil of Barnesville fourth and Charles Jensen of Pelican Rapids fifth.

Jerzee Rosinski of Grand Forks won the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint feature with Justin Lundeen of Grand Forks second. Ty Hanten of West Fargo was third, Brandon Rekow of Ellendale fourth and Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes fifth.

Rob VanMil of Barnesville captured the IMCA Stock Car feature win over Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada. Andrew Jochim of Harwood was third, Dan Aberle of Finley fourth and Brody Carlsrud of Fargo fifth.

Tyler Hall of Fertile topped Shawn Wiest of Fargo for the IMCA Modified win. Jamie Schultz of Harwood was third, Travis Robertson of Fargo fourth and John Nord of Enderlin fifth.

Austin Jahnz of Lewisville won the IMCA Hobby Stock feature with Hunter Goulet of Fargo finishing second. Brad Orvedal of Fargo, Tim Church of Moorhead and Reid Randall of Park Rapids completed the top five.

Pake, Edginton, Greseth and Blacklance reach victory lane at River Cities

Andy Pake of Felton won the NOSA Sprint feature Friday night at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. Mark Dobmeier of Grand Forks was second, Nick Omdahl of East Grand Forks third, Austin Pierce of Grand Forks fourth and Weston Olson of Warren was fifth.

Shane Edginton of East St. Paul Manitoba won the Wissota Late Model feature. Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks was second, John Seng of Grand Forks was third, Brody Troftgruben of Grand Forks was fourth and Matt Schow of McIntosh was fifth.

Cole Greseth of Harwood won another Wissota Street Stock feature. Blaine Barnes of Grand Forks continued his progression with a career-best second place finish; Greg Jose of Grand Forks was third, John Halvorson of Warren was fourth and Trey Hess of Grand Forks was fifth.

Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls won the Wissota Midwest Modified main event. Kenna Breidenbach of Grand Forks was second, Jory Berg of Grand Forks was third, Brennan Schmidt of Bemidji was fourth and Austin Hunter of Winnipeg was fifth.

I-94 wins to Vang, Gerdes, Smith, Riley, Rohner and Saurer

Danny Vang of Deerwood won the Wissota Late Model feature Friday night at I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls. Zach Johnson of Lowry was second, Jack Koranda of Bluffton third, Travis Saurer of Dalton was fourth and Cole Schill of Hawley was fifth.

Brady Gerdes of Villard was victorious in the Wissota Modified feature over Landon Atkinson of Little Falls. Ryan Gierke of Villard was third, Travis Saurer of Dalton was fourth and Joseph Thomas of Glyndon was fifth.

Jake Smith of St. Joseph won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature with Nate Reinke of Lisbon crossing in second. Tyler Bitzan of Brandon was third, Landyn Randt of Siren was fourth and Tommy Nichols of Watertown was fifth.

Eric Riley of Morris topped Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck for the Wissota Street Stock win. Braedyn Fleck of Cold Spring was third, Joe Arndt of Ortonville fourth and Josh Lawson of Verndale was fifth.

Christian Kast of Fairmount won the Wissota Hornet feature with Chase Pourrier of Fergus Falls taking second. Cameryn Taylor of Hankinson ran third, Zander Zuehlsdorff of Fergus Falls fourth and Emma Nelson of Fergus Falls fifth.

Saurer won the Gen X Late Model feature with Blake Swenson of Watertown second. Tony Croninger of Watertown was third, Jeff Nelson of Perham fourth and Amelia Eisenschenk of Fargo fifth.