I made a gamble on the weather — the always reliable Weather app said there was an 83 percent chance of a moderate thunderstorm in Lisbon at 7 p.m. while there was a 15-percent chance of rain near Glyndon. So, I headed to Buffalo River Speedway — in part because I was already in Moorhead for work — for Sunday’s show.
It turned out no rain in Lisbon and a brief rain shower in Glyndon which led to a delay. Oh, well.
First, congratulations to Jason Grimes of Jamestown for winning the big $5,000 prize at the Rebel Mid Mod Tour finale at Sheyenne Speedway. It’s not the biggest win of Grimes’ career — that came at the Mod Nationals at Viking Speedway in 2013 when he edged Cody Skytland and Matt Gilbertson. More on that race later.
Buffalo River had an interesting night. It fought the track all night, and then a rain shower passed through while the track was bladed at intermission. It led to a lightning-quick track that was rough in spots. You get a different type of racing on a hammer-down track — usually means there is more contact. And that was the case in a few of the features.
It was an eventful IMCA Hobby Stock feature that went down to the wire.
Ryan Kleinschmidt of Brainerd led much of the race, but Marvin Priem of Glyndon was on his heels. Andrea Jacobson of Fargo — who rolled her #15 machine last week — was running a solid third.
Priem got the lead but the car on the move was Devin Larson of Aitkin. He started 10th but worked into the top three and then took over second from Kleinschmidt.
Priem was looking for his second win of the year— but the lapped car of Skylar Swanson became a factor as Larson was closing in. Priem tried to go on the outside, but Swanson chose that line. They got together and Swanson ended up hitting the wall hard.
Then, the controversy as Larson and Priem got together and Larson was able to take the top spot at the checkered. Larson in his post-race interview with Corey Litton, made reference to the incident — and mentioned he was slid up earlier. I didn’t see it honestly.
Speaking of eventful, the IMCA Sport Mod feature was just that. And then some — with a photo finish and some controversy. The track had some character and was really fast.
A multi-car pileup in turn two saw hard contact as Vince Jegtvig’s #22 car was turned and got hit hard by Mike Johnson of Menahga. Justin Jones of Bemidji was also collected, and there was a brief fire that brought out the red. All three were done for that night.
Chris VanMil of Barnesville jumped out to the lead, but it was the #5 of Scott Jacobson of Fargo moving up. He started fifth, and worked and worked the lower line and finally made the pass for the lead.
As the white flag waved, VanMil’s car was turned in one and two after contact with Rich Pavlicek of Casselton to bring out the caution. Pavlicek was charged with the caution and sent to the rear.
On the restart, it was Jacob Jordan of Brainerd who made a charge at Scott Jacobson for the lead. Jordan ran low and got a good run out of turn two. IN turns three and four he got beside and edged ahead, winning by a few feet. Jacobson settled for second.
VanMil finished a solid third with Kelly Jacobson of Fargo fourth. David Siercks of Princeton was fifth. Kelly Jacobson entered the night with a four-point lead over this father, Scott, but that lead was cut in half after Sunday’s results.
Curtis Huseth’s 13 car has been fast at Buffalo River of late, and he controlled much of the Short Tracker feature after getting to the front. Huseth started fifth on the 16-car field.
David Wahl of Fergus Falls ran solid in second for much of the race after starting seventh. Jeff Hanson of Barrett, who recorded his first career heat win early in the evening, ran in the third spot much of the race. But the car who made up the most ground was the #3E of Devin Goulet of Fargo, who started 13th but worked into the top five.
Huseth crossed the line first — but was disqualified post race according to myracepass. Wahl would get the win with Goulet capping off a great run in second. Hanson was a solid third. Levi Lease of Harwood added to his point lead with a fourth-place finish. Lease entered the night with a five-point lead over Chase Golliet, who finished 10th. . Lease plans to move to the hobby stock class next year. Jake Karch of Fergus Falls was fifth
Ben Wolden of Fergus Falls has thoroughly dominated the Limited Late Model class locally the past four years and showed why with a whipping of the field on Sunday. He was so far ahead that I honestly couldn’t recall who was second.
Wolden has won eight of the nine limited late model features at BRS this summer. Scott Zimmerman of Rothsay claimed the runner-up spot over Larry Samuelson of Erhard, who is the only driver to beat Wolden at Buffalo River this season. Kreig Kasin of West Fargo was fourth and Zack Tysdal of Fergus Falls was fifth.
Eleven cars took the green in the IMCA Modifieds. Jeff Odden of Relies Acres had trouble in his heat — looked to be rear end issues — and had to be loaded on the trailer by the wrecker which is never a good thing.
Allen Kent of West Fargo was the leader with nine to go; Luke Johnson of Moorhead, hoping to break out of some horrible luck this season, was running in second after starting third. On that restart, however, Johnson got into the back of Kent and went off of turn two; he pulled in after the caution. That left Kent to contend with Jesse Skalicky of Fargo and Michael Johnson of Moorhead.
Kent, however, opened up some breathing room and picked up the win after starting in ninth. Skalicky, who started 10th, ended in second with Johnson third. Nick Curtis of Rothsay finished a season-best fourth with Adam Johnson of Hill City rounding out the top five.
Grimes Tops Rodin, Nichols for Big Win at Sheyenne
As mentioned, Jason Grimes of Jamestown picked up the big $5,000 check at Sheyenne Speedway among a stacked field of 45 Wissota Midwest Modifieds. Drivers from four states were on hand.
Seven of the top 20 cars in Wissota Midwest Modified national points were in attendance, including national point leader Mike Nichols of Watertown, S.D., and Lucas Rodin of Marion, who was third in national points. Former national champions Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls and Travis Saurer of Dalton were in the field, and big guns like Nichols, Rodin, Brendan Blascyk of Kensington and Matt Baker of St. Joseph, Minn.,
Grimes stood tall on this night, using a smooth, steady line on the bottom. Rodin was running second, but Nichols, who started way back in 16th, was on the move. He worked into the top three and on the restart, got by Rodin for second. He put some pressure on Grimes for a few laps but Grimes steadily pulled away. Rodin, meanwhile fought back and took over second.
Grimes picked up the win with Rodin taking second. Nichols ran a strong third with Blascyk, the winner Saturday at Madison, taking fourth. Nate Reinke of Lisbon edged Brennan Urbach of Lisbon for fifth. It was another good run for Urbach who has put together strong finishes back to back. Justin Froemming of Elbow Lake was seventh after starting 15th, Reise Stenberg of Argusville was eighth after starting 17th. Brennon Weight of LaMoure was the hard charger, taking ninth after starting 23rd.
It was a brutal start to the Wissota Street Stock feature as a multi-car pileup eliminated several cars in turns one and two. But the top gun once again was Jonny Carter of Lisbon, who is picking up momentum as we approach specials season. Carter started eighth but missed the first lap pileup to pick up the win, his 10th of 2021. Billie Christ of Jamestown, who won the Carpenter Memorial on Saturday at Jamestown was second, Old Man Jerry Lamb of Lisbon was third. Cole Greseth of Harwood ran a solid fourth ahead of Kyle Anderson of Jamestown. Only nine of the 16 starters finished.
A lot of good cars didn’t finish in the INEX Legends — Tye Wilke, Ashton Spieker, Alex Braseth, Joshua Wiest and Zander Bauer being among them. Nine of the 25 cars did not finish.
Ryan Braseth of Ulen padded his point lead in the INEX Legends by holding off AJ Davenport of Bismarck for the win. Australian Glenn Mitchell started 18th but finished third with 13-year-old Collin Compson of Valley City picking up another top five in fourth. Brian Frederick of Gwinner was fifth.
DAlton Aabrekke of Lisbon topped Tempest Trone of Litchville for the Mini Stock feature win. Kelby Anderson of Fort Ransom was third, Cougar Atman of Milnor was fourth and Gavin Walton of Englevale fifth.
Dylan Steele of Jamestown topped point leader Bo Gregor of Lisbon for the Hobby Stock win. It was Steele’s fourth win of 2021. Hayden Aberle of Edgeley, last week’s winner, was third ahead of Nick Nord of Enderlin. Kelby Anderson of Fort Ransom rounded out the top five.
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