I made it back to Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon for Sunday’s show. Because of the all of the weather postponements earlier this year, it was just the third night of racing at the 1/4-mile.
Sheyenne takes the month of July off so the last show was in June. A field of 79 cars showed up for Sunday’s show. I was hoping for 12 Wissota Late Models; 14 were on hand, so not a bad night. I think a lot of locals were happy just to have a show at Sheyenne.
The 17-car INEX Legend feature saw the Australian Glenn Mitchell jumped out to the early lead from the outside pole over teenager Zander Compson of Valley City.
There were several cautions but there also were several good battles when the racing action was happening. That included a battle between the Compson brothers, Zander and Collin for third; Taylor Sargent of Gwinner, Bo Gregor of Lisbon and Zander Bauer of Gwinner was were also battling in the top five.
Dusty Mund of Lisbon was quick in the #28M and worked his way into second as he pursued Mitchell for the top spot. Collin Compson worked into third with Sargent taking the fourth spot.
Mitchell survived the cautions with a steady performance to pick up his second win of 2022. And I’d like to see the guy win more often, if only because of his Australian cheer he led during his victory lane interview!
Mund finished second to wrap up a nice run with Collin Compson, who picked up his first career win at Sheyenne earlier this season, taking third. Taylor Sargent was fourth and Zander Compson fifth.
I don’t know how many features Todd Carter of Lisbon has won at Sheyenne Speedway over the years — a lot — and when he starts up front he’s usually the guy to beat.
On Sunday he took the lead from the green over Tyler Klugman of Wheaton, Minn.. Kyle Anderson of Jamestown, who won at Jamestown on Saturday, moved into third.
Jonny Carter of Fairmount, N.D. — a multi-time Sheyenne champion — was trying to make the high side work, but slid off of turn four and bringing out the caution. It’s not often Jonny Carter brings out the caution.
On the restart Anderson moved past Klugman for second. Kasey Ussatis of Nome, the point leader at Sheyenne, had moved into the top five after starting seventh. Cole Greseth of Harwood was also in a good battle in the top five.
Jodie Michaelsohn of Aberdeen had also worked into the top five and was contending for a top three spot. Greseth and Klugman seemed to battle all race long for position.
Kyle Anderson was all over Todd Carter for a few laps but Todd Carter didn’t flinch, picking up his first win of 2022 by .485 seconds. Anderson ran second to cap off a good weekend with Michaelsohn third, Ussatis fourth and Klugman, who ran well all night, in fifth.
Jonny Carter finally made some traction on the high side and got back to sixth but ran out of laps. If anything he helped clean off the line a little bit for the Wissota Midwest Modifieds. Unlike the street stock feature, where almost every car was on the bottom, the Wissota Midwest Modifieds almost immediately went to the top and that led to good racing.
One big thing happened before the race even started: defending national champion Lucas Rodin of Marion had the outside pole for the feature, but did not start; a bracket on the rear end of the 19R was broke. Rodin has had a roller coaster of a season — some big success ($5,000 win at Cedar Lake, winning Rebel Midwest Mod Tour title) but also has eight DNFs and two DNS this season.
Jaren Wibstad of Jamestown shot out to the early lead of the 19-car feature using the high lane, with Nate Reinke of Lisbon moving into second. Alex Langland of Enderlin looked fast in his #6 Ford and moved into the top three. Brennon Weight of LaMoure, coming off a win at Jamestown on Saturday, was also quick and moved into the top four. Kyle Langland of Enderlin also was having a solid run in the top five.
Weight and Alex Langland were racing hard for second when Weight’s #28 spun in turn two. Because the yellow/black had waved thanks to several earlier cautions. Weight’s night was over.
Alex Langland and Zach Reinke of Lisbon were running well on the lower line, and it was clear Alex Langland was going to make a serious run at Wibstad up front. Alex Langland was having a great run but slowed suddenly with nine to go with an engine issue and pulled into the infield. It was a tough break as the #6 was very capable of winning.
With nine to go Zach Reinke became Wibstad’s biggest challenger. As things were heating up another caution waved with seven to go.
One of the most improved drivers in the Wissota Midwest Modifieds is Jarod Klein of Jamestown, who ran several Rebel Midwest Mod Tour events this summer. He had worked his way into the third spot past Nate Reinke after starting back in 10th.
On the final restart, however, Wibstad took control. He opened up a nearly three-second lead on Zach Reinke by the checkered. It was Wibstad’s second win of 2022, and second win in his last three starts.
Zach Reinke ended up with a good second-place run with Klein taking home a solid third. Kyle Langland also ran capped off a good night in fourth with Nate Reinke rounding out the top five.
Three of the top six drivers in the Wissota Late Model national points were on hand as 14 cars signed in. Thirteen cars took the green — Denver Nickeson of Veblen, S.D., had trouble in his heat.
Former Wissota Late Model national champion Chad Becker of Aberdeen had the inside pole for the Wissota Late Model feature, and that spelled trouble for the rest of the field. Becker would jump out to the early lead.
Greg Friestad of Valley City looked strong early and moved into second briefly before Ben Mikkelson of Jamestown regained the spot.
If anybody needed a good run, it was Cole Schill of Hawley. He’s been plagued with motor issues over the last few weeks. On Sunday he move into third using the lower line after starting seventh.
After a restart Schill moved into second and was chasing Becker. Friestad moved into third. Aberdeen driver Josh Skorczewski was also making his presence known as he moved into the top five.
With 11 to go Paul Mueller, Kevin Robertson of Enderlin and Cole Babcock of Rothsay were involved int The veteran Mitch Johnson of Hickson was also lurking outside the top five.
Becker pulled away from Schill to over a second lead. The caution came out when Robertson’s 10R was off of turn two. The veteran left on the hook, and I’m wondering if there was some damage from the earlier incident.
Becker re-established control on the final restart, opening up a 1.2 second lead on Schill. Skorczewski settled into third while Johnson was fourth.
Troftgruben and Friestad raced each other very hard for the fourth and fifth spots and there was contact — I’ll leave it at that. We are getting to the time of year where patience wears thin.
Becker, who is third in national points as of Aug. 4, picked up the win by 1.251 seconds for his seventh win of 2022.
Second was Schill, who had to be happy with a top two finish after the struggles of the last few weeks. Skorczewski was third, Johnson fourth and Troftgruben, who is in a dogfight with Mike Greseth of Harwood for the NLRA points title, was fifth.
The Hobby Stocks didn’t make it a lap before the caution waved for some cars turned in turns three and four.
A bizarre crash took place with one lap completed as Tory Leier of Jamestown — who had lost a fender in an earlier incident — ended up in the fencing/guard rail off of turn four. He was Ok, but the 82 car was pretty beat up and left on the hook.
Anthony Wendel of Enderlin was the early leader as Dalton Aabrekke and Jayden Michaelsohn locked horns for second. Kelby Anderson of Fort Ransom settled into third.
Wendel’s hopes for a win ended with a spin in turns one and two. Michaelsohn took the lead with nine to go with Aalbrekke moving into second.
Hayden Aberle of Edgeley had went to the rear for the first-lap caution but had fought back to the top four. Michaelsohn clearly was the class of the field and went on to a 3.45 second win over Aabrekke, who had a good run in second. Aberle made a nice recovery to get to third with Anderson and Ryan Mind of Milnor rounding out the top five.
The Mini Stock feature turned into a duel between John Heacox and Tempest Trone. Heacox worked the lower line with Trone on a higher lane. Layton Thompson of Lisbon, who started sixth, was locked in a good race with Mason Bogart of Milnor for third.
Trone made one last drive at Heacox and got into the 87, but Heacox held tough to pick up the win, his second of 2022. Trone settled for second, with Thompson, Bogart and veteran Pokey Lukes of Lisbon rounding out the top five.
Sheyenne Notes
--Tim Compson of Valley City, the father of INEX Legend drivers Collin and Zander, was on hand with this #49 Mopar-powered late model. Tim has a super stock and an IMCA Stock Car; the Compson race shop is full.
--Ussatis, the point leader at Sheyenne, is ninth in the Wissota Street Stock national points.
--Aabrekke leads Jayden Michaelsohn by only three points in the Hobby Stock points after Sunday. Bo Gregor leads Collin Compson by one point in the INEX Legends. Zach Reinke leads Wibstad in the Wissota Midwest Midwest Modified standings.
Dobmeier Wins NOSA Show at Buffalo River
Mark Dobmeier of Grand Forks picked up the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint feature Sunday night at Buffalo River Speedway.
Andy Pake of Felton led the first eight laps but Dobmeier, who started eighth, stormed to the front. He would post the feature win by 2.767 seconds.
Jordan Adams of Reynolds had a good run in second with Jack Croaker of East Grand Forks third. Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes — running an IMCA RaceSaver sprint against the 410s — had an excellent finish in fourth. Wade Nygaard of Grand Forks was fifth.
Alex Truscinski of Greenbush is on some kind of roll in the POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprints at Buffalo River, capturing another win over Dexter Dvergsten of Greenbush. Kelsi Pederson of East Grand Forks was third, Kate Taves of Detroit Lakes fourth and Matthew Taves of Detroit Lakes fifth.
Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes topped Ryan Braseth of Ulen for the INEX Legends feature. Alex Braseth of Ulen was third, Dylan Johnson of Durbin, N.D., fourth and Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton fifth.
Tim Church of Moorhead topped Brad Orvedal of Fargo for the IMCA Hobby Stock win. Scott Herron of Brainerd was third, Randy Randall of Park Rapids fourth and Jeff Busby of Hitterdal fifth.
Dave Siercks of Princeton topped Rich Pavlicek of Casselton for the IMCA Sport Mod win. Scott Jacobson of Fargo was third, Kelly Jacobson of Fargo fourth and Torey Fischer of West Fargo fifth.
Hunter Goulet of Fargo topped Adrian Kubitz of Dilworth for the Short Tracker win. Kody Crabtree of Fargo was third.