Wilke grabs 2 wins, VanMil, Randall, Carter and Shipley reach victory lane

The last time I was at Fix It Forward Speedway, it was cloudy with sprinkles and a hammer-down racetrack. This time, it was the opposite on a very windy, sunny Friday evening.

There were 88 cars on hand, led by 24 INEX Legends and 21 IMCA Sport Mods. There was only one caution in the heat races, which were completed in less than an hour. Both the track and drivers deserve credit for keeping the show moving.

Some of the features didn’t go quite as smooth, though.

The IMCA Sport Mod feature led off the main events and unfortunately had several cautions.  Two young talents, Jayden Pavlicek of Casselton and Kyle VanMil of Barnesville, were on the front row for the IMCA Sport Mods. However, there was contact between the two in turn one and both spun, and that led to a mess. VanMil took a pretty hard hit and was done for the night but was OK. Pavlicek was tagged with the caution, but he was not done in the race by any means.

Chris VanMil of Barnesville would move to the outside of the front row and take the lead over Kody Machart of Moorhead. The caution flew for a spin in turn two.

Ryan Restad of West Fargo moved into second and looked to close on Chris VanMil. Landon Maatz of Walcott was alone in third while Rich Pavlicek of Casselton was in fourth ahead of season point leader Scott Jacobson of Fargo.

Restad was working a lower lane and looking under the 40 but VanMil had the momentum.

The caution flew for a third time when young rookie Nicholas Jacobson spun in turn two.

Restad got a great restart and tried to make a run out of turn two but VanMil would extend the lead to a half-second. Jacobson moved into fourth. Kelly Jacobson of Fargo was lurking outside the top five.

A multi-car wreck on the frontstretch brought out the fourth caution. That included Charlie Jensen of Glyndon, Zane Johnson and Bailey Rasmussen. Jensen had significant damage on his 77 machine, ending his night.

VanMil opened a nice lead on the restart as Jacobson charged into second. Maatz was fourth and Jayden Pavlicek, who had gone to the back early in the race, had climbed back to fifth.

VanMil opened a 1.1 second lead on Jacobson, who had Restad some pressure. Maatz was alone in fourth as Kelly Jacobson regained fifth. With six to go Scott Jacobson had cut the lead to a half-second and was closing. Maatz had almost three seconds on fifth-place Kelly Jacobson.

As the white flag waved the top three were close, but VanMil drove a flawless race to prevail for his second victory of 2026. Scott Jacobson held off Restad for second with Maatz continuing his good string of runs in fourth. Kelly Jacobson of Fargo was fifth. Brennan Urbach of Lisbon, who started 15^th, climbed up to sixth to cap off a nice night.

Brandon Bunnis of Detroit Lakes, looking for his first carer win, had the early over Regan Reinke of Lisbon in the INEX Legend feature with a host of cars, including Joshua Wiest of Fargo, Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes and Ryan Braseth of Ulen, applying pressure.  Reinke was running well but would slow to bring out a caution.

Wilke got a great restart and surged into the lead as Bunnis had Wiest, Alexander Clark and Braseth in tow. Sean Johnson of Kindred was looking to work into the top five. The caution wave ford with 13 to go for Noah Lewis who slid off of turn one. Wilke had already built a 1.5 second lead by that point.

On the restart Wilke pulled away as Bunnis looked to fend off Wiest and Clark for second. Another car making headway through the field was Owen Broden of Fertile, who had moved to sixth.

Wiest was all over Bunnis while Braseth pressured Clark for fourth.  Wilke, meanwhile had pushed the lead up to 2.4 seconds in what turned into a rout.

The best battle was for second as Braseth had worked into third and was on the outside of Bunnis. Braseth took second and Wiest was third. Bunnis, meanwhile had a fender flapping as he tried to hold on for fourth.

Wilke had a straightaway lead as the white flag was in hand, but a caution flew as Shaun Erickson’s bumper finally came off; he had been black flagged for several laps because the bumper was loose (INEX rules say bumpers must be attached).

If you are listing two of the top five INEX Legends cars over the past 5-6 years locally, Wilke and Braseth would be it. And the late caution gave Braseth one last shot. Wilke however was untouchable, as he has been many times, to record a 1.4 second victory over Wiest. Braseth would spin on the backstretch on the final lap, ending a potential top two finish.

Bunnis ran an excellent race to take third. Clark was in the top five all night and finished fourth with Bolden, who started back in 18^th, capping off a great run in the top five. The always-steady Scott Richardson of Pelican Rapids went from 14^th to sixth.

Andrea Jacobson of Fargo led the opening lap of the IMCA Hobby Stock feature over Reid Randall of Park Rapids, but Randall took the lead going into turn one. Hunter Goulet of Fargo was running third with last week’s winner Brad Orvedal of Fargo in fourth and Caleb Gardner of Glyndon, who won Sunday at Sheyenne Speedway, in fifth.

The top three stayed pretty close as Jacobson took a look under Randall for the lead before Randall pulled away. Goulet was racing side-by-side with Jacobson for second before taking over the spot.  Randall’s lead grew to 1.6 seconds by the halfway point. Orvedal was creeping up on Jacobson for third.

Randall cruised to the victory with Goulet recording his best finish in a hobby stock in second.  Orvedal nipped Jacobson by a narrow margin for third with Gardner rounding out the top five in a caution-free main event.

Wilke was looking for his second win of the night and left zero doubt in the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint main event by crushing the field.  He had the inside pole and led early over Brandon Rekow of Ellendale, and never was touched the rest of the race.

Lasta week’s winner Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton was third, Marcus Rothenbacher of Ulen fourth and Ty Hanten of West Fargo in fifth.

Wilke’s lead stood at 2.8 seconds by the halfway point as Rekow had almost three seconds on Hendrickson for second. Rothenbacher had some heat from Hanten for fourth. Back in the field, Jerzee Rosinski of Grand Forks had moved into sixth.

The race turned into a runaway as Wilke had a five second advantage with four laps left. The top three were very spread out and the only real battle was for fourth between Rothenbacher and Hanten who put on a good show racing for that spot.

Wilke won by a whopping 7.5 seconds over Rekow, who ran well all night. Hendrickson was a solid third with Rothenbacher and Hanten capping off the top five.

Rick Schulz of Horace led early in the IMCA Stock  Car feature over Daniel Aberle of Finley. Emmitt Curtis of Rothsay had a ton of heat on him for third, which included Jonny Carter of Lisbon and Kelly Jacobson of Fargo.

Aberle stayed close to Schulz while  Carter closed on both. The caution waved when Kesselberg got turned around in turn four. Rob VanMil of Barnesville, who started dead last in the 10-car field, had climbed up to fourth when that caution waved. Kesselberg would require a push to the infield and be done for the night.

On the restart with 14 to go Schulz had both Carter and Aberle on his heels with Rob VanMil in the hunt. Todd Heinrich of Fargo was in a tight fight with Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead and Curtis.

It was a great fight for second between Aberle, Carter and VanMil as Schulz had about a half-second lead at the halfway point. Heinrich would pull off at this point, moving Carlsrud to fifth.

VanMil was all over Aberle for second as Carlsrud was closing on t hat three-car pack. The caution would fly for Curtis who smacked the backstretch wall very hard to bring out the red flag. Curtis, who had run in the top five earlier, was OK but his car had plenty of damage.

The restart benefitted VanMil who had made a big run for the lead and grabbed the top spot out of turn two. The caution flew moments later as Aberle spun in turns three and four; and that nullified VanMil’s pass.  On the next restart Carter grabbed second and went after Schulz as Brennan Borg of Harwood wa fighting Aberle and Carlsrud for fourth. Carter was working a lower line and digging hard and and with one to go Carter edged ahead. Aberle meanwhile had caught VanMil for second.

Carter won by .501 seconds over Schulz. VanMil held off Aberle for third and Borg edged Carlsrud for fifth.

One observation on the IMCA Stock Cars – it wasn’t long ago when that class was approaching 20 cars at night at Fix It Forward. The first three nights have had 12, 12 and 10 cars; and I honestly thought the class would be a big weekly draw in terms of car counts but has actually decreased some over the past two years.

Tom Andring of Detroit Lakes, a rookie in the IMCA Modifieds, led the opening of the 13-car feature with last weeki’s winner Jesse Skalicky of Fargo runngin second. Rookie Clay Smith of Wahpeton was trying to fend off Dave Shipley of Argusville with John Miller running fifth.

Andring built a 1.2 second advanrage on Skalicky when the caution came out for one of the cones came on to the track, erasing Andring’s lead.

That brought both Skalicky and Shipley to Andring’s bumper on the restart with 16 to go. Andring resumed the lead over Skalicky and Shipley with Miller moving to fourth and John Nord of Enderlin. Andring built a 1.6 second lead over Skalicky who was fighting Shipley for second.  By the halfway point the lead stood at 1.9 seconds as Shipley snuck into second and Nord had claimed fourth.

Shipley, meanwhile was starting to erase Andring’s lead, cutting it down to .9 seconds with eight laps to go. The lead wa down to .250 seconds left with six to go. Shipley, always methodical, had moved in front, but a caution erased that pass. On the restart Shipley surged in front as Nord passed Skalicky for third. Miller was running a good, steady race in fifth.

Once Shipley got the lead, it was pretty much over. The lead grew to 2.1 seconds by the checkered as Shipley picked up his first win of the year.  But what a run by Andring, only in his third night in an IMCA Modified. He had not raced since 2016, led more than half of the race had took second going away. Nord was third, Skalicky fourth and Miller fifth.

Fix It Forward Notes

--Jordan Sours of Lisbon made his season debut in the IMCA Modifieds on Friday. He is driving a Harris Chassis formerly owned by Chaz Baca. He was pretty solid in the feature, taking sixth.

--Austin Veralrud of Audubon is a partner on the No. 6 IMCA Sport Mod with his dad, Kevin. Kevin will hop behind the wheel of that car when Austin has the night off, and Friday was one of those nights.

--Jason Berg of West Fargo was out for his second night in his IMCA RaceSaver Sprint. That team has been battling engine woes to start the year, and that happened again late in the heat race, and he was done for the night.

TPO wins 2 at River Cities, Schow, Dobmeier and Jose add victories

Tyler Peterson of Hickson picked up a pair of feature wins Friday night at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks.  He won the Wissota Late Model feature over Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks, with last week’s winner Shane Edginton of East St. Paul, Man., taking third. Brad Seng of Grand Forks was fourth and Dylan Langevin of Thief River Falls, a late model rookie, was fifth ahead of veteran Tom Corcoran.

Peterson topped Ward Imrie of Headingley Man., for the Wissota Modified feature win. Dustin Wahl of Greenbush was third, Bryce Borgen of Perley fourth and Jordan Duray of Halma fifth.

Matt Schow of McIntosh beat his brother Ryan for the Wissota Midwest Modified victory. Memphis Klassen of Winkler was third, Austin Hunter of Winnipeg fourth and Dylan McCaughan of St. Francois Xavier, Man., was fifth.

Mark Dobmeier of Grand Forks topped Andy Pake of Felton for the NOSA 410 Sprint feature win. Nick Omdahl of East Grand Forks was third, Amelia Eisenschenk of Fargo fourth and Colton Young of Devils Lake was fifth.

Greg Jose of Grand Forks ended Cole Greseth’s RCS winning streak at three in the Wissota Street Stocks. John Halvorson of Warren was third, Tate Bullis of Lakota fourth and Stoney Kruk of Langdon fifth.

Friday notes

--I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls was off this week while Fiesta City Speedway in Montevideo was canceled because of rain.

--Onyx Johnson of Lowry, a late model rookie, rolled his car hard in hot laps at Cedar Lake Speedway during the Masters on Friday.  According to the Johnson Racing Between the Rows Facebook page, Johnson was taken to the hospital to get checked over as a precaution.