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Casino’s Sunday night clashes go to WISSOTA racers Becker, Stearns, Nichols, Bogh and VanDerostyne

By Tony Steuck

WATERTOWN, SD (May 12) - Casino Speedway kicked off its 70th season of racing action on Mother’s Day Sunday, May 12. Jayden Bogh cracked into victory lane for the first time at the oval with the Street Stock win, while Chad Becker, Mike Stearns, Mike Nichols and Adam VanDerostyne cashed in for season opening victories as well at the quarter mile.

Bogh started on the outside of the front row in the 20-lap WISSOTA Street Stock feature, and secured the lead in turns three and four on the opening lap. Cory Giessinger settled into second, but was quickly under pressure from Chris Serr a few laps in. Jason Marko and Maria Broksieck joined to make it a four-car skirmish for second with a handful of laps in the books. The only caution in the race waved with six laps scored.

Bogh moved out to a slim lead after the restart, and Serr continued to battle Giessinger for second. Giessinger gained an advantage over Serr, and Broksieck moved by Serr for third on lap 10. She worked on Giessinger for second, but washed up the track in turns three and four, dropped from the top five, and exited the speedway a few laps later.

Bogh maintained a small lead, while Marko had shed Serr and raced to the inside of Giessinger for position; they fought door to door for most of the final five laps before Marko grabbed the spot under the white flag.

Bogh grabbed the checkered flag for the win ahead of Marko, Giessinger, Serr and Jayden Michaelsohn.

Becker started on the pole of the 25-lap feature, and bolted to a big lead when the green flag dropped. Lee Grosz raced in second early, and Curt Kranz drove under Morgan Ward-Grosz for third on lap three. Kranz grabbed another spot from Grosz on lap seven, and brought Charlie Olsen to third behind him.

Olsen switched to the high line of the speedway, and picked up steam as he moved ahead of Kranz for second on lap 13. Jayson Good grabbed third with just under 10 laps to go, and kept Olsen close, but could not pounce.

Becker had a straightaway lead as he worked through traffic with five laps remaining. He extended that lead to the checkered flag for victory, while Olsen outran Good for second. Kranz and Grosz rounded out the top five.

Cayden Schmeling darted out to a big lead at the drop of the green in the 20-lap WISSOTA Modified feature. Stearns, who started outside the third row, was nearly second to complete lap one before he secured the spot on lap two. Joe Thomas followed Stearns into third, went to the high side of the speedway, and squeezed by Stearns for second down the back chute on lap eight. He chipped away slightly at Schmeling’s comfortable lead before the caution with 12 laps scored.

Stearns and Thomas continued to battle for second when the race resumed. Stearns used the highside and made a run at the leader. They were nearly even to complete lap 15, and Stearns moved ahead to secure the spot and lead lap 16. The caution waved with 16 laps scored.

The lap following the restart was packed with action; Schmeling ran through the middle with Stearns to his outside in the high groove. Thomas took advantage and swept to the lead on the low side of turn four. Schmeling powered into turn one and reclaimed the lead, while Thomas lost the handle on his machine and spun in turn two. He was tagged with the caution and retired from the race.

Stearns manned the point for the restart, turned back a quick challenge from Schmeling on the restart, and raced away to the feature win. Smelling settled for second with Bryce Borgen third, Trevor Anderson fourth and Tim Thomas fifth.

Terry Reilly used the high groove to lead lap one of the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature by a hair over Chad Williamson. Todd Stark challenged his teammate for second before the first caution with two laps recorded.

Williamson was eliminated from competition when he clipped an infield-marker tire on the restart. Reilly continued to set the pace on the high side, but Mike Nichols slipped under Stark for second on lap four, was nearly even with the leader on lap five, and secured the top spot on lap six. Tommy Nichols followed his older brother by Reilly on lap nine, and Derek Rieck was the next driver to accomplish the same task a short time later.

Mike Nichols held a straightaway advantage with five laps to go, and Rieck tested Tommy Nichols before he lost touch in the last couple laps. Mike Nichols cruised to the win ahead of Tommy Nichols, Rieck, Stark and Reilly.

Bradley Rossow and VanDerostyne battled door to door over the first pair of laps in the WISSOTA Hornet main event. After a caution, VanDerostyne maintained the lead, but Rossow was never far back, and challenged to the inside several times. VanDerostyne, however, held steady at the point and earned the win over Rossow, Joshua Gebhart, and Curtis Borstad.

After a few early yellows, Tony Croninger flexed his muscle in a runaway victory in the Gen-X Late Model division. He cruised to the victory ahead of Trevor Walsh, Curt Kranz, Curtis Newberg, and Scott Harrington.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 12-Chad Becker[1]; 2. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[7]; 3. 85-Jayson Good[8]; 4. 87-Curt Kranz[5]; 5. 4J-Lee Grosz[3]; 6. 37-Scott Ward[11]; 7. 20-Trevor Anderson[14]; 8. X-Chuck Swenson[9]; 9. 37JR-Morgan Ward Grosz[4]; 10. 12S-Trajan Schmidt[6]; 11. 14-Nick Schmidt[10]; 12. (DNF) 11-Roger Bitz[12]; 13. (DNF) T3-Rich Thomas[13]; 14. (DNF) 73M-David Carlson[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 85-Jayson Good[1]; 2. 37JR-Morgan Ward Grosz[2]; 3. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[7]; 4. 87-Curt Kranz[6]; 5. X-Chuck Swenson[5]; 6. 37-Scott Ward[3]; 7. T3-Rich Thomas[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4J-Lee Grosz[2]; 2. 12-Chad Becker[1]; 3. 12S-Trajan Schmidt[3]; 4. 73M-David Carlson[5]; 5. 14-Nick Schmidt[4]; 6. 11-Roger Bitz[7]; 7. (DNF) 20-Trevor Anderson[6]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[6]; 2. 13-Cayden Schmeling[1]; 3. 7-Bryce Borgen[8]; 4. 20-Trevor Anderson[5]; 5. 51T-Tim Thomas[3]; 6. 15-Tony Konold[4]; 7. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[9]; 8. 65-Dave Brooker[10]; 9. (DNF) 6ST-Joseph Thomas[7]; 10. (DNF) 57-Duke Erickson[2]; 11. (DNS) 10H-Nate Heinrich

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[1]; 2. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[4]; 3. 15-Tony Konold[3]; 4. 20-Trevor Anderson[5]; 5. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[6]; 6. 65-Dave Brooker[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Cayden Schmeling[1]; 2. 57-Duke Erickson[3]; 3. 7-Bryce Borgen[5]; 4. 51T-Tim Thomas[4]; 5. (DNF) 10H-Nate Heinrich[2]

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 67-Mike Nichols[6]; 2. 28-Tommy Nichols[7]; 3. 34J-Derek Rieck[3]; 4. 54-Todd Stark[4]; 5. 69R-Terry Reilly[2]; 6. 31-Scott Hansen[8]; 7. 3-Luke Johnson[5]; 8. 4-Nick Perry[10]; 9. 12-Logan Redlin[9]; 10. 56D-Doug Neitzel[11]; 11. (DNF) 54H-Chad Williamson[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Mike Nichols[3]; 2. 28-Tommy Nichols[4]; 3. 34J-Derek Rieck[2]; 4. 3-Luke Johnson[5]; 5. 12-Logan Redlin[1]; 6. 56D-Doug Neitzel[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 69R-Terry Reilly[3]; 2. 31-Scott Hansen[2]; 3. 54-Todd Stark[4]; 4. 54H-Chad Williamson[1]; 5. 4-Nick Perry[5]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[2]; 2. 31-Jason Marko[5]; 3. 73-Cory Giessinger[1]; 4. 01-Chris Serr[4]; 5. 95-Jayden Michaelsohn[6]; 6. 58-Wade Tirrel[11]; 7. 12-Al Schmidt[3]; 8. 99-Andy Rossow[7]; 9. 80-Tony Miller[10]; 10. E30-Cooper Butterfield[12]; 11. (DNF) 04-Tommy Pogones[9]; 12. (DNF) 14-Maria Broksieck[8]; 13. (DNF) 0-Wyatt Brooker[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Maria Broksieck[1]; 2. 73-Cory Giessinger[3]; 3. 95-Jayden Michaelsohn[2]; 4. 99-Andy Rossow[4]; 5. 04-Tommy Pogones[7]; 6. 58-Wade Tirrel[6]; 7. E30-Cooper Butterfield[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[2]; 2. 31-Jason Marko[1]; 3. 12-Al Schmidt[3]; 4. 01-Chris Serr[6]; 5. 80-Tony Miller[4]; 6. (DNF) 0-Wyatt Brooker[5]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 5-Adam VanDerostyne[3]; 2. 555-Bradley Rossow[1]; 3. 79-Joshua Gebhart[6]; 4. 10B-Curtis Borstad[7]; 5. (DNF) 25-Brayden Begalka[2]; 6. (DNF) 7-Jerik Stabler[5]; 7. (DNF) 98-Brett Alexander[4]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 25-Brayden Begalka[2]; 2. 7-Jerik Stabler[3]; 3. 5-Adam VanDerostyne[1]; 4. 555-Bradley Rossow[4]; 5. 98-Brett Alexander[6]; 6. 79-Joshua Gebhart[7]; 7. 10B-Curtis Borstad[5]

Gen X Late Models:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 8T-Tony Croninger[1]; 2. 15-Trevor Walsh[2]; 3. 87-Curt Kranz[6]; 4. 22N-Curtis Newberg[3]; 5. 14-Scott Harrington[8]; 6. 20-Doug Walsh[5]; 7. 1-Konner Sperle[7]; 8. (DNF) XJR-Hope Swenson[9]; 9. (DNF) 811-Bodie Croninger[4]; 10. (DNF) 40+-Ryan Shepherd Sr[11]; 11. (DNF) 11X-Brittany Swenson[12]; 12. (DNS) 22-Brady Mellendorf

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Doug Walsh[3]; 2. 22N-Curtis Newberg[6]; 3. 8T-Tony Croninger[5]; 4. 1-Konner Sperle[2]; 5. XJR-Hope Swenson[4]; 6. 40+-Ryan Shepherd Sr[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 811-Bodie Croninger[2]; 2. 87-Curt Kranz[5]; 3. 15-Trevor Walsh[4]; 4. 14-Scott Harrington[3]; 5. 22-Brady Mellendorf[1]; 6. (DNF) 11X-Brittany Swenson[6]