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Searing streaks to second straight Challenge Series win during Saturday stop at Viking Speedway

From Chris Stepan and Track Reports

ALEXANDRIA, MN (May 11) - Viking Speedway welcomed drivers and fans back to the Alexandria, Minnesota speedplant on Saturday, May 11, ushering in its 59th annual season opener. The WISSOTA Challenge Series was part of the program, and Cole Searing began a hot streak with another victory. Other winners in WISSOTA-sanctioned action included Corey Storck in the Midwest Modifieds, Dustin Bitzan in the Modifieds, Ty Agen in the Street Stocks, and Matthew Dittman in the Hornets. The Super Stock feature was postponed due to the track’s curfew.

A stacked field of 39 WISSOTA Late Model competitors were on hand for the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series. Sam Mars and Tyler Peterson earned the front row for the night’s $3,000-to-win, 30-lap feature event, with Mars getting the upper hand on the initial start. The first caution of the night flew on lap three for a Dave Mass mechanical breakdown, which bunched the field back up.

Todd Frank brought out the next yellow a lap later, but on the following restart, Mars took back off out front, while Peterson and Searing battled hard for the runner-up spot. The duo ran side by side for several laps with Mars pacing the field, setting a blistering pace as he ran alone into the night.

Behind the leaders, Nick Panitzke, Ryan Mikkelson, Shane Sabraski and Jeff Massingill were also locked in a great race for fifth as the laps clicked by quickly.

Great battles were ongoing throughout the field until the next caution flew on lap 27 for a Mikkelson flat tire, setting up a three-lap dash to the finish.

Peterson and Searing pulled out all the stops and ganged up on Mars on the restart, with Searing sweeping by into the lead as the field scored lap 28, before another caution slowed the action.

On the green-white-checkered restart, Searing led back to green, but Peterson, Mars, Sabraski and Provinzino were all in a tight pack, with Sabraski ending up off the speedway, bringing out the fifth and final caution of the night.

On the final restart, Searing raced off for his second straight win, while Peterson was able to nip Mars at the line for runner-up honors. Behind Mars, Provinzino and Kollin Hibdon rounded out the top five.

Corey Storck picked his way forward through the pack of Midwest Mods from seventh, taking the lead on lap 14 and hung on for the victory, his first of the season. He was followed across the stripe by Taylor Bitzan, Josh Muzik, David Simpson and Aaron Blacklance in the top five.

Dustin Bitzan topped the Modified feature from his second-row starting spot. Brady Gerdes, Jason Thoennes, Shane Sabraski and Travis Saurer completed the top five.

In the Street Stocks, Ty Agen continued his own hot streak, garnering the victory ahead of a field of heavy-hitters in the class. Kyle Dykhoff, Braden Brauer, Davey Kruchten, and Zachary Flickinger were top-five finishers.

Matthew Dittman made good on his pole starting spot in the Hornets, holding off fellow front-row starter Jeff Rohner for the win. Kole Kampsen, Brandon Fuchs and Bob Casperson completed the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[5]; 2. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[2]; 3. 28S-Sam Mars[1]; 4. 28-Jeff Provinzino[4]; 5. 48K-Kollin Hibdon[13]; 6. 11-Pat Doar[19]; 7. 7-Joel Bennett[17]; 8. 22P-Nick Panitzke[6]; 9. 30-Kevin Burdick[7]; 10. 22E-Kevin Eder[20]; 11. 42S-Don Shaw[18]; 12. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[10]; 13. 4J-Lee Grosz[12]; 14. 7A-Shane Sabraski[9]; 15. 32-Jordan Tollakson[15]; 16. 5-Josh Zimpel[21]; 17. 45-Dustin Bluhm[22]; 18. 16-Thomas Weisgram[23]; 19. 29F-Dave Flynn[25]; 20. (DNF) 63-Patrick Kelley[24]; 21. (DNF) 27-Jake Redetzke[3]; 22. (DNF) 6M-Jeff Massingill[14]; 23. (DNF) 21-Todd Frank[16]; 24. (DNF) 07-Cory Crapser[11]; 25. (DNF) 2M-Dave Mass[8]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 28S-Sam Mars[4]; 2. 30-Kevin Burdick[3]; 3. 6M-Jeff Massingill[1]; 4. 21-Todd Frank[5]; 5. 15X-Blake Boelens[6]; 6. 45-Dustin Bluhm[2]; 7. X-Chuck Swenson[8]; 8. 92-Richard Chasteen[9]; 9. 29-Ty Hample[7]; 10. (DNF) 7L-Scott Lehn[10]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 28-Jeff Provinzino[1]; 2. 22P-Nick Panitzke[3]; 3. 48K-Kollin Hibdon[2]; 4. 32-Jordan Tollakson[5]; 5. 07-Cory Crapser[9]; 6. 22E-Kevin Eder[7]; 7. 66-Sam Zender[6]; 8. 63-Patrick Kelley[10]; 9. (DNS) XXX-Jon Tollakson; 10. (DNS) 23-Matt Gilbertson

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 27-Jake Redetzke[2]; 2. 10-Cole Searing[3]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski[4]; 4. 4J-Lee Grosz[6]; 5. 16-Thomas Weisgram[1]; 6. 5-Josh Zimpel[7]; 7. 29F-Dave Flynn[8]; 8. 21F-Gunner Frank[5]; 9. 3S-Nathan Sletto[9]; 10. 18-Josh Rieck[10]

Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[4]; 2. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[1]; 3. 2M-Dave Mass[6]; 4. 7-Joel Bennett[2]; 5. 42S-Don Shaw[5]; 6. 11-Pat Doar[3]; 7. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[7]; 8. 54-Rick Niemi[9]; 9. 42-Paul Niznik[8]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 7-Joel Bennett[1]; 2. 11-Pat Doar[4]; 3. 5-Josh Zimpel[3]; 4. 29F-Dave Flynn[5]; 5. 16-Thomas Weisgram[2]; 6. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[7]; 7. 42-Paul Niznik[9]; 8. 29-Ty Hample[10]; 9. 63-Patrick Kelley[6]; 10. 92-Richard Chasteen[8]; 11. (DNF) 7L-Scott Lehn[11]; 12. (DNS) XXX-Jon Tollakson

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 42S-Don Shaw[2]; 2. 22E-Kevin Eder[3]; 3. 45-Dustin Bluhm[4]; 4. 54-Rick Niemi[7]; 5. X-Chuck Swenson[5]; 6. 3S-Nathan Sletto[9]; 7. 15X-Blake Boelens[1]; 8. 21F-Gunner Frank[8]; 9. 66-Sam Zender[6]; 10. 18-Josh Rieck[10]; 11. (DNS) 23-Matt Gilbertson

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[3]; 2. 2X-Brady Gerdes[4]; 3. 52-Jason Thoennes[6]; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 5. 21X-Travis Saurer[5]; 6. 51JT-Josh Thoennes[7]; 7. 6X-Zach Johnson[10]; 8. 24S-Mike Stearns[2]; 9. 13X-McKenzie Mikkelson[9]; 10. 04N-Nick Ayotte[11]; 11. 51A-Avery Anderson[8]; 12. 91-Gerald Thorstad[14]; 13. 15-Ryan Flaten[12]; 14. (DNF) 18-Taylor Garberich[15]; 15. (DNF) 11X-Austin Chyba[13]; 16. (DNS) 43-John Oeltjen

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Brady Gerdes[1]; 2. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[5]; 3. 51A-Avery Anderson[3]; 4. 51JT-Josh Thoennes[7]; 5. 13X-McKenzie Mikkelson[2]; 6. 04N-Nick Ayotte[4]; 7. 11X-Austin Chyba[6]; 8. (DNF) 43-John Oeltjen[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[2]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[4]; 3. 21X-Travis Saurer[6]; 4. 52-Jason Thoennes[5]; 5. 6X-Zach Johnson[7]; 6. 15-Ryan Flaten[1]; 7. 91-Gerald Thorstad[3]; 8. 18-Taylor Garberich[8]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

Feature - Postponed due to curfew.

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Ryan Satter[1]; 2. 28*-Bailey Rosch[7]; 3. 13M-Matt Miller[4]; 4. 77-Carson Miller[5]; 5. 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[2]; 6. 2H-Bryan Hellerman[6]; 7. (DNF) 21-Trevor Saurer[3]; 8. (DNF) 29*-Jeff Crouse[8]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 57-Corey Storck[7]; 2. 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[1]; 3. 23-Josh Muzik[2]; 4. 70-David Simpson[3]; 5. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[4]; 6. 42RS-Ron Saurer[11]; 7. 73-Zach Johnson[9]; 8. 092-Nick Bruder[6]; 9. 42TB-Tanner Bitzan[5]; 10. 13-Scott Oeltjen[13]; 11. 52-Maddie Swenson[14]; 12. 21R-Ryan McCleary[12]; 13. 2H-Brooke Hellerman[15]; 14. 10B-Tyler Bitzan[10]; 15. 33-Connor Busse[18]; 16. 13T-Tyson Roush[17]; 17. (DNF) 1X-Travis Engebretson[8]; 18. (DNS) 17V-Colton Vogel

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 42TB-Tanner Bitzan[2]; 2. 23-Josh Muzik[1]; 3. 1X-Travis Engebretson[5]; 4. 70-David Simpson[7]; 5. 73-Zach Johnson[3]; 6. 42RS-Ron Saurer[6]; 7. 13-Scott Oeltjen[4]; 8. 2H-Brooke Hellerman[9]; 9. 33-Connor Busse[8]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 57-Corey Storck[3]; 2. 092-Nick Bruder[1]; 3. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[5]; 4. 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[7]; 5. 10B-Tyler Bitzan[9]; 6. 21R-Ryan McCleary[4]; 7. 52-Maddie Swenson[2]; 8. 13T-Tyson Roush[8]; 9. (DNF) 17V-Colton Vogel[6]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 26-Ty Agen[1]; 2. 11-Kyle Dykhoff[5]; 3. 34JR-Braden Brauer[4]; 4. 11K-Davey Kruchten[2]; 5. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[3]; 6. 22W-Jim Williams[6]; 7. 8X-Craig Gardner[8]; 8. 2-Joe Martin[14]; 9. 85-Jason Thimmesh[9]; 10. 22B-Ethan Beckler[7]; 11. 2U-Kasey Ussatis[16]; 12. 36-Brad Lorentz[10]; 13. 21-Derek Wettstein[18]; 14. 00-Dustin Karl[20]; 15. 28-Roger Berkness[15]; 16. 18J-Justin Peterson[17]; 17. 30B-Wade Bergerud[13]; 18. 14-JJ Nieuwbeerta[21]; 19. 31X-Anthony Blom[19]; 20. 47-Russell Carlson[11]; 21. (DNF) 2*-Dustin Schultz[22]; 22. (DNF) 4X-Scott Horn[12]; 23. (DNF) 81X-Brock Volker[23]; 24. (DNS) 59-Kyle Anderson

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[8]; 2. 22B-Ethan Beckler[1]; 3. 11K-Davey Kruchten[6]; 4. 36-Brad Lorentz[4]; 5. 30B-Wade Bergerud[3]; 6. 2U-Kasey Ussatis[5]; 7. 31X-Anthony Blom[7]; 8. 14-JJ Nieuwbeerta[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 26-Ty Agen[3]; 2. 11-Kyle Dykhoff[8]; 3. 8X-Craig Gardner[2]; 4. 47-Russell Carlson[1]; 5. 2-Joe Martin[7]; 6. 18J-Justin Peterson[6]; 7. (DNF) 2*-Dustin Schultz[4]; 8. (DNF) 81X-Brock Volker[5]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 34JR-Braden Brauer[3]; 2. 22W-Jim Williams[1]; 3. 85-Jason Thimmesh[5]; 4. 4X-Scott Horn[4]; 5. 28-Roger Berkness[7]; 6. 21-Derek Wettstein[6]; 7. 00-Dustin Karl[8]; 8. (DNF) 59-Kyle Anderson[2]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 22-Matthew Dittman[1]; 2. 08-Jeff Rohner[2]; 3. 2-Kole Kampsen[7]; 4. 14B-Brandon Fuchs[4]; 5. 28X-Bob Casperson[8]; 6. 20-Christopher Winter Jr[5]; 7. 22A-Austin Raths[3]; 8. 7-Ethan Brasel[12]; 9. (DNF) 90-Kreg Anderson[9]; 10. (DNF) 84X-Adam Berry[6]; 11. (DNF) Y4-Christopher Blume[11]; 12. (DNF) H20-Nic Hiles[10]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 22-Matthew Dittman[3]; 2. 20-Christopher Winter Jr[1]; 3. 14B-Brandon Fuchs[4]; 4. 22A-Austin Raths[5]; 5. Y4-Christopher Blume[6]; 6. (DNF) H20-Nic Hiles[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 08-Jeff Rohner[3]; 2. 2-Kole Kampsen[1]; 3. 28X-Bob Casperson[4]; 4. 84X-Adam Berry[2]; 5. 90-Kreg Anderson[5]; 6. 7-Ethan Brasel[6]