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Brown County throws open the gates for 2024: Becker, Stearns, Nelson, Nichols and Anderson are first winners of the year

By Spencer Heupel

ABERDEEN, SD (May 17) - The 2024 racing season got underway at Brown County Speedway Friday, May 17 with 94 cars checked in to do battle on what started as a hot night and turned into a cool, breezy evening.

Kyle Anderson, Mike Nichols, Mike Stearns, Trevor Nelson and Chad Becker found their way to victory lane in their respective WISSOTA Dirt Track Series classes.

The first feature to roll out was the WISSOTA Street Stocks, with 17 cars on hand. Jayden Michaelsohn and Chris Serr shared the front row of the field, and Michaelsohn was the early leader. Meanwhile his dad, Jodie Michaelsohn, moved into second and the pair began to pull away using the bottom of the speedway. Their nice lead vanished when the first caution struck on lap six for an Ava Gonska spin.

Following the restart, Kyle Anderson found his way to the high side and began catching the leaders. Anderson rolled the top all the way to the lead with seven laps to go. He pulled away and grabbed the win, picking up right where he left off last year when he won the final three out of four features. Jayden and Jodie Michaelsohn completed the podium, while Matt Goth was fourth. Ashley Wampler and Andy Rossow both moved forward eight spots to finish fifth and ninth respectively.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modified class had the highest count in the pits Friday, with 25 on hand. Britt Williams and Terry Reilly brought the field to green, but Ryan Ost blasted from third to the top spot on the opening lap. The first few laps were a stop-and-go pace, including a pileup of four to five cars on the backstretch on lap two.

Following the restart Mike Nichols began to battle with Ost for the lead. The top two broke away while battling side by side, with Ost on the top and Nichols on the bottom. As the leaders caught lapped traffic, Tommy Nichols spun in turn four with 11 to go to bring out the caution.

With the field back under green, Scott Hansen began to mix it up with the lead duo, but a Reilly spin brought out another yellow.

Nichols made a move for the lead on the ensuing restart, and took the top spot from Ost, bringing Dawson Zabel to second with him. Ost pushed and his car went off the top of turn two, ending his race. The race continued as Nichols pulled away, and Lucas Rodin battled with Zabel for second.

Nichols caught lapped traffic with only three to go, but it was nothing the No. 67 machine could not handle. Nichols grabbed his second win of the season and first at BCS. Rodin and Zabel completed the podium, and Rodin was the hard charger, advancing eight spots.

Randy Klein and Kent Arment led the 16-car field of WISSOTA Modifieds to the green flag, with Arment taking the early lead before he went off the top of turn two. Mike Stearns inherited the lead before the caution fell for a Brady Lacher spin.

Stearns rocketed out to a big lead on the restart, while Klein tried to fend off Lucas Rodin for second; Rodin prevailed for the spot. Stearns had more than a straightaway lead through lapped traffic with seven to go.

With Stearns in another ZIP code, Tony Konold and Cayden Schmeling made it a three-car race for second. The battle was getting interesting, but the caution fell once again for another Lacher spin with only five to go.

Following the restart, Stearns pulled away once again, while Konold and Rodin battled for second. Stearns ran away with the victory, his second win of his season. Rodin finished second with Konold rounding out the top three. The hard charger was Jesse Young, who advanced seven spots for a sixth place finish.

The WISSOTA Super Stocks hit the racing surface for the second to last feature of the program. The class had 14 cars on track, and when the green flag flew Luis Chavez and Mark Abeln led the field to green. Third place starter Jeremy North found his way past them both and into the top spot early on.

He did not lead for long, however, as Trevor Nelson drove into turn three a bit too deep and got into Abeln, which caused him to launch off turn four and ended his night on his lid. Abeln was okay and walked away from the wreck without any harm.

After the red flag was cleared, the wind began to pick up and so did the racing action. North brought the field back to green with Nathan Grehl second and in a fight with North for the lead. There were also strong battles for third to fifth among Matt Johnson, Stewart Schipke and Nelson, who had worked his way back through the field quickly.

Nelson moved to third with nine to go using the top side, and drove into the lead with only six to go. Nelson ran away to the eventual victory, his second of the season. Meanwhile North and Grehl rounded out the top three. Johnson and Schipke were hard chargers, as they advanced six spots each for top-five finishes.

The final feature of the night was for the WISSOTA Late Models with a really strong count of 22 cars on hand. A pair of Huron, SD drivers, Cole Searing and David Carlson, started on the front row and Searing blasted out to a big lead.

With Searing’s quick pace, he was in lapped traffic in only five laps. Trevor Anderson moved up to second while multiple drivers battled for third, including Jayson Good and Chad Becker swapping the spot. Caution struck with only seven to go, eliminating Searing’s half track lead he had built.

Following the restart, Becker moved to second and tried to stay with Searing. The battle became heavy, but it looked like Searing was beginning to open up a gap. Searing caught lapped traffic once again as they took the white flag, and the slower machines were not friendly to the leader. This opened the door for Becker, who took complete advantage; he passed Searing going into turn three and stole the win. The win was Becker’s second of the season. The hard charger was Chase Gelling, who improved 10 spots for a ninth-place finish.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 12-Chad Becker[7]; 2. 10-Cole Searing[1]; 3. 85-Jayson Good[5]; 4. 4J-Lee Grosz[11]; 5. 20-Trevor Anderson[6]; 6. 2S-Josh Skorczewski[9]; 7. 87-Curt Kranz[10]; 8. 21X-Dustin Arthur[17]; 9. 18G-Chase Gelling[19]; 10. 73M-David Carlson[2]; 11. 11B-Ben Mickelson[18]; 12. 32-Pat Weisgram[16]; 13. 2RK-Rusty Kollman[14]; 14. 12S-Trajan Schmidt[3]; 15. 1-Konner Sperle[13]; 16. 11M-Paul Mueller[12]; 17. T3-Rich Thomas[22]; 18. 64-Russell Beadle[15]; 19. 11-Roger Bitz[21]; 20. (DNF) 9-Kent Arment[8]; 21. (DNF) 2T-Todd Thomas[20]; 22. (DNF) 14-Nick Schmidt[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Kent Arment[3]; 2. 14-Nick Schmidt[4]; 3. 12S-Trajan Schmidt[5]; 4. 87-Curt Kranz[7]; 5. 1-Konner Sperle[8]; 6. 64-Russell Beadle[6]; 7. (DNF) 18G-Chase Gelling[1]; 8. (DNF) T3-Rich Thomas[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[2]; 2. 2S-Josh Skorczewski[6]; 3. 85-Jayson Good[4]; 4. 4J-Lee Grosz[3]; 5. 2RK-Rusty Kollman[5]; 6. 32-Pat Weisgram[7]; 7. (DNF) 2T-Todd Thomas[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Chad Becker[5]; 2. 73M-David Carlson[1]; 3. 20-Trevor Anderson[7]; 4. 11M-Paul Mueller[2]; 5. (DNF) 21X-Dustin Arthur[4]; 6. (DNF) 11B-Ben Mickelson[6]; 7. (DNF) 11-Roger Bitz[3]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[4]; 2. 19-Lucas Rodin[5]; 3. 15-Tony Konold[8]; 4. 88-Randy Klein[1]; 5. 36G'S-Garrett Gross[7]; 6. 32-Jesse Young[13]; 7. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[6]; 8. 36-Tyler Anglin[12]; 9. 57-Patrick Adler[14]; 10. 9-Kent Arment[2]; 11. 13-Cayden Schmeling[10]; 12. 42-Chaun Peterson[11]; 13. 9J-Zach Jung[9]; 14. 8-Andy Brooker[16]; 15. 6-Dale Ames[3]; 16. 28-Brady Lacher[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Tony Konold[1]; 2. 6-Dale Ames[3]; 3. 88-Randy Klein[5]; 4. 36G'S-Garrett Gross[7]; 5. 9J-Zach Jung[2]; 6. 42-Chaun Peterson[6]; 7. 32-Jesse Young[4]; 8. (DNF) 28-Brady Lacher[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Kent Arment[1]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[4]; 3. 19-Lucas Rodin[6]; 4. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[3]; 5. 13-Cayden Schmeling[7]; 6. 36-Tyler Anglin[5]; 7. 57-Patrick Adler[2]; 8. (DNF) 8-Andy Brooker[8]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 71-Trevor Nelson[4]; 2. 20-Jeremy North[3]; 3. 2-Nathan Grehl[5]; 4. 33-Stewart Schipke[10]; 5. 17J-Matt Johnson[11]; 6. 19-Kyle Elsen[7]; 7. 7K-Kody Lehr[9]; 8. 22-Bryson North[6]; 9. 65-Luis Chavez[1]; 10. 23JR-Kaden Kampa[12]; 11. 7-Derek Zastrow[8]; 12. 13-Josh Fischer[13]; 13. 23-Mark Abeln[2]; 14. 32-Dominique Menzia[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Trevor Nelson[3]; 2. 23-Mark Abeln[7]; 3. 65-Luis Chavez[1]; 4. 7-Derek Zastrow[4]; 5. 7K-Kody Lehr[6]; 6. (DNF) 13-Josh Fischer[5]; 7. (DNF) 32-Dominique Menzia[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Nathan Grehl[1]; 2. 20-Jeremy North[2]; 3. 19-Kyle Elsen[3]; 4. 22-Bryson North[5]; 5. 33-Stewart Schipke[6]; 6. 17J-Matt Johnson[7]; 7. 23JR-Kaden Kampa[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 67-Mike Nichols[5]; 2. 19-Lucas Rodin[10]; 3. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[9]; 4. 31-Scott Hansen[7]; 5. 1S-Scott Bintz[8]; 6. 82-Connor Blumhardt[13]; 7. 54-Todd Stark[6]; 8. 3-Luke Johnson[11]; 9. 11-Kyle Schell[12]; 10. 55-Jordan Kienow[17]; 11. 3JR-Lane Johnson[15]; 12. 4-Nick Perry[14]; 13. 12-Eric Cease[20]; 14. 77J-Nathan Jager[18]; 15. 12R-Logan Redlin[23]; 16. 69-Britt Williams[1]; 17. 73-Trevor Ryan[24]; 18. X-Timothy Skeide[22]; 19. 99X-Jerad Summers[25]; 20. (DNF) 24X-Ryan Ost[3]; 21. (DNF) 69R-Terry Reilly[2]; 22. (DNF) 15-Taylor Schmidt[4]; 23. (DNF) 28-Tommy Nichols[16]; 24. (DNF) 99MC-James Irwin[19]; 25. (DNF) 48-Camden Rassel[21]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 54-Todd Stark[1]; 2. 15-Taylor Schmidt[2]; 3. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[6]; 4. 19-Lucas Rodin[5]; 5. 82-Connor Blumhardt[4]; 6. 28-Tommy Nichols[7]; 7. 99MC-James Irwin[8]; 8. X-Timothy Skeide[3]; 9. 99X-Jerad Summers[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Mike Nichols[5]; 2. 1S-Scott Bintz[4]; 3. 24X-Ryan Ost[2]; 4. 3-Luke Johnson[8]; 5. 4-Nick Perry[3]; 6. 55-Jordan Kienow[7]; 7. 12-Eric Cease[6]; 8. 12R-Logan Redlin[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 69R-Terry Reilly[1]; 2. 31-Scott Hansen[5]; 3. 69-Britt Williams[3]; 4. 11-Kyle Schell[6]; 5. 3JR-Lane Johnson[4]; 6. 77J-Nathan Jager[7]; 7. 48-Camden Rassel[2]; 8. 73-Trevor Ryan[8]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 59-Kyle Anderson[6]; 2. 95-Jayden Michaelsohn[1]; 3. 54-Jodie Michaelsohn[3]; 4. 17-Matt Goth[5]; 5. 24-Ashley Wampler[13]; 6. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[4]; 7. 14-Maria Broksieck[8]; 8. 01-Chris Serr[2]; 9. 99R-Andy Rossow[17]; 10. 0-Wyatt Brooker[9]; 11. 18H-Dusty Hyatt[12]; 12. 17G-Chris Gonska[16]; 13. 37W-Ferlin Sheridan[11]; 14. 99-Mike Sobolik[14]; 15. 20-Michael Bogh[7]; 16. 52X-Ava Gonska[15]; 17. (DNF) 46-Cory Moser[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Chris Serr[1]; 2. 95-Jayden Michaelsohn[3]; 3. 59-Kyle Anderson[4]; 4. 17-Matt Goth[9]; 5. 0-Wyatt Brooker[2]; 6. 37W-Ferlin Sheridan[6]; 7. 24-Ashley Wampler[5]; 8. 99-Mike Sobolik[7]; 9. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gonska[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Michael Bogh[3]; 2. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[4]; 3. 54-Jodie Michaelsohn[6]; 4. 14-Maria Broksieck[8]; 5. 46-Cory Moser[2]; 6. 18H-Dusty Hyatt[7]; 7. (DNF) 52X-Ava Gonska[5]; 8. (DNS) 99R-Andy Rossow