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Veterans honored at I-94 Friday and winners are Peterson, Saurer, Wibstad, Dykhoff and Rohner

By Ron Krog

FERGUS FALLS, MN (May 17) - On a very special night where fans and racers alike honored all the men and women of our armed services, everybody seemed to have a little extra pride in their step. The Fergus Falls veterans’ home sent a bus with a group of veterans who were very excited to be at the race track, and the fans welcomed them with open arms. The racing was not bad either, as several cars had patriotic themes and stickers on them to honor the vets as well.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Tyler Peterson, Travis Saurer, Jaren Wibstad, Kyle Dykhoff, and Jeff Rohner.

The first feature was a 25-car WISSOTA Midwest Modified shootout, with Wibstad grabbing the early lead, before a first-lap wreck took out Corey Storck and Tanner Bitzan. As Wibstad led out front, Taylor Bitzan and ninth-starter Nate Reinke swapped the second position several times. By the time the checkered flew, there were five cautions, but nobody was able to run down Wibstad, who got the win. Taylor Bitzan was second, Reinke was third, Tayten Blascyk improved 10 spots to fourth, and Cole Neset was fifth. Hard charger honors were also earned by Scott Oeltjen, whose drive from 16th placed him just outside the top five in sixth.

Another nice field of 23 WISSOTA Street Stocks pulled onto the track. The first lap was crazy as they were four wide coming off turn four, with Nick Shumansky grabbing the lead and some big hitters moving forward quickly; Dykhoff made his way from ninth to fourth in just six laps.

With 12 laps to go Eric Riley got by Shumansky for the lead, and then four laps later Dykhoff got by Shumansky for second. Soon after Riley had issues and went to the pits, handing the lead over to Dykhoff. He took charge for the win, while Shumansky and Brayden Brauer fought back and forth for second; Brauer finally grabbed the spot. Shumansky was third, 23rd-starter Ty Agen charged to fourth at the stripe, and Kasey Ussatis was fifth.

The WISSOTA Hornets are seeing lots of new faces among the ranks, but a savvy veteran out of Willmar has been the man to beat. Jeff Rohner charged from his sixth starting spot for his third win of the season, though Chase Pourrier made a wild move to get under him in turn four on the last lap; he almost lost the handle, but made a nice save to finish second ahead Kevin Wahl and Dexyn Habraken. Andrew DeNoble had a nice fifth-place finish in his first-ever stock car race at I-94.

With a smaller field of 14 WISSOTA Modifieds on hand Friday, Travis Saurer’s gutsy, race-winning move came with just two laps complete, as he made his way from fourth to first. He was cooking and he dominated the race, taking home the win. Fourteenth-starter Brady Gerdes was fast again, making his way into third with seven laps left, then getting by Brendan Blascyk for second on the last corner of the last lap. Blascyk was third, Ryan Gierke was fourth, and 12th-starter Dustin Bitzan completed the top five.

A very surprising number of 25 WISSOTA Late Models came ready to roll as Danny Vang and Nathan Sletto led the field to the green. Vang took the top spot early, with Don Shaw on the move into second and Shawn Meyer jumping into third after getting by the very impressive Sletto. For the next three laps Shaw and Vang put on a show for the fans as they swapped sliders, until Shaw finally took the lead and looked like he was on his way to victory lane. With seven laps left, ninth-starter Tyler Peterson got by Vang for second, and then chased down Shaw. The smooth veteran did not give up the lead, however, until they came off turn four on the final lap and Shaw got hung up by a lapped car. Peterson took the victory in a wild finish, leaving Shaw to settle for second. Eighth-starter Cole Schill was third, Vang was fourth, and Dave Mass completed the top five.

Joe Thomas also pulled off an amazing pass on Ben Wolden to win the Cliff Viessman, Inc. Gen X Late Model feature.

I-94 Speedway thanks Designing Earth Contracting, Bjorns Heating & Air Conditioning and Scots Machine Shop for sponsoring this very special evening.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[9]; 2. 42S-Don Shaw[4]; 3. 44*-Cole Schill[8]; 4. 47-Danny Vang[2]; 5. 2-Dave Mass[6]; 6. 5-Josh Zimpel[5]; 7. 18X-Shawn Meyer[3]; 8. 32-Lindsey Hansen[13]; 9. 3S-Nathan Sletto[1]; 10. 00-Mitch Johnson[16]; 11. 8R-Travis Robertson[17]; 12. 31T-Trent Follmer[7]; 13. 15X-Blake Boelens[15]; 14. 50-Ben Wolden[12]; 15. 66-Sam Zender[14]; 16. 9R-Erik Robertson[10]; 17. 57-Blake Higginbotham[18]; 18. 56-Laine Schwehr[24]; 19. 18-Josh Rieck[21]; 20. 24-Mike Hart[20]; 21. 3H-Jerry Hauge[22]; 22. (DNF) 2D-Dan Dowling[23]; 23. (DNF) 10R-Kevin Robertson[11]; 24. (DNF) 57H-Nathan Higginbotham[19]; 25. (DNS) 1L-Brad Loveday

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 42S-Don Shaw[4]; 2. 47-Danny Vang[1]; 3. 31T-Trent Follmer[5]; 4. 9R-Erik Robertson[2]; 5. 32-Lindsey Hansen[3]; 6. 00-Mitch Johnson[8]; 7. 57H-Nathan Higginbotham[6]; 8. 18-Josh Rieck[7]; 9. 2D-Dan Dowling[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[1]; 2. 2-Dave Mass[3]; 3. 3S-Nathan Sletto[2]; 4. 10R-Kevin Robertson[5]; 5. 66-Sam Zender[6]; 6. 8R-Travis Robertson[7]; 7. (DNF) 56-Laine Schwehr[4]; 8. (DNS) 1L-Brad Loveday

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18X-Shawn Meyer[2]; 2. 44*-Cole Schill[3]; 3. 5-Josh Zimpel[6]; 4. 50-Ben Wolden[5]; 5. 15X-Blake Boelens[8]; 6. 57-Blake Higginbotham[7]; 7. 24-Mike Hart[1]; 8. 3H-Jerry Hauge[4]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 21X-Travis Saurer[6]; 2. 2X-Brady Gerdes[14]; 3. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[1]; 4. 26G-Ryan Gierke[7]; 5. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[12]; 6. 52-Jason Thoennes[5]; 7. 7-Bryce Borgen[11]; 8. 11X-Austin Chyba[2]; 9. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[8]; 10. (DNF) 51A-Avery Anderson[3]; 11. (DNF) 7J-Rick Jacobson[13]; 12. (DNF) 18A-Landon Atkinson[9]; 13. (DNF) 6ST-Joseph Thomas[10]; 14. (DNF) 2G-Brock Gronwold[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 51A-Avery Anderson[1]; 2. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[2]; 3. 26G-Ryan Gierke[6]; 4. 52-Jason Thoennes[7]; 5. 18A-Landon Atkinson[5]; 6. 7-Bryce Borgen[3]; 7. (DNF) 2X-Brady Gerdes[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21X-Travis Saurer[4]; 2. 11X-Austin Chyba[2]; 3. 2G-Brock Gronwold[1]; 4. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[3]; 5. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[6]; 6. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[5]; 7. 7J-Rick Jacobson[7]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 36-Jaren Wibstad[1]; 2. 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[6]; 3. 71-Nate Reinke[9]; 4. 2B-Tayten Blascyk[14]; 5. 30-Cole Neset[4]; 6. 13-Scott Oeltjen[16]; 7. 42-Ron Saurer[13]; 8. 092-Nick Bruder[15]; 9. 28K-Nick Preston[12]; 10. 21Z-Zach Kort[21]; 11. 3T-Tucker Tschakert[2]; 12. (DNF) 4-Phil Christlieb[3]; 13. (DNF) 32-Shawn Olson[18]; 14. (DNF) 12X-Jamie Norman[5]; 15. (DNF) 75JR-Daniel Harstad[17]; 16. (DNF) 10B-Tyler Bitzan[20]; 17. (DNF) 29-Tommie Tesch[25]; 18. (DNF) 110-Tate Kelderman[23]; 19. (DNF) 9W-Hunter Weeks[11]; 20. (DNF) 13T-Tyson Roush[24]; 21. (DNF) 13K-Brad King[19]; 22. (DNF) 66-Kyle Langland[7]; 23. (DNF) 24X-Rick Norman[22]; 24. (DNF) 42T-Tanner Bitzan[10]; 25. (DNF) 57-Corey Storck[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Corey Storck[2]; 2. 12X-Jamie Norman[5]; 3. 30-Cole Neset[1]; 4. 42T-Tanner Bitzan[6]; 5. 42-Ron Saurer[7]; 6. 13-Scott Oeltjen[3]; 7. 13T-Tyson Roush[8]; 8. 21Z-Zach Kort[9]; 9. (DNF) 110-Tate Kelderman[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[1]; 2. 66-Kyle Langland[4]; 3. 3T-Tucker Tschakert[6]; 4. 9W-Hunter Weeks[7]; 5. 2B-Tayten Blascyk[5]; 6. 75JR-Daniel Harstad[2]; 7. 13K-Brad King[3]; 8. (DNF) 29-Tommie Tesch[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Nate Reinke[3]; 2. 4-Phil Christlieb[1]; 3. 36-Jaren Wibstad[4]; 4. 28K-Nick Preston[2]; 5. 092-Nick Bruder[7]; 6. 32-Shawn Olson[6]; 7. 10B-Tyler Bitzan[8]; 8. 24X-Rick Norman[5]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[9]; 2. 34JR-Braden Brauer[6]; 3. 17-Nick Shumansky[1]; 4. 26-Ty Agen[23]; 5. 2U-Kasey Ussatis[3]; 6. 2-Joe Martin[4]; 7. 12-Kevin Pender[2]; 8. 23-Maverick Janssen[15]; 9. 18X-Brendon Scott[14]; 10. 4-Mike Mund[10]; 11. 80-Tony Miller[11]; 12. 30B-Wade Bergerud[16]; 13. 7X-Peter Martin[20]; 14. 3-Ryan Mund[18]; 15. 18J-Justin Peterson[17]; 16. 84-Doug Martin[19]; 17. 57-Jason Fechtner[21]; 18. 19-Cole Greseth[5]; 19. (DNF) 24-Mike Hart[13]; 20. (DNF) 51-Eric Riley[8]; 21. (DNF) 3J-Tanner Freese[22]; 22. (DNF) 3C-Cory Dykhoff[7]; 23. (DNF) 16-Greg Platzer[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 34JR-Braden Brauer[6]; 2. 51-Eric Riley[8]; 3. 19-Cole Greseth[3]; 4. 4-Mike Mund[4]; 5. 24-Mike Hart[5]; 6. 30B-Wade Bergerud[1]; 7. 84-Doug Martin[7]; 8. 57-Jason Fechtner[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[4]; 2. 2-Joe Martin[1]; 3. 17-Nick Shumansky[3]; 4. 80-Tony Miller[5]; 5. 18X-Brendon Scott[7]; 6. 18J-Justin Peterson[6]; 7. 7X-Peter Martin[2]; 8. 3J-Tanner Freese[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3C-Cory Dykhoff[6]; 2. 12-Kevin Pender[1]; 3. 2U-Kasey Ussatis[7]; 4. 16-Greg Platzer[4]; 5. 23-Maverick Janssen[5]; 6. 3-Ryan Mund[2]; 7. (DNF) 26-Ty Agen[3]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 08-Jeff Rohner[6]; 2. 35-Chase Pourrier[5]; 3. 45W-Kevin Wahl[4]; 4. 10-Dexyn Habraken[1]; 5. 988A-Andrew DeNoble[9]; 6. 988J-Joey Metcalf[10]; 7. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[2]; 8. (DNF) I94-Clint Webber[7]; 9. (DNF) 03-Christian Kast[3]; 10. (DNF) 35P-Tylar Pourrier[8]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 35-Chase Pourrier[1]; 2. 988A-Andrew DeNoble[5]; 3. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[2]; 4. I94-Clint Webber[4]; 5. (DNF) 35P-Tylar Pourrier[3]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 08-Jeff Rohner[3]; 2. 45W-Kevin Wahl[4]; 3. 10-Dexyn Habraken[1]; 4. 03-Christian Kast[2]; 5. 988J-Joey Metcalf[5]

Gen X Late Models:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1776-Joseph Thomas[9]; 2. 50-Ben Wolden[6]; 3. 15-Trevor Walsh[7]; 4. 00-Kevin Youngquist[2]; 5. 2-Derek Quinn[11]; 6. 10-Brad Staples[13]; 7. 11*-Larry Samuelson[4]; 8. 49-Andrew Tysdal[3]; 9. 4C-Brent Clemensen[12]; 10. 0-Shawn Beto[10]; 11. (DNF) 14-Scott Harrington[8]; 12. (DNF) 18A-Mike Anderson[1]; 13. (DNF) 20Z-Scott Zimmerman[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Ben Wolden[4]; 2. 49-Andrew Tysdal[3]; 3. 14-Scott Harrington[2]; 4. 20Z-Scott Zimmerman[5]; 5. 1776-Joseph Thomas[6]; 6. 2-Derek Quinn[7]; 7. 10-Brad Staples[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Trevor Walsh[2]; 2. 11*-Larry Samuelson[3]; 3. 18A-Mike Anderson[4]; 4. 00-Kevin Youngquist[1]; 5. 0-Shawn Beto[6]; 6. 4C-Brent Clemensen[5]