5-28 Page 14 | ATD Racing News

Broking, Koch, Jones, Larson and Arnes are able to put competitors in rearview at Princeton Speedway

By Tami Jo Kuehn

PRINCETON, MN (May 23) - For the first time in history, FYE Motorsports’ Minnesota Truck Headquarters Modified Nationals kicked off its multi-day race event at Princeton Speedway. Eighty-eight drivers signed in to battle at the quarter-mile bullring, with many drivers making their first-ever visit to the small-town race track.

The night of WISSOTA Dirt Track Series racing action was presented by Wehrs Machine and Superior Fuel, and winners included Johnny Broking, Dean Larson, Dexton Koch, Andy Jones and Bobie Arnes.

Joey Wagamon and Jones led the field of WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds to the green, however as they finished lap two, contact occurred, and Erik Gruhlke rolled into the catch fence and landed on the track. Gruhlke was okay as he climbed from his car, and the race was red-flagged for fence repair.

Jones led the field back to green, ahead of Jason VandeKamp and Joey Jensen in the top three. As laps passed by, VandeKamp was glued to Jones’ rear as they encountered slower traffic.

With a handful of laps to go, Jones separated from VandeKamp as they worked their way through lapped cars. Jones led the race in its entirety and claimed the first win of 2024 Mod Nationals. VandeKamp, Jensen, Blake Adams and Zach Benson rounded out the top five.

Dexton Koch (Mark Anderson Images Photo)

The WISSOTA Super Stocks took to the clay and as the green waved, Dexton Koch and Dylan Nelson battled for the lead. As they crossed the line, Koch claimed the top spot, while Joey Jensen slid into third and chased after Nelson. Jensen dove to Nelson’s inside and raced door-to-door as Koch cruised alone out front.

A quick caution reset the field, with Nelson and Jensen on Koch’s rear. Koch sped away, but Nelson took second and surged ahead to Koch’s door. Koch held the lead, but felt the heat of Nelson and Jenson. Nelson again charged to Koch’s door and they were nose to nose as they raced down the back chute. All eyes were on Koch and Nelson’s battle for the lead when Shane Sabraski took third and slid alongside Nelson. The top three drivers then spaced out over the final lap, and Koch cruised to the checkered flag and took the win. Dylan Nelson, Sabraski, Jensen and Dustin Nelson were top-five finishers.

Johnny Broking (Mark Anderson Images Photo)

A field of 20 of the best WISSOTA Modifieds in the region lined up for the next feature event. Johnny Broking and Eric Lamm brought the drivers to green, with Broking claiming the early lead. Lamm and Brandon Copp kept close to Broking before a caution reset the field.

Broking was alone on the restart, and put a car length between him and the competition. After a few laps, Broking was able to stretch his lead before another caution slowed the drivers and brought Lamm and Copp back within striking distance of Broking.

As the race went green, Dave Cain sped to the high side and flew ahead, challenging Copp and Lamm. The battle for second was three wide as Cain slid off the track’s edge and Lamm sped into second. Lamm was running the high groove when his car spun in the turn and another yellow was triggered.

The race was half over with Broking still in command, but Copp ran the high line and moved alongside Broking. Copp nosed out the lead, but Broking raced back to Copp’s door and they were side by side around the track. A couple laps passed with the close battle between Copp and Broking, but Broking broke away once again and secured the lead. Travis Schulte, who started 14th, made his way to third and challenged Copp for second; Schulte made the pass and looked ahead to Broking, but ran out of time and Broking took the win. Schulte settled for second with Copp, Mike Anderson and J.T. Johnson completing the top five.

Tommy Pogones grabbed the immediate lead as the WISSOTA Mod Fours went green, with Dean Larson close behind. Tommy Bawden grabbed third and raced to the rear of Larson, then slid by him along the low groove. Larson powered back by Bawden and they swapped for second.

Dean Larson (Mark Anderson Images Photo)

The race was half over when the yellow flag appeared and restacked the field. Pogones was alone on the restart with Larson and Bawden to his rear. A series of cautions kept the Mod Fours at a stop-and-go pace, and after the third restart, Larson edged out the point. Pogones held second as the final laps went by and the race concluded. Larson took the win with Pogones, Bawden, Dustin Holtquist and Tyler Larson as the top-five finishers.

Bobie Arnes (Mark Anderson Images Photo)

The WISSOTA Hornets wrapped up the night, and Bobie Arnes took the lead when the green dropped, with Brandon Nyberg close in second. Nyberg closed in to Arnes’ rear, but Arnes continued to hold the lead.

Arnes then stretched his lead with the halfway flags displayed. With just three laps to go, Nyberg made his move and raced alongside Arnes. They were nose to nose down the back chute with Arnes edging out the lead. The final winner of the night came down to the last lap and Arnes took the exciting win. Nyberg, Jenna Hagemann, Josh Backstrom and Scott Erickson were top-five finishers.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 45J-Johnny Broking[1]; 2. 3T-Travis Schulte[14]; 3. 22-Brandon Copp[3]; 4. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 5. 89JR-JT Johnson[19]; 6. 26G-Ryan Gierke[11]; 7. 17B-Zach Benson[20]; 8. 2C-Dave Cain[10]; 9. 7-Bryce Borgen[17]; 10. 88-Eric Lamm[2]; 11. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[4]; 12. (DNF) 6ST-Joseph Thomas[7]; 13. (DNF) 25-Adam Bohlman[18]; 14. (DNF) 21-Jake Smith[13]; 15. (DNF) 97-Cole Anderson[15]; 16. (DNF) 7A-Shane Sabraski[12]; 17. (DNF) 40-Kevin Adams[9]; 18. (DNF) 45-Bob Broking[5]; 19. (DNF) 6X-Zach Johnson[8]; 20. (DNF) 4-Jeremy Nelson[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Eric Lamm[2]; 2. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[1]; 3. 6X-Zach Johnson[5]; 4. 26G-Ryan Gierke[3]; 5. 97-Cole Anderson[4]; 6. 24-Brandon Dolman[8]; 7. 17B-Zach Benson[6]; 8. 32-Max Nelson[7]; 9. 04N-Nick Ayotte[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 45J-Johnny Broking[5]; 2. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[4]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 4. 40-Kevin Adams[8]; 5. 21-Jake Smith[7]; 6. 3T-Travis Schulte[9]; 7. (DNF) 442-Aaron Johnson[3]; 8. (DNF) 14W-Clayton Wagamon[2]; 9. (DNF) 89JR-JT Johnson[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Brandon Copp[1]; 2. 45-Bob Broking[4]; 3. 2C-Dave Cain[2]; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski[3]; 5. 4-Jeremy Nelson[5]; 6. 112-Brennan Gave[7]; 7. 7-Bryce Borgen[6]; 8. 25-Adam Bohlman[8]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 7-Bryce Borgen[4]; 2. 25-Adam Bohlman[6]; 3. 89JR-JT Johnson[10]; 4. 17B-Zach Benson[3]; 5. 32-Max Nelson[5]; 6. 04N-Nick Ayotte[7]; 7. (DNF) 24-Brandon Dolman[1]; 8. (DNF) 112-Brennan Gave[2]; 9. (DNF) 14W-Clayton Wagamon[9]; 10. (DNS) 442-Aaron Johnson

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[2]; 2. 25-Dylan Nelson[1]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski[6]; 4. 21-Joey Jensen[3]; 5. 46-Dustin Nelson[5]; 6. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[10]; 7. 21X-Joel Collins[4]; 8. 44-Kris Peterson[11]; 9. 00-Jason Hobbs[9]; 10. 33-Austin Niemeyer[7]; 11. (DNF) 47J-Jeremiah Gebhardt[12]; 12. (DNF) 19X-James Trantina III[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Dylan Nelson[2]; 2. 21X-Joel Collins[1]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski[4]; 4. 33-Austin Niemeyer[3]; 5. 00-Jason Hobbs[5]; 6. 47J-Jeremiah Gebhardt[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[2]; 2. 46-Dustin Nelson[1]; 3. 21-Joey Jensen[6]; 4. 19X-James Trantina III[3]; 5. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[5]; 6. 44-Kris Peterson[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 73-Andy Jones[2]; 2. 16V-Jason VandeKamp[3]; 3. 30-Joey Jensen[4]; 4. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 5. 17B-Zach Benson[7]; 6. 33C-Cole Boston[8]; 7. 46-Ryan Putnam[9]; 8. 11-Ashton Schulte[5]; 9. 19X-James Trantina III[18]; 10. 10S-Sam Blevins[12]; 11. 73J-Onyx Johnson[17]; 12. 16-Cory Jorgensen[11]; 13. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[15]; 14. (DNF) 4W-Joey Wagamon[1]; 15. (DNF) 21-Jake Smith[10]; 16. (DNF) 24-Cole Elton[13]; 17. (DNF) 2S-Scott Splittstoesser[19]; 18. (DNF) 00AZ-TJ Wyman[20]; 19. (DNF) 23-Mitch Weiss[14]; 20. (DNF) 47-Erik Gruhlke[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4W-Joey Wagamon[2]; 2. 11-Ashton Schulte[3]; 3. 46-Ryan Putnam[5]; 4. 21-Jake Smith[6]; 5. 24-Cole Elton[7]; 6. 23-Mitch Weiss[9]; 7. 2-Ariel Mueller[1]; 8. (DNF) 10JR-Mikey Blevins[8]; 9. (DNF) 8-Justin Jones[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16V-Jason VandeKamp[1]; 2. 33C-Cole Boston[2]; 3. 17B-Zach Benson[6]; 4. 10S-Sam Blevins[3]; 5. 47-Erik Gruhlke[5]; 6. 73J-Onyx Johnson[4]; 7. 19X-James Trantina III[8]; 8. 5-Brecken Froehlich[9]; 9. 10X-Matthew Cunha[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 73-Andy Jones[2]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[3]; 3. 30-Joey Jensen[7]; 4. 16-Cory Jorgensen[1]; 5. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[4]; 6. 00AZ-TJ Wyman[6]; 7. 13-Tate Kostreba[5]; 8. 2S-Scott Splittstoesser[8]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 73J-Onyx Johnson[1]; 2. 19X-James Trantina III[3]; 3. 2S-Scott Splittstoesser[7]; 4. 00AZ-TJ Wyman[2]; 5. 2-Ariel Mueller[4]; 6. (DNF) 5-Brecken Froehlich[6]; 7. (DNF) 13-Tate Kostreba[5]; 8. (DNF) 10JR-Mikey Blevins[9]; 9. (DNF) 10X-Matthew Cunha[8]; 10. (DNS) 8-Justin Jones

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 37-Dean Larson[2]; 2. 04-Tommy Pogones[1]; 3. TB81-Tommy Bawden[4]; 4. 5H-Dustin Holtquist[3]; 5. 7L-Tyler Larson[5]; 6. 5-Robert Holtquist[8]; 7. N88-Gerrald Nohner[7]; 8. 31J-Jordan Fischer[10]; 9. 9T-Thomas Burgard[15]; 10. (DNF) 119-Brandon Backstrom[9]; 11. (DNF) D5-Doug Frederick[14]; 12. (DNF) 18-Ashton Schwinn[12]; 13. (DNF) 21-Blake Hawker[11]; 14. (DNF) 60-Maeghan Milz[13]; 15. (DNF) XL1-Chad Funt[6]; 16. (DNF) 7-Alexander McFarlen[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5H-Dustin Holtquist[2]; 2. 04-Tommy Pogones[8]; 3. XL1-Chad Funt[4]; 4. N88-Gerrald Nohner[5]; 5. 119-Brandon Backstrom[1]; 6. 21-Blake Hawker[7]; 7. 60-Maeghan Milz[6]; 8. 9T-Thomas Burgard[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Dean Larson[3]; 2. 7L-Tyler Larson[1]; 3. TB81-Tommy Bawden[6]; 4. 5-Robert Holtquist[4]; 5. 31J-Jordan Fischer[5]; 6. 18-Ashton Schwinn[2]; 7. D5-Doug Frederick[7]; 8. (DNF) 7-Alexander McFarlen[8]

WISSOTA Hornets:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 94A-Bobie Arnes[2]; 2. 13-Brandon Nyberg[1]; 3. 26-Jenna Hagemann[3]; 4. 19-Josh Backstrom[4]; 5. 3S-Scott Erickson[6]; 6. 73-Payson Patrin[5]; 7. (DNF) 53-Branley Theel[7]; 8. (DNS) 74R-Joseph Strandlien

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Brandon Nyberg[4]; 2. 94A-Bobie Arnes[3]; 3. 26-Jenna Hagemann[2]; 4. 19-Josh Backstrom[5]; 5. 73-Payson Patrin[1]; 6. 3S-Scott Erickson[8]; 7. 53-Branley Theel[6]; 8. (DNF) 74R-Joseph Strandlien[7]