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Bemidji begins with “Della’s Last Lap,” then first wins of 2024 go to Adams, Koranda, Erickson, Weleski, Puffe and Malinowski

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (May 26) - There is nothing like opening day at Bemidji Speedway. New drivers, new cars, track improvements, and dreams of checkered flags and championships abound.

An incredible turn out for opening day brought 117 drivers from Canada, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota to race the 1/3-mile dirt oval. Along with the cars, the grandstands were completely packed with excited fans for the two-day special. Prior to the official start, a special moment was held in memory of longtime owner/promoter Idella Hayes, who passed away last year. “Della’s Last Lap” was held with the track full of drivers taking a lap in her memory.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners for the first night of action included Kevin Adams, Jack Koranda, Blake Erickson, Devyn Weleski, Dustin Puffe, and Andrew Malinowski.

Twenty-four WISSOTA Pure Stocks were on hand for the opener, with 18 qualifying for the feature. Shannon George and Mason Scholin led the pack to the green flag, with George taking the early lead ahead of Josh Bitker, Jake Smith, Puffe, and Austin Carlson. A series of cautions held the field at a stop-and-go pace.

Using the restarts to his advantage, Kade Leeper worked his way up from his fourth row start into the top five. Puffe was fast and moved to the outside; he made several passes to take the lead with Leeper following into second.

Puffe drove on to the initial feature win of the 2024 racing season, with Leeper, George, Carlson, and Smith in the top five.

Fourteen WISSOTA Super Stocks filed on track led by Koranda on the inside and Garrett Masurka to his right. With the green flag waving, Koranda blasted to the lead, with Matt Sparby charging up on the outside into second followed by Masurka, Andy LaBarge, and Mikey Vajdl.

Koranda and Sparby pulled away and dueled bumper to bumper until a three-car pileup occurred in turns one and two. The restart was controlled by Koranda, with Rick Simpson charging up from his fourth row starting position into fifth. Simpson raced the inside line, and Masurka was along the high line in a door-to-door battle for third. Masurka spun to bring out the caution and went tailback.

On the restart, Dalton Carlson cracked the top five and eventually made it up to fourth, as Koranda picked up the feature win. Simpson, Sparby, Carlson and LaBarge completed the top five.

The WISSOTA Hornets buzzed on track next, with the 14-car field led by Jayme Gordon and Andrew Malinowski. Malinowski blasted to the lead with Megan Vernlund, Gordon, and Chad Reller in close contention.

Following a caution, Alex Aderman entered the top five and passed several cars to challenge Malinowski out front. Derek Ament drove into fourth behind Vernlund, with Reller back into the top five. Reller then moved up and raced door to door with Aderman, passing on the highside in turns one and two. Reller stayed on the gas to take over second as Malinowski took the checkered flag. Aderman was third followed by Ament and Vernlund in the top five.

The 26-car contingent of WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds was whittled down to an 18-car feature, led to the green by Devyn Weleski and Doyle Erickson. With a very fast start, Weleski raced to the front with Cody Carlson, Erickson, David Simpson, and Skyler Smith in the top five. Erickson was sent tailback following a caution.

Just a few laps later a pileup occurred in turns three and four. The restarts were to Aaron Blacklance’s liking, as he blasted up into the top five from his eighth starting spot. Weleski ran a great, error-free race to pick up the win. Carlson, Simpson, Blacklance, and Smith filled out the top five.

The 12-car field of WISSOTA Mod Fours was led from the pole by Conrad Schwinn, with Blake Erickson to his right. Erickson blasted to the lead in impressive fashion, with Schwinn battling with Rowan Tramm side by side for second. The race was yellow flagged when class newcomer Brook Vernlund spun herself sideways on the front straight.

The restart was controlled by Erickson with Tramm, Josh Litzau and Conrad Schwinn dueling for position, and Ashton Schwinn breaking into the top five.

Late in the race Dean Larson raced up from deep in the pack into fourth as Erickson picked up the feature win out front. He was followed by Tramm, Litzau, Larson and Conrad Schwinn in the top five.

Twelve entries in the WISSOTA Modified feature were led on the track by polesitter Jeff Reed, with Kevin Adams outside. The Wisconsin flash Adams flew to the lead ahead of Reed, Lance Schilling, Davey Mills and Shaun Kreyer in the top five. Debris on track brought out the first caution, with the top five holding position after five laps.

Mills, making a return to racing after sitting out a year, raced inside and passed Schilling for third following the restart, and then raced up to challenge Reed for second. Unfortunately his night then came to an end, as he slowed on the back straight and pulled off track with mechanical issues.

Late in the race Adams and Reed moved away from the field in a private battle for the win. Reed slowly reeled in the leader as the laps ran out, and was within striking distance as Adams took the checkered flag. Reed, Schilling, Devin Fouquette and Aaron Blacklance completed the top five.

In the track’s Mini Stock class, a rocky start to the feature was ironed out eventually, with Ashton Schwinn in the lead. Following more cautions and a single-file restart, Schwinn drove off with the eventual victory ahead of Nick McCann, Conrad Schwinn, Gordon Hunter and 17th-starter Hayden Engen.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[2]; 2. 2R-Jeff Reed[1]; 3. 43-Lance Schilling[3]; 4. 15F-Devin Fouquette[12]; 5. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[5]; 6. 74-Shaun Kreyer[4]; 7. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[8]; 8. 7J-Rick Jacobson[10]; 9. 4JR-Cameron Brown[9]; 10. 40F-John Farrington[11]; 11. 77-Alan Olafson[7]; 12. (DNF) 22-Davey Mills[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Alan Olafson[2]; 2. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[1]; 3. 40-Kevin Adams[4]; 4. 43-Lance Schilling[5]; 5. 4JR-Cameron Brown[6]; 6. 40F-John Farrington[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[1]; 2. 22-Davey Mills[2]; 3. 2R-Jeff Reed[4]; 4. 74-Shaun Kreyer[5]; 5. 7J-Rick Jacobson[6]; 6. (DNF) 15F-Devin Fouquette[3]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 22-Jack Koranda[1]; 2. 77K-Rick Simpson[8]; 3. 81X-Matt Sparby[4]; 4. 57-Dalton Carlson[10]; 5. 79A-Andy LaBarge[6]; 6. 25-Dylan Nelson[9]; 7. 29X-Brandon Bahr[5]; 8. T26-Nic Lewis[11]; 9. 27C-Cameron Labelle[7]; 10. 40-Ellen Lange[14]; 11. 26M-Garrett Masurka[2]; 12. 17-Faye Lewis[13]; 13. (DNF) 65-Ron Reed[12]; 14. (DNF) 41-Mikey Vajdl[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 26M-Garrett Masurka[2]; 2. 27C-Cameron Labelle[3]; 3. 22-Jack Koranda[6]; 4. 41-Mikey Vajdl[1]; 5. 25-Dylan Nelson[5]; 6. T26-Nic Lewis[4]; 7. 17-Faye Lewis[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77K-Rick Simpson[2]; 2. 81X-Matt Sparby[4]; 3. 79A-Andy LaBarge[6]; 4. 29X-Brandon Bahr[3]; 5. 57-Dalton Carlson[5]; 6. 65-Ron Reed[1]; 7. 40-Ellen Lange[7]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 13-Devyn Weleski[1]; 2. 32-Cody Carlson[3]; 3. 70-David Simpson[5]; 4. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[8]; 5. 16-Skyler Smith[4]; 6. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[7]; 7. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[9]; 8. X-Tucker Jacobson[6]; 9. 18X-Connor Drewry[18]; 10. 99-Doyle Erickson[2]; 11. 7A-Eric Anderson[15]; 12. 21R-Ross Siiter[16]; 13. 15-Landon Gross[11]; 14. (DNF) 40D-Blake Adams[13]; 15. (DNF) 86-Don Smith[10]; 16. (DNF) 9W-Hunter Weeks[12]; 17. (DNF) 32B-Brennan Schmidt[14]; 18. (DNF) 19-Darrin Lawler[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[1]; 2. X-Tucker Jacobson[2]; 3. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[4]; 4. 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 5. 19-Darrin Lawler[6]; 6. 6K-Noah Bitz[3]; 7. (DNF) 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 70-David Simpson[5]; 2. 99-Doyle Erickson[1]; 3. 86-Don Smith[6]; 4. 32B-Brennan Schmidt[4]; 5. 18X-Connor Drewry[2]; 6. 50-Nick McCann[7]; 7. (DNF) 10X-Matthew Cunha[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Skyler Smith[1]; 2. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[6]; 3. 15-Landon Gross[2]; 4. 7A-Eric Anderson[3]; 5. 11K-Travis Klein[5]; 6. 67-Weston Ramsrud[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Devyn Weleski[1]; 2. 32-Cody Carlson[2]; 3. 9W-Hunter Weeks[4]; 4. 21R-Ross Siiter[3]; 5. 17-Christopher Leek[6]; 6. 115-Kalin Honer[5]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 19-Darrin Lawler[1]; 2. 18X-Connor Drewry[2]; 3. 17-Christopher Leek[4]; 4. 11K-Travis Klein[3]; 5. 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[9]; 6. 67-Weston Ramsrud[7]; 7. 6K-Noah Bitz[5]; 8. 50-Nick McCann[6]; 9. (DNF) 115-Kalin Honer[8]; 10. (DNS) 10X-Matthew Cunha

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[3]; 2. 14T-Rowan Tramm[4]; 3. 8R-Josh Litzau[7]; 4. 37-Dean Larson[9]; 5. 6-Conrad Schwinn[1]; 6. 18-Ashton Schwinn[6]; 7. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[11]; 8. 29S-Trevor Siltman[5]; 9. 29-Kevin Bahr[2]; 10. 995-Brooke Erickson[8]; 11. (DNF) 119-Brandon Backstrom[10]; 12. (DNS) 92-Nick Seitz

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14T-Rowan Tramm[4]; 2. 8R-Josh Litzau[2]; 3. 18-Ashton Schwinn[6]; 4. 29S-Trevor Siltman[1]; 5. 37-Dean Larson[3]; 6. (DNS) 92-Nick Seitz

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[1]; 2. 6-Conrad Schwinn[4]; 3. 29-Kevin Bahr[6]; 4. 995-Brooke Erickson[3]; 5. (DNF) 119-Brandon Backstrom[2]; 6. (DNF) 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[5]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[4]; 2. 3-Kade Leeper[8]; 3. 87-Shannon George[1]; 4. 57-Austin Carlson[7]; 5. 86J-Jake Smith[5]; 6. 62-Joshua Bitker[3]; 7. 25-Billy Binkley[9]; 8. 15-Caylyn Binkley[10]; 9. 28-Eric Crosby[11]; 10. 7-Bob Klein[15]; 11. 38-Nate Zanter[18]; 12. 29XT-Aaron Sigerud[17]; 13. X81-Alexa Sparby[13]; 14. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[14]; 15. (DNF) 59F-Lilian Farrington[16]; 16. (DNF) 47J-Justin Barsness[12]; 17. (DNF) 39-Deryk Weleski[6]; 18. (DNF) 92-Mason Scholin[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Shannon George[2]; 2. 3-Kade Leeper[1]; 3. 25-Billy Binkley[4]; 4. 15-Caylyn Binkley[6]; 5. X81-Alexa Sparby[3]; 6. 59F-Lilian Farrington[5]; 7. 21S-Mason Smith[8]; 8. 8-Karen Puschinsky[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Austin Carlson[1]; 2. 86J-Jake Smith[2]; 3. 92-Mason Scholin[3]; 4. 28-Eric Crosby[5]; 5. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[4]; 6. 29XT-Aaron Sigerud[7]; 7. 18B-Alex Berg[6]; 8. (DNF) 54S-Collin Sander[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[5]; 2. 39-Deryk Weleski[1]; 3. 62-Joshua Bitker[3]; 4. 47J-Justin Barsness[4]; 5. 7-Bob Klein[2]; 6. 38-Nate Zanter[6]; 7. 55-Aaron Bitker[7]; 8. 47-Zach Jackson[8]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 59F-Lilian Farrington[1]; 2. 29XT-Aaron Sigerud[2]; 3. 38-Nate Zanter[3]; 4. 55-Aaron Bitker[9]; 5. 8-Karen Puschinsky[5]; 6. 54S-Collin Sander[7]; 7. 21S-Mason Smith[8]; 8. (DNF) 18B-Alex Berg[4]; 9. (DNS) 47-Zach Jackson

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 07-Andrew Malinowski[2]; 2. 28-Chad Reller[8]; 3. 37A-Alex Aderman[3]; 4. 00-Derek Ament[4]; 5. 77-Megan Vernlund[11]; 6. 3S-Scott Erickson[6]; 7. 7G-Jayme Gordon[1]; 8. 71-Nathan Bird[10]; 9. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[5]; 10. 81R-Ryker Larson[14]; 11. 72-Aiden Kessler[12]; 12. 10A-Riley Ament[9]; 13. (DNF) 06-Andy Leino[7]; 14. (DNF) 14J-Haley Jones[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Chad Reller[4]; 2. 3S-Scott Erickson[2]; 3. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[1]; 4. 37A-Alex Aderman[6]; 5. 10A-Riley Ament[5]; 6. 81R-Ryker Larson[7]; 7. (DNF) 14J-Haley Jones[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 07-Andrew Malinowski[4]; 2. 00-Derek Ament[1]; 3. 7G-Jayme Gordon[2]; 4. 06-Andy Leino[3]; 5. 71-Nathan Bird[6]; 6. 77-Megan Vernlund[5]; 7. 72-Aiden Kessler[7]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[2]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[4]; 3. 6-Conrad Schwinn[7]; 4. 15-Gordon Hunter[1]; 5. 77-Hayden Engen[17]; 6. 94-Cameron Schwinn[6]; 7. 20JE-Jonah Espe[8]; 8. 11C-Cody Bush[18]; 9. 14T-Rowan Tramm[11]; 10. 3H-Kaylie Winge[5]; 11. 22-Tania Denny[14]; 12. 5-Brandon Hunter[3]; 13. (DNF) 4-Dawson Oelrich[15]; 14. (DNF) 22H-Justin Honer[13]; 15. (DNF) G17-Gabriel Espe[9]; 16. (DNF) 117-Zack Honer[12]; 17. (DNF) 87A-Malachi Albrecht[16]; 18. (DNS) 87-Shannon George

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 2. 15-Gordon Hunter[1]; 3. 18-Ashton Schwinn[8]; 4. 5-Brandon Hunter[4]; 5. 20JE-Jonah Espe[3]; 6. 87-Shannon George[2]; 7. 117-Zack Honer[7]; 8. 22-Tania Denny[9]; 9. (DNF) 87A-Malachi Albrecht[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3H-Kaylie Winge[2]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[9]; 3. 11C-Cody Bush[8]; 4. 94-Cameron Schwinn[4]; 5. G17-Gabriel Espe[5]; 6. 14T-Rowan Tramm[1]; 7. 22H-Justin Honer[3]; 8. 4-Dawson Oelrich[6]; 9. (DNF) 77-Hayden Engen[7]