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It was kind of a busy day on Friday, so I did not think about checking the weather forecast for Aberdeen until the trip there was already half complete, and at that point, I was already committed. Well, it turned out that those huge dark clouds to the west did hit Brown County Speedway, but not until one feature had been completed.

Speaking of that feature, it was a thriller.

Before the WISSOTA Street Stock feature took the green and I scouted the field for possible outcomes and scenarios, I could not determine who the favorite to win the race was: Maria Broksieck from the front row, or Braden Brauer from the outside of row four. It seemed like a push between the two drivers who had the better shot at winning, and it turns out it was pretty similar odds, since they crossed the finish line in a near-dead heat.

Broksieck settled into the lead early, but had both Boghs — Jayden and Michael — working side by side off her trunk lid. Aside from a caution without a lap complete, the race ran green to checkered, which meant Broksieck had to contend with traffic as the laps wound down. With traffic getting thicker, Brauer secured second just before he crossed the flag stand with two laps to go. He had a serious deficit to Maria, 1.4 seconds according to live timing, as he crossed with two to go, but traffic was shaping up ahead of the leader to make things interesting. On the final lap, Maria came upon two slower cars — one about to go a lap down, and the other about to go two laps down. The slower cars were about a lane off the high groove and door to door into the final set of turns. Broksieck took a more conservative approach, following the slower cars around, while Brauer saw a very slim opening around the high side of all those drivers. It was a drag race to the checkers, with a mass of sheet metal crossing the finish line all at once. Brauer grabbed the win by .027 seconds in a barnburner.

That is all I really get to report on from Friday night at Brown County Speedway. I did buy a few half-price cheeseburgers before they pulled the plug, and they were good. They may be just as good at full price.

I will keep looking for races to go to, and occasionally report back with my thoughts and experiences. Summer appears to be in full swing, which means it is time to go racing!