6-18 Page 30 | ATD Racing News

Mills, Adams, Carlson brothers, Bawden and Olafson outrun rivals at Bemidji on Sunday

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (June 16) - Throughout the recent history of sport, there has always been a strong rivalry between the United States and Canada. That rivalry came to Bemidji Speedway on Sunday night with the Visit Bemidji-sponsored “Babes Border Battle.” U.S. and Canadian drivers competed for bragging rights on the 3/8-mile oval. This time the U.S. drivers dominated the races, winning all the features.

A total of 90 cars were on hand for the battle in front of a near-full grandstand once again. WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Davey Mills, Dalton Carlson, Blake Adams, Tommy Bawden, Austin Carlson and Travis Olafson.

Eighteen WISSOTA Pure Stocks roared on track, led by Aaron Bitker on the pole and Brandon Puschinsky outside. Lap one was a duel between Bitker and Puschinsky, side by side as they passed the flagstand. Second-row starter Deryk Weleski powered forward to take the lead with Puschinsky, Lillian Farrington, Dustin Puffe and Austin Carlson in the top five.

Following a caution, Kade Leeper pitted for a tire change and returned tailback. As racing resumed Puffe was on the march forward, racing low on the track with Puschinsky up high - a bit too high as the much-improved young driver slid over the top of turn one and two, and the car rolled over on its side to bring out the caution once again. Puschinsky was unhurt but out of the race.

Once the racing resumed, it was fast and furious with the top four cars of Weleski, Puffe, Farrington and Carlson bumper to bumper and in contention for the win. Farrington left the race track and it was a three-car battle, with Carlson taking over the lead and the eventual checkered flag. Puffe and Weleski trailed in second and third, while Leeper had an amazing comeback to finish fourth. Aaron Bitker was fifth.

The WISSOTA Super Stocks were next on track led by Cam Labelle and Brandon Bahr in row one. Two Canadians joined this field with Rick Simpson out of Thunder Bay and Doug Bolt from Rosslyn, Ontario. Bahr powered to the lead with Labelle, Garrett Masurka, Dalton Carlson and Dexton Koch trailing in the top five. Several cautions slowed the racing and Koch left the speedway.

Once racing resumed, Labelle was fast and consistent out front as Masurka and Carlson raced door to door for second with Masurka up high and Carlson down low. More cautions occurred, with Labelle, Masurka, Carlson, Nick Lewis and Doug Bolt in the top five.

Late in the race, Carlson raced inside and made the pass of Labelle for the lead. He drove to the win with Labelle, Bahr, Masurka and Bolt trailing in the top five. Canadian drivers Bolt and Simpson finished in fifth and sixth place.

Father-and-daughter race team Jayme Gordon and Mateja Dreyer led the field of WISSOTA Hornets to the green flag, with Mateja taking the lead followed by Gordon, Travis Olafson, Russell Kiker, Jr. and Cade Johnson. Dreyer and Gordon tangled in the corner and dropped back in the pack, moving Olafson to the lead. Olafson was the eventual winner ahead of a side-by-side duel for second between Kiker and Josh Backstrom, with Kiker gaining the runner-up spot. It was a clean sweep for Olafson.

Eighteen WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were on track next, led by Blake Adams on the pole and Brennan Schmidt to his outside. The race was an incredible duel between these two outstanding drivers throughout the feature. Schmidt grabbed the early lead over Adams, ahead of Michael Blevins, Sr. in third and Landon Gross and Doyle Erickson in the top five.

Several cautions slowed the race, with Erickson pitting for a tire change. Blevins moved up and challenged Adams for second, but the yellow flag once again waved and Gross went to the back. With Schmidt racing the high side and Adams the inside, it was a back-and-forth battle for the win before more cautions slowed the action.

When racing resumed, Adams gained the advantage in the fight for first and took the win. Schmidt was second with Sam Blevins, Skyler Smith and Noah Bitz in the top five.

Kevin Bahr and Ashton Schwinn led the WISSOTA Mod Fours to the green flag with Schwinn racing into the lead followed by Conrad Schwinn, Tommy Bawden, Bahr and Casey Traxler. Bawden moved alongside Conrad Schwinn and into second. Bawden then raced ahead to challenge for the lead; they raced side by side with Ashton Schwinn up high and Bawden down low. In turns one and two, Bawden took the lead and raced away from the field for the win in a flag-to-flag race. Ashton Schwinn, Conrad Schwinn, Traxler and Chad Erlandson made up the top five.

Bemidji’s own Davey Mills was on the pole with Alan Olafson to his right for the start of the WISSOTA Modified feature. Mills raced to the lead followed by Lance Schilling, Olafson, Jeff Reed and Kevin Adams. Adams raced into third as Canadian driver Tanner Williamson raced into fifth along the high side. Mills and Schilling raced bumper to bumper with Adams joining the leaders for a three-car battle on the super fast track.

Mills stayed out front as Adams and Schilling put on a show for second dueling door to door with Adams finally gaining the advantage. Adams looked ahead, and after a few laps was on the tail of Mills in the lead. Mills held on out front and took the checkered flag for the sweep of action, with Adams close behind. Schilling, Reed and Williamson trailed in the top five.

In the Bemidji Mini Stocks, Ashton Schwinn picked up the clean sweep win with dad Conrad second and Hayden Engen third.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22-Davey Mills[1]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[5]; 3. 43-Lance Schilling[3]; 4. 2R-Jeff Reed[4]; 5. 88-Tanner Williamson[6]; 6. 77-Alan Olafson[2]; 7. 8T-Doug VanMill[8]; 8. (DNF) 22B-Josh Beaulieu[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Davey Mills[2]; 2. 43-Lance Schilling[1]; 3. 40-Kevin Adams[7]; 4. 2R-Jeff Reed[4]; 5. 77-Alan Olafson[3]; 6. 88-Tanner Williamson[5]; 7. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[6]; 8. 8T-Doug VanMill[8]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 57-Dalton Carlson[6]; 2. 27C-Cameron Labelle[1]; 3. 29X-Brandon Bahr[2]; 4. 26M-Garrett Masurka[3]; 5. 81B-Doug Bolt[11]; 6. 77-Rick Simpson[7]; 7. 81X-Matt Sparby[4]; 8. T26-Nic Lewis[5]; 9. 11-Riley Groshong[9]; 10. 40-Ellen Lange[14]; 11. 17-Faye Lewis[13]; 12. (DNF) 78K-Dexton Koch[8]; 13. (DNF) 44-Maxwell Dondelinger[10]; 14. (DNF) 65-Ron Reed[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. T26-Nic Lewis[1]; 2. 26M-Garrett Masurka[3]; 3. 78K-Dexton Koch[6]; 4. 29X-Brandon Bahr[4]; 5. 11-Riley Groshong[2]; 6. 81B-Doug Bolt[5]; 7. 17-Faye Lewis[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Rick Simpson[1]; 2. 57-Dalton Carlson[2]; 3. 27C-Cameron Labelle[6]; 4. 81X-Matt Sparby[7]; 5. 44-Maxwell Dondelinger[5]; 6. 65-Ron Reed[4]; 7. 40-Ellen Lange[3]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 32B-Brennan Schmidt[2]; 3. 10S-Sam Blevins[9]; 4. 16-Skyler Smith[7]; 5. 6K-Noah Bitz[13]; 6. 18X-Connor Drewry[11]; 7. 99-Doyle Erickson[6]; 8. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[4]; 9. 10X-Matthew Cunha[14]; 10. 7P-Cory Peterson[16]; 11. (DNF) 15-Landon Gross[3]; 12. (DNF) 70-David Simpson[8]; 13. (DNF) 9W-Hunter Weeks[10]; 14. (DNF) 13-Devyn Weleski[5]; 15. (DNF) 7A-Eric Anderson[17]; 16. (DNF) 710-Michael Jacobson[15]; 17. (DNF) 10JR-Mikey Blevins[12]; 18. (DNF) 11K-Travis Klein[18]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Skyler Smith[2]; 2. 32B-Brennan Schmidt[5]; 3. 15-Landon Gross[3]; 4. 9W-Hunter Weeks[1]; 5. (DNF) 7P-Cory Peterson[4]; 6. (DNF) 7A-Eric Anderson[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Doyle Erickson[2]; 2. 70-David Simpson[6]; 3. 13-Devyn Weleski[3]; 4. 18X-Connor Drewry[1]; 5. 6K-Noah Bitz[5]; 6. 710-Michael Jacobson[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[1]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[4]; 3. 10S-Sam Blevins[5]; 4. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[3]; 5. 10X-Matthew Cunha[2]; 6. (DNF) 11K-Travis Klein[6]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. TB81-Tommy Bawden[6]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[2]; 3. 6-Conrad Schwinn[4]; 4. 13-Casey Traxler[5]; 5. 44-Chad Erlandson[8]; 6. 99-Blake Erickson[7]; 7. 92-Nick Seitz[10]; 8. C92-Jeffrey Marthaler[11]; 9. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[3]; 10. 29-Kevin Bahr[1]; 11. 995-Brooke Erickson[9]; 12. (DNS) 119-Brandon Backstrom

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[1]; 2. 44-Chad Erlandson[2]; 3. 29-Kevin Bahr[3]; 4. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[4]; 5. 995-Brooke Erickson[5]; 6. (DNF) 119-Brandon Backstrom[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. TB81-Tommy Bawden[6]; 2. 99-Blake Erickson[3]; 3. 13-Casey Traxler[1]; 4. 18-Ashton Schwinn[2]; 5. 92-Nick Seitz[4]; 6. C92-Jeffrey Marthaler[5]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 57-Austin Carlson[7]; 2. 21X-Dustin Puffe[8]; 3. 39-Deryk Weleski[4]; 4. 3-Kade Leeper[9]; 5. 55-Aaron Bitker[1]; 6. 15-Caylyn Binkley[13]; 7. 47J-Justin Barsness[15]; 8. 38-Nate Zanter[5]; 9. 18B-Alex Berg[16]; 10. 21-Mason Smith[14]; 11. 24-Tabatha Conkle[11]; 12. 8-Karen Puschinsky[17]; 13. 54S-Collin Sander[18]; 14. 92-Mason Scholin[12]; 15. 25-Billy Binkley[6]; 16. (DNF) 59F-Lilian Farrington[3]; 17. (DNF) 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[2]; 18. (DNF) 62-Joshua Bitker[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Nate Zanter[1]; 2. 3-Kade Leeper[3]; 3. 55-Aaron Bitker[2]; 4. 62-Joshua Bitker[5]; 5. 15-Caylyn Binkley[4]; 6. 18B-Alex Berg[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 39-Deryk Weleski[2]; 2. 25-Billy Binkley[1]; 3. 57-Austin Carlson[4]; 4. 24-Tabatha Conkle[5]; 5. 21-Mason Smith[3]; 6. 8-Karen Puschinsky[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[1]; 2. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[2]; 3. 59F-Lilian Farrington[4]; 4. 92-Mason Scholin[3]; 5. 47J-Justin Barsness[5]; 6. (DNF) 54S-Collin Sander[6]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 13H-Travis Olafson[4]; 2. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[5]; 3. 19-Josh Backstrom[8]; 4. 7G-Jayme Gordon[2]; 5. 81R-Ryker Larson[10]; 6. 71-Nathan Bird[11]; 7. 10Z-Cade Johnson[7]; 8. 72-Aiden Kessler[9]; 9. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[1]; 10. 28-Chad Reller[6]; 11. (DNF) 77-Megan Vernlund[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Megan Vernlund[2]; 2. 13H-Travis Olafson[1]; 3. 28-Chad Reller[4]; 4. 19-Josh Backstrom[6]; 5. 72-Aiden Kessler[3]; 6. 71-Nathan Bird[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[4]; 2. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[3]; 3. 7G-Jayme Gordon[5]; 4. 10Z-Cade Johnson[2]; 5. 81R-Ryker Larson[1]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[4]; 2. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 3. 77-Hayden Engen[3]; 4. 11C-Cody Bush[8]; 5. 20JE-Jonah Espe[2]; 6. G17-Gabriel Espe[1]; 7. 22-Tania Denny[9]; 8. 94-Cameron Schwinn[7]; 9. (DNF) 50-Nick McCann[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[2]; 2. G17-Gabriel Espe[1]; 3. 20JE-Jonah Espe[3]; 4. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 5. 77-Hayden Engen[6]; 6. 50-Nick McCann[8]; 7. 94-Cameron Schwinn[7]; 8. 11C-Cody Bush[4]; 9. 22-Tania Denny[9]