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Grehl, Zabel, Becker, Nelson, Bogh and Weight are the Aberdeen aces on dry, high-flying night at Brown County

By Spencer Heupel

ABERDEEN, SD (June 21) - Mother Nature may have rained on everyone else’s parade Friday night, but not at Brown County Speedway. It was another night of high-flying, WISSOTA Dirt Track Series racing, with 88 drivers all set to duke it out for a spot in victory lane.

All five classes were in attendance, plus the makeup WISSOTA Super Stock feature from June 7 was part of the program.

By the end of the night, Nathan Grehl, Dylan Zabel, Chad Becker, Trevor Nelson, Jayden Bogh and Brennon Weight found victory lane in their respective classes.

The first race up was the WISSOTA Super Stock makeup feature, with 12 of the 14 making the call for the show. Matt Johnson and Nathan Grehl brought the field to green, battling for the first two laps side by side until Grehl grabbed the lead and began to put distance on Johnson.

By lap four, eighth-place starter Trevor Nelson was in third and beginning to battle Johnson for second. The field spread out, which benefitted Grehl as his lead grew. Grehl caught lapped traffic at the halfway mark, but maneuvered it with so much ease his lead grew even more.

With no caution flags, Grehl led wire to wire and scored his first win at BCS in 2024. Johnson, Stewart Schipke, Mark Abeln, and Bryson North rounded out the top five.

The WISSOTA Street Stocks were up next with a full field of 25 drivers on hand. A pair of BCS regulars - Jayden Bogh and Corey Moser - brought the field to green, with Moser grabbing the early advantage as they battled side by side.

On lap three the leader caught the slower car of Taylor Thorstenson, and Bogh used this to his advantage, taking over out front. One lap later the caution waved for an infield barrel on the track in turn two.

On the restart, Andy Rossow made huge moves from fifth to second, and set his sights on Bogh. As the lead duo began to open a gap on the field, Maria Broksieck battled her way up to third, and used the bottom to start reeling in the lead duo as they railed the top.

With the lead trio comfortably out front, the racing through the rest of the pack was intense, with two-, three- and even four-wide battles happening. The leaders caught lapped traffic with six to go and this is where Broksieck really began to make some noise, as she stuck her nose under Rossow. Rossow also took his own crack at Bogh a few times in the waning laps.

Neither Rossow nor Broksieck had anything for Bogh, however, as he fended off their challenges and grabbed his first win of the season at BCS. Rossow grabbed second while Broksieck, Michael Bogh, and Jayden Michealsohn rounded out the top five. The biggest mover of the race was Braden Brauer, who advanced 12 spots for a seventh place finish.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were up next, with 18 drivers on hand for a doozy of a feature. James Irwin and Kyle Schell led the field to green, with Schell taking a big lead out of turn two. Brennon Weight moved past Irwin quickly to grab second and began to pull even with Schell. The battle was short-lived, as Irwin spun in turn three on lap two.

With Weight and Luke Johnson right on Schell’s bumper for the restart, Johnson blasted to the outside of Schell at the drop of the green and looked to take the lead until caution flew again, as Nathan Jager and Brandon Hoftiezer got together in turn two. With the field restacked for the restart, Weight chose the top, but Schell blocked it as he saw what Johnson did on the previous attempt.

As the field took off Schell was doing a great job of getting runs out of the corners to fend off Johnson on the bottom; you could have put a blanket over the top five. Just as it was getting intense, caution struck again - this time, Hoftiezer and Toby Eilers got together, ending Eilers’s night. While under caution Johnson’s left front tire was slowly going flat, but he continued on.

Weight made his big power move out of turn two following the restart to grab the lead from Schell. His move opened up the door for Jarod Klein as well, who drove from fifth to second in the same lap. Weight began opening a gap, but Klein started to reel him in.

The leaders caught lapped traffic with only five to go and Weight extended his lead and grabbed his first win at BCS in 2024. Klein, Dawson Zabel, Taylor Schmidt and Schell round out the top five.

Only 10 drivers answered the call for the WISSOTA Modified feature, which from the start seemed to be influenced by the full moon. Zach Jung and James Hanley sat on the front row, with Hanley grabbing the early lead. But as the field went into turn one, calamity struck. Tyler Anglin, Jesse Young and Patrick Adler got together in turn two; Hanley threw it off the top of turn three and Jung broke suspension coming off turn four. Caution was thrown for the mayhem that ended the nights of Anglin, Jung and Adler.

Dylan Zabel joined Hanley on the front row for the complete restart. When the green flew, Zabel blasted out to the lead bringing Mike Stearns with him. The lead duo blasted away from the field, opening up a straightaway advantage to third-place Nate Heinrich.

The field ticked off laps, and Stearns began to apply pressure to Zabel. Stearns jumped the cushion in turn one, however, and gave Zabel the straightaway lead. Heinrich caught Stearns, and it did not take long for Stearns and Heinrich to reel Zabel in.

Zabel began working through lapped traffic with only four to go, which allowed Stearns to get back to his bumper, and on the white flag lap Stearns attempted a slider into turn three, but Zabel powered by on the outside to hold on and win his first feature at BCS in 2024.

It was a very emotional victory lane for Zabel. “It’s been a rough season, but to finally get the win at my home track, the place I wanna win at more than anywhere else,” he stated. “It’s special every time.”

Stearns, Heinrich, Garrett Gross and Chaun Peterson rounded out the top five.

The WISSOTA Super Stocks were up next for their regular feature, with 16 drivers on hand. Nathan Grehl and Brad Kopecky rolled out on the front row, with Grehl grabbing the lead going into turn one. The lead duo opened a gap on the field, railing the cushion up top.

Stewart Schipke, who started eighth, was the big mover on the restart into third, and he reeled in Kopecky as Grehl put distance on second and third. Caution struck on lap six when Kody Lehr and Dominique Menzia spun in turn three, giving Lehr a flat tire and ending his night.

On the ensuing restart Grehl pulled away, Schipke took second and Trevor Nelson was third. The field began to fan out around the speedway and the fastest car was Mark Abeln, who rolled off from 15th, but was only one on the bottom. Abeln rolled the bottom all the way to third with only eight to go and began to reel in the lead duo of Grehl and Nelson.

Nelson began putting the pressure on Grehl, but unlike the makeup feature, Grehl jumped the cushion in turn one and gave the lead to Nelson.

Nelson found the back end of the field coming to the white flag, but was patient during the final lap and went on to score the win. The win is Nelson’s second at BCS and sixth overall. Grehl, Abeln, Schipke and Matt Johnson rounded out the top five. Abeln was the hard charger, advancing from 12th for his third-place finish.

In the WISSOTA Late Model feature, there were 17 drivers on hand. It was an all-Watertown, SD front row with Trevor Anderson and Curt Kranz bringing the field to green. Anderson prevailed out of turn two and brought Chase Gelling with him into second.

Anderson and Gelling began to put distance on the rest of the field, who raced two and three wide. A caution struck on lap four, with Kranz losing power and not being able to clear to the pits.

Chad Becker made a move to grab second on the restart from Gelling, and as he rolled the bottom he began to pull even with Anderson. The run however, was cut short as Mike Jager spun on lap five.

The restart was a good one to Anderson, as he blasted out to a healthy lead, but Becker reeled him back in within a few laps. The leaders were side by side as they caught up the tail end of the field with 16 to go. As they began to maneuver traffic, Anderson caught a rut in one which gave Becker the lead; before they completed the lap, however, the caution flag flew due to a Jayson Good spin in turn one.

On the following restart Becker had a huge run out of turn two to take the lead from Anderson. Gelling also snuck around Anderson to grab second and tried reeling in Becker. The leaders caught lapped traffic with only seven to go, so time was running out for Gelling. Becker maneuvered through the lapped cars more quickly than Gelling was able to, and that sealed the win for Becker. It was his second at Brown County and fifth overall in 2024. Gelling, Anderson, Dustin Arthur and Eric Edwards rounded out the top five. Edwards was also hard charger, advancing 11 spots for a fifth-place finish.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 12-Chad Becker[8]; 2. 18-Chase Gelling[3]; 3. 20-Trevor Anderson[1]; 4. 21X-Dustin Arthur[4]; 5. 14E-Eric Edwards[16]; 6. 85-Jayson Good[6]; 7. 73M-David Carlson[12]; 8. 14-Nick Schmidt[15]; 9. 1-Konner Sperle[14]; 10. 64-Russell Beadle[9]; 11. 11-Roger Bitz[13]; 12. T3-Rich Thomas[11]; 13. 2T-Todd Thomas[17]; 14. (DNF) 9-Kent Arment[10]; 15. (DNF) 2S-Josh Skorczewski[5]; 16. (DNF) 75S-Mike Jager[7]; 17. (DNF) 87-Curt Kranz[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Chase Gelling[1]; 2. 20-Trevor Anderson[6]; 3. 2S-Josh Skorczewski[7]; 4. 21X-Dustin Arthur[5]; 5. 64-Russell Beadle[4]; 6. T3-Rich Thomas[3]; 7. 11-Roger Bitz[2]; 8. 2T-Todd Thomas[9]; 9. (DNF) 14E-Eric Edwards[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Chad Becker[3]; 2. 75S-Mike Jager[4]; 3. 87-Curt Kranz[6]; 4. 85-Jayson Good[7]; 5. 9-Kent Arment[8]; 6. 73M-David Carlson[5]; 7. 1-Konner Sperle[2]; 8. (DNF) 14-Nick Schmidt[1]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[3]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[6]; 3. 10H-Nate Heinrich[7]; 4. 36G'S-Garrett Gross[9]; 5. 42-Chaun Peterson[10]; 6. 32-Jesse Young[4]; 7. 5H-James Hanley[2]; 8. (DNF) 9J-Zach Jung[1]; 9. (DNF) 36-Tyler Anglin[5]; 10. (DNF) 57-Patrick Adler[8]; 11. (DNS) 9-Kent Arment; 12. (DNS) 28-Brady Lacher

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 36-Tyler Anglin[1]; 2. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[5]; 3. 9J-Zach Jung[3]; 4. (DNF) 36G'S-Garrett Gross[6]; 5. (DNF) 42-Chaun Peterson[2]; 6. (DNF) 9-Kent Arment[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[3]; 2. 10H-Nate Heinrich[1]; 3. 32-Jesse Young[6]; 4. 5H-James Hanley[4]; 5. 57-Patrick Adler[2]; 6. (DNF) 28-Brady Lacher[5]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 71-Trevor Nelson[7]; 2. 2-Nathan Grehl[1]; 3. 23-Mark Abeln[15]; 4. 33-Stewart Schipke[8]; 5. 17J-Matt Johnson[9]; 6. 5-Brad Kopecky[2]; 7. 67-Austin Arbogast[13]; 8. 19-Kyle Elsen[4]; 9. 32-Dominique Menzia[10]; 10. 22-Bryson North[11]; 11. 65-Luis Chavez[3]; 12. 40-Shawn Schnabel[16]; 13. 23JR-Kaden Kampa[12]; 14. 81-Damon Hoftiezer[6]; 15. (DNF) 7K-Kody Lehr[5]; 16. (DNF) 7-Derek Zastrow[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Brad Kopecky[2]; 2. 81-Damon Hoftiezer[1]; 3. 33-Stewart Schipke[3]; 4. 2-Nathan Grehl[6]; 5. 17J-Matt Johnson[7]; 6. (DNF) 67-Austin Arbogast[5]; 7. (DNF) 7-Derek Zastrow[8]; 8. (DNF) 23-Mark Abeln[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Trevor Nelson[5]; 2. 7K-Kody Lehr[3]; 3. 19-Kyle Elsen[2]; 4. 65-Luis Chavez[1]; 5. 32-Dominique Menzia[8]; 6. 22-Bryson North[6]; 7. 23JR-Kaden Kampa[4]; 8. (DNF) 40-Shawn Schnabel[7]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 28W-Brennon Weight[3]; 2. 77-Jarod Klein[7]; 3. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[6]; 4. 15-Taylor Schmidt[8]; 5. 11-Kyle Schell[2]; 6. 3-Luke Johnson[4]; 7. 50K-Kyler Nielsen[10]; 8. 77J-Nathan Jager[12]; 9. 12-Eric Cease[18]; 10. 24X-Ryan Ost[14]; 11. 99MC-James Irwin[1]; 12. 72-Brandon Hoftiezer[5]; 13. 21K-Kagan Cutler[11]; 14. (DNF) 37-William Hein[9]; 15. (DNF) 82-Connor Blumhardt[13]; 16. (DNF) 51-Toby Eilers[16]; 17. (DNF) 48-Camden Rassel[17]; 18. (DNS) 99X-Jerad Summers

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Taylor Schmidt[2]; 2. 77-Jarod Klein[8]; 3. 3-Luke Johnson[4]; 4. 11-Kyle Schell[5]; 5. 37-William Hein[6]; 6. 21K-Kagan Cutler[7]; 7. 77J-Nathan Jager[1]; 8. 82-Connor Blumhardt[9]; 9. (DNF) 48-Camden Rassel[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 28W-Brennon Weight[8]; 2. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[7]; 3. 72-Brandon Hoftiezer[4]; 4. 99MC-James Irwin[1]; 5. 50K-Kyler Nielsen[2]; 6. (DNF) 24X-Ryan Ost[3]; 7. (DNF) 99X-Jerad Summers[9]; 8. (DNF) 51-Toby Eilers[5]; 9. (DNF) 12-Eric Cease[6]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[1]; 2. 99R-Andy Rossow[8]; 3. 14-Maria Broksieck[7]; 4. 20-Michael Bogh[6]; 5. 95-Jayden Michaelsohn[4]; 6. 10T-Darek Turner[10]; 7. KOL34-Kolton Brauer[11]; 8. 34JR-Braden Brauer[19]; 9. 46-Cory Moser[2]; 10. 54-Jodie Michaelsohn[5]; 11. 24-Ashley Wampler[3]; 12. 79C-Billie Christ[17]; 13. 01-Chris Serr[14]; 14. 26-Ty Agen[24]; 15. 18H-Dusty Hyatt[15]; 16. 17G-Chris Gonska[13]; 17. 7M-Eric Mehlhaff[12]; 18. 37W-Ferlin Sheridan[21]; 19. 52X-Ava Gonska[22]; 20. 99-Mike Sobolik[20]; 21. (DNF) 59-Kyle Anderson[9]; 22. (DNF) 18-Taylor Thorstenson[25]; 23. (DNF) 77D-Adam Dehne[16]; 24. (DNF) 0-Wyatt Brooker[18]; 25. (DNF) 2U-Kasey Ussatis[23]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[1]; 2. 20-Michael Bogh[7]; 3. 95-Jayden Michaelsohn[5]; 4. 10T-Darek Turner[2]; 5. 17G-Chris Gonska[4]; 6. 77D-Adam Dehne[8]; 7. (DNF) 2U-Kasey Ussatis[3]; 8. (DNF) 18-Taylor Thorstenson[9]; 9. (DNS) 26-Ty Agen

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 59-Kyle Anderson[1]; 2. 54-Jodie Michaelsohn[3]; 3. 24-Ashley Wampler[5]; 4. KOL34-Kolton Brauer[4]; 5. 01-Chris Serr[8]; 6. 79C-Billie Christ[6]; 7. 34JR-Braden Brauer[2]; 8. 37W-Ferlin Sheridan[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Maria Broksieck[6]; 2. 46-Cory Moser[1]; 3. 99R-Andy Rossow[8]; 4. 7M-Eric Mehlhaff[3]; 5. 18H-Dusty Hyatt[7]; 6. 0-Wyatt Brooker[4]; 7. 99-Mike Sobolik[2]; 8. 52X-Ava Gonska[5]