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Thunder City’s three day special kicks off Thursday with Koehler’s Midwest Mod victory

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO (June 20) - Night one of the Halfway Motors Heartbeat Hot Sauce Invitational at Thunder City Speedway got underway Thursday night, June 20, the first of three nights of action at the Thunder Bay-area speedplant. On the docket was qualifying for the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds for the $10,000-to-win Saturday night finale, as well as action in the WISSOTA Street Stocks and the track’s Hornet class.

In WISSOTA Dirt Track Series action, Darren Wolframe and Nick Koehler topped the A-mains, while Nate Owen was victorious in the track’s Hornet class.

Brendan Makkinga and Johnny Staal led the WISSOTA Street Stocks to the green flag, with Makkinga in command early. Staal was second, while it was three and four wide for top-10 positions through the middle of the pack.

As the race progressed, Makkinga continued to lead Staal, with Cameron Ellis third, Steven Hitchman fourth and eighth-starter A.J. Kellar close behind in fifth. Kellar made the pass for fourth a lap later, and moved into third a couple laps after that. Also on the move was 10th-starter Wolframe, into fifth, and then fourth behind Kellar at about the halfway point.

A caution for a spun car and ensuing fire in the ride brought the field to a halt. The driver was okay.

Following the restart with nine laps to go, Makkinga was the leader ahead of Staal and Keller in the second row. Makkinga led down the backstretch, followed closely by Kellar, as Staal fell back through the field. Kellar tried every which way to get by Makkinga, but the No. 426 held strong for a couple of laps before slight contact from Kellar entering turn three led to Makkinga spinning in the corner.

Makkinga was restored to the lead with five laps left on the board, ahead of Wolframe and Tylar Wilson in the second row, with Wolframe choosing the outside line. As the field drove into one and out of two, they were four wide for the lead, with Makkinga suffering mechanical issues and dropping back through the field like a rock; his slowed racer brought out the caution.

Wolframe led the field back to the green when the race resumed, with Steven Piilo in second. Steven Piilo was under heavy pressure from Wilson for the runner-up position, before Wilson bobbled, allowing Andrew Piilo to get by into third. Andrew then drove by Steven Piilo for second.

With Wolframe comfortably out front, the Piilos raced each other hard for second. With the checkered in the air, Wolframe took the win. After post-race tech, 11th-starter Andrew Piilo was second, Cory Ward was third, 12th-starter Wilson was fourth and Steven Hitchman completed the top five.

As the WISSOTA Midwest Mods got underway, Jamie Davis was the early leader, but the initial start was called back when a car spun in turn one and the caution came out.

Davis was the leader on restart, with Trenton Woodbeck quickly challenging Davis for the lead. Shane Howell and Nick Koehler battled side by side for third, and William Moelter was fifth. Koehler grabbed the spot a couple of laps later.

Out front Davis had a healthy lead with five laps complete. Koehler began to chip away at the distance to Woodbeck in second, before a caution for several cars in a pile in between turns three and four two laps later brought out the yellow once again.

Koehler drove past Davis in turn four to grab the lead following the restart, with Davis holding second ahead of Woodbeck, Moelter and Howell in the top five. About a lap later Moelter and Howell were side by side for fourth, with Moelter retaining the spot. Another caution brought the field back together, this time for a stalled car along the backstretch.

Following the restart, Koehler held onto the lead ahead of Davis, Moelter - who had displaced Woodbeck to fourth - and Ashley Boyum. Boyum drove by Woodbeck half a lap later.

Koehler began to work his way through lapped traffic, with Davis closing in. A caution for a Kolby Reed spin brought the field back together for a six-lap sprint to the finish.

With the field back under green, Koehler continued to lead ahead of Davis, Moelter, Woodbeck and Boyum in the top five. Woodbeck got high in turn four, allowing Boyum by for fourth, and Tanner Ulakovic and Howell made it three wide with Woodbeck for the final top-five spot.

Koehler drove on to the victory, grabbing the checkered flag ahead of Davis, Moelter, Boyum, and Ulakovic in the top five.

The top five from Thursday will set the inside row of Saturday’s main feature. Friday’s top five will then take spots on the outside row of Saturday’s feature, to set the first five rows.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[3]; 2. 85-Jamie Davis[2]; 3. 87-William Moelter[7]; 4. 17B-Ashley Boyum[12]; 5. 86EH-Tanner Ulakovic[10]; 6. L1-Shane Howell[4]; 7. 00-Trenton Woodbeck[1]; 8. 33C-Cole Chernosky[9]; 9. 88-Andrew Opas[5]; 10. 3M-Scott McKinnon[6]; 11. RED1-Dan Wheeler[8]; 12. M20-Travis MacArthur[14]; 13. 66-Bill Speak[11]; 14. 40-Tanner Henderson[21]; 15. 26-Paul Hari[23]; 16. 47-Don Craig[16]; 17. 6-Joel Macleod[15]; 18. 18-Hunter Brink[13]; 19. 723-Wayne deBruin[22]; 20. 89-Kolby Reed[19]; 21. 95-Connor Moro[18]; 22. 99D-Ben DeFoy[20]; 23. (DNF) 03-Jami Oshust[24]; 24. (DNF) 17-Rob Groom[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[3]; 2. 87-William Moelter[4]; 3. 86EH-Tanner Ulakovic[5]; 4. 3M-Scott McKinnon[10]; 5. 89-Kolby Reed[6]; 6. 31J-Mike Jacques[1]; 7. 26-Paul Hari[8]; 8. 03-Jami Oshust[9]; 9. 14C-Colby Petrunak[7]; 10. (DNS) 2-Dan Tocheri

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. L1-Shane Howell[3]; 2. 85-Jamie Davis[6]; 3. 6-Joel Macleod[2]; 4. 17-Rob Groom[4]; 5. 40-Tanner Henderson[1]; 6. 95-Connor Moro[8]; 7. 32S-Connor Stieh[7]; 8. 57JR-Robert Squitti[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. RED1-Dan Wheeler[1]; 2. 88-Andrew Opas[3]; 3. 66-Bill Speak[2]; 4. 18-Hunter Brink[5]; 5. 723-Wayne deBruin[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 00-Trenton Woodbeck[4]; 2. 33C-Cole Chernosky[2]; 3. 17B-Ashley Boyum[3]; 4. 47-Don Craig[1]; 5. 99D-Ben DeFoy[5]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 40-Tanner Henderson[2]; 2. 723-Wayne deBruin[3]; 3. 26-Paul Hari[5]; 4. 03-Jami Oshust[7]; 5. 14C-Colby Petrunak[9]; 6. 99D-Ben DeFoy[1]; 7. 32S-Connor Stieh[6]; 8. (DNF) 31J-Mike Jacques[4]; 9. (DNS) 2-Dan Tocheri; 10. (DNS) 57JR-Robert Squitti

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 96W-Darren Wolframe[10]; 2. 24-Andrew Piilo[11]; 3. 32-Cory Ward[5]; 4. 55-Tylar Wilson[12]; 5. 88-Steven Hitchman[4]; 6. 9E-Cameron Ellis[3]; 7. 54X-AJ Kellar[8]; 8. 17A-David Mitchell[7]; 9. 6R-Spencer Reid[15]; 10. 2B-Jonah Bolt[19]; 11. 555-Johnny Staal[2]; 12. 1JT-Justin Tougas[16]; 13. 25-Kathryn Stieh[21]; 14. 12SB-Scott Gregory[6]; 15. 17-Don Mitchell[22]; 16. S13-Mike Stover[18]; 17. 73-Freddy Henny[17]; 18. 2-Charlie Merkley[13]; 19. 69R-Shawn Reid[23]; 20. (DNF) 426-Brendan Makkinga[1]; 21. (DNF) 12K-Chase Kivi[20]; 22. (DNF) 29-Ricky Reid[24]; 23. (DQ) 35-Nathan Henny[9]; 24. (DQ) 23-Steven Piilo[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9E-Cameron Ellis[2]; 2. 426-Brendan Makkinga[7]; 3. 54X-AJ Kellar[5]; 4. 24-Andrew Piilo[6]; 5. 6R-Spencer Reid[1]; 6. 12K-Chase Kivi[3]; 7. 73-Freddy Henny[9]; 8. 2B-Jonah Bolt[8]; 9. 29-Ricky Reid[4]; 10. 9-Jack Williamson[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 555-Johnny Staal[4]; 2. 35-Nathan Henny[1]; 3. 12SB-Scott Gregory[6]; 4. 88-Steven Hitchman[9]; 5. 2-Charlie Merkley[7]; 6. S13-Mike Stover[2]; 7. 81-Mason Reid[5]; 8. (DNF) 48-Jaden Piilo[8]; 9. (DNF) X-Sacha Torkkeli[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Cory Ward[1]; 2. 96W-Darren Wolframe[2]; 3. 55-Tylar Wilson[3]; 4. 17A-David Mitchell[8]; 5. 1JT-Justin Tougas[5]; 6. 23-Steven Piilo[9]; 7. 17-Don Mitchell[7]; 8. 69R-Shawn Reid[4]; 9. 25-Kathryn Stieh[6]

B Feature 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2B-Jonah Bolt[5]; 2. 12K-Chase Kivi[1]; 3. 25-Kathryn Stieh[7]; 4. 17-Don Mitchell[3]; 5. 69R-Shawn Reid[4]; 6. 29-Ricky Reid[6]; 7. 9-Jack Williamson[8]; 8. X-Sacha Torkkeli[10]; 9. (DNF) 81-Mason Reid[2]; 10. (DNS) 48-Jaden Piilo

Hornets:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 21N-Nate Owen[3]; 2. 22-Jesse Owen[1]; 3. 34-Selena Owen[4]; 4. 8X-Michael Shalley[2]; 5. 26-Martin Bolt[8]; 6. 26B-Rick Breukelman[11]; 7. M11-Merissa Currie[13]; 8. 5-Hunter Marshall[5]; 9. 10K-Kathleen Speaker[9]; 10. 6JR-Taylor Scaffeo[10]; 11. 37-Connor Danylko[14]; 12. 23-Jimmy Owen[12]; 13. (DNF) 555-Carter Wieringa[17]; 14. (DNF) 12SB-Mason Trembley[7]; 15. (DNF) 69-Rick Reid[6]; 16. (DNF) 09-Joshua Kruzel[15]; 17. (DNS) 11-Carrie Allen

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Jesse Owen[8]; 2. 34-Selena Owen[3]; 3. 12SB-Mason Trembley[2]; 4. 5-Hunter Marshall[7]; 5. 6JR-Taylor Scaffeo[1]; 6. 10K-Kathleen Speaker[9]; 7. M11-Merissa Currie[6]; 8. 09-Joshua Kruzel[5]; 9. (DNS) 555-Carter Wieringa

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8X-Michael Shalley[8]; 2. 21N-Nate Owen[7]; 3. 69-Rick Reid[1]; 4. 26-Martin Bolt[4]; 5. 26B-Rick Breukelman[2]; 6. 23-Jimmy Owen[3]; 7. 37-Connor Danylko[6]; 8. 11-Carrie Allen[5]