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Michael Fullerton & family (Lisa Rhen Photo)

Weeks wins first feature of career to highlight action Sunday night at Bemidji Speedway; other toppers are Beaulieu, Sparby, Specht, Barsness and Kiker

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (July 14) - It was a beautiful midsummer night for stock car racing at Bemidji Speedway and the “Unified Special Olympics Michael Fullerton 500.” Lots of action on the track could not compare to the crowd cheers for Michael Fullerton’s race that ran during intermission; fans stood and cheered on Michael’s specially prepared Pure Stock, driven by last year’s WISSOTA National Champion Josh Berg. Michael’s drive started in the back of the field and worked his way up to run alongside his dad, Matt, for the lead. Michael won his fourth straight race and drove into victory lane to the cheers of all the fans in the grandstands.

A total of 90 cars were on hand for the special night, which also included the presentation of the “Young Guns,” who are drivers under the age of 20. A total of 30 drivers, or one third of the field, represented the Young Guns. The future of racing is bright at Bemidji Speedway.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners Sunday night included Josh Beaulieu, Matt Sparby, Hunter Weeks, Patrick Specht, Justin Barsness, and Russell Kiker, Jr.

Eighteen WISSOTA Pure Stocks made the field, led by Josh Bitker on the pole and Caylyn Binkley to the outside. Bitker and Binkley raced door to door, with Binkley taking the early lead ahead of Barsness, Bitker, Brandon Puschinsky and Kade Leeper in the top five. The caution flag waved and Deryk Weleski was sent to the rear of the field with six to go.

Leeper got around Puschinsky for third and then a series of mishaps sent several cars to the pits for repairs. The restarts provided Barsness the opportunity to get by Binkley and take the lead. Leeper moved up to take second. Amazingly, Weleski drove through the pack of cars to regain a top-five spot behind Dustin Puffe in fourth. Barsness won the race ahead of Leeper, Puschinsky, Puffe and Weleski in the top five.

The WISSOTA Midwest Mods were next on track with Cory Peterson and Hunter Weeks in row one. Racing three wide down the front straight, Weeks grabbed the lead with Mikey Blevins and Skyler Smith in tight pursuit. Gary James Nelson and Sam Blevins trailed the lead three.

The excellent race for the lead was a battle among the top three, racing high and low trading positions throughout the race. Hunter Weeks drove on to pick up his first-ever feature win and a clean sweep at that, having won his heat race earlier. Mikey Blevins, Smith, Nelson and Sam Blevins rounded out the top five.

An even dozen WISSOTA Hornets buzzed on track next with Brady Fosso and Aiden Kessler in the front row. After several attempts at a start and cautions, the race went green with Fosso out front followed by Kessler, Mateja Dreyer, Russell Kiker, Jr. and Cade Johnson.

While in the lead, Fosso slid up over the top of turn two and dropped back in the pack, moving Kessler into the lead with Kiker close behind in second - ahead of a wild three-car battle for third.

Out front, Kiker, Jr. and Kessler fought it out for the lead. On the last lap, the two ran side by side, with Kiker inching ahead for the win in a very close finish. Kessler, Josh Backstrom, Megan Vernlund, and Fosso finished in the top five. It was a clean sweep for Kiker.

An excellent field of WISSOTA Mod Fours was led on track by polesitter Brooklyn Vernlund. To her right was longtime great Conrad Schwinn. It did not take long for the first of several cautions to wave as national point leader Dean Larson was sent to the rear of the field early.

Schwinn held the lead spot with Patrick Specht, Vernlund, Ashton Schwinn and Casey Traxler in the top five. Specht powered by Schwinn for the lead and quickly created space from the field. A couple of more cautions slowed the race, tightening the field each time for restarts. Down the front straight a three-car crash sent Conrad Schwinn, Ashton Schwinn and Vernlund into the wall. Again, the BFD was called into action to check on each driver. Fortunately, all were okay, but Vernlund and Conrad Schwinn had to pit with Schwinn returning tailback.

The restart was controlled by Specht and he picked up his first win of the season at Bemidji followed by Traxler, Blake Erickson, Dean Larson from tailback, and Jeffrey Marthaler.

An excellent field of WISSOTA Super Stocks roared on track led by Ron Reed and Ellen Lange in row one. The track was fast and black with Lange taking the early lead over Reed, Dalton Carlson, Cam Labelle and Matt Sparby. The first caution flag flew for Cam Labelle, who spun in turns three and four.

Carlson gained on the restart, racing around Reed for second. Lange looked fantastic up front, leading the pack, but the more experienced Carlson raced high to take the lead from her.

Following a restart for debris, Sparby was on the move as he raced the top side into third, and then down low into the lead, with Carlson charging back to challenge him. Sparby won the race, with Carlson, Max Dondelinger, Reed, and Nic Lewis in the top five.

Josh Beaulieu and Jeff Reed led the WISSOTA Modified field to the green, with Beaulieu taking the lead followed by Reed, Lance Schilling, Davey Mills, and Dawson Allen in the top five. Schilling moved alongside Reed for second. The leaders pulled away from the pack on the super fast track, with laps flying by in the 15-lap feature.

Beaulieu was out to a three-car length lead over Reed before a caution slowed the action for a restart.

The restart was controlled by Beaulieu once again, with Schilling using the top side to pass Reed for second. A good race for fourth had Mills and Matt Fullerton in a tight battle. For Fullerton, it was his first race of the year and the No. 1 Mod looked fast. Beaulieu picked up the win with Schilling, Reed, Mills, and Fullerton in the top five ending a great night of racing at Bemidji Speedway.

Nick McCann picked up the win in the Mini Stocks, with Ashton Schwinn, Cody Bush, Hayden Engen and Jonah Espe trailing in the top five. Conrad Schwinn hit the wall during the race, but was attended to and was okay.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[1]; 2. 43-Lance Schilling[4]; 3. 2R-Jeff Reed[2]; 4. 22-Davey Mills[3]; 5. 1-Matt Fullerton[5]; 6. 8T-Doug VanMill[8]; 7. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[7]; 8. 4A-Dawson Allen[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2R-Jeff Reed[4]; 2. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[3]; 3. 43-Lance Schilling[5]; 4. 22-Davey Mills[6]; 5. 1-Matt Fullerton[2]; 6. 4A-Dawson Allen[1]; 7. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[7]; 8. 8T-Doug VanMill[8]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

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

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 65-Ron Reed[2]; 2. 2F-Jeffrey Frey[6]; 3. T26-Nic Lewis[3]; 4. 81X-Matt Sparby[4]; 5. 29X-Brandon Bahr[5]; 6. 11-Riley Groshong[1]; 7. 17-Faye Lewis[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Dalton Carlson[3]; 2. 40-Ellen Lange[1]; 3. 44-Maxwell Dondelinger[5]; 4. 27C-Cameron Labelle[4]; 5. 81B-Doug Bolt[2]; 6. 26M-Garrett Masurka[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 9W-Hunter Weeks[2]; 2. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[4]; 3. 16-Skyler Smith[8]; 4. 74-Gary James Nelson[7]; 5. 10S-Sam Blevins[10]; 6. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[11]; 7. 33L-Alex O'Dell[9]; 8. 99-Doyle Erickson[13]; 9. 18X-Connor Drewry[3]; 10. 15-Landon Gross[5]; 11. 11L-Jason LaValley[6]; 12. 7P-Cory Peterson[1]; 13. (DNF) 6K-Noah Bitz[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9W-Hunter Weeks[2]; 2. 7P-Cory Peterson[1]; 3. 15-Landon Gross[4]; 4. 74-Gary James Nelson[7]; 5. 33L-Alex O'Dell[3]; 6. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[6]; 7. 6K-Noah Bitz[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[2]; 2. 16-Skyler Smith[4]; 3. 18X-Connor Drewry[3]; 4. 11L-Jason LaValley[1]; 5. 10S-Sam Blevins[6]; 6. (DNF) 99-Doyle Erickson[5]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 617-Patrick Specht[5]; 2. 13-Casey Traxler[6]; 3. 99-Blake Erickson[8]; 4. 37-Dean Larson[3]; 5. C92-Jeffrey Marthaler[10]; 6. 92-Nick Seitz[11]; 7. 6-Conrad Schwinn[2]; 8. 18E-Luke Erlandson[4]; 9. 29-Kevin Bahr[13]; 10. 18-Ashton Schwinn[7]; 11. 995-Brooke Erickson[12]; 12. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[1]; 13. 14-Christopher Clanton[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[1]; 2. 13-Casey Traxler[3]; 3. 617-Patrick Specht[4]; 4. 6-Conrad Schwinn[6]; 5. 14-Christopher Clanton[5]; 6. 92-Nick Seitz[7]; 7. 29-Kevin Bahr[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Dean Larson[2]; 2. 18E-Luke Erlandson[3]; 3. 18-Ashton Schwinn[5]; 4. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[1]; 5. C92-Jeffrey Marthaler[6]; 6. 995-Brooke Erickson[4]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 47J-Justin Barsness[4]; 2. 3-Kade Leeper[5]; 3. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[3]; 4. 21X-Dustin Puffe[9]; 5. 39-Deryk Weleski[7]; 6. 18B-Alex Berg[15]; 7. 35B-Josh Berg[8]; 8. X81-Alexa Sparby[14]; 9. 24-Tabatha Conkle[13]; 10. 38-Nate Zanter[6]; 11. 8-Karen Puschinsky[16]; 12. 88-Cale Puschinksy[17]; 13. 15-Caylyn Binkley[2]; 14. (DNF) 21-Mason Smith[10]; 15. (DNF) 57-Austin Carlson[11]; 16. (DNF) 25-Billy Binkley[12]; 17. (DNF) 59F-Lilian Farrington[18]; 18. (DNF) 62-Joshua Bitker[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 39-Deryk Weleski[6]; 2. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[2]; 3. 62-Joshua Bitker[5]; 4. 21-Mason Smith[4]; 5. 24-Tabatha Conkle[3]; 6. 7K-Quintyn Karl[8]; 7. 8-Karen Puschinsky[1]; 8. 47-Terry Hill[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Kade Leeper[1]; 2. 21X-Dustin Puffe[7]; 3. 35B-Josh Berg[5]; 4. 57-Austin Carlson[4]; 5. 18B-Alex Berg[2]; 6. 87-Shannon George[6]; 7. 59F-Lilian Farrington[3]; 8. 88-Cale Puschinksy[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Caylyn Binkley[1]; 2. 38-Nate Zanter[7]; 3. 47J-Justin Barsness[4]; 4. 25-Billy Binkley[3]; 5. X81-Alexa Sparby[6]; 6. 55-Aaron Bitker[5]; 7. 54S-Collin Sander[2]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Tabatha Conkle[1]; 2. X81-Alexa Sparby[3]; 3. 18B-Alex Berg[2]; 4. 8-Karen Puschinsky[6]; 5. 88-Cale Puschinksy[10]; 6. 59F-Lilian Farrington[7]; 7. 54S-Collin Sander[8]; 8. 47-Terry Hill[9]; 9. 87-Shannon George[4]; 10. 55-Aaron Bitker[5]; 11. 7K-Quintyn Karl[11]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[7]; 2. 72-Aiden Kessler[2]; 3. 19-Josh Backstrom[9]; 4. 77-Megan Vernlund[8]; 5. 27-Brady Fosso[1]; 6. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[4]; 7. 10Z-Cade Johnson[5]; 8. 7G-Jayme Gordon[6]; 9. 81R-Ryker Larson[3]; 10. 24-Kyleah Kaslow[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7G-Jayme Gordon[3]; 2. 72-Aiden Kessler[1]; 3. 27-Brady Fosso[2]; 4. 81R-Ryker Larson[4]; 5. 77-Megan Vernlund[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[2]; 2. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[4]; 3. 10Z-Cade Johnson[1]; 4. (DNF) 19-Josh Backstrom[3]; 5. (DNF) 24-Kyleah Kaslow[5]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[4]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[3]; 3. 11C-Cody Bush[6]; 4. 77-Hayden Engen[5]; 5. 20JE-Jonah Espe[8]; 6. 94-Cameron Schwinn[2]; 7. 26-Brooke McCann[9]; 8. (DNF) 6-Conrad Schwinn[7]; 9. (DQ) 22-Tania Denny[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[3]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[4]; 3. 11C-Cody Bush[2]; 4. 94-Cameron Schwinn[1]; 5. (DNF) 20JE-Jonah Espe[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Hayden Engen[2]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[3]; 3. 26-Brooke McCann[4]; 4. 22-Tania Denny[1]