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Chris Deno (Buck Monson Photo)

Deno denies victory lane to his Midwest Mod rivals Saturday night at Deer Creek Speedway

By Todd Narveson

SPRING VALLEY, MN (July 20) - It was Tasseldega Nights at Deer Creek Speedway on Saturday. The local county corn growers associations of Dodge, Goodhue, Freeborn, Fillmore, Olmsted and Wabasha counties provided free admission to the grandstand.

Christopher Deno was the winner in WISSOTA Dirt Track Series action.

As the full moon rose over turn two, the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds started their feature. On lap one in turn one, six cars piled up to bring out the yellow. Colin Wittenberg took the lead and was in control of the race following the restart. Jayme Hiller and Billy Steinberg battled for second, and eighth-starter Christopher Deno challenged for and claimed third.

Wittenburg got into lapped traffic on lap 10 and disaster struck; Wittenburg and a lapped car made contact in turn three that sent Wittenberg for a spin. He was then collected by two other cars and his night was over.

Steinberg then took the lead at the drop of the green, but Deno went to the top of the track and drove past for the lead on lap 12. Deno took off from there and won his third feature of the season. Kadden Kath made a late pass for second while Steinberg ran third. Shane Howell came from 12th and finished fourth and Adam Martinson was fifth.

In the USRA B-Mods, Dustin Kruse took off from outside of row one and opened up a big lead. The race for second was good with Brandon Hare, Jayden Larson, Taylor Skauge and Kaeden Bronner in the mix.

A yellow on lap nine slowed the race, but it did not deter Kruse; he took off again and dominated the rest of the way for his third win of the season. Hare was second followed by Larson, Skauge and Bronner.

Nineteen cars started the USRA Hobby Stock feature. Luke Schluetter and Krysta Doughty put on a show between numerous yellow-flag slowdowns.

Doughty led until lap five when Schluetter nabbed the lead before a yellow flag. On the restart, Chris Hovden made it three wide for the lead with Doughty and Schluetter. The fifth yellow flew on lap seven and laps were cut. Another yellow on lap 14 set up a green, white, checkered finish.

Schluetter fended off a late challenge from Doughty for his first win of the year. Nick Schwebach drove to third in the last scramble while Hovden was fourth. Ryan Goergen raced from 10th to finish fifth.

Blake Adams shot to the early lead in the USRA Stock Cars. Phillip Dunbar, Brandon Hare and Brayden Gjere were three wide for second on lap three. Gjere zoomed to second and took after Adams for the lead.

Adams and Gjere ran closely from lap six through lap eight. The two competitors then exchanged several slide jobs and the lead changed several times. Gjere took the lead on lap 12 before a yellow slowed the race and set up an exciting restart.

The green came out and Hare challenged Gjere for the top spot. Hare was scored the leader on lap 14 before the yellow flag flew again. On the restart, Gjere planted himself on the cushion and drove back by Hare for the lead on lap 18.

Gjere led the last two laps for his first win of the season and ninth overall. Hare was second with Adams in third. Shawn Peter and Andrew Bleess completed the top five.

Twenty-three USRA Modifieds took the green flag for their 25-lap feature. Ryan Wetzstein jumped from row one to the lead. Parker Hale and Jacob Bleess raced for second before a caution for debris slowed the race on lap four.

On the restart, Wetzstein led, while Brandon Davis made it three wide with Hale and Bleess for second. Bleess got to second and Davis was third on lap six. They ran that way until they caught lapped traffic on lap 14 and a yellow flag flew.

On the restart, Hale threw a haymaker of a slide job on Wetzstein and stole the lead into turn two. Davis was right there with the lead duo. Dustin Sorensen, who started 21st, was now in the top five. Davis stole the lead on lap 20 while the top four remained in tight formation.

Davis led the final five laps for his 78th career win at Deer Creek. Hale finished second while Sorensen’s charge ended in third. Joe Chisholm made a late charge to fourth and Wetzstein ended up fifth in the final rundown.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 98D-Christopher Deno[8]; 2. 83X-Kadden Kath[9]; 3. 83S-Billy Steinberg[5]; 4. L1-Shane Howell[12]; 5. 24M-Adam Martinson[6]; 6. 48-Dave Solum[10]; 7. 14-Colin Neisius[11]; 8. 40-Colton Kramer[2]; 9. 79K-Nick Kramer[3]; 10. 22H-Jayme Hiller[4]; 11. 88-Jacob Toepper[13]; 12. 9-Isaac Clark[14]; 13. 79H-Luke Hainka[16]; 14. 14F-Tyron Friese[17]; 15. 21S-Brian Schott[18]; 16. (DNF) 13-Scott Oeltjen[7]; 17. (DNF) 19C-Colin Wittenberg[1]; 18. (DNF) 73X-Nick Neisius[19]; 19. (DNF) 24-Liz Toepper[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 98D-Christopher Deno[5]; 2. 83S-Billy Steinberg[6]; 3. 79K-Nick Kramer[4]; 4. 48-Dave Solum[2]; 5. 88-Jacob Toepper[7]; 6. 79H-Luke Hainka[1]; 7. 21S-Brian Schott[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24M-Adam Martinson[1]; 2. 19C-Colin Wittenberg[4]; 3. 13-Scott Oeltjen[2]; 4. 14-Colin Neisius[6]; 5. 9-Isaac Clark[5]; 6. (DNF) 73X-Nick Neisius[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 83X-Kadden Kath[3]; 2. 22H-Jayme Hiller[2]; 3. 40-Colton Kramer[4]; 4. L1-Shane Howell[5]; 5. 24-Liz Toepper[6]; 6. 14F-Tyron Friese[1]

USRA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 50III-Brandon Davis[8]; 2. 28-Parker Hale[2]; 3. 19-Dustin Sorensen[21]; 4. 25-Joe Chisholm[7]; 5. 90-Ryan Wetzstein[1]; 6. 21-Jacob Bleess[3]; 7. 95X-Shaun Walski[4]; 8. 69-Lucas Schott[5]; 9. 43-Zach Brom[12]; 10. 12-Nick Murgic[14]; 11. 28S-Spencer Stock[6]; 12. 02-Cole Denner[10]; 13. 33-Joe Ludemann[20]; 14. 98M-Mitchel Madery[15]; 15. 4A-Joel Alberts[11]; 16. 29H-Joe Horgdal[13]; 17. 20G-Mike Grantham[19]; 18. 18M-Mason McEvers[22]; 19. 82-Robert Theuringer[23]; 20. (DNF) 61T-Tammy Soma Clark[9]; 21. (DNF) 17W-Ryan Wiome[17]; 22. (DNF) 77-Jacob Stark[18]; 23. (DNF) 5JF-Jonathen Feda[16]; 24. (DNS) 23-Darwin Karau

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Parker Hale[2]; 2. 02-Cole Denner[1]; 3. 25-Joe Chisholm[6]; 4. 43-Zach Brom[3]; 5. 29H-Joe Horgdal[7]; 6. 77-Jacob Stark[4]; 7. (DNF) 19-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 8. (DNF) 18M-Mason McEvers[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 69-Lucas Schott[4]; 2. 50III-Brandon Davis[3]; 3. 21-Jacob Bleess[7]; 4. 61T-Tammy Soma Clark[5]; 5. 12-Nick Murgic[6]; 6. 17W-Ryan Wiome[2]; 7. 20G-Mike Grantham[1]; 8. (DNF) 82-Robert Theuringer[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 90-Ryan Wetzstein[2]; 2. 95X-Shaun Walski[3]; 3. 28S-Spencer Stock[5]; 4. 4A-Joel Alberts[1]; 5. 98M-Mitchel Madery[6]; 6. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[7]; 7. (DNF) 33-Joe Ludemann[4]; 8. (DNS) 23-Darwin Karau

USRA B-Mods:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 6-Dustin Kruse[2]; 2. 5-Brandon Hare[3]; 3. 36K-Jayden Larson[4]; 4. 32-Taylor Skauge[6]; 5. 42B-Kaeden Bronner[5]; 6. 14-Caden Neisius[10]; 7. 87H-Harley Dais[12]; 8. 3A-Taylor Ausrud[7]; 9. 02K-Hunter Kennedy[1]; 10. 99-Noah Grinstead[17]; 11. 2C-Cole Bennerotte[11]; 12. 88-Bryer McCoy[14]; 13. 35JR-Garitt Wytaske[18]; 14. 19-Cody Maier[13]; 15. RED1-Dan Wheeler[8]; 16. 10T-Trevor Fecht[9]; 17. 65-Tommy Myer[15]; 18. 15-Cole Neisius[19]; 19. 29-Lilli Reps[22]; 20. 28-James Patzner[16]; 21. 13-Jesse Antiporek[21]; 22. 33-Corbin Ludemann[26]; 23. 57-Kyle King[20]; 24. 16-Jacob Bennett[24]; 25. 41-Cheyanne Murgic[23]; 26. 29S-Raymond Rehbein[25]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Cole Bennerotte[1]; 2. 42B-Kaeden Bronner[4]; 3. 10T-Trevor Fecht[5]; 4. 28-James Patzner[2]; 5. 35JR-Garitt Wytaske[7]; 6. 29-Lilli Reps[6]; 7. 16-Jacob Bennett[3]; 8. 77-Matt Stark[8]; 9. 3K-Kody Sexton[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Brandon Hare[1]; 2. 14-Caden Neisius[3]; 3. 3A-Taylor Ausrud[4]; 4. 19-Cody Maier[6]; 5. 65-Tommy Myer[8]; 6. 83-Braeden Allen[2]; 7. 33-Corbin Ludemann[7]; 8. (DNS) 7C-Curtis Parmenter

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. RED1-Dan Wheeler[2]; 2. 32-Taylor Skauge[5]; 3. 6-Dustin Kruse[7]; 4. 88-Bryer McCoy[6]; 5. 13-Jesse Antiporek[1]; 6. 99-Noah Grinstead[8]; 7. 41-Cheyanne Murgic[3]; 8. 47-Kyle Swanson[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 02K-Hunter Kennedy[7]; 2. 36K-Jayden Larson[2]; 3. 87H-Harley Dais[6]; 4. 15-Cole Neisius[3]; 5. 57-Kyle King[1]; 6. 29S-Raymond Rehbein[4]; 7. 17-Justin Murray[8]; 8. (DNS) 21-Rian Leichtnam

B Feature 1 (6 Laps): 1. 99-Noah Grinstead[3]; 2. 15-Cole Neisius[1]; 3. 13-Jesse Antiporek[2]; 4. 41-Cheyanne Murgic[6]; 5. 29S-Raymond Rehbein[4]; 6. 3K-Kody Sexton[8]; 7. 17-Justin Murray[5]; 8. (DNF) 21-Rian Leichtnam[9]; 9. (DNS) 47-Kyle Swanson

B Feature 2 (6 Laps): 1. 35JR-Garitt Wytaske[1]; 2. 57-Kyle King[2]; 3. 29-Lilli Reps[4]; 4. 16-Jacob Bennett[5]; 5. 33-Corbin Ludemann[6]; 6. 77-Matt Stark[7]; 7. 83-Braeden Allen[3]; 8. (DNS) 7C-Curtis Parmenter

USRA Stock Cars:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 23-Brayden Gjere[4]; 2. 56H-Brandon Hare[3]; 3. 14A-Blake Adams[2]; 4. 27-Shawn Peter[7]; 5. 2-Andrew Bleess[12]; 6. 11X-Levi Sand[9]; 7. 01-Kory Adams[16]; 8. 87-Travis Shipman[17]; 9. 21X-Xander Treichel[10]; 10. 54-Dillon Anderson[8]; 11. 67-Levi Schott[14]; 12. 35X-Phillip Dunbar[1]; 13. 711/2-Greg Jensen[15]; 14. 28-David Gustafson[13]; 15. (DNF) 67II-Chris Toot[11]; 16. (DNF) 14M-Brian Mahlstedt[6]; 17. (DNF) 67F-Kyle Falck[5]; 18. (DNS) 14-Brady Williamson

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14A-Blake Adams[4]; 2. 23-Brayden Gjere[8]; 3. 14M-Brian Mahlstedt[2]; 4. 27-Shawn Peter[6]; 5. 21X-Xander Treichel[7]; 6. 67II-Chris Toot[1]; 7. 28-David Gustafson[3]; 8. 711/2-Greg Jensen[5]; 9. (DNS) 14-Brady Williamson

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 67F-Kyle Falck[4]; 2. 56H-Brandon Hare[5]; 3. 54-Dillon Anderson[2]; 4. 35X-Phillip Dunbar[7]; 5. 11X-Levi Sand[9]; 6. 2-Andrew Bleess[3]; 7. 67-Levi Schott[6]; 8. 01-Kory Adams[8]; 9. (DNF) 87-Travis Shipman[1]

USRA Hobby Stocks:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 35-Luke Schluetter[2]; 2. 03-Krysta Doughty[1]; 3. 38S-Nick Schwebach[5]; 4. 07-Chris Hovden[4]; 5. G12-Ryan Goergen[10]; 6. 47P-Parker Anderson[8]; 7. 15R-Ryan Crooks[3]; 8. 15C-Caden Helle[13]; 9. 18Z-Zac Smith[15]; 10. 6-Dustin Gulbrandson[7]; 11. 7D-Devin Holthaus[6]; 12. 67-Nathan Albrecht[16]; 13. 99J-Jeremy Werner[12]; 14. 32J-Carter Jonsgaard[14]; 15. (DNF) 10-Blake Schneekloth[9]; 16. (DNF) 28K-Kaitlyn Paulson[17]; 17. (DNF) 18JR-Gavin Bartel[11]; 18. (DNF) 59F-Austin Fishel[18]; 19. (DNS) 70-Steve Holthaus

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15R-Ryan Crooks[1]; 2. 03-Krysta Doughty[5]; 3. 7D-Devin Holthaus[2]; 4. 99J-Jeremy Werner[3]; 5. 15C-Caden Helle[6]; 6. 28K-Kaitlyn Paulson[4]; 7. 59F-Austin Fishel[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 07-Chris Hovden[1]; 2. 47P-Parker Anderson[6]; 3. 6-Dustin Gulbrandson[2]; 4. 18JR-Gavin Bartel[5]; 5. 32J-Carter Jonsgaard[4]; 6. (DNS) 70-Steve Holthaus

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Luke Schluetter[5]; 2. 38S-Nick Schwebach[3]; 3. 10-Blake Schneekloth[2]; 4. G12-Ryan Goergen[6]; 5. 18Z-Zac Smith[4]; 6. 67-Nathan Albrecht[1]