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Bemidji’s Women In Motorsports include (from left) Faye Lewis, Ellen Lange, Brooke Erickson, Caylyn Binkley, Mateja Dreyer, Lily Farrington, Alexa Sparby, Kaylie Hunter, Karen Puschinsky, Tabatha Conkle, Tania Denny, Brooke McCann, Megan Vernlund and Brooke Vernlund. (Lisa Rhen Photo)

Vernlund knocks off Hornet field on Women In Motorsports Night at Bemidji Speedway; Williamson, Lewis, LaValley, Schwinn and Carlson also win features

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (July 21) - It was another hot and steamy night at Bemidji Speedway on Sunday, but the heat did not deter the drivers or the fans from showing their support on LVI Supply Women in Motorsports Night. Fifteen women racers were introduced to the fans during intermission, as well as ladies who work at the track.

Eighty-two cars in seven classes gave the crowd plenty to cheer for, with WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners including Tanner Williamson, Conrad Schwinn, Joseph LaValley, Megan Vernlund, Nic Lewis, and Austin Carlson.

Seventeen WISSOTA Pure Stocks were led early on by Lillian Farrington, who was chased by Mason Scholin, Nate Zanter, Alexa Sparby and Austin Carlson in the top five. Carlson moved inside in turn three for fourth, while Billy Binkley raced high for fifth. Farrington, who has looked fast this summer, continued to hold off several challenges from Scholin and Zanter, as they battled each other door to door for second. Carlson was on the move along the high side, getting by Zanter and Scholin, and then Farrington into the lead.

In a flag-to-flag race, Carlson picked up his second feature win of the summer. Farrington put on a valiant fight to finish second with Zanter, Scholin and Kade Leeper in the top five.

The WISSOTA Hornets were on track next, with Megan Vernlund the early leader. Mateja Dreyer, Jayme Gordon, Russell Kiker, Jr. and Aiden Kessler held top-five spots early on, before Kessler slowed on the back straight and pulled into the infield.

Vernlund, always fast, pulled out to a huge lead while the others ran bumper to bumper for second through fifth. Vernlund went on to win by nearly a half lap, her second victory. Kiker, Jr., Dreyer, Gordon and Cade Johnson were top-five finishers.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds always put on a great show and Sunday night was no different. Landon Gross took the early lead with Doyle Erickson, Joey LaValley, and Kalin Honer trailing. Gross slid up high and dropped back to seventh, as LaValley powered to the lead and quickly pulled away to about five car lengths. A caution in turn two brought out the yellow flag and sent Michael Jacobson tailback for the restart.

LaValley held the lead with Erickson and Skyler Smith dueling side by side for second in a great race with two tremendous drivers. Smith took over second and quickly moved up to challenge LaValley for the lead, running bumper to bumper. LaValley held off the challenge to secure the win and celebrated in victory lane with his dad, mom and family. It was his first win of the summer and a clean sweep. Smith, Erickson, Honer and Gross completed the top five.

In the WISSOTA Modifieds, Bryce Borgen powered to the early lead followed by Canadian visitor Tanner Williamson, Devin Fouquette, Jeff Reed and Ricky Jacobson in the top five. Williamson and Borgen battled side by side down the back straight while third-row starter Lance Schilling raced into the top five. Fouquette moved up to make it a three-way fight for the lead, racing high and low on the track.

Out front Williamson moved to the lead, gaining a three-car length advantage quickly over Borgen. Following the only caution of the race, Williamson picked up the feature win, his first at Bemidji this summer. Borgen, Fouquette, Schilling and Reed finished in the top five.

The WISSOTA Mod Four feature was led early on by Conrad Schwinn, ahead of Kevin Bahr, Nick Seitz, Casey Traxler and Ashton Schwinn in the top five. Seitz moved up high in turns three and four and dropped back to fifth. In very tight bumper-to-bumper racing, Blake Erickson advanced from his third-row starting spot into the top five. Traxler, Ashton Schwinn, Erickson and Bahr were in such a tight race you could have thrown a blanket over the four racers.

Out front, however, this race belonged to Conrad Schwinn. He won his first of the year, as Traxler, Ashton Schwinn, Erickson and Bahr completed the top five.

The start of the WISSOTA Super Stock feature was a bit rocky, as front-row starter Ron Reed slipped up in turn one and collected four other Supers in the process. Reed was sent tailback for the restart, moving Nick Lewis into the front row.

Back under green, Labelle grabbed the lead with Lewis, Matt Sparby, Jack Koranda and Max Dondelinger in the top five in wild side-by-side racing. Labelle moved up high and Lewis down low in a tight duel for the lead, with Sparby inching closer to the front. Lewis kept the gas on and ran door to door with Labelle, moving into the lead as Labelle was high in turn two. Lewis drove on and picked up his second feature of the season with Sparby, Labelle, Koranda and Dondelinger in the top five.

Conrad Schwinn also won in the track’s Mini Stock class, battling three wide from his second row starting spot to garner the top spot and drive on to the win. Nick McCann passed Ashton Schwinn for second late in the race, while Justin Honer and Brandon Hunter finished in the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Williamson[1]; 2. 7-Bryce Borgen[2]; 3. 15F-Devin Fouquette[3]; 4. 43-Lance Schilling[5]; 5. 2R-Jeff Reed[4]; 6. 7J-Rick Jacobson[6]; 7. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[7]; 8. 77-Alan Olafson[8]; 9. (DNF) 5JF-Jonathen Feda[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 43-Lance Schilling[1]; 2. 7-Bryce Borgen[2]; 3. 15F-Devin Fouquette[3]; 4. 88-Tanner Williamson[8]; 5. 2R-Jeff Reed[5]; 6. 7J-Rick Jacobson[4]; 7. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[7]; 8. 77-Alan Olafson[6]; 9. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[9]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. T26-Nic Lewis[4]; 2. 81X-Matt Sparby[6]; 3. 27C-Cameron Labelle[2]; 4. 22-Jack Koranda[5]; 5. 44-Maxwell Dondelinger[8]; 6. 28*-Bailey Rosch[7]; 7. 57-Dalton Carlson[9]; 8. 65-Ron Reed[1]; 9. 29X-Brandon Bahr[3]; 10. 40-Ellen Lange[12]; 11. (DNF) 26M-Garrett Masurka[10]; 12. (DNF) 17-Faye Lewis[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Jack Koranda[1]; 2. 81X-Matt Sparby[2]; 3. 27C-Cameron Labelle[3]; 4. 28*-Bailey Rosch[5]; 5. 57-Dalton Carlson[4]; 6. 17-Faye Lewis[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Maxwell Dondelinger[1]; 2. 65-Ron Reed[2]; 3. 29X-Brandon Bahr[6]; 4. T26-Nic Lewis[3]; 5. 26M-Garrett Masurka[5]; 6. 40-Ellen Lange[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 11L-Joseph LaValley[3]; 2. 16-Skyler Smith[8]; 3. 99-Doyle Erickson[4]; 4. 115-Kalin Honer[5]; 5. 15-Landon Gross[2]; 6. 6K-Noah Bitz[11]; 7. 9W-Hunter Weeks[6]; 8. (DNF) 10X-Matthew Cunha[1]; 9. (DNF) 710-Michael Jacobson[9]; 10. (DNF) 32B-Brennan Schmidt[10]; 11. (DNF) 10-Michael Blevins Sr[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11L-Joseph LaValley[2]; 2. 9W-Hunter Weeks[1]; 3. 15-Landon Gross[4]; 4. 115-Kalin Honer[3]; 5. 710-Michael Jacobson[6]; 6. 6K-Noah Bitz[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Doyle Erickson[1]; 2. 16-Skyler Smith[3]; 3. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[4]; 4. 10X-Matthew Cunha[2]; 5. 32B-Brennan Schmidt[5]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[2]; 2. 13-Casey Traxler[6]; 3. 18-Ashton Schwinn[3]; 4. 99-Blake Erickson[5]; 5. 29-Kevin Bahr[1]; 6. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[7]; 7. 995-Brooke Erickson[8]; 8. 29J-Jayden Bahr[9]; 9. (DNF) 92-Nick Seitz[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[1]; 2. 29-Kevin Bahr[2]; 3. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 4. 18-Ashton Schwinn[6]; 5. 92-Nick Seitz[4]; 6. 13-Casey Traxler[3]; 7. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[8]; 8. 995-Brooke Erickson[7]; 9. 29J-Jayden Bahr[9]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 57-Austin Carlson[7]; 2. 59F-Lilian Farrington[1]; 3. 38-Nate Zanter[5]; 4. 92-Mason Scholin[3]; 5. 3-Kade Leeper[8]; 6. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[9]; 7. 25-Billy Binkley[4]; 8. 47J-Justin Barsness[6]; 9. 18B-Alex Berg[11]; 10. 15-Caylyn Binkley[10]; 11. 24-Tabatha Conkle[12]; 12. 54S-Collin Sander[14]; 13. 45K-Kiefer Kainz[13]; 14. 8-Karen Puschinsky[16]; 15. 47-Terry Hill[15]; 16. (DNF) 7K-Quintyn Karl[19]; 17. (DNF) X81-Alexa Sparby[2]; 18. (DNS) 21X-Dustin Puffe; 19. (DNS) 39-Deryk Weleski

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[3]; 2. 57-Austin Carlson[5]; 3. 47J-Justin Barsness[4]; 4. 15-Caylyn Binkley[2]; 5. 7K-Quintyn Karl[7]; 6. (DNF) 39-Deryk Weleski[6]; 7. (DNF) 21X-Dustin Puffe[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Kade Leeper[3]; 2. 25-Billy Binkley[2]; 3. X81-Alexa Sparby[4]; 4. 18B-Alex Berg[5]; 5. 45K-Kiefer Kainz[1]; 6. 47-Terry Hill[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Nate Zanter[6]; 2. 59F-Lilian Farrington[2]; 3. 92-Mason Scholin[4]; 4. 24-Tabatha Conkle[3]; 5. 54S-Collin Sander[1]; 6. 8-Karen Puschinsky[5]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 77-Megan Vernlund[1]; 2. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[5]; 3. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[2]; 4. 7G-Jayme Gordon[3]; 5. 10Z-Cade Johnson[8]; 6. 81R-Ryker Larson[7]; 7. 16-Joey Tracy[6]; 8. (DNF) 72-Aiden Kessler[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Megan Vernlund[2]; 2. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[7]; 3. 7G-Jayme Gordon[8]; 4. 72-Aiden Kessler[1]; 5. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[6]; 6. 16-Joey Tracy[3]; 7. 81R-Ryker Larson[4]; 8. (DNS) 10Z-Cade Johnson

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[3]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[7]; 3. 18-Ashton Schwinn[8]; 4. 22H-Justin Honer[2]; 5. 5-Brandon Hunter[1]; 6. 94-Cameron Schwinn[10]; 7. 26-Brooke McCann[12]; 8. 22-Tania Denny[14]; 9. (DNF) 15-Gordon Hunter[5]; 10. (DNF) 11C-Cody Bush[6]; 11. (DNF) 20JE-Jonah Espe[4]; 12. (DNF) G17-Gabriel Espe[13]; 13. (DNF) 3H-Kaylie Winge[11]; 14. (DQ) 77-Hayden Engen[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[2]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[7]; 3. 5-Brandon Hunter[1]; 4. 15-Gordon Hunter[4]; 5. 77-Hayden Engen[3]; 6. 3H-Kaylie Winge[6]; 7. G17-Gabriel Espe[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[6]; 2. 22H-Justin Honer[5]; 3. 11C-Cody Bush[1]; 4. 20JE-Jonah Espe[3]; 5. 94-Cameron Schwinn[7]; 6. 26-Brooke McCann[4]; 7. 22-Tania Denny[2]