7-9 Page 28 | ATD Racing News

Jacobson, Schow and Erlandson earn open-wheeled wins while fendered funsters Dondelinger and Leeper also lock up Bemidji features

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (July 7) - The “Off Grid Armory, First Responders/Salute to Service Night” was a huge success on Sunday night at Bemidji Speedway. A total of 92 cars filled the pits and provided fans with a perfect way to show their appreciation on the final day of the Independence Day weekend. All first responders – law enforcement, EMS, fire, military and veterans – received free admission to the races.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Rick Jacobson, Maxwell Dondelinger, Ryan Schow, Luke Erlandson, and Kade Leeper.

The WISSOTA Pure Stocks roared on track, with 21 cars looking for victory. Alexa Sparby and Aaron Bitker led the field to the green from the front row, with second-row starter Brandon Puschinsky taking the early lead ahead of Sparby, Justin Barsness, Bitker and Austin Carlson in the top five. Barsness raced along the inside lane on the back straight into second before the caution flag came out setting up a restart.

Following the restart, Puschinsky led Barsness and Sparby as sixth-row starter Kade Leeper flew forward along the high side. Out front, Carlson worked his way forward and challenged Puschinsky for the lead, as Dustin Puffe raced up into contention. Puschinsky faded back as Carlson, Leeper and Puffe faced off; Leeper drove inside in turns one and two and came out in the lead for another checkered flag. It was an incredible race for Leeper, with Carlson, Puffe, Deryk Weleski and Chad Tabaka trailing in the top five.

Maxwell Dondelinger and Brandon Bahr led the field of 13 WISSOTA Super Stocks down the front straight to the green flag, with Dondelinger taking the lead in turn one. He was followed by Bahr, Cameron Labelle, Dexton Koch and Matt Sparby in the early top five. Koch raced to the high side and passed Labelle for third down the back straightaway.

Dondelinger built a huge lead out front as the field fought for position behind him. Sparby and Doug Koski raced side by side for fifth, while another side-by-side duel developed between Bahr and Koch for second. Sparby won the fight for fifth, and Bahr won his duel with Koch for second. Dondelinger was the big winner, taking the checkered flag in a flag-to-flag feature race. Bahr, Koch, Labelle and Matt Sparby completed the top five.

The WISSOTA Hornet feature moved on track with two talented young ladies leading the way: Mateja Dreyer was the polesitter, flanked by Megan Vernlund.

Vernlund was the early leader, followed by Travis Olafson and Jayme Gordon. Vernlund had mechanical issues and slowed into the infield, out of the race. Olafson took over the lead with Gordon, Dreyer, Chase Pourrier and Cade Johnson in the top five. Olafson built a four-car length lead, while Gordon attempted a high side move, but slid too high and over the top, bringing the caution flag.

Olafson led the field back to the green, with Dreyer, Pourrier, Ryker Larson and Johnson in the top five. Olafson controlled the restart and picked up the feature with Dreyer taking an impressive second followed by Pourrier, Larson and Gordon.

Fourteen WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds entered turn four led by Ryan Schow on the pole and Cory Peterson to his right. Schow powered into turn one in the lead, with Gary James Nelson, Peterson, Landon Gross and Skyler Smith in the hunt. Smith raced inside to take fourth, but the caution flag waved in turn four, setting up a restart and moving Smith back a few spots.

With the green flag once again waving, Schow and Nelson led the charge as Gross moved up to take over third and Doyle Erickson raced into fourth; Scott Thompson was fifth. Once again the yellow flag waved, as Peterson slid up and over turns one and two in the corner, sending him tailback.

Smith was attempting to regain his top five position as the green flag came back out, racing the topside. Erickson and Gross dueled door to door, with the veteran Erickson winning that duel for third. Smith continued to work his way forward with an inside move to fifth, and then beat Gross for fourth as Schow cruised to victory out front, his first of the summer at Bemidji Speedway. Nelson, Erickson, Smith and Gross were top-five finishers.

The WISSOTA Mod Four feature was 18 strong, led by Luke Erlandson and Brooke Erickson from the front row. Several cautions marred the start of the race and sent several cars to the pits.

Once the drivers settled down, the race went green with Erlandson, Ashton Schwinn, Casey Traxler, Blake Erickson and Tyler Larson in the top five after one lap. Traxler attempted a high-side pass and dropped back several positions, moving Tommy Bawden into the top five. The two No. 13s were in a tight battle for the lead up front, with Erlandson and Schwinn racing side by side for the top spot; Erlandson held the advantage. Bawden went to the high side again and passed Erickson for third, as Erlandson claimed the victory. Schwinn, Bawden, Erickson and Alexander McFarlen finished in the top five.

Making a return to the track in the WISSOTA Modifieds, Ricky Jacobson held the pole for the feature, flanked by John Farrington to his outside. Jacobson blasted into the lead with Lance Schilling making strong moves from his third-row starting position into second. Alan Olafson, Farrington and Josh Beaulieu held top-five spots. Jacobson was fast and quickly had a sizable lead. A caution sent Jonathon Feda to the rear.

Jacobson, Schilling, Olafson, Beaulieu and Jeff Reed led the top five to the green flag in a tight field for the restart. Reed looked inside as Beaulieu drove to the infield with obvious mechanical issues. Jacobson was out to a five-car length lead as Schilling tried the high side and dropped back to fifth. Reed and Olafson dueled door to door, with Reed down low and Olafson up high. Reed, Olafson and Farrington were collected in a crash in turn three, bringing out the caution flag once more.

Again, Jacobson flew away from the pack on the restart. Using the restart to his advantage, Schilling made several passes from his fifth position to gain second, racing inside down the back straight. Jacobson won his first of the season with Schilling, Reed, Farrington and Feda in the top five.

In the Mini Stocks, Justin Honer and Nick McCann put on a show for the crowd fighting for the win, with Honer claiming the victory, his first ever. McCann, Hayden Engen, Cameron Schwinn and Conrad Schwinn were top five finishers.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 7J-Rick Jacobson[1]; 2. 43-Lance Schilling[5]; 3. 2R-Jeff Reed[4]; 4. 40F-John Farrington[2]; 5. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[7]; 6. (DNF) 77-Alan Olafson[3]; 7. (DNF) 22B-Josh Beaulieu[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 43-Lance Schilling[2]; 2. 7J-Rick Jacobson[1]; 3. 2R-Jeff Reed[3]; 4. 77-Alan Olafson[4]; 5. 40F-John Farrington[6]; 6. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[5]; 7. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[7]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 44-Maxwell Dondelinger[1]; 2. 29X-Brandon Bahr[2]; 3. 78K-Dexton Koch[6]; 4. 27C-Cameron Labelle[4]; 5. 81X-Matt Sparby[3]; 6. 22-Jack Koranda[8]; 7. 76-Doug Koski[5]; 8. 57-Dalton Carlson[7]; 9. T26-Nic Lewis[9]; 10. 26M-Garrett Masurka[11]; 11. 40-Ellen Lange[10]; 12. 65-Ron Reed[13]; 13. 17-Faye Lewis[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 76-Doug Koski[1]; 2. 44-Maxwell Dondelinger[2]; 3. 81X-Matt Sparby[4]; 4. 78K-Dexton Koch[6]; 5. T26-Nic Lewis[5]; 6. 26M-Garrett Masurka[7]; 7. 65-Ron Reed[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Jack Koranda[1]; 2. 27C-Cameron Labelle[4]; 3. 57-Dalton Carlson[3]; 4. 29X-Brandon Bahr[2]; 5. 40-Ellen Lange[5]; 6. 17-Faye Lewis[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 28S-Ryan Schow[1]; 2. 74-Gary James Nelson[3]; 3. 99-Doyle Erickson[6]; 4. 16-Skyler Smith[7]; 5. 15-Landon Gross[4]; 6. 11X-Scott Thompson[5]; 7. 11L-Joseph LaValley[9]; 8. 115-Kalin Honer[13]; 9. 6K-Noah Bitz[11]; 10. 7P-Cory Peterson[2]; 11. (DNF) 19-Darrin Lawler[10]; 12. (DNF) 32B-Brennan Schmidt[8]; 13. (DNF) 13-Devyn Weleski[12]; 14. (DNF) 710-Michael Jacobson[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11X-Scott Thompson[1]; 2. 99-Doyle Erickson[3]; 3. 74-Gary James Nelson[7]; 4. 15-Landon Gross[5]; 5. 11L-Joseph LaValley[4]; 6. 6K-Noah Bitz[6]; 7. (DNF) 710-Michael Jacobson[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Skyler Smith[1]; 2. 32B-Brennan Schmidt[6]; 3. 28S-Ryan Schow[7]; 4. 7P-Cory Peterson[2]; 5. 19-Darrin Lawler[4]; 6. 13-Devyn Weleski[5]; 7. 115-Kalin Honer[3]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 18E-Luke Erlandson[1]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[3]; 3. TB81-Tommy Bawden[8]; 4. 99-Blake Erickson[4]; 5. 7-Alexander McFarlen[6]; 6. 13-Casey Traxler[5]; 7. 7L-Tyler Larson[9]; 8. 6-Conrad Schwinn[15]; 9. 14T-Rowan Tramm[7]; 10. 37-Dean Larson[16]; 11. 995-Brooke Erickson[2]; 12. 29-Kevin Bahr[11]; 13. C92-Jeffrey Marthaler[12]; 14. 63-Nicholas Foster[10]; 15. (DNF) 29J-Jayden Bahr[18]; 16. (DNF) 14-Chris Benny[14]; 17. (DNF) 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[13]; 18. (DNS) 92-Nick Seitz

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[3]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[6]; 3. 995-Brooke Erickson[4]; 4. 63-Nicholas Foster[2]; 5. (DNF) 6-Conrad Schwinn[1]; 6. (DNF) 37-Dean Larson[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. TB81-Tommy Bawden[2]; 2. 14T-Rowan Tramm[3]; 3. 13-Casey Traxler[6]; 4. 29-Kevin Bahr[4]; 5. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[5]; 6. (DNF) 92-Nick Seitz[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7L-Tyler Larson[1]; 2. 18E-Luke Erlandson[2]; 3. 7-Alexander McFarlen[4]; 4. C92-Jeffrey Marthaler[5]; 5. 14-Chris Benny[3]; 6. 29J-Jayden Bahr[6]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 3-Kade Leeper[12]; 2. 57-Austin Carlson[6]; 3. 21X-Dustin Puffe[9]; 4. 39-Deryk Weleski[8]; 5. 23-Chad Tabaka[10]; 6. 38-Nate Zanter[4]; 7. 25-Billy Binkley[20]; 8. 21-Mason Smith[15]; 9. 87-Shannon George[7]; 10. 15-Caylyn Binkley[13]; 11. 47J-Justin Barsness[5]; 12. 55-Aaron Bitker[2]; 13. 18B-Alex Berg[19]; 14. X81-Alexa Sparby[1]; 15. 8-Karen Puschinsky[14]; 16. 24-Tabatha Conkle[16]; 17. 47-Terry Hill[17]; 18. (DNF) 54S-Collin Sander[11]; 19. (DNS) 23X-Josh Sautbine; 20. (DNS) 59F-Lilian Farrington; 21. (DQ) 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. X81-Alexa Sparby[2]; 2. 21X-Dustin Puffe[5]; 3. 38-Nate Zanter[1]; 4. 23-Chad Tabaka[3]; 5. 15-Caylyn Binkley[4]; 6. 24-Tabatha Conkle[7]; 7. (DNF) 25-Billy Binkley[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Shannon George[1]; 2. 47J-Justin Barsness[5]; 3. 55-Aaron Bitker[3]; 4. 54S-Collin Sander[4]; 5. 8-Karen Puschinsky[6]; 6. 47-Terry Hill[7]; 7. (DNF) 59F-Lilian Farrington[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Austin Carlson[6]; 2. 39-Deryk Weleski[4]; 3. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[3]; 4. 3-Kade Leeper[7]; 5. 21-Mason Smith[2]; 6. 23X-Josh Sautbine[5]; 7. 18B-Alex Berg[1]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 13-Travis Olafson[4]; 2. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[1]; 3. 35-Chase Pourrier[5]; 4. 81R-Ryker Larson[8]; 5. 7G-Jayme Gordon[3]; 6. 10Z-Cade Johnson[6]; 7. 72-Aiden Kessler[7]; 8. 27-Brady Fosso[9]; 9. 10-Dexyn Habraken[10]; 10. (DNF) 77-Megan Vernlund[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Megan Vernlund[2]; 2. 13-Travis Olafson[1]; 3. 7G-Jayme Gordon[8]; 4. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[9]; 5. 35-Chase Pourrier[6]; 6. 10Z-Cade Johnson[7]; 7. 72-Aiden Kessler[5]; 8. 81R-Ryker Larson[4]; 9. 27-Brady Fosso[3]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 22H-Justin Honer[1]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[3]; 3. 77-Hayden Engen[4]; 4. 18-Ashton Schwinn[7]; 5. 6-Conrad Schwinn[8]; 6. 11C-Cody Bush[6]; 7. 15-Gordon Hunter[5]; 8. 94-Cameron Schwinn[2]; 9. 26-Brooke McCann[10]; 10. 22-Tania Denny[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[2]; 2. 15-Gordon Hunter[1]; 3. 22H-Justin Honer[4]; 4. 94-Cameron Schwinn[3]; 5. 22-Tania Denny[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[4]; 2. 6-Conrad Schwinn[2]; 3. 77-Hayden Engen[3]; 4. 11C-Cody Bush[1]; 5. 26-Brooke McCann[5]