8-13 Page 33 | ATD Racing News

Schilling, Simpson, Blevins, Leeper, Schwinn and Kiker take rivals to school Sunday at Bemidji Speedway

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (August 11) - With the new school year approaching, Bemidji Speedway held “Back to School Night” at the track on Sunday. Nearly 50 kids enjoyed running on the front straightaway in their own homemade box racers, which fans in the packed grandstands enjoyed tremendously. The track also hosted “Jr. Speedway Workers”, with virtually all positions filled by kids learning and helping the track workers - including announcing and flagging. Many backpacks filled with school supplies were also provided for the kids by the drivers.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Lance Schilling, Rick Simpson, Kade Leeper, Michael Blevins, Sr., Ashton Schwinn, and Russell Kiker, Jr.

The WISSOTA Pure Stocks opened action Sunday, with Ethan Elhardt and Billy Binkley along the front row. Binkley powered up and into the lead with Elhardt, Austin Carlson, Justin Barsness and Caylyn Binkley in the top five. Kade Leeper was also on the move, making his way into fourth.

Carlson passed Elhardt for second while Dustin Puffe raced his way up into the top five from his fifth-row starting spot. A caution for a crash in turn two regrouped the field.

Binkley led Carlson, Leeper, Elhardt, and Puffe in the top five following the restart. Leeper was on the gas, racing alongside Carlson for second, and then taking over the lead in turns one and two. Another caution negated the move and sent Puffe tailback, returned Leeper to third, and Binkley was once again out front.

With the green back out, Leeper quickly raced high around Carlson for second and then low in turn two into the lead. Leeper picked up his third win on the season. Carlson, Barsness, and Binkley finished second through fourth, while Deryk Weleski - from his seventh-row starting position - finished an impressive fifth.

The WISSOTA Hornets were next on track led by Mateja Dreyer and Ryker Larson in row one. Larson pulled ahead at the green flag with Dreyer, Jayme Gordon, Chad Reller and Russell Kiker, Jr. in the top five. Several three-wide races developed, with Megan Vernlund charging up on the outside into fourth. Kiker, Jr. was also on the top of the track moving up to second. A duel for the lead with Larson and Kiker, Jr. developed, with Kiker, Jr. taking the eventual win. Larson, Vernlund, Reller, and Dreyer completed the top five.

Landon Gross and Mike Blevins, Sr. led the pack of 14 WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds to the green flag, with Blevins taking the lead. Charging up into second was national point contender David Simpson, while Gross was third. A crash coming out of turn two sent Tony Jacobson in the fence. Bemidji Fire Dept. personnel quickly were on scene and Jacobson was okay, but out of the race.

Blevins, Simpson, Gross, Sam Blevins and Doyle Erickson held the top five following the green. A good duel between Simpson and Gross developed, before Simpson fought off the challenge. A couple more cautions slowed the action and sent a couple of cars to the rear for restarts. Blevins, Sr. fought off all challenges, winning by a comfortable margin. Simpson, Gross, Gary James Nelson and Erickson took top five honors.

A lesson in how to build a fan base for all drivers was provided during the Midwest Mod feature. While sitting on the front straight waiting during a caution, eventual winner Mike Blevins, Sr. noticed a group of boys to his right in the grandstands giving him the thumbs up signal and clapping for him. Upon climbing from his B Mod in victory lane, he motioned for the boys to come down on the track and celebrate with him. The boys were excited for the opportunity and with huge smiles joined Blevins for a photo.

Jonathon Feda and Lance Schilling led the WISSOTA Modifieds to the green flag. Schilling grabbed control early with Feda, Davey Mills, Jeff Reed and Jeff Nelson trailing in the top five. Schilling, looking for his first win this year, quickly created space between himself and the field. Mills gained a bit of ground on the leader, but Schilling once again pulled out to a near quarter-lap lead. In a flag-to-flag race, Schilling took the checkered flag followed in second by Mills. Reed, Feda and Nelson finished in the top five.

The WISSOTA Mod Fours were up next with Brooklyn Vernlund leading the way, flanked by Brooke Erickson. Fourth-starter Ashton Schwinn grabbed the lead early, with national point leader Dean Larson on his tail. Blake Erickson, Vernlund and Conrad Schwinn held top five spots.

The track was black and super fast for the Mod Fours. Using the outside lane, Blake Erickson got around Larson for second as the laps ticked off in the 12-lap feature. Larson charged back creating a side-by-side duel for second, with Erickson holding the spot.

Erickson made one highside attempt for the lead, but Schwinn was not to be denied, netting his first win of the season. Erickson, Larson, Rowan Tramm and Casey Traxler rounded out the top five.

In the WISSOTA Super Stocks, Brandon Bahr and Cameron Labelle led the field to green. Lap one was a side-by-side duel for its entirety, before Bahr’s Super Stock went up in smoke and he pulled into the infield.

Labelle assumed the lead with Simpson, Nick Lewis, Dalton Carlson, and Matt Sparby trailing in the top five. Simpson raced low in turns one and two and took over out front. Labelle was the next to drop out into the infield with mechanical issues. Simpson continued to lead, but Lewis was finding his groove and gradually gaining on the leader. Lewis was impressive, but Simpson was too strong and the Thunder Bay, Ontario racer took the checkered flag. Lewis, Sparby, Carlson and Ron Reed filled out the top five.

Numerous spins and crashes marred the Mini Stock feature. Conrad Schwinn went on to claim the victory, his fourth, at the checkered flag. Nick McCann, Cory Nelson, Cody Bush and Ashton Schwinn completed the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 43-Lance Schilling[2]; 2. 22-Davey Mills[4]; 3. 2R-Jeff Reed[3]; 4. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[1]; 5. 33-Jeff Nelson[5]; 6. 8T-Doug VanMill[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Davey Mills[2]; 2. 2R-Jeff Reed[4]; 3. 43-Lance Schilling[5]; 4. 33-Jeff Nelson[3]; 5. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[1]; 6. 8T-Doug VanMill[6]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 77-Rick Simpson[4]; 2. T26-Nic Lewis[3]; 3. 81X-Matt Sparby[6]; 4. 57-Dalton Carlson[5]; 5. 65-Ron Reed[8]; 6. 40-Ellen Lange[7]; 7. 17-Faye Lewis[9]; 8. (DNF) 27C-Cameron Labelle[2]; 9. (DNF) 29X-Brandon Bahr[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 29X-Brandon Bahr[2]; 2. 27C-Cameron Labelle[3]; 3. 57-Dalton Carlson[7]; 4. 77-Rick Simpson[8]; 5. T26-Nic Lewis[1]; 6. 81X-Matt Sparby[9]; 7. 40-Ellen Lange[5]; 8. 65-Ron Reed[4]; 9. 17-Faye Lewis[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[2]; 2. 70-David Simpson[4]; 3. 15-Landon Gross[1]; 4. 74-Gary James Nelson[7]; 5. 99-Doyle Erickson[3]; 6. 10S-Sam Blevins[6]; 7. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[5]; 8. 11L-Joseph LaValley[9]; 9. 10X-Matthew Cunha[11]; 10. 6K-Noah Bitz[10]; 11. 9W-Hunter Weeks[8]; 12. (DNF) 7P-Cory Peterson[14]; 13. (DNF) 11K-Travis Klein[13]; 14. (DNF) 7J-Tony Jacobson[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10S-Sam Blevins[2]; 2. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[4]; 3. 70-David Simpson[3]; 4. 9W-Hunter Weeks[6]; 5. 11L-Joseph LaValley[7]; 6. 10X-Matthew Cunha[1]; 7. 11K-Travis Klein[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Doyle Erickson[2]; 2. 15-Landon Gross[1]; 3. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[4]; 4. 74-Gary James Nelson[6]; 5. 6K-Noah Bitz[3]; 6. 7J-Tony Jacobson[5]; 7. 7P-Cory Peterson[7]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[4]; 2. 99-Blake Erickson[7]; 3. 37-Dean Larson[5]; 4. 14T-Rowan Tramm[9]; 5. 13-Casey Traxler[8]; 6. 6-Conrad Schwinn[6]; 7. 29-Kevin Bahr[3]; 8. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[1]; 9. 995-Brooke Erickson[2]; 10. 14-Gene Traxler[10]; 11. 29J-Jayden Bahr[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[2]; 2. 99-Blake Erickson[3]; 3. 37-Dean Larson[5]; 4. 18-Ashton Schwinn[1]; 5. 14T-Rowan Tramm[4]; 6. 29J-Jayden Bahr[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Casey Traxler[1]; 2. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[3]; 3. 29-Kevin Bahr[2]; 4. 995-Brooke Erickson[5]; 5. 14-Gene Traxler[4]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

Feature 1 (12laps) 1. Kade Leeper, 2. Austin Carlson, 3. Justin BArsness, 4. Billy Binkley, 5. Deryk Weleski, 6. Ethan Elhardt, 7. Dustin Puffe, 8. Lillian Farrington, 9. Alexa Sparby, 10. Jake BArsness, 11. Caylyn Binkley, DNF Shannon George, Nate Zanter, Chris Dudley, DNS Collin Sander

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. X81-Alexa Sparby[2]; 2. 39-Deryk Weleski[7]; 3. 87-Shannon George[8]; 4. 21-Mason Smith[1]; 5. 18B-Alex Berg[4]; 6. 24-Tabatha Conkle[3]; 7. 8-Karen Puschinsky[5]; 8. 47H-Terry Hill[6]; 9. (DNS) 88B-Brandon Puschinsky

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22E-Ethan Elhardt[5]; 2. 70-Chris Dudley[3]; 3. 47J-Justin Barsness[7]; 4. 47-Jake Barsness[4]; 5. (DNF) 39-Deryk Weleski[6]; 6. (DNF) 87-Shannon George[1]; 7. (DNF) 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[2]; 2. 38-Nate Zanter[3]; 3. 25-Billy Binkley[7]; 4. 59F-Lilian Farrington[5]; 5. 21-Mason Smith[6]; 6. 24-Tabatha Conkle[1]; 7. 8-Karen Puschinsky[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Caylyn Binkley[2]; 2. 3-Kade Leeper[4]; 3. 57-Austin Carlson[5]; 4. 54S-Collin Sander[6]; 5. X81-Alexa Sparby[3]; 6. 18B-Alex Berg[1]; 7. 47H-Terry Hill[7]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[7]; 2. 81R-Ryker Larson[2]; 3. 77-Megan Vernlund[6]; 4. 28-Chad Reller[5]; 5. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[1]; 6. 72-Aiden Kessler[4]; 7. 7G-Jayme Gordon[3]; 8. 40-William Lange[9]; 9. (DNF) 29-Michael Johnson[10]; 10. (DNF) 27-Brady Fosso[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Chad Reller[2]; 2. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[4]; 3. 72-Aiden Kessler[1]; 4. 81R-Ryker Larson[3]; 5. 29-Michael Johnson[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7G-Jayme Gordon[3]; 2. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[4]; 3. 77-Megan Vernlund[2]; 4. 40-William Lange[5]; 5. (DNF) 27-Brady Fosso[1]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[6]; 3. 90-Cory Nelson[8]; 4. 11C-Cody Bush[2]; 5. 18-Ashton Schwinn[7]; 6. 26-Brooke McCann[10]; 7. 22-Tania Denny[9]; 8. (DNF) 77-Hayden Engen[4]; 9. (DNF) 87-Malachi Albrecht[1]; 10. (DNF) 94-Cameron Schwinn[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[1]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[4]; 3. 94-Cameron Schwinn[2]; 4. 11C-Cody Bush[3]; 5. 90-Cory Nelson[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Hayden Engen[1]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[4]; 3. 87-Malachi Albrecht[2]; 4. 26-Brooke McCann[5]; 5. 22-Tania Denny[3]