8-20 Page 32 | ATD Racing News

Fans get driver discounts Sunday at Bemidji and watch winners Olafson, Sparby, Blevins, Erickson, Barsness and Kiker do their thing

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (August 18) - It was a picture-perfect night to celebrate the many hundreds of fans who come to the races at Bemidji Speedway each week. Fans were able to get tickets from their favorite drivers for entry into the races at a discounted rate.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series feature winners included Alan Olafson, Matt Sparby, Sam Blevins, Blake Erickson, Justin Barsness, and Russell Kiker, Jr.

Sixteen WISSOTA Pure Stocks entered the track out of turn four with Alex Berg and Chris Dudley leading the way. At the green flag, Dudley cruised into the lead with Justin Barsness, Alex Berg, Josh Berg and Caylyn Binkley trailing. Deryk Weleski charged up from his third-row starting position into third in a nice run on the high side. The first caution of the race came out when two cars tangled on the front straight.

Dudley, Barsness, Weleski, Alex Berg and Kade Leeper held top five spots for the restart. Weleski moved into second down the back stretch, and a four-wide race developed with Dustin Puffe, Austin Carlson, Kade Leeper and Josh Berg all fighting for position. Berg took the advantage, driving through the middle of the pack into third. Barsness raced to the inside down the back straight, passing Dudley for the lead and picking up his second win of the season. Weleski, Berg, Leeper and Puffe completed the top five.

Mateja Dreyer and Jayme Gordon led the WISSOTA Hornets to the green flag, with Dreyer flying into the lead. Dreyer then slipped up high in turn two and dropped out with a flat tire.

Chad Reller took over the lead with Russell Kiker, Jr. racing inside and taking the lead down the back straight, as Megan Vernlund moved up into third. Gordon, in second place, was doing his best to hold on as he raced with a flat front tire; eventually he had to pull into the infield. Kiker, Jr. took the checkered flag ahead of Vernlund, Reller, Aiden Kessler and Ryker Larson in the top five.

Noah Bitz and Darrin Lawler led the pack of WISSOTA Midwest Mods down the front straight to the green flag, with Lawler moving to the lead ahead of Landon Gross, Bitz, Sam Blevins, Hunter Weeks and Skyler Smith in the top six.

Following a caution, Blevins blasted up into the lead ahead of Gross, with Lawler dropping back to fifth. Smith began an assault toward the front, racing the low lane into the top five and then into fourth. Blevins and Gross had a huge lead over the field in a great battle for the win. Smith raced into third, as Blevins picked up his first feature win at Bemidji. Gross, Smith, Bitz and Matthew Cunha completed the top five.

Alan Olafson and Lance Schilling led the WISSOTA Modifieds to the green, with Olafson the early leader ahead of Schilling, Jeff Reed, Davey Mills, and Josh Beaulieu in the top five early. Racing door to door in an epic battle, Olafson and Schilling raced around the track in perfect unison. Schilling gradually inched ahead in the fast lane before the first caution flew for a spin out, setting up a restart with Schilling, Olafson, Reed, Mills and Beaulieu in order.

Reed was on the gas on the high side, racing side by side with Olafson before another caution waved and sent Beaulieu tailback.

Schilling was still up front with Reed, Olafson, Bryce Borgen and Mills trailing. Olafson regained second racing to the inside in turn two. Reed and Olafson put on a show for the fans, racing side by side for second. Out front, Schilling was well on his way to another victory, but his Modified began to smoke, and he slipped up high in turns one and two, dropping back several positions; Olafson quickly regained the lead.

Beaulieu was making a comeback from his tailback position, charging into second. Olafson picked up his first feature win of the season, as Beaulieu was an impressive second. Schilling, Reed and Mills trailed in the top five.

Brooklyn Vernlund and Nick Seitz led the pack of WISSOTA Mod Fours into turn one, with Ashton Schwinn flying on the high side into the lead ahead of Seitz, Conrad Schwinn, Blake Erickson and Vernlund. Seitz, Conrad Schwinn and Erickson were in a tight battle when Seitz spun out of turn four, bringing out the caution flag.

Ashton Schwinn held the lead with Conrad Schwinn, Erickson, Vernlund and Kevin Bahr trailing in the top five. Another spin sent Ashton Schwinn tailback.

Conrad Schwinn inherited the lead, but Erickson wasted no time and quickly took over out front. Once in the lead, it was all Erickson as he won his fourth feature of the year. Ashton Schwinn made a great comeback from the tail to take second, with Conrad Schwinn, Vernlund and Brooke Erickson in the top five.

Brandon Bahr raced low into the lead to start the WISSOTA Super Stock feature, with Ellen Lange trying the high side in second. Doug Koski, Cameron Labelle and Dalton Carlson held top five spots early.

Matt Sparby was on the move, as he raced alongside Carlson and into fourth, before a three-wide race developed with Sparby, Lange and Labelle. Sparby gained second, and a lap later took the lead down the back straight.

Following a couple of cautions, Sparby and Bahr raced for the lead, with Carlson charging forward to challenge both. Contact brought out the yellow flag and Carlson was sent tailback. Sparby picked up his second feature win of the summer with Bahr, Koski, Maxwell Dondelinger, and Nic Lewis in the top five.

It was a Schwinn domination in the Mini Stocks, with Cameron grabbing the win ahead of Conrad and Ashton on the podium.

Brianna Berg held off her competition to win the ladies-only Powder Puff race.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 77-Alan Olafson[1]; 2. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[6]; 3. 43-Lance Schilling[2]; 4. 2R-Jeff Reed[3]; 5. 22-Davey Mills[4]; 6. 8T-Doug VanMill[9]; 7. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[8]; 8. (DNF) O32-Nicholas Jacobson[5]; 9. (DQ) 7-Bryce Borgen[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. O32-Nicholas Jacobson[1]; 2. 43-Lance Schilling[2]; 3. 2R-Jeff Reed[4]; 4. 22-Davey Mills[3]; 5. 77-Alan Olafson[5]; 6. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[7]; 7. 7-Bryce Borgen[9]; 8. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[6]; 9. 8T-Doug VanMill[8]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 81X-Matt Sparby[4]; 2. 29X-Brandon Bahr[2]; 3. 76-Doug Koski[3]; 4. 44-Maxwell Dondelinger[7]; 5. T26-Nic Lewis[9]; 6. 26M-Garrett Masurka[11]; 7. 40-Ellen Lange[1]; 8. 57-Dalton Carlson[5]; 9. 17-Faye Lewis[10]; 10. (DNF) 27C-Cameron Labelle[6]; 11. (DNF) 77-Rick Simpson[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Maxwell Dondelinger[1]; 2. 76-Doug Koski[3]; 3. 29X-Brandon Bahr[5]; 4. 40-Ellen Lange[2]; 5. T26-Nic Lewis[4]; 6. 26M-Garrett Masurka[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 81X-Matt Sparby[1]; 2. 77-Rick Simpson[5]; 3. 27C-Cameron Labelle[3]; 4. 57-Dalton Carlson[4]; 5. 17-Faye Lewis[2]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 10S-Sam Blevins[4]; 2. 15-Landon Gross[6]; 3. 16-Skyler Smith[10]; 4. 6K-Noah Bitz[1]; 5. 10X-Matthew Cunha[3]; 6. 9W-Hunter Weeks[5]; 7. 99-Doyle Erickson[7]; 8. 7P-Cory Peterson[11]; 9. (DNF) 710-Michael Jacobson[9]; 10. (DNF) 10-Michael Blevins Sr[8]; 11. (DNF) 19-Darrin Lawler[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[3]; 2. 15-Landon Gross[4]; 3. 9W-Hunter Weeks[5]; 4. 10X-Matthew Cunha[6]; 5. 710-Michael Jacobson[2]; 6. 7P-Cory Peterson[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Doyle Erickson[2]; 2. 19-Darrin Lawler[1]; 3. 6K-Noah Bitz[4]; 4. 10S-Sam Blevins[3]; 5. 16-Skyler Smith[5]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

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

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

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 47J-Justin Barsness[4]; 2. 39-Deryk Weleski[6]; 3. 35B-Josh Berg[11]; 4. 3-Kade Leeper[5]; 5. 21X-Dustin Puffe[8]; 6. 70-Chris Dudley[2]; 7. 57-Austin Carlson[7]; 8. 18B-Alex Berg[1]; 9. 38-Nate Zanter[9]; 10. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[15]; 11. 24-Tabatha Conkle[12]; 12. 25-Billy Binkley[10]; 13. 15-Caylyn Binkley[3]; 14. 8-Karen Puschinsky[16]; 15. 54S-Collin Sander[14]; 16. (DNF) 21-Mason Smith[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Austin Carlson[5]; 2. 3-Kade Leeper[3]; 3. 47J-Justin Barsness[1]; 4. 21X-Dustin Puffe[8]; 5. 38-Nate Zanter[2]; 6. 35B-Josh Berg[4]; 7. 21-Mason Smith[6]; 8. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Caylyn Binkley[1]; 2. 39-Deryk Weleski[4]; 3. 70-Chris Dudley[7]; 4. 18B-Alex Berg[8]; 5. 25-Billy Binkley[5]; 6. 24-Tabatha Conkle[3]; 7. 54S-Collin Sander[6]; 8. 8-Karen Puschinsky[2]

WISSOTA Hornets:

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

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[2]; 2. 7G-Jayme Gordon[5]; 3. 28-Chad Reller[1]; 4. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[3]; 5. 77-Megan Vernlund[7]; 6. 72-Aiden Kessler[4]; 7. 81R-Ryker Larson[6]; 8. 40-William Lange[8]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 94-Cameron Schwinn[3]; 2. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 3. 18-Ashton Schwinn[4]; 4. 11C-Cody Bush[2]; 5. 87-Malachi Albrecht[1]; 6. 4-Dawson Oelrich[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 94-Cameron Schwinn[1]; 2. 11C-Cody Bush[2]; 3. 18-Ashton Schwinn[6]; 4. 87-Malachi Albrecht[3]; 5. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 6. 4-Dawson Oelrich[4]