8-27 Page 34 | ATD Racing News

Weeks, Gordon, Seitz and Puschinsky headline list of victory lane visitors Sunday night at Bemidji while Canadians Chernosky and Simpson sizzle as well

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (August 25) - The summer racing season for points came to an end Sunday night with season championship night at Bemidji Speedway. Eighty-one cars filled the pits on a hot and humid night for racing, with WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners including Cole Chernosky, Nick Seitz, Hunter Weeks, Jayme Gordon, Brandon Puschinsky, and Rick Simpson.

The first action of the night was the WISSOTA Pure Stock feature. Point leader Dustin Puffe started in the fourth row, while Austin Carlson, who was second in points just 17 markers behind, started in row two. Brandon Puschinsky was the early leader, followed by Billy Binkley, Alex Berg, Carlson and Lillian Farrington. Puffe raced to the top of the track and quickly moved into the top five, and then passed Farrington for fourth. Carlson worked his way up into second and pressured Puschinsky for the lead, but Puschinsky held on and took the checkered flag for his second feature win of the summer. Carlson was second with Binkley, Puffe, and Deryk Weleski trailing in the top five.

Puffe’s finish was enough to crown him the track champion for 2024.

In the WISSOTA Hornets, the point leader was Jayme Gordon heading into the night, with Megan Vernlund second just 19 points behind. Gordon started on the pole of the feature, with Vernlund starting in the third row. Gordon buzzed into the early lead, ahead of Mateja Dreyer, Aiden Kessler, Josh Backstrom and Chad Reller. Gordon raced out to a multi-car length lead over his rivals while Vernlund was able to work her way up into third, but that was as far as she made it. Gordon picked up his first win of the season and brought home the season points championship as well. Dreyer, Vernlund, Russell Kiker, Jr., and Reller finished in the top five.

Doyle Erickson was the point leader in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified class heading into the night’s action, with Skyler Smith in second place. Erickson started the track championship race on the pole, with Smith starting in row four. Hunter Weeks powered into the lead along the outside line, with Erickson, Michael Blevins, Sam Blevins, Mikey Blevins trailing in the top five. Smith worked up as far as sixth early in the race, but could not get any further. Meanwhile, Michael Blevins raced low in turn four and passed Erickson for second. Weeks raced on to his third feature win of the summer, ahead of Michael Blevins. Erickson’s third place secured the track championship, while Sam Blevins and Mikey Blevins completed the top five.

Lance Schilling led the points battle heading into the WISSOTA Modified feature Sunday, and started the race in row two. Jeff Reed, just 21 points behind him, began the race in row three. Josh Beaulieu powered to the lead with Cole Chernosky, Nic Jacobson, Schilling, and Reed in the top five. The first caution was for a spin in turn four, which sent Jacobson tailback for the restart.

As the green flag waved once again, Chernosky began to challenge for the lead, as Schilling also made his presence known. Alan Olafson and Reed raced side by side for position, as out front the race between Beaulieu and Chernosky was spirited. Once again the caution flag waved for an incident with Jacobson and Reed, which sent both careening sideways into the infield. Jacobson’s night was over, while Reed was sent to the rear of the field.

Following the restart, Chernosky was able to get by Beaulieu to pick up the win late in the race, with Beaulieu close behind and Schilling in the top three. Jonathan Feda and Olafson filled out the top five.

Schilling was declared the season points champion with this third-place finish.

Heading into the WISSOTA Mod Four feature, Blake Erickson held a commanding 63-point lead over second-place Ashton Schwinn. Nick Seitz grabbed the early lead with Brooke Erickson, Kevin Bahr, Brooklyn Vernlund and Conrad Schwinn in the top five. Schwinn quickly raced around Vernlund for fourth, as Bahr raced inside to get by Vernlund for second.

Following a caution, point leader Blake Erickson was up from his fourth-row start into the top five. Out front, Seitz dueled with Schwinn for the lead, with the senior Schwinn making the pass, only to have Seitz come back with a maneuver in turn two and regain the lead.

Seitz held off the veteran Schwinn and picked up his first feature win, celebrating in victory lane for the first time, with a fist pointing to the sky in a salute to his father the late John Seitz. Conrad Schwinn, Blake Erickson, Kevin Bahr, and Vernlund were top-five finishers. Blake Erickson was named the season point champion.

In what was the tightest points battle of all the classes, the WISSOTA Super Stocks came on track with point leader Dalton Carlson just one single point ahead of Matt Sparby. Carlson started the feature in row three, with Sparby right behind him in row four.

Garrett Masurka powered to the lead early, with Rick Simpson, Doug Koski, Ellen Lange and Carlson in the top five. A three-wide battle ensued in turns three and four among Carlson, Sparby, and Lange. Carlson and Sparby then dueled side by side for position, before caution slowed the action and Cam Labelle was sent tailback for the restart.

When the green flag waved, Simpson used the high side to take the lead from Masurka, powering into the top spot. The field moved into a single file formation, spread out around the track. Simpson drove on to the victory, ahead of Carlson in second, who secured the title with that finish. Masurka, Koski and Sparby took home top-five honors.

Nick McCann picked his way forward in the Mini Stock feature to gain the victory, ahead of eighth-starter Conrad Schwinn, Hayden Engen, Justin Honer and 14th-starter Ashton Schwinn. Conrad’s finish was enough to take the points title over his son, Ashton.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[3]; 2. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[2]; 3. 43-Lance Schilling[4]; 4. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[6]; 5. 77-Alan Olafson[7]; 6. 2R-Jeff Reed[5]; 7. 8T-Doug VanMill[8]; 8. (DNF) O32-Nicholas Jacobson[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[2]; 2. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[1]; 3. 43-Lance Schilling[6]; 4. O32-Nicholas Jacobson[3]; 5. 2R-Jeff Reed[7]; 6. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[5]; 7. 8T-Doug VanMill[8]; 8. (DNF) 77-Alan Olafson[4]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

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

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 76-Doug Koski[1]; 2. 81X-Matt Sparby[4]; 3. 40-Ellen Lange[3]; 4. 29X-Brandon Bahr[2]; 5. 27C-Cameron Labelle[5]; 6. 17-Faye Lewis[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Rick Simpson[2]; 2. T26-Nic Lewis[1]; 3. 57-Dalton Carlson[3]; 4. 26M-Garrett Masurka[4]; 5. 15G-Andrew Groom[5]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 9W-Hunter Weeks[2]; 2. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[3]; 3. 99-Doyle Erickson[1]; 4. 10S-Sam Blevins[6]; 5. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[5]; 6. 16-Skyler Smith[7]; 7. 74-Gary James Nelson[8]; 8. 115-Kalin Honer[10]; 9. 15-Landon Gross[4]; 10. 6K-Noah Bitz[11]; 11. 7P-Cory Peterson[9]; 12. 7J-Tony Jacobson[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Landon Gross[2]; 2. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[1]; 3. 74-Gary James Nelson[4]; 4. 9W-Hunter Weeks[5]; 5. 7P-Cory Peterson[6]; 6. 6K-Noah Bitz[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Skyler Smith[2]; 2. 99-Doyle Erickson[4]; 3. 10S-Sam Blevins[1]; 4. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[3]; 5. 115-Kalin Honer[6]; 6. (DNF) 7J-Tony Jacobson[5]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 92-Nick Seitz[2]; 2. 6-Conrad Schwinn[7]; 3. 99-Blake Erickson[8]; 4. 29-Kevin Bahr[3]; 5. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[4]; 6. 29J-Jayden Bahr[9]; 7. 05F-Brian Feda[11]; 8. 995-Brooke Erickson[1]; 9. 4-Dawson Oelrich[6]; 10. 29X-Brandon Bahr[5]; 11. (DNF) 18-Ashton Schwinn[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[4]; 2. 92-Nick Seitz[1]; 3. 29-Kevin Bahr[3]; 4. 4-Dawson Oelrich[5]; 5. 29J-Jayden Bahr[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[2]; 2. 29X-Brandon Bahr[4]; 3. 77-Brooklyn Vernlund[1]; 4. 995-Brooke Erickson[3]; 5. 18-Ashton Schwinn[6]; 6. (DNF) 05F-Brian Feda[5]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[2]; 2. 57-Austin Carlson[3]; 3. 25-Billy Binkley[4]; 4. 21X-Dustin Puffe[8]; 5. 39-Deryk Weleski[9]; 6. 38-Nate Zanter[5]; 7. 47J-Justin Barsness[7]; 8. 3-Kade Leeper[17]; 9. 21-Mason Smith[12]; 10. 70-Chris Dudley[13]; 11. 18B-Alex Berg[1]; 12. 8-Karen Puschinsky[14]; 13. (DNF) 59F-Lilian Farrington[6]; 14. (DNF) 15-Caylyn Binkley[10]; 15. (DNF) 54S-Collin Sander[11]; 16. (DNF) 7-Bob Klein[15]; 17. (DNS) X81-Alexa Sparby

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 39-Deryk Weleski[2]; 2. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[5]; 3. 59F-Lilian Farrington[4]; 4. 15-Caylyn Binkley[1]; 5. 70-Chris Dudley[6]; 6. (DNF) X81-Alexa Sparby[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[6]; 2. 47J-Justin Barsness[5]; 3. 38-Nate Zanter[4]; 4. 54S-Collin Sander[2]; 5. 8-Karen Puschinsky[3]; 6. (DNF) 3-Kade Leeper[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Austin Carlson[1]; 2. 18B-Alex Berg[2]; 3. 25-Billy Binkley[4]; 4. 21-Mason Smith[3]; 5. 7-Bob Klein[5]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 7G-Jayme Gordon[2]; 2. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[1]; 3. 77-Megan Vernlund[5]; 4. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[8]; 5. 28-Chad Reller[6]; 6. 81R-Ryker Larson[7]; 7. 19-Josh Backstrom[4]; 8. 72-Aiden Kessler[3]; 9. 40-William Lange[10]; 10. (DNS) 8X-Adam Kessler

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7G-Jayme Gordon[2]; 2. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[1]; 3. 72-Aiden Kessler[4]; 4. 81R-Ryker Larson[3]; 5. (DNF) 8X-Adam Kessler[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[2]; 2. 28-Chad Reller[4]; 3. 77-Megan Vernlund[3]; 4. 19-Josh Backstrom[1]; 5. 40-William Lange[5]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[7]; 2. 6-Conrad Schwinn[8]; 3. 77-Hayden Engen[4]; 4. 22H-Justin Honer[5]; 5. 18-Ashton Schwinn[14]; 6. 7-Jason Hunter[1]; 7. 11C-Cody Bush[3]; 8. 3H-Kaylie Winge[11]; 9. 117-Zack Honer[9]; 10. 94-Cameron Schwinn[6]; 11. 26-Brooke McCann[13]; 12. 22-Tania Denny[12]; 13. (DNF) 90-Cory Nelson[10]; 14. (DNF) 15-Gordon Hunter[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11C-Cody Bush[2]; 2. 77-Hayden Engen[3]; 3. 15-Gordon Hunter[5]; 4. 7-Jason Hunter[4]; 5. 117-Zack Honer[1]; 6. 26-Brooke McCann[7]; 7. 22-Tania Denny[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[2]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[4]; 3. 22H-Justin Honer[3]; 4. 94-Cameron Schwinn[6]; 5. 90-Cory Nelson[5]; 6. 3H-Kaylie Winge[1]