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Credit Kranz with some stone-cold Late Model mastery on Sunday at Casino; in other WISSOTA action, nods go to first-time winner Thomas, plus Nichols and Broksieck

By Tony Steuck

WATERTOWN, SD (August 25) - Curt Kranz topped his first WISSOTA Late Model feature of the season at Casino Speedway Sunday night, and backed it up with the Gen X Late Model feature win later in the program.

Tim Thomas was also a first-time winner on the season, while Mike Nichols and Maria Broksieck scored repeat WISSOTA Dirt Track Series feature wins.

Kranz grabbed the lead when the green flag waved in the 20-lap WISSOTA Late Model main event. David Carlson quickly slipped past Blake Swenson for second, and he brought Jayson Good and Chad Becker along with him. Carlson stayed right with the leader for a few laps, but Kranz made a little breathing room before the first caution with nine laps scored.

Becker worked past Good for third after the restart, and the top drivers remained in close contention. One more caution fell with three laps remaining, and Becker charged to second after the restart, but Kranz held steady at the front of the pack and scored the victory. Becker was second ahead of Carlson, Good and Swenson.

Jayden Michaelsohn moved to the lead at the start of the 15-lap WISSOTA Street Stock main event. Chris Serr and Tony Miller raced side by side for second, and Miller edged into the position before the first caution with three laps scored.

Miller utilized the upper groove and powered around the outside of Michaelsohn to lead lap five. Broksieck used the same line to get past Serr for third. She worked on Michaelsohn, who made a run for the lead and shouldered past Miller with six laps to go. Broksieck followed to second, and used the inside groove to challenge Michaelsohn. She found the opening with less than two laps to go, and Michaelsohn spun in turns three and four coming to the white flag to cause one final caution.

Broksieck slipped away over the final laps for her sixth win of the season in Watertown. Serr stole second from Miller on the restart, and Jason Marko displaced Miller for third in the final set of turns. Andy Rossow rounded out the top five.

An opening lap accident in the 15-lap WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature eliminated both Derek Rieck — tied for the point lead — and Tommy Nichols, who had won the previous two features.

Todd Stark and Scott Hansen had a door-to-door battle for the lead when the race restarted. Hansen held the slight advantage, and Mike Nichols joined the mix a few laps in. The trio had a tight race for the lead until lap five; Nichols tagged the right rear of Hansen, who turned around in corner four.

Nichols restarted at the tail of the five-car field, but immediately regained third when the race resumed. Hansen maintained the lead, and Nichols made an outside pass on Stark for second on lap nine. He quickly caught Hansen and chased him around the cushion. Nichols tried the inside groove in turns one and two with less than two laps left. Hansen dropped to the inside of turns three and four, and Nichols rode the cushion to his outside at turn exit. They were door to door under the white flag, and Nichols secured the lead in turns one and two, then drove by a lapped car in the final corners to earn his second feature win of the season. Stark got by Hansen in traffic for second in the final set of turns, and Logan Redlin and Doug Neitzel rounded out the top five.

Tim Thomas jumped out to the lead to start the 15-lap WISSOTA Modified feature. Mike Stearns challenged Joe Thomas for second for a few laps, but Thomas turned back the attempts. Tim Thomas maintained a slim, but steady lead until the closing laps; the top three tightened up, but Stearns was the aggressor and looked to the inside of Joe Thomas for second, which allowed Tim Thomas to cruise to his first feature win at Casino since 2022. Joe Thomas was second ahead of Stearns, Tony Konold and Dave Brooker.

Kranz led all 20 laps for the Gen X Late Model feature win. A distance back, a tight battle for second developed in the closing laps. Tony Croninger fended off the challengers for the runner-up spot with Trevor Walsh third, Bodie Croninger fourth and Scott Harrington fifth.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 87-Curt Kranz[2]; 2. 12-Chad Becker[5]; 3. 73M-David Carlson[4]; 4. 85-Jayson Good[6]; 5. 10X-Blake Swenson[1]; 6. 51-Justin Karlen[7]; 7. (DNF) 14-Nick Schmidt[8]; 8. (DNF) X-Chuck Swenson[3]; 9. (DNF) T3-Rich Thomas[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Curt Kranz[4]; 2. 10X-Blake Swenson[2]; 3. 73M-David Carlson[1]; 4. 12-Chad Becker[9]; 5. X-Chuck Swenson[7]; 6. 85-Jayson Good[8]; 7. 51-Justin Karlen[3]; 8. 14-Nick Schmidt[5]; 9. T3-Rich Thomas[6]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 51T-Tim Thomas[2]; 2. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[4]; 3. 24S-Mike Stearns[5]; 4. 15-Tony Konold[3]; 5. 65-Dave Brooker[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[2]; 2. 15-Tony Konold[3]; 3. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[1]; 4. 51T-Tim Thomas[4]; 5. 65-Dave Brooker[5]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 67-Mike Nichols[5]; 2. 54-Todd Stark[2]; 3. 31-Scott Hansen[3]; 4. 12-Logan Redlin[1]; 5. 56D-Doug Neitzel[9]; 6. (DNF) 2DR-Tom Neitzel[7]; 7. (DNF) 34J-Derek Rieck[4]; 8. (DNF) 28-Tommy Nichols[6]; 9. (DNF) 48-Camden Rassel[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 34J-Derek Rieck[2]; 2. 31-Scott Hansen[4]; 3. 54-Todd Stark[6]; 4. 67-Mike Nichols[5]; 5. 12-Logan Redlin[3]; 6. 28-Tommy Nichols[7]; 7. 2DR-Tom Neitzel[8]; 8. 48-Camden Rassel[1]; 9. 56D-Doug Neitzel[9]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 14-Maria Broksieck[5]; 2. 01-Chris Serr[2]; 3. 31-Jason Marko[8]; 4. 80-Tony Miller[4]; 5. 99-Andy Rossow[7]; 6. 314-Tyler Lamb[3]; 7. 95-Jayden Michaelsohn[1]; 8. 12-Al Schmidt[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 314-Tyler Lamb[2]; 2. 14-Maria Broksieck[1]; 3. 01-Chris Serr[5]; 4. 80-Tony Miller[4]; 5. 95-Jayden Michaelsohn[3]; 6. 12-Al Schmidt[7]; 7. 99-Andy Rossow[6]; 8. 31-Jason Marko[8]

Gen X Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 87-Curt Kranz[2]; 2. 8T-Tony Croninger[4]; 3. 15-Trevor Walsh[8]; 4. 811-Bodie Croninger[3]; 5. 14-Scott Harrington[6]; 6. 1K-Konner Sperle[10]; 7. 20-Doug Walsh[7]; 8. 19-Tyler McFarland[11]; 9. 50-Joel Waba[5]; 10. 23JR-Parker Gilbertson[9]; 11. 40+-Ryan Shepherd Sr[12]; 12. (DNF) XJR-Hope Swenson[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8T-Tony Croninger[2]; 2. 811-Bodie Croninger[1]; 3. 20-Doug Walsh[3]; 4. 15-Trevor Walsh[6]; 5. 23JR-Parker Gilbertson[4]; 6. 1K-Konner Sperle[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Scott Harrington[4]; 2. 50-Joel Waba[6]; 3. 87-Curt Kranz[5]; 4. XJR-Hope Swenson[1]; 5. (DNF) 19-Tyler McFarland[2]; 6. (DNF) 40+-Ryan Shepherd Sr[3]