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Adams leads early and is awarded 2024 WISSOTA 100 win after Rodin runs into post-race tech trouble on Championship Night

By Tony Steuck
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 14) - Sometimes you have to take them how you get them. Blake Adams’ victory in the WISSOTA 100 Midwest Modified feature came at the expense of Lucas Rodin’s disqualification, but it still counts as the young drivers’ first WISSOTA 100 title all the same.

Adams powered into the initial lead when the green flag dropped on the 35-lap feature. Rodin settled into second with Cole Elton third on lap one. Brennon Weight, Nate Reinke and Kyle Langland were engaged in a battle for fourth until the first caution fell with three laps recorded.

Adams slipped away after the restart, while Elton worked his way past Rodin for second. Matt Schow was into the top five and navigated around Reinke for fourth on lap seven. Weight was the next driver to pull up on Reinke. The caution waved with seven laps recorded after a spin, and again with eight laps in the books.

Cole Elton, Blake Adams and Lucas Rodin lead the field to the green flag in the Championship Feature (Cody Papke Photo)

Rodin used the low groove and picked off Adams for the top spot after the restart. Elton remained third ahead of Schow, while Jake Hagemann fought with Reinke for a top five. Schow used the upper groove to move around Elton for third on lap 12.

With 15 laps scored, Reinke challenged Elton in the top five. The leaders cruised by a few lapped cars, and Adams pulled alongside the leader on lap 17, but Rodin escaped again. The traffic increased in intensity, and Rodin picked off a few in quick succession. Adams slipped back a bit, and Schow applied heavy pressure for second with just over five laps remaining.

Haley Dykhoff and Tanner Bitzan (Cody Papke Photo)

With Rodin stuck in traffic, Adams and Schow closed quickly for the final pair of laps. Adams was just a car length back under the white flag, but Rodin put his machine between a pair of slower machines out of the final turn to cross the line first. The podium finishers looked much different after post-race tech; Rodin and Schow were both disqualified for a rule infraction, and Adams, Elton and Reinke were the new podium in the official rundown. Weight and Corey Storck rounded out the top five, and Hagemann, Travis Saurer, Corey Mehrwerth, Jaren Wibstad and Langland completed the top 10.

The Last Chance Qualifier moved the final six drivers into the Championship Feature. Mike Nichols took the early lead over Derek Rieck, with Onyx Johnson in third ahead of Jake Molitor. Casey Knabe and Jamie Dietzler fought for fifth for the opening two laps with Landyn Randt and Scott Tofte close behind.

Molitor found his way to third on lap four, and Randt pressured Dietzler for the final transfer position; he made the pass on lap five. Randt looked for insurance with a move into the top five, but Dietzler remained close behind. A miscue from Knabe allowed Randt by on lap 10, and Dietzler was the next to challenge, but lost ground in the final laps of the caution-free race.

Nichols earned the win, while Rieck, Molitor, Johnson, Randt and Knabe also transferred to the main event.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[2]; 2. 24-Cole Elton[1]; 3. 71-Nate Reinke[5]; 4. 28W-Brennon Weight[4]; 5. 57-Corey Storck[12]; 6. 33-Jake Hagemann[9]; 7. 42X-Travis Saurer[14]; 8. 27-Corey Mehrwerth[17]; 9. 36-Jaren Wibstad[23]; 10. 66-Kyle Langland[6]; 11. 62-Aaron Michel[11]; 12. L1-Shane Howell[10]; 13. 2B-Tayten Blascyk[8]; 14. 28-Tommy Nichols[16]; 15. 67-Mike Nichols[25]; 16. 50H-Haley Dykhoff[19]; 17. 10B-Tyler Bitzan[24]; 18. 22-Matt Heinzerling[22]; 19. 11R-Landyn Randt[29]; 20. (DNF) 34J-Derek Rieck[26]; 21. (DNF) 73-Onyx Johnson[28]; 22. (DNF) 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[15]; 23. (DNF) 1X-Travis Engebretson[20]; 24. (DNF) 29A-Payton Asche[33]; 25. (DNF) 28K-Nick Preston[32]; 26. (DNF) 4B-Arin Beyer[31]; 27. (DNF) 87S-Reise Stenberg[13]; 28. (DNF) 42B-Tanner Bitzan[21]; 29. (DNF) 81K-Casey Knabe[30]; 30. (DNF) 32F-Justin Froemming[18]; 31. (DQ) 19-Lucas Rodin[3]; 32. (DQ) 2S-Matt Schow[7]; 33. (DQ) 9M-Jake Molitor[27]

LCQ (15 Laps): 1. 67-Mike Nichols[1]; 2. 34J-Derek Rieck[2]; 3. 9M-Jake Molitor[5]; 4. 73-Onyx Johnson[3]; 5. 11R-Landyn Randt[9]; 6. 81K-Casey Knabe[4]; 7. 39-Jamie Dietzler[6]; 8. 11S-Darren Engesser[8]; 9. 28T-Scott Tofte[11]; 10. 2291-Andy Davey[13]; 11. (DNF) 13-Tate Kostreba[15]; 12. (DNF) 69T-Nick Thoreson[10]; 13. (DNF) 28S-Ryan Schow[7]; 14. (DNF) 19X-James Trantina III[12]; 15. (DNF) 94-Michael Rogers[14]; 16. (DNF) 15-Jayme Peterson[16]