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Koch claims first WISSOTA 100 title Saturday after dominating Super Stock action on Championship Night

By Tony Steuck
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 14) - Dexton Koch continued his stellar 2024 season, adding the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 Super Stock victory to his list of accomplishments during his outstanding campaign. Koch was not seriously challenged in the second half of the race to earn his first career WISSOTA 100 title on Saturday night.

Jordan Henkemeyer used the outside groove to power to the lead over Koch in the opening turns of the 40-lap main event. Tim Johnson ran third while Trevor Nelson and Dave Mass fought for fourth in the early going. Koch went to work on Henkemeyer on lap two, but Henkemeyer continued to lead until he dropped off the pace out of the second corner on lap four. Koch moved to the point, while Nelson challenged Johnson for the runner-up position and grabbed the spot on lap six. Meanwhile Shane Sabraski tested Mass for a slot in the top five.

Tim Johnson, Dexton Koch and Jordan Henkemeyer lead the field at the start of the Super Stock Championship Feature (Cody Papke Photo)

Nelson used the very top of the speedway, and cut into Koch’s lead a quarter of the way through the race. Nelson dropped to the low groove to look for the lead on lap 13, and the two had to deal with traffic a few laps later. The caution waved, however, with 14 laps recorded.

Koch slipped away when the race resumed, and Sabraski looked low to battle with Johnson for third; he claimed the position, then picked up second when Nelson caught the wall on lap 17. The next caution fell with 19 laps scored.

Koch slipped away after the green, while Austin Niemeyer had made his way forward from 12th, and moved into fourth in the low groove. The top three pulled away, and Nelson’s run along the cushion came to an end when he made contact with the wall in turn four and slowed. He exited the speedway under green.

Koch continued to open up ground over Sabraski, and Niemeyer created a gap to Johnson in fourth. Ryan Kostreba, who started 16th, charged on the low side and battled with Mass for fifth. Koch had a half straightaway lead before the caution waved with 28 laps scored.

Trevor Nelson and Dave Mass (Cody Papke Photo)

Koch opened a moderate margin over Sabraski, who himself had a comfortable advantage over Niemeyer. Kostreba continued to work forward and raced under Johnson for fourth, then moved alongside Niemeyer, and stole the spot on lap 35. Koch continued to stretch his lead before the final caution with five laps left.

Koch powered away from the pack, and Kostreba looked under Sabraski for second when the race resumed. Niemeyer raced in fourth for the final stretch, and Dustin Nelson challenged Johnson for a top five.

Koch sped under the checkers for the WISSOTA 100 victory, while Sabraski narrowly edged out Kostreba in a photo finish for second. Niemeyer and Johnson rounded out the top five, ahead of Dustin Nelson, Mass, Denis Czech, Kolby Kiehl and Dalton Carlson in the top 10.

Ryan Kostreba, Dylan Kromschroeder, Alex Myers and Denis Czech (Cody Papke Photo)

The final six drivers to transfer to the Championship Feature raced their way out of the 15-lap Last Chance Qualifier earlier in the night. Ryan Satter, Russell Kostreba and Doug Koski settled into the first three positions on the initial start. After a caution with one lap scored, Matt Fester challenged Patrick LaMere for fourth, while Travis Scott and Bodie Smith raced for the sixth and final transfer position. The caution waved again with three laps scored.

Satter slipped away with the lead after the restart ahead of Kostreba and Koski, while LaMere held off a pack in fourth. Scott made a move around LaMere for fourth on lap five, and Fester was the driver on the bubble in sixth. Brad Kopecky made moves in the high groove and displaced Fester on lap eight before Kostreba—who was second—spun with five laps to go to bring out the final caution.

Only seven cars remained when the race resumed; Carson Miller navigated from seventh to fourth quickly after the restart, and LaMere was on the bubble with pressure from Fester, who made the pass for the final transfer down the back chute on lap 12. LaMere’s night ended in a plume of smoke, while Satter rolled to the victory ahead of Scott, Koski, Miller, Kopecky and Fester in the transfer positions.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[2]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[7]; 3. 17-Ryan Kostreba[16]; 4. 33N-Austin Niemeyer[12]; 5. 1JR-Tim Johnson[1]; 6. 46-Dustin Nelson[13]; 7. 2M-Dave Mass[6]; 8. 2-Denis Czech[11]; 9. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[10]; 10. 57-Dalton Carlson[18]; 11. 1M-Alex Myers[21]; 12. 17J-Matt Johnson[24]; 13. 5*-Andrew Hedtke[22]; 14. 511-Zach Schultz[5]; 15. 19X-James Trantina III[9]; 16. 67S-Ryan Satter[25]; 17. 99-Shawn Fernkes[15]; 18. 76-Doug Koski[27]; 19. 2F-Jeffrey Frey[17]; 20. 77-Carson Miller[28]; 21. (DNF) L1-Andrew Johnson[32]; 22. (DNF) 1-Karter Reents[19]; 23. (DNF) 2B1-Matt Fester[30]; 24. (DNF) 71N-Trevor Nelson[4]; 25. (DNF) 19XH-Brayden Hedtke[20]; 26. (DNF) 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[14]; 27. (DNF) 71X-Travis Scott[26]; 28. (DNF) 28*-Bailey Rosch[8]; 29. (DNF) 27C-Cameron Labelle[31]; 30. (DNF) 22T-Terran Spacek[23]; 31. (DNF) 31W-Chris Winter[33]; 32. (DNF) 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[3]; 33. (DNF) 5-Brad Kopecky[29]

LCQ (15 Laps): 1. 67S-Ryan Satter[1]; 2. 71X-Travis Scott[10]; 3. 76-Doug Koski[4]; 4. 77-Carson Miller[9]; 5. 5-Brad Kopecky[12]; 6. 2B1-Matt Fester[6]; 7. (DNF) 85-Patrick LaMere[2]; 8. (DNF) 14-Russell Kostreba[3]; 9. (DNF) 3T-Jon Tribble[8]; 10. (DNF) 32*-Bodie Smith[7]; 11. (DNF) 2XL-Jason Garner[5]; 12. (DNF) 54-William Lund[11]; 13. (DNF) 10X-Josh Schmidt[13]; 14. (DNF) 71-Justin Tammen[15]; 15. (DNF) 28-Kaden Woodie[14]; 16. (DNS) 8T-Nick Schultz