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Cain cruises to Qualifying Feature victory in the Mods as the open-wheelers open WISSOTA 100 action on Wednesday

By Meghan Diemel, Editor
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 11) - The best of the best in WISSOTA Modified racing were all on hand for action Wednesday night, as they made their first attempts toward qualifying for Saturday night’s Championship Feature of the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100. It was the veteran Dave Cain for the win Wednesday, as he topped the Modifieds from his front-row starting spot.

Dustin Bitzan and Cain led the field to green for their 15-lap feature. Cain launched into the lead early on, as Landon Atkinson moved into a side-by-side battle with Bitzan for second. A bit farther back, Jody Bellefeuille was under pressure from sixth-starter Travis Saurer for top-five positions. Saurer got into the wall hard, allowing Dan Ebert to slip by for fifth.

Cain built up a 1-second lead with six laps scored, as Bitzan continued to hold off Atkinson for second.

Brandon Dolman and Brandon Copp (Cody Papke Photo)

Atkinson made his move with four laps remaining, taking second from Bitzan, as Bellefeuille succumbed to Ebert, who grabbed fourth with a slider. Atkinson cut into Cain’s lead, but ran out of laps as Cain picked up the Qualifying Feature win. Atkinson, Bitzan, Ebert and Saurer were top-five finishers, while Bellefeuille, Don Eischens and Shane Sabraski filled out the remaining top-eight qualifying positions.

Dave Cain, Landon Atkinson, Dustin Bitzan, Jody Bellefeuille, Cole Anderson, Seth Brede, Ryan Flaten and Zach Benson accepted the eight available spots in the inside row of the three-wide start for Saturday’s Championship Feature.

Landon Atkinson and Dustin Bitzan (Cody Papke Photo)

In the four heat races that occurred earlier in the night, Eischens, Jason Thoennes, Atkinson, and Ebert were all winners.

In the first heat race, Eischens started on the pole of the loaded heat race, with Dustin Bitzan moving from fifth to second in the first lap. They were three wide for third behind them, including John Farrington, Johnny Broking and Mike Stearns. Broking took third and looked to get by Bitzan, using the extreme high side. Stearns, along the bottom, regained third from Broking with two laps scored.

Three laps later, Broking moved back in to pressure Stearns for third, drawing side by side as the field took the white flag. Stearns had the advantage on the bottom, however, holding third and nearly getting by Bitzan for second during the final lap. Out front, Eischens grabbed the checkered flag, taking the win ahead of Bitzan and Stearns in the top three.

Jason Thoennes was the early leader from the pole in heat two, as they were three wide and two deep throughout the pack to complete the lap. Seth Brede shook out into second, ahead of Austin Chyba in third with Cole Anderson close behind in fourth. Cole Chernosky joined in the fun and they were three wide for third to complete lap three. Anderson grabbed third, while Thoennes added to his advantage out front. Thoennes’ lead was significant at the finish, as he grabbed the heat win ahead of Brede, who narrowly held off Anderson for second.

Ryan Gierke and Tyler Kintner led the third heat race to the green flag. Before the lap was complete, Landon Atkinson blasted into the top spot, as Gierke struggled along the high side and Kintner fell back through the pack. Dave Cain made his way to the front from his sixth starting spot, taking third with two laps complete.

Gierke regrouped and took back after Atkinson for the lead as the field entered turns one and two, before a caution fell for a Kintner spin. Atkinson drove back out front following the restart, while Cain slipped by Gierke for second. Atkinson wheeled to the win ahead of Cain, with Gierke holding off Ryan Flaten for third.

Dan Ebert had the lead to start heat race four, with Jody Bellefeuille and Kennedy Swan in the top three. Ebert was setting a fast pace out front along the high side ahead of Bellefeuille, as Travis Saurer drove by Swan for third near the midpoint of the eight-lap race. Ebert took his No. 60 into victory lane four laps later, as Bellefeuille and Saurer completed the top three.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 2C-Dave Cain[2]; 2. 18A-Landon Atkinson[4]; 3. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[1]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[5]; 5. 21X-Travis Saurer[6]; 6. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[3]; 7. 9E-Don Eischens[8]; 8. 7A-Shane Sabraski[12]; 9. 97-Cole Anderson[7]; 10. 52-Jason Thoennes[9]; 11. 6SL-Seth Brede[10]; 12. 26G-Ryan Gierke[15]; 13. 15-Ryan Flaten[11]; 14. 12D-Mike Stearns[14]; 15. 17B-Zach Benson[13]; 16. 6X-Zach Johnson[20]; 17. 33C-Cole Chernosky[18]; 18. 45J-Johnny Broking[17]; 19. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[21]; 20. 18S-Kennedy Swan[19]; 21. 22C-Brandon Copp[24]; 22. 24-Brandon Dolman[23]; 23. (DNF) 11X-Austin Chyba[22]; 24. (DNF) 6ST-Joseph Thomas[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9E-Don Eischens[1]; 2. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[5]; 3. 12D-Mike Stearns[3]; 4. 45J-Johnny Broking[4]; 5. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[7]; 6. 24-Brandon Dolman[6]; 7. 6X-Zach Johnson[10]; 8. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[9]; 9. 7-Bryce Borgen[8]; 10. 40F-John Farrington[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Jason Thoennes[1]; 2. 6SL-Seth Brede[3]; 3. 97-Cole Anderson[6]; 4. 33C-Cole Chernosky[4]; 5. 11X-Austin Chyba[2]; 6. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[7]; 7. 40-Kevin Adams[5]; 8. 6*-Brian Haben[10]; 9. 15T-Cory Tammen[9]; 10. (DNF) 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18A-Landon Atkinson[5]; 2. 2C-Dave Cain[6]; 3. 26G-Ryan Gierke[1]; 4. 15-Ryan Flaten[7]; 5. 7A-Shane Sabraski[9]; 6. 22C-Brandon Copp[4]; 7. 6-Dale Ames[3]; 8. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[8]; 9. 22-Tyler Kintner[2]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 60-Dan Ebert[2]; 2. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[4]; 3. 21X-Travis Saurer[8]; 4. 18S-Kennedy Swan[3]; 5. 17B-Zach Benson[9]; 6. 51A-Avery Anderson[1]; 7. 2G-Brock Gronwold[6]; 8. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[5]; 9. 18-Taylor Garberich[7]