Winged Warriors invade the high banks at Viking
By Ray Beste
Alexandria, Mn (July 11th, 2009) - Jeremy Kerzman turned in an unbelievable run picking up the win in WISSOTA Midwest Modified action Saturday night at Viking Speedway. With the WISSOTA Late Models taking the week off, the NOSA 410 Sprints invaded the big 1/2 mile with Casey Mack scoring a dominating win. Jason Thoennes (WISSOTA Modifieds) and Jeff Crouse (WISSOTA Super Stocks) each picked up their first wins of the season while Justin Vogel reigned victorious in the WISSOTA Street Stock division. Two and three-wide racing was witnessed by the Viking faithful during Amsoil Dirt Track Series action at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.
The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds rolled out onto to the freshly watered surface first with Matt Weisman and Darrin Braaten sharing the front row starting duties. Weisman got the jump and took the lead as the field battled behind. Weisman quickly stretched his advantage to six car lengths while Braaten battled with Terry Merten for second. Fourth starter Brian Haben joined the fray on lap three and moved by Braaten and Haben for the spot exiting turn four. Out front Weisman had now stretched his lead to a half of a straightaway five laps into the event. On the same lap Kerzman began his march toward the front. Kerzman split Josh Thoennes and Jason Hoffman moving up two positions into the top five on lap six while Haben did his best to track down Weisman out front. Kerzman continued to run his familiar high line as he disposed of Merten and Braaten moving into third on lap eight. The first yellow of the event waved which stacked up the field two by two behind Weisman. When the green dropped Kerzman climbed the ladder once again moving into second. Weisman still held the lead but now was pressured heavily by the #14x of Kerzman. With five laps remaining, Kerzman disposed of Weisman for the lead via the high groove in turn four. Haben followed Kerzman's example and moved by Weisman as well using the top of the speedway to do so. Back in traffic Thoennes began to flex a little muscle as the laps wound down. Thoennes bolted by William Lund with three laps to go entering the top five with Kerzman bolted up front. On the final trip around Thoennes was able to sneak by Merten for the fourth spot ending a great run six spots ahead of where he started. In the end it was Kerzman scoring his second win of the weekend. Kerzman was joined in the top five by Haben, Weisman, Thoennes and Merten. Haben, Josh Muzik and Travis Saurer all scored heat race wins for the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds.
Randy Laage blasted off from his pole position to take the lead on lap one of the WISSOTA Street Stock main event. Laage looked like the car to beat early on as he stretched the advantage over second place running Scott Horn. Fifth starter Jason Babcock quickly moved into third early on bringing Justin Vogel with him. While Horn and Babcock battled for second, Vogel climbed the ladder in turn four taking over the second spot with six laps remaining. Vogel now began the long process of tracking down Laage out front. Vogel, however, looked strong as he reeled in Laage on lap seven. As the two front-runners entered turn one, Vogel took a peak to the outside of Laage in an attempt to take the lead. The two drag raced down the backstretch door to door before Vogel backed his machine into the cushion moving into the lead. Laage was then left to battle with Babcock for the second spot. With two laps remaining Babcock seized the spot as they raced off of turn four. On the final trip around Vogel made no mistakes and went on to score the feature win. Babcock settled for a hard fought second followed by Laage, Horn and ninth starter Andrew Bangsund. Laage was victorious in the division's lone heat race.
Jeff Crouse took the lead from the outside of row one during lap one action for the WISSOTA Super Stock division. Sixth starter Jon Stepan quickly moved up three positions into third behind Crouse and Jeff Kluver. The caution flag waved just six laps into the event which stacked up the field behind Crouse. Eighth starter Todd Carter looked as if he might be the car to beat as he moved into second with the cross flags showing. Crouse still lead the way with Carter in second followed by Stepan and tenth starter Larry Lund. The front four cars began to distance themselves from the field as Crouse continued to lead up front. With seven laps remaining Carter took a peak to the inside of Crouse as they raced through turns one and two. Crouse, however, used his top side momentum to bolt back into the lead down the backstretch. Back in traffic twelfth starter Matt Miller found the top side of the speedway to his liking. Miller moved into the sixth spot with just four laps remaining. Carter tried everything in his power to overtake Crouse in the remaining laps but it was not enough as Crouse went on to score the win. Crouse was followed to the stripe by Carter, Stepan, Lund and Kluver. Carter picked up the victory in heat race one while Jeff Flaten was victorious in heat race two.
The WISSOTA Modifieds were next on the docket with Jason Blascyk and Terry Engebretson aligned on the front row. Head flagman Mike Commerford liked what he saw and dropped the green over the 17-car field. Fifth starter Curt Lund made an unbelievable move on the bottom of the speedway taking the lead on lap one. Lund stretched his advantage early on while the battles behind were hot and heavy. Third starter Thoennes began to hit his marks on lap three as He and Dale Mathison battled for the third spot. Thoennes climbed the ladder in turn one and moved into second on lap four and began the long process of running down Lund. Thoennes, however, looked the be the fastest car on the speedway for the time being as he inched closer and closer. With twelve laps still up on the board, Thoennes executed a power move to the outside of Lund taking the lead in the process of turn four. Lund then moved to the top as the two front runners began to distance themselves from the rest of the field. Eighth starter Dennis Bitzan steadily worked his way forward as He found himself in the third spot with the cross flags showing over the field. Two more laps clicked off before the yellow flag waved over the field. The field stacked up two by two behind Thoennes for the "Delaware" double-file restart. The green dropped with Thoennes once again stretching his lead. Lund, Bitzan and Mathison raced three-wide down the backstretch with Mathison moving from fourth to second in the process. Dawson, Mn ace JJ Schuelke entered the top five with three laps remaining while Thoennes was on cruise control out front. Back in traffic WISSOTA Modified rookie Kyle Koehntop found the speedway to his liking. The 16th starting Koehntop moved up seven positions during the 20-lap affair ending a great run in the ninth position. Out front it was all Thoennes as he went on to score his first WISSOTA Modified feature win of the season. Mathison had another great run coming home second with Bitzan third, Lund fourth and Schuelke the final member of the top five. Mathison and Blascyk were each victorious in WISSOTA Modified heat race action earlier in the program.
The NOSA 410 Sprint Car feature was dominated by East Grand Forks, Mn driver Casey Mack. Mack led the event wire to wire picking up the win in very impressive fashion. Ninth starter Brad Barickman moved up seven positions in the 25-lap race finishing second behind Mack followed by eleventh starter Chris Shirek. Last year's winner John Sernett ran a great race coming home in the fourth spot followed by the hard charging Greg Hall. Hall started the event in the eighteenth position and finished fifth. Mack's win earlier in the evening in heat race one made it a clean sweep while Harwood, ND's Lee Grosz scored the win heat two. The Northern Outlaw Sprint Association (NOSA) will appear two more times at the high banked 1/2 mile in 2009. They will participate each night in the Labor Day double-header scheduled for Saturday and Sunday September 5th and 6th.
Viking Speedway would once again like to thank all the drivers, pit crew members and fans who showed up for the race this past Saturday night. We hope to see you all back next Saturday night. Races start each and every Saturday night at 5:30. For more information regarding Viking Speedway log onto the track's website at vikingspeedway.net
SUMMARY:
NOSA Sprint Cars:
Feature- Casey Mack, Brad Barickman, Chris Shirek, John Sernett, Greg Hall, Nick Shirek, Bob Martin, Wade Nygaard, Brian Fuchs, Jordan Graham, Ryan Flaten, Lynn Franklin, Ryan Wilson, Brenden Wilde, Lee Grosz, Leigh Thomas, Brett Geldner, Curt Lund
Heat 1- Mack, Lund, Thomas, Sernett, Barickman, Chris Shirek, Wilde, Franklin, Geldner
Heat 2- Grosz, Nygaard, Martin, Graham, Fuchs, Wilson, Nick Shirek, Flaten, Hall
WISSOTA Modifieds:
Feature- Jason Thoennes, Dale Mathison, Dennis Bitzan, Curt Lund, JJ Schuelke, Jamie Lemke, Dave Storck, Mike Storck, Kyle Koehntop, Travis Saurer, Jason Blascyk, Kyle Wieberdink, Matt Smith, Terry Engebretson, Scott Gilbertson, Jake Wildman, Dallas Gulbrandson
Heat 1- Mathison, Thoennes, Bitzan, Schuelke, Gulbrandson, Dave Storck, Saurer, Mike Storck, Wieberdink
Heat 2- Blascyk, Lemke, Lund, Engebretson, Smith, Wildman, Gilbertson, Koehntop
WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature- Jeff Crouse, Todd Carter, Jon Stepan, Larry Lund, Jeff Kluver, Matt Miller, Irvin Cook, Jeremy Jerve, Jeff Flaten, Mike Peterson, Alan Johnson, Chuck Thieschafer, Randy Peters, Cody Lee, Dusty Peterson
Heat 1- Carter, Kluver, Cook, Crouse, Thieschafer, Johnson, Miller, Peters
Heat 2- Flaten, Stepan, Lee, Peterson, Lund, Jerve, Peterson
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
Feature- Jeremy Kerzman, Brian Haben, Josh Thoennes, Terry Merten, William Lund, Brett Hoium, Ronald Saurer, Jason Blascyk, Jason Hoffman, Dustin Bitzan, Josh Muzik, Darrin Braaten, Shawn Olson, Wes Hines, Jarrett Carter, Brad Parson, Travis Saurer, Derek Quinn, Brian Tomford, Steve Johnson, Dan Greeley
Heat 1- Haben, Hoffman, Hoium, Thoennes, Kerzman, R. Saurer, Parson, Johnson
Heat 2- Muzik, Weisman, Braaten, Tomford, Quinn, Blascyk, Greeley
Heat 3- T. Saurer, Merten, Lund, Carter, Bitzan, Olson, Hines
WISSOTA Street Stocks:
Feature- Justin Vogel, Jason Babcock, Randy Laage, Scott Horn, Andrew Bangsund, Mark Blom, Rick Sahli, Jordan Tollakson, Travis Berends
Heat- Laage, Horn, Babcock, Blom, Berends, Vogel, Sahli, Tollakson, Bangsund
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