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Benson, Schmidt, Labelle, Randt, Smith, Erickson and Mueller chop down rivals at Bemidji’s Stampede

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (October 2) -Cool north west breezes, colorful leaves falling, campfire smoke wafting in the air and the smell of race fuel … it was time for the 48th Annual Paul Bunyan Stampede at Bemidji Speedway.

Drivers brought their race cars from four states and Canada to compete for the prestigious honor of claiming a Paul Bunyan Stampede trophy in the two-day competition.

Winners in WISSOTA Dirt Track Series action Saturday included Zach Benson, Brooke Erickson, Brennan Schmidt, Cameron Labelle, Levi Randt, Mason Smith and Bryce Mueller.

The first feature of the weekend presented the WISSOTA Street Stocks on track, led to green by Greg Jose and Levi Randt. Randt powered to the lead with Jose and Weston Ramsrud trailing. The race continued on without issue until Kreg Anderson found the front retaining wall and the yellow regrouped the field.

The leaders held their position and Randt claimed the win with a clean sweep for his 34th victory of the summer. Jose and Ramsrud filled out the podium.

Anthony Ravina and Chad Puschinsky led the pack of 13 WISSOTA Pure Stocks down the front straight and Puschinsky grabbed control early, with Austin Carlson and Mason Smith in the top three. Puschinsky and Carlson were side by side, while Mason Smith, Jake Smith and Kade Leeper were all in tight contention. Mason Smith powered by the leaders using the top side to take the lead.

The caution flag flew later when Carlson and Dylan Helget tangled on the back straight. The restart was controlled by Mason Smith, who won the clean sweep of his class with Jake Smith and Leeper trailing in the top three.

Brennan Schmidt (Stephanie Frederick Photo)

The WISSOTA Midwest Modified class had 18 entries and two of the best led the pack to the green flag with Brennan Schmidt and Carter Matthews leading in row one. Lap one was led by Schmidt, as Matthews and Justin Olson set chase.

Following a single caution the race continued with no change in the leaders. Jake Smith was on the move from his third row start into fourth, and he raced up alongside Matthews. Another caution brought the field together once again, with Schmidt out front and Olson, Matthews, Jake Smith and Skyler Smith in the top five. It was a seesaw battle as the drivers raced side by side, trying to better their position throughout the pack.

Late in the race Joey LaValley made his first appearance on the track of the summer, and drove into fourth. He looked very fast and passed Skyler Smith for third. Schmidt took the checkered flag out front, ahead of Matthews and LaValley on the podium in a incredibly entertaining race.

A dozen WISSOTA Hornets rolled on track, led from the pole by Logan Delaney, with Travis Olafson to his right. Delaney grabbed the early lead with Aiden Kessler and Olafson trailing after a lap. Bryce Mueller raced up along the inside into third, and continued his assault on the lead with Travis Roush joining him in a door-to-door battle.

At this point the caution flag was thrown for two separate fires in two cars. The Bemidji Fire Dept flew into action to the cheers of the fans and the race restarted with Roush out front and Mueller and Kessler in the top three. Though Roush crossed the finish line first, he was later DQ’d. The win went to Mueller, with Kessler and Olafson in the top three.

Cameron Labelle (Stephanie Frederick Photo)

Cameron Labelle and Matt Sparby shared the front row for the WISSOTA Super Stock feature, as Labelle raced to the lead with Sparby and Dalton Carlson in the top three early. Carlson raced inside in turn four taking second, while Labelle pulled away from the field. A caution fell for the No. 81 of Sparby, who slowed on the back straight.

The restart was controlled by Labelle, with Carlson and Butch Butcher chasing him but to no avail. Labelle cruised to the Stampede victory and a clean sweep. Carlson and Butcher trailed in second and third.

The WISSOTA Mod Fours rolled on track, led by Brooke Erickson and Patrick Specht from the front row. Erickson had a great jump into the lead but Specht found traction out of turn two and made the pass for the top spot with Ashton Schwinn racing up into third on the extremely fast track.

The field spread out around the track until Specht slowed on the back straight while in the lead, ending his night.

Erickson inherited the lead for the restart, with Ashton Schwinn and Conrad Schwinn behind her. Dean Larson was also looking to find an opening to move forward. The young lady had other plans, however, and Brooke Erickson controlled the race to pick up her first Stampede feature win. Ashton and Conrad Schwinn finished second and third.

A tremendous field of WISSOTA Modifieds roared on track for their first-day feature, led by Zach Benson and Nic Lewis. Benson grabbed control early with Devyn Weleski and Davey Mills in the top three. The caution waved for an incident that sent Lewis to the rear of the field.

With Benson out front, Weleski and Mills held top-three spots. Mills raced topside to take second on the back straight, as Weleski dropped back to fourth and Benson built a five-car-length lead on the field.

JT Johnson was also on the move from his fourth-row starting position to battle with Mills for second. Johnson moved up high on the back straight and made the pass, but Benson finished the clean sweep with the victory. Johnson and Mills completed the podium.

Nick McCann topped the track’s Mini Stock feature.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 17B-Zach Benson[1]; 2. 89-JT Johnson[7]; 3. 22-Davey Mills[4]; 4. 21X-Travis Saurer[9]; 5. 13-Devyn Weleski[3]; 6. 77-Alan Olafson[8]; 7. 15T-Eric Thiesse[6]; 8. 267-Nic Lewis[2]; 9. 5-Cole Shake[5]; 10. 2R-Jeff Reed[10]; 11. 15-Tanner Thiesse[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Devyn Weleski[1]; 2. 15T-Eric Thiesse[2]; 3. 22-Davey Mills[4]; 4. 5-Cole Shake[5]; 5. 21X-Travis Saurer[3]; 6. 15-Tanner Thiesse[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17B-Zach Benson[2]; 2. 89-JT Johnson[1]; 3. 267-Nic Lewis[3]; 4. 77-Alan Olafson[4]; 5. 2R-Jeff Reed[5]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 27C-Cameron Labelle[1]; 2. 57-Dalton Carlson[3]; 3. 32-Butch Butcher[7]; 4. 81X-Matt Sparby[2]; 5. 72-Mike Johnson[6]; 6. (DNF) 41-Mikey Vajdl[4]; 7. (DNF) 9-Dominic Baker[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 27C-Cameron Labelle[3]; 2. 81X-Matt Sparby[2]; 3. 57-Dalton Carlson[5]; 4. 9-Dominic Baker[7]; 5. 41-Mikey Vajdl[4]; 6. 72-Mike Johnson[1]; 7. 32-Butch Butcher[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 32-Brennan Schmidt[1]; 2. 07-Carter Matthews[2]; 3. 74B-Joseph LaValley[8]; 4. 16-Skyler Smith[7]; 5. 21-Jake Smith[5]; 6. 169-Justin Olson[3]; 7. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[16]; 8. 42-Ron Saurer[6]; 9. 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[4]; 10. 18X-Connor Drewry[10]; 11. 19-Darrin Lawler[17]; 12. 11K-Travis Klein[14]; 13. 115-Kalin Honer[9]; 14. 22E-Ethan Elhardt[11]; 15. BAN1-Casey Kintner[12]; 16. 62-Ryan Kough[15]; 17. 13-Nicholas Jessen[13]; 18. 21W-Bruce Hislaw[18]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 42-Ron Saurer[1]; 2. 32-Brennan Schmidt[4]; 3. 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[2]; 4. 74B-Joseph LaValley[7]; 5. 115-Kalin Honer[3]; 6. 22E-Ethan Elhardt[5]; 7. 13-Nicholas Jessen[6]; 8. (DNF) 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[9]; 9. (DNF) 19-Darrin Lawler[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[1]; 2. 16-Skyler Smith[8]; 3. 169-Justin Olson[2]; 4. 07-Carter Matthews[4]; 5. 18X-Connor Drewry[6]; 6. BAN1-Casey Kintner[7]; 7. 11K-Travis Klein[3]; 8. 62-Ryan Kough[5]; 9. (DNF) 21W-Bruce Hislaw[9]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 11-Levi Randt[2]; 2. 28-Greg Jose[1]; 3. 67-Weston Ramsrud[4]; 4. 39-Deryk Weleski[5]; 5. 29P-Charlie Paradis[3]; 6. 34-Aaron Bitker[7]; 7. (DNF) 90-Kreg Anderson[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Levi Randt[4]; 2. 28-Greg Jose[3]; 3. 39-Deryk Weleski[5]; 4. 67-Weston Ramsrud[2]; 5. 29P-Charlie Paradis[1]; 6. 34-Aaron Bitker[7]; 7. 90-Kreg Anderson[6]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 99E-Brooke Erickson[1]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[3]; 3. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 4. 5H-Robert Holtquist[10]; 5. 37-Dean Larson[7]; 6. 118-Brandon Backstrom[8]; 7. C92-Jeffrey Marthaler[4]; 8. 25-Jordan Thayer[6]; 9. (DNF) 26L-Lily Knute[9]; 10. (DNF) 17S-Patrick Specht[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[2]; 2. C92-Jeffrey Marthaler[1]; 3. 25-Jordan Thayer[5]; 4. (DNF) 26L-Lily Knute[3]; 5. (DNF) 5H-Robert Holtquist[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17S-Patrick Specht[1]; 2. 6-Conrad Schwinn[3]; 3. 99E-Brooke Erickson[2]; 4. 37-Dean Larson[4]; 5. 118-Brandon Backstrom[5]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 21-Mason Smith[3]; 2. 86J-Jake Smith[11]; 3. 3-Kade Leeper[5]; 4. 88-Chad Puschinsky[2]; 5. 18B-Alex Berg[6]; 6. 23X-Cameron Labelle[10]; 7. 22H-Justin Honer[9]; 8. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[13]; 9. 10-Anthony Ravina[1]; 10. 8-Karen Puschinsky[12]; 11. 52W-Austin Fencl[7]; 12. (DNF) 57H-Dylan Helget[4]; 13. (DNF) 57-Austin Carlson[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Mason Smith[3]; 2. 57-Austin Carlson[4]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[7]; 4. 88-Chad Puschinsky[1]; 5. 22H-Justin Honer[6]; 6. 86J-Jake Smith[2]; 7. (DNF) 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Kade Leeper[2]; 2. 57H-Dylan Helget[3]; 3. 10-Anthony Ravina[1]; 4. 18B-Alex Berg[6]; 5. 23X-Cameron Labelle[5]; 6. 8-Karen Puschinsky[4]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature (10 Laps): 1. 11-Bryce Mueller[5]; 2. 8X-Adam Kessler[7]; 3. 34R-Travis Olafson[2]; 4. 28-Logan Delaney[1]; 5. 19-Josh Backstrom[6]; 6. 67A-Avery Ramsrud[12]; 7. (DNF) 28R-Chad Reller[9]; 8. (DNF) 35F-Brianna Feda[8]; 9. (DNF) 7M-Mateja Dreyer[3]; 10. (DNF) 72-Aiden Kessler[4]; 11. (DNF) 21-Colton Lodermeier[10]; 12. (DQ) 3G-Travis Roush[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8X-Adam Kessler[3]; 2. 28-Logan Delaney[4]; 3. 34R-Travis Olafson[6]; 4. 19-Josh Backstrom[5]; 5. (DNF) 21-Colton Lodermeier[2]; 6. (DNF) 3G-Travis Roush[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Bryce Mueller[2]; 2. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[4]; 3. 72-Aiden Kessler[1]; 4. 35F-Brianna Feda[5]; 5. 28R-Chad Reller[3]; 6. 67A-Avery Ramsrud[6]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[3]; 2. 72-William Foster[1]; 3. 6-Conrad Schwinn[7]; 4. 77-Hayden Engen[12]; 5. 18-Ashton Schwinn[5]; 6. 117-Justin Honer[4]; 7. 90-Cory Nelson[11]; 8. 14-Cooper Francis[14]; 9. 5-Cody Meyers[6]; 10. 3H-Kaylie Hunter[13]; 11. 7G-Jayme Gordon[8]; 12. 26-Brooke McCann[9]; 13. 7-Karlie Feda[10]; 14. (DNF) 7H-Ethan Hunter[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[5]; 2. 72-William Foster[3]; 3. 5-Cody Meyers[1]; 4. 7H-Ethan Hunter[7]; 5. 26-Brooke McCann[2]; 6. 90-Cory Nelson[6]; 7. (DQ) 14-Cooper Francis[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[3]; 2. 117-Justin Honer[1]; 3. 18-Ashton Schwinn[7]; 4. 7G-Jayme Gordon[6]; 5. 7-Karlie Feda[5]; 6. (DNF) 77-Hayden Engen[4]; 7. (DNF) 3H-Kaylie Hunter[2]