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Dylan Kromschroeder (Mark Anderson Photo)

Princeton people put aside poor weather and go racing: Stieh, Kromschroeder, Jones, Gullikson and Holtquist hoist the hardware

By Tami Jo Kuehn

PRINCETON, MN (May 8) - After a month of cancellations due to unfavorable weather, Princeton Speedway kicked off its 70th annual season opener Friday night, May 8. Seventy-seven drivers signed in to battle and when the final checkered flag waved, Curtis Stieh, Dylan Kromschroeder, Justin Jones, Jim Gullikson, and Dustin Holtquist were crowned WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners.

Jordan Henkemeyer and Kromschroeder brought the WISSOTA Super Stocks to green for the first feature of 2026. Kromschroeder claimed the immediate lead with Henkemeyer in second and Dylan Nelson in third. The race passed quickly without issue and Kromschroeder grabbed the first feature win of the season. Henkemeyer finished second ahead of Dylan Nelson, Dustin Nelson and Max Nelson in the top five.

There were three WISSOTA Street Stocks signed in for the night with Jim Gullikson the early leader ahead of Tommy Pogones and Kyle Howland. They remained in that order from flag to flag, with Gullikson grabbing the win ahead of Pogones and Howland.

Stieh and JT Johnson led the WISSOTA Modifieds to the stand, and Johnson grabbed the lead with the green waving; Stieh settled into second.

After a caution reset the field, Johnson sped away as racers were three and almost four-wide for position. Stieh moved in and was challenging Johnson for the lead when Johnson suffered a mechanical problem and exited the track.

Stieh assumed the lead with a handful of laps to go, with heavy pressure from Clayton Wagamon and Cole Boston. After a short three-wide fight, Stieh pulled ahead into the top spot and led the final laps for the victory. Wagamon, Boston, Brennan Gave and 11th-starter Tim Patchen completed the top five.

The WISSOTA Mod Fours sped off when the green dropped, with Josh Madson and Andrew Funt on row one. Madson claimed the early lead with Funt in second, followed by Andrew Christensen, Jack Post and Dustin Holtquist three-wide for third. Madson suddenly took his car to the infield and Funt assumed the lead.

Holtquist, who started last, worked the high groove and grabbed the top point before the first yellow flew.

Holtquist sped away on the restart while Post, Funt and Dean Larson swapped for top-five positions. A final caution slowed the drivers, but Holtquist was unfazed as he took the checkered flag. Larson finished second with Gerrald Nohner, Jack Post and 12th-starter Doug Frederick in the top five.

Erik Gruhlke and Justin Jones brought the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds to the green, with Jones the early leader. Jason VandeKamp moved into second with Gruhlke in third. A quick caution reset the field and as the race restarted, the top three drivers remained glued to one another.

The race had a few cautions scattered throughout, but the top three drivers were evenly matched lap after lap. Joey Jensen moved to fourth and raced three wide with VandeKamp and Gruhlke. VandeKamp slid ahead and challenged Jones, but Jones held a slight advantage.

With top drivers still in a battle, the checkered flags waved for Jones. VandeKamp settled for second ahead of Jensen, Gruhlke and Dustin Nelson in the top five.

In the Micro Sprints, Owen Henrichs survived a challenge from Marshall Willing in the final few laps to score the victory. Willing, Leighton Rose, Brandon Friederick and Tyler Pelofske rounded out the top five.

In the Crown Vics, Marcus Ammerman led from start to finish to net the victory ahead of Wayne Nelson, Jeff Hass, Jen Machula and Galen Hass in the top five.

Next Friday, the track will celebrating the 1980s and the UMSS Traditional Sprint cars will make a stop at speedway along with the regular weekly classes. The green flag drops at 7 p.m.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 32C-Curtis Stieh[1]; 2. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[4]; 3. 33C-Cole Boston[5]; 4. 112-Brennan Gave[8]; 5. 23-Tim Patchen[11]; 6. 17B-Zach Benson[3]; 7. 25-Adam Bohlman[10]; 8. 70K-Josiah Kottschade[14]; 9. 27-Tony Proell[9]; 10. (DNF) 88-Eric Lamm[6]; 11. (DNF) 89JR-JT Johnson[2]; 12. (DNF) 3T-Travis Schulte[13]; 13. (DNF) 24-Tyler English[12]; 14. (DNF) 4E-Tanner Erickson[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17B-Zach Benson[2]; 2. 4E-Tanner Erickson[1]; 3. 112-Brennan Gave[5]; 4. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[6]; 5. 27-Tony Proell[7]; 6. 23-Tim Patchen[4]; 7. (DNF) 3T-Travis Schulte[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Eric Lamm[1]; 2. 89JR-JT Johnson[3]; 3. 33C-Cole Boston[4]; 4. 32C-Curtis Stieh[5]; 5. 25-Adam Bohlman[6]; 6. 24-Tyler English[2]; 7. 70K-Josiah Kottschade[7]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[2]; 2. 91-Jordan Henkemeyer[1]; 3. 25-Dylan Nelson[3]; 4. 46-Dustin Nelson[5]; 5. 32-Max Nelson[7]; 6. 21-Joey Jensen[6]; 7. 44-Kris Peterson[4]; 8. 42-Jake Luark[8]; 9. 17D-Jon Dufour[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[2]; 2. 46-Dustin Nelson[4]; 3. 44-Kris Peterson[1]; 4. 91-Jordan Henkemeyer[3]; 5. 25-Dylan Nelson[8]; 6. 21-Joey Jensen[9]; 7. 32-Max Nelson[7]; 8. 42-Jake Luark[5]; 9. 17D-Jon Dufour[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 8-Justin Jones[2]; 2. 16-Jason VandeKamp[3]; 3. 30-Joey Jensen[8]; 4. 47-Erik Gruhlke[1]; 5. 23-Dustin Nelson[6]; 6. 46-Ryan Putnam[5]; 7. 28-Paul Ripley[12]; 8. 13-Tate Kostreba[13]; 9. M-Kevin Yeager[14]; 10. 18X-Connor Drewry[10]; 11. 77-Chance Kodet[9]; 12. 75-Ryan Mead[4]; 13. 7G-Rick Grams[16]; 14. 2-Ariel Mueller[11]; 15. 85J-Justin Jensen[15]; 16. (DNF) 15-Kris Macko[7]; 17. (DNF) 11K-Travis Klein[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Dustin Nelson[2]; 2. 75-Ryan Mead[3]; 3. 15-Kris Macko[5]; 4. 47-Erik Gruhlke[8]; 5. 77-Chance Kodet[1]; 6. 2-Ariel Mueller[7]; 7. 13-Tate Kostreba[6]; 8. 85J-Justin Jensen[9]; 9. (DNF) 11K-Travis Klein[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[4]; 2. 8-Justin Jones[2]; 3. 16-Jason VandeKamp[3]; 4. 46-Ryan Putnam[8]; 5. 18X-Connor Drewry[1]; 6. 28-Paul Ripley[6]; 7. M-Kevin Yeager[7]; 8. 7G-Rick Grams[5]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

Feature (12 Laps): 1. 21-Jim Gullikson[1]; 2. 04-Tommy Pogones[3]; 3. 05-Kyle Howland[2]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 21-Jim Gullikson[1]; 2. 04-Tommy Pogones[3]; 3. 05-Kyle Howland[2]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 5H-Dustin Holtquist[13]; 2. 37-Dean Larson[6]; 3. N88-Gerrald Nohner[4]; 4. 40-Jack Post[5]; 5. D5-Doug Frederick[12]; 6. 9T-Thomas Burgard[8]; 7. 9C-Andrew Christenson[3]; 8. N28-Hailey Nohner[10]; 9. 68-Jacob Husnik[11]; 10. XL1-Andrew Funt[2]; 11. (DNF) 25-Jordan Thayer[9]; 12. (DNF) 3-Josh Madson[1]; 13. (DNS) 18-Ashton Schwinn; 14. (DNS) 20-Connor Bruss

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. N88-Gerrald Nohner[2]; 2. 9T-Thomas Burgard[7]; 3. 9C-Andrew Christenson[3]; 4. XL1-Andrew Funt[5]; 5. 25-Jordan Thayer[4]; 6. 68-Jacob Husnik[1]; 7. (DNF) 5H-Dustin Holtquist[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[1]; 2. 37-Dean Larson[6]; 3. 40-Jack Post[5]; 4. 3-Josh Madson[7]; 5. N28-Hailey Nohner[2]; 6. (DNF) D5-Doug Frederick[3]; 7. (DNF) 20-Connor Bruss[4]

Crown Vics:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 24-Marcus Ammerman[1]; 2. 12-Wayne Nelson[3]; 3. 15J-Jeff Hass[6]; 4. 97-Jen Machula[8]; 5. 15-Galen Hass[2]; 6. 17-Mike Layne[5]; 7. 7-Abe Langager[4]; 8. 74R-Joe Strandlien[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Wayne Nelson[2]; 2. 17-Mike Layne[7]; 3. 24-Marcus Ammerman[6]; 4. 7-Abe Langager[3]; 5. 15-Galen Hass[1]; 6. 15J-Jeff Hass[5]; 7. 74R-Joe Strandlien[4]; 8. 97-Jen Machula[8]

Micro Sprints:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 10-Owen Henrichs[1]; 2. 128-Marshall Willing[5]; 3. 18R-Leighton Rose[12]; 4. 3J-Brandon Friederick[7]; 5. 323-Tyler Pelofske[2]; 6. 8N-Noah Berglund[6]; 7. 7C-Charlie Wolbeck[3]; 8. 100-Alyssa Eddy[9]; 9. (DNF) C71-Carter Jensrud[4]; 10. (DNS) 22-Brenden Newville; 11. (DNS) 26-Kendra Pickett; 12. (DNS) 628-Brian Link

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. C71-Carter Jensrud[1]; 2. 128-Marshall Willing[5]; 3. 7C-Charlie Wolbeck[2]; 4. 3J-Brandon Friederick[4]; 5. (DNS) 22-Brenden Newville; 6. (DNS) 26-Kendra Pickett

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Owen Henrichs[2]; 2. 323-Tyler Pelofske[3]; 3. 18R-Leighton Rose[6]; 4. 8N-Noah Berglund[5]; 5. 100-Alyssa Eddy[4]; 6. (DNS) 628-Brian Link