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The CS feature field at Viking Speedway behind the 4F to honor Jeff Hinkemeyer (Tim Hunt Photo)

Mikkelsen earns $4,013 for Challenge Series win at Viking Speedway’s Jeff Hinkemeyer Memorial

By Chris Stepan & From Track Reports

The late Jeff Hinkemeyer was honored at Viking. (Tim Hunt Photo)

ALEXANDRIA, MN (May 16) - The inaugural Jeff Hinkemeyer Memorial, held in conjunction with the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series stop at Viking Speedway in Alexandria, Minnesota, was contested in front of a packed grandstand Saturday, May 16. The event honored Hinkemeyer, the eight-time track champion who died in April.

Alexandria’s Ryan Mikkelson stormed from his eighth starting spot to win the 30-lap feature and raced to his first career Challenge Series victory by a margin of 2.394 seconds ahead of runner-up Shane Sabraski.

Other WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners Saturday included Kyle Dykhoff, Dexton Koch, Landyn Randt, Jeff Rohner and Dustin Bitzan.

For the second straight night, 32 WISSOTA Late Model competitors entered series action. Cole Searing started the night by setting fast time with a lap of 18.886 seconds around the half mile oval.

Searing and Mass earned the front row for the night’s $4,013-to-win, 30-lap feature event. After a missing man formation during the traditional four-wide parade lap - and with a Jeff Hinkemeyer-themed wrap on his car for the night - Searing had the upper hand on the initial start and led the opening lap.

After a lap-one caution, Searing ran out front over the first four laps with Mass and Sabraski waging battle for the runner-up spot. Sabraski was able to blast into the lead on lap four off of turn four.

Once out front, the No. 7A set the pace and tried to drive away, while Searing, Burdick and Peterson battled inside the top five, with eighth-starter Mikkelson chipping away and gaining on the top runners. Mikkelson was the first to really make the extreme high side of the speedway work, and he roared into the top five just prior to a lap-12 caution. This bunched the field for the second and final time with 18 laps to go.

Following the restart, Mikkelson went to work on trying to run down Sabraski out front and was able to do so with a lap 17 pass on the backstretch to take command. Sabraski continued to hold down the runner-up spot, with Burdick a solid third as laps wound down. Peterson and 18th starting Travis Saurer were also locked in their own battle for top five runs, with Saurer working on becoming the night’s Hard Charger with his run through the field.

With just a handful of laps to go, Mikkelson worked flawlessly through lapped traffic and raced to his first career Challenge Series victory, with Sabraski holding off a late race challenge from Burdick for the runner-up spot.

Hard charger and 18th-starter Travis Saurer was fourth, with Tyler Peterson in fifth.

In the WISSOTA Modified feature, Bitzan started up front and grabbed the checkered flag 20 laps later with Brady Gerdes in second. Saurer, Sabraski and 10th-starter Josh Thoennes were top-five finishers.

It was a pole-to-checkered for Koch in the WISSOTA Super Stocks, who held a more than 2-second advantage ahead of Shane Sabraski to net the win. Karter Reents, Trevor Saurer and Carson Miller completed the top five.

Jeff Rohner topped the action in the WISSOTA Hornets with a dominant performance. Brady Fosso, Zander Zuehlsdorff, Matthew Dittman and Chase Goliet were top five finishers in the feature.

Landyn Randt picked his way forward from ninth at the start, took the lead with a handful of laps left, and drove off with the win in the WISSOTA Midwest Mods. Travis Engebretson, 11th-starter Memphis Klassen, Tyler Bitzan and Jon Carlson completed the top five.

And in the WISSOTA Street Stocks, Dykhoff was victorious ahead of a hard-charging Eric Riley, who started 17th on the grid and finished second. Tommy Pogones, Levi Randt and Brad Lorentz rounded out the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

Structural Buildings A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[8]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[3]; 3. 30-Kevin Burdick[4]; 4. 21XX-Travis Saurer[18]; 5. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[15]; 6. 10-Cole Searing[1]; 7. 22E-Kevin Eder[17]; 8. 2M-Dave Mass[2]; 9. 73-Zach Johnson[13]; 10. 28S-Sam Mars[11]; 11. 7-Joel Bennett[7]; 12. 23-Matt Gilbertson[14]; 13. 73X-Onyx Johnson[9]; 14. 28-Jeff Provinzino[12]; 15. 53-Chris Mensen[5]; 16. 21F-Gunner Frank[10]; 17. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[16]; 18. 78K-Dexton Koch[26]; 19. 19X-James Trantina III[22]; 20. 07-Cory Crapser[19]; 21. 90-Lance Matthees[20]; 22. 21X-Joel Collins[25]; 23. 34-Taylor Madrinich[23]; 24. (DNF) 51-Josh Thoennes[21]; 25. (DNF) 45J-Johnny Broking[6]; 26. (DNF) 4J-Lee Grosz[24]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[4]; 2. 73X-Onyx Johnson[1]; 3. 28S-Sam Mars[2]; 4. 73-Zach Johnson[3]; 5. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[7]; 6. 22-Jack Koranda[6]; 7. 50-Ben Wolden[5]; 8. 34-Taylor Madrinich[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Kevin Burdick[2]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[4]; 3. 45J-Johnny Broking[5]; 4. 07-Cory Crapser[1]; 5. 90-Lance Matthees[3]; 6. 4J-Lee Grosz[6]; 7. 4F-Donnie Lofdahl[8]; 8. (DNF) 6M-Jeff Massingill[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2M-Dave Mass[5]; 2. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[2]; 3. 28-Jeff Provinzino[1]; 4. 23-Matt Gilbertson[3]; 5. 21XX-Travis Saurer[7]; 6. 22E-Kevin Eder[4]; 7. 78K-Dexton Koch[6]; 8. 18-Josh Rieck[8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 53-Chris Mensen[1]; 2. 21F-Gunner Frank[2]; 3. 7-Joel Bennett[4]; 4. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[3]; 5. 51-Josh Thoennes[6]; 6. 19X-James Trantina III[8]; 7. 21X-Joel Collins[5]; 8. 7L-Scott Lehn[7]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 22E-Kevin Eder[6]; 2. 21XX-Travis Saurer[1]; 3. 07-Cory Crapser[2]; 4. 90-Lance Matthees[4]; 5. 51-Josh Thoennes[3]; 6. 19X-James Trantina III[5]; 7. 4F-Donnie Lofdahl[9]; 8. 34-Taylor Madrinich[13]; 9. 50-Ben Wolden[10]; 10. 78K-Dexton Koch[11]; 11. 21X-Joel Collins[12]; 12. 7L-Scott Lehn[14]; 13. (DNF) 18-Josh Rieck[15]; 14. (DNS) 4J-Lee Grosz; 15. (DNS) 22-Jack Koranda; 16. (DNS) 6M-Jeff Massingill

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[2]; 2. 2X-Brady Gerdes[6]; 3. 21X-Travis Saurer[4]; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski[7]; 5. 51T-Josh Thoennes[10]; 6. 6X-Bryce Sward[8]; 7. 511-Talan Thoennes[11]; 8. 1-Taylor Bitzan[16]; 9. 52T-Matt Thoennes[12]; 10. 43-John Oeltjen[14]; 11. (DNF) 51-Avery Anderson[5]; 12. (DNF) 7B-Bryce Borgen[1]; 13. (DNF) 13X-McKenzie Mikkelson[9]; 14. (DNF) 20B-Todd Berg[13]; 15. (DNF) 33X-Justin Froemming[15]; 16. (DNF) 45-Bob Broking[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 45-Bob Broking[5]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[8]; 3. 51-Avery Anderson[1]; 4. 7B-Bryce Borgen[4]; 5. 6X-Bryce Sward[3]; 6. 51T-Josh Thoennes[6]; 7. 52T-Matt Thoennes[2]; 8. 43-John Oeltjen[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[4]; 2. 2X-Brady Gerdes[6]; 3. 21X-Travis Saurer[2]; 4. 1-Taylor Bitzan[8]; 5. 13X-McKenzie Mikkelson[5]; 6. 511-Talan Thoennes[7]; 7. 20B-Todd Berg[1]; 8. (DNS) 33X-Justin Froemming

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[1]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[5]; 3. 1-Karter Reents[3]; 4. 21-Trevor Saurer[4]; 5. 77-Carson Miller[7]; 6. 28*-Bailey Rosch[2]; 7. 2-Roger Host[6]; 8. 9T-Taohe Norris[9]; 9. (DNF) 29*-Jeff Crouse[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[3]; 2. 28*-Bailey Rosch[4]; 3. 78K-Dexton Koch[8]; 4. 1-Karter Reents[7]; 5. 21-Trevor Saurer[5]; 6. 2-Roger Host[6]; 7. (DNF) 77-Carson Miller[9]; 8. (DNF) 29*-Jeff Crouse[2]; 9. (DNF) 9T-Taohe Norris[1]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 11R-Landyn Randt[9]; 2. 1X-Travis Engebretson[3]; 3. 47K-Memphis Klassen[11]; 4. 10B-Tyler Bitzan[4]; 5. 8-Jon Carlson[7]; 6. 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[8]; 7. 42RS-Ron Saurer[1]; 8. 33-Jake Hagemann[13]; 9. 521-Mason Thoennes[16]; 10. 23-Josh Muzik[5]; 11. 42-Tanner Bitzan[21]; 12. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[2]; 13. 13-Scott Oeltjen[12]; 14. 18X-Brendon Scott[6]; 15. 2H-Brooke Hellerman[23]; 16. 52-Maddie Swenson[14]; 17. 554-Alan Oeltjen[15]; 18. 5S-Branden Kasten[25]; 19. H20-Nic Hiles[22]; 20. 8X-Jonathan Hagen[24]; 21. 28-Tony Arneson[17]; 22. 81K-Casey Knabe[10]; 23. (DNF) M47-Maddox Klassen[20]; 24. (DNF) 32-Shawn Olson[18]; 25. (DNS) 10M-Noah McFarlane

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 23-Josh Muzik[2]; 2. 8-Jon Carlson[5]; 3. 18X-Brendon Scott[6]; 4. 8X-Jonathan Hagen[9]; 5. (DNF) 32-Shawn Olson[4]; 6. (DNF) 10M-Noah McFarlane[7]; 7. (DNF) M47-Maddox Klassen[1]; 8. (DNF) 42-Tanner Bitzan[3]; 9. (DNF) 2H-Brooke Hellerman[8]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[1]; 2. 1X-Travis Engebretson[5]; 3. 10B-Tyler Bitzan[4]; 4. 81K-Casey Knabe[2]; 5. 13-Scott Oeltjen[3]; 6. 52-Maddie Swenson[6]; 7. 5S-Branden Kasten[8]; 8. 28-Tony Arneson[7]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 11R-Landyn Randt[3]; 2. 42RS-Ron Saurer[2]; 3. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[4]; 4. 47K-Memphis Klassen[7]; 5. 33-Jake Hagemann[5]; 6. 554-Alan Oeltjen[8]; 7. 521-Mason Thoennes[1]; 8. (DNF) H20-Nic Hiles[6]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 11-Kyle Dykhoff[2]; 2. 51-Eric Riley[17]; 3. 04-Tommy Pogones[7]; 4. 11R-Levi Randt[8]; 5. 36-Brad Lorentz[1]; 6. 34J-Kolton Brauer[3]; 7. 14-JJ Nieuwbeerta[10]; 8. 22W-Jim Williams[6]; 9. 21-Derek Wettstein[12]; 10. 38J-Dalton Kruger[9]; 11. 00-Dustin Karl[14]; 12. 20-Christopher Winter Jr[13]; 13. (DNF) 47-Russell Carlson[11]; 14. (DNF) 10V-Justin Vogel[5]; 15. (DNF) 35-Kegan Stueve[4]; 16. (DNS) 90-Kreg Anderson; 17. (DNS) 31X-Anthony Blom

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 11-Kyle Dykhoff[1]; 2. 11R-Levi Randt[6]; 3. 10V-Justin Vogel[7]; 4. 36-Brad Lorentz[8]; 5. 38J-Dalton Kruger[4]; 6. 47-Russell Carlson[3]; 7. 20-Christopher Winter Jr[9]; 8. (DNF) 31X-Anthony Blom[5]; 9. (DQ) 51-Eric Riley[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 04-Tommy Pogones[4]; 2. 34J-Kolton Brauer[5]; 3. 35-Kegan Stueve[1]; 4. 22W-Jim Williams[6]; 5. 14-JJ Nieuwbeerta[8]; 6. 21-Derek Wettstein[3]; 7. 00-Dustin Karl[7]; 8. (DNF) 90-Kreg Anderson[2]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 08-Jeff Rohner[3]; 2. 27-Brady Fosso[7]; 3. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[2]; 4. 22-Matthew Dittman[6]; 5. 30X-Chase Golliet[5]; 6. 42E-Eli Green[8]; 7. 87TJR-Paxton Tjaden[1]; 8. 38-Karter Kunz[13]; 9. 32-Bailey Johnson[12]; 10. 3K-Jason Kast[4]; 11. 11L-Jesse Lindner[11]; 12. 95-Brett Moffenbier[15]; 13. 05-Garrett Hanson[16]; 14. (DNF) 20-Lillian Booke[14]; 15. (DNF) 22L-Andy Booke[10]; 16. (DNF) 0-Matthew Moes[9]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 22-Matthew Dittman[2]; 2. 30X-Chase Golliet[4]; 3. 42E-Eli Green[3]; 4. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[7]; 5. 0-Matthew Moes[6]; 6. 11L-Jesse Lindner[5]; 7. (DNF) 95-Brett Moffenbier[1]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 08-Jeff Rohner[6]; 2. 27-Brady Fosso[1]; 3. 3K-Jason Kast[3]; 4. 87TJR-Paxton Tjaden[4]; 5. 22L-Andy Booke[9]; 6. 32-Bailey Johnson[5]; 7. 38-Karter Kunz[2]; 8. 05-Garrett Hanson[7]; 9. 20-Lillian Booke[8]