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Karlen leads all the way in Late Models to claim first-career feature win Sunday at Casino Speedway

By Tony Steuck

WATERTOWN, SD (June 14) - Justin Karlen scored his first-career victory in any kind of race car Sunday night at Casino Speedway. Karlen, who has competed in the Late Model division since 2019, led every lap to best the premier division at the speedway.

Tony Konold, Jake Wranek, Jason Marko and Adam VanDerostyne also picked up WISSOTA victories on Sunday night.

Karlen outduelled Jayson Good to grab the early lead in the 20-lap WISSOTA Late Model feature. Curt Kranz pulled ahead of Chad Becker for third, and Mike Stearns moved by Becker before he challenged for third; he stole the final podium slot on lap six.

Good stayed on Karlen for a couple laps, but fell into the grips of Stearns, who used the inside groove on his charge forward. The pair battled past the halfway point, and both kept the leader within reach as the laps passed by. Stearns finally secured second with five laps to go, but did not cut into Karlen’s lead. Karlen held steady for the milestone win, and rolled into victory lane for the first time in his career. Stearns was second ahead of Good, Kranz and Trevor Anderson.

Although only four cars started the WISSOTA Modified main event, it was a three-car race for the win for much of the distance. Mike Stearns turned back an opening lap charge from Tony Konold, and held the top spot in the low groove ahead of Konold and Nate Heinrich. Konold reloaded for another run on the cushion, and found just enough room to squeeze by Stearns and lead with four laps to go. Konold held on for the win ahead of Stearns, Heinrich and Jim Hanley.

The opening half of the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature was hampered by cautions; six fell in the first eight laps. In those short green flag runs, Tommy Nichols held a comfortable lead out front, and Jake Wranek maintained second ahead of the Johnsons — Lorin, Luke and Lane — in a battle for third.

After the restart with eight laps scored, Lane Johnson slipped by Wranek for second, but Wranek kept the pressure on while Luke Johnson closed in. Nichols edged away from the pack once again before the caution fell again with 13 of 20 laps scored.

Wranek reclaimed second when the race resumed, and chased Nichols at the point. Wranek closed quickly on the leader in the last few laps, as Nichols’ car began laying over heavily on the right rear; Wranek was to his bumper with two to go and ducked to the leader’s inside. The two were neck and neck the entire final lap, and Wranek narrowly won the drag race to the finish line by .022 seconds. Lane Johnson was third, Luke Johnson was fourth and Darren Engesser recovered from an opening lap spin for fifth.

Jason Marko grabbed the lead when the green flag dropped in the 20-lap WISSOTA Street Stock main event. Marko set the pace in the low groove, but Maria Broksieck quickly went to work in the high groove and challenged for the lead; she edged ahead into the top spot on lap four, and led a few laps, but a flat right front tire allowed Marko to shoot into the lead on lap seven. The caution waved with seven laps recorded.

Jayden Bogh restarted second and went to work outside of Marko after the restart. He was nearly even with the leader for a few laps, but Marko secured the top spot before Coltyn Schuler spun while battling for third.

Nine laps remained when Marko brought the field back to life; once again Bogh used the outer groove to pull beside Marko. Bogh led lap 12 by a nose, but Marko edged back ahead for a narrow lead at the flag stand the next few laps. Bogh made one final charge, and ducked low under Marko in the final set of turns, but despite a little contact, Marko held on for his second win of the season. Bogh was second with Zachary Flickinger third, Tony Miller fourth and Schuler fifth.

Adam VanDerostyne grabbed the initial lead of the WISSOTA Hornet feature and brought Dylan Tirrel with him to second. Behind the lead duo, a six-car battle raged for third in what was total chaos. Tirrel stayed with the leader and looked for speed a lane higher. The caution waved for the first time with five laps to go.

Tirrel stayed close to VanDerostyne after the final restart, but could not mount a serious challenge for the lead. Tirrel settled for second ahead of Bradley Rossow, Matthew Moes and Brett Alexander.

Curt Kranz topped a thrilling Gen X Late Model main event. In the last half of the race, Bodie Croninger cleared Kranz with slide jobs in turn two on several occasions, but Kranz crossed over, and won the race through turns three and four each time — including on the final lap — for his first win of the season at the speedway. Croninger was second ahead of Trevor Walsh, Blake Swenson and Jarrett Huus.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 51-Justin Karlen[2]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[6]; 3. 85-Jayson Good[1]; 4. 87-Curt Kranz[4]; 5. 20-Trevor Anderson[7]; 6. 12-Chad Becker[3]; 7. 16-Thomas Weisgram[8]; 8. (DNF) 71-Scott Olson[5]; 9. (DNF) 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[10]; 10. (DNS) T3-Rich Thomas

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 85-Jayson Good[1]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[3]; 3. 16-Thomas Weisgram[4]; 4. 71-Scott Olson[5]; 5. T3-Rich Thomas[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Chad Becker[1]; 2. 51-Justin Karlen[2]; 3. 87-Curt Kranz[3]; 4. 20-Trevor Anderson[5]; 5. (DNF) 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[4]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 15-Tony Konold[4]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[1]; 3. 10H-Nate Heinrich[3]; 4. 5H-James Hanley[2]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 10H-Nate Heinrich[1]; 2. 15-Tony Konold[2]; 3. 24S-Mike Stearns[3]; 4. 5H-James Hanley[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1-Jake Wranek[3]; 2. 28-Tommy Nichols[1]; 3. 3JR-Lane Johnson[5]; 4. 3-Luke Johnson[7]; 5. 11S-Darren Engesser[2]; 6. 15-Taylor Schmidt[11]; 7. 86-Carter Frost[15]; 8. 20-Devan Dobbs[16]; 9. 56D-Doug Neitzel[10]; 10. 25R-Trevor Rush[14]; 11. (DNF) 33J-Lorin Johnson[4]; 12. (DNF) 22-Shawn McFarlane[8]; 13. (DNF) 38-Garrett Crawford[13]; 14. (DNF) 2DR-Tom Neitzel[12]; 15. (DNF) 83-Joel Waba[9]; 16. (DNF) 9L-Dakota Larsen[17]; 17. (DNF) 33-Todd Stark[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11S-Darren Engesser[2]; 2. 3-Luke Johnson[4]; 3. 33J-Lorin Johnson[1]; 4. 1-Jake Wranek[5]; 5. 83-Joel Waba[3]; 6. 15-Taylor Schmidt[6]; 7. 2DR-Tom Neitzel[9]; 8. 38-Garrett Crawford[8]; 9. 25R-Trevor Rush[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Todd Stark[1]; 2. 28-Tommy Nichols[2]; 3. 3JR-Lane Johnson[3]; 4. 22-Shawn McFarlane[7]; 5. 56D-Doug Neitzel[5]; 6. 20-Devan Dobbs[6]; 7. (DNF) 86-Carter Frost[4]; 8. (DNS) 9L-Dakota Larsen

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 31-Jason Marko[2]; 2. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[6]; 3. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[7]; 4. 80-Tony Miller[5]; 5. 16A-Coltyn Schuler[11]; 6. 19-Kyle Bertram[1]; 7. 14-Maria Broksieck[4]; 8. 12-Al Schmidt[10]; 9. X-Dexter Wipf[9]; 10. (DNF) 99-Andy Rossow[3]; 11. (DNF) 73-Cory Giessinger[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[1]; 2. 99-Andy Rossow[4]; 3. 19-Kyle Bertram[2]; 4. 31-Jason Marko[6]; 5. 73-Cory Giessinger[3]; 6. X-Dexter Wipf[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Maria Broksieck[3]; 2. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[1]; 3. 80-Tony Miller[4]; 4. (DNF) 12-Al Schmidt[2]; 5. (DNF) 16A-Coltyn Schuler[5]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 3-Adam VanDerostyne[1]; 2. 7D-Dylan Tirrel[3]; 3. 555-Bradley Rossow[8]; 4. 0-Matthew Moes[6]; 5. 98-Brett Alexander[5]; 6. 4-Miron Fisk[2]; 7. 87TJR-Paxton Tjaden[11]; 8. 11L-Jesse Lindner[4]; 9. 13J-Kris Eide[9]; 10. (DNF) 95-Brett Moffenbier[10]; 11. (DNF) 69-Skylar Burgher[7]; 12. (DNF) 79-Joshua Gebhart[12]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 555-Bradley Rossow[6]; 2. 3-Adam VanDerostyne[2]; 3. 98-Brett Alexander[4]; 4. 11L-Jesse Lindner[1]; 5. 13J-Kris Eide[3]; 6. 87TJR-Paxton Tjaden[5]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 69-Skylar Burgher[4]; 2. 7D-Dylan Tirrel[6]; 3. 0-Matthew Moes[5]; 4. 4-Miron Fisk[2]; 5. 95-Brett Moffenbier[1]; 6. (DNF) 79-Joshua Gebhart[3]

Gen X Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 87-Curt Kranz[2]; 2. 811-Bodie Croninger[6]; 3. 15-Trevor Walsh[5]; 4. 10X-Blake Swenson[11]; 5. 27-Jarrett Huus[3]; 6. 33N-Jeff Nelson[4]; 7. 19-Tyler McFarland[8]; 8. 8T-Tony Croninger[7]; 9. XJR-Hope Swenson[13]; 10. 33-Chad Duenwald[10]; 11. 11X-Brittany Swenson[14]; 12. 73-Ryan Nelson[12]; 13. (DNF) 01-Alex Tschakert[1]; 14. (DNF) 17J-John Winge[9]; 15. (DNF) 23JR-Parker Gilbertson[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33N-Jeff Nelson[2]; 2. 01-Alex Tschakert[3]; 3. 8T-Tony Croninger[5]; 4. 87-Curt Kranz[6]; 5. 17J-John Winge[7]; 6. 10X-Blake Swenson[8]; 7. XJR-Hope Swenson[1]; 8. 11X-Brittany Swenson[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 811-Bodie Croninger[1]; 2. 15-Trevor Walsh[6]; 3. 19-Tyler McFarland[4]; 4. 27-Jarrett Huus[5]; 5. 33-Chad Duenwald[2]; 6. 73-Ryan Nelson[3]; 7. (DNF) 23JR-Parker Gilbertson[7]