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Both the Pure Stocks and Hornets had good battles for their respective wins, wrapping up the night on a high note. Bob Klein had his best run of the year, leading the first four laps of the Pure Stock feature using a bold, ride-the-rim style that worked for a number of laps. Eventually Austin Carlson drove inside of him and took over the lead.

The battle wasn't over, however, as a yellow allowed Jake Smith to close in on Carlson and they ran the last few laps nearly side by side. Carlson was on the bottom while Smith was holding on to the cushion for dear life. Smith made one last attempt on the final corner but ran out of racing room as he settled for second. Carlson took the win and Klein was third.

Brady Fosso led every lap of the Hornet feature but it wasn't easy, as fifth-starter Nick Ruzich gradually worked his way forward and by the final few laps they were racing side by side, with just a bit of door rubbing thrown in for fun. It wasn’t enough to damage either driver's chances, but certainly enough to alert each other to their presence. Ruzich went for it on the white flag lap but he couldn't quite make the pass; he then slipped back, allowing Fosso to drive home for the win. Tucker Smith ran third.

I'm told that Fosso just completing his schooling and will be taking a job as a millwright in Duluth next week and that may prohibit some of his far-flung traveling to races. We will see.

It was great to run into former Modified star Jodi Olson, who was taking in his first race locally in nearly two years. Seems he has taken up trap shooting with that becoming his “thing” now, as well as spending time at his cabin. Still part of the Mohawk Salvage Saturday coffee club, he had to come watch Fosso in action since he was in Rapids practicing for a competition this weekend.

Grand Rapids seems to be on a nice roll right now and we hope it continues. They have been starting on time, producing some entertaining races and also getting done with their show early (9:15 p.m. to be exact on this night). Car counts have slowly been building and we also hope that continues, too.

Friday, June 19

Friday, June 19, was a challenging night to find racing. It was a day filled with rain and storms for some and while they were hit and miss, where they hit there definitely wasn’t any racing action.

Our choice, based on our circumstances, was to make a trip to the I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls. They had stayed mainly dry there throughout the day and the last storm only brushed them.

It was a big night for them. Not only was it Meet and Greet night but the NLRA Late Model tour was also racing. To make it an even bigger night, there was an extra Modified feature race leftover from a rain-shortened night way back on May 8.

The speedway was blessed with cars and fans, and it turned into a very nice night with a good-sized crowd on hand.

The NLRA is an impressive group. They support their club perhaps better than series around. When they say they are going to race, they show up in big numbers, thus guaranteeing both the fans and the promoters a good show. The club believes in a philosophy of a reduced top end of the purse from other series’ formats, and instead they pay more for positions farther back and for the nonqualifiers. It seems to work for them and who could argue with success. Friday there were 33 Late Models on hand battling for 26 spots in the feature. Those who didn't make the show still went home with $175, at least enough to pay the fuel for the trip.

The extra moisture provided by Mother Nature made for a very fast race track. The drivers in all classes were really flying around the track, which was excellent for all classes.

About 20 of the Late Model drivers in attendance were ones who I had not yet seen in racing action this year. They still use the draw/redraw system, which might be just a bit antiquated for their special event format.

Among the drivers on hand was Josh Zimpel, squeezing in another Late Model race before he returns to the national scene working for Brandon Overton. Their tour had a rare weekend off so he was able to get back home and race a few events during his break.

The Late Model feature ran 25 laps nonstop and Dave Mass led all the way. However, it wasn't nearly as tame as that might sound. Mass was indeed very fast as he raced the cushion and pulled away early from Shane Edginton and Cole Schill. There were many other drivers who were moving up through the field and the race behind the leader was very tough. Dustin Strand and Tyler Peterson were both on the move and had cracked the top five by the halfway point of the race. Strand, particularly, was really picking up the pace as the laps started to run down.

Meanwhile, Mass caught the back of the pack and this was proving to be a bit of a problem; they were also fast and in some cases, running the same line as he was.

In the last five laps, Strand made up a considerable amount of ground and it went from Mass looking good for the win to a possible photo finish ahead between Mass and Strand.

Mass had a whole pack of slower drivers right in front of him and he had to decide which way to go on the last lap. Strand was to the floor and charging hard. They caught the pack of cars entering turn three and Mass chose to go around them on the high side. Strand was almost side by side with Mass at this point and he made a low-side dive to try and steal away the win. However, just at that second the door between the slower cars closed and he ran into the back of one of those cars, spinning to a halt as the checkered flag waved.

Mass was the winner, and Strand was awarded second; I'm assuming the race was scored back to the white flag lap and he was not charged with the yellow. Edginton, Peterson and Schill completed the top five.

While Travis Saurer didn't quite crack the top five with his Late Model, the rest of his night was one to remember — not only did he win the Modified feature, but he also won the event from back in May.

As usual, the quality of the Modified fields here is very good, with so many outstanding drivers in the field. The surprise was that with Tyler Peterson on the pole, he did not come home the winner.

Peterson took the initial lead but Dusty Bitzan was really flying; it took him only three laps to make a pass on Peterson and take over the lead. Just one lap later Peterson got together with Will Krup on the front chute, with both cars suffering enough damage that they were done for the race. I missed the circumstances involved to cause the incident; I'm not sure if there was some overdriving or perhaps a mechanical issue that triggered the mess.

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