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Williamson drops down from Canada to top Bemidji Mods while Blevins, Schwinn, Puffe and Fosso find victory lane as well on Sunday

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (June 1) - Bemidji Speedway featured the “young guns” of racing Sunday evening, with all drivers 20 years of age and under introduced to the crowd during intermission. Twenty-six drivers were introduced as young guns, and the speedway welcomed 82 drivers in all for WISSOTA Dirt Track Series action on Sunday night.

Winners in sanctioned racing included Tanner Williamson, Mikey Blevins, Ashton Schwinn, Dustin Puffe, and Brady Fosso.

Young gun Landon Weeks and past champion Dustin Puffe led the field of WISSOTA Pure Stocks to the green flag. Puffe had the early advantage ahead of Alex Berg, Weeks, Chris Dudley and Mason Smith in the top five. Weeks spun in turn two and the caution fell, with Weeks sent tailback.

Kade Leeper was on the move from deep in the pack; the 11th-starter flew around his competitors, making his way to the front to challenge Puffe for the lead. Puffe held his line, however, and picked up the win. Leeper, Dudley, Berg and Josh Bitker were top-five finishers.

Thirteen WISSOTA Hornets entered the track in turn four led by Russell Kiker, Jr. and Brady Fosso. Fosso powered to the front followed by Kiker and Travis Olafson. The field quickly spread out as the leaders powered away from the crowd. The red flag was then waved when Gunner Olson rolled over on his top down the front straight; Aiden Kessler was also involved in the incident. Olson was helped out of the car and waved to the crowd - both drivers were okay.

The race resumed with Fosso controlling the action and picking up the win. Chad Reller, Olafson, Jada Lore, and Logan Delaney rounded out the top five.

Sixteen WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were led on track by young gun Mikey Blevins, with Hunter Weeks to his right. Blevins raced to the lead with Landon Gross, Skyler Smith, Weeks and Darrin Lawler chasing him. Sam Blevins raced to the top of the speedway, passing several cars to pull behind Mikey Blevins after battling with Smith and Gross.

Making his first appearance at the track for 2025, 12th-starter Gary James Nelson found speed as he raced high and low up to third. Out front Mikey Blevins grabbed the win, ahead of Sam Blevins in second. Nelson finished third, Landon Gross was fourth and Hunter Weeks was fifth. It was Blevins’ second feature win at Bemidji this season.

The WISSOTA Mod Fours were next on track led by Conrad Schwinn and Ashton Schwinn in row one. The first lap was a side-by-side duel with the Schwinns, with Blake Erickson close behind in third. Ashton Schwinn gradually inched ahead and increased his lead to two car lengths.

The field spread out around the track as Ashton Schwinn picked up another feature win to add to his collection of victories in 2025, as he hangs in second in national points. Patrick Specht, Erickson, Conrad Schwinn and Kevin Bahr finished in the top five.

Adam Johnson and Tanner Williamson led the charge to the green flag in the WISSOTA Modified division, with Williamson taking the lead followed by Johnson and Jeff Reed. Doyle Erickson moved into fourth as Jeff Reed powered past Johnson for second.

Out front, Williamson never let up and went on to pick up the feature win, making the trip down from Canada worthwhile. Reed was second with Johnson, Erickson and Deryk Weleski trailing.

Nick Lewis and Brandon Bahr led the pack of WISSOTA Super Stocks to the green flag, with Bahr taking command followed by Lewis and Dalton Carlson. Lewis and Carlson battled side by side lap after lap as Bahr built his lead to four car lengths.

Following a caution, Carlson raced to the high side, finally made the pass for second and began the chase after Bahr in the lead. Slowly inching closer and closer, Carlson was finally within striking distance. Several attempts to pass failed and Bahr held off the challenges.

During the final lap, Carlson was there to the inside of Bahr as they raced to the checkered flag. It was a photo-finish worthy victory, as Carlson won the race by .001 seconds. It was an incredible race by two fantastic drivers. Bahr, Lewis, Cameron Labelle, and Doug Koski trailed in the top five.

In the track’s Mini Stock class, Conrad Schwinn worked his way forward from eighth on the starting grid, taking the top spot from race-long leader Jonah Espe and racing to the eventual victory. Nick McCann and Espe took the remaining podium positions.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Williamson[2]; 2. 2R-Jeff Reed[3]; 3. 72-Adam Johnson[1]; 4. 99-Doyle Erickson[5]; 5. 13-Devyn Weleski[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Williamson[2]; 2. 72-Adam Johnson[1]; 3. 13-Devyn Weleski[3]; 4. 2R-Jeff Reed[5]; 5. 99-Doyle Erickson[4]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 57-Dalton Carlson[3]; 2. 29X-Brandon Bahr[2]; 3. T26-Nic Lewis[1]; 4. 27C-Cameron Labelle[4]; 5. 76-Doug Koski[5]; 6. 81X-Matt Sparby[9]; 7. 47J-Justin Barsness[8]; 8. 17-Faye Lewis[7]; 9. X81-Alexa Sparby[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Dalton Carlson[1]; 2. 27C-Cameron Labelle[7]; 3. 29X-Brandon Bahr[5]; 4. 76-Doug Koski[9]; 5. T26-Nic Lewis[2]; 6. X81-Alexa Sparby[6]; 7. (DNF) 17-Faye Lewis[3]; 8. (DNF) 47J-Justin Barsness[8]; 9. (DNF) 81X-Matt Sparby[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[1]; 2. 15S-Sam Blevins[7]; 3. 74-Gary James Nelson[12]; 4. 15-Landon Gross[3]; 5. 9W-Hunter Weeks[2]; 6. 16-Skyler Smith[4]; 7. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[9]; 8. 19-Darrin Lawler[5]; 9. 07-Carter Matthews[14]; 10. 11K-Travis Klein[10]; 11. 07HD1-Stan Dueck[16]; 12. (DNF) 33L-Cejay LaValley[13]; 13. (DNF) 32-Bret Schmidt[6]; 14. (DNF) 07HD-Jesse Mckuski[8]; 15. (DNS) 6K-Noah Bitz; 16. (DNS) 21W-Bruce Hislaw

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Landon Gross[4]; 2. 07HD-Jesse Mckuski[3]; 3. 32-Bret Schmidt[6]; 4. 9W-Hunter Weeks[8]; 5. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[7]; 6. 6K-Noah Bitz[1]; 7. 33L-Cejay LaValley[5]; 8. 21W-Bruce Hislaw[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Darrin Lawler[1]; 2. 16-Skyler Smith[6]; 3. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[7]; 4. 15S-Sam Blevins[5]; 5. 11K-Travis Klein[4]; 6. 74-Gary James Nelson[8]; 7. 07-Carter Matthews[3]; 8. 07HD1-Stan Dueck[2]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[2]; 2. 6X-Patrick Specht[1]; 3. 99-Blake Erickson[3]; 4. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 5. 29-Kevin Bahr[4]; 6. 99JR-Brooke Erickson[6]; 7. 4-Dawson Oelrich[7]; 8. 29J-Jayden Bahr[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[1]; 2. 6X-Patrick Specht[2]; 3. 18-Ashton Schwinn[5]; 4. 6-Conrad Schwinn[3]; 5. 29-Kevin Bahr[4]; 6. 99JR-Brooke Erickson[6]; 7. 4-Dawson Oelrich[8]; 8. 29J-Jayden Bahr[7]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[2]; 2. 3-Kade Leeper[11]; 3. 70-Chris Dudley[5]; 4. 18B-Alex Berg[4]; 5. 62-Joshua Bitker[7]; 6. 15-Caylyn Binkley[10]; 7. 21S-Mason Smith[3]; 8. 25-Billy Binkley[9]; 9. 55-Aaron Bitker[8]; 10. 88-Chad Puschinsky[13]; 11. 8-Karen Puschinsky[12]; 12. 9L-Landon Weeks[1]; 13. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[6]; 14. 47-Terry Hill[15]; 15. (DNF) 7K-Quintyn Karl[16]; 16. (DNF) 57-Austin Carlson[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9L-Landon Weeks[2]; 2. 62-Joshua Bitker[1]; 3. 55-Aaron Bitker[4]; 4. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[5]; 5. 25-Billy Binkley[6]; 6. 3-Kade Leeper[7]; 7. 88-Chad Puschinsky[3]; 8. 7K-Quintyn Karl[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21S-Mason Smith[1]; 2. 21X-Dustin Puffe[7]; 3. 18B-Alex Berg[2]; 4. 70-Chris Dudley[6]; 5. 15-Caylyn Binkley[3]; 6. 8-Karen Puschinsky[4]; 7. (DNF) 57-Austin Carlson[5]; 8. (DNS) 47-Terry Hill

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature (12 Laps): 1. 27-Brady Fosso[2]; 2. 28R-Chad Reller[8]; 3. 00-Travis Olafson[4]; 4. 24JR-Jada Lore[5]; 5. 28-Logan Delaney[9]; 6. 20-Chase Golliet[10]; 7. 7G-Jayme Gordon[3]; 8. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[7]; 9. 72-Aiden Kessler[6]; 10. 07HD-Bentley Mckuski[12]; 11. (DNF) 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[1]; 12. (DNF) 81R-Ryker Larson[11]; 13. (DNF) 08-Gunner Olson[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[2]; 2. 00-Travis Olafson[4]; 3. 7G-Jayme Gordon[3]; 4. 27-Brady Fosso[6]; 5. 28-Logan Delaney[5]; 6. 81R-Ryker Larson[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24JR-Jada Lore[2]; 2. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[3]; 3. 28R-Chad Reller[6]; 4. 72-Aiden Kessler[1]; 5. 20-Chase Golliet[4]; 6. 07HD-Bentley Mckuski[5]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[8]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[5]; 3. 20J-Jonah Espe[1]; 4. 94-Cameron Schwinn[10]; 5. 22H-Justin Honer[4]; 6. 77-Hayden Engen[6]; 7. 3-Cody Meyers[9]; 8. 11C-Cody Bush[2]; 9. 19-Troy Foster[7]; 10. 5H-Ethan Hunter[11]; 11. 7-Karlie Feda[15]; 12. 26-Brooke McCann[16]; 13. (DNF) G17-Gabriel Espe[3]; 14. (DNF) 22-Tania Denny[14]; 15. (DNF) 14-Cooper Francis[13]; 16. (DNF) 87-Malachi Albrecht[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Troy Foster[2]; 2. G17-Gabriel Espe[3]; 3. 22H-Justin Honer[5]; 4. 20J-Jonah Espe[4]; 5. 3-Cody Meyers[1]; 6. 5H-Ethan Hunter[6]; 7. 22-Tania Denny[8]; 8. (DNF) 14-Cooper Francis[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[3]; 2. 77-Hayden Engen[5]; 3. 50-Nick McCann[6]; 4. 11C-Cody Bush[2]; 5. 94-Cameron Schwinn[4]; 6. 87-Malachi Albrecht[1]; 7. 7-Karlie Feda[8]; 8. 26-Brooke McCann[7]