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The speediest in Sunday night action at Bemidji Speedway are Ericksons, Vernon, Sparby and Leeper

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (July 13) - Bemidji Speedway hosted “Aircorps Aviation and Sanford Center Night” on Sunday, with bright skies and a breeze out of the west. Six classes of cars filled the track with a grandstand full of fans cheering their favorites.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Kade Leeper, Blake Erickson, Tyler Vernon, Matt Sparby, and Doyle Erickson.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were led on track by Brennan Schmidt and Landon Gross. Gross took the early lead over Darrin Lawler with Schmidt, Hunter Weeks, and Skyler Smith in the top five. Gross raced out to a healthy lead while Tyler Vernon worked his way from fifth into the top three and pressured Lawler for second. Vernon moved to the outside on the back straight to pass Lawler for second, and then pulled up even with the leader Gross. Vernon took the lead in turns one and two; he grew his lead and took the checkered flag ahead of Gross, Sam Blevins, Schmidt and Michael Blevins in the top five.

Following a first-lap caution in the WISSOTA Pure Stocks, Dustin Puffe took the lead ahead of Kade Leeper with Alex Berg, Austin Carlson and Greg Caspers in the top five. Puffe and Leeper pulled away from the field in their battle for the lead, and Leeper then took control in turns one and two.

Following another caution that sent Quintyn Karl tailback, Leeper, Puffe, Berg, Carlson and Caspers held top-five spots. As Berg dropped back through the pack, Mason Smith was on the charge up high, passing Caspers and then Carlson into third. Leeper and Puffe raced door to door late in the race, with Leeper holding the advantage and taking the checkered flag. Puffe, Smith, Berg and Landon Weeks were top five finishers.

When the WISSOTA Modified race went green, Doyle Erickson took the lead ahead of Adam Johnson, with Jeff Reed, Devyn Weleski and Peyton Emerson trailing. The Mods quickly moved into single-file formation around the track, with Erickson building on his lead. Reed raced up to challenge Johnson for second, and in turns one and two moved inside with Johnson outside. The two tangled and officials sent Johnson to the rear for the restart.

The restart was controlled by Erickson with Reed, and Weleski chasing him. Erickson picked up the win and the clean sweep ahead of Reed, Weleski, and Johnson in the top four finishers.

Brother and sister Blake and Brooke Erickson led the WISSOTA Mod Fours on track out of turn four. A first-lap caution sent Dawson Oelrich tailback.

Blake Erickson took the lead on the restart, followed by Conrad Schwinn, Ashton Schwinn, Brooke Erickson and Dean Larson in the top five. In turns one and two, Ashton Schwinn moved up high and around Conrad Schwinn for second. The younger Schwinn moved up to challenge Erickson for the lead while Larson got by Brooke Erickson for fourth. Ashton Schwinn raced door to door with Erickson for the lead, but Erickson held off the charge as the two young warriors battled back and forth.

A late caution created a restart with a green, white and checkered flag finish. Erickson held his line and picked up the win, for a clean sweep just like his dad accomplished in the Modifieds. Ashton Schwinn, Conrad Schwinn, Larson and Brooke Erickson finished in the top five.

Dalton Carlson and Matt Sparby led the dozen WISSOTA Super Stocks to the green flag, with Sparby shooting into the lead ahead of Carlson, last week’s winner Doug Koski, Justin Barsness and Faye Lewis in the top five. The action was fast and furious with a tight field racing door to door and bumper to bumper. Barsness and Koski dueled side by side before another spin brought out the yellow flag for a restart with nine laps remaining.

Cameron LaBelle started in the fourth row and was on the move, challenging and passing several cars into fourth with Koski fifth. Up front, Carlson was edging toward Sparby for the lead, with Barsness on Carlson’s rear bumper in a tight three-car battle for the win. Sparby held his line and picked up the long-awaited feature win. Carlson, Barsness, Labelle, and Koski filled out the top five.

A green, white and checkered finish in the Mini Stocks ended with Conrad Schwinn taking the win, ahead of Nick McCann, Hayden Engen, Troy Foster and Cody Bush in the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 99-Doyle Erickson[2]; 2. 2R-Jeff Reed[3]; 3. 13-Devyn Weleski[5]; 4. 72-Adam Johnson[1]; 5. (DNF) 51E-Peyton Emerson[7]; 6. (DNF) 22-Davey Mills[4]; 7. (DNS) 77-Alan Olafson

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Doyle Erickson[4]; 2. 13-Devyn Weleski[5]; 3. 2R-Jeff Reed[1]; 4. 22-Davey Mills[7]; 5. 72-Adam Johnson[3]; 6. (DNF) 51E-Peyton Emerson[6]; 7. (DNF) 77-Alan Olafson[2]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 81X-Matt Sparby[2]; 2. 57-Dalton Carlson[1]; 3. 47J-Justin Barsness[8]; 4. 27C-Cameron Labelle[7]; 5. 76-Doug Koski[3]; 6. 29X-Brandon Bahr[11]; 7. T26-Nic Lewis[6]; 8. 17-Faye Lewis[4]; 9. 72-Mike Johnson[12]; 10. 69X-John Sharpnack[9]; 11. 65-Ron Reed[10]; 12. (DNF) X81-Alexa Sparby[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 47J-Justin Barsness[2]; 2. X81-Alexa Sparby[1]; 3. 76-Doug Koski[5]; 4. T26-Nic Lewis[3]; 5. (DNF) 65-Ron Reed[6]; 6. (DNF) 29X-Brandon Bahr[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Dalton Carlson[1]; 2. 27C-Cameron Labelle[4]; 3. 81X-Matt Sparby[5]; 4. 17-Faye Lewis[2]; 5. 69X-John Sharpnack[3]; 6. 72-Mike Johnson[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 41-Tyler Vernon[5]; 2. 15-Landon Gross[2]; 3. 15S-Sam Blevins[8]; 4. 32B-Brennan Schmidt[1]; 5. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[14]; 6. 19-Darrin Lawler[3]; 7. 16-Skyler Smith[4]; 8. 07-Carter Matthews[7]; 9. 9W-Hunter Weeks[6]; 10. 6K-Noah Bitz[12]; 11. 33L-Cejay LaValley[11]; 12. 11K-Travis Klein[10]; 13. 19E-Evan Gust[13]; 14. (DNF) 10JR-Mikey Blevins[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9W-Hunter Weeks[2]; 2. 16-Skyler Smith[3]; 3. 15S-Sam Blevins[4]; 4. 19-Darrin Lawler[5]; 5. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[6]; 6. 33L-Cejay LaValley[7]; 7. 19E-Evan Gust[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Tyler Vernon[1]; 2. 15-Landon Gross[3]; 3. 32B-Brennan Schmidt[5]; 4. 07-Carter Matthews[4]; 5. 11K-Travis Klein[7]; 6. 6K-Noah Bitz[6]; 7. (DNS) 10-Michael Blevins Sr

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[2]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[5]; 3. 6-Conrad Schwinn[4]; 4. 37-Dean Larson[3]; 5. 99JR-Brooke Erickson[1]; 6. 4-Dawson Oelrich[8]; 7. T34-Christopher Roller[9]; 8. 29J-Jayden Bahr[6]; 9. (DNF) 29-Kevin Bahr[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[2]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[4]; 3. 6-Conrad Schwinn[3]; 4. 37-Dean Larson[6]; 5. 99JR-Brooke Erickson[5]; 6. 29J-Jayden Bahr[1]; 7. 29-Kevin Bahr[7]; 8. 4-Dawson Oelrich[8]; 9. (DNF) T34-Christopher Roller[9]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

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

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Billy Binkley[2]; 2. 3-Kade Leeper[3]; 3. 9L-Landon Weeks[4]; 4. 21-Mason Smith[6]; 5. 70-Chris Dudley[5]; 6. 8-Karen Puschinsky[1]; 7. 7K-Quintyn Karl[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 47-Greg Caspers[2]; 2. 57-Austin Carlson[1]; 3. 21X-Dustin Puffe[3]; 4. 18B-Alex Berg[5]; 5. 15-Caylyn Binkley[4]; 6. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[6]

Mini Stocks:

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

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Hayden Engen[2]; 2. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 3. 94-Cameron Schwinn[6]; 4. 14-Cooper Francis[3]; 5. 11C-Cody Bush[4]; 6. 3-Cody Meyers[1]; 7. (DNF) 11R-Chad Reller[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[1]; 2. 19-Troy Foster[2]; 3. 20J-Jonah Espe[3]; 4. 87-Malachi Albrecht[4]; 5. 26-Brooke McCann[6]; 6. 22-Tania Denny[7]; 7. (DNF) 5H-Ethan Hunter[5]