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Zabel scores a squeaker while Greseth and Olsen win tightly contested headliners at Casino

By Tony Steuck

WATERTOWN, SD (August 9) - Dawson Zabel earned his first win at Casino Speedway by the narrowest of margins on Sunday night. Cole Greseth and Charlie Olsen won tightly contested features, while Mike Stearns and Christian Kast ran away to WISSOTA Dirt Track Series wins.

After a wreck on the opening lap, Tommy Nichols moved out to the lead of the 20-lap WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature. Scott Hansen passed Eric Cease for second on lap two and challenged for the lead, while Todd Stark maneuvered by Cease for third a few laps in.

Stark closed on Hansen, who remained in contention with Nichols at the halfway mark. The lead trio caught lapped traffic with five laps to go, and Hansen powered under Nichols down the back chute with three laps to go. Nichols paced the field under the flagstand with 18 scored, but Hansen drove by in turns one and two, and Stark moved to second down the back chute. The caution flag waved, however, and Nichols exited to the pits to change a tire.

Zabel used the high side after the restart, and powered to the outside of Hansen in turns one and two. Zabel led to the white flag, but Hansen cut low out of turn two and stayed low through the final set of turns. It was a drag race to the checkered flag, and Zabel scored the win by a ridiculous .002 seconds at the checkered flag. Zabel — who had his driver’s side door panel removed after the opening lap caution — collected his first victory at the speedway ahead of Hansen, 12th-starter Luke Johnson, Stark and Jake Wranek.

Jason Marko grabbed the lead out of turn two after the WISSOTA Street Stock feature took the green flag in their 20-lap main event. Tony Miller raced in second, but was under fire from Tyler Lamb and Cole Greseth for the spot. Miller was second on lap two, and Greseth moved into third. Lamb and Maria Broksieck challenged Greseth before a caution with five laps scored.

Greseth used the high line to sweep around Marko and lead the field on lap six. Broksieck put the heat on Marko for second in the low groove while Greseth slipped away. The caution waved again with 11 laps scored.

Broksieck claimed second after the restart, and was all over Greseth for the top spot. She used the high groove in turns three and four, then ducked low with five laps to go, but could not complete the pass. Broksieck kept the heat on before another caution with three laps to go.

Despite constant pressure from Broksieck, Greseth turned back the six-time and defending track champion for his first win at Casino Speedway. Marko was third ahead of 11th-starter Joel Arndt and Zach Flickinger in the top five.

Olsen fired off to an early lead at the drop of the green in the 25-lap WISSOTA Late Model feature. Mike Stearns and Chad Becker began a battle for second, which lasted much of the early part of the race.

Olsen remained the leader with five laps complete, while Becker and Stearns were door to door not far behind. Stearns secured second, and looked under Olsen as they caught slower cars with 10 laps scored. Olsen escaped with the lead, but the top three remained close through lapped traffic with 10 laps to go. The only yellow flag in the race fell with nine laps to go.

Becker grabbed second from Stearns after the restart, and chased Olsen the rest of the distance. Becker kept the heat on the leader as the laps wound down, and the pair caught lapped traffic on the final lap, but Olsen held on for his second win of the season at the speedway. Becker was second ahead of Stearns, Thomas Weisgram, and 10th-starter Jayson Good.

Mike Stearns dominated the 15-lap WISSOTA Modified main event. He started on the outside of the front row and bolted away at the drop of the green ahead of Dylan Zabel and Arne Anderson. While Stearns drove away, Garrett Gross challenged Anderson and stole the third position with five laps to go.

Zabel chipped away at his disadvantage to the leader in the final five laps, but it was not nearly enough and Stearns earned his fourth Modified win of the season at the speedway. Zabel was second ahead of Gross, Anderson and Andy Brooker.

Christian Kast — the defending WISSOTA Hornet track champion — earned his first win in two years at the oval by leading every lap in the division’s 12-lap main event. Dylan Tirrel ran second early, but lost the spot to Zander Zuehlsdorff on lap four. Tirrel dropped from the race, and Adam VanDerostyne challenged for second to the checkered flag. Brett Moffenbier was fourth and Cameryn Taylor was fifth.

Trevor Walsh turned back an early challenge from Blake Swenson, and then ran away for his second Gen X Late Model feature win of 2026 at the speedway.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[1]; 2. 12-Chad Becker[3]; 3. 24S-Mike Stearns[4]; 4. 16-Thomas Weisgram[7]; 5. 85-Jayson Good[10]; 6. 1K-Konner Sperle[5]; 7. 1-Ryan Engels[6]; 8. 37JR-Morgan Grosz[8]; 9. 00-Ben Hunt[12]; 10. 14-Scott Harrington[15]; 11. 71-Scott Olson[13]; 12. 64-Russell Beadle[11]; 13. (DNF) 51-Justin Karlen[2]; 14. (DNF) 23-Matt Gilbertson[9]; 15. (DNF) T3-Rich Thomas[14]; 16. (DNF) 133-Jon Starnes[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37JR-Morgan Grosz[2]; 2. 16-Thomas Weisgram[4]; 3. 24S-Mike Stearns[5]; 4. 12-Chad Becker[6]; 5. 23-Matt Gilbertson[7]; 6. 64-Russell Beadle[1]; 7. 00-Ben Hunt[3]; 8. (DNF) 133-Jon Starnes[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 51-Justin Karlen[1]; 2. 1-Ryan Engels[3]; 3. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[4]; 4. 1K-Konner Sperle[5]; 5. 85-Jayson Good[7]; 6. 14-Scott Harrington[8]; 7. 71-Scott Olson[6]; 8. (DNF) T3-Rich Thomas[2]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[2]; 2. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[4]; 3. 36-Garrett Gross[3]; 4. 3-Arne Anderson[1]; 5. 8-Andy Brooker[5]; 6. 3JR-Lane Johnson[7]; 7. 18-Aaron Sowers[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[1]; 2. 36-Garrett Gross[5]; 3. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[7]; 4. 8-Andy Brooker[4]; 5. 3-Arne Anderson[6]; 6. 18-Aaron Sowers[2]; 7. 3JR-Lane Johnson[3]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[8]; 2. 31-Scott Hansen[5]; 3. 3-Luke Johnson[12]; 4. 33-Todd Stark[4]; 5. 1-Jake Wranek[15]; 6. 11-Kyle Schell[3]; 7. 28-Tommy Nichols[1]; 8. 22-Shawn McFarlane[14]; 9. 11S-Darren Engesser[9]; 10. 72-Caden Kirnan[16]; 11. 9L-Dakota Larsen[7]; 12. 20-Devan Dobbs[13]; 13. 38-Garrett Crawford[6]; 14. 4-Miron Fisk[18]; 15. (DNF) 12-Eric Cease[2]; 16. (DNF) 86-Carter Frost[10]; 17. (DNF) 2DR-Tom Neitzel[11]; 18. (DNF) 25R-Trevor Rush[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Tommy Nichols[2]; 2. 33-Todd Stark[3]; 3. 38-Garrett Crawford[1]; 4. 86-Carter Frost[4]; 5. 20-Devan Dobbs[5]; 6. 72-Caden Kirnan[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[4]; 2. 31-Scott Hansen[3]; 3. 12-Eric Cease[1]; 4. 2DR-Tom Neitzel[2]; 5. 22-Shawn McFarlane[5]; 6. 25R-Trevor Rush[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11S-Darren Engesser[2]; 2. 9L-Dakota Larsen[4]; 3. 11-Kyle Schell[1]; 4. 3-Luke Johnson[3]; 5. 1-Jake Wranek[5]; 6. 4-Miron Fisk[6]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 19-Cole Greseth[6]; 2. 14-Maria Broksieck[8]; 3. 31-Jason Marko[2]; 4. 52-Joe Arndt[11]; 5. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[3]; 6. 99-Andy Rossow[10]; 7. 77D-Adam Dehne[5]; 8. 80-Tony Miller[1]; 9. 12-Al Schmidt[7]; 10. 711-Kenneth Clements[12]; 11. 314-Tyler Lamb[4]; 12. 0-Wyatt Brooker[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Jason Marko[2]; 2. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[6]; 3. 314-Tyler Lamb[3]; 4. 12-Al Schmidt[1]; 5. 0-Wyatt Brooker[5]; 6. 52-Joe Arndt[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Maria Broksieck[2]; 2. 19-Cole Greseth[4]; 3. 80-Tony Miller[1]; 4. 77D-Adam Dehne[6]; 5. 99-Andy Rossow[5]; 6. 711-Kenneth Clements[3]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 30X-Christian Kast[3]; 2. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[1]; 3. 3-Adam VanDerostyne[6]; 4. 95-Brett Moffenbier[9]; 5. 411-Cameryn Taylor[8]; 6. 11L-Jesse Lindner[5]; 7. (DNF) 108-Dylan Tirrel[7]; 8. (DNF) 5-Brett Alexander[2]; 9. (DNF) 87TJR-Paxton Tjaden[4]; 10. (DNF) 69-Skylar Burgher[11]; 11. (DNS) 555-Bradley Rossow; 12. (DNS) 0-Matthew Moes

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 108-Dylan Tirrel[1]; 2. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[4]; 3. 3-Adam VanDerostyne[6]; 4. (DNF) 555-Bradley Rossow[3]; 5. (DNF) 69-Skylar Burgher[2]; 6. (DNF) 0-Matthew Moes[5]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 5-Brett Alexander[1]; 2. 30X-Christian Kast[3]; 3. 11L-Jesse Lindner[2]; 4. 87TJR-Paxton Tjaden[4]; 5. 411-Cameryn Taylor[5]; 6. 95-Brett Moffenbier[6]

Gen X Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 15-Trevor Walsh[1]; 2. 10X-Blake Swenson[2]; 3. 23JR-Charlie Olsen[5]; 4. 87-Curt Kranz[3]; 5. 811-Bodie Croninger[8]; 6. 8T-Tony Croninger[7]; 7. 17J-John Winge[6]; 8. 19-Tyler McFarland[4]; 9. 1E-Tai Engels[9]; 10. 33-Chad Duenwald[11]; 11. 11X-Brittany Swenson[10]; 12. (DNS) 12-Brandon Fisher

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 23JR-Charlie Olsen[2]; 2. 8T-Tony Croninger[1]; 3. 17J-John Winge[6]; 4. 19-Tyler McFarland[4]; 5. 1E-Tai Engels[5]; 6. 11X-Brittany Swenson[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10X-Blake Swenson[2]; 2. 811-Bodie Croninger[3]; 3. 87-Curt Kranz[4]; 4. 15-Trevor Walsh[5]; 5. 12-Brandon Fisher[6]; 6. 33-Chad Duenwald[1]