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Karlen returns to victory lane at Casino Sunday and is joined by feature toppers Johnson, Broksieck & VanDerostyne

By Tony Steuck

WATERTOWN, SD (August 16) - Just slightly more than two months removed from his first-ever victory, Justin Karlen made his way back to Casino Speedway victory lane for the second time on Sunday night.

Other WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Luke Johnson, Maria Broksieck and Adam VanDerostyne.

Jayson Good and Chad Becker brought the 20-lap WISSOTA Late Model main event to the green flag, but when Becker slid high in turn two, Karlen fired through the opening and into the top spot. Good challenged to his inside on the opening lap, but Karlen turned him back and set sail on the cushion.

Becker recovered from his opening lap miscue, and passed Good for second on lap three. Konnor Sperle worked his way into third, but made contact with Becker in turns three and four and spun his machine with three laps recorded; he rejoined the field at the tail.

After the race resumed, both Good and Mike Stearns freight trained around the outside of Becker by lap five. Becker tried to fight back, but lost another spot to Charlie Olsen on lap eight.

Karlen had a small, one-to-two car-length lead at the halfway point, with the top four fairly close around the high side of the speedway. With five laps to go, Karlen had opened a slightly larger advantage. Although Good closed a little late, Karlen remained smooth to earn his second-ever victory in a race car. Good was second ahead of Stearns, Olsen and Becker.

Luke Johnson grabbed the top spot from the outside of the front row when the 20-lap WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature went green. Todd Stark immediately moved to second from the outside of row two, and when the first lap was complete, eighth-starter Dawson Zabel was into third. Johnson opened a little room before the first caution with four laps recorded. The second yellow waved two laps later.

Johnson used the upper groove to retain the lead after the restart, while the top three ran in stair-step formation for a lap after the restart. Johnson edged away after a few laps, and Zabel used the inside line to challenge Stark for second. Stark turned back the threat after the halfway mark, and Tommy Nichols entered the battle on the low side. The final caution dropped with eight laps remaining.

Zabel snatched second after the green, and Nichols looked inside Stark. The trio crossed the line three wide to complete lap 13 before Zabel settled into second. Zabel used the remaining laps to cut away at Johnson’s lead, and ducked to his inside on the final two laps, but Johnson remained steady on the cushion and earned his first win of the season in Watertown. Zabel was second ahead of Nichols, Stark and Darren Engesser.

Tony Miller grabbed the lead at the start of the 20-lap WISSOTA Street Stock main event. He paced the opening lap before Broksieck shot by on the second lap, however a caution flag waved for a melee in turn four without the lap scored.

Broksieck replicated the outside pass after the restart, and left Miller to chase in second. Jayden Bogh finally secured third a few laps in, but could not move ahead to battle for second. Broksieck steadily powered away — she had nearly a straightaway lead before the caution waved with nine laps scored.

Bogh displaced Miller for second when the race resumed, and after another caution with 11 laps scored, Miller caught the left rear of Bogh off turn four, and the two became attached as they slowed to a stop on the front chute; Miller was sent to the tail for the restart.

Broksieck took off with the lead when the race restarted, with Bogh in second. Kyle Bertram and Tyler Lamb were engaged in a fight for third before Bertram grabbed the spot, and chased after Bogh. Broksieck consistently edged away from Bogh in the remaining laps and took the checkers a half straightaway ahead of Bogh, Bertram, Lamb and Joe Arndt. It was her third win of the season at the oval.

VanDerostyne shot to the lead at the drop of the green in the 12-lap WISSOTA Hornet feature. Paxton Tjaden and Jesse Lindner ran in the top three early; there was contact between Bradley Rossow and Lindner as they battled for third, and Lindner turned sideways and nearly rolled over, but his car came to rest on all four tires. He was done for the race.

VanDerostyne slipped away, while Dalten Pederson worked on Tjaden for second. The caution waved again with five laps recorded, and Pederson left the speedway under the yellow flag.

Only three cars remained when the field resumed, and VanDerostyne slowly moved away in the lead. Brett Moffenbier and Tjaden ran side by side for a few laps before Moffenbier secured the position. VanDerostyne sped to his second win of the season at the speedway, with Moffenbier second and Tjaden third.

Tony Croninger led all the way to win the Gen X Late Model main event. The second position changed hands several times throughout the race - Blake Swenson moved into the position late, and was close enough to Croninger for a bid in the final turn, but came up shy. Croninger won his second of the season ahead of Swenson, Parker Gilbertson, Curt Kranz, and Bodie Croninger.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 51-Justin Karlen[4]; 2. 85-Jayson Good[1]; 3. 24S-Mike Stearns[3]; 4. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[6]; 5. 12-Chad Becker[2]; 6. 1-Ryan Engels[8]; 7. 1K-Konner Sperle[7]; 8. 00-Ben Hunt[10]; 9. (DNF) T3-Rich Thomas[11]; 10. (DNF) 64-Russell Beadle[9]; 11. (DNS) 20-Trevor Anderson

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[3]; 2. 85-Jayson Good[1]; 3. 12-Chad Becker[6]; 4. 51-Justin Karlen[4]; 5. 64-Russell Beadle[5]; 6. T3-Rich Thomas[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Trevor Anderson[1]; 2. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[2]; 3. 1-Ryan Engels[4]; 4. 1K-Konner Sperle[3]; 5. 00-Ben Hunt[5]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 3-Luke Johnson[2]; 2. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[8]; 3. 28-Tommy Nichols[7]; 4. 33-Todd Stark[4]; 5. 11S-Darren Engesser[3]; 6. 38-Garrett Crawford[10]; 7. 72-Caden Kirnan[1]; 8. 2DR-Tom Neitzel[11]; 9. 4-Miron Fisk[13]; 10. (DNF) 1-Jake Wranek[5]; 11. (DNF) 9L-Dakota Larsen[6]; 12. (DNF) 86-Carter Frost[12]; 13. (DNF) 22-Shawn McFarlane[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Todd Stark[5]; 2. 72-Caden Kirnan[2]; 3. 3-Luke Johnson[7]; 4. 11S-Darren Engesser[3]; 5. 22-Shawn McFarlane[4]; 6. 2DR-Tom Neitzel[6]; 7. 4-Miron Fisk[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Jake Wranek[1]; 2. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[4]; 3. 28-Tommy Nichols[6]; 4. 9L-Dakota Larsen[5]; 5. 38-Garrett Crawford[2]; 6. 86-Carter Frost[3]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 14-Maria Broksieck[4]; 2. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[3]; 3. 19-Kyle Bertram[8]; 4. 314-Tyler Lamb[7]; 5. 52-Joe Arndt[10]; 6. 711-Kenneth Clements[11]; 7. 6C-Chris Asmus[13]; 8. 80-Tony Miller[2]; 9. X-Dexter Wipf[12]; 10. 12-Al Schmidt[1]; 11. 99-Andy Rossow[9]; 12. (DNF) 71-Josh Long[6]; 13. (DNF) 31-Jason Marko[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Josh Long[2]; 2. 14-Maria Broksieck[3]; 3. 314-Tyler Lamb[5]; 4. 12-Al Schmidt[1]; 5. 99-Andy Rossow[6]; 6. 711-Kenneth Clements[7]; 7. 6C-Chris Asmus[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Kyle Bertram[2]; 2. 31-Jason Marko[1]; 3. 80-Tony Miller[3]; 4. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[6]; 5. 52-Joe Arndt[5]; 6. X-Dexter Wipf[4]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 3-Adam VanDerostyne[2]; 2. 95-Brett Moffenbier[5]; 3. 87TJR-Paxton Tjaden[1]; 4. (DNF) 27D-Dalten Pedersen[7]; 5. (DNF) 0-Matthew Moes[6]; 6. (DNF) 555-Bradley Rossow[3]; 7. (DNF) 11L-Jesse Lindner[4]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 3-Adam VanDerostyne[2]; 2. 11L-Jesse Lindner[4]; 3. 87TJR-Paxton Tjaden[1]; 4. 555-Bradley Rossow[3]; 5. 95-Brett Moffenbier[5]; 6. 0-Matthew Moes[6]; 7. 27D-Dalten Pedersen[7]

Gen X Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8T-Tony Croninger[2]; 2. 10X-Blake Swenson[3]; 3. 23JR-Parker Gilbertson[1]; 4. 87-Curt Kranz[7]; 5. 811-Bodie Croninger[4]; 6. 33N-Jeff Nelson[8]; 7. 27-Jarrett Huus[9]; 8. 19-Tyler McFarland[11]; 9. 15-Trevor Walsh[6]; 10. 11X-Brittany Swenson[10]; 11. 12-Brandon Fisher[12]; 12. (DNF) 33-Chad Duenwald[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 23JR-Parker Gilbertson[2]; 2. 87-Curt Kranz[1]; 3. 10X-Blake Swenson[4]; 4. 8T-Tony Croninger[3]; 5. 27-Jarrett Huus[6]; 6. 19-Tyler McFarland[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33N-Jeff Nelson[2]; 2. 811-Bodie Croninger[4]; 3. 15-Trevor Walsh[5]; 4. 33-Chad Duenwald[3]; 5. 11X-Brittany Swenson[1]; 6. 12-Brandon Fisher[6]