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Gierke and Rodin rocket to open-wheeled wins at I-94’s 8th annual Bob Gierke Memorial on Friday night

By Ron Krog

FERGUS FALLS, MN (August 15) - Friday night at I-94 Speedway featured the 8th annual Bob Gierke Memorial, as well as the makeup feature for the Modifieds from the King of Dirt in June. Race fans were treated to a great show, with 142 race cars in the pits. WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners on the night included Landon Atkinson, Ryan Gierke, Lucas Rodin, Jim Gullikson and Hunter Goulet.

Fans also enjoyed the tribute to Bob Gierke, honoring his dedication to racing and the local community.

Bob’s son, Ryan Gierke, made it a night to remember in the WISSOTA Modifieds. He raced his way to the front and scored the special memorial feature win. Gierke faced heavy traffic and plenty of pressure throughout the race, but the veteran driver held strong and brought home the checkered flag in front of a big crowd. Bryce Sward, Lucas Rodin, eighth-starter Travis Saurer and 10th-starter Shane Sabraski were top-five finishers.

In the Modifieds’ King of the Dirt makeup feature, Sabraski and Atkinson traded the lead back and forth in a thrilling battle out front, before Saurer seemingly came out of nowhere to grab the top spot. Saurer held the point for a good chunk of the race until a flat tire ended his run. That set up a dramatic finish, as Atkinson slipped by Sabraski during the final lap to claim the King of the Dirt victory. Sward charged from 14th on the grid to finish third, while ninth-starter Joseph Thomas was fourth. Thirteenth-starter Dustin Bitzan was fifth.

The WISSOTA Midwest Mods put on a thriller as Rodin claimed the feature win. Jake Smith charged ahead from his ninth-starting spot to grab runner-up honors, while Cole Boston was third. Fourteenth-starter Landyn Randt put on a spectacular drive to finish fourth, and 10th-starter Tanner Bitzan improved five spots to fifth.

Gullikson brought home the checkered flag in the WISSOTA Street Stocks, fending off strong bids from Kyle Dykhoff and Levi Randt to take home the victory. Tommy Pogones and 14th-starter Jordan Johnson completed the top five.

In the WISSOTA Hornets, Goulet came out on top of the fast-paced feature, with Christian Kast and Jeff Rohner close behind in the four-cylinder showdown. Kevin Wahl and Kody Crabtree - who started 14th - rounded out the top five.

In the Gen X Late Models, Trevor Walsh came away with the victory. Travis Saurer gave chase and finished second, while 19th-starter Rick Schroeder stormed to third in an impressive run.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (26 Laps): 1. 26G-Ryan Gierke[2]; 2. 6X-Bryce Sward[4]; 3. 19-Lucas Rodin[1]; 4. 21X-Travis Saurer[8]; 5. 7A-Shane Sabraski[10]; 6. 5H-Brett Hoium[6]; 7. 24-Brandon Dolman[5]; 8. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[3]; 9. 2X-Brady Gerdes[9]; 10. 18A-Landon Atkinson[17]; 11. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[19]; 12. 5K-Tyler Kaeter[16]; 13. 2C-Dave Cain[22]; 14. 13-Cayden Schmeling[14]; 15. 7-Bryce Borgen[12]; 16. 51T-Talan Thoennes[11]; 17. 6-Dale Ames[18]; 18. (DNF) 9B-Brendan Blascyk[23]; 19. (DNF) 6*-Brian Haben[26]; 20. (DNF) 17B-Zach Benson[21]; 21. (DNF) 51TT-Josh Thoennes[24]; 22. (DNF) 6T-Joseph Thomas[25]; 23. (DNF) 51-Avery Anderson[13]; 24. (DNF) 88-Eric Lamm[20]; 25. (DNF) 11X-Austin Chyba[15]; 26. (DNF) 9E-Don Eischens[7]

Makeup Feature (25 Laps): 1. 18A-Landon Atkinson[2]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 3. 6X-Bryce Sward[14]; 4. 6T-Joseph Thomas[9]; 5. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[13]; 6. 24-Brandon Dolman[15]; 7. 19-Lucas Rodin[11]; 8. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[5]; 9. 26G-Ryan Gierke[16]; 10. 2X-Brady Gerdes[20]; 11. 51T-Josh Thoennes[10]; 12. 6SL-Seth Brede[26]; 13. 7-Bryce Borgen[17]; 14. 52-Jason Thoennes[18]; 15. 51TT-Talan Thoennes[24]; 16. 2GT-Troy Girolamo[3]; 17. 81-Jordan Duray[25]; 18. (DNF) 8Y-Bill Yonke[23]; 19. (DNF) 21X-Travis Saurer[4]; 20. (DNF) 2G-Brock Gronwold[12]; 21. (DNF) 51-Avery Anderson[8]; 22. (DNF) 11X-Austin Chyba[7]; 23. (DNF) 18-Taylor Garberich[22]; 24. (DNF) 5H-Brett Hoium[6]; 25. (DNS) 9B-Brendan Blascyk; 26. (DNS) 9E-Don Eischens; 27. (DNS) 10W-Ward Imrie; 28. (DNS) 1TPO-Tyler Peterson; 29. (DNS) 5C-Preston Carr; 30. (DNS) 88-Tanner Williamson

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2X-Brady Gerdes[3]; 2. 26G-Ryan Gierke[8]; 3. 51T-Talan Thoennes[1]; 4. 5K-Tyler Kaeter[6]; 5. 17B-Zach Benson[9]; 6. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[5]; 7. 8Y-Bill Yonke[2]; 8. 2GT-Troy Girolamo[4]; 9. (DNF) 66-Jacob Knapper[7]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 21X-Travis Saurer[2]; 2. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[1]; 3. 7-Bryce Borgen[4]; 4. 18A-Landon Atkinson[8]; 5. 2C-Dave Cain[7]; 6. 112-Brennan Gave[5]; 7. 6*-Brian Haben[6]; 8. 1B-Corky Thomas[3]; 9. 52-Jason Thoennes[9]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 19-Lucas Rodin[5]; 2. 6X-Bryce Sward[8]; 3. 51-Avery Anderson[1]; 4. 6-Dale Ames[3]; 5. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[9]; 6. 15-Ryan Flaten[2]; 7. 7M-Brandon Mehrwerth[4]; 8. 96-Erv Grossman[6]; 9. (DNF) 81-Jordan Duray[7]

Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Brandon Dolman[2]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[5]; 3. 13-Cayden Schmeling[1]; 4. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[3]; 5. 51TT-Josh Thoennes[8]; 6. 10H-Nate Heinrich[4]; 7. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[7]; 8. (DNF) 6SL-Seth Brede[6]

Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 9E-Don Eischens[1]; 2. 5H-Brett Hoium[4]; 3. 11X-Austin Chyba[2]; 4. 88-Eric Lamm[3]; 5. 6T-Joseph Thomas[8]; 6. 2G-Brock Gronwold[5]; 7. 13W-Devyn Weleski[6]; 8. 18-Taylor Garberich[7]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 17B-Zach Benson[1]; 2. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[2]; 3. 6T-Joseph Thomas[3]; 4. 7M-Brandon Mehrwerth[7]; 5. 10H-Nate Heinrich[5]; 6. 6SL-Seth Brede[11]; 7. 13W-Devyn Weleski[8]; 8. 1B-Corky Thomas[9]; 9. 8Y-Bill Yonke[6]; 10. 81-Jordan Duray[12]; 11. 18-Taylor Garberich[10]; 12. (DQ) 112-Brennan Gave[4]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 2C-Dave Cain[1]; 2. 51TT-Josh Thoennes[2]; 3. 6*-Brian Haben[6]; 4. 15-Ryan Flaten[4]; 5. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[3]; 6. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[7]; 7. 52-Jason Thoennes[10]; 8. 2G-Brock Gronwold[5]; 9. 66-Jacob Knapper[11]; 10. 2GT-Troy Girolamo[8]; 11. (DNF) 96-Erv Grossman[9]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (26 Laps): 1. 19-Lucas Rodin[3]; 2. 21S-Jake Smith[9]; 3. 33C-Cole Boston[1]; 4. 11R-Landyn Randt[14]; 5. 42B-Tanner Bitzan[10]; 6. 10B-Tyler Bitzan[20]; 7. 87S-Reise Stenberg[5]; 8. 28W-Brennon Weight[8]; 9. 28-Tommy Nichols[2]; 10. 28S-Ryan Schow[6]; 11. 21H-Shane Howell[21]; 12. 13-Scott Oeltjen[16]; 13. 97-Michelle Hutt[26]; 14. 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[15]; 15. 81K-Casey Knabe[13]; 16. 73-Onyx Johnson[18]; 17. 10M-Noah McFarlane[24]; 18. 110-Tate Kelderman[25]; 19. 24X-Mike Hart[17]; 20. (DNF) 87-William Moelter[4]; 21. (DNF) 50H-Haley Dykhoff[19]; 22. (DNF) 42-Ron Saurer[12]; 23. (DNF) 12X-Jamie Norman[22]; 24. (DNF) 57-Corey Storck[11]; 25. (DNF) 15F-Ryan Flaten[23]; 26. (DNF) 2S-Matt Schow[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Tommy Nichols[4]; 2. 42B-Tanner Bitzan[6]; 3. 57-Corey Storck[1]; 4. 13-Scott Oeltjen[8]; 5. 28K-Nick Preston[2]; 6. 10M-Noah McFarlane[5]; 7. X-Tucker Jacobson[3]; 8. (DNF) 75JR-Jacob Karch[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 28W-Brennon Weight[3]; 2. 28S-Ryan Schow[8]; 3. 42-Ron Saurer[7]; 4. 24X-Mike Hart[2]; 5. TS42-Scott Samuelson[1]; 6. 110-Tate Kelderman[6]; 7. 24-Todd Stevens[5]; 8. 52-Maddie Swenson[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 87-William Moelter[1]; 2. 33C-Cole Boston[3]; 3. 81K-Casey Knabe[2]; 4. 73-Onyx Johnson[8]; 5. 21H-Shane Howell[5]; 6. 21-Dev Malmlov[6]; 7. 15-Andrew DeNoble[4]; 8. 10K-Kurt Mursu[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 21S-Jake Smith[1]; 2. 19-Lucas Rodin[5]; 3. 11R-Landyn Randt[2]; 4. 50H-Haley Dykhoff[3]; 5. 12X-Jamie Norman[8]; 6. 111-Jason Halverson[6]; 7. 97-Michelle Hutt[4]; 8. 13K-Brad King[7]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 87S-Reise Stenberg[1]; 2. 2S-Matt Schow[5]; 3. 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[3]; 4. 10B-Tyler Bitzan[6]; 5. 82G-Chad Gronner[2]; 6. 21Z-Zach Kort[4]; 7. 15F-Ryan Flaten[7]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 21H-Shane Howell[2]; 2. 15F-Ryan Flaten[8]; 3. 110-Tate Kelderman[4]; 4. 28K-Nick Preston[1]; 5. 111-Jason Halverson[5]; 6. X-Tucker Jacobson[6]; 7. 75JR-Jacob Karch[10]; 8. (DNF) 10K-Kurt Mursu[9]; 9. (DNF) 82G-Chad Gronner[3]; 10. (DNS) 15-Andrew DeNoble

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 12X-Jamie Norman[2]; 2. 10M-Noah McFarlane[3]; 3. 97-Michelle Hutt[7]; 4. 52-Maddie Swenson[8]; 5. TS42-Scott Samuelson[1]; 6. 21Z-Zach Kort[5]; 7. 21-Dev Malmlov[4]; 8. 13K-Brad King[9]; 9. 24-Todd Stevens[6]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 21-Jim Gullikson[12]; 2. 11-Levi Randt[3]; 3. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[4]; 4. 04-Tommy Pogones[6]; 5. 27J-Jordan Johnson[14]; 6. 2-Joe Martin[1]; 7. 35S-Kegan Stueve[2]; 8. 17B-Rachel Boston[16]; 9. 76-Braedyn Fleck[22]; 10. 30B-Wade Bergerud[17]; 11. 78-Josh Lawson[13]; 12. 19K-Cole Kannegiesser[15]; 13. 23-Maverick Janssen[10]; 14. 84-Doug Martin[23]; 15. 12-Joshua Schroeder[21]; 16. 57-Jason Fechtner[20]; 17. 16-Greg Platzer[7]; 18. (DNF) 17-Nick Shumansky[9]; 19. (DNF) 27-Trent Keller[19]; 20. (DNF) 7X-Peter Martin[11]; 21. (DNF) 18J-Justin Peterson[18]; 22. (DNF) 51-Eric Riley[8]; 23. (DNF) 2K-Tyler Klugman[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Levi Randt[1]; 2. 2K-Tyler Klugman[5]; 3. 17-Nick Shumansky[4]; 4. 23-Maverick Janssen[2]; 5. 78-Josh Lawson[3]; 6. 17B-Rachel Boston[6]; 7. 27-Trent Keller[7]; 8. 76-Braedyn Fleck[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[5]; 2. 2-Joe Martin[1]; 3. 51-Eric Riley[4]; 4. 7X-Peter Martin[3]; 5. 27J-Jordan Johnson[7]; 6. 30B-Wade Bergerud[6]; 7. 57-Jason Fechtner[2]; 8. 84-Doug Martin[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 04-Tommy Pogones[1]; 2. 16-Greg Platzer[3]; 3. 35S-Kegan Stueve[4]; 4. 21-Jim Gullikson[7]; 5. 19K-Cole Kannegiesser[6]; 6. 18J-Justin Peterson[5]; 7. 12-Joshua Schroeder[2]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 701-Hunter Goulet[5]; 2. 22L-Christian Kast[2]; 3. 08-Jeff Rohner[6]; 4. 45W-Kevin Wahl[4]; 5. 27-Kody Crabtree[14]; 6. 80K-Nathan Kelley[1]; 7. 42E-Eli Green[8]; 8. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[9]; 9. 8X-Jonathan Hagen[11]; 10. 19A-Alysha Christenson[3]; 11. (DNF) 18K-Ally Preston[13]; 12. (DNF) 03-Andy Booke[12]; 13. (DNF) 275X-Travis Bruns[7]; 14. (DNF) 35P-Tylar Pourrier[10]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 275X-Travis Bruns[2]; 2. 22L-Christian Kast[1]; 3. 45W-Kevin Wahl[7]; 4. 80K-Nathan Kelley[6]; 5. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[3]; 6. 8X-Jonathan Hagen[5]; 7. (DNF) 27-Kody Crabtree[4]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 701-Hunter Goulet[7]; 2. 08-Jeff Rohner[5]; 3. 42E-Eli Green[6]; 4. 19A-Alysha Christenson[1]; 5. 35P-Tylar Pourrier[4]; 6. 03-Andy Booke[3]; 7. 18K-Ally Preston[2]

Gen X Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 15-Trevor Walsh[1]; 2. 66-Travis Saurer[5]; 3. 7-Rick Schroeder[19]; 4. 15X-Blake Boelens[6]; 5. 14-Scott Harrington[16]; 6. 33-Jeff Nelson[3]; 7. 27-Jarrett Huus[8]; 8. 0-Shawn Beto[9]; 9. 50-Ben Wolden[14]; 10. 18A-Mike Anderson[4]; 11. 01-Alex Tschakert[15]; 12. 00-Kevin Youngquist[18]; 13. 11*-Larry Samuelson[12]; 14. 1E-Tai Engels[22]; 15. 1M-Jon McCain[10]; 16. 3H-Jerry Hauge[13]; 17. (DNF) 75-Cade Skytland[21]; 18. (DNF) 23JR-Parker Gilbertson[11]; 19. (DNF) 4-Brent Clemensen[17]; 20. (DNF) 49-Andrew Tysdal[2]; 21. (DNF) 2Q-Derek Quinn[7]; 22. (DNF) 20Z-Scott Zimmerman[20]; 23. (DNS) 71-John Plaster

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Travis Saurer[3]; 2. 18A-Mike Anderson[5]; 3. 49-Andrew Tysdal[7]; 4. 1M-Jon McCain[8]; 5. 3H-Jerry Hauge[6]; 6. (DNF) 75-Cade Skytland[1]; 7. (DNF) 1E-Tai Engels[2]; 8. (DNF) 71-John Plaster[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Jarrett Huus[2]; 2. 15-Trevor Walsh[4]; 3. 15X-Blake Boelens[6]; 4. 23JR-Parker Gilbertson[3]; 5. 50-Ben Wolden[7]; 6. 14-Scott Harrington[8]; 7. 00-Kevin Youngquist[1]; 8. 20Z-Scott Zimmerman[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Jeff Nelson[2]; 2. 2Q-Derek Quinn[5]; 3. 0-Shawn Beto[4]; 4. 11*-Larry Samuelson[1]; 5. 01-Alex Tschakert[3]; 6. 4-Brent Clemensen[6]; 7. 7-Rick Schroeder[7]