8-26 Page 26 | ATD Racing News

Eight champs crowned at Bemidji, and Sunday’s feature winners are Beaulieu, Simpson, Nelson, Brauer, Schwinn, Puffe and Kiker

By Dennis Peterson

BEMIDJI, MN (August 24) - The points season at Bemidji Speedway came to an end on Sunday night in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Eight champions were crowned in the eight classes and 99 cars packed the pits once again.

Josh Beaulieu, Rick Simpson, Gary James Nelson, Kolton Brauer, Ashton Schwinn, Dustin Puffe and Russell Kiker, Jr. were among the long list of WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners on Sunday.

The WISSOTA Pure Stocks were the first feature on track, led by Jake Smith and Puffe. After the initial try failed, Puffe pulled out to the lead followed by Jake Smith, Mason Smith, Josh Bitker, and Brandon Puschinsky. Kade Leeper worked up into sixth as Puffe drove out to a four-car-length-lead over Jake Smith. The caution flag waved again and sent Austin Carlson to the pits for a tire change; he returned tailback. Another caution for debris slowed the racing action followed by another.

Current national point leader Puffe held onto his lead and took the checkered flag for his fifth win of the year and the Bemidji Speedway Pure Stock track championship. Jake Smith finished second with Mason Smith third, Brandon Puschinsky fourth and Bitker fifth.

Gary James Nelson and Kalin Honer led the field of WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds to the green flag, with Nelson claiming the lead followed by Honer, Mike Blevins, Skyler Smith and Hunter Weeks. The battle in this race was for the points championship between Mikey Blevins and Skyler Smith, with just seven points separating the two. Bumper to bumper action was disrupted following a two-car crash in turn one, sending Cory Peterson to the rear.

Racing resumed with Smith gaining one position — he got by Honer for third improving his chances for a track championship with Mikey Blevins back several spots. But Honer regained third while Nelson and Mike Blevins pulled away to race for the win. Nelson took the checkered flag for his second win of the season ahead of Mike Blevins. Honer, Smith and Travis Klein completed the top five. Mikey Blevins was crowned the track champion with Smith second.

National WISSOTA Street Stock point leader Kolton Brauer made the trip up to Bemidji Speedway from Eyota, MN to defend his points lead, but started in the second row behind Chris Dudley and Deryk Weleski. Brauer was able to blast into the lead quickly with Dudley sliding up high in turn two. Brauer was chased by Nick McCann, Weleski, Dudley and Scotty Messner in the top five. McCann and Weleski tangled later and were both sent tailback, which allowed Messner to challenge the leader. Brauer added to his points lead with the win and clean sweep for the night, however, as Messner, Dudley, Doug VanMill and Weleski completed the top five. Brauer is the Street Stock track champion.

Ten entries in the WISSOTA Hornet class took to the track next led by point leader Russell Kiker, Jr. and Jada Lore. Kiker raced to the front followed by Brady Fosso, Lore, Ryker Larson and Adam Kessler. The blackened race track made the pace extremely fast and the field quickly spread out single file with Kiker out front and Fosso battling with him for every inch of the track. Kiker held off the challenges for the win and picked up his first-ever track championship, as Fosso, Larson, Lore, and Kessler rounded out the top five.

Currently second in the WISSOTA Mod Four national standings, Ashton Schwinn was also in a battle for track points Sunday. Schwinn was the early leader from the pole ahead of Bahr, Dawson Oelrich, Blake Erickson and Conrad Schwinn in the top five. Erickson, sitting just 14 points behind Schwinn for the points lead, used the high side to pass Oelrich, who quickly retook the position in an excellent battle. Schwinn was long gone with more than a half lap lead over the field, taking the win and the WISSOTA Mod Four track champion title. Erickson came back to take second in the race and finish second in the points. Bahr, Conrad Schwinn and Jordan Thayer rounded out the top five.

The WISSOTA Super Stocks were next on track with points leader Dalton Carlson and Rick Simpson on the front row. After three failed attempts at a start, Simpson outdueled Carlson for the lead, with Dylan Nelson, Cameron Labelle, and Justin Barsness in the top five. Simpson created a gap between himself and Carlson, and maintained his lead as he encountered slower traffic. Simpson won the race, and Carlson was crowned the track champion. Nelson, LaBelle, and Nic Lewis rounded out the top five.

Late in the race, a scary crash occurred on the front straight charging to the checkered flag. Brandon Hunter got sideways under the flag stand and Brandon Bahr came around unaware of the machine sitting on the track; thankfully all were okay following the hard crash.

Josh Beaulieu grabbed the early lead over Davey Mills and Doyle Erickson in the WISSOTA Modified feature. Jeff Reed and Ricky Jacobson held fourth and fifth. Mills’ night ended quickly, losing a drive-shaft in turn four while Erickson pitted and was also finished for the night. The restart was led by Beaulieu with Reed, Jacobson, Jonathon Feda and Adam Johnson in the top five.

Following the restart Johnson made the pass on Feda for fourth. Feda went up high in turn four and Weleski moved into the top five. Making his very first Modified start, Blake Erickson also got by Feda for a sixth-place finish. Beaulieu claimed his third feature win on the season, while Reed claimed the track championship.

Troy Foster held on through a green, white, checkered finish for his first-ever Mini Stock feature win. Conrad Schwinn was crowned — by the slimmest of margins — the track champion in the Mini Stock class.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[1]; 2. 2R-Jeff Reed[3]; 3. 7J-Rick Jacobson[8]; 4. 72-Adam Johnson[7]; 5. 13-Devyn Weleski[4]; 6. 99E-Blake Erickson[9]; 7. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[5]; 8. (DNF) 22-Davey Mills[2]; 9. (DNF) 99-Doyle Erickson[6]; 10. (DNS) 77-Alan Olafson

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7J-Rick Jacobson[2]; 2. 72-Adam Johnson[3]; 3. 13-Devyn Weleski[5]; 4. 22-Davey Mills[1]; 5. 99E-Blake Erickson[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Doyle Erickson[2]; 2. 2R-Jeff Reed[1]; 3. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[3]; 4. 5JF-Jonathen Feda[4]; 5. (DNF) 77-Alan Olafson[5]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 77-Rick Simpson[2]; 2. 57-Dalton Carlson[1]; 3. 25-Dylan Nelson[7]; 4. 27C-Cameron Labelle[5]; 5. T26-Nic Lewis[11]; 6. 47J-Justin Barsness[8]; 7. 17-Faye Lewis[10]; 8. 29X-Brandon Bahr[15]; 9. X81-Alexa Sparby[12]; 10. 65-Ron Reed[9]; 11. 69X-John Sharpnack[3]; 12. 10-Brandon Hunter[14]; 13. (DNF) 72-Mike Johnson[13]; 14. (DNF) 76-Doug Koski[4]; 15. (DNF) 81X-Matt Sparby[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Dylan Nelson[2]; 2. 57-Dalton Carlson[1]; 3. 76-Doug Koski[4]; 4. 77-Rick Simpson[6]; 5. 65-Ron Reed[5]; 6. T26-Nic Lewis[7]; 7. 72-Mike Johnson[8]; 8. (DNF) 29X-Brandon Bahr[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27C-Cameron Labelle[1]; 2. 81X-Matt Sparby[2]; 3. 47J-Justin Barsness[7]; 4. 69X-John Sharpnack[3]; 5. 17-Faye Lewis[5]; 6. X81-Alexa Sparby[6]; 7. (DNF) 10-Brandon Hunter[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 74-Gary James Nelson[1]; 2. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[3]; 3. 115-Kalin Honer[2]; 4. 16-Skyler Smith[4]; 5. 11K-Travis Klein[6]; 6. 9W-Hunter Weeks[5]; 7. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[7]; 8. 18X-Connor Drewry[9]; 9. 7P-Cory Peterson[8]; 10. 15S-Sam Blevins[15]; 11. 6K-Noah Bitz[12]; 12. 21W-Bruce Hislaw[16]; 13. 33L-Cejay LaValley[13]; 14. (DNF) 15-Landon Gross[14]; 15. (DNF) 7A-Eric Anderson[11]; 16. (DNF) 26-Kyle Davis[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 115-Kalin Honer[1]; 2. 11K-Travis Klein[2]; 3. 9W-Hunter Weeks[3]; 4. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[4]; 5. 18X-Connor Drewry[6]; 6. 7A-Eric Anderson[8]; 7. 33L-Cejay LaValley[5]; 8. 15S-Sam Blevins[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Skyler Smith[1]; 2. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[5]; 3. 7P-Cory Peterson[3]; 4. 74-Gary James Nelson[6]; 5. 26-Kyle Davis[4]; 6. 6K-Noah Bitz[7]; 7. 15-Landon Gross[2]; 8. 21W-Bruce Hislaw[8]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 34J-Kolton Brauer[3]; 2. 18-Scotty Messner[5]; 3. 70-Chris Dudley[1]; 4. 8T-Doug VanMill[6]; 5. 39-Deryk Weleski[2]; 6. 34-Billy Binkley[7]; 7. 67-Weston Ramsrud[8]; 8. (DNF) 50-Nick McCann[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 34J-Kolton Brauer[1]; 2. 70-Chris Dudley[2]; 3. 50-Nick McCann[3]; 4. 18-Scotty Messner[5]; 5. 39-Deryk Weleski[4]; 6. 8T-Doug VanMill[6]; 7. 34-Billy Binkley[7]; 8. 67-Weston Ramsrud[8]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[1]; 2. 99-Blake Erickson[3]; 3. 29-Kevin Bahr[2]; 4. 6-Conrad Schwinn[5]; 5. 25-Jordan Thayer[6]; 6. 99JR-Brooke Erickson[7]; 7. T34-Christopher Roller[9]; 8. 4-Dawson Oelrich[4]; 9. 29J-Jayden Bahr[8]; 10. 26L-Lily Knute[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Blake Erickson[1]; 2. 4-Dawson Oelrich[5]; 3. 99JR-Brooke Erickson[2]; 4. (DNF) 29J-Jayden Bahr[4]; 5. (DQ) T34-Christopher Roller[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[4]; 2. 29-Kevin Bahr[1]; 3. 6-Conrad Schwinn[2]; 4. 25-Jordan Thayer[3]; 5. 26L-Lily Knute[5]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[2]; 2. 86J-Jake Smith[1]; 3. 21-Mason Smith[4]; 4. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[6]; 5. 62-Joshua Bitker[3]; 6. 70-Chris Dudley[7]; 7. 38-Nate Zanter[11]; 8. 25-Billy Binkley[15]; 9. 18B-Alex Berg[14]; 10. 8-Karen Puschinsky[16]; 11. 15-Caylyn Binkley[10]; 12. 55-Aaron Bitker[12]; 13. 7K-Quintyn Karl[17]; 14. 3-Kade Leeper[5]; 15. (DNF) 57-Austin Carlson[9]; 16. (DNF) 9L-Landon Weeks[8]; 17. (DNF) 35B-Josh Berg[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9L-Landon Weeks[4]; 2. 3-Kade Leeper[3]; 3. 88B-Brandon Puschinsky[2]; 4. 15-Caylyn Binkley[6]; 5. 35B-Josh Berg[5]; 6. (DNF) 8-Karen Puschinsky[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Austin Carlson[2]; 2. 62-Joshua Bitker[1]; 3. 21-Mason Smith[3]; 4. 38-Nate Zanter[4]; 5. 18B-Alex Berg[5]; 6. 7K-Quintyn Karl[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[2]; 2. 86J-Jake Smith[1]; 3. 70-Chris Dudley[3]; 4. 55-Aaron Bitker[5]; 5. 25-Billy Binkley[4]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature (12 Laps): 1. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[1]; 2. 27-Brady Fosso[3]; 3. 81R-Ryker Larson[4]; 4. 24JR-Jada Lore[2]; 5. 8X-Adam Kessler[7]; 6. 7G-Jayme Gordon[8]; 7. 28-Logan Delaney[6]; 8. 28R-Chad Reller[5]; 9. 72-Aiden Kessler[10]; 10. (DNF) 7M-Mateja Dreyer[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Brady Fosso[2]; 2. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[5]; 3. 24JR-Jada Lore[3]; 4. 28R-Chad Reller[1]; 5. 7M-Mateja Dreyer[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8X-Adam Kessler[2]; 2. 28-Logan Delaney[4]; 3. 81R-Ryker Larson[3]; 4. 7G-Jayme Gordon[5]; 5. 72-Aiden Kessler[1]

Mini Stocks:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 19-Troy Foster[1]; 2. 50-Nick McCann[5]; 3. 6-Conrad Schwinn[6]; 4. 14-Cooper Francis[8]; 5. 11C-Cody Bush[2]; 6. 3-Cody Meyers[7]; 7. 94-Ashton Schwinn[3]; 8. 26-Brooke McCann[13]; 9. (DNF) 115-Justin Honer[9]; 10. (DNF) 117-Zack Honer[10]; 11. (DNF) 77-Hayden Engen[4]; 12. (DNF) 5H-Ethan Hunter[11]; 13. (DNF) 7-Karlie Feda[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[3]; 2. 94-Ashton Schwinn[7]; 3. 19-Troy Foster[6]; 4. 11C-Cody Bush[5]; 5. 115-Justin Honer[2]; 6. 5H-Ethan Hunter[4]; 7. 26-Brooke McCann[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Conrad Schwinn[1]; 2. 14-Cooper Francis[2]; 3. 77-Hayden Engen[6]; 4. 3-Cody Meyers[3]; 5. 117-Zack Honer[4]; 6. 7-Karlie Feda[5]