8-26 Page 28 | ATD Racing News

Beaulieu, Vargason, Hess and Dudley demand some checkered rewards Saturday at Greenbush

By Daniel Wiskow

GREENBUSH, MN (August 23) - The Rick Johnson Memorial night began under chilly temps and cloud cover, a sure sign to everyone that fall is right around the corner. Race fans wore extra layers and with Polaris sponsoring the night at the track, lots of extra clothing was tossed out to fans in the stands, compliments of the Roseau-based manufacturer.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Josh Beaulieu, Cylen Vargason, Chris Dudley and Trey Hess.

The WISSOTA Pure Stock feature led off the night’s action with Chris Dudley and Dusty Caspers on the front row. Once the race took the green flag, it was Dudley out front. After a few laps had passed, it was clear that it was not just going to be a two-car battle for the lead, as the top five cars swapped positions several times. Al Sadek, Sr., Mason Scholin, Chris Smedy, and Kade Leeper were all in the mix as the race went on.

With Dudley out front, the rest of the field traded positions and waited for their opportunity to pounce. Unfortunately for them, the man at the helm did not waiver. With several challenges high and low, Dudley stuck to his guns and took home the win in a near perfect effort behind the wheel. Dustin Puffe was second, followed by Caspers, Sadek Jr, and Scholin in the top five.

The WISSOTA Street Stocks were up next to battle for the title of the Rick Johnson Memorial winner. Jerome Berger and Doug VanMill shared the front row at the start of the race and early on it looked like Berger was headed for victory. VanMill started to fade at the midpoint of the race, while Scotty Messner and Trey Hess moved forward through the field.

After a late caution with just four laps remaining, Berger made his only mistake in the race; he pushed up the track in turns one and two, allowing Hess and Messner to slip by. He traded spots back and forth a few times for second, but Hess pulled away at the end. Hess was very happy with his big payday and the Border Bandit trophy in his post-race interview. Messner, John Halvorson, Doug VanMill and Chris Dudley were top-five finishers following the tech shed.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were next on deck, led to green by Cory Peterson and Aaron Blacklance out front. Blacklance had the lead early on and soon he was challenged by Cylen Vargason on the low side of the track. Vargason grabbed the lead and a lap later a right-rear flat tire ended Blacklance’s night, unfortunately.

Once the green flag waved again Vargason pulled away while Peterson, Brandon Bahr, and Justin Olson raced side by side for that runner-up spot. At the finish, Vargason took the win followed by Peterson, Justin Olson, Aaden Olson, Brandon Bar in the top five.

The WISSOTA Modified feature proved to be a battle of attrition. Mike Tiani and Patrik Sobolik headed up the field on the start, and Sobolik grabbed the early lead. Fourth-starter Dustin Wahl worked for second, and then the lead as he and Josh Beaulieu put pressure on Sobolik. Brody Strachan charged through the field and moved past the front trio into the top spot before a right-front flat tire ended his night. Dustin Wahl also retired from the event.

When the final checkered flags of the evening flew, Beaulieu took the win. Sobolik, Ryan Johnson, and Connor Graff and Mike Johnson were top-five finishers.

Nick McCann was the early leader in the Four Cylinders, but spun in the slick part of the track and went to the back of the pack. He worked his way back forward into the lead and brought home another victory. Jonah Espe was second, Jayme Gordon was third after the tech shed, and Brooke McCann completed the top four drivers still on track at the finish.

Once again, thank you to all the people associated with the Rick Johnson Memorial and making it a wonderful event the track looks to build upon for next year.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[3]; 2. 40-Patrick Sobolik[2]; 3. 25-Ryan Johnson[5]; 4. 33G-Connor Graff[9]; 5. 06-Mike Wilson[10]; 6. 57-Michael Tiani[1]; 7. (DNF) 99-Brody Strachan[6]; 8. (DNF) B1-Ronnie Novacek[11]; 9. (DNF) 74-Dustin Wahl[4]; 10. (DNF) 81-Jordan Duray[7]; 11. (DNF) 33-Ryan Hagen[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[2]; 2. 25-Ryan Johnson[1]; 3. 99-Brody Strachan[4]; 4. 81-Jordan Duray[5]; 5. 33G-Connor Graff[6]; 6. B1-Ronnie Novacek[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 74-Dustin Wahl[1]; 2. 57-Michael Tiani[2]; 3. 33-Ryan Hagen[3]; 4. 40-Patrick Sobolik[5]; 5. 06-Mike Wilson[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 29-Cylen Vargason[4]; 2. 7P-Cory Peterson[1]; 3. 169-Justin Olson[6]; 4. 469-Aaden Olson[7]; 5. 29X-Brandon Bahr[3]; 6. 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[10]; 7. 007-Alex Johnson[8]; 8. 33L-Cejay LaValley[9]; 9. (DNF) 33G-Connor Graff[5]; 10. (DNF) 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[2]; 11. (DNS) 13-Nick Jessen

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[2]; 2. 33G-Connor Graff[1]; 3. 169-Justin Olson[4]; 4. 29-Cylen Vargason[3]; 5. 33L-Cejay LaValley[5]; 6. (DNF) 13-Nick Jessen[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 007-Alex Johnson[2]; 2. 29X-Brandon Bahr[3]; 3. 469-Aaden Olson[4]; 4. 7P-Cory Peterson[1]; 5. 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[5]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 4-Trey Hess[3]; 2. 18-Scotty Messner[7]; 3. 35-John Halvorson[6]; 4. 8T-Doug VanMill[2]; 5. 70-Chris Dudley[11]; 6. 0-Chad Hagen[4]; 7. 87M-Dave Meyer[10]; 8. 39-Deryk Weleski[8]; 9. 29P-Charlie Paradis[9]; 10. (DNF) 96-Jeremy Gust[5]; 11. (DQ) 65-Jerome Berger[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 65-Jerome Berger[1]; 2. 0-Chad Hagen[2]; 3. 8T-Doug VanMill[4]; 4. 18-Scotty Messner[5]; 5. 39-Deryk Weleski[3]; 6. 29P-Charlie Paradis[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 96-Jeremy Gust[3]; 2. 35-John Halvorson[2]; 3. 4-Trey Hess[5]; 4. (DNS) 87M-Dave Meyer; 5. (DNS) 70-Chris Dudley

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 70-Chris Dudley[1]; 2. 21X-Dustin Puffe[4]; 3. 47-Dusty Caspers[2]; 4. 24-Al Sadek Sr[6]; 5. 92-Mason Scholin[3]; 6. 11C-Chris Smeby[5]; 7. 3-Kade Leeper[8]; 8. (DNF) 21-Mason Smith[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 92-Mason Scholin[2]; 2. 11C-Chris Smeby[5]; 3. 21X-Dustin Puffe[4]; 4. 47-Dusty Caspers[7]; 5. 70-Chris Dudley[8]; 6. 24-Al Sadek Sr[3]; 7. 21-Mason Smith[6]; 8. (DNF) 3-Kade Leeper[1]

Four Cylinders:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[2]; 2. 20J-Jonah Espe[1]; 3. 7G-Jayme Gordon[4]; 4. 26-Brooke McCann[6]; 5. (DNF) 22-Tania Denny[3]; 6. (DQ) G17-Gabriel Espe[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Nick McCann[2]; 2. G17-Gabriel Espe[1]; 3. 7G-Jayme Gordon[5]; 4. 20J-Jonah Espe[4]; 5. 22-Tania Denny[3]; 6. 26-Brooke McCann[6]