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Holtquist, Fencl and Lange lock down championship night titles at 2026 MPH Invitational at Granite City

By Tami Jo Kuehn

SAUK RAPIDS, MN (September 12) - The annual Speedway Motors WISSOTA MPH Invitational held its final night of action Saturday at Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, MN. The night featured the best Mod Four, Pure Stock and Hornet racers from across WISSOTA country, and when the final checkers waved, Austin Fencl, Dustin Holtquist and William Lange were crowned MPH champions.

The WISSOTA Pure Stocks were led to green by Mason Smith and Fencl. Smith edged out to the early lead, with Fencl close behind in second, and Austin Carlson and Jake Smith door to door for third. Carlson secured third, as he and Fencl tucked in behind Mason Smith for the lead. Fencl and Mason Smith ran nose to nose for a few laps as they rounded the turns, until Fencl slipped by into the top spot. Carlson slid to the inside of Mason Smith for second with Bob Klein in tow.

With five laps left on the board, the leaders had lapped traffic just ahead, but Fencl held his line to the checkered flag and took the win. Carlson and Klein joined Fencl in victory lane as the top three finishers, while Mark Barta and Mason Smith rounded out the top five.

The WISSOTA Mod Fours were next on the agenda with Ashton Schwinn and Connor Bruss at the head of the pack. The green waved and drivers took off three-wide as Dustin Holtquist joined the top two. Schwinn nosed out to the lead with an eager Holtquist to his bumper, and with just a handful of laps recorded, the top drivers began to work through lapped traffic. Mod Fours covered the entire race surface when Holtquist began to pressure Schwinn and then nosed ahead with the lead; Schwinn moved back in to fight for the position as they were three-wide with lapped traffic. Holtquist had the spot secured before the yellow flag made a couple appearances.

Back under green, Schwinn, Bruss and Tyler Larson battled for second on the final restart as Holtquist stretched his lead. The final laps passed quickly without issue, as Holtquist took the MPH victory. Schwinn and Bruss finished second and third respectively. Larson and Chad Funt completed the top five.

A total of 34 WISSOTA Hornets signed in from multiple states and Canada, and an elite 24 made the cut to take the green flag in the final feature race of the event. William Lange and Selena Owen brought the drivers around the track, and after a four-wide salute, William Lange, Adam Vanderostyne and Brady Fosso battled three-wide for first. The end of lap one was nearly too close to call a leader, but Lange topped the field.

A couple of cautions occurred for the Hornets, including a rollover, however all drivers were okay and the race resumed with Lange in command. Fosso kept low on the track alongside Lange, with Lincoln Miller on their bumpers. The top three were three-wide in the turns; Miller held second and Fosso was third lap after lap, just behind Lange in the lead.

Following one final caution, the top three racers restarted their battle for top three spots, with Miller and Fosso on Lange’s bumper and at his door. Drivers used every groove they could to get by Lange’s No. 40, but they came up short and Lange became the MPH Invitational Hornet Champion. Miller and Fosso joined Lange in victory lane. Kaitlyn Kohl and Brandon Louwagie rounded out the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 5H-Dustin Holtquist[3]; 2. 18-Ashton Schwinn[1]; 3. 00T-Connor Bruss[2]; 4. 7L-Tyler Larson[9]; 5. XL21-Chad Funt[10]; 6. 17S-Patrick Specht[8]; 7. N88-Gerrald Nohner[19]; 8. M1-Mike Rau[14]; 9. XL1-Andrew Funt[13]; 10. 3-Josh Madson[15]; 11. 99E-Doyle Erickson[5]; 12. 9C-Andrew Christenson[6]; 13. 21B-Matt Brenny[4]; 14. 9T-Thomas Burgard[11]; 15. 37-Dean Larson[16]; 16. 99-Brooke Erickson[7]; 17. 21-Skyler Smith[22]; 18. 16-Jamie Flickinger[21]; 19. 68-Jacob Husnik[18]; 20. D5-Doug Frederick[20]; 21. 25B-Paul Bemboom[24]; 22. 27X-Travis Bruns[23]; 23. (DNF) 5-Robert Holtquist[17]; 24. (DNF) 00-Kyle Thell[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99E-Doyle Erickson[2]; 2. 00T-Connor Bruss[4]; 3. 9T-Thomas Burgard[3]; 4. XL21-Chad Funt[7]; 5. 5-Robert Holtquist[6]; 6. N88-Gerrald Nohner[1]; 7. D5-Doug Frederick[5]; 8. 27X-Travis Bruns[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9C-Andrew Christenson[2]; 2. 7L-Tyler Larson[1]; 3. 17S-Patrick Specht[4]; 4. 3-Josh Madson[3]; 5. 66F-Steve Froelich[6]; 6. 21-Skyler Smith[7]; 7. 52-Brody Grenz[8]; 8. (DNS) 16-Jamie Flickinger

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Brooke Erickson[2]; 2. 21B-Matt Brenny[4]; 3. XL1-Andrew Funt[1]; 4. 37-Dean Larson[3]; 5. 13A-Austin Goedker[6]; 6. 25B-Paul Bemboom[5]; 7. 25-Jordan Thayer[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Ashton Schwinn[3]; 2. 5H-Dustin Holtquist[4]; 3. 00-Kyle Thell[2]; 4. M1-Mike Rau[5]; 5. 68-Jacob Husnik[6]; 6. 118-Brandon Backstrom[7]; 7. (DNS) 44-Chad Erlandson

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 5-Robert Holtquist[1]; 2. 68-Jacob Husnik[3]; 3. N88-Gerrald Nohner[6]; 4. D5-Doug Frederick[9]; 5. 16-Jamie Flickinger[12]; 6. 21-Skyler Smith[5]; 7. 27X-Travis Bruns[11]; 8. 25B-Paul Bemboom[7]; 9. (DNF) 25-Jordan Thayer[10]; 10. (DNF) 52-Brody Grenz[8]; 11. (DNF) 66F-Steve Froelich[2]; 12. (DNF) 13A-Austin Goedker[4]; 13. (DNF) 118-Brandon Backstrom[14]; 14. (DNS) 44-Chad Erlandson

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 52W-Austin Fencl[2]; 2. 57-Austin Carlson[5]; 3. 7-Bob Klein[7]; 4. 78-Mark Barta[4]; 5. 21-Mason Smith[1]; 6. 86J-Jake Smith[3]; 7. 57H-Dylan Helget[8]; 8. 3-Kade Leeper[10]; 9. 31-Tom Treviranus[6]; 10. 18B-Alex Berg[9]; 11. 925-Dnae Rose[13]; 12. 7S-Jenny Smith[11]; 13. 10-Anthony Ravina[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 86J-Jake Smith[1]; 2. 78-Mark Barta[3]; 3. 57-Austin Carlson[5]; 4. 57H-Dylan Helget[4]; 5. 7-Bob Klein[7]; 6. 7S-Jenny Smith[6]; 7. 925-Dnae Rose[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Mason Smith[5]; 2. 52W-Austin Fencl[6]; 3. 31-Tom Treviranus[2]; 4. 18B-Alex Berg[1]; 5. 3-Kade Leeper[4]; 6. 10-Anthony Ravina[3]

WISSOTA Hornets:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 40-William Lange[1]; 2. 988L-Lincoln Miller[8]; 3. 27-Brady Fosso[5]; 4. 76K-Kaitlyn Kohl[11]; 5. 27X-Brandon Louwagie[4]; 6. 21-Colton Lodermeier[15]; 7. 27D-Dalten Pedersen[10]; 8. 2X-Nathan Penney[9]; 9. 03-Christian Kast[6]; 10. 8X-Adam Throener[17]; 11. 3V-Adam VanDerostyne[3]; 12. 988A-Ayden Muchow[12]; 13. 28-Chad Reller[19]; 14. 29A-Austin Jacobson[14]; 15. 22-Aaron Miller[16]; 16. 34-Selena Owen[2]; 17. 38-Karter Kunz[18]; 18. 8XK-Adam Kessler[22]; 19. 411-Cameryn Taylor[21]; 20. (DNF) 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[20]; 21. (DNF) 19-Josh Backstrom[23]; 22. (DNF) 218-Astion Schelde[24]; 23. (DNF) 37-Connor Danylko[7]; 24. (DNF) 11L-Jesse Lindner[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3V-Adam VanDerostyne[3]; 2. 27D-Dalten Pedersen[1]; 3. 76K-Kaitlyn Kohl[4]; 4. 988A-Ayden Muchow[6]; 5. 26-Braxton Schmitz[5]; 6. 28-Chad Reller[2]; 7. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[8]; 8. 8X-Adam Throener[9]; 9. 28M-Kent Miller[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Brady Fosso[2]; 2. 40-William Lange[6]; 3. 29A-Austin Jacobson[3]; 4. 22-Aaron Miller[4]; 5. 21-Colton Lodermeier[7]; 6. 411-Cameryn Taylor[5]; 7. 19-Josh Backstrom[1]; 8. 11R-Ryan Roeder[8]; 9. (DNF) 3-Kyle Stroh[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 988L-Lincoln Miller[1]; 2. 2X-Nathan Penney[3]; 3. 37-Connor Danylko[6]; 4. 43-Brandon Downs[2]; 5. 38-Karter Kunz[5]; 6. 8XK-Adam Kessler[8]; 7. 218-Astion Schelde[7]; 8. (DNF) 0-Bradley Rossow[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 03-Christian Kast[2]; 2. 27X-Brandon Louwagie[5]; 3. 34-Selena Owen[8]; 4. 11L-Jesse Lindner[6]; 5. 12-Cole Fredeen[3]; 6. 3K-Jason Kast[7]; 7. 35P-Tylar Pourrier[1]; 8. 13X-Pat Hoecke[4]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 8X-Adam Throener[6]; 2. 28-Chad Reller[5]; 3. 411-Cameryn Taylor[4]; 4. 19-Josh Backstrom[7]; 5. 43-Brandon Downs[1]; 6. 3K-Jason Kast[3]; 7. 13X-Pat Hoecke[8]; 8. (DNS) 0-Bradley Rossow; 9. (DQ) 26-Braxton Schmitz[2]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 38-Karter Kunz[2]; 2. 78-Zander Zuehlsdorff[4]; 3. 8XK-Adam Kessler[1]; 4. 218-Astion Schelde[5]; 5. 12-Cole Fredeen[3]; 6. 11R-Ryan Roeder[6]; 7. 35P-Tylar Pourrier[7]; 8. (DNF) 28M-Kent Miller[8]; 9. (DNS) 3-Kyle Stroh