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Brandon Dolman (Cody Papke Photos)

Dolman digs out first WISSOTA 100 win as he scores Qualifying Feature feat Thursday at I-94

By Meghan Diemel, Editor
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 11) - Brandon Dolman not only secured a spot along the front row of the Championship Feature in the WISSOTA Modifieds Saturday night, but also his first feature win ever during WISSOTA’s biggest event Thursday night at the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100.

Following a first-lap caution for debris, and another for a multi-car wreck on the ensuing restart in the night’s Modified Qualifying Feature, Dolman vaulted into the top spot under green, leaving Johnny Broking and Don Eischens to argue over second. Jody Bellefeuille was fourth and Brady Gerdes was fifth with three laps scored. Gerdes drove by Bellefeuille into fourth one lap later.

With Dolman out front, Eischens slipped past Broking for second with seven laps scored, but Broking continued to fight back along the low side. Farther back Brandon Copp appeared in the top five behind Gerdes.

Dolman’s lead ahead of Eischens was a scant .423 of a second with seven laps to go, as Copp used a run down the backstretch to move past Broking into third. Gerdes hung in fifth. Copp then hit the wall hard while running third, and the caution fell across the track. Officials called the yellow on Copp, but because he did not stop to bring out the caution, he was given the fifth spot in a blended caution restart.

Back under green and with two laps to go, Eischens turned up the wick; he pulled even with Dolman in turn four as the field took the white flag. Gerdes was third, Broking was fourth and Shane Sabraski was fifth, but another caution, this time for Seth Brede, put the field into a green-checkered restart. Another caution, for Jody Bellefeuille spun on the back straightaway, kept the field under yellow.

During the final lap, Dolman walked away from the field to take the checkered flag ahead of Gerdes, Eischens, 18th-starter Dustin Bitzan, Sabraski, 14th-starter Kaden Blaeser, Johnny Broking, and Dan Ebert in the top eight qualifying positions.

Sabraski, Broking, Ebert and Cain all declined their starting position and planned to try again on Friday. Those accepting their spots included Dolman, Gerdes, Eischens, Bitzan, Blaeser, Copp, Ryan Flaten and Jacob Knapper.

Earlier in the program, four heat races set the field for the Modified field’s Qualifying Feature.

Cain was the polesitter for heat one and used that spot to his advantage, drawing away from Justin VanEps and fellow front-row starter Austin Chyba for the victory. VanEps was DQ’d for reasons unknown at press time, elevating Chyba to second and ninth-starter Eischens to third.

In heat two, Gerdes was the leader early on, as Bryce Sward and Bitzan fought for second; Sward drew away from Bitzan by the midpoint. Following a caution for Doyle Erickson’s spin, and another on the ensuing restart for Josh Beaulieu, Gerdes set off into the lead. Sward fought off Bitzan for second once again, while Blaeser relegated Bitzan back another spot one lap later. Out front, Gerdes took the victory, with Sward and Blaeser in the top three.

It was an all-Twin Ports kind of front row in heat three, as Bellefeuille held the early lead ahead of Copp. Zach Benson and Brede fought for third, with Benson securing the position. With two laps to go, Copp began to catch Bellefeuille, but Bellefeuille shook off the advances and last lap slide-job attempt, taking the win. Copp and Benson completed the top three.

Heat four was led early by Blake Jegtvig. Johnny Broking was second, with Cayden Schemling third early on. Broking grabbed the lead during lap two before the caution fell for an Alex Guthmiller spin. Back under green, Jegtvig continued to pressure Broking for the top spot over the remaining laps, but Broking prevailed at the checkered flag. Brock Gronwold topped a laps-long three and four-car battle for third.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 24-Brandon Dolman[2]; 2. 2X-Brady Gerdes[6]; 3. 9E-Don Eischens[4]; 4. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[18]; 5. 7A-Shane Sabraski[7]; 6. 428-Kaden Blaeser[14]; 7. 45J-Johnny Broking[1]; 8. 60-Dan Ebert[15]; 9. 22C-Brandon Copp[10]; 10. 2C-Dave Cain[5]; 11. 15-Ryan Flaten[16]; 12. 66-Jacob Knapper[20]; 13. 2G-Brock Gronwold[13]; 14. 11X-Austin Chyba[9]; 15. 22-Tyler Kintner[17]; 16. (DNF) 11-Jody Bellefeuille[3]; 17. (DNF) 17B-Zach Benson[12]; 18. (DNF) 13S-Cayden Schmeling[23]; 19. (DNF) 6SL-Seth Brede[19]; 20. (DNF) 6X-Bryce Sward[8]; 21. (DNF) 40D-Blake Adams[21]; 22. (DNF) 51-Josh Thoennes[22]; 23. (DNF) 2J-Blake Jegtvig[11]; 24. (DQ) 7-Brandon Mehrwerth[24]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Dave Cain[1]; 2. 11X-Austin Chyba[2]; 3. 9E-Don Eischens[9]; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski[8]; 5. 51-Josh Thoennes[4]; 6. 7-Brandon Mehrwerth[7]; 7. 52-Jason Thoennes[6]; 8. 7B-Bryce Borgen[10]; 9. 18-Taylor Garberich[5]; 10. (DQ) 10-Justin VanEps[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Brady Gerdes[1]; 2. 6X-Bryce Sward[3]; 3. 428-Kaden Blaeser[2]; 4. 10X-Dustin Bitzan[4]; 5. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 6. 15-Ryan Flaten[9]; 7. 6T-Joseph Thomas[5]; 8. 13-Devyn Weleski[8]; 9. 99-Doyle Erickson[10]; 10. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[1]; 2. 22C-Brandon Copp[2]; 3. 17B-Zach Benson[4]; 4. 6SL-Seth Brede[3]; 5. 66-Jacob Knapper[6]; 6. 40D-Blake Adams[8]; 7. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[9]; 8. 24S-Mike Stearns[7]; 9. 8-Andy Brooker[5]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 45J-Johnny Broking[2]; 2. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[1]; 3. 24-Brandon Dolman[7]; 4. 2G-Brock Gronwold[6]; 5. 13S-Cayden Schmeling[4]; 6. 22-Tyler Kintner[9]; 7. 19-Lucas Rodin[8]; 8. 51X-Alex Guthmiller[5]; 9. 99E-Blake Erickson[3]