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Gullikson goes green-to-checkered at the front of the 33-car WISSOTA 100 Street Stock field and earns first title

By Tony Steuck
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 13) - Jim Gullikson was firmly in control for most of the 30-lap Championship Feature on Saturday, but surviving a restart with one to go left no doubt he earned the first WISSOTA 100 Street Stock title of his outstanding career.

Gullikson took the green flag from the outside of the front row when the field rumbled three wide to the flagstand for the start. He took off with the lead while Kyle Dykhoff settled into second, and Justin Vogel raced by Kolton Brauer into turn three on the opening lap for third. Parker Anderson challenged Brauer for position ahead of a three-wide battle just outside the top five.

The top three pulled away and Gullikson led by three or four lengths with five laps scored. Vogel picked up the pace and challenged Dykhoff for second with a gap to Brauer in fourth. Anderson, Cole Greseth and Trey Hess battled in a tight group with Brauer; Anderson threw a slide job on lap eight, but Brauer countered the move and remained fourth.

Gullikson had opened a few more car lengths advantage by lap 10, with Vogel still on the trunk of Dykhoff for second. Greseth found a lane under Anderson for fifth on lap 11 while Gullikson closed on the tail of the field a few laps later. His lead shrunk slightly as he encountered traffic, while Dykhoff and Vogel had a straightaway gap to fourth. Greseth put heavy pressure on Brauer for the position at the halfway mark, and completed the pass on lap 18, just before Brauer dropped off the pace and brought out the first caution flag with 18 of 30 laps scored.

Vogel started on the inside row for the restart, charged into turn one and slid in front of Gullikson, but Gullikson turned down the banking and regained the lead on the back chute. Dykhoff pulled even with Vogel and the pair fought side by side before Dykhoff defended the runner-up slot. Greseth held fourth ahead of Anderson and a battle between Hess and Nick Traynor.

Gullikson inched away for a few laps after the restart, but Dykhoff searched the track for speed, and closed ground diving deep into the turns. Dykhoff was within a car length in the corners with five laps to go, but a caution waved and settled down the action with 26 laps recorded.

Gullikson led the pack to green, and Anderson made a move to displace Greseth for fourth. Dykhoff continued to look to the inside of the leader in the turns with Vogel close behind. Gullikson edged away ever so slightly, and Dykhoff opened ground on Vogel. Gullikson led the field through the white flag, but as he entered turn three for potentially the final time, the caution waved and set up a one-lap dash to the finish.

Dykhoff charged to the inside of Gullikson in turns one and two, while Hess shot to the middle between Anderson and Vogel in a bid for the final podium position. Dykhoff was at the leader’s left rear out of turn two; he shot into the final set of corners, nosing ahead ever so slightly into turn four. Gullikson kept his momentum up high and although the pair made a little contact out of the final corner, Gullikson won the drag race to the stripe by less than a car length. The battle for third finished nearly three wide; Vogel held onto the position with Anderson fourth and Hess fifth. Eric Riley finished sixth ahead of Greseth, Traynor, 17th-starter Mike Jans and Tommy Pogones in the top 10.

The final six spots to be determined for the Championship Feature came through a Last Chance Qualifier at the beginning of the night. Coltyn Schuler led all the way for the win while Spencer Johnson ran comfortably in second and Cail Tinker had space behind him in third. There was a six-car battle for fourth through the first half of the race; Braedyn Fleck broke away with fourth late in the going, and Derek Zieske brought Dustin Erickson with him into fifth and sixth with a few laps left.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 21-Jim Gullikson[3]; 2. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[2]; 3. 10-Justin Vogel[5]; 4. 27P-Parker Anderson[6]; 5. 4T-Trey Hess[7]; 6. 51-Eric Riley[4]; 7. 19G-Cole Greseth[9]; 8. 40-Nick Traynor[11]; 9. 25-Mike Jans[17]; 10. 04-Tommy Pogones[10]; 11. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[21]; 12. 9-Cody Hatch[20]; 13. 16S-Ty Schuler[16]; 14. 814-Cail Tinker[27]; 15. 2U-Kasey Ussatis[19]; 16. 13-Dustin Erickson[30]; 17. 22B-Ethan Beckler[22]; 18. 3-Ken Harmon[31]; 19. 00-Ferlin Sheridan[33]; 20. (DNF) 76-Braedyn Fleck[28]; 21. (DNF) 16A-Coltyn Schuler[25]; 22. (DNF) 19H-Hunter Carter[8]; 23. (DNF) 11-Levi Randt[14]; 24. (DNF) 15F-Zachary Flickinger[15]; 25. (DNF) 20-Andrew Hanson[13]; 26. (DNF) 148-Keith Tourville[12]; 27. (DNF) 3C-Cory Dykhoff[24]; 28. (DNF) 34J-Kolton Brauer[1]; 29. (DNF) 71-Josh Long[23]; 30. (DNF) E30-William Fisher[32]; 31. (DNF) 2*-Dustin Schultz[18]; 32. (DNF) 1SJ-Spencer Johnson[26]; 33. (DNF) 19-Derek Zieske[29]

LCQ (15 Laps): 1. 16A-Coltyn Schuler[1]; 2. 1SJ-Spencer Johnson[2]; 3. 814-Cail Tinker[8]; 4. 76-Braedyn Fleck[9]; 5. 19-Derek Zieske[4]; 6. 13-Dustin Erickson[7]; 7. 27J-Jordan Johnson[5]; 8. 511-Colsten Schultz[16]; 9. 35S-Kegan Stueve[11]; 10. 44-Dylan Arndt[12]; 11. #1-Tony Smith[13]; 12. 4-Micheal Brockman[15]; 13. 80-Tony Miller[6]; 14. 19K-Cole Kannegiesser[14]; 15. (DNF) 77-Joe Deede[10]; 16. (DNF) I7-Ethan Iiams[3]