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Strong-running Stearns inherits Mod win and will start on front row of WISSOTA 100 Championship Feature

By Ryan Schmitz
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 17) - The WISSOTA Modifieds Qualifying Feature was not without controversy Thursday night, as the apparent winner was DQ’d following a track procedural violation, giving the win to Mike Stearns.

Local drivers Brady Gerdes and Brendan Blascyk sat on the front row of a stacked WISSOTA Modified feature. As the duo raced side by side during lap one, the yellow flew for a Jody Bellefeuille spin. Bellefeuille pulled his machine to the infield, ending his night.

On the ensuing restart Blascyk jumped to the lead with Gerdes and Mike Stearns in tow. Blascyk continued to rip the high side of the speedway while Gerdes worked the low part of the speedway. Each lap Blascyk powered off turn four on the top to hold the lead.

The yellow came out once again on lap six for Travis Saurer, who slapped the wall on the previous lap and slowed down the back chute. Saurer was checked out by track personnel and looked to continue, but then pulled off with right-front damage before the green came back out.

Blascyk sat all alone on the Delaware double-file restart with Gerdes and Stearns in row two and Blake Adams and Justin Froemming in row three. With the green flag back out Blascyk once again powered to the lead ahead of Gerdes in second and Adams in third. On the ensuing lap Adams made a move past Gerdes and set his sights on Blascyk.

Blake Adams (40D) and Mike Stearns (24). (Cody Papke Photo)

Adams raced to the lead with a huge slide job on lap eight as he cleared Blascyk and opened an eight-car advantage in one lap. As Adams continued to build his lead, the yellow came back on for Brock Gronwold, who slowed on the back chute and pulled to the infield.

The field lined back up behind Adams and he blasted back to the top of the track, while Stearns moved into second and Gerdes to third, with Blascyk slipping back out of the top five. The yellow came out once again with eight to go.

Adams led Stearns and Gerdes back to the green. Gerdes worked alongside Stearns, but Stearns was able to fight back in turn four.

With Adams and Stearns comfortably in the top two spots, the yellow flew again for Tyler Wolff, who hit a tractor tire in turn two. Wolff moved his car to the infield and ended his evening.

Adams once again led Gerdes and Stearns, with Shane Sabraski and Bryce Sward in row three. With only four laps remaining Sabraski made contact with Landon Atkinson, cutting Sabraski’s right rear tire and ending his night. Before the green came back out, Atkinson also pulled to the infield with an issue.

Adams led Gerdes and Stearns back to the green, with only four laps remaining. He blasted back to the lead on the cushion with Gerdes on the bottom and Stearns on the high side, along with Sward. As the laps ticked down Adams continued to flex his muscle and raced to the win ahead of Stearns, Gerdes, Sward, Justin Froemming, Blascyk, defending champion Ryan Gierke, and Brandon Dolman in the top-eight transfer spots.

It was later reported the Adams was disqualified for a track violation, handing the win to Mike Stearns.

Cody Papke Photos

Of those drivers turning down their transfer spot, Brandon Dolman and Johnny Broking elected to race again on Friday.

The first heat race held earlier in the day was led to green by Justin VanEps and Atkinson on the front row. Atkinson wasted no time jumping to the lead with Justin Froemming and Bellefeuille in the top three. As the laps continued to click off Atkinson ran away with the win with Froemming in second, and Bellefeuille in third. Brendan Blascyk and Austin Chyba rounded out the top five.

I94 track champion Travis Saurer shared the front row of the second heat race with Brian Haben. Saurer blasted out to the lead on the high side of the speedway but was quickly joined by national point contender Blake Adams. With the top two comfortably in their spots, Bryce Sward and Ryan Gierke began to work through the field. Saurer went onto win the heat, with Adams second and Sward in third. Gierke and Tyler Peterson completed the top five.

Visiting Arkansas driver Tyler Wolff jumped to the early race lead ahead of seven-time track champion Brady Gerdes in heat race three. Wolff continued to lead until three to go when Gerdes was able to work by him. Gerdes raced to the win, Mike Stearns displaced Wolff for second, and Brock Gronwold and Brandon Dolman completed the top five.

Former WISSOTA 100 Champion Jason Grimes and 12-time WISSOTA National Champion Shane Sabraski manned the front row for the fourth and final Modified heat race. Sabraski wasted no time jumping to the front of the speedway in his familiar No. 7a machine. At the halfway point the main battle on the track was for second, with Johnny Broking and Clayton Wagamon trading sliders for the spot. Back out front, it was all Sabraski as he raced to the win ahead of Broking and Wagamon. Bryce Borgen and Grimes were top-five finishers.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[4]; 2. 2X-Brady Gerdes[1]; 3. 6X-Bryce Sward[13]; 4. 33X-Justin Froemming[3]; 5. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[2]; 6. 26G-Ryan Gierke[8]; 7. 24-Brandon Dolman[15]; 8. 7-Bryce Borgen[9]; 9. 45J-Johnny Broking[12]; 10. 33C-Cole Boston[18]; 11. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[14]; 12. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[21]; 13. 17B-Zach Benson[19]; 14. 52-Jason Thoennes[24]; 15. 99-Jason Grimes[22]; 16. 15-Ryan Flaten[23]; 17. 11X-Austin Chyba[20]; 18. (DNF) 18A-Landon Atkinson[5]; 19. (DNF) 7A-Shane Sabraski[7]; 20. (DNF) 91-Tyler Wolff[17]; 21. (DNF) 2G-Brock Gronwold[16]; 22. (DNF) 21X-Travis Saurer[6]; 23. (DNF) 11-Jody Bellefeuille[11]; 24. (DQ) 40D-Blake Adams[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 18A-Landon Atkinson[2]; 2. 33X-Justin Froemming[5]; 3. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[6]; 4. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[10]; 5. 11X-Austin Chyba[3]; 6. 33C-Cole Boston[9]; 7. 10-Justin VanEps[1]; 8. 1B-Jason Blascyk[4]; 9. B1-Lynn Sather[7]; 10. (DNF) 18S-Kennedy Swan[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21X-Travis Saurer[2]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[4]; 3. 6X-Bryce Sward[5]; 4. 26G-Ryan Gierke[9]; 5. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[3]; 6. 6*-Brian Haben[1]; 7. 52-Jason Thoennes[8]; 8. 442-Aaron Johnson[7]; 9. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Brady Gerdes[3]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[5]; 3. 91-Tyler Wolff[1]; 4. 2G-Brock Gronwold[6]; 5. 24-Brandon Dolman[9]; 6. 17B-Zach Benson[7]; 7. 6SL-Seth Brede[8]; 8. 6F-Matt Fester[2]; 9. 5-Cole Shake[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[2]; 2. 45J-Johnny Broking[3]; 3. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[5]; 4. 7-Bryce Borgen[9]; 5. 99-Jason Grimes[1]; 6. 15-Ryan Flaten[6]; 7. 13-Devyn Weleski[4]; 8. 550K-Kyle Anton[8]; 9. 3-Arne Anderson[7]