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Nelson nails down Super Stock Qualifying Feature win Thursday at the WISSOTA 100

By Ryan Schmitz
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 17) - Tommy Bawden and national point contender Dylan Nelson led a field of 24 hungry WISSOTA Super Stocks to the green for their Qualifying Feature Thursday night, with the top eight locking into the outside row for Saturday’s main event.

Nelson jumped to the outside of Bawden and led lap one ahead of Bawden and Austin Neimeyer. Neimeyer pulled alongside Bawden and moved past him on lap three with Dexton Koch in tow. Koch disposed of Neimeyer on the following lap and Koch set his sights on Dylan Nelson with 15 laps to go.

The yellow blinked over the track with five laps in the books for Cameron Labelle, who hit the wall coming out of turn two. Dustin Nelson made contact with a spinning Labelle but was able to continue.

The field came back to the green and Koch looked to the inside of Nelson. Nelson fought him off on the high side of the track and opened a six-car length advantage before the yellow came back out for a multi-car incident in turn four.

Nelson led the field back to the green, while Neimeyer raced to the bottom of Koch into second momentarily, as Koch raced back by on the outside during the following lap. At the halfway point Nelson led Koch, Neimeyer, Dave Mass, and Zach Schultz in the top five. Schultz moved past Mass for fourth on the ensuing lap, with Mass under siege from Karter Reents.

Dan Nissalke (22) and Karter Reents. (Cody Papke Photo)

Back up front Nelson continued to pull away from Koch as the laps clicked off the board. The caution reappeared with five to go for a Dave Mass spin in turn two. Mass took heavy contact from Kolby Kiehl after the spin, which ended his evening.

Nelson jumped back to the lead while Neimeyer and Koch locked horns in the battle for second, with Schultz and Reents right behind them. Neimeyer worked his way past Koch with four to go and set his sights on Nelson while Koch settled into third.

Nelson continued to stretch his advantage and raced to a comfortable win with Neimeyer in second, Koch third, Schultz fourth, Bawden fifth, Reents sixth, Colsten Schultz seventh, and Dan Nissalke in the eighth and final transfer spot.

Nissalke was the only driver to turn down his Saturday night qualifying spot to race again on Friday in the Super Stocks.

Cody Papke Photos

The forty-two WISSOTA Super stocks were divided into five heat races for the Thursday portion of the 40th Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100.

Some of WISSOTA’s heaviest hitters were in the first heat, with multi-time National Champion Dave Mass on row one. Mass jumped to the lead early on ahead of fourth-starter Tim Johnson who raced into second by lap three. Johnson continued to stalk Mass until he suffered an issue on lap five. Back up front Mass set sail and raced to the win with Shawn Fernkes a distant second and Brayden Hedtke third. Bodie Smith and Reents completed the top five.

Dan Nissalke and veteran Allan Cleveland led the second heat race to the green. Nissalke blasted to the lead with Wyatt Schweigert moving into second and Tommy Bawden racing to third. Bawden raced past Schweigert on the second lap and looked ahead to Nissalke, who had built up a solid lead. The yellow flag blinked on for Butch Butcher, who spun in turn two. With the green back out Nissalke jumped to the high side with Bawden on the low side. Bawden raced passed Nissalke as the duo came to two to go. On the final lap Nissalke ran hard into turn three to the outside to Bawden, but Bawden held him off in a photo finish. John Adams was third, Schweigert was fourth and Dustin Zieske was fifth.

Zach Schultz held the early lead in the third heat race with Dexton Koch and Baily Rosch in tow. Schultz continued to build his lead over sixth-starter Koch and Rosch as the laps ticked off the board. Schultz finished what he started and pick up the heat race win with Koch and Rosch following behind him. Kolby Kiehl and Kenneth Clements were top-five finishers.

Matt Fester and Jayden Friauf shared the front row for the fourth Super Stock heat race. Before a lap could be completed Brock Hedtke spun in turn one and the caution fell. Hedtke continued at the tail of the field, while Fester jumped out to the lead on the ensuing restart. At the halfway point of the race Dylan Nelson, who suffered an equipment issue in his Wednesday Qualifying Feature, raced to the lead, with ninth-starter Justin Tammen racing into second. As the laps continued to click off Nelson ran the bottom side while Tammen continued to bang the boards up top — and Austin Niemeyer raced into the third. Nelson went on to claim the win with Tammen and Niemeyer coming home second and third. Jayden Friauf and Jake Luark were fourth and fifth, respectively.

The fifth and final heat race lined up four rows deep with Colsten Schultz, Dustin Nelson, Jeffrey Frey, and Jordan Henekemeyer battling four wide on lap one. Henekemeyer was able to clear the pack and jumped to the lead with Schultz and Nelson locked in a battle for second. At the halfway point sixth-starter Brandon Duellman joined the battle for second through fourth, with Schultz holding onto the spot lap after lap. The yellow flew over the speedway with only two laps remaining for a tractor tire that found its way onto the racing surface. With the green back out Nelson powered by Henkemeyer on the bottom side of the track as Henkemeyer ripped around the top of the speedway. Nelson took the win with Labelle nipping Henkemeyer at the line for second. Following the tech shed, Schultz was elevated to third, RC Geiss was fourth, and Brandon Duellman was officially fifth at the line.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 25-Dylan Nelson[2]; 2. 33-Austin Niemeyer[6]; 3. 78K-Dexton Koch[5]; 4. 11S-Zach Schultz[10]; 5. TB81-Tommy Bawden[1]; 6. 1-Karter Reents[16]; 7. 511-Colsten Schultz[18]; 8. 22-Dan Nissalke[14]; 9. 19X-Brayden Hedtke[8]; 10. 99-Shawn Fernkes[13]; 11. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[11]; 12. 28*-Bailey Rosch[17]; 13. 46-Dustin Nelson[7]; 14. 9-RC Geiss[12]; 15. 03-Wyatt Schweigert[21]; 16. 2-Dustin Zieske[19]; 17. 69-John Adams[15]; 18. 14J-Jayden Friauf[23]; 19. 14-Russell Kostreba[20]; 20. (DNF) 2M-Dave Mass[9]; 21. (DNF) 32*-Bodie Smith[24]; 22. (DNF) 0-Brandon Duellman[22]; 23. (DNF) 71T-Justin Tammen[3]; 24. (DNF) 27C-Cameron Labelle[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2M-Dave Mass[2]; 2. 99-Shawn Fernkes[3]; 3. 19X-Brayden Hedtke[7]; 4. 32*-Bodie Smith[1]; 5. 1-Karter Reents[8]; 6. 54-William Lund[5]; 7. 15-Brett Hedtke[6]; 8. 79M-Josh Roggatz[9]; 9. (DNF) 1JR-Tim Johnson[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. TB81-Tommy Bawden[5]; 2. 22-Dan Nissalke[1]; 3. 69-John Adams[4]; 4. 03-Wyatt Schweigert[3]; 5. 2-Dustin Zieske[7]; 6. 14-Russell Kostreba[9]; 7. 2C-Denis Czech[8]; 8. 32-Butch Butcher[6]; 9. 4A-Allan Cleveland[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11S-Zach Schultz[2]; 2. 78K-Dexton Koch[6]; 3. 28*-Bailey Rosch[3]; 4. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[8]; 5. 711-Kenneth Clements[1]; 6. 67-Austin Arbogast[5]; 7. 77-Carson Miller[7]; 8. 8BALL-Andy Brooker[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Dylan Nelson[5]; 2. 71T-Justin Tammen[7]; 3. 33-Austin Niemeyer[8]; 4. 14J-Jayden Friauf[2]; 5. 42-Jake Luark[4]; 6. 6F-Matt Fester[1]; 7. 13-Brock Hedtke[6]; 8. 936-Kris Fielding[3]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 46-Dustin Nelson[3]; 2. 27C-Cameron Labelle[7]; 3. 511-Colsten Schultz[2]; 4. 9-RC Geiss[8]; 5. 0-Brandon Duellman[6]; 6. 85-Patrick LaMere[5]; 7. 2F-Jeffrey Frey[1]; 8. (DQ) 91-Jordan Henkemeyer[4]