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Smith dominates field and scores his first-career WISSOTA 100 Midwest Mod title

By Tony Steuck
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 19) - Jake Smith had a pretty good Saturday at the WISSOTA 100. First, he topped a Qualifying Feature in the afternoon, then dominated the Championship Feature for his first WISSOTA 100 title in the Midwest Modified division.

Jason VandeKamp, Smith and Shane Sabraski led the field to green in the 35-lap WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature. Smith powered to the lead out of turn two, but VandeKamp stayed to his inside with Sabraski there as well. Nate Reinke was close in fourth on the opening lap. VandeKamp remained to the inside of the leader, and Reinke worked on Sabraski for third ahead of Landyn Randt in fifth.

VandeKamp kept up the relentless pressure through lap five, and Smith dropped to the low groove to slow VandeKamp’s progress. Lap after lap, VandeKamp stayed on the leader, and Sabraski looked to close in. Tony Leiker, who started 12th, worked by Randt for fifth on lap 10. Wyatt Boyum also challenged for a top-five position.

Jason VandeKamp (16) and Jake Smith (21). (Cody Papke Photo)

Smith opened a little breathing room by lap 10, and Sabraski moved in to challenge VandeKamp for second. Smith caught the tail of the field on lap 14, and made a few bold moves to clear traffic. Sabraski took over second as they worked through slower cars, though VandeKamp stayed close.

Smith continued to work through heavy traffic, and had a 1.5-second lead over Sabraski before the first caution flag waved with 18 laps in the books.

Smith pulled away, and Randt charged ahead to claim second briefly, but kissed the wall and dropped back. Sabraski held onto second, and VandeKamp ran third ahead of Leiker. Reinke continued in the fifth position. Randt was sixth with pressure from Boyum and Jamie Davis.

Sabraski slowly lost ground to Smith as the field worked through lap 25. The top three spread out, and Leiker lost a pair of positions to Reinke and Randt. The caution waved for the second time for a pileup involving Scott Tofte, Scott Thompson and Nick Koehler with eight laps to go.

Vandekamp powered back to second after the restart, and tried to not let Smith out of his sight. Sabraski attempted to challenge VandeKamp, but both drivers lost ground to Smith before a melee on the front chute with six laps to go.

Cody Papke Photos

VandeKamp had a strong restart, and Randt powered to third briefly before contact with the wall dropped him out of the top five. Smith remained dominant and edged away from VandeKamp, while Sabraski tried to catch them both from third. Smith capped off his excellent drive with the WISSOTA 100 feature win. VandeKamp was second with Sabraski third, Randt fourth and Leiker fifth. Davis, Reinke, Mario Berger, Boyum, and Reise Stenberg rounded out the top 10.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 21S-Jake Smith[2]; 2. 16-Jason VandeKamp[1]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski[3]; 4. 11R-Landyn Randt[4]; 5. 18-Tony Leiker[12]; 6. 85-Jamie Davis[8]; 7. 71-Nate Reinke[6]; 8. 73-Mario Berger[20]; 9. 21-Wyatt Boyum[9]; 10. 87S-Reise Stenberg[7]; 11. 19-Lucas Rodin[16]; 12. 74B-Josh Beaulieu[21]; 13. 77X-Dylan McCaughan[18]; 14. 13S-Anthony Berger[11]; 15. 28-Tommy Nichols[24]; 16. 33-Jake Hagemann[26]; 17. 59-Kyle Anderson[17]; 18. 28T-Scott Tofte[22]; 19. 22-Matt Heinzerling[19]; 20. 42B-Tanner Bitzan[23]; 21. 24TB-Taylor Bitzan[14]; 22. 64-Joel Morris[33]; 23. (DNF) M47-Maddox Klassen[27]; 24. (DNF) 5C-Justin Bjorklund[25]; 25. (DNF) 13K-Nick Koehler[28]; 26. (DNF) 11X-Scott Thompson[30]; 27. (DNF) 13-Tate Kostreba[29]; 28. (DNF) 4B-Arin Beyer[31]; 29. (DNF) 99-Jason Grimes[15]; 30. (DNF) 28W-Brennon Weight[5]; 31. (DNF) 15F-Ryan Flaten[32]; 32. (DNF) 57-Corey Storck[10]; 33. (DNF) 36-Jaren Wibstad[13]