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KRA closes out the season and final Willmar features belong to Eischens, Schultz, Smith, Tourville and Flickinger

By Ron Krog

WILLMAR, MN (September 4) - The 2026 racing season came to a close at KRA Speedway Friday, as 64 cars hit the pits and readied for action.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Keith Tourville, Jake Smith, Don Eischens, Jamie Flickinger and Zach Schultz.

In the WISSOTA Street Stocks, Tourville and Justin Vogel were side by side early in the 14-lap feature, with Zach Flickinger close behind in third. Unfortunately, with 10 laps to go, Flickinger broke and was out of the battle.

The race then went back and forth between Tourville and Vogel, with Tourville continuing to hold off Vogel as they battled throughout the race. When the checkered flag flew, Tourville held on to pick up a nice win. Joe Martin made a last-lap pass on Vogel to finish second. Coltyn Schuler and Jordan Frericks completed the top five.

Next up were the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds for their 18-lap feature. Early on, it was a good battle between Jason Vejtruba and Jake Smith, with Ryan Flaten close behind. With 16 laps to go, Smith moved by Vejtruba into the lead and Flaten displaced him to third. Four laps later, Chance Kodet got by Vejtruba and moved into third. For the next several laps, Kodet and Vejtruba went back and forth for the spot.

As the race wound down, Smith held a close lead over Flaten. With four laps to go, the battle behind them remained tight. Vejtruba moved back around Kodet for third.

When the checkered flag flew, Smith picked up the win, followed by Flaten. Kodet ended up third, with Justin Bjorklund finishing fourth. Vejtruba rounded out the top five.

The WISSOTA Super Stocks came out next for an 18-lap feature. Another good battle developed early as youngster Colsten Schultz took the early lead, but he was getting plenty of pressure from Brayden Hedtke. The two went side by side for several laps before Hedtke took over the lead with 13 laps to go.

With 12 laps remaining, Colsten Schultz was in a battle with his father, Zach Schultz, for second. With 10 laps to go, Zach moved alongside Colsten and made the pass. As the race wound down, Zach Schultz was able to make his move around Brayden Hedtke to take the lead and hang on for the feature win. Andrew Hedtke charged up into third position, followed by young Colsten Schultz in fourth. Jayden Friauf rounded out the top five.

The WISSOTA Mod Fours had a small field, but it turned into a historic night for Jamie Flickinger, who had not won at KRA Speedway since 2019. On this night, Flickinger was able to make his move and take the lead, but he had to hold off the two Larsons, Tyler and his father Dean. They chased him with everything they had, but Flickinger looked strong and, for the first time in nearly seven years, picked up a nice feature win. Tyler Larson finished second, with Dean Larson rounding out the top three. Travis Bruns was the remaining finisher on the track in fourth.

The WISSOTA Modifieds also had a smaller field, but once again produced a good race. Don Eischens and Jake Knapper went side by side early, battling back and forth before Eischens was able to make the pass with 13 laps to go and take over the lead.

Behind them, there were some good battles going on as Brandon Copp and Brady Gerdes went back and forth for third in a very entertaining race. When the checkered flag flew, Eischens picked up the win as he continues to roll along. Knapper finished second, Brady Gerdes was third, Copp was fourth and Jonathan Olmscheid rounded out the top five.

In the non-WISSOTA classes, the Pure Stocks produced a nice win for Brady Hagen, while Colton Lodermeier won the Hornet feature.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (16 Laps): 1. 9E-Don Eischens[2]; 2. 66-Jacob Knapper[1]; 3. 2X-Brady Gerdes[4]; 4. 22-Brandon Copp[3]; 5. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[5]; 6. 97-Peter Loecken[7]; 7. 15S-Wade Skindelien[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Jacob Knapper[1]; 2. 9E-Don Eischens[3]; 3. 2X-Brady Gerdes[6]; 4. 22-Brandon Copp[2]; 5. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[7]; 6. (DNF) 15S-Wade Skindelien[5]; 7. (DNF) 97-Peter Loecken[4]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 11S-Zach Schultz[4]; 2. 19-Brayden Hedtke[2]; 3. 5*-Andrew Hedtke[7]; 4. 511-Colsten Schultz[1]; 5. 14-Jayden Friauf[6]; 6. 79M-Josh Roggatz[5]; 7. 13-Brock Hedtke[9]; 8. 15-Brett Hedtke[3]; 9. (DNF) 6SIX-Owen Foster[10]; 10. (DNF) 4-Jay Hedtke[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5*-Andrew Hedtke[1]; 2. 19-Brayden Hedtke[3]; 3. 14-Jayden Friauf[2]; 4. 79M-Josh Roggatz[5]; 5. 13-Brock Hedtke[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 511-Colsten Schultz[1]; 2. 11S-Zach Schultz[4]; 3. 4-Jay Hedtke[2]; 4. 15-Brett Hedtke[3]; 5. (DQ) 6SIX-Owen Foster[5]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[3]; 2. 15-Ryan Flaten[2]; 3. 77-Chance Kodet[6]; 4. 5C-Justin Bjorklund[7]; 5. 38J-Jason Vejtruba[1]; 6. 747-Jett Lindgren[11]; 7. 15TW-Taylor Willms[4]; 8. 37-Dean Larson[9]; 9. 23-Chris Isdal[5]; 10. 32C-Zach Clark[13]; 11. 38X-Dominick Dieken[12]; 12. 19A-Alysha Christenson[14]; 13. (DNF) 95-Damon Vejtruba[8]; 14. (DNF) 31C-Tony Clark[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[2]; 2. 77-Chance Kodet[1]; 3. 38J-Jason Vejtruba[3]; 4. 15TW-Taylor Willms[4]; 5. 37-Dean Larson[5]; 6. 747-Jett Lindgren[6]; 7. 32C-Zach Clark[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5C-Justin Bjorklund[3]; 2. 15-Ryan Flaten[4]; 3. 95-Damon Vejtruba[2]; 4. 23-Chris Isdal[5]; 5. 31C-Tony Clark[6]; 6. 38X-Dominick Dieken[1]; 7. 19A-Alysha Christenson[7]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (14 Laps): 1. 111JR-Keith Tourville[1]; 2. 2-Joe Martin[4]; 3. 10-Justin Vogel[3]; 4. 16A-Coltyn Schuler[5]; 5. 8J-Jordan Frericks[6]; 6. 83-Doug Olmscheid[9]; 7. 84-Doug Martin[8]; 8. 6F-Mason Fester[7]; 9. (DNF) 15F-Zachary Flickinger[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16A-Coltyn Schuler[1]; 2. 2-Joe Martin[2]; 3. 111JR-Keith Tourville[9]; 4. 10-Justin Vogel[8]; 5. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[6]; 6. 8J-Jordan Frericks[5]; 7. 6F-Mason Fester[7]; 8. 84-Doug Martin[4]; 9. (DNF) 83-Doug Olmscheid[3]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 16-Jamie Flickinger[2]; 2. 7L-Tyler Larson[3]; 3. 37-Dean Larson[4]; 4. 27X-Travis Bruns[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Jamie Flickinger[1]; 2. 7L-Tyler Larson[4]; 3. 37-Dean Larson[3]; 4. 27X-Travis Bruns[2]

Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (14 Laps): 1. 32-Brady Hagen[5]; 2. 20-Ashton Martin[7]; 3. 6SL-Tayden Frericks[6]; 4. 99B-Bentlee Fernkes[2]; 5. 16-Trevyn Carr[4]; 6. 45-Miles Jans[1]; 7. 32K-Keagen Korsmo[9]; 8. (DNF) 00-Leighton Frericks[3]; 9. (DNS) 71-Tyler Wartman; 10. (DNS) 83-John Olmscheid; 11. (DQ) 56-Don Hansen[11]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 99B-Bentlee Fernkes[2]; 2. 20-Ashton Martin[4]; 3. 16-Trevyn Carr[3]; 4. 45-Miles Jans[6]; 5. (DNF) 83-John Olmscheid[5]; 6. (DNS) 56-Don Hansen

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 32-Brady Hagen[3]; 2. 6SL-Tayden Frericks[1]; 3. 00-Leighton Frericks[2]; 4. 71-Tyler Wartman[4]; 5. 32K-Keagen Korsmo[5]

Hornets:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 21-Colton Lodermeier[2]; 2. 38J-Thomas Kruger[9]; 3. 11-Tucker Fredeen[4]; 4. 12-Cole Fredeen[1]; 5. 27X-Owen Louwagie[5]; 6. 54-Brantley Bendel[6]; 7. 28X-Emmett Louwagie[8]; 8. 18X-Christopher Just[7]; 9. (DNF) 28M-Kent Miller[3]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 21-Colton Lodermeier[4]; 2. 12-Cole Fredeen[5]; 3. 11-Tucker Fredeen[3]; 4. 28M-Kent Miller[2]; 5. 27X-Owen Louwagie[6]; 6. 54-Brantley Bendel[9]; 7. 18X-Christopher Just[7]; 8. 28X-Emmett Louwagie[8]; 9. (DNS) 38J-Thomas Kruger