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Randt, Weight, North, Thomas and Searing shoot their best shot at Brown County Big Buck Nationals

By Spencer Heupel

ABERDEEN, SD (September 5) - The second night of the Big Buck Nationals took place at Brown County Speedway on Saturday. With extra money up for grabs, along with a Henry Golden Boy Lever Action rifle to the winners, a total of 137 cars checked in.

Levi Randt, Brennon Weight, Joseph Thomas, Bryson North and Cole Searing all found themselves shooting off shots in victory lane in their respective WISSOTA classes.

Kicking off the main events were the WISSOTA Street Stocks, with 24 drivers on hand for the $1,000 payday. A pair of national champion contenders in Levi Randt and Keith Tourville set the pace and Tourville led early. The first caution struck on lap two.

Following the restart, Tourville blasted out to the lead while Randt had Jodie Michaelsohn on his bumper. The pesky caution flag returned with 16 to go, and the ensuing restart was closer as Randt stayed with Tourville. Once again a caution waved a lap later.

Tourville continued to lead back under green, with Randt in tow. As the lead duo ran the top, the battle from third through seventh was good, with side-by-side battles. Michaelsohn then spun on the top of turn one, collecting Jayden Bogh and Robert Schmitt, and ending their nights while the No. 54 machine went to the tail for caution.

A restart with 11 to go didn’t change much, though Tourville felt more pressure from Randt. As that battle progressed, 14th-starter Grady Myers had moved into third and began to reel in the lead duo.

As Tourville came to five to go his motor let go into turn one, and the caution waved due to fluid on track. Randt inherited the lead on the restart, but caution struck once again with five to go.

Randt led as Myers followed in tow, but Randt was the best car as he swept the weekend.

“Sucked for Keith but glad I was in the cat bird’s seat for it, especially battling for points,” Randt said.

Myers, Maria Broksieck, Andy Rossow and Chris Serr rounded out the top five.

Next up were the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, with 28 drivers checked in for a $1,200 paycheck. There were 24 starters, with Brennon Weight and Dawson Zabel on the front row. Weight led the opening lap, but Zabel stayed right with the No. 28 machine. The first caution struck on lap two.

Weight led the restart with Zabel in tow, and the leaders opened a straightaway gap to the field. Weight caught lapped traffic with 10 to go, which allowed Zabel to close in, but a caution struck resetting the field.

Back under green Todd Stark battled for second, which he took from Zabel. He jumped the cushion in turn four which forced him to fall back to fifth, before the caution flag struck with eight to go.

Zabel began battling Weight after the restart. Weight was glued to the bottom of the raceway as Zabel ran the top in one and two. The duo opened up a big lead and Weight went on to score the win, which was his second of the year at BCS. Zabel, Jason Grimes, Jake Wranek and Lorin Johnson were top-five finishers. Kyle Anderson was the biggest mover, advancing 15 spots for a sixth-place finish.

The WISSOTA Modifieds rolled out with 12 drivers vying for a $2,000 prize, with Nate Heinrich and Jesse Young bringing the field to green; Heinrich led the opening lap, though Young kept almost even with the No. 10H machine.

The top five of Heinrich, Young, Mike Stearns, Joseph Thomas and Ryan Gierke pulled away from the field and had awesome battles. Young took the lead with 18 to go, but it was short-lived as Thomas took it from him a lap later.

The first caution struck with 13 to go, and when the field refired it was Gierke taking second and setting his sights on Thomas while Stearns took over third.

Following another caution, Stearns used the restart to take over second and he began to track down the No. 6ST machine.

Thomas and Stearns opened a big lead on now third-place runner Garrett Gross before another caution struck with seven to go. The restart gave Thomas a good jump on Stearns, as the remaining cars battled for third.

Thomas tiptoed his way around the top to go on and score his third Big Buck Nationals victory. Stearns, Heinrich, Gross and Preston Carr rounded out the top five.

Following were the WISSOTA Super Stocks with 17 drivers chasing a $1,200 win. A pair of Huron drivers in Austin Arbogast and Bryson North led the field to green, and North grabbed the lead early.

North opened a lead as the field battled side by side for second to sixth. The No. 22 machine was pulling away, opening over a straightaway lead to second-place runner Mike Rohwedder. North began to work through lapped traffic with 10 to go.

The lone caution struck with three to go. Rohwedder and Stewart Schipke pulled back to the bumper of North for the restart, and when the green waved Schipke looked for second, but Rohwedder threw a haymaker slider to defend it. North went on to score his second straight Big Buck Nationals win. Rohwedder, Trevor Nelson, Arbogast and Kenneth Clements completed the top five.

The finale featured the WISSOTA Late Models with 28 drivers eyeing the $3,000 check in victory lane. The field was trimmed to 24 drivers, led to green by North Dakota drivers Jaden Christ and Tyler Peterson. On the opening lap Christ spun in turn three drawing yellow.

Peterson and Cole Searing were on the new front row with Peterson leading early. Searing was in a battle with Cody Overton for second, but caution struck on lap two.

Back under green, Searing battled to the inside of Peterson, but Peterson fended him off. The fight for second resumed between Searing and Overton, as the No. 37 gained the spot, but caution struck again with 28 to go.

Peterson led the restart as the field went to war for position, side by side, behind him. Overton and Searing kept pace with Peterson as the top three began to pull away from the field. As they pulled away they caught lapped traffic with 20 to go.

The traffic allowed Peterson to open a lead while Ty Giles took over third place from Overton. The caution flag struck with 11 to go as a lapped car spun in turn three.

Peterson was in front of Searing and Giles in the double-file restart. At the wave of the green flag, Peterson was under fire from Searing as the two opened a slight gap. Searing took the lead with only seven laps to go, and Peterson stayed with him as he ripped the top, but caution struck with six to go.

During the final restart Searing was under fire from Peterson and Chad Becker, but once again yellow struck two laps later. Following the restart with four to go, Searing blasted out to a lead and looked poised to win until caution struck with two to go.

The two-lap shootout was set and Searing ran the bottom to perfection to fend off Becker. Searing picked up his first Big Buck Nationals win and his fourth win at BCS.

Peterson, Giles and 13th-starter Jayson Good rounded out the top five.

The hard charger was Matt Gilbertson, who improved 12 spots for a sixth place finish.

INEX Legends were on hand with Preston Martin beating 27 other drivers to score the $1,000 payday.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (35 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[3]; 2. 12-Chad Becker[8]; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[2]; 4. 37JR-Ty Giles[5]; 5. 85-Jayson Good[13]; 6. 23-Matt Gilbertson[18]; 7. 24S-Mike Stearns[10]; 8. 2S-Josh Skorczewski[12]; 9. 57-Chad Williamson[16]; 10. 79-Jaden Christ[1]; 11. 1-Konner Sperle[15]; 12. 21X-Dustin Arthur[19]; 13. 77-Corey Seckerson[6]; 14. 49-Collin Compson[7]; 15. 711-Damin Eilers[22]; 16. 7-Skylar Seckerson[17]; 17. 18-Chase Gelling[14]; 18. 10X-Robert Bitz[24]; 19. 64-Russell Beadle[23]; 20. (DNF) 37-Cody Overton[4]; 21. (DNF) 51-Justin Karlen[20]; 22. (DNF) 9-Kent Arment[11]; 23. (DNF) 17T-Talon Seckerson[9]; 24. (DNF) 11M-Blaine Doppler[21]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Cody Overton[6]; 2. 77-Corey Seckerson[2]; 3. 17T-Talon Seckerson[4]; 4. 85-Jayson Good[5]; 5. 7-Skylar Seckerson[7]; 6. T3-Rich Thomas[3]; 7. (DNF) 2T-Todd Thomas[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[2]; 2. 49-Collin Compson[1]; 3. 24S-Mike Stearns[4]; 4. 18-Chase Gelling[6]; 5. 23-Matt Gilbertson[5]; 6. 10X-Robert Bitz[7]; 7. (DNF) 18T-Jeromy Thorstenson[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[1]; 2. 12-Chad Becker[3]; 3. 9-Kent Arment[4]; 4. 1-Konner Sperle[2]; 5. 21X-Dustin Arthur[6]; 6. 11M-Blaine Doppler[7]; 7. 00-Ben Hunt[5]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 79-Jaden Christ[1]; 2. 37JR-Ty Giles[4]; 3. 2S-Josh Skorczewski[6]; 4. 57-Chad Williamson[2]; 5. 51-Justin Karlen[5]; 6. 64-Russell Beadle[3]; 7. 711-Damin Eilers[7]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 11M-Blaine Doppler[3]; 2. 711-Damin Eilers[6]; 3. 64-Russell Beadle[4]; 4. 10X-Robert Bitz[2]; 5. 18T-Jeromy Thorstenson[8]; 6. 2T-Todd Thomas[7]; 7. T3-Rich Thomas[1]; 8. (DNF) 00-Ben Hunt[5]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[4]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[3]; 3. 10H-Nate Heinrich[1]; 4. 36G'S-Garrett Gross[7]; 5. 5C-Preston Carr[8]; 6. 32-Jesse Young[2]; 7. (DNF) 9-Kent Arment[9]; 8. (DNF) 26G-Ryan Gierke[6]; 9. (DNF) 17-Tyler Gefroh[10]; 10. (DNF) 82-Connor Blumhardt[12]; 11. (DNF) 15-Tony Konold[5]; 12. (DNF) 14-Eric Edwards[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10H-Nate Heinrich[2]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[1]; 3. 26G-Ryan Gierke[3]; 4. 5C-Preston Carr[4]; 5. 9-Kent Arment[6]; 6. 14-Eric Edwards[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Jesse Young[2]; 2. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[3]; 3. 15-Tony Konold[1]; 4. 36G'S-Garrett Gross[6]; 5. 17-Tyler Gefroh[5]; 6. (DNF) 82-Connor Blumhardt[4]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22-Bryson North[2]; 2. 20-Mike Rohwedder[3]; 3. 71-Trevor Nelson[7]; 4. 67-Austin Arbogast[1]; 5. 711-Kenneth Clements[8]; 6. 7K-Kody Lehr[6]; 7. 19-Kyle Elsen[11]; 8. 49-Robert Schmitt[10]; 9. 32-Dominique Menzia[4]; 10. 03-Wyatt Schweigert[9]; 11. 12-Jacob Schmitt[12]; 12. 23JR-Kaden Kampa[15]; 13. 7-Derek Zastrow[17]; 14. 23-Andy Brooker[16]; 15. 8Z-Andrew Zastrow[13]; 16. (DNF) 33-Stewart Schipke[5]; 17. (DNS) 2-Robin Schmitt

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Austin Arbogast[2]; 2. 20-Mike Rohwedder[5]; 3. 7K-Kody Lehr[1]; 4. 71-Trevor Nelson[6]; 5. 03-Wyatt Schweigert[7]; 6. 19-Kyle Elsen[8]; 7. 8Z-Andrew Zastrow[4]; 8. 23JR-Kaden Kampa[3]; 9. 23-Andy Brooker[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Bryson North[4]; 2. 32-Dominique Menzia[1]; 3. 33-Stewart Schipke[6]; 4. 711-Kenneth Clements[8]; 5. 49-Robert Schmitt[3]; 6. 12-Jacob Schmitt[2]; 7. 2-Robin Schmitt[7]; 8. (DNF) 7-Derek Zastrow[5]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 28-Brennon Weight[1]; 2. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[2]; 3. 99-Jason Grimes[8]; 4. 1-Jake Wranek[3]; 5. 33J-Lorin Johnson[12]; 6. 59-Kyle Anderson[21]; 7. 11R-Landyn Randt[22]; 8. 30-Cole Neset[9]; 9. 3B-Phil Christlieb[16]; 10. 55-Jordan Kienow[20]; 11. M4-Zach LaQua[19]; 12. 24X-Ryan Ost[11]; 13. 4-Nick Perry[13]; 14. 24XL-Steve Ost[5]; 15. 72-Caden Kirnan[17]; 16. 10X-Robert Bitz[14]; 17. 77J-Nathan Jager[18]; 18. (DNF) 25-Jace Baloun[4]; 19. (DNF) 33-Todd Stark[6]; 20. (DNF) 3JR-Lane Johnson[7]; 21. (DNF) 38-Garrett Crawford[24]; 22. (DNF) 12-Eric Cease[10]; 23. (DNF) 51-Toby Eilers[23]; 24. (DNF) 15P-Jayme Peterson[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Jake Wranek[1]; 2. 3JR-Lane Johnson[2]; 3. 30-Cole Neset[7]; 4. 4-Nick Perry[6]; 5. 72-Caden Kirnan[4]; 6. 51-Toby Eilers[3]; 7. (DNS) 2DR-Tom Neitzel

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Jace Baloun[2]; 2. 24XL-Steve Ost[4]; 3. 12-Eric Cease[3]; 4. 10X-Robert Bitz[5]; 5. 77J-Nathan Jager[6]; 6. 38-Garrett Crawford[1]; 7. 99MC-James Irwin[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Brennon Weight[1]; 2. 99-Jason Grimes[2]; 3. 24X-Ryan Ost[4]; 4. 15P-Jayme Peterson[3]; 5. M4-Zach LaQua[5]; 6. 59-Kyle Anderson[7]; 7. 22-Shawn McFarlane[6]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 1Z-Dawson Zabel[1]; 2. 33-Todd Stark[3]; 3. 33J-Lorin Johnson[6]; 4. 3B-Phil Christlieb[7]; 5. 55-Jordan Kienow[4]; 6. 69-Britt Williams[2]; 7. (DNF) 11R-Landyn Randt[5]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 59-Kyle Anderson[3]; 2. 11R-Landyn Randt[7]; 3. 51-Toby Eilers[1]; 4. 38-Garrett Crawford[2]; 5. 69-Britt Williams[4]; 6. 99MC-James Irwin[5]; 7. 22-Shawn McFarlane[6]; 8. (DNF) 2DR-Tom Neitzel[8]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 11-Levi Randt[1]; 2. 12-Grady Myers[14]; 3. 14-Maria Broksieck[9]; 4. 99-Andy Rossow[7]; 5. 01-Chris Serr[6]; 6. 77-Adam Dehne[21]; 7. 1X-Clifford Houser[10]; 8. 15B-Randy Brown[8]; 9. 46-Cory Moser[17]; 10. 61-James Hoing[18]; 11. 18H-Dusty Hyatt[24]; 12. X-Dexter Wipf[19]; 13. 17G-Chris Gonska[11]; 14. (DNF) 6C-Chris Asmus[20]; 15. (DNF) 54-Jodie Michaelsohn[3]; 16. (DNF) 111JR-Keith Tourville[2]; 17. (DNF) 24-Ashley Wampler[15]; 18. (DNF) 20JR-Jayden Bogh[5]; 19. (DNF) 79-Billie Christ[4]; 20. (DNF) 37X-Robert Schmitt[12]; 21. (DNF) 5-Royce Jawaski[13]; 22. (DNF) 52X-Ava Gonska[16]; 23. (DNS) 09-Wyatt Walsh; 24. (DNS) 19X-Kyle Bertram

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Levi Randt[2]; 2. 01-Chris Serr[7]; 3. 99-Andy Rossow[5]; 4. 1X-Clifford Houser[1]; 5. 5-Royce Jawaski[3]; 6. 52X-Ava Gonska[4]; 7. (DNF) 09-Wyatt Walsh[6]; 8. (DNF) 19X-Kyle Bertram[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 54-Jodie Michaelsohn[4]; 2. 79-Billie Christ[6]; 3. 14-Maria Broksieck[5]; 4. 17G-Chris Gonska[2]; 5. 12-Grady Myers[8]; 6. 46-Cory Moser[3]; 7. X-Dexter Wipf[1]; 8. 77-Adam Dehne[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 111JR-Keith Tourville[8]; 2. 20JR-Jayden Bogh[3]; 3. 15B-Randy Brown[1]; 4. 37X-Robert Schmitt[5]; 5. 24-Ashley Wampler[6]; 6. 61-James Hoing[4]; 7. 6C-Chris Asmus[2]; 8. (DNF) 18H-Dusty Hyatt[7]

Legends:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 77-Preston Martin[2]; 2. 700-Gage Madler[15]; 3. 800-Noah Madler[4]; 4. 19-Donavin Wiest[6]; 5. 22-Regan Reinke[5]; 6. 52-Avery Linnerud[9]; 7. 13-TJ Pfeiffer[18]; 8. 57-Kaden Dockter[16]; 9. 335-Beaux Miller[10]; 10. 22Z-Zach Reinke[14]; 11. 33M-Colton Miller[12]; 12. 23-Payton Hruby[17]; 13. 29V-Rylan Vetter[11]; 14. 00-Duston Hagen[22]; 15. 25R-Jadon Rohrbach[23]; 16. 75-Travis Dockter[13]; 17. 99-Jacob Campbell[20]; 18. 28-Dusty Mund[3]; 19. (DNF) 94-Bryce Barnhardt[8]; 20. (DNF) 7T-Ty Olson[1]; 21. (DNF) 1-Michael Jager[24]; 22. (DNF) 36-Tyler Anglin[7]; 23. (DNF) 43-Trent Jones[19]; 24. (DNS) 87-Gus Jensen

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Preston Martin[6]; 2. 94-Bryce Barnhardt[4]; 3. 52-Avery Linnerud[7]; 4. 75-Travis Dockter[1]; 5. 23-Payton Hruby[3]; 6. 87-Gus Jensen[5]; 7. 33-Ashton Hadrick[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 800-Noah Madler[4]; 2. 22-Regan Reinke[7]; 3. 335-Beaux Miller[2]; 4. 22Z-Zach Reinke[1]; 5. 13-TJ Pfeiffer[3]; 6. 00-Duston Hagen[5]; 7. (DNF) 06-Weston Hagen[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Dusty Mund[4]; 2. 36-Tyler Anglin[5]; 3. 29V-Rylan Vetter[6]; 4. 700-Gage Madler[7]; 5. 43-Trent Jones[1]; 6. 25R-Jadon Rohrbach[3]; 7. 88-Emily Price[2]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7T-Ty Olson[1]; 2. 19-Donavin Wiest[2]; 3. 33M-Colton Miller[5]; 4. 57-Kaden Dockter[3]; 5. 99-Jacob Campbell[4]; 6. 12JR-Kacyn Becker[6]; 7. 1-Michael Jager[7]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 87-Gus Jensen[1]; 2. 00-Duston Hagen[2]; 3. 25R-Jadon Rohrbach[3]; 4. 1-Michael Jager[7]; 5. 12JR-Kacyn Becker[4]; 6. 88-Emily Price[6]; 7. 33-Ashton Hadrick[5]; 8. (DNS) 06-Weston Hagen