By Mike Spieker

ADA, Minn. (August 20, 2020) – Dustin Strand won Thursday’s NLRA Late Model special, presented by Seedex and Taylor Bosch Enterprises, to claim his second Late Model win in three weeks at Norman County Raceway.

Strand of East Grand Forks, Minn. and Jeff Hapala of West Fargo, N.D. led the field of 23 cars to the green flag, with Strand getting the holeshot.

After two attempts to get the first lap completed, Strand jumped out to a comfortable lead.

The NLRA series point leader ran relatively uncontested until Don Shaw of Ham Lake, Minn. reeled in Strand in the closing laps. Shaw looked to have the faster car in the late stages, but Strand was able to maneuver through lapped traffic better, which sealed the win for Strand; his third in a Late Model at Norman County.

Dustin Strand sweeps the NLRA Late Model events at Norman County Raceway in 2020. Photo by Mike Spieker.

“I never would have expected this in a million years at Ada,” Strand commented on the heavy and fast racing surface from the rainfall earlier in the week. “Normally we kind of like a hammer down race track. We’re actually running a concept motor, it’s a new rule package Wissota offered, and it’s a little less horsepower and torque, but it’s a really awesome package when the track is slick. I didn’t know if we were gonna be able to hang on tonight, but the ol’ girl was hitting on all eight.”

Casey Arneson of Fargo, N.D. raced to his division-leading third Sanders Metal Products IMCA Modified feature win from the ninth starting position. However, the story of the night came from the driver that finished eighth with a DNF (did not finish).

Rob VanMil of Barnesville, Minn. had a solid lead over Arneson midway through the race when he went to lap a slower car. VanMil went to the outside of the slower car, but just as he did, the backmarker moved to the high side. VanMil’s car jumped over the right front of the lapped car into the entry of turn one – the fastest part of the speedway – and set him airborne off the embankment. VanMil’s car landed at a high rate of speed just before hitting a grove of trees. From there, VanMil ramped up a five-foot dike inside the grove at about 60 miles per hour, went over a six-foot wire fence, and mowed down about 80 feet of trees and brush before coming to rest.

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VanMil was okay. NCR officials assessed the situation and decided to wait until after the races were complete to get VanMil’s car out of the trees.

An NCR official hooks up to Rob VanMil’s Modified after he was launched into a grove of trees while leading the feature. Photo by Mike Spieker.

“I came over the bank of the track and I landed and it felt like I was gaining speed on the wet grass,” recalled VanMil of what was one of the craziest incidents in the 100-plus years of Norman County Raceway. “The last thing I remember is hitting that big dike going into the trees, then I just saw brush flying.”

Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls, Minn. raced to his sixth Christian Motors WISSOTA Midwest Mod win.

Travis Robertson of Moorhead, Minn. picked up crucial points with his Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Car feature win. The top five in points are separated by just seven points. Ada’s Kalvin Kesselberg sits second, one point behind Rob VanMil with one race remaining.

Hometown driver Andy Wagner was the crowd-pleaser once again as he raced to his second Titan Machinery IMCA SportMod feature win of the season. Cory Probst of Brewster, Minn. won the Christian Brothers Ford IMCA Hobby Stock feature, while Ulen’s Ryan Braseth held off Tye Wilke to win the Seedex INEX Legends feature.

The 2020 racing season at Norman County Raceway concludes on Thursday with Season Championship night, presented by Auction Block and Christian Motors.

RESULTS:
WISSOTA Late Models
A Feature: 1. 71-Dustin Strand[1]; 2. 42S-Don Shaw[5]; 3. 2-Dave Mass[3]; 4. 03-Casey Meyer[7]; 5. 14-Brody Troftgruben[4]; 6. 12S-Brad Seng[9]; 7. 16S-Jeff Hapala[2]; 8. 18X-Shawn Meyer[6]; 9. 10-Kevin Robertson[12]; 10. 18-Dustin Hapka[14]; 11. 2*-Cole Babcock[10]; 12. 45-Dustin Bluhm[15]; 13. 9-Steve Anderson[13]; 14. 9R-Erik Robertson[8]; 15. 02-Dan Dowling[21]; 16. (DNF) 47-Kreig Kasin[19]; 17. (DNF) C4-Ryan Corbett[11]; 18. (DNF) 41-Travis Saurer[17]; 19. (DNF) 84-Joshua Johnson[23]; 20. (DNF) 11-Troy Schill[16]; 21. (DNF) 9A-Blake Anderson[20]; 22. (DNF) 44-Cole Schill[18]; 23. (DNS) 42-Matthew Jarvis

Heat 1: 1. 42S-Don Shaw[8]; 2. 14-Brody Troftgruben[1]; 3. 03-Casey Meyer[3]; 4. 2*-Cole Babcock[5]; 5. (DNF) 11-Troy Schill[2]; 6. (DNF) 41-Travis Saurer[6]; 7. (DNF) 44-Cole Schill[7]; 8. (DNF) 02-Dan Dowling[4]

Heat 2: 1. 16S-Jeff Hapala[1]; 2. 18X-Shawn Meyer[7]; 3. 9R-Erik Robertson[3]; 4. C4-Ryan Corbett[5]; 5. 9-Steve Anderson[8]; 6. 45-Dustin Bluhm[6]; 7. (DNF) 47-Kreig Kasin[4]; 8. (DNF) 42-Matthew Jarvis[2]

Heat 3: 1. 2-Dave Mass[2]; 2. 71-Dustin Strand[6]; 3. 12S-Brad Seng[3]; 4. 10-Kevin Robertson[4]; 5. 18-Dustin Hapka[7]; 6. (DNF) 9A-Blake Anderson[1]; 7. (DNF) 84-Joshua Johnson[5]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods
A Feature: 1. 2G-Brock Gronwold[4]; 2. 87S-Reise Stenberg[2]; 3. 33-Jeff Nelson[1]; 4. 188-Hunter Hougard[3]; 5. 39-Jamie Dietzler[5]; 6. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[8]; 7. 1S-Scott Bintz[6]; 8. (DNF) 32-Lindsey Hansen[7]

Heat 1: 1. 87S-Reise Stenberg[2]; 2. 39-Jamie Dietzler[3]; 3. 188-Hunter Hougard[4]; 4. 2G-Brock Gronwold[7]; 5. 33-Jeff Nelson[6]; 6. 1S-Scott Bintz[5]; 7. 32-Lindsey Hansen[1]; 8. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[8]

IMCA Modifieds
A Feature: 1. 2A-Casey Arneson[9]; 2. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[4]; 3. 2*-Cole Babcock[1]; 4. 60-Tyler Hall[3]; 5. 30-Cole Neset[5]; 6. 96-Erv Grossman[7]; 7. (DNF) 84-Michael Johnson[6]; 8. (DNF) 40-Rob VanMil[2]; 9. (DNF) 57-Tom Cummings[8]

Heat 1: 1. 2*-Cole Babcock[3]; 2. 60-Tyler Hall[5]; 3. 40-Rob VanMil[4]; 4. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[6]; 5. 30-Cole Neset[9]; 6. 84-Michael Johnson[7]; 7. 96-Erv Grossman[2]; 8. 57-Tom Cummings[1]; 9. (DNF) 2A-Casey Arneson[8]

IMCA Stock Cars
A Feature: 1. 10R-Travis Robertson[2]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil[4]; 3. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[3]; 4. 92-Dan Mackenthun[5]; 5. 38-Todd Heinrich[6]; 6. 4-Rick Schulz[7]; 7. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[8]; 8. 76Z-John Sandvig[1]

Heat 1: 1. 10R-Travis Robertson[4]; 2. 92-Dan Mackenthun[8]; 3. 76Z-John Sandvig[1]; 4. 40-Rob VanMil[7]; 5. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[6]; 6. 38-Todd Heinrich[3]; 7. 4-Rick Schulz[5]; 8. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[2]

IMCA Northern SportMods
A Feature: 1. 3X-Andy Wagner[6]; 2. E6-Ryan Veralrud[1]; 3. 8J-Luke Johnson[9]; 4. 5-Scott Jacobson[8]; 5. 17-Rich Pavlicek[7]; 6. 15-Matthew Clark[2]; 7. 22-Vince Jegtvig[3]; 8. 40-Chris VanMil[13]; 9. 9-Torey Fischer[5]; 10. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[11]; 11. (DNF) 5F-Brandon Ferris[10]; 12. (DNF) 13C-Paul Colvin[12]; 13. (DNF) 69-Justin Jones[4]

Heat 1: 1. 9-Torey Fischer[4]; 2. 17-Rich Pavlicek[6]; 3. 15-Matthew Clark[2]; 4. 69-Justin Jones[3]; 5. 8J-Luke Johnson[7]; 6. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[1]; 7. 40-Chris VanMil[5]

Heat 2: 1. 22-Vince Jegtvig[2]; 2. 3X-Andy Wagner[4]; 3. E6-Ryan Veralrud[1]; 4. 5-Scott Jacobson[5]; 5. 5F-Brandon Ferris[6]; 6. 13C-Paul Colvin[3]

INEX Legends
A Feature: 1. 29-Ryan Braseth[2]; 2. 72-Tye Wilke[3]; 3. 34-Alex Kukowski[4]; 4. 14-Kody King[6]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[9]; 6. B1-Brody Carlsrud[1]; 7. 2-Ashton Spieker[5]; 8. D11RT-Blaise Deckert[8]; 9. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[7]

Heat 1: 1. 29-Ryan Braseth[4]; 2. 72-Tye Wilke[6]; 3. B1-Brody Carlsrud[3]; 4. 34-Alex Kukowski[7]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[9]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[2]; 7. 14-Kody King[5]; 8. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[1]; 9. D11RT-Blaise Deckert[8]

IMCA Hobby Stocks
A Feature: 1. 75C-Cory Probst[8]; 2. 27-Malik Sampson[9]; 3. 5G-Tim Gonska[7]; 4. 6-Scott Herron[6]; 5. 26-Ken Crane[2]; 6. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[12]; 7. 11-William Herron[14]; 8. 33-Shawn Niemeyer[13]; 9. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[5]; 10. 17-Nick Shumansky[11]; 11. 73-Todd Gettel[3]; 12. (DNF) 31X-Tim Shiek[4]; 13. (DNF) 54-Dylan Krueger[10]; 14. (DNF) 9-Skyla Miller[1]

Heat 1: 1. 27-Malik Sampson[7]; 2. 75C-Cory Probst[6]; 3. 26-Ken Crane[2]; 4. 6-Scott Herron[5]; 5. 73-Todd Gettel[3]; 6. 17-Nick Shumansky[1]; 7. 33-Shawn Niemeyer[4]

Heat 2: 1. 31X-Tim Shiek[3]; 2. 5G-Tim Gonska[5]; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[4]; 4. 9-Skyla Miller[1]; 5. 54-Dylan Krueger[6]; 6. (DNF) B2-Brodee Eckerdt[2]

By Mike Spieker

ADA, Minn. (August 6, 2020) – The Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Cars made their first and only visit of the season to Norman County Raceway on Thursday night with seventeen 410 cubic inch winged machines checked in for action.

East Grand Forks, Minnesota’s Nick Omdahl won the 25-lap feature, presented by Norman County Implement. Brenden Wilde of Thief River Falls, Minn. jumped out to the early lead from the pole position with Tim Estenson, who is no stranger to victory lane at NCR, riding in second.

On lap seven, Omdahl found his groove as he moved past both Estenson and Wilde to take the lead on lap eight.

Omdahl felt pressure from Brendan Mullen of Grand Forks, N.D., winner of two of the last three NOSA events, and Jade Hastings of Grand Forks, NOSA series point leader, in the second half of the event. However, Omdahl went on to lead the final 13 laps to collect his ninth career win.

“Starting up front was huge,” admitted Omdahl after the race, who started on the outside of the front row. “We haven’t had any luck lately. We’ve been fast, but we always seem to start in the back. I got nervous on one restart when Mullen got next to me. We ended up making contact and I feel bad for that. But I knew as long as I hit my marks, I’d be okay.”

NOSA points leader Jade Hastings raced to a second-place finish on Thursday night at Norman County Raceway. Photo by Mike Spieker.

The contact between Omdahl and Mullen on the front straightaway ended Mullen’s bid at a podium finish as it wrecked the front end on the 17-year-old’s No. 11M.

The win for Omdahl came just five days after he went for a nasty tumble after the checkered flag on Saturday night in Mandan, N.D.

“It was a huge effort,” said Omdahl of what it took to be ready for Thursday’s event at NCR. “My dad worked all week getting this thing ready. He pretty much rebuilt this car himself while I was at work. Ricky, Alex, Kenny, they are there helping out every week too. It’s a team effort for sure.”

The race was brought to a halt on lap 10 when Wilde and Jack Croaker made contact in turn two. The end result was Croaker going for a wild series of end-over-end flips before coming to rest on all four wheels. Both drivers were okay. Croaker’s car was destroyed, while Wilde was able to continue.

Nick Omdahl celebrates his first career Norman County Raceway win in KRJB 106.5FM Victory Lane. Photo by Mike Spieker.

Hastings and 17th place starter Wade Nygaard rounded out the top three at the checkers.

Chris VanMil of Barnesville, Minn. raced to his second win of the season at NCR in the Titan Machinery IMCA SportMods. VanMil started in the fourth position and had to hold off the top two in the point standings, Luke Johnson of Moorhead, Minn. and Rich Pavlicek of Casselton, N.D.

VanMil was able to pull away in the final laps to take the win by 3.5 seconds over Pavlicek, as Johnson rounded out the podium.

Two drivers claimed their fifth win of the season through the first seven events at NCR – Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls, Minn. in the Christian Motors WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes, Minn. in the Seedex INEX Legends. Both drivers started third on the grid in their respective lineups.

Sanders Metal Products-sponsored cars dominated the Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Cars, claiming positions first, second, third and fourth. The win went to Rick Schulz of Horace, N.D. – his second of the season at NCR. Todd Heinrich of Fargo, N.D. finished second, followed by Travis Robertson of Moorhead, Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada and Rob VanMil of Barnesville.

After seven events, the top five drivers in the Stock Car point standings are separated by just four points.

Cory Probst of Brewer, Minn. started 10th and wheeled his way to the Christian Brothers Ford IMCA Hobby Stock feature win. Probst took the lead on lap four and held off point leader Tim Gonska of Brainerd for the win.

Next week at NCR is First Responders Night and Hall of Fame night, presented by Ellingson Water Management.

SUMMARY:

NOSA Sprint Cars
A Feature: 1. 0-Nick Omdahl[3]; 2. 8H-Jade Hastings[8]; 3. 9N-Wade Nygaard[17]; 4. 14T-Tim Estenson[5]; 5. 20A-Jordan Adams[14]; 6. 31-Shane Roemeling[2]; 7. 10S-Josh Swangler[16]; 8. 17-Zach Omdahl[13]; 9. 91A-Reed Allex[15]; 10. 35-Brenden Wilde[1]; 11. (DNF) 11M-Brendan Mullen[7]; 12. (DNF) 4-Colton Young[12]; 13. (DNF) 12-Brayden Pengilly[11]; 14. (DNF) 8-Jack Croaker[10]; 15. (DNF) 26-Blake Egeland[9]; 16. (DNF) 2-Tee Young[4]; 17. (DNF) 14-Tom Egeland[6]

Heat 1: 1. 8H-Jade Hastings[3]; 2. 14-Tom Egeland[4]; 3. 35-Brenden Wilde[2]; 4. 26-Blake Egeland[1]; 5. 2-Tee Young[9]; 6. 12-Brayden Pengilly[5]; 7. (DNF) 20A-Jordan Adams[6]; 8. (DNF) 9N-Wade Nygaard[7]; 9. (DNF) 91A-Reed Allex[8]

Heat 2: 1. 11M-Brendan Mullen[3]; 2. 0-Nick Omdahl[1]; 3. 14T-Tim Estenson[5]; 4. 31-Shane Roemeling[6]; 5. 8-Jack Croaker[4]; 6. (DNF) 17-Zach Omdahl[2]; 7. (DNF) 4-Colton Young[8]; 8. (DNF) 10S-Josh Swangler[7]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods
A Feature 1: 1. 2G-Brock Gronwold[3]; 2. 87S-Reise Stenberg[2]; 3. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[1]; 4. 25A-Jesse Aho[5]; 5. 188-Hunter Hougard[9]; 6. 77-Alan Olafson[4]; 7. 18J-Alex Johnson[6]; 8. (DNF) 35-David McIntire[10]; 9. (DNS) 55X-Chris Mack; 10. (DNS) 33-Jeff Nelson

Heat 1: 1. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[3]; 2. 87S-Reise Stenberg[5]; 3. 77-Alan Olafson[8]; 4. 25A-Jesse Aho[9]; 5. 2G-Brock Gronwold[7]; 6. 18J-Alex Johnson[2]; 7. (DNF) 55X-Chris Mack[10]; 8. (DNF) 33-Jeff Nelson[1]; 9. (DNF) 188-Hunter Hougard[4]; 10. (DNS) 35-David McIntire

IMCA Stock Cars
A Feature: 1. 4-Rick Schulz[3]; 2. 38-Todd Heinrich[7]; 3. 10R-Travis Robertson[2]; 4. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[4]; 5. 40-Rob VanMil[5]; 6. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[1]; 7. 28-Norm Olson[6]

Heat 1: 1. 4-Rick Schulz[4]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil[6]; 3. 10R-Travis Robertson[3]; 4. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[1]; 5. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[5]; 6. 28-Norm Olson[7]; 7. (DNF) 38-Todd Heinrich[2]

IMCA Northern SportMods
A Feature: 1. 40-Chris VanMil[4]; 2. 17-Rich Pavlicek[6]; 3. 8J-Luke Johnson[8]; 4. 3X-Andy Wagner[5]; 5. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[7]; 6. 15-Matthew Clark[2]; 7. 5-Scott Jacobson[9]; 8. 69-Justin Jones[10]; 9. 22-Vince Jegtvig[3]; 10. 13C-Paul Colvin[13]; 11. 9-Torey Fischer[12]; 12. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[1]; 13. 2X-Brady Moore[11]

Heat 1: 1. 15-Matthew Clark[2]; 2. 40-Chris VanMil[4]; 3. 8J-Luke Johnson[6]; 4. 17-Rich Pavlicek[5]; 5. 69-Justin Jones[7]; 6. 2X-Brady Moore[1]; 7. 13C-Paul Colvin[3]

Heat 2: 1. 3X-Andy Wagner[4]; 2. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[5]; 3. 22-Vince Jegtvig[2]; 4. 5-Scott Jacobson[6]; 5. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[1]; 6. 9-Torey Fischer[3]

IMCA Hobby Stock
A Feature 1: 1. 75C-Cory Probst[10]; 2. 5G-Tim Gonska[7]; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[6]; 4. 26-Ken Crane[1]; 5. 33-Shawn Niemeyer[9]; 6. 31X-Tim Shiek[5]; 7. 22W-Will Miller[11]; 8. 9-Skyla Miller[2]; 9. 2B-Steve Nordhagen[8]; 10. (DNF) 73-Todd Gettel[4]; 11. (DNF) B2-Brodee Eckerdt[3]

Heat 1: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[4]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek[3]; 3. 9-Skyla Miller[1]; 4. 33-Shawn Niemeyer[5]; 5. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[2]

Heat 2: 1. 75C-Cory Probst[6]; 2. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[4]; 3. 73-Todd Gettel[3]; 4. 26-Ken Crane[1]; 5. 2B-Steve Nordhagen[5]; 6. (DNF) 22W-Will Miller[2]

INEX Legends
A Feature: 1. 72-Tye Wilke[3]; 2. 14-Kody King[4]; 3. 29-Ryan Braseth[2]; 4. B1-Brody Carlsrud[5]; 5. 20-Alex Braseth[7]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[1]; 7. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[8]; 8. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[6]

Heat 1: 1. 2-Ashton Spieker[2]; 2. 72-Tye Wilke[6]; 3. 29-Ryan Braseth[5]; 4. 14-Kody King[7]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[8]; 6. B1-Brody Carlsrud[4]; 7. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[1]; 8. (DNF) 20-Alex Braseth[3]

By Mike Spieker

ADA, Minn. (July 30, 2020) – A big field of 85 race teams were checked in on Thursday night as Norman County Raceway hosted the ninth annual Sanders Mod Challenge and the first leg of the IMCA Red River Modified Tour, presented by the IMCA Duel in the Desert, as well as the NLRA Late Models.

For the third time in his career, Austin Arneson of Fargo, N.D. claimed the Sanders Mod Challenge win after a dominating performance.

NCR regular Jesse Skalicky of Fargo and Darin Duffy of Urbana, Iowa paced the field to green with Duffy taking the early lead, but it took just two laps for Arneson to charge his way into the lead from the fourth starting position.

Once out front, Arneson wouldn’t be touched for the remainder of the 25-lap feature. A great battle brewed behind Arneson, however, as Duffy had to content with Arneson’s younger brother, Casey Arneson.

Despite multiple slide job attempts by Casey Arneson, Duffy was able to hang on to the runner-up spot. Duffy rallied late to turn a three-second lead by Austin Arneson to a 0.6 second lead at the checkers with Casey Arneson finishing three car lengths behind Duffy.

Behind the top three, there was an 11-second gap back to Michael Johnson of Moorhead, Minn. in fourth. Cody Leonard of Sinton, Texas rounded out the top five.

Austin Arneson claimed his third Sanders Mod Challenge win at Norman County Raceway on Thursday night. Photo by Mike Spieker

The win for Arneson gave his U-Motors Racing team its sixth Sanders Mod Challenge win. Casey Arneson, Cody Skytland, and Johnny Scott have also picked up Sanders Mod Challenge wins for U-Motors Racing.

The NLRA Late Models had 22 cars checked in for their first visit to Norman County Raceway since 2017. Don Shaw of Ham Lake, Minn. and Ryan Mikkelson of Alexandria, Minn. led the field to green with Shaw taking the early lead.

Fourth-place starter, Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks, Minn. pulled even with Shaw on lap five, and the two drivers engaged in a great battle for the lead, running two distinct lanes around the three-eighths-mile oval. Strand took the point on lap seven as Shaw pulled off the track the following lap with apparent mechanical failure.

Dustin Strand topped a stacked field of NLRA Late Models for his first Late Model win at NCR since 2012. Photo by Mike Spieker

Brad Seng of Grand Forks, N.D. came from ninth on the grid to second by lap 13 as he set his sights on Strand for the lead. Strand was too strong, however, as the three-time NLRA series champion cruised to his first Late Model win at NCR since 2012.

The first red flag of the season came out on lap two of the Christian Motors WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature. The No. E85 of Jason Strand of Portland, N.D. suffered a mechanical issue and looked to pull into the infield. Just as he did, Joe Henninger of Grand Forks clipped the left front of Strand with his right rear and barrel-rolled violently three complete times before coming to rest on all four wheels.

Henninger was okay, but his car was destroyed.

Hougard led the field until points leader, Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls, Minn. reeled him in and made the pass coming to the white flag. Hougard did everything he could to regain the lead on the final lap, but Gronwold held on to pick up his fourth win of the season at NCR.

Gronwold again received a huge round of applause and roar from the crowd as he pulled his Donald Trump-inspired No. 2020 paint scheme into KRJB/KRJM/KKCQ Victory Lane.

The Titan Machinery IMCA SportMods were 14 cars strong for their main event. Things got off to a ragged start as outside front row starter, Brandon Tendeland of West Fargo, N.D., got sideways in turns one and two. The rest of the field was able to miss Tendeland except for Greg Schilling of Halstad, Minn. who made heavy contact with Tendeland.

Both Tendeland and Schilling were okay but were done for the night.

On the restart, Chris VanMil of Barnesville, Minn. took command of the race lead and checked out from the rest of the field. VanMil looked to have the race in hand until the final caution flew with three laps to go.

A three-wide race for the lead on the ensuing restart broke out between last week’s winner, Andy Wagner of Ada, Minn. and Luke Johnson of Moorhead. With two to go, it became a race between VanMil and Johnson as Johnson threw a slide job for the lead in turns one and two. VanMil countered with a crossover move down the back straightaway, but Johnson cleared for the lead in turns three and four coming to the white flag.

Johnson held off VanMil on the final lap to claim his second win of the season at NCR.

Backing up his win Friday night at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, Ryan Braseth of Ulen, Minn. picked up an exciting Seedex INEX Legends feature win. Braseth held off his brother, Alex Braseth, and point leader Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes, Minn. in the closing laps.

Todd Heinrich of Fargo dominated the Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Car feature for his third win of the season at NCR.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:
A Feature: 1. 71-Dustin Strand[4]; 2. 12S-Brad Seng[9]; 3. 2M-Dave Mass[13]; 4. 11D-Pat Doar[10]; 5. 03-Casey Meyer[5]; 6. 18X-Shawn Meyer[6]; 7. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[2]; 8. C4-Ryan Corbett[3]; 9. 10-Kevin Robertson[8]; 10. 18-Dustin Hapka[7]; 11. 9-Steve Anderson[14]; 12. 14-Brody Troftgruben[12]; 13. 2-Dan Dowling[15]; 14. 16S-Jeff Hapala[11]; 15. 9R-Erik Robertson[19]; 16. 2*-Cole Babcock[18]; 17. 105-Ryan Dahl[22]; 18. 47-Kreig Kasin[21]; 19. (DNF) 11-Troy Schill[16]; 20. (DNF) 84-Joshua Johnson[17]; 21. (DNF) 9A-Blake Anderson[20]; 22. (DNF) 42S-Don Shaw[1]

Heat 1: 1. 71-Dustin Strand[2]; 2. 42S-Don Shaw[6]; 3. 18-Dustin Hapka[1]; 4. 11D-Pat Doar[5]; 5. 2M-Dave Mass[4]; 6. 11-Troy Schill[7]; 7. 9R-Erik Robertson[8]; 8. 105-Ryan Dahl[3]

Heat 2: 1. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[2]; 2. 03-Casey Meyer[6]; 3. 10-Kevin Robertson[1]; 4. 16S-Jeff Hapala[4]; 5. 9-Steve Anderson[3]; 6. 84-Joshua Johnson[5]; 7. 9A-Blake Anderson[7]

Heat 3: 1. C4-Ryan Corbett[1]; 2. 18X-Shawn Meyer[6]; 3. 12S-Brad Seng[7]; 4. 14-Brody Troftgruben[2]; 5. 2-Dan Dowling[3]; 6. 2*-Cole Babcock[5]; 7. 47-Kreig Kasin[4]

IMCA Modifieds:
A Feature: 1. 10-Austin Arneson[4]; 2. 19D-Darin Duffy[2]; 3. 2A-Casey Arneson[5]; 4. 84-Michael Johnson[3]; 5. 12-Cody Leonard[8]; 6. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[1]; 7. 33-Allen Kent[7]; 8. XXX-Jesse Rogotzke[10]; 9. 44F-Fred Wojtek[6]; 10. 12A-Matt Aukland[9]; 11. 72-Dave Shipley[11]; 12. 442-Aaron Johnson[12]; 13. 6D-Dylan Goplen[15]; 14. 91-Craig Oakes[16]; 15. 60-Tyler Hall[13]; 16. 2-Rusty Kollman[17]; 17. 2*-Cole Babcock[19]; 18. 28-Cody Blixt[20]; 19. 12C-Nick Curtis[22]; 20. 96-Erv Grossman[18]; 21. 57-Tom Cummings[21]; 22. (DNF) 40-Rob VanMil[14]; 23. (DNF) 21-Jamie Schulz[23]

Heat 1: 1. XXX-Jesse Rogotzke[1]; 2. 2A-Casey Arneson[4]; 3. 12A-Matt Aukland[2]; 4. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[3]; 5. 60-Tyler Hall[6]; 6. 91-Craig Oakes[7]; 7. 2*-Cole Babcock[8]; 8. 12C-Nick Curtis[5]

Heat 2: 1. 10-Austin Arneson[4]; 2. 84-Michael Johnson[2]; 3. 72-Dave Shipley[6]; 4. 33-Allen Kent[1]; 5. 40-Rob VanMil[5]; 6. 2-Rusty Kollman[8]; 7. 28-Cody Blixt[3]; 8. 21-Jamie Schulz[7]

Heat 3: 1. 19D-Darin Duffy[1]; 2. 12-Cody Leonard[2]; 3. 44F-Fred Wojtek[3]; 4. 442-Aaron Johnson[6]; 5. 6D-Dylan Goplen[4]; 6. 96-Erv Grossman[7]; 7. 57-Tom Cummings[5]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:
A Feature: 1. 2G-Brock Gronwold[6]; 2. 188-Hunter Hougard[3]; 3. 69-Justin Jones[10]; 4. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[9]; 5. 87S-Reise Stenberg[5]; 6. 33-Jeff Nelson[2]; 7. 11-Bryan Kakela[8]; 8. 01-Zach Bruer[4]; 9. 35-David McIntire[11]; 10. (DNF) E85-Jason Strand[7]; 11. (DNF) 68-Joe Henninger[1]

Heat 1: 1. 2G-Brock Gronwold[1]; 2. E85-Jason Strand[3]; 3. 11-Bryan Kakela[4]; 4. 68-Joe Henninger[2]; 5. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[6]; 6. (DNS) 69-Justin Jones

Heat 2: 1. 188-Hunter Hougard[4]; 2. 33-Jeff Nelson[1]; 3. 01-Zach Bruer[5]; 4. 87S-Reise Stenberg[3]; 5. (DNS) 35-David McIntire

IMCA Northern SportMods:
A Feature: 1. 8J-Luke Johnson[9]; 2. 40-Chris VanMil[4]; 3. 3X-Andy Wagner[6]; 4. 5-Scott Jacobson[11]; 5. 17-Rich Pavlicek[7]; 6. 74-Darren Medler[10]; 7. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[8]; 8. 13C-Paul Colvin[3]; 9. 9-Torey Fischer[5]; 10. E6-Ryan Veralrud[14]; 11. 22-Vince Jegtvig[12]; 12. 2X-Brady Moore[1]; 13. (DNF) 29S-Greg Schilling[13]; 14. (DNF) 12T-Brandon Tendeland[2]

Heat 1: 1. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[2]; 2. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[6]; 3. 40-Chris VanMil[4]; 4. 13C-Paul Colvin[3]; 5. 3X-Andy Wagner[5]; 6. 5-Scott Jacobson[7]; 7. 29S-Greg Schilling[1]

Heat 2: 1. 8J-Luke Johnson[6]; 2. 9-Torey Fischer[4]; 3. 17-Rich Pavlicek[5]; 4. 2X-Brady Moore[1]; 5. 74-Darren Medler[7]; 6. 22-Vince Jegtvig[3]; 7. E6-Ryan Veralrud[2]

IMCA Stock Cars:
A Feature: 1. 38-Todd Heinrich[2]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz[3]; 3. 40-Rob VanMil[5]; 4. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[4]; 5. 10R-Travis Robertson[7]; 6. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[1]; 7. 76Z-John Sandvig[6]

Heat 1: 1. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[2]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz[4]; 3. 38-Todd Heinrich[3]; 4. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[6]; 5. 40-Rob VanMil[7]; 6. 76Z-John Sandvig[1]; 7. 10R-Travis Robertson[5]

INEX Legends:
A Feature: 1. 29-Ryan Braseth[3]; 2. 20-Alex Braseth[2]; 3. 72-Tye Wilke[5]; 4. B1-Brody Carlsrud[4]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[8]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[1]; 7. 79-Scott Richardson[7]; 8. (DNF) 19E-Elzetta Bitker[6]

Heat 1: 1. 29-Ryan Braseth[4]; 2. 72-Tye Wilke[6]; 3. B1-Brody Carlsrud[5]; 4. 2-Ashton Spieker[2]; 5. 20-Alex Braseth[3]; 6. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[8]; 7. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[1]; 8. (DNF) 79-Scott Richardson[7]

ADA, Minn. (July 23, 2020) – Norman County Raceway was back in action on Thursday night with racing presented by Mustang Seeds and Titan Machinery. Two big weeks at NCR lie ahead. On July 30th, the NLRA Late Models will make their first appearance at the speedway since 2017. On August 6th, the fan-favorite Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Cars will come to town.

A win by the hometown kid highlighted Thursday night for the great crowd in attendance.

Andy Wagner of Ada picked up his first win of the season on Thursday night at Norman County Raceway. Photo by Mike Spieker.

Ada’s own Andy Wagner picked up his Titan Machinery IMCA SportMod feature win of the season after a hard-fought win. Ryan Veralrud of Barnesville has made himself known as a weekly front runner at NCR this year. Veralrud led the first three circuits of the 12-lap, 16-car feature until Wagner powered by him on lap four.

Once out front, Wagner had to contend with Chris VanMil of Barnesville, who already has a visit to KRJB 106.5FM Victory Lane this season. Wagner and VanMil ran door-to-door for several laps, but Wagner prevailed on the high side.

Wagner went on to score the win by a margin of 0.571 seconds at the checkers over VanMil and Rich Pavlicek of Casselton, N.D.

Todd Heinrich of Fargo was clearly the class of the field of the very competitive Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Car division. Heinrich started third on the grid and took the lead on the opening circuit. After holding off the field on a pair of restarts, Heinrich checked out and took his second win of the season at NCR.

Casey Arneson of Fargo, N.D. wasted no time working his way to the front from the fifth starting position. Arneson, who won at NCR back on July 9th, took the point from Rob VanMil of Barnesville, Minn. after a big slide job in turn two.

After that, the race was on for second as Arneson checked out to win by 4.780 seconds, equating to a full straightaway on the three-eighths-mile oval.

Michael Johnson of Moorhead, Minn. came home second while Tyler Hall of Fertile, Minn. held off VanMil for third.

Tim Gonska of Brainerd, Minn. continued his dominance in the Christian Brothers Ford IMCA Hobby Stocks. Gonska came from eighth to take the lead on lap two and cruised to the win by over seven seconds of Scott Herron of Brainerd.

The win was Gonska’s fifth out of the six Hobby Stock races at NCR in 2020.

Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls, Minn. is also dominating the Christian Motors WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds this season as well. Gronwold started third and led all 12 laps to collect his third win of the season at NCR. Hunter Hougard of Warren, Minn. came home second, followed by Jason Strand of Portland, N.D. in third.

Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes, Minn. collected his fourth Seedex INEX Legends win of the season at NCR, but it was perhaps the hardest he’s had to work to get the win. The Braseth brothers of Alex and Ryan from Ulen, Minn. combined to lead the first eight of 10 laps. Wilke entered the fray late in the going as the lead trio raced three wide for nearly three consecutive laps. Wilke took the point using the moisture on the low side of the speedway to his advantage.

Once in the lead, Wilke pulled away to take the win. Ryan Braseth and Alex Braseth rounded out the top three.

Next week, the NLRA Late Models will highlight Thursday Night Thunder as they make their first appearance at the speedway since 2017. On August 6th, the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprints will make their first and only appearance of the season.

RESULTS:

IMCA Modifieds:
A Feature: 1. 2A-Casey Arneson[5]; 2. 84-Michael Johnson[4]; 3. 60-Tyler Hall[1]; 4. 40-Rob VanMil[2]; 5. 88B-Brady Petermann[3]; 6. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[7]; 7. 21-Jamie Schulz[6]; 8. 2*-Cole Babcock[8]; 9. 96-Erv Grossman[9]; 10. 57-Tom Cummings[10]

Heat 1: 1. 2A-Casey Arneson[8]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil[4]; 3. 60-Tyler Hall[3]; 4. 88B-Brady Petermann[5]; 5. 84-Michael Johnson[6]; 6. 21-Jamie Schulz[10]; 7. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[7]; 8. 2*-Cole Babcock[9]; 9. 96-Erv Grossman[2]; 10. (DNF) 57-Tom Cummings[1]

IMCA Stock Cars:
A Feature: 1. 38-Todd Heinrich[2]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil[5]; 3. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[6]; 4. 4-Rick Schulz[3]; 5. 10R-Travis Robertson[4]; 6. 21J-Andrew Jochim[1]; 7. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[8]; 8. 76Z-John Sandvig[7]

Heat 1: 1. 4-Rick Schulz[4]; 2. 38-Todd Heinrich[3]; 3. 10R-Travis Robertson[5]; 4. 40-Rob VanMil[6]; 5. 21J-Andrew Jochim[2]; 6. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[7]; 7. 76Z-John Sandvig[1]; 8. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[8]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:
A Feature: 1. 2G-Brock Gronwold[3]; 2. 188-Hunter Hougard[2]; 3. E85-Jason Strand[8]; 4. 87S-Reise Stenberg[11]; 5. 33-Jeff Nelson[4]; 6. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[6]; 7. 55X-Chris Mack[1]; 8. 68-Joe Henninger[9]; 9. 32-Lindsey Hansen[7]; 10. (DNF) 69-Justin Jones[5]; 11. (DNF) 35-David McIntire[12]; 12. (DNS) 6J-Taylor Jacobson

Heat 1: 1. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[2]; 2. 32-Lindsey Hansen[1]; 3. 33-Jeff Nelson[3]; 4. 55X-Chris Mack[4]; 5. 68-Joe Henninger[6]; 6. (DNF) 87S-Reise Stenberg[5]

Heat 2: 1. 2G-Brock Gronwold[2]; 2. 188-Hunter Hougard[3]; 3. 69-Justin Jones[6]; 4. E85-Jason Strand[5]; 5. (DNF) 6J-Taylor Jacobson[4]; 6. (DNF) 35-David McIntire[1]

IMCA SportMods:
A Feature: 1. 3X-Andy Wagner[4]; 2. 40-Chris VanMil[3]; 3. 17-Rich Pavlicek[7]; 4. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[8]; 5. 5-Scott Jacobson[9]; 6. 12S-Isaac Sondrol[10]; 7. E6-Ryan Veralrud[2]; 8. 8J-Luke Johnson[13]; 9. 13C-Paul Colvin[5]; 10. 9-Torey Fischer[6]; 11. 22-Vince Jegtvig[11]; 12. 15-Matthew Clark[16]; 13. 2X-Brady Moore[1]; 14. 29S-Greg Schilling[12]; 15. (DNF) 12T-Brandon Tendeland[14]; 16. (DNS) 22M-Landon Maatz

Heat 1: 1. 3X-Andy Wagner[4]; 2. 17-Rich Pavlicek[6]; 3. 40-Chris VanMil[3]; 4. 2X-Brady Moore[2]; 5. 12S-Isaac Sondrol[8]; 6. 22-Vince Jegtvig[5]; 7. 8J-Luke Johnson[7]; 8. (DNF) 22M-Landon Maatz[1]

Heat 2: 1. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[6]; 2. 5-Scott Jacobson[7]; 3. E6-Ryan Veralrud[2]; 4. 9-Torey Fischer[5]; 5. 13C-Paul Colvin[4]; 6. 29S-Greg Schilling[1]; 7. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[8]; 8. (DNF) 15-Matthew Clark[3]

IMCA Hobby Stocks:
A Feature: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[8]; 2. 6-Scott Herron[9]; 3. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[4]; 4. 17-Nick Shumansky[1]; 5. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[6]; 6. 9-Skyla Miller[2]; 7. 33-Nate Hanson[10]; 8. 73-Todd Gettel[5]; 9. 22W-Will Miller[11]; 10. (DNF) 31X-Tim Shiek[7]; 11. (DNF) 26-Ken Crane[3]

Heat 1: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[5]; 2. 17-Nick Shumansky[1]; 3. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[3]; 4. 33-Nate Hanson[6]; 5. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[4]; 6. (DNF) 22W-Will Miller[2]

Heat 2: 1. 9-Skyla Miller[1]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek[4]; 3. 6-Scott Herron[5]; 4. 73-Todd Gettel[3]; 5. (DNF) 26-Ken Crane[2]

INEX Legends:
A Feature: 1. 72-Tye Wilke[4]; 2. 29-Ryan Braseth[2]; 3. 20-Alex Braseth[1]; 4. B1-Brody Carlsrud[3]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[7]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[5]; 7. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[6]

Heat 1: 1. 20-Alex Braseth[2]; 2. 29-Ryan Braseth[4]; 3. B1-Brody Carlsrud[6]; 4. 72-Tye Wilke[5]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[7]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[1]; 7. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[3]

By Mike Spieker

ADA, Minn. (July 16, 2020) – For the first time since 2014, the WISSOTA Modifieds returned to Norman County Raceway. A talent-filled field of 23 Modifieds was checked in, including the NCR’s all-time WISSOTA Modified wins leader, Blake Jegtvig of Hawley, Minn., who has 24 career wins.

NCR’s all-time WISSOTA Midwest Modified wins leader, Travis Saurer of Elizabeth, Minn., with 43 career wins, was also on hand.

Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks, Minn. and Joseph Thomas of Glyndon, Minn. led the field to the green with Strand taking the early lead. Strand, who has won at NCR in a WISSOTA Modified, Midwest Mod, Super Stock, and NLRA Late Model, built up a comfortable lead until fifth-place starter Dan Ebert of Lake Shore, Minn. moved into second on lap five.

Ebert took the point on lap eight of 20, but Strand remained hot on his heels.

Late in the going, Austin Arneson of Fargo, N.D., who was fresh off claiming the Dakota Classic Modified Tour points championship the night before, moved into third and looked to close in on the leader.

Ebert went on to take the win comfortably to claim his first Modified win at NCR and third win overall at the speedway.

In one of the most exciting finishes of the night, Scott Jacobson of Fargo won the Titan Machinery IMCA SportMod feature in thrilling fashion. Ryan Veralrud of Ottertail, Minn. led early before Torey Fischer of West Fargo, N.D. took the point to lead laps five through 10.

Veteran driver, Rich Pavlicek of Casselton, N.D. grabbed the lead from Fischer on lap 10, but Pavlicek quickly had his hands full with Jacobson. Pavlicek and Jacobson were side by side as they took the white flag from the AuctionBlock.com Flagstand.

Heading into the final set of corners, Jacobson dove to the inside of Pavlicek and attempted a slide job off turn four. Jacobson narrowly cleared Pavlicek’s front bumper, but Pavlicek couldn’t slow up in time and made heavy contact with Jacobson on the front straightaway.

The contact sent Jacobson spinning across the finish line backward. Pavlicek narrowly edged out Jacobson’s rear bumper across the line, but NCR officials docked Pavlicek a position for spinning Jacobson.

It was a bizarre photo finish during the IMCA SportMods on Thursday night at Norman County Raceway. Scott Jacobson (5) was awarded the win after being spun out by Rich Pavlicek (17). Photo by Mike Spieker.

That gave Jacobson the win as Pavlicek and Aaron Wetterlin of Moorhead, Minn. rounded out the podium.

Tim Gonska of Brainerd, Minn. picked up his fourth win at NCR in five tries in the Christian Brothers Ford IMCA Hobby Stocks. Things got hairy at the start of the race as pole-sitter Brodee Eckerdt of Grand Forks, N.D. spun in front of the field on lap one. Several cars spun as they tried to avoid the spinning car, but Alyssa White of West Fargo, N.D. received the most damage as she was forced to be taken off the speedway on the back of the wrecker.

Gonska led 11 of the 12 laps en route to the win.

The four-cylinder Hornets made their first appearance at NCR since August 25, 2011. Sixteen drivers made up the starting lineup for their 12-lap main event. Randy Thompson of Lake Park, Minn. picked up the win.

Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes, Minn. scored his third win in four attempts in the Seedex INEX Legends. Wilke made the pass for the lead, and eventually the win, over Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead, Minn. with three laps to go.

Dexter Dvergsten of Greenbush, Minn. claimed the Lucas Oil POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint feature win. It looked as though second-year Lightning Sprint driver, Bryce Haugeberg of West Fargo, was destined for the win. However, Haugeberg clipped an infield tire in the closing laps which allowed Dvergsten to inherit the lead and take the win.

RESULTS:

WISSOTA Modifieds
A Feature: 1. 60-Dan Ebert[5]; 2. 71-Dustin Strand[2]; 3. 10-Austin Arneson[9]; 4. 6X-Zach Johnson[4]; 5. 21X-Travis Saurer[7]; 6. 85-Jayson Good[13]; 7. 7X-Joseph Thomas[1]; 8. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[10]; 9. 48-Brent Dutenhoffer[8]; 10. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[6]; 11. 7J-Richard Jacobson[12]; 12. 17-Michael Greseth[14]; 13. 84-Michael Johnson[16]; 14. 2-Aaron Holtan[17]; 15. 74-Dustin Wahl[15]; 16. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[11]; 17. 81-Jordan Duray[18]; 18. 1RM-Taylor Grove[21]; 19. (DNF) 57-Michael Tiani[20]; 20. (DNF) 25-Jamie Trautner[3]; 21. (DNF) 88X-Delray Dykstra[19]

Heat 1: 1. 48-Brent Dutenhoffer[1]; 2. 6X-Zach Johnson[3]; 3. 10-Austin Arneson[5]; 4. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[7]; 5. 85-Jayson Good[4]; 6. 84-Michael Johnson[6]; 7. 81-Jordan Duray[2]; 8. 57-Michael Tiani[8]

Heat 2: 1. 7X-Joseph Thomas[1]; 2. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[3]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 4. 11Z-Dylan Zabel[2]; 5. 17-Michael Greseth[8]; 6. 2-Aaron Holtan[5]; 7. 88X-Delray Dykstra[6]; 8. (DNF) 1RM-Taylor Grove[4]

Heat 3: 1. 71-Dustin Strand[2]; 2. 25-Jamie Trautner[1]; 3. 21X-Travis Saurer[3]; 4. 7J-Richard Jacobson[5]; 5. 74-Dustin Wahl[4]

Minn-Kota Lightning Sprints
A Feature: 1. 11-Dexter Dvergsten[4]; 2. 10-Alex Truscinski[2]; 3. 93-Kelsi Pederson[7]; 4. 13-Alan Truscinski[8]; 5. 100-Jason Berg[6]; 6. 51-Cody Swenson[3]; 7. 72-Kate Taves[10]; 8. 24-Jake Haugeberg[5]; 9. (DNF) 22-Bryce Haugeberg[1]; 10. (DNF) 1W-Mark Williams[9]

Heat 1: 1. 22-Bryce Haugeberg[3]; 2. 100-Jason Berg[2]; 3. 1W-Mark Williams[4]; 4. 72-Kate Taves[5]; 5. 24-Jake Haugeberg[1]

Heat 2: 1. 10-Alex Truscinski[2]; 2. 11-Dexter Dvergsten[1]; 3. 93-Kelsi Pederson[3]; 4. 13-Alan Truscinski[4]; 5. 51-Cody Swenson[5]

IMCA Hobby Stocks
A Feature: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[8]; 2. 33X-Joe Gonska[4]; 3. 31X-Tim Shiek[7]; 4. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[6]; 5. 73-Todd Gettel[5]; 6. 9-Skyla Miller[1]; 7. 2B-Tra Ewalt[9]; 8. 22W-Will Miller[11]; 9. 26-Ken Crane[3]; 10. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[2]; 11. 17-Nick Shumansky[12]; 12. (DNF) 14-Alyssa White[10]

Heat 1: 1. 73-Todd Gettel[4]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek[5]; 3. 26-Ken Crane[3]; 4. 9-Skyla Miller[1]; 5. 2B-Tra Ewalt[6]; 6. (DNF) 22W-Will Miller[2]

Heat 2: 1. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[2]; 2. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[4]; 3. 14-Alyssa White[6]; 4. 33X-Joe Gonska[3]; 5. 5G-Tim Gonska[5]; 6. 17-Nick Shumansky[1]

IMCA SportMods
A Feature: 1. 5-Scott Jacobson[9]; 2. 17-Rich Pavlicek[6]; 3. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[8]; 4. 9-Torey Fischer[4]; 5. 8J-Luke Johnson[10]; 6. 13C-Paul Colvin[12]; 7. 22-Vince Jegtvig[14]; 8. 15-Matthew Clark[15]; 9. 2X-Brady Moore[1]; 10. 5F-Brandon Ferris[3]; 11. 29S-Greg Schilling[11]; 12. 22M-Landon Maatz[13]; 13. (DNF) E6-Ryan Veralrud[2]; 14. (DNF) 40-Chris VanMil[5]; 15. (DNF) 3X-Andy Wagner[7]

Heat 1: 1. 3X-Andy Wagner[7]; 2. 9-Torey Fischer[5]; 3. 5-Scott Jacobson[8]; 4. 40-Chris VanMil[6]; 5. 5F-Brandon Ferris[3]; 6. 29S-Greg Schilling[2]; 7. 22M-Landon Maatz[1]; 8. (DNF) 15-Matthew Clark[4]

Heat 2: 1. 17-Rich Pavlicek[5]; 2. 8J-Luke Johnson[7]; 3. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[6]; 4. E6-Ryan Veralrud[2]; 5. 2X-Brady Moore[1]; 6. 13C-Paul Colvin[3]; 7. 22-Vince Jegtvig[4]

INEX Legends
A Feature: 1. 72-Tye Wilke[4]; 2. B1-Brody Carlsrud[2]; 3. 20-Alex Braseth[1]; 4. 29-Ryan Braseth[3]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[7]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[5]; 7. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[6]

Heat 1: 1. 72-Tye Wilke[6]; 2. 29-Ryan Braseth[5]; 3. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[7]; 4. B1-Brody Carlsrud[4]; 5. 20-Alex Braseth[3]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[2]; 7. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[1]

Hornets
A Feature: 1. 6R-Randy Thompson[2]; 2. 00H-Curtis Huseth[10]; 3. 7B-Zach Besmehn[6]; 4. 00-Kevin Youngquist[5]; 5. 19-Cole Greseth[4]; 6. 9-Levi Lease[7]; 7. 11-Casey Stremick[16]; 8. (DNF) 24G-Chase Golliet[1]; 9. (DNF) 28-John Current[8]; 10. (DNF) 5X-Peyton Edelman[13]; 11. (DNF) 23-Daniel Beckman[3]; 12. (DNF) 77-Daniel Harstad[12]; 13. (DNF) 50M-Brady Molter[15]; 14. (DNS) 5-Russell Novacek; 15. (DNS) 21-Joel Olson; 16. (DNS) 27-Rob Hansen

Heat 1: 1. 7B-Zach Besmehn[4]; 2. 00-Kevin Youngquist[5]; 3. 6R-Randy Thompson[6]; 4. 5-Russell Novacek[2]; 5. (DNF) 5X-Peyton Edelman[1]; 6. (DNF) 50M-Brady Molter[3]

Heat 2: 1. 9-Levi Lease[3]; 2. 23-Daniel Beckman[1]; 3. 24G-Chase Golliet[4]; 4. 00H-Curtis Huseth[2]

Heat 3: 1. 28-John Current[5]; 2. 19-Cole Greseth[2]; 3. (DNF) 27-Rob Hansen[1]; 4. (DNF) 77-Daniel Harstad[3]; 5. (DNF) 21-Joel Olson[4]

By Mike Spieker

ADA, Minn. (July 9, 2020) – After six years of racing at his home track, Ada’s Kalvin Kesselberg finally scored that elusive first victory. Kesselberg started fifth on the grid for the Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Car feature and worked his way into second by lap two of 15.

Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada scored his first career win at Norman County Raceway on Thursday night. Photo by Mike Spieker

Kesselberg rode behind veteran driver Todd Heinrich of Fargo until the veteran driver made a rare mistake and slid off the top of turns one and two. The slip-up triggered a caution and Kesselberg inherited the lead with two more veteran drivers, Rick Schulz of Horace, N.D., and Rob VanMil of Barnesville, Minn. in tow.

Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada scored his first career win at Norman County Raceway on Thursday night. Photo by Mike Spieker

Kesselberg endured extreme pressure from Schulz in the closing laps. Schulz gave Kesselberg a few taps to the rear bumper on the final lap, trying to push Kesselberg’s No. 11 out of the preferred groove. However, Kesselberg held a steady line down the back straightaway. Schulz pulled along the Ada driver off of turn four, coming to the checkers, but Kesselberg was able to hang on by a half car length for the win.

With the huge crowd in attendance on their feet in applause, Kesselberg revved his engine as he pulled into KRJB/KRJM/KKCQ Victory Lane before celebrating with family and friends.

Kalvin Kesselberg gets a hug from his mom, Barb, in victory lane. Photo by Mike Spieker

“I’ve been chasing this for six years. This is awesome,” said an ecstatic Kesselberg after the race.

The Dakota Cat Modified Shootout attracted a season-high 18 Sanders Metal Products IMCA Modifieds. It looked as though NCR ringer Jesse Rogotzke of Sanborn, Minn. was going to take home the big payday, but a restart at the halfway point of the 20-lapper proved to be the difference.

Casey Arneson of Fargo made a power move around the outside of Rogotzke to take the lead on lap 10. Once out front, Arneson never looked back as he races to his first Norman County Raceway win of the season.

Debuting his brand new Trump 2020 paint scheme, Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls, Minn. dominated the Christians Motors WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature. Gronwold started on the outside of the front row and led every lap to take the win over Jason Strand of Portland, N.D.

Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes, Minn. picked up the Seedex INEX Legends feature win. The win was Wilke’s second of the season at NCR and his 11th overall out of 17 races.

Christians Brothers Ford IMCA Hobby Stock point leader, Tim Gonska of Brainerd, Minn. raced to his third win of the season. Joe Gonska of Breezy Point, Minn. held the lead early, but Tim made the pass for the lead, and eventually the win, on lap seven of 12.

Aaron Wetterlin of Moorhead, Minn. led in the early stages of the Titan Machinery IMCA SportMod feature, but was overtaken by fellow Moorhead driver Luke Johnson. Johnson led the final nine laps en route to the win.

Next Thursday night will be a special event as the WISSOTA Modifieds highlight the night’s lineup.

SUMMARY

IMCA Modifieds

A Feature: 1. 2A-Casey Arneson[4]; 2. XXX-Jesse Rogotzke[1]; 3. 72-Dave Shipley[3]; 4. 12-Matt Aukland[9]; 5. 10-Austin Arneson[6]; 6. 40-Rob VanMil[2]; 7. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[11]; 8. 84-Michael Johnson[8]; 9. 442-Aaron Johnson[7]; 10. 88B-Brady Petermann[14]; 11. 5T-Marcus Tomlinson[18]; 12. 60-Tyler Hall[12]; 13. 21-Jamie Schulz[5]; 14. 2*-Cole Babcock[10]; 15. 96-Erv Grossman[13]; 16. 57-Tom Cummings[15]; 17. (DNF) 84X-Joshua Johnson[16]; 18. (DNS) 6D-Dylan Goplen

Heat 1: 1. 10-Austin Arneson[2]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil[6]; 3. 84-Michael Johnson[3]; 4. 21-Jamie Schulz[1]; 5. 96-Erv Grossman[4]; 6. 84X-Joshua Johnson[5]

Heat 2: 1. 12-Matt Aukland[1]; 2. 72-Dave Shipley[3]; 3. 2A-Casey Arneson[5]; 4. XXX-Jesse Rogotzke[4]; 5. 88B-Brady Petermann[2]; 6. 6D-Dylan Goplen[6]

Heat 3: 1. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[3]; 2. 442-Aaron Johnson[4]; 3. 60-Tyler Hall[5]; 4. 2*-Cole Babcock[2]; 5. 57-Tom Cummings[1]; 6. 5T-Marcus Tomlinson[6]

IMCA SportMods
A Feature: 1. 8J-Luke Johnson[8]; 2. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[5]; 3. 5-Scott Jacobson[6]; 4. 3X-Andy Wagner[16]; 5. 22J-Vince Jegtvig[3]; 6. 13C-Paul Colvin[1]; 7. 9-Torey Fischer[4]; 8. 15-Matthew Clark[13]; 9. 5F-Brandon Ferris[10]; 10. 29S-Greg Schilling[15]; 11. 6-Austin Veralrud[12]; 12. (DNF) 2X-Brady Moore[11]; 13. (DNF) 22-Landon Maatz[14]; 14. (DNF) E6-Ryan Veralrud[2]; 15. (DNF) 17-Rich Pavlicek[9]; 16. (DNF) 40-Chris VanMil[7]

Heat 1: 1. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[4]; 2. 17-Rich Pavlicek[6]; 3. 40-Chris VanMil[5]; 4. E6-Ryan Veralrud[2]; 5. 9-Torey Fischer[3]; 6. 2X-Brady Moore[1]; 7. 15-Matthew Clark[7]; 8. 29S-Greg Schilling[8]

Heat 2: 1. 5-Scott Jacobson[4]; 2. 8J-Luke Johnson[5]; 3. 13C-Paul Colvin[1]; 4. 22J-Vince Jegtvig[2]; 5. 5F-Brandon Ferris[6]; 6. 6-Austin Veralrud[8]; 7. 22-Landon Maatz[7]; 8. (DNF) 3X-Andy Wagner[3]

IMCA Stock Cars
A Feature: 1. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[5]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz[4]; 3. 40-Rob VanMil[6]; 4. 10R-Travis Robertson[7]; 5. 52-Brennan Borg[10]; 6. 38-Todd Heinrich[3]; 7. 21J-Andrew Jochim[2]; 8. (DNF) 17-Chad Hunteman[9]; 9. (DNF) 76Z-John Sandvig[1]; 10. (DNF) 30A-Adam Goff[8]

Heat 1: 1. 38-Todd Heinrich[2]; 2. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[3]; 3. 10R-Travis Robertson[4]; 4. 17-Chad Hunteman[5]; 5. 76Z-John Sandvig[1]

Heat 2: 1. 4-Rick Schulz[2]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil[3]; 3. 52-Brennan Borg[5]; 4. 21J-Andrew Jochim[1]; 5. 30A-Adam Goff[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:
A Feature 1: 1. 2G-Brock Gronwold[2]; 2. E85-Jason Strand[5]; 3. 69-Justin Jones[4]; 4. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[7]; 5. 87S-Reise Stenberg[6]; 6. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[8]; 7. 33-Jeff Nelson[3]; 8. B33-Brennan Urbach[9]; 9. 68-Joe Henninger[11]; 10. (DNF) 6J-Taylor Jacobson[1]; 11. (DNF) 188-Hunter Hougard[10]

Heat 1: 1. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[2]; 2. E85-Jason Strand[5]; 3. 69-Justin Jones[1]; 4. 6J-Taylor Jacobson[4]; 5. B33-Brennan Urbach[3]

Heat 2: 1. 2G-Brock Gronwold[2]; 2. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[3]; 3. 33-Jeff Nelson[4]; 4. 87S-Reise Stenberg[1]; 5. 188-Hunter Hougard[5]; 6. 68-Joe Henninger[6]

IMCA Hobby Stocks
A Feature: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[8]; 2. 33X-Joe Gonska[2]; 3. 31X-Tim Shiek[6]; 4. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[7]; 5. 73-Todd Gettel[10]; 6. 26-Ken Crane[9]; 7. 22W-Will Miller[1]; 8. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[4]; 9. (DNF) 2B-Steve Nordhagen[5]; 10. (DNF) 17-Chad Visser[3]; 11. (DNF) 17S-Nick Shumansky[11]; 12. (DNS) 9-Skyla Miller

Heat 1: 1. 2B-Steve Nordhagen[4]; 2. 17-Chad Visser[3]; 3. 22W-Will Miller[2]; 4. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[5]; 5. 26-Ken Crane[6]; 6. 17S-Nick Shumansky[1]

Heat 2: 1. 33X-Joe Gonska[2]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek[4]; 3. 5G-Tim Gonska[5]; 4. 73-Todd Gettel[6]; 5. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[3]; 6. (DNF) 9-Skyla Miller[1]

INEX Legends
A Feature: 1. 72-Tye Wilke[6]; 2. B1-Brody Carlsrud[4]; 3. 29-Ryan Braseth[5]; 4. 20-Alex Braseth[3]; 5. 58-Sean Johnson[7]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[2]; 7. 5D8-Dylan Johnson[9]; 8. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[10]; 9. 8-Ethan Mabus[8]; 10. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[1]

Heat 1: 1. B1-Brody Carlsrud[2]; 2. 20-Alex Braseth[1]; 3. 72-Tye Wilke[3]; 4. 8-Ethan Mabus[4]

Heat 2: 1. 29-Ryan Braseth[3]; 2. 58-Sean Johnson[4]; 3. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[2]; 4. 2-Ashton Spieker[1]; 5. 5D8-Dylan Johnson[5]; 6. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[6]

By Mike Spieker

ADA, Minn. (June 18, 2020) – A strong field of Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Cars were on hand for the ninth annual King Pin Klash, presented by The Bowler of Fargo. Rob VanMil of Barnesville, Minn. and Todd Heinrich of Fargo made up the front row for the main event.

VanMil took the early lead as Heinrich and Brennan Borg of Harwood, N.D. filed into second and third, respectively. Heinrich rode in the tire tracks of VanMil throughout the entire feature until the two made contact with six laps to go. The contact sent VanMil spinning to bring out the caution. It was determined that VanMil was the cause for the caution and was sent to the tail of the field.

Todd Heinrich of Fargo was the big winner of the evening on Thursday at Norman County Raceway, winner the IMCA Stock Car King Pin Klash. Photo by Mike Spieker.

Heinrich went on to pick up the win to become the ninth different winner of the King Pin Klash at NCR.

“What a great race, what a great bunch of competitors, what a great class,” said a happy Heinrich in victory lane. “I’m having a blast. I just had to be patient. I overdrive the car way too much. I had to settle down and be patient and everything just worked out.”

Jesse Skalicky found KRJB 106.5 FM Victory Lane for the first time this season. Skalicky, of Fargo, came from the fourth starting position to win the Sander’s Metal Products IMCA Modified feature.

“It just took some patience tonight,” said Skalicky of his charge to the front. “The track was awesome tonight. It was smooth from top to bottom.”

Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls, Minn. made his return to victory lane after a dominating performance in the Christian Brothers Ford WISSOTA Midwest Mod feature. Matt Schow of McIntosh, Minn. took the lead on lap one from the pole position, but Blacklance worked his way around the No. 2S on lap two to take the lead.

Blacklance went on to lead the final 13 trips around the three-eighths-mile oval to claim the win by just under a second over Justin Jones of Bemidji, Minn.

Chris VanMil of Barnesville, Minn. took the lead away from Torey Fischer of West Fargo on lap five of 14 of the Titan Machinery IMCA SportMod feature, and never looked back. VanMil picked up the win by a convincing 5.7 seconds over Fischer as Scott Jacobson of Fargo rounded out the podium.

The win for VanMil, who is a part-time runner at Norman County Raceway, was his first at the speedway since 2015. In fact, VanMil was the winner of the first-ever IMCA SportMod event at NCR, which was when his most recent win came.

Tim Gonska has made the haul to NCR from Brainerd, Minn. all three weeks thus far. After having the Christian Brothers Ford IMCA Hobby Stock feature win stolen from him on the final lap last week, Gonska returned to victory lane on Thursday. Gonska made the pass for the lead on Brad Orvedahl of Fargo on lap three and never looked back.

Ashton Spieker of Sabin, Minn. led the opening laps of the Seedex INEX Legends feature before Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes, Minn. came charging into the lead. Once out front, Wilke cruised to the win – his first of the season at NCR.

RESULTS:

IMCA Stock Cars:
A Feature: 1. 38-Todd Heinrich[2]; 2. 10R-Travis Robertson[6]; 3. 52-Brennan Borg[7]; 4. 4-Rick Schulz[9]; 5. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[4]; 6. 40-Rob VanMil[1]; 7. 86-Thomas Ahrndt[12]; 8. 21J-Andrew Jochim[11]; 9. 17-Chad Hunteman[14]; 10. 18-Mike Anderson[10]; 11. 76Z-John Sandvig[5]; 12. 8-Billy Michaelsohn[3]; 13. (DNF) 34-Jordan Zillmer[8]; 14. (DNF) 85K-Ernest Geist[13]

Heat 1: 1. 10R-Travis Robertson[1]; 2. 38-Todd Heinrich[3]; 3. 4-Rick Schulz[6]; 4. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[7]; 5. 76Z-John Sandvig[4]; 6. 21J-Andrew Jochim[5]; 7. 85K-Ernest Geist[2]

Heat 2: 1. 52-Brennan Borg[1]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil[4]; 3. 18-Mike Anderson[6]; 4. 8-Billy Michaelsohn[2]; 5. 34-Jordan Zillmer[5]; 6. 86-Thomas Ahrndt[7]; 7. 17-Chad Hunteman[3]

IMCA Modifieds:
A Feature: 1. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[4]; 2. 60-Tyler Hall[1]; 3. 88B-Brady Petermann[2]; 4. 40-Rob VanMil[3]; 5. 96-Erv Grossman[6]; 6. 57-Tom Cummings[7]; 7. (DNF) 84-Joshua Johnson[8]; 8. (DNF) 10-Austin Arneson[5]

Heat 1: 1. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[6]; 2. 88B-Brady Petermann[4]; 3. 10-Austin Arneson[7]; 4. 60-Tyler Hall[3]; 5. 40-Rob VanMil[5]; 6. 96-Erv Grossman[2]; 7. 57-Tom Cummings[1]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:
A Feature: 1. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[2]; 2. 69-Justin Jones[3]; 3. 2S-Matt Schow[1]; 4. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[8]; 5. 7-Brandon Mehrwerth[6]; 6. 188-Hunter Hougard[7]; 7. 01-Zach Bruer[4]; 8. 33-Jeff Nelson[5]; 9. 16-Skyler Smith[10]; 10. 55X-Chris Mack[13]; 11. 6J-Taylor Jacobson[11]; 12. (DNF) 2G-Brock Gronwold[9]; 13. (DNF) 35-David McIntire[12]

Heat 1: 1. 7-Brandon Mehrwerth[2]; 2. 01-Zach Bruer[1]; 3. 188-Hunter Hougard[4]; 4. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[3]; 5. 2G-Brock Gronwold[5]; 6. 6J-Taylor Jacobson[6]; 7. 55X-Chris Mack[7]

Heat 2: 1. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[5]; 2. 2S-Matt Schow[3]; 3. 33-Jeff Nelson[2]; 4. 69-Justin Jones[6]; 5. 16-Skyler Smith[1]; 6. 35-David McIntire[4]

IMCA Northern SportMods:
A Feature: 1. 40-Chris VanMil[5]; 2. 9-Torey Fischer[1]; 3. 5-Scott Jacobson[7]; 4. 8J-Luke Johnson[9]; 5. 22-Vince Jegtvig[4]; 6. 17-Rich Pavlicek[10]; 7. 13C-Paul Colvin[2]; 8. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[3]; 9. 2X-Brady Moore[11]; 10. (DNF) 3X-Andy Wagner[6]; 11. (DNF) 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[8]

Heat 1: 1. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[4]; 2. 3X-Andy Wagner[3]; 3. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[2]; 4. 17-Rich Pavlicek[5]; 5. 9-Torey Fischer[1]; 6. 2X-Brady Moore[6]

Heat 2: 1. 5-Scott Jacobson[4]; 2. 8J-Luke Johnson[5]; 3. 22-Vince Jegtvig[2]; 4. 40-Chris VanMil[3]; 5. (DNF) 13C-Paul Colvin[1]

IMCA Hobby Stocks:
A Feature: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[8]; 2. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[6]; 3. 31X-Tim Shiek[7]; 4. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[3]; 5. 6-Scott Herron[9]; 6. 17-Chad Visser[2]; 7. 2B-Steve Nordhagen[5]; 8. 39-Caleb Gardner[10]; 9. 22W-Will Miller[1]; 10. (DNF) 33X-Joe Gonska[4]

Heat 1: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[4]; 2. 33X-Joe Gonska[2]; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[3]; 4. 17-Chad Visser[1]; 5. 39-Caleb Gardner[5]

Heat 2: 1. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[2]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek[4]; 3. 6-Scott Herron[5]; 4. 2B-Steve Nordhagen[3]; 5. 22W-Will Miller[1]

INEX Legends:
A Feature: 1. 72-Tye Wilke[2]; 2. B1-Brody Carlsrud[7]; 3. 29-Ryan Braseth[3]; 4. 20-Alex Braseth[4]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[6]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[1]; 7. (DNF) 19E-Elzetta Bitker[5]

Heat 1: 1. 29-Ryan Braseth[5]; 2. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[7]; 3. 72-Tye Wilke[4]; 4. 20-Alex Braseth[6]; 5. 2-Ashton Spieker[2]; 6. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[1]; 7. (DNF) B1-Brody Carlsrud[3]

By Mike Spieker

ADA, Minn. (June 11, 2020) – A good crowd of fans again filled the stands on Thursday night as RDO presented week two of Thursday Night Thunder at Norman County Raceway. Two first-time winners, Steve Nordhagen and Brendan Blascyk, visited victory lane, while familiar names Rob VanMil, Rick Schulz, Aaron Wetterlin, and Scott Richardson also picked up wins.

Steve Nordhagen, 64 of Thief River Falls, Minn., claimed his first career win at Norman County Raceway on Thursday night.

The high-side was the fastest way around the speedway for the Sanders Metal Products IMCA Modifieds. All drivers inside the top five rode the extreme high side of the speedway. Rob VanMil of Barnesville, Minn. started on the pole and led all 15 laps en route to his first Modified victory of the season. The best battle on the track was the race for second as Michael Johnson of Moorhead and Fargo’s Austin Arneson raced side by side lap after lap. Arneson appeared to have the faster car, but Johnson had the preferred line in the moisture on the outside of the speedway. VanMil led Johnson, Arneson, Aaron Johnson of Brainerd, and Jesse Skalicky of Fargo to the checkers.

Rick Schulz of Horace, N.D. withstood heavy pressure from Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada in the closing stages of the Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Car feature to claim the win. Schulz has gotten a good start to the season thus far. His win on Thursday was his second of the season through three events. His other win came on June 5th at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D.

The IMCA Stock Cars race into turn one during heat race action at Norman County Raceway.

Aaron Wetterlin came from the sixth starting position to win the Titan Machinery IMCA SportMod feature. Wetterlin quickly moved to the second position before tracking down leader Brandon Tendeland of West Fargo, N.D. Once out front, Wetterlin checked out and took the win. Behind him, a great battle for second broke out between eighth and 10th place starters Luke Johnson of Glyndon and Rich Pavlicek of Casselton, N.D. Pavlicek took the runner up spot at the checkers as Johnson rounded out the podium.

Steve Nordhagen grabbed his first career Christian Brothers Ford IMCA Hobby Stock feature win in his Norman County Raceway debut. Nordhagen of Thief River Falls is a 64-year-old third-year racer. Nordhagen held off IMCA national front runner Tim Gonska of Brainerd, in the closing stages. Gonska had a run on Nordhagen heading into turns three and four on the final lap, but heavy contact between the two stalled Gonska’s run and gave Nordhagen the win by a nose at the AuctionBlock.com flagstand.

In a wild finish to the Christian Motors WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature, Brendan Blascyk picked up his first career Norman County Raceway win. Blascyk, of Kensington, Minn. who plans to compete at Norman County weekly in 2020, started fifth on the grid but found himself in the third position by lap five. Blascyk rode behind early race leader Chris Mack of Jamestown, N.D., and Zach Bruer of Fischer. Mack and Bruer had a great battle for the lead as both drivers rode the rim around the fast and tacky three-eighths-mile oval. With four laps to go, Mack slid off the track in turns one and two as Blascyk, who ran second, narrowly missed him. The caution flew and Blascyk assumed the race lead.

On the restart, Blascyk held off Bruer to visit KRJB/KRJM/KKCQ Victory Lane for the first time. Bruer and Jeff Nelson of Perham rounded out the podium.

A four-car breakout was led by Scott Richardson to start the Seedex INEX Legend feature. The Braseth brothers of Ryan and Alex ran second and third, respectively, while 2018 track champion Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead rode fourth. A debris caution came out with four laps down, which put Carlsrud to the tail of the field. In the closing laps, the top three cars all ran within four car lengths on the top side of the speedway. Richardson held on for the win while Alex and Ryan Braseth, Tony Brockhouse of Glyndon, and Carlsrud rounded out the top five.

Racing continues at Norman County Raceway next Thursday night with the green flag dropping at 7 pm.

RESULTS:

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:
A Feature: 1. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[5]; 2. 01-Zach Bruer[1]; 3. 33-Jeff Nelson[4]; 4. 188-Hunter Hougard[7]; 5. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[3]; 6. 69-Justin Jones[11]; 7. 55X-Chris Mack[2]; 8. 16-Skyler Smith[10]; 9. (DNF) 2G-Brock Gronwold[8]; 10. (DNF) 1S-Scott Bintz[9]; 11. (DNF) 2S-Matt Schow[6]; 12. (DNF) 35-David McIntire[12]; 13. (DNS) 7S-Sam Zender

Heat 1: 1. 188-Hunter Hougard[2]; 2. 33-Jeff Nelson[3]; 3. 01-Zach Bruer[5]; 4. 55X-Chris Mack[1]; 5. 1S-Scott Bintz[6]; 6. 16-Skyler Smith[7]; 7. (DNF) 69-Justin Jones[4]

Heat 2: 1. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[1]; 2. 2S-Matt Schow[2]; 3. 2G-Brock Gronwold[6]; 4. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[4]; 5. (DNS) 35-David McIntire; 6. (DNS) 7S-Sam Zender

IMCA Modifieds:
A Feature: 1. 40-Rob VanMil[1]; 2. 84-Michael Johnson[2]; 3. 10-Austin Arneson[5]; 4. 442-Aaron Johnson[3]; 5. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[4]; 6. 88B-Brady Petermann[6]; 7. 96-Erv Grossman[8]; 8. 57-Tom Cummings[9]; 9. (DNF) 60-Tyler Hall[7]

Heat 1: 1. 10-Austin Arneson[8]; 2. 84-Michael Johnson[4]; 3. 40-Rob VanMil[1]; 4. 442-Aaron Johnson[6]; 5. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[7]; 6. 88B-Brady Petermann[9]; 7. 60-Tyler Hall[5]; 8. 96-Erv Grossman[3]; 9. (DNF) 57-Tom Cummings[2]

IMCA Stock Cars:
A Feature: 1. 4-Rick Schulz[1]; 2. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[4]; 3. 10-Travis Robertson[6]; 4. 40-Rob VanMil[7]; 5. 18A-Mike Anderson[8]; 6. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[9]; 7. 21J-Andrew Jochim[3]; 8. 13X-Jonathan Johnson[2]; 9. (DNF) 38-Todd Heinrich[5]; 10. (DNS) 76Z-John Sandvig

Heat 1: 1. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[3]; 2. 10-Travis Robertson[4]; 3. 18A-Mike Anderson[5]; 4. 13X-Jonathan Johnson[2]; 5. (DNS) 76Z-John Sandvig

Heat 2: 1. 40-Rob VanMil[4]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz[1]; 3. 21J-Andrew Jochim[2]; 4. 38-Todd Heinrich[3]; 5. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[5]

IMCA SportMods:
A Feature: 1. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[6]; 2. 17-Rich Pavlicek[10]; 3. 8J-Luke Johnson[8]; 4. 3X-Andy Wagner[7]; 5. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[2]; 6. E6-Ryan Veralrud[4]; 7. 40-Chris VanMil[9]; 8. 9-Torey Fischer[3]; 9. 22-Vince Jegtvig[5]; 10. 2X-Brady Moore[1]; 11. (DNS) 13C-Paul Colvin

Heat 1: 1. 3X-Andy Wagner[4]; 2. 9-Torey Fischer[2]; 3. 40-Chris VanMil[5]; 4. E6-Ryan Veralrud[3]; 5. 2X-Brady Moore[1]

Heat 2: 1. 8J-Luke Johnson[4]; 2. 17-Rich Pavlicek[5]; 3. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[1]; 4. 22-Vince Jegtvig[6]; 5. (DNF) 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[3]; 6. (DNS) 13C-Paul Colvin

INEX Legends:
A Feature: 1. 79-Scott Richardson[2]; 2. 20-Alex Braseth[1]; 3. 29-Ryan Braseth[4]; 4. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[9]; 5. B1-Brody Carlsrud[3]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[5]; 7. 8-Ethan Mabus[6]; 8. (DNF) 19E-Elzetta Bitker[7]; 9. (DNS) 72-Tye Wilke

Heat 1: 1. 29-Ryan Braseth[2]; 2. B1-Brody Carlsrud[3]; 3. 79-Scott Richardson[4]; 4. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[8]; 5. 20-Alex Braseth[7]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker[6]; 7. 8-Ethan Mabus[1]; 8. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[5]; 9. (DNF) 72-Tye Wilke[9]

IMCA Hobby Stocks:
A Feature: 1. 2B-Steve Nordhagen[1]; 2. 5G-Tim Gonska[4]; 3. 6-Scott Herron[6]; 4. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[2]; 5. 31X-Tim Shiek[3]; 6. 33X-Joe Gonska[5]; 7. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[10]; 8. 17-Chad Visser[7]; 9. 22W-Will Miller[11]; 10. 9-Skyla Miller[9]; 11. (DNF) 17S-Nick Shumansky[8]; 12. (DNS) 14-Alyssa White

Heat 1: 1. 2B-Steve Nordhagen[1]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek[3]; 3. 33X-Joe Gonska[4]; 4. 17S-Nick Shumansky[6]; 5. 17-Chad Visser[5]; 6. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[2]

Heat 2: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[3]; 2. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[2]; 3. 6-Scott Herron[4]; 4. 9-Skyla Miller[6]; 5. (DNF) 22W-Will Miller[1]; 6. (DNS) 14-Alyssa White

By Mike Spieker

ADA, Minn. (June 4, 2020) – A sizable, yet socially distant crowd filled the historic Norman County Raceway grandstand on Thursday night as the speedway hosted its 102nd season of racing at the three-eighths-mile oval.

The IMCA Stock Cars proved once again why they are the nightcap at the speedway. In what was the most exciting event of the evening, Mike Anderson of Walcott, N.D. raced to his first career NCR Stock Car win after a hard-fought battle with Rob Vanmil of Barnesville.

Photo: Mike Anderson claimed the night’s Stock Car feature win after an exciting battle with defending Stock Car champion, Rob VanMil. Photo by Mike Spieker.

Starting on the pole, Anderson took the lead from fellow front-row starter, Travis Robertson of Moorhead, on the opening lap. Robertson filed into second, but after a few laps had the fifth-place starter, VanMil, hot on his heels. Both Robertson and VanMil remained within striking distance of the leader until both of them caught Anderson at the halfway point.

Exiting turn two on lap seven of 14, they raced three-wide down the back straightaway into turn three. Anderson hung on to lead the lap, but VanMil came charging back two laps later. Anderson and VanMil ran the final six circuits side by side, exchanging the lead seemingly every circuit, while Robertson and seventh-place starter, Todd Heinrich of Fargo, remained in contention for the win.

VanMil gave Anderson everything he had on the final lap, but Anderson’s momentum carried him to the win.

On Thursday night, Norman County Raceway honored fallen Grand Forks Police Department officer, Cody Holte, before the Stock Car feature. Kalvin Kesselberg (pictured), a cousin of Holte, led the field during Lap of Silence.

Austin Arneson of Fargo found his way to KRJB/KRJM/KKCQ Victory Lane after a convincing performance in the IMCA Modified feature. Arneson started on the pole and led every lap. Arneson is no stranger to visiting victory lane early in the season at the Norman County Fairgrounds. Since 2016, Arneson hasn’t finished worse than second at NCR’s season opener. During that streak, Arneson has three wins and an average finish of 1.4. The win was Arneson’s first in his homebuilt chassis.

Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls dominated the night’s WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature. Gronwold grabbed the lead early on from the pole position as Jeff Nelson of Perham, Lance Schill of Langdon, N.D., and Brendan Blascyk of Kensington all battled for second.

Midway through the event, lapped traffic wreaked havoc for the leaders. Gronwold was able to slip by cleanly, however drivers in positions two through five became all bunched up down the back straightaway.

That allowed Gronwold to open up a big lead. Several laps later, lapped traffic was encountered again by the leaders, however, this time second-place runner Lance Schill was collected and brought out the caution.

Gronwold went on to claim the win in a green-white-checkered finish. Hunter Hougard of Warren was the hard charger of the event, racing from seventh to finish second.

Tim Gonska of Brainerd has been racing since early this winter at IMCA Hobby Stock events across the country. Gonska, who has won his fair share of those races, continued his winning ways at Norman County Raceway. The defending North Central Speedway track champion dominated the Hobby Stock main event to score his first Norman County Raceway win since June of 2018.

Ryan Braseth of Ulen cruised to the INEX Legends feature race. Braseth came from the fourth starting position to take the lead on the opening lap. The young up-and-comer led every lap to pick up his third career Norman County Raceway feature win.

RESULTS:

IMCA Modifieds:
A Feature: 1. 10-Austin Arneson[1]; 2. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[7]; 3. 2-Casey Arneson[6]; 4. 442-Aaron Johnson[2]; 5. 60-Tyler Hall[4]; 6. XXX-Jesse Rogotzke[9]; 7. 84-Michael Johnson[8]; 8. 2T-Mike Tomlinson[10]; 9. 96-Erv Grossman[12]; 10. 57-Tom Cummings[11]; 11. (DNS) 40-Rob VanMil; 12. (DNS) 30-Cole Neset

Heat 1: 1. 10-Austin Arneson[2]; 2. 84-Michael Johnson[3]; 3. 60-Tyler Hall[5]; 4. 40-Rob VanMil[1]; 5. 30-Cole Neset[4]; 6. 57-Tom Cummings[6]

Heat 2: 1. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[2]; 2. 2-Casey Arneson[5]; 3. XXX-Jesse Rogotzke[4]; 4. 442-Aaron Johnson[6]; 5. 2T-Mike Tomlinson[3]; 6. 96-Erv Grossman[1]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods
A Feature: 1. 2G-Brock Gronwold[1]; 2. 188-Hunter Hougard[7]; 3. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[6]; 4. 69-Justin Jones[8]; 5. 33-Jeff Nelson[2]; 6. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[5]; 7. 6J-Taylor Jacobson[9]; 8. 55X-Chris Mack[10]; 9. 01-Zach Bruer[4]; 10. 35-David McIntire[11]; 11. (DNF) 17-Lance Schill[3]

Heat 1: 1. 188-Hunter Hougard[2]; 2. 01-Zach Bruer[1]; 3. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[6]; 4. 2G-Brock Gronwold[5]; 5. 6J-Taylor Jacobson[3]; 6. (DNS) 35-David McIntire

Heat 2: 1. 33-Jeff Nelson[1]; 2. 17-Lance Schill[2]; 3. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[5]; 4. 69-Justin Jones[4]; 5. 55X-Chris Mack[3]

IMCA Hobby Stock
A Feature: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[1]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek[2]; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[3]; 4. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[5]; 5. 22W-Will Miller[6]; 6. (DNF) 74-Steve Nordhagen[4]; 7. (DNS) B1-Marvin Priem

Heat 1: 1. 5G-Tim Gonska[1]; 2. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[3]; 3. 31X-Tim Shiek[4]; 4. 74-Steve Nordhagen[5]; 5. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[6]; 6. (DNF) 22W-Will Miller[2]; 7. (DNS) B1-Marvin Priem

IMCA Northern SportMod
A Feature: 1. 17-Rich Pavlicek[2]; 2. 40-Chris VanMil[1]; 3. 8J-Luke Johnson[3]; 4. 5-Scott Jacobson[5]; 5. 3X-Andy Wagner[10]; 6. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin[11]; 7. 22-Vince Jegtvig[4]; 8. E6-Ryan Veralrud[7]; 9. 13C-Paul Colvin[9]; 10. (DNF) 9-Torey Fischer[6]; 11. (DNF) 12T-Brandon Tendeland[8]; 12. (DNF) 2X-Brady Moore[12]

Heat 1: 1. 13C-Paul Colvin[4]; 2. 40-Chris VanMil[6]; 3. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[3]; 4. 9-Torey Fischer[5]; 5. (DNF) 3X-Andy Wagner[1]; 6. (DNS) 3W-Aaron Wetterlin

Heat 2: 1. 8J-Luke Johnson[1]; 2. 17-Rich Pavlicek[4]; 3. 5-Scott Jacobson[5]; 4. 22-Vince Jegtvig[6]; 5. E6-Ryan Veralrud[3]; 6. 2X-Brady Moore[2]

IMCA Stock Car
A Feature: 1. 18A-Mike Anderson[1]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil[5]; 3. 10-Travis Robertson[2]; 4. 38-Todd Heinrich[7]; 5. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[10]; 6. 21-Tim Church[3]; 7. 21J-Andrew Jochim[8]; 8. 86-Thomas Ahrndt[11]; 9. 13X-Jonathan Johnson[4]; 10. 4-Rick Schulz[9]; 11. (DNF) 76Z-John Sandvig[6]

Heat 1: 1. 38-Todd Heinrich[2]; 2. 10-Travis Robertson[1]; 3. 18A-Mike Anderson[3]; 4. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[5]; 5. 21-Tim Church[4]; 6. 86-Thomas Ahrndt[6]

Heat 2: 1. 40-Rob VanMil[3]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz[4]; 3. 21J-Andrew Jochim[5]; 4. 76Z-John Sandvig[2]; 5. 13X-Jonathan Johnson[1]

INEX Legends
A Feature: 1. 29-Ryan Braseth[4]; 2. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[2]; 3. 72-Tye Wilke[1]; 4. B1-Brody Carlsrud[3]; 5. 2-Ashton Spieker[5]; 6. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[6]; 7. (DNF) 5G-Garrison Miller[7]; 8. (DNS) 20-Alex Braseth

Heat 1: 1. B1-Brody Carlsrud[1]; 2. 29-Ryan Braseth[6]; 3. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse[7]; 4. 72-Tye Wilke[4]; 5. 2-Ashton Spieker[5]; 6. 19E-Elzetta Bitker[8]; 7. (DNF) 5G-Garrison Miller[2]; 8. (DNF) 20-Alex Braseth[3]

We are transitioning from “Text Alerts” via the RainedOut website to the new “Push Notifications” through the MyRacePass app. If you want the very latest schedule or news updates, you’ll need to download the MyRacePass app. View the instructions from MyRacePass below.

Push notifications can be sent to your phone from the MyRacePass App on iOS and Android devices. They are a great way to stay in the know about the latest updates at Norman County Raceway.

To get notifications, you will need to favorite Norman County Raceway in the app. To do that, click the hamburger menu in the top left and hit “Search MyRacePass.” Search for Norman County Raceway. When you get to the profile, hit the star to the top right of the profile.

If you need to enable push notifications on your phone, you can follow the directions below.

iOS – https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201925

Android – https://support.google.com/android/answer/9079661?hl=en

https://www.myracepass.com/users/subscription