By Mike Spieker
ADA, Minn. (August 16, 2018) – The penultimate round of Thursday Night Thunder at Norman County Raceway for the 2018 season featured Back to School night. During intermission, kids got to take a ride around the race track on a school bus and enjoyed sweets from the candy toss.
The Seedex INEX Legends had a strong 15-car field on hand for the inaugural Minn-Kota Legends Tour. Dean Julsrud and Dylan Johnson led the pack to the green flag with Julsrud taking the early lead. On lap two, the race for the lead quickly heated up as Johnson and Andrew Jochim went three wide with Julsrud out of turn two. Johnson led at the line, but Jochim held the point on the following circuit. A restart on lap four of 16 allowed Tim Estenson to slice his way through the field.
Photo: Andrew Jochim of Glyndon claimed the Minn-Kota Legends Tour feature win Thursday at Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minn.
Estenson, who has 23 wins on the season, moved by Ryan Braseth for second with nine to go. For nearly the remainder of the race, Estenson stalked Jochim as they raced nose to tail for the lead.
As the white flag flew, Estenson left the preferred top groove and attempted to dive underneath Jochim in the final set of corners. Estenson got sideways and made contact with Jochim, which forced them both to spin. Third-place runner, Braseth, dove off the turn three embankment to avoid further contact.
The caution was called on Estenson and Jochim and Braseth rejoined the field in first and second, respectively. Jochim, of Glyndon, Minn., held on to collect the win in what was his first appearance of the season to Norman County Raceway.
For the second week in a row, Luke Johnson captured the Titan Machinery IMCA SportMod checkered flag. The Moorhead, Minn. driver took the lead from Taylor Grove on lap three and never looked back. In search of his first win of the season, Grove remained within striking distance of Johnson all race long but didn’t have enough to challenge Johnson in the closing laps.
The Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Car feature began with a three-wide race for second as Rob VanMil, Tim Church and Rick Schulz battled for position. VanMil claimed the spot and set his sights on the leader, Brandon Schmidt of Hillsboro, N.D. A pair of cautions in the final 10 laps gave VanMil ample opportunity to get by Schmidt, but Schmidt, a rookie to the Stock Cars, broke away from the pack on each restart. Schmidt cruised to his third win of the season at NCR and eighth overall win of the season.
WISSOTA Midwest Modified national point leader, Lance Schill of Langdon, N.D., led all 15 laps of the Christian Motors main event. Schill grabbed the early lead over Joseph Thomas. Thomas ran in the second spot until he slid off the track in turn one on lap four.
On the ensuing restart, Aaron Blacklance assumed the second position but had his hands full with Reise Stenberg. Another yellow with three to go prompted a restart where both Matt Schow and Brock Gronwold were sent to the tail of the field for aggressive driving. As the race resumed, Schill jumped out to a five car length lead over Blacklance and picked up his third Norman County Raceway win of the season and 17th overall.
Tyler Peterson of Hickson, N.D. and Jesse Skalicky had a phenomenal battle for the lead going on in the early stages of the Sanders Metal Products IMCA Modified feature. Peterson tip-toed around the low side of the speedway, while Skalicky rode the rim around the high side. Past the halfway point, the two made contact, which sent Peterson around in turn one. Skalicky was tagged for the caution as Peterson led the field on the restart. Michael Johnson closed in on Peterson in the closing laps, but Peterson held him off to take the win.
Next week at Norman County Raceway is your last chance to enjoy Thursday night racing this summer as KRJB 106.5FM presents Season Championship night.
SUMMARY
IMCA Modifieds:
A Feature: 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [8]; 2. 84-Michael Johnson, [3]; 3. 99B-Bryce Borgen, [5]; 4. 88B-Brady Petermann, [7]; 5. 25-Jamie Trautner, [1]; 6. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [2]; 7. 96A-Greg Wilson, [10]; 8. 31-Kevin Bliese, [9]; 9. (DNF) 60-Tyler Hall, [4]; 10. (DNF) 7-Dale Kraling, [6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Michael Johnson, [2]; 2. 99B-Bryce Borgen, [3]; 3. 88B-Brady Petermann, [4]; 4. 25-Jamie Trautner, [1]; 5. 31-Kevin Bliese, [5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 60-Tyler Hall, [2]; 2. 7-Dale Kraling, [3]; 3. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [1]; 4. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [4]; 5. 96A-Greg Wilson, [5]
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
A Feature: 1. 17-Lance Schill, [1]; 2. 5-Aaron Blacklance, [3]; 3. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [4]; 4. 7T-Joseph Thomas, [2]; 5. 28S-Ryan Schow, [7]; 6. 2G-Brock Gronwold, [5]; 7. 33-Jeff Nelson, [6]; 8. 68-Joe Henninger, [11]; 9. 2S-Matt Schow, [8]; 10. 81-Daniel Pederson, [10]; 11. 2M-Rob Metzger, [12]; 12. (DNF) 15L-Tal Lucken, [9]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 5-Aaron Blacklance, [4]; 2. 33-Jeff Nelson, [2]; 3. 2G-Brock Gronwold, [5]; 4. 28S-Ryan Schow, [1]; 5. 15L-Tal Lucken, [6]; 6. 81-Daniel Pederson, [3]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 2S-Matt Schow, [5]; 2. 7T-Joseph Thomas, [2]; 3. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [3]; 4. 17-Lance Schill, [4]; 5. 2M-Rob Metzger, [6]; 6. (DNF) 68-Joe Henninger, [1]
IMCA SportMods:
A Feature: 1. 8J-Luke Johnson, [10]; 2. 1RM-Taylor Grove, [1]; 3. 3X-Andy Wagner, [7]; 4. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin, [9]; 5. 9-Torey Fischer, [2]; 6. 2X-Brady Moore, [3]; 7. 13C-Paul Colvin, [6]; 8. 47-Kreig Kasin, [5]; 9. 12T-Brandon Tendeland, [4]; 10. (DNF) 51-Kelly Jacobson, [11]; 11. (DNF) 22-Vince Jegtvig, [8]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 3X-Andy Wagner, [4]; 2. 1RM-Taylor Grove, [1]; 3. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin, [5]; 4. 47-Kreig Kasin, [3]; 5. 2X-Brady Moore, [2]; 6. 51-Kelly Jacobson, [6]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 8J-Luke Johnson, [5]; 2. 22-Vince Jegtvig, [4]; 3. 12T-Brandon Tendeland, [2]; 4. 9-Torey Fischer, [1]; 5. 13C-Paul Colvin, [3]
INEX Legends:
A Feature: 1. 21-Andrew Jochim, [4]; 2. 29-Ryan Braseth, [6]; 3. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, [9]; 4. 72-Tye Wilke, [3]; 5. 5-Dean Julsrud, [1]; 6. 5D8-Dylan Johnson, [2]; 7. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [14]; 8. 69-Brian Hanson, [5]; 9. 58-Sean Johnson, [8]; 10. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [10]; 11. 69T-Joshua Julsrud, [15]; 12. 72T-Travis Wilke, [13]; 13. 5G-Garrison Miller, [12]; 14. (DNF) 20-Alex Braseth, [7]; 15. (DNF) 14T-Tim Estenson, [11]; (DNS) 14M-Mark Estenson,
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 69-Brian Hanson, [2]; 2. 58-Sean Johnson, [1]; 3. 29-Ryan Braseth, [6]; 4. 20-Alex Braseth, [5]; 5. 72-Tye Wilke, [4]; 6. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [3]; 7. 72T-Travis Wilke, [8]; (DNS) 69T-Joshua Julsrud,
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 21-Andrew Jochim, [4]; 2. 5D8-Dylan Johnson, [2]; 3. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, [5]; 4. 5-Dean Julsrud, [1]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [7]; 6. 14T-Tim Estenson, [6]; 7. 5G-Garrison Miller, [3]; (DNS) 14M-Mark Estenson,
IMCA Stock Cars:
A Feature: 1. 219-Brandon Schmidt, [2]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil, [4]; 3. 4-Rick Schulz, [3]; 4. 14-Aaron Olson, [5]; 5. 21-Tim Church, [1]; 6. 86-Thomas Ahrndt, [6]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 219-Brandon Schmidt, [2]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil, [4]; 3. 21-Tim Church, [1]; 4. 14-Aaron Olson, [5]; 5. 4-Rick Schulz, [3]; 6. 86-Thomas Ahrndt, [6]