By Mike Spieker
ADA, Minn. (August 22, 2019) – Great racing and exciting point battles made for a compelling night of action as Norman County Raceway concluded its 101st year of racing.
Noah Metzger of Crookston, Minn. led all 14 trips around the three-eights mile oval as he claimed his first career Titan Machinery IMCA SportMod feature win. The win didn’t come easy, however, as eventual track champion Andy Wagner put heavy pressure on Metzger in the closing laps.
Photo: Noah Metzger of Crookston, Minn. claimed his first career Norman County Raceway win on Thursday night in Ada.
Wagner pulled alongside of Metzger down the back straightaway on the final circuit. Metzger held a steady line through turns three and four and won the drag race to capture the win.
Photo: Noah Metzger of Crookston, Minn. claimed his first career Norman County Raceway win on Thursday night in Ada.
Michael Johnson of Harwood, N.D. led Tyler Hall of Fertile, Minn. in the early stages of the Sanders Metal Products IMCA Modified feature, but the best action on the track was further back in the pack. The brothers Arneson of Austin and Casey of Fargo, N.D. put on a show moving to the front from the back of the pack.
Hall took the lead with eight laps to go and Casey moved by Johnson for second with six to go. The final five laps were a shootout between the top two contenders as Casey searched every inch of the speedway looking for a way around Hall. Hall held his line around the low side of the speedway and held off Casey to pick up the win.
Dale Kraling of Mayville, N.D. and Jesse Skalicky of Fargo were tied atop the Modified standings at the end of the feature, but the tiebreaker and the championship went to Skalicky.
Hometown favorite, Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada, jumped out to the lead of the Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Car feature. Kesselberg quickly had his hands full with Todd Heinrich of Fargo. Heinrich battled with Kesselberg for several laps before taking the lead with eight to go. Heinrich went on to take the win, holding off Travis Robertson of Moorhead on the final lap. The win was Heinrich’s first at NCR. Rob VanMil of Barnesville, Minn., who scored four wins this season, took home the title.
Tim Shiek of Fargo dominated the Christian Brothers Ford IMCA Hobby Stock feature. The win for Shiek was his division-leading fourth of the season. Brad Orvedal of Fargo claimed the Hobby Stock track championship by just three points over Shiek.
WISSOTA Midwest Modified national point leader, Cole Searing of Huron, S.D., rolled into Ada and left town with the Christian Motors feature win. Ryan Schow of McIntosh, Minn. led early, but Searing charged from the eighth starting position to claim the lead with 10 laps remaining. Once out front, Searing led the remainder of the race, but Schow stayed within striking distance for several laps. At the checkers, Searing picked up the win by 1.2 seconds over Schow.
Reise Stenberg of Argusville, N.D. was crowned the Midwest Modified track champion.
A relatively uneventful Seedex INEX Legends feature produced the most exciting finish of the night as Alex Braseth of Ulen, Minn. and Andrew Jochim of Glyndon, Minn. battled for the win on the final lap.
Braseth had to maneuver around lapped traffic coming to the AuctionBlock.com flagstand which allowed Jochim to nearly pull even with him. At the line, Braseth held on to win by a bumper.
Tye Wilke claimed the championship.
SUMMARY
IMCA Modifieds:
A Feature (16 Laps): 1. 60-Tyler Hall, [3]; 2. 2-Casey Arneson, [8]; 3. 10-Austin Arneson, [7]; 4. 7-Dale Kraling, [5]; 5. 84-Michael Johnson, [2]; 6. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [6]; 7. 17P-Rich Pavlicek, [4]; 8. 442-Aaron Johnson, [9]; 9. 57-Tom Cummings, [1]; 10. (DNF) 51T-Tim Thomas, [10]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Dale Kraling, [3]; 2. 60-Tyler Hall, [2]; 3. 10-Austin Arneson, [4]; 4. 57-Tom Cummings, [1]; 5. (DNF) 442-Aaron Johnson, [5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Casey Arneson, [4]; 2. 17P-Rich Pavlicek, [2]; 3. 84-Michael Johnson, [1]; 4. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [3]; 5. (DNF) 51T-Tim Thomas, [5]
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
A Feature (14 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing, [8]; 2. 28S-Ryan Schow, [4]; 3. 33-Jeff Nelson, [6]; 4. 39-Jamie Dietzler, [1]; 5. 5-Aaron Blacklance, [7]; 6. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [5]; 7. B0-Jory Berg, [3]; 8. TS42-Scott Samuelson, [2]; 9. 6J-Taylor Jacobson, [10]; 10. (DNF) 81-Daniel Pederson, [9]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [2]; 2. 39-Jamie Dietzler, [1]; 3. 28S-Ryan Schow, [4]; 4. B0-Jory Berg, [3]; 5. 81-Daniel Pederson, [5]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing, [1]; 2. 5-Aaron Blacklance, [2]; 3. 33-Jeff Nelson, [3]; 4. TS42-Scott Samuelson, [4]; 5. 6J-Taylor Jacobson, [5]
IMCA Hobby Stocks:
A Feature (10 Laps): 1. 31X-Tim Shiek, [2]; 2. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, [5]; 3. 14-Alyssa White, [3]; 4. 73-Todd Gettel, [1]; 5. (DNF) 22W-Will Miller, [4]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 31X-Tim Shiek, [2]; 2. 14-Alyssa White, [3]; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, [5]; 4. 73-Todd Gettel, [1]; 5. 22W-Will Miller, [4]
IMCA SportMods:
A Feature (14 Laps): 1. 19D-Noah Metzger, [4]; 2. 3X-Andy Wagner, [6]; 3. 219-Brandon Schmidt,[5]; 4. 51-Kelly Jacobson, [8]; 5. 8J-Luke Johnson, [7]; 6. 15-Matthew Clark, [2]; 7. 13C-Paul Colvin, [9]; 8. 9-Torey Fischer, [3]; 9. 2X-Brady Moore, [1]; 10. 22-Vince Jegtvig, [11]; 11. 47-Kreig Kasin, [10]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 19D-Noah Metzger, [3]; 2. 3X-Andy Wagner, [4]; 3. 51-Kelly Jacobson, [5]; 4. 15-Matthew Clark, [2]; 5. 22-Vince Jegtvig, [6]; (DNS) 47-Kreig Kasin,
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 219-Brandon Schmidt, [3]; 2. 8J-Luke Johnson, [4]; 3. 9-Torey Fischer, [2]; 4. 2X-Brady Moore, [1]; 5. (DNF) 13C-Paul Colvin, [5]
INEX Legends:
A Feature (14 Laps): 1. 29-Ryan Braseth, [4]; 2. 21-Andrew Jochim, [8]; 3. 20-Alex Braseth, [6]; 4. 72-Tye Wilke, [7]; 5. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [11]; 6. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [5]; 7. 7-Chase Schlafmann, [10]; 8. 5G-Garrison Miller, [2]; 9. D11RT-Blaise Deckert, [3]; 10. 2-Ashton Spieker, [1]; 11. 19-Elzetta Bitker, [12]; 12. 16L-Lillian Bitker, [13]; 13. (DNF) 38-Andrew Sommerfeld, [9]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 72-Tye Wilke, [4]; 2. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [3]; 3. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [7]; 4. 38-Andrew Sommerfeld, [5]; 5. 2-Ashton Spieker, [1]; 6. (DNF) 7-Chase Schlafmann, [2]; (DNS) 16L-Lillian Bitker,
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 29-Ryan Braseth, [2]; 2. 21-Andrew Jochim, [4]; 3. 5G-Garrison Miller, [1]; 4. 20-Alex Braseth, [3]; 5. D11RT-Blaise Deckert, [6]; 6. 19-Elzetta Bitker, [5]
IMCA Stock Cars:
A Feature (14 Laps): 1. 38-Todd Heinrich, [4]; 2. 10-Travis Robertson, [3]; 3. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg, [2]; 4. 4-Rick Schulz, [8]; 5. 96-Erv Grossman, [1]; 6. 13X-Jonathan Johnson, [7]; 7. (DNF) 40-Rob VanMil, [5]; 8. (DNF) 76Z-John Sandvig, [6]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 40-Rob VanMil, [7]; 2. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg, [3]; 3. 10-Travis Robertson, [4]; 4. 38-Todd Heinrich, [6]; 5. 96-Erv Grossman, [1]; 6. 76Z-John Sandvig, [2]; 7. 13X-Jonathan Johnson, [8]; 8. (DNF) 4-Rick Schulz, [5]