WEST FARGO—Weekly dirt track racing continued at Red River Valley Speedway at the Red River Valley Fairground Friday night. Eighty-three race teams were checked in for action. The night featured the Fargo Force WISSOTA Super Stock Series for the first of four times in 2018.

In the first feature of the night, the IMCA stock cars put on a show throughout their 15-lap feature. Defending stock car track champion, Rob VanMil, battled all race long with stock car rookie, Brandon Schmidt. VanMil took the lead on lap five from the fifth starting position but relinquished the lead to Schmidt with three laps to go.

The two drivers raced door to door for the remainder of the event, swapping the lead on both ends of the three-eighths-mile clay oval. Schmidt had the advantage on the final lap, but VanMil got a strong run down the banking exiting turn two to pull even with Schmidt.

#40 Rob VanMil – IMCA Stock Car (Photo Courtesy: Speedway Shots)

VanMil completed the pass coming out of the final set of turns coming to the checkered flag to steal the win by 0.176 seconds.

Schmidt and Tim Compson rounded out the podium.

After several attempts to get the first lap of the IMCA Sport Mod feature completed, Kelly Henderson of Minot, N.D., took the point. He was trailed by Matt Talley of Sabin, Minn, who kept within striking distance throughout the midpoint of the race. With two laps to go, Talley moved by Henderson to take the lead.

#5T Matt Talley – IMCA Sport Mod (Photo Courtesy: Speedway Shots)

Henderson battled back on the final circuit and nearly reclaimed the lead. Talley’s car pushed up the track in turns three and four, which opened the door for Talley. It came down to a drag race to the checkers, where Talley hung on by a mere 0.069 seconds, equating to about two feet.

The INEX legends feature was the third feature of the evening and produced another late-race pass for the lead. Tim Estenson led the 16-car field on the final restart with under five laps to go. Estenson pulled away as the race resumed, but second place runner Sean Johnson quickly caught the leader.

With two laps to go, Johnson executed a slide job on Estenson to take the lead. Estenson powered back by on the final circuit to reclaim the point, but Johnson wasn’t done. Johnson drove his machine hard into turns three and four, pulled even with Estenson, but spun out coming to the checkers. Estenson held on to take the win as Tye Wilke and Kaitlyn Skalicky rounded out the top three.

On last week’s opener, Austin Arneson cruised to the IMCA modified win. On Friday, it was his brother Casey who parked it in victory lane.

#2 Casey Arneson – IMCA Modified (Photo Courtesy: Speedway Shots)

Arneson led all 20 circuits en route to the win. He was followed to the line by his other brother, Cale Arneson, by a distant three and ½ seconds.

“This one feels great,” said Arneson in victory lane. “It’s been quite a few years since I’ve won here. I don’t have many laps around the track since they laid down the new dirt, but the car felt great out there tonight.”

Cole Searing claimed his first career Red River Valley Speedway win in the Fargo Force Super Stocks. The field was led to the green by Brian Bernotas, but Bernotas was quickly harassed by Searing and Jeff Crouse.

Around the midway point, Searing moved up to the high side and closed in on Bernotas. Searing made the pass for the lead, and ultimately the win with seven laps to go.

Maranda Borg took the lead in the early going of the IMCA hobby stock feature. Tim Shiek reeled in Borg around the halfway point and utilized a restart with five to go to take the lead. From there, Shiek cruised to the win over Borg and Brad Orvedal.

IMCA Modifieds

Feature: 1. 2-Casey Arneson, Fargo. 2. 99-Cale Arneson, Fargo. 3. 9-Billy Kendall, Baxter, Minn. 4. 17G-Michael Greseth, Harwood, N.D. 5. Austin Arneson, Fargo, ND

IMCA Sportmods

Feature: 1. 5T-Matt Talley, Sabin, Minn. 2. 24-Kelly Henderson, Minot, N.D. 3. 8-Luke Johnson, Moorhead. 4. 40-Chris VanMil, Barnesville, Minn. 5. 51-Kelly Jacobson, Fargo, ND

IMCA Stock Cars

Feature: 1. 40-Rob VanMil, Barnesville, Minn. 2. 219-Brandon Schmidt, Hillsboro, N.D. 3. 49-Tim Compson, Valley City, N.D. 4. 18-Mike Anderson, Walcott, N.D. 5. 4-Rick Schulz, Horace, N.D.

IMCA Hobby Stocks

Feature: 1. 31X-Tim Shiek, Fargo. 2. 73-Maranda Borg, Harwood, N.D. 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, Fargo. 4. 14-Alyssa White, West Fargo. 5. 106-Eric Novacek, West Fargo.

INEX Legends

Feature: 1. 14T-Tim Estenson, Fargo. 2. 72-Tye Wilke, Detroit Lakes, Minn. 3. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, Fargo. 4. 20-Alex Braseth, Ulen, Minn. 5. 69-Brian Hanson, Jamestown, N.D.

WISSOTA Super Stocks

Feature: 1. 10-Cole Searing, Huron, S.D. 2. 29*-Jeff Crouse, Alexandria, Minn. 3. 43-Brian Bernotas, Colfax, N.D. 4. 11-William Wadeson, Alice, N.D. 5. 10W-Blake Whitlock, Watertown, SD

By Mike Spieker

WEST FARGO – The 2018 dirt track racing season is officially underway. Nearly 2,000 race fans packed the Red River Valley Speedway Friday night for the opening night. The pit area was also packed with 83 race teams checked in among the five different divisions.

An estimated 2,000 fans packed Red River Valley Speedway for the 2018 season opener Friday in West Fargo. (Photo Courtesy: Speedway Shots)

The 2018 season will mark Paul Colvin’s third year behind the wheel of an IMCA Sport Mod.

Paul Colvin of Horace scored his first win at Red River Valley Speedway Friday in West Fargo. (Picture Courtesy Speedway Shots)

So far, it’s off to a great start.

The Horace driver picked up his first career Sport Mod win over a stacked field of 21 other competitors. Colvin, who started third, battled his way past front row starters Chris VanMil and Dan Evert to take the lead in the early going.

A series of cautions put Brennan Urbach, who was competing in his first ever Sport Mod race, right on the rear bumper of Colvin. Late in the going, 12th place starter Billy Michaelsohn put the pressure on Colvin around the fast and tacky three-eighths-mile dirt oval.

Colvin held a steady line in the middle groove of the track to take the win.

For the second year in a row, Austin Arneson won the IMCA Modified opener at Red River Valley Speedway. Arneson, who recorded five wins at the West Fargo track in 2017, cruised to the win with little challenge. Lucas Rodin hung with Arneson in the opening laps, but the Fargo driver pulled away from Rodin and the rest of the field as the race advanced.

Austin Arneson of Fargo picked up his second consecutive opening night win at Red River Valley Speedway Friday. (Photo Courtesy: Speedway Shots)

The best action was back in the pack as Michael Greseth and Dave Shipley put on a show as they sliced through the field. Greseth, who started 12th, and Shipley, who started 24th, both came away with top-five finishes, finishing behind Dale Kraling in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Two-time IMCA stock car winner last year, Rob VanMil of Barnesville, picked up where he left off last year. VanMil scored a highly contested feature win over Rick Schulz. The two veteran drivers battled door to door for several consecutive laps, with stock car rookie Brandon Schmidt in the mix. VanMil took the point over Schulz in the closing laps and held on by one car length to collect the win.

Pelican Rapids driver, Scotty Richardson, claimed one of the most exciting wins of the night in the INEX Legends. Richardson started on the pole en route to the victory but had his hands full with Tim Estenson and Sean Johnson. Estenson threatened to take the lead away with three laps to go as he executed a slide job in turn one. Richardson, being the veteran driver he is, countered with a crossover move underneath Estenson exiting turn two.

The following lap, Estenson, and Richardson continued their battle, but they were both surpassed by Johnson, who got a big run down the embankment out of turn two. Johnson momentarily took the lead, but the caution soon followed as Estenson spun in front of the field and collected three other drivers. All drivers were ok and able to rejoin the field.

On the restart, Richardson took the lead from Johnson and went on to score the win. Andrew Jochim, who started 12th, finished third, while Chad Sogge and 15th place starter Tye Wilke rounded out the top five.

Adam Goff held off Red River Valley Speedway regular Tim Shiek to record the IMCA hobby stock victory. Shiek gave Goff a run for his money, but the Minot driver held off Shiek to the checkers.

Racing continues next Friday at Red River Valley Speedway. Along with the other weekly divisions, the Fargo Force Wissota Super Stocks will make their first appearance of the season at the track. The green flag drops at 7:00 pm.

RESULTS:

All Finish Concrete IMCA Modifieds:
Feature: 1. 10-Austin Arneson, [1]; 2. 19-Lucas Rodin, [2]; 3. 7K-Dale Kraling, [7]; 4. 17G-Michael Greseth, [12]; 5. 72-Dave Shipley, [24]; 6. 99A-Cale Arneson, [9]; 7. 60-Tyler Hall, [5]; 8. 174-Rich Pavlicek, [22]; 9. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [10]; 10. 7J-Jeremy Smith, [17]; 11. 79-Billie Christ, [16]; 12. 0-Jeff Odden, [19]; 13. 12C-Nickolis Curtis, [25]; 14. 52-Brennan Borg, [21]; 15. 2-Rusty Kollman, [23]; 16. 51T-Tim Thomas, [20]; 17. (DNF) 86C-Darren Pfau, [6]; 18. (DNF) 9-Billy Kendall, [11]; 19. (DNF) 40-Rob VanMil, [13]; 20. (DNF) 6D-Dylan Goplen, [14]; 21. (DNF) 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [8]; 22. (DNF) 6Z-Zach Dockter, [18]; 23. (DNF) 2A-Casey Arneson, [4]; 24. (DNF) 21-Jamie Schulz, [15]; 25. (DNF) 99-Shawn Strand, [3]

Heat 1: 1. 99A-Cale Arneson, [1]; 2. 17G-Michael Greseth, [3]; 3. 60-Tyler Hall, [6]; 4. 40-Rob VanMil, [7]; 5. 7J-Jeremy Smith, [2]; 6. 52-Brennan Borg, [5]; 7. 12C-Nickolis Curtis, [4]

Heat 2: 1. 9-Billy Kendall, [1]; 2. 10-Austin Arneson, [4]; 3. 99-Shawn Strand, [6]; 4. 6D-Dylan Goplen, [3]; 5. 6Z-Zach Dockter, [5]; 6. (DNF) 174-Rich Pavlicek, [2]

Heat 3: 1. 86C-Darren Pfau, [4]; 2. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [6]; 3. 7K-Dale Kraling, [3]; 4. 21-Jamie Schulz, [2]; 5. 0-Jeff Odden, [1]; 6. 2-Rusty Kollman, [5]

Heat 4: 1. 2A-Casey Arneson, [2]; 2. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [5]; 3. 19-Lucas Rodin, [1]; 4. 79-Billie Christ, [6]; 5. 51T-Tim Thomas, [4]; 6. 72-Dave Shipley, [3]

A Transmission City IMCA Hobby Stocks:
Feature: 1. 30A-Adam Goff, [2]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek, [1]; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, [4]; 4. 11-Austin Green, [5]; 5. 73-Maranda Borg, [6]; 6. 148-Troy Bertsch, [10]; 7. 00-Arnie Lovdokken, [9]; 8. 14-Alyssa White, [8]; 9. (DNF) 701-Kyle Hallgren, [3]; 10. (DNF) 106-Eric Novacek, [7]

Heat 1: 1. 31X-Tim Shiek, [1]; 2. 11-Austin Green, [3]; 3. 30A-Adam Goff, [10]; 4. 701-Kyle Hallgren, [5]; 5. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, [6]; 6. 73-Maranda Borg, [9]; 7. 106-Eric Novacek, [7]; 8. 14-Alyssa White, [4]; 9. 00-Arnie Lovdokken, [8]; 10. (DNF) 148-Troy Bertsch, [2]

Eide Bailly IMCA Sport Mods:
Feature: 1. 13C-Paul Colvin, [3]; 2. 8-Billy Michaelsohn, [12]; 3. 47K-Luke Krogh, [7]; 4. 33-Brennan Urbach, [6]; 5. 8J-Luke Johnson, [8]; 6. 40-Chris VanMil, [1]; 7. 24-Kelly Henderson, [13]; 8. 5-Scott Jacobson, [10]; 9. 51-Kelly Jacobson, [4]; 10. 21K-Kyle Krogh, [17]; 11. 76-Reile Sailer, [14]; 12. 22V-Ryan Veralrud, [16]; 13. 9-Torey Fischer, [21]; 14. 47-Kreig Kasin, [20]; 15. 5T-Matt Talley, [18]; 16. 19D-Noah Metzger, [15]; 17. 76G-Gwen Sailer, [19]; 18. (DNF) 22-Vince Jegtvig, [9]; 19. (DNF) 2D-Dan Dowling, [5]; 20. (DNF) 68-Dan Evert, [2]; 21. (DNF) 6-Austin Veralrud, [11]

Heat 1: 1. 6-Austin Veralrud, [2]; 2. 8J-Luke Johnson, [1]; 3. 22-Vince Jegtvig, [7]; 4. 33-Brennan Urbach, [5]; 5. 24-Kelly Henderson, [3]; 6. 22V-Ryan Veralrud, [6]; 7. 76G-Gwen Sailer, [4]

Heat 2: 1. 8-Billy Michaelsohn, [4]; 2. 40-Chris VanMil, [2]; 3. 5-Scott Jacobson, [1]; 4. 13C-Paul Colvin, [6]; 5. 76-Reile Sailer, [5]; 6. 21K-Kyle Krogh, [3]; 7. 47-Kreig Kasin, [7]

Heat 3: 1. 47K-Luke Krogh, [1]; 2. 2D-Dan Dowling, [3]; 3. 68-Dan Evert, [2]; 4. 51-Kelly Jacobson, [5]; 5. 19D-Noah Metzger, [4]; 6. 5T-Matt Talley, [6]; 7. 9-Torey Fischer, [7]

Petermann Seeds INEX Legends:
Feature: 1. 79-Scott Richardson, [1]; 2. 58-Sean Johnson, [7]; 3. 21-Andrew Jochim, [12]; 4. 6-Chad Sogge, [2]; 5. 72-Tye Wilke, [15]; 6. 38-Andrew Sommerfeld, [4]; 7. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, [6]; 8. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [10]; 9. 5D8-Dylan Johnson, [9]; 10. 29B-Ryan Braseth, [11]; 11. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [17]; 12. 24-Shaun Erickson, [16]; 13. 29-Brandon Erickson, [14]; 14. (DNF) 14T-Tim Estenson, [8]; 15. (DNF) 20-Alex Braseth, [13]; 16. (DNF) 69-Brian Hanson, [5]; 17. (DNF) 7-Cade Sogge, [3]

Heat 1: 1. 5D8-Dylan Johnson, [5]; 2. 38-Andrew Sommerfeld, [3]; 3. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, [2]; 4. 69-Brian Hanson, [4]; 5. 20-Alex Braseth, [1]; 6. 24-Shaun Erickson, [6]

Heat 2: 1. 79-Scott Richardson, [1]; 2. 14T-Tim Estenson, [3]; 3. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [6]; 4. 21-Andrew Jochim, [5]; 5. 29-Brandon Erickson, [2]; 6. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [4]

Heat 3: 1. 6-Chad Sogge, [1]; 2. 58-Sean Johnson, [5]; 3. 7-Cade Sogge, [4]; 4. 29B-Ryan Braseth, [3]; 5. 72-Tye Wilke, [2]

Schmidt & Sons Building Movers IMCA Stock Cars:
Feature: 1. 40-Rob VanMil, [1]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz, [7]; 3. 87-Eric Harpole, [4]; 4. 49-Tim Compson, [9]; 5. 219-Brandon Schmidt, [6]; 6. 28A-Alan Bertsch, [10]; 7. 21-Tim Church, [5]; 8. (DNF) 76Z-John Sandvig, [8]; 9. (DNF) 96-Erv Grossman, [2]; 10. (DNF) 18-Mike Anderson, [3]

Heat 1: 1. 18-Mike Anderson, [2]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil, [4]; 3. 87-Eric Harpole, [1]; 4. 49-Tim Compson, [5]; 5. 96-Erv Grossman, [3]; 6. 28A-Alan Bertsch, [6]

Heat 2: 1. 219-Brandon Schmidt, [2]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz, [3]; 3. 21-Tim Church, [4]; 4. 76Z-John Sandvig, [1]

The Test & Tune is scheduled for Wednesday, May 2 from 6pm-9pm. Cost: $30 per car. Then the Season Opener is Friday, May 4th at 7pm!

2018 MyRacePass online registration is now available. If you have previously raced with us or registered with us you do not need to complete a new registration unless one of the following things has occurred:
– Changed class
– Changed car number
– Changed address
– Changed transponder number

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