By Tom Berg
WEST FARGO, N.D. — Tyler Peterson of Hickson, N.D., bested a strong field of 29 IMCA Modifieds to win the first night of the Sanders Modified Challenge which was held Wednesday night at the Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo.
Peterson took over the lead from early race leader Billy Kendall of Baxter, Minn., and led the final 27 laps to claim the $1,300 top prize.
Peterson had a nice lead and worked through lapped traffic before a caution came out. That brought a new car into the equation — Johnny Scott of Las Cruces, N.M., the leader of the United States Modified Touring Series. Scott moved past Kendall and Mike Hansen of Dickinson into second, and stayed within 3-4 car lengths of Peterson but could not get closer.
Scott, driving Austin Arneson’s 10 machine, settled for second. Kendall, Casey Arneson of Fargo and Hansen rounded out the top five.
Paul Colvin took the early lead from the green in the IMCA SportMod feature. Soon Dan Dowling of Davenport and Vince Jegtvig of Dilworth battled for the lead with Dowling taking the top spot. Soon Scott Jacobson of Fargo worked into the top three.
A couple of cautions bunched the field including a multi-car pileup. Jacobson battled Dowling and took the lead with Luke Johnson of Moorhead right behind. Johnson took over the lead and weathered a couple of cautions for the win. Austin Veralrud made a big charge on the outside to take second. Jacobson was third, Kelly Henderson of Minot fourth and Brennan Urbach of Englevale fifth.
Brandon Schmidt’s domination continued in the IMCA stock car division. He built an early lead in the feature and controlled the caution free event, running a consistent lower line, for another win. Rob VanMil of Barnesville was second and Todd Heinrich was third.
Tim Estenson’s 14T machine has been fast all year in the INEX legends and he claimed another feature win. Andrew Jochim put some pressure on Estenson for a while but settled for second with Scott Richardson of Pelican Rapids taking third.
Tim Gonska took control of the IMCA hobby stock main event early and cruised to the win. Tim Shiek of Fargo finished second with William Smith of Glyndon taking third.
The Final Night of the Sanders Modified Challenge concludes at 7:00 pm on Thursday, August 9th at Norman County Raceway in Ada, MN. (FREE Pork Chops will be served in the pits after the feature races are completed)
RESULTS
IMCA Modified
Heat 1: 1. Billy Kendall, Baxter, Minn.; 2. Jesse Skalicky, Fargo; 3. Rich Pavlicek, Casselton
Heat 2: 1. Cale Arneson, Fargo; 2. Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, New Mexico; 3. Mike Hansen, Dickinson
Heat 3: 1. Dylan Goplen, Fargo; 2. Cody Peterson, Glyndon; 3. Luke Schilling, Granton, Wis.
Heat 4: 1. Tyler Peterson, Hickson; 2. Casey Arneson, Fargo; 3. Tyler Hall, Fertile
Feature: 1. Tyler Peterson; 2. Johnny Scott; 3. Billy Kendall; 4. Casey Arneson; 5. Mike Hansen
IMCA SportMod
Heat 1: 1. Luke Johnson, Moorhead; 2. Brennan Urbach, Englevale; 3. Matthew Clark, West Fargo
Heat 2: 1. Scott Jacobson, Fargo; 2. Vince Jegtvig, Dilworth, Minn.; 3. Chris Evoniuk, Dickinson
Heat 3: 1. Kelly Henderson, Minot; 2. Billy Michaelsohn, Fargo; 3. Kenneth Bye, Moorhead.
Feature: 1. Luke Johnson; 2. Austin Veralrud, Fargo 3. Scott Jacobson; 4. Kelly Henderson, Minot; 5. Brennan Urbach
INEX Legends
Heat 1: 1. Tye Wilke, Detroit Lakes; 2. Andrew Jochim, Glyndon; 3. Dean Julsrud, Barnesville
Heat 2: 1. Tim Estenson, Fargo; 2. Brian Hanson, Jamestown; 3. Scott Richardson, Pelican Rapids
Feature: 1. Tim Estenson; 2. Andrew Jochim; 3. Scott Richardson; 3. Sean Johnson, Kindred; 5. Wilke
IMCA Stock Car
Heat 1: 1. Brandon Schmidt, Hillsboro; 2. Tim Compson, Valley City; 3. Tim Church, Hillsboro
Heat 2: 1. Rob VanMil, Barnesville; 2. Mike Anderson, Walcott; 3. Todd Heinrich, Fargo
Feature: 1. Brandon Schmidt; 2. Rob VanMil; 3. Todd Heinrich; 4. Rick Schulz, Horace; 5. Mike Anderson
IMCA Hobby Stock
Heat 1: 1. William Smith, Glyndon; 2. Tim Gonska, Brainerd; 3. Tim Shiek, Fargo
Feature: 1. Tim Gonska; 2. Tim Shiek; 3. William Smith; 4. Eric Novacek, West Fargo; 5. Brad Ordeal, Fargo