By Mike Spieker

WEST FARGO – Red River Valley Speedway hosted some of the nation’s top IMCA modified talent on Saturday night with the running of the ninth annual Sander’s Metal Products Modified Challenge, as a part of the IMCA Red River Modified Tour.

The first leg of the IMCA Red River Modified Tour began at race tracks near the Red River of the South in Texas over the 4th of July weekend. This weekend, Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minn. and Red River Valley Speedway hosted the second leg of the second tour.

The tour took the best three races combined between the northern and southern legs of the tour, with the driver having the best overall average finishing position winning $5,000 and a provisional starting spot in the main event at the IMCA Duel in the Desert – a crown jewel IMCA modified race – at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Several drivers from Texas, as well as drivers from other states across the Midwest, made the trip north.

Red River Valley Speedway points leader, Austin Arneson, dominated the first 25-lap feature, which doubled as the Sanders Modified Challenge event. The Fargo driver started on the pole and led every trip around the three-eighths-mile oval. He was followed to the checkers by Casey Arneson and Dave Shipley.

Needing to finish second or better to clinch the tour championship, Arneson left little doubt in the second 25-lapper. Drawing the pole position, Arneson again led every lap to take the win in convincing fashion.

“We’ve got things going pretty good right now,” said Arneson of his recent success. “This is definitely [a season] to remember.”

As he did in the first feature, Casey Arneson charged from 10th to finish second in feature number two.

A simple lane change is all Ryan Restad needed to work his way by Scott Jacobson during the Eide Bailley IMCA SportMod feature. Jacobson had the race in hand until Restad moved up to the high lane and quickly reeled in and passed Jacobson for the lead. However, Restad’s pass was negated by a yellow flag.

On the restart, a three-wide battle for the lead broke out between Jacobson, Restad, and Rich Pavlicek. Restad took the lead and opened up a comfortable lead en route to his third win of the season.

In one of the most entertaining features seen all season, Rob VanMil took home his first Brandon Schmidt Trucking IMCA Stock Car win of the season. The races started with an incredible three-wide battle for the lead as positions four through nine also raced three wide, two rows deep behind them.

A relentless Tyler McDougall, who’s suffered two major incidents in his No. 1 machine so far this year, grabbed the early lead and withstood a pair of big-time slide job attempts from VanMil. McDougall and VanMil went toe-to-toe, lap after lap, both running the extreme high side of the speedway. The two exchanged the lead several times before VanMil was able to find some moisture on the low side of the speedway, left behind from a car with radiator issues a few laps prior, and clear McDougall for the point with two laps to go.

Tye Wilke took the lead in the Peterman Seeds INEX Legend feature from Sean Johnson with five laps to go and went on to claim his fifth win of the season.

Tanner Engen’s streak of four A Transmission City IMCA Hobby Stock feature wins came to an end as Andrew Bertsch of Minot, N.D. claimed the feature win.

Polesitter Alex Truscinski narrowly won the Lucas Oil POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint feature over eighth-place starter, Dexter Dvergsten. The win was Truscinski’s second of the season at Red River Valley Speedway.

RESULTS:

IMCA Modifieds:
All Finish Concrete A Feature 1: 1. 10-Austin Arneson[1]; 2. 2A-Casey Arneson[10]; 3. 72-Dave Shipley[4]; 4. 19D-Darin Duffy[7]; 5. 84-Michael Johnson[17]; 6. 12F-Greg Friestad[6]; 7. 6D-Dylan Goplen[9]; 8. 12-Cody Leonard[25]; 9. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[8]; 10. 12A-Matt Aukland[11]; 11. 33-Allen Kent[20]; 12. 60-Tyler Hall[21]; 13. 40-Rob VanMil[24]; 14. 86C-Darren Pfau[3]; 15. 91-Craig Oakes[14]; 16. 21-Jamie Schulz[16]; 17. 88XXX-Randy Klein[5]; 18. 0-Jeff Odden[26]; 19. 2*-Cole Babcock[15]; 20. 96-Erv Grossman[22]; 21. (DNF) 02-Jordan Sours[18]; 22. (DNF) 12C-Nick Curtis[23]; 23. (DNF) 71-Trent Grager[13]; 24. (DNF) 28-Cody Blixt[2]; 25. (DNF) 44F-Fred Wojtek[12]; 26. (DNF) 30-Cole Neset[19]

All Finish Concrete Heat 1: 1. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[2]; 2. 44F-Fred Wojtek[3]; 3. 2A-Casey Arneson[5]; 4. 12A-Matt Aukland[4]; 5. 71-Trent Grager[6]; 6. 21-Jamie Schulz[7]; 7. 30-Cole Neset[1]; 8. (DNF) 96-Erv Grossman[8]

All Finish Concrete Heat 2: 1. 12F-Greg Friestad[1]; 2. 72-Dave Shipley[7]; 3. 88XXX-Randy Klein[4]; 4. 28-Cody Blixt[2]; 5. 91-Craig Oakes[9]; 6. 84-Michael Johnson[6]; 7. 33-Allen Kent[5]; 8. 12C-Nick Curtis[3]; 9. (DNF) 12-Cody Leonard[8]

All Finish Concrete Heat 3: 1. 19D-Darin Duffy[1]; 2. 6D-Dylan Goplen[4]; 3. 86C-Darren Pfau[6]; 4. 10-Austin Arneson[3]; 5. 2*-Cole Babcock[5]; 6. 02-Jordan Sours[2]; 7. 60-Tyler Hall[8]; 8. 40-Rob VanMil[9]; 9. 0-Jeff Odden[7]

All Finish Concrete A Feature 2: 1. 10-Austin Arneson[1]; 2. 2A-Casey Arneson[10]; 3. 44F-Fred Wojtek[2]; 4. 12-Cody Leonard[5]; 5. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[3]; 6. 12A-Matt Aukland[15]; 7. 6D-Dylan Goplen[4]; 8. 72-Dave Shipley[8]; 9. 84-Michael Johnson[7]; 10. 12F-Greg Friestad[9]; 11. 60-Tyler Hall[12]; 12. 86C-Darren Pfau[11]; 13. 28-Cody Blixt[13]; 14. 33-Allen Kent[14]; 15. 40-Rob VanMil[6]; 16. 91-Craig Oakes[21]; 17. 21-Jamie Schulz[16]; 18. 02-Jordan Sours[20]; 19. 12C-Nick Curtis[25]; 20. 71-Trent Grager[23]; 21. 2*-Cole Babcock[19]; 22. 0-Jeff Odden[24]; 23. 96-Erv Grossman[22]; 24. (DNF) 88XXX-Randy Klein[17]; 25. (DNF) 19D-Darin Duffy[18]; 26. (DNS) 30-Cole Neset

All Finish Concrete Heat 1: 1. 10-Austin Arneson[1]; 2. 12F-Greg Friestad[4]; 3. 84-Michael Johnson[5]; 4. 6D-Dylan Goplen[6]; 5. 28-Cody Blixt[9]; 6. 21-Jamie Schulz[8]; 7. 2*-Cole Babcock[7]; 8. 96-Erv Grossman[2]; 9. (DNS) 12C-Nick Curtis

All Finish Concrete Heat 2: 1. 72-Dave Shipley[1]; 2. 2A-Casey Arneson[6]; 3. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[3]; 4. 12-Cody Leonard[7]; 5. 33-Allen Kent[5]; 6. 88XXX-Randy Klein[8]; 7. 02-Jordan Sours[4]; 8. 71-Trent Grager[9]; 9. (DNS) 30-Cole Neset

All Finish Concrete Heat 3: 1. 86C-Darren Pfau[2]; 2. 60-Tyler Hall[3]; 3. 44F-Fred Wojtek[5]; 4. 40-Rob VanMil[1]; 5. 12A-Matt Aukland[6]; 6. 19D-Darin Duffy[4]; 7. 91-Craig Oakes[7]; 8. 0-Jeff Odden[8]

Lucas Oil POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprints:
A Feature 1: 1. 10A-Alex Truscinski[1]; 2. 11-Dexter Dvergsten[8]; 3. 13-Alan Truscinski[2]; 4. 22-Bryce Haugeberg[10]; 5. 100-Jason Berg[9]; 6. 93-Kelsi Pederson[4]; 7. 51-Cody Swenson[5]; 8. 5G-Garrison Miller[14]; 9. 1-Mark Williams[7]; 10. 24-Jake Haugeberg[11]; 11. 72-Kate Taves[13]; 12. 19-Weley Van Drunen[6]; 13. 10-Danny Hazemann[12]; 14. (DNF) 40-Lawrence Veralrud[3]

Heat 1: 1. 13-Alan Truscinski[1]; 2. 100-Jason Berg[5]; 3. 22-Bryce Haugeberg[4]; 4. 11-Dexter Dvergsten[6]; 5. 40-Lawrence Veralrud[3]; 6. 5G-Garrison Miller[7]; 7. 10-Danny Hazemann[2]

Heat 2: 1. 93-Kelsi Pederson[1]; 2. 51-Cody Swenson[2]; 3. 10A-Alex Truscinski[3]; 4. 1-Mark Williams[6]; 5. 19-Weley Van Drunen[5]; 6. 24-Jake Haugeberg[4]; 7. (DNF) 72-Kate Taves[7]

INEX Legends:
Petermann Seeds A Feature 1: 1. 72-Tye Wilke[9]; 2. 79-Scott Richardson[4]; 3. 58-Sean Johnson[5]; 4. 58E-Dylan Johnson[3]; 5. 2-Ashton Spieker[13]; 6. 14-Kody King[11]; 7. 24-Shaun Erickson[12]; 8. 49-Collin Compson[1]; 9. (DNF) 29-Ryan Braseth[8]; 10. (DNF) B1-Brody Carlsrud[6]; 11. (DNF) 28-Joshua Wiest[7]; 12. (DNF) 56-Tim Compson[14]; 13. (DNF) 20-Alex Braseth[10]; 14. (DNF) 8-Ethan Mabus[2]

Petermann Seeds Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 72-Tye Wilke[2]; 2. B1-Brody Carlsrud[5]; 3. 58-Sean Johnson[4]; 4. 58E-Dylan Johnson[6]; 5. 79-Scott Richardson[7]; 6. 14-Kody King[3]; 7. 2-Ashton Spieker[1]

Petermann Seeds Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 20-Alex Braseth[1]; 2. 29-Ryan Braseth[3]; 3. 28-Joshua Wiest[6]; 4. 8-Ethan Mabus[2]; 5. 49-Collin Compson[5]; 6. 24-Shaun Erickson[7]; 7. (DNF) 56-Tim Compson[4]

IMCA Northern SportMods:
A Feature 1: 1. 7R-Ryan Restad[4]; 2. 5-Scott Jacobson[2]; 3. 17-Rich Pavlicek[8]; 4. 8J-Luke Johnson[10]; 5. 40-Chris VanMil[1]; 6. 41-Doug Gardner[6]; 7. 15-Matthew Clark[3]; 8. 9-Torey Fischer[9]; 9. 5T-Matt Talley[5]; 10. 22-Vince Jegtvig[7]; 11. 13C-Paul Colvin[14]; 12. 24V-Deryk Voller[13]; 13. 74-Darren Medler[11]; 14. 5F-Brandon Ferris[15]; 15. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[12]

Heat 1: 1. 8J-Luke Johnson[1]; 2. 17-Rich Pavlicek[6]; 3. 5-Scott Jacobson[3]; 4. 15-Matthew Clark[7]; 5. 5T-Matt Talley[5]; 6. 74-Darren Medler[2]; 7. 24V-Deryk Voller[4]; 8. (DNF) 5F-Brandon Ferris[8]

Heat 2: 1. 7R-Ryan Restad[1]; 2. 40-Chris VanMil[3]; 3. 9-Torey Fischer[7]; 4. 41-Doug Gardner[6]; 5. 22-Vince Jegtvig[4]; 6. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[2]; 7. 13C-Paul Colvin[5]

IMCA Stock Cars:
A Feature 1: 1. 40-Rob VanMil[4]; 2. 1-Tyler McDougall[2]; 3. 4-Rick Schulz[8]; 4. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[13]; 5. 38-Todd Heinrich[17]; 6. 8-Billy Michaelsohn[9]; 7. 10R-Travis Robertson[5]; 8. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[1]; 9. 88K-Keaten Froemke[16]; 10. 76Z-John Sandvig[15]; 11. 13X-Jonathan Johnson[14]; 12. 21-Tim Church[6]; 13. (DNF) 28-Norm Olson[10]; 14. (DNF) 52-Brennan Borg[12]; 15. (DNF) 85K-Ernest Geist[3]; 16. (DNF) 18-Mike Anderson[7]; 17. (DNF) 17-Chad Hunteman[18]; 18. (DNF) 21J-Andrew Jochim[11]

Heat 1: 1. 40-Rob VanMil[6]; 2. 10R-Travis Robertson[4]; 3. 18-Mike Anderson[2]; 4. 52-Brennan Borg[5]; 5. 57K-Derrick Kronbach[1]; 6. 88K-Keaten Froemke[3]

Heat 2: 1. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[4]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz[1]; 3. 8-Billy Michaelsohn[3]; 4. 28-Norm Olson[6]; 5. 13X-Jonathan Johnson[5]; 6. 38-Todd Heinrich[2]

Heat 3: 1. 21J-Andrew Jochim[1]; 2. 85K-Ernest Geist[2]; 3. 1-Tyler McDougall[4]; 4. 21-Tim Church[3]; 5. 76Z-John Sandvig[6]; 6. 17-Chad Hunteman[5]

IMCA Hobby Stocks:
A Feature: 1. 146-Andrew Bertsch[7]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek[2]; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[6]; 4. 44T-Tanner Engen[3]; 5. 9-Skyla Miller[10]; 6. 39-Caleb Gardner[5]; 7. 15-Andrea Jacobson[9]; 8. B1-Marvin Priem[1]; 9. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[8]; 10. (DNF) 14-Alyssa White[4]

Heat 1: 1. 31X-Tim Shiek[2]; 2. 44T-Tanner Engen[4]; 3. B1-Marvin Priem[1]; 4. 14-Alyssa White[5]; 5. 39-Caleb Gardner[3]; 6. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[6]; 7. 146-Andrew Bertsch[8]; 8. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[10]; 9. 15-Andrea Jacobson[7]; 10. 9-Skyla Miller[9]