WEST FARGO, N.D. (May 10, 2024) – The 54th season of racing at Red River Valley Speedway opened with a huge field of 93 race teams in the pit area and an unusually fast and tacky three-eighths mile high-banked oval. 

Andy Pake, Jesse Skalicky, Ryan Restad, Rob VanMil, Tanner Engen and Sean Johnson all visited Finley Motorsports Victory Lane. 

The All Finish Concrete IMCA Modifieds had the most exciting feature of the evening as Jesse Skalicky and Dave Shipley fought for the win until the final corner. Skalicky jumped out to the lead over John Miller and Matt Aukland before Shipley worked his way into second from the sixth starting position. 

Shipley pulled alongside Skalicky a number of times during the 20-lap feature, but each time Skalicky was able to maintain his momentum on the high side and fend off the charge. 

On the final lap, Shipley made one last ditch effort at Skalicky, but Skalicky was able to hold off the three-time and defending track champion by a half car length at the M&J Auto Parts flagstand. 

Shipley, Tyler Hall, Corey Seckerson, and Matt Aukland rounded out the top five. The win was Skalicky’s second in a Modified and 14th overall at Red River Valley. 

Andy Pake led 19 of 20 laps in Friday’s Superior Customs Red River Sprint Series feature to claim the first win of the 2024 season. 

Last year’s Red River Valley Speedway track champion, Pake, and the 2023 Red River Sprint Series titlist, Tye Wilke, led the field of 10 to the green flag. Wilke got the jump on the opening circuit, but Pake came charging back. The two were side by side at the completion of lap one with the edge going to Wilke. 

Pake took the lead in turn one, however, and drove out to a three car length lead. From there, Pake was untouchable. Pake ran the fastest lap of the night, a 13.577 second lap, averaging 99.43mph around the three-eighths mile oval. 

On the final lap, fourth place runner Brandon Rekow lost a powerplant, bringing out the red flag. With Pake approaching the checkers, the race was deemed official. The win was Pake’s eighth with the Red River Sprint Series and seventh at Red River Valley Speedway. 

“I knew if I let Tye get away, it would be tricky to catch him,” said Pake in Finley Motorsports Victory Lane. “I was glad to be able to make a move in the first couple of laps. Once I got going, I wasn’t sure if I was making the fastest laps, but it all worked out.” 

Wilke came home second with Amelia Eisenschenk rounding out the podium. Ty Hanten picked up the night’s Keith Berger Realtor Century 21 FM Realty Hard Charger, advancing five positions, with Morgan Nyquist rounding out the top five. 

Ryan Restad’s quest for the FM Drain Cleaning Services IMCA SportMod track title got off to a good start as he picked up the win. Brennan Urbach led the field early and had a somewhat comfortable lead until his right front frame rail dug into the track in turn one, killing his momentum. Restad took command as Urbach lost a couple of positions getting back up to speed. 

It appeared as though Urbach had the fastest car on the track, but had trouble making his way through traffic in his pursuit to catch Restad. 

Restad raced back to the checkers ahead of Urbach, Landon Maatz, Rich Pavlicek and Chris VanMil for his 15th career SportMod win and 23rd overall win at his home track. 

After taking last season off, Tanner Engen returned to the track on Friday night and proved he hasn’t missed a beat. The Detriot Lakes driver charged from ninth against a stacked field of A Transmission City IMCA Hobby Stocks to record his 11th win at the track. 

Sean Johnson led all 20 laps of the 26-car Optima Realty (Tony Paul) INEX Legends feature to pick up his 13th career win at the speedway. 

Rob VanMil continues to be the man to beat in the Skalicky’s Auto Repair IMCA Stock Cars. The Barnesville, MN driver collected his 26th career Stock Car win and his 32nd overall win.

RESULTS:

OPTIMA REALTY (TONY PAUL) INEX LEGENDS

A Feature: 1. 58-Sean Johnson[1]; 2. 79-Scott Richardson[4]; 3. 29-Ryan Braseth[9]; 4. 46-Zander Compson[2]; 5. 5D8-Dylan Johnson[12]; 6. 7F-Brian Frederick[8]; 7. 7-Kody Machart[10]; 8. 93-Steve Johnson[16]; 9. 27-Carter Restad[24]; 10. 40-Kyle VanMil[6]; 11. 13-Ben Lundquist[15]; 12. 97-Howie Briss[13]; 13. 77S-Skylar Seckerson[14]; 14. 15-Ryan Lewis[17]; 15. 67-Evan Hendrickson[7]; 16. 2J-Joseph Lewis[19]; 17. 21-Noah Lewis[18]; 18. 11D-Shawn Dement[5]; 19. 818E-Logan Ellingson[20]; 20. 25-Alexander Clark[25]; 21. 31C-Emmitt Curtis[21]; 22. 24-Shaun Erickson[22]; 23. 11-Mason Lemar[23]; 24. (DNF) 70G-David Sogge[26]; 25. (DNF) 72-Tye Wilke[3]; 26. (DNF) 0W-Cody Jawaski[11]

Heat 1: 1. 72-Tye Wilke[1]; 2. 79-Scott Richardson[5]; 3. 40-Kyle VanMil[3]; 4. 97-Howie Briss[7]; 5. 15-Ryan Lewis[4]; 6. (DNF) 31C-Emmitt Curtis[6]; 7. (DNF) 25-Alexander Clark[2]

Heat 2: 1. 7F-Brian Frederick[1]; 2. 46-Zander Compson[5]; 3. 11D-Shawn Dement[2]; 4. 77S-Skylar Seckerson[4]; 5. 21-Noah Lewis[3]; 6. 24-Shaun Erickson[6]; 7. (DNS) 70G-David Sogge

Heat 3: 1. 29-Ryan Braseth[1]; 2. 5D8-Dylan Johnson[6]; 3. 67-Evan Hendrickson[4]; 4. 13-Ben Lundquist[3]; 5. 2J-Joseph Lewis[5]; 6. 11-Mason Lemar[2]

Heat 4: 1. 58-Sean Johnson[3]; 2. 0W-Cody Jawaski[4]; 3. 7-Kody Machart[1]; 4. 93-Steve Johnson[5]; 5. 818E-Logan Ellingson[6]; 6. 27-Carter Restad[2]

FM DRAIN CLEANING & SERVICES IMCA SPORT MODS

A Feature: 1. 7R-Ryan Restad[3]; 2. 33-Brennan Urbach[1]; 3. 22M-Landon Maatz[6]; 4. 17-Rich Pavlicek[2]; 5. 40-Chris VanMil[12]; 6. 6-Austin Veralrud[4]; 7. 9-Torey Fischer[9]; 8. 77-Charles Jensen[11]; 9. 5F-Brandon Ferris[13]; 10. 13C-Paul Colvin[14]; 11. 14-Thomas Sandvig[17]; 12. 77S-Brian Schaffer[10]; 13. 84-Brody Johnson[15]; 14. (DNF) 76-Reile Sailer[5]; 15. (DNF) 5-Scott Jacobson[7]; 16. (DNF) 76Z-John Sandvig[18]; 17. (DNF) 12T-Brandon Tendeland[8]; 18. (DNF) 74-Jayden Pavlicek[16]

Heat 1: 1. 40-Chris VanMil[2]; 2. 33-Brennan Urbach[1]; 3. 5-Scott Jacobson[4]; 4. 76-Reile Sailer[3]; 5. 5F-Brandon Ferris[6]; 6. 74-Jayden Pavlicek[5]

Heat 2: 1. 77S-Brian Schaffer[2]; 2. 77-Charles Jensen[1]; 3. 6-Austin Veralrud[3]; 4. 7R-Ryan Restad[4]; 5. 13C-Paul Colvin[5]; 6. (DNF) 14-Thomas Sandvig[6]

Heat 3: 1. 17-Rich Pavlicek[1]; 2. 12T-Brandon Tendeland[2]; 3. 22M-Landon Maatz[3]; 4. 9-Torey Fischer[4]; 5. 84-Brody Johnson[6]; 6. (DNF) 76Z-John Sandvig[5]

A TRANSMISSION CITY IMCA HOBBY STOCKS

A Feature: 1. 44T-Tanner Engen[9]; 2. 21-Tim Church[4]; 3. 22-Kyler Satran[6]; 4. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[8]; 5. 54DK-Dylan Krueger[3]; 6. 95-Reid Randall[10]; 7. 17X-Randy Jawaski[7]; 8. 004-Hudson Hooker[2]; 9. 70-Tyler Hehn[1]; 10. (DNF) 15-Andrea Jacobson[5]; 11. (DNF) 9M-Bradie Miller[11]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[3]; 2. 44T-Tanner Engen[4]; 3. 21-Tim Church[2]; 4. 54DK-Dylan Krueger[5]; 5. 15-Andrea Jacobson[6]; 6. (DNF) 9M-Bradie Miller[1]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 22-Kyler Satran[3]; 2. 17X-Randy Jawaski[1]; 3. 004-Hudson Hooker[2]; 4. 70-Tyler Hehn[5]; 5. (DNF) 95-Reid Randall[4]

SUPERIOR CUSTOMS SIGNS & WRAPS IMCA RACESAVER SPRIN

A Feature: 1. 64-Andy Pake[2]; 2. 72-Tye Wilke[1]; 3. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[3]; 4. 13-Ty Hanten[9]; 5. 39-Morgan Nyquist[7]; 6. (DNF) 69-Brandon Rekow[8]; 7. (DNF) 69C-Tom Cummings[10]; 8. (DNF) 3M-Marcus Rothenbacher[4]; 9. (DNF) 3D-Dan Griep[6]; 10. (DNF) 19B-Jack Berger[5]

Heat 1: 1. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[2]; 2. 69-Brandon Rekow[4]; 3. 72-Tye Wilke[5]; 4. 3M-Marcus Rothenbacher[1]; 5. 13-Ty Hanten[3]

Heat 2: 1. 39-Morgan Nyquist[1]; 2. 19B-Jack Berger[2]; 3. 3D-Dan Griep[5]; 4. 64-Andy Pake[4]; 5. (DNF) 69C-Tom Cummings[3]

ALL FINISH CONCRETE IMCA MODS

A Feature: 1. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[3]; 2. 72-Dave Shipley[6]; 3. 60-Tyler Hall[4]; 4. 77C-Corey Seckerson[11]; 5. 12-Matt Aukland[1]; 6. 21-Jamie Schulz[5]; 7. 96-Erv Grossman[8]; 8. 45-Talon Seckerson[9]; 9. 12C-Nick Curtis[10]; 10. (DNF) 0-Jeff Odden[7]; 11. (DNF) 76-John Miller[2]; 12. (DNS) 02-Jordan Sours

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 3S-Jesse Skalicky[2]; 2. 60-Tyler Hall[3]; 3. 72-Dave Shipley[5]; 4. 0-Jeff Odden[4]; 5. 96-Erv Grossman[6]; 6. 77C-Corey Seckerson[1]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 12-Matt Aukland[1]; 2. 76-John Miller[6]; 3. 21-Jamie Schulz[3]; 4. 45-Talon Seckerson[5]; 5. (DNF) 12C-Nick Curtis[2]; 6. (DNS) 02-Jordan Sours

SKALICKY’S AUTO REPAIR IMCA STOCK CARS

A Feature: 1. 40-Rob VanMil[1]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz[3]; 3. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[4]; 4. 8R-Travis Robertson[7]; 5. 88-Randy Klein[10]; 6. 28-Tyler McDougall[9]; 7. 38-Todd Heinrich[12]; 8. 88K-Keaten Froemke[2]; 9. 3-Derek Bernstien[11]; 10. 52-Brennan Borg[14]; 11. 49-Tim Compson[15]; 12. 49C-Collin Compson[13]; 13. 53D-Wil Dittmer[16]; 14. (DNF) 51-Kelly Jacobson[6]; 15. (DNF) B1-Brody Carlsrud[8]; 16. (DNF) 17-Brady Jawaski[5]

Heat 1: 1. 4-Rick Schulz[4]; 2. 8R-Travis Robertson[3]; 3. 88K-Keaten Froemke[8]; 4. 17-Brady Jawaski[7]; 5. 28-Tyler McDougall[1]; 6. 3-Derek Bernstien[6]; 7. (DNF) 49C-Collin Compson[2]; 8. (DNF) 49-Tim Compson[5]

Heat 2: 1. 88-Randy Klein[2]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil[5]; 3. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg[7]; 4. B1-Brody Carlsrud[8]; 5. 51-Kelly Jacobson[3]; 6. 38-Todd Heinrich[4]; 7. 52-Brennan Borg[6]; 8. 53D-Wil Dittmer[1]