By Mike Spieker
WEST FARGO – The IMCA Modifieds had extra bragging rights up for grabs Friday night at Red River Valley Speedway as they raced 48-laps for a $1,000 top prize.
The 48-lap special event, originally scheduled for Rusty Wallace night which was rained out on July 20th, boasted a stout 19 car field.
Casey Arneson of Fargo led every lap as he cruised to his second win of the season at Red River Valley Speedway. Dylan Goplen ran in the second spot early on after starting third. Behind him, Tyler Peterson was running third on lap seven when Rob VanMil made contact with him causing Peterson to spin. VanMil was charged for the caution and had to restart at the tail of the field. Peterson joined in back after going to the pit area to change a tire.
Arneson stretched out his lead by a straightway before the mandatory fuel stop with 30 to go. Arneson took over another commanding lead as they went green again. With 15 remaining, Peterson had made his way back up to third place behind Arneson and his brother, Cale, who ran second from the 12th starting spot. Casey worked through lap traffic patiently, as cruised to the win unchallenged.
The Fargo Force Super Stock Series made their second and final appearance of the season. Colfax, North Dakota’s Brian Bernotas picked up a dominating win in the 12 lap feature. Bernotas took the lead from Jonathon Miller on lap two and never looked back. Bernotas’ margin of victory at the checkers was a whopping 4.3 seconds. In victory lane, an emotional Bernotas announced his retirement from the sport, bringing a very successful and storied career to an end.
Luke Johnson of Moorhead, Minn. backed up his win Thursday night at Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minn. with another IMCA SportMod win Friday at Red River Valley Speedway. Taylor Grove led the opening laps of the feature until Matt Talley took the top spot. Johnson moved into second with 11 of 18 laps remaining.
Johnson quickly set his sights on Talley for the lead and made the winning pass with eight to go. From there, Johnson set sail and collected his fourth win in the last two weeks.
Rick Schulz showed the way at the drop of the green flag for the IMCA stock car feature. Schulz led Rob VanMil of Barnesville, Minn. until he spun on lap six of 14. VanMil inherited the lead on the ensuing restart, but couldn’t hold off stock car rookie, Brandon Schmidt. Schmidt took the lead with five circuits remaining, but VanMil would rally for one last bid for the lead.
VanMil executed some last lap heroics as he pulled even with Schmidt as the white flag flew and took the lead. VanMil won the race back to the checkers to collect his fourth stock car win of the season at the speedway.
Tim Estenson, who scored three feature wins last Sunday evening at Buffalo River Race Park in Glyndon, Minn., achieved a milestone win in the INEX legend division. Estenson led all 16 laps of the feature en route to his 50th career win. Sean Johnson remained within striking distance of Estenson early, but the Fargo driver eventually stretched his advantage to over a full straightaway around the high-banked three-eighths-mile clay oval. The win was Estenson’s 24th of the season.
After getting passed by Adam Goff around the halfway point of the IMCA hobby stock feature, Nick Nelson of Georgetown, Minn. made the high lane work following a restart with four to go to regain the point. Nelson went on to win his second race of the season.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series returned to Red River Valley Speedway on Saturday.
SUMMARY
IMCA Modifieds:
Feature – 1. 2-Casey Arneson, Fargo, N.D.; 2. 99-Cale Arneson, Fargo, N.D.; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, Hickson, N.D.; 4. 88B-Brady Petermann, Hawley, Minn.; 5. 6D-Dylan Goplen, Fargo, N.D.
WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature – 1. 43-Brian Bernotas, Colfax, N.D.; 2. 40-Shawn Schnabel, Aberdeen, S.D.; 3. 76-Jonathon Miller, Enderlin, N.D.; 4. 49-Tim Compson, Valley City, N.D.; 5. 11-William Wadeson, Alice, N.D.
IMCA SportMods:
Feature – 1. 8J-Luke Johnson, Moorhead, Minn.; 2. 5-Scott Jacobson, Fargo, N.D.; 3. 51-Kelly Jacobson, Fargo, N.D.; 4. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin, Moorhead, Minn.; 5. 1RM-Taylor Grove, Shelly, Minn.
IMCA Stock Cars:
Feature – 1. 40-Rob VanMil, Barnesville, Minn.; 2. 219-Brandon Schmidt, Hillsboro, N.D.; 3. 4-Rick Schulz, Horace, N.D.; 4. 38-Todd Heinrich, Fargo, N.D; 5. 18-Mike Anderson, Walcott, N.D.
INEX Legends:
Feature – 1. 14T-Tim Estenson, Fargo, N.D.; 2. 58-Sean Johnson, Kindred, N.D.; 3. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, Fargo, N.D.; 4. 5-Dean Julsrud, Barnesville, Minn.; 5. 69T-Joshua Julsrud, Barnesville, Minn.
IMCA Hobby Stocks:
Feature – 1. 31X-Tim Shiek, Fargo, N.D.; 2. 73-Maranda Borg, Harwood, N.D.; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, Fargo, N.D.; 4. 14-Alyssa White, West Fargo, N.D.; 5. 106-Eric Novacek, West Fargo, N.D.