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

By Mike Spieker

WEST FARGO – Weekly racing returned to Red River Valley Speedway Friday night. The evening was highlighted by the King Pin Klash IMCA Stock Car special, presented by The Bowler. A season-high number of Stock Cars were in attendance for the higher payout.

After picking up the opening night win of the two-night King Ping Klash Thursday night at Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minn., Brandon Schmidt of Hillsboro went back-to-back to sweep the event.

Schmidt took the lead at the drop of the green flag. Kevin Mattox, who made the haul from Ray, N.D., near Minot, to compete in the King Pin Klash. He ran in the runner-up position in the early going, but Mattox’s night came to an end early after he suffered a flat right rear tire near the halfway point to bring out a caution.

Schmidt held the point on the restart as Rob VanMil inherited the second spot. VanMil rode right in the tire tracks of Schmidt, but Schmidt was too strong.

Schmidt went on to drive his No. 219 machine to a division-leading fourth win of the season as VanMil, who has three wins to his credit, settled for second.

Dan Dowling of Davenport, who was fresh off a win Sunday at Buffalo River Race Park in Glyndon, Minn., picked up the IMCA SportMod win. Dowling took the point in the early going, but the race was quickly halted for a 10 car pile up in turn three. All drivers were able to rejoin the field for the restart with little to no damage.

On the restart, Dowling opened up a comfortable lead. As Dowling approached lapped traffic, Chris VanMil closed the gap to become a contender. Dowling and VanMil traded the lead with under five laps remaining, but Dowling held on to take his first win of the season at the speedway.

Tim Estenson cruised to yet another INEX legends feature win. The Fargo driver took the lead on lap three and never looked back. Sean Johnson remained within striking distance of Estenson, but Estenson went on to collect his 19th win of the season.

Jason Strand, who also picked up a win Thursday at Norman County Raceway, was looking to collect his second win in as many nights in the IMCA Modifieds. Strand appeared to be the class of the field through the first half of the 20-lap feature, but a string of cautions kept him at bay to the rest of the field. After holding off Rob VanMil, Strand had his hands full with Dale Kraling of Mayville. Strand’s race car pushed up the track in turn three, which allowed Kraling to take the lead.

Strand was quickly challenged by Tyler Peterson for the second position, which gave Kraling an opportunity to pull away. Kraling went on to take the win over Peterson and Strand as Black Widow Chassis drivers swept the podium.

Nick Nelson of Georgetown, Minn. raced to his first IMCA hobby stock win of the season by a large margin over Tim Shiek.

RESULTS:

IMCA Modifieds:

Feature 1: 1. 7-Dale Kraling, Mayville, N.D.; 2. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, Hickson, N.D.; 3. E85-Jason Strand, Portland, N.D.; 4. 6D-Dylan Goplen, Fargo, N.D.; 5. 84-Michael Johnson, Moorhead, Minn.

IMCA SportMods:

Feature: 1. 2D-Dan Dowling, Davenport, N.D.; 2. 33-Brennan Urbach, Englevale, N.D.; 3. 5-Scott Jacobson, Fargo, N.D.; 4. 77-Charles Jensen, Pelican Rapids, Minn.; 5. 51-Kelly Jacobson, Fargo, N.D.

IMCA Stock Cars:

Feature: 1. 219-Brandon Schmidt, Hillsboro, Minn.; 2. 40-Rob VanMil, Barnesville, Minn.; 3. 4-Rick Schulz, Horace, N.D.; 4. 99M-Kevin Mattox, Ray, 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. 79-Scott Richardson, Pelican Rapids, Minn.; 4. 72-Tye Wilke, Detroit Lakes, Minn.; 5. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, Fargo, N.D.

IMCA Hobby Stocks:

Feature: 1. 37N-Nick Nelson, Georgetown, Minn.; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek, Fargo, N.D.; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, Fargo, N.D.; 4. 30A-Adam Goff, Minot, N.D.; 5. 14-Alyssa White, West Fargo, N.D.

By Mike Spieker

WEST FARGO – Tyler Peterson of Hickson collected his second IMCA Modified win of the season at the West Fargo dirt track after starting in the ninth position. Dylan Goplen and Rob VanMil led the pack early on, but while racing for the lead, VanMil slid into Goplen which forced them both to spin. The caution was called on VanMil, while Goplen reclaimed his spot back in the lead for the ensuing restart.

As the race went green, a four-car battle for the point broke out between Goplen, Casey Arneson, Dave Shipley, and Peterson. Arneson won the fight to take the lead.

At the halfway point, Michael Greseth and Peterson caught Arneson. Peterson took the lead as a caution reset the field on the following lap.

Cautions plagued the second half of the race, but in the closing stages, Greseth and Arneson mounted one last charge on Peterson. With three to go, the lead trio went three wide for the lead, but Greseth suffered a push in turn one, which allowed Peterson to maintain the lead and Arneson to gain second.

Peterson fended off Arneson on the final lap to claim the win.

Kelly Jacobson of Fargo picked up his second IMCA SportMod win of the week. Jacobson, who won Thursday night at Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minn., charged into the lead on lap two with a three-wide pass over Charlie Jensen and Torey Fischer. A few cautions throughout the race kept Jacobson at bay to the rest of the field.

With eight laps remaining, Matt Talley began closing in on Jacobson for the lead. Jacobson was able to hold on to claim his first Red River Valley Speedway win of 2018 over Talley and 10th place starter, Chris VanMil.

One of the biggest fields of IMCA stock cars of the season was on hand. It took two attempts at a complete restart to get the race underway, but once it did, Larry Niemi took the lead while a four-wide battle for second broke out behind him. Brandon Schmidt, who also won at Norman County Raceway earlier this week, and Rob VanMil raced for second before getting by Niemi to make it a fight for the lead. Schmidt and VanMil traded the spot back and forth for the remainder of the event.

VanMil got a good run on Schmidt into turn three on the final lap, but Schmidt held on for his second consecutive Red River Valley Speedway win.

In just his second start of the season at Red River Valley Speedway, Andrew Jochim of Glyndon, Minn. picked up the INEX legends feature win. Jochim and fellow fifth-row starter, Tim Estenson, sliced their way through the field to find the front with five laps to go. Jochim and Estenson raced three wide for the top spot with Tye Wilke into turn three. Jochim emerged as the leader with Estenson in tow.

Estenson, who was in search of his 11th overall win of the season, used every inch of the three-eighths-mile clay oval trying to find a way around Jochim but came up short at the checkers.

Adam Goff of Minot has three starts at Red River Valley Speedway thus far in 2018. By night’s end, he would leave West Fargo with his second IMCA Hobby Stock victory. Goff, Tim Shiek, and Eric Novacek went three wide for the lead early on before Goff claimed the point. Once out front, Goff checked out as he cruised to the win.

RESULTS:

IMCA Modifieds:
Feature – 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, Hickson, N.D., 2. 2-Casey Arneson, Fargo, N.D., 3. 17-Michael Greseth, Harwood, N.D., 4. 99-Cale Arneson, Fargo, N.D, 5. 72-Dave Shipley, Argusville, N.D.

IMCA SportMods:
Feature – 1. 51-Kelly Jacobson, Fargo, N.D., 2. 5T-Matt Talley, Sabin , Minn, 3. 40-Chris VanMil, Barnesville, Minn., 4. 8J-Luke Johnson, Moorhead, Minn., 5. 6-Austin Veralrud, Fargo, N.D.

IMCA Stock Cars:
Feature – 1. 219-Brandon Schmidt, Hillsboro, Minn., 2. 40-Rob VanMil, Barnesville, Minn., 3. 18-Mike Anderson, Walcott, N.D., 4. 4-Rick Schulz, Horace, N.D., 5. 14-Nick Johansen, Tyler, Minn.

INEX Legends:
Feature – 1. 21-Andrew Jochim, Glyndon, Minn., 2. 14T-Tim Estenson, Fargo, N.D., 3. 72-Tye Wilke, Detroit Lakes, Minn., 4. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, Fargo, N.D., 5. 5D8-Dylan Johnson, Durbin, N.D.

IMCA Hobby Stocks:
Feature – 1. 30A – Adam Goff, Minot, N.D., 2. 31X-Tim Shiek, Fargo, N.D., 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, Fargo, N.D., 4. 14-Alyssa White, Ontonagon, M.I., 5. 106-Eric Novacek, West Fargo, N.D.

By Mike Spieker

WEST FARGO—A late afternoon storm made for tricky track conditions and a wild and unpredictable night of racing Friday at Red River Valley Speedway.

During the IMCA stock car feature last week, Rick Schulz of Horace made contact with another car, which sent him into the wall and barrel rolling on the front straightaway. A week later, he was standing in victory lane.

Schulz jumped out to the early lead from the third starting position. The driver of the Sanders Metal Products No. 4S led every lap en route to his first win of the season at Red River Valley Speedway and second overall.

“Wow, this means a ton. To go from wreckers to checkers in one week means a lot,” said Schulz. “It took until about Monday or Tuesday before I started looking things over and realized we had enough parts to get it put back together.”

Schulz was followed to the line by Thursday night’s winner at Norman County Raceway, Rob VanMil.

The first of three first-time winners at the high-banked three-eighths-mile clay oval was Tim Thomas of Fargo. Thomas won the make-up IMCA modified feature that was rained out last Friday.

Thomas led every circuit of the 15-lap event to claim his first career IMCA modified win.

“I’ve been trying to get this track figured out for the last three years,” said Thomas after the race. “I think we are onto something that works well for us. My crew and I are all on the same page now. Hopefully, we can keep getting better and get a few more wins.”

West Fargo’s Matt Clark also picked up his first career win. Clark, who is amidst his sophomore season in the IMCA SportMods, claimed the win after dominating the majority of the 16-lap feature. Clark nearly had a half-lap lead over Brennan Urbach in second at the halfway point, but the caution was displayed as Clark was about to take the checkers.

As a result, a two-lap dash to the finish ensued, but Clark’s car stalled while under caution. Clark momentarily pulled into the infield, but he was able to get his machine refired to rejoin the field.

Urbach challenged Clark on the restart, but Clark had the momentum on the high side of the race track. Clark cruised to the win over Urbach, Luke Johnson, who started 11th, while Kelly Jacobson and Scott Jacobson rounded out the top five.

The INEX legends feature came down to the last corner of the last lap before the winner was determined. Dylan Johnson of Dubin held until the final circuit when Scotty Richardson momentarily took the lead in the field set of corners. Richardson slid up the track to take the lead, but Johnson kept his foot on the throttle and pulled even with Richardson as the duo came to the checkered flag. They made contact at the flagstand as Johnson was declared the winner by a mere 0.019 seconds, equating about 10 inches.

Tim Shiek scored his fourth IMCA hobby stock win in a row at Red River Valley Speedway in dominating fashion. The win marked his sixth overall in the last eight races.

RESULTS

IMCA Modifieds

Make-up Feature from June 1: 1. 51T-Tim Thomas, [1]; 2. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [5]; 3. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [8]; 4. 6Z-Zach Dockter, [2]; 5. 7-Dale Kraling, [6]; 6. 2-Casey Arneson, [15]; 7. 96A-Rob VanMil, [17]; 8. 88B-Brady Petermann, [9]; 9. 6D-Dylan Goplen, [13]; 10. 86C-Darren Pfau, [3]; 11. 7B-Bryce Bjerken, [16]; 12. 12C-Nick Curtis, [19]; 13. (DNF) 99B-Bryce Borgen, [7]; 14. (DNF) 174-Rich Pavlicek, [20]; (DNS) E85-Jason Strand, ; (DNS) 72S-Dave Shipley, ; (DNS) 60-Tyler Hall, ; (DNS) 71-Nate Reinke, ; (DNS) 17G-Michael Greseth, ; (DNS) 99-Cale Arneson,

A Feature 1: 1. 86C-Darren Pfau, [2]; 2. 88B-Brady Petermann, [8]; 3. 99-Cale Arneson, [14]; 4. 6D-Dylan Goplen, [1]; 5. 6Z-Zach Dockter, [5]; 6. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [12]; 7. 7-Dale Kraling, [10]; 8. 30-Adam Fischer, [16]; 9. 4500-Cody Peterson, [17]; 10. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [11]; 11. 12C-Nick Curtis, [13]; 12. 0-Jeff Odden, [19]; 13. 79-Tony Mack, [18]; 14. (DNF) 96A-Rob VanMil, [6]; 15. (DNF) 72-Dave Shipley, [9]; 16. (DNF) 51T-Tim Thomas, [4]; 17. (DNF) 10-Casey Arneson, [7]; 18. (DNF) 174-Rich Pavlicek, [15]; 19. (DNF) 7B-Bryce Bjerken, [3]; (DNS) 99B-Bryce Borgen,

Heat 1: 1. 6Z-Zach Dockter, [3]; 2. 96A-Rob VanMil, [4]; 3. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [6]; 4. 72-Dave Shipley, [5]; 5. 12C-Nick Curtis, [1]; 6. 30-Adam Fischer, [7]; 7. 0-Jeff Odden, [2]

Heat 2: 1. 6D-Dylan Goplen, [1]; 2. 7-Dale Kraling, [5]; 3. 7B-Bryce Bjerken, [2]; 4. 10-Casey Arneson, [4]; 5. 99-Cale Arneson, [6]; 6. 4500-Cody Peterson, [7]; 7. (DNF) 99B-Bryce Borgen, [3]

Heat 3: 1. 51T-Tim Thomas, [2]; 2. 88B-Brady Petermann, [4]; 3. 86C-Darren Pfau, [1]; 4. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [5]; 5. 174-Rich Pavlicek, [3]; 6. 79-Tony Mack, [6]

IMCA SportMods

A Feature 1: 1. 15-Matthew Clark, [3]; 2. 33-Brennan Urbach, [7]; 3. 8J-Luke Johnson, [11]; 4. 51-Kelly Jacobson, [8]; 5. 5-Scott Jacobson, [14]; 6. 40-Chris VanMil, [10]; 7. 2D-Dan Dowling, [9]; 8. 19C-Dustin Hartwig, [12]; 9. 76-Reile Sailer, [6]; 10. 47-Kreig Kasin, [5]; 11. 22S-Brian Schaffer, [1]; 12. 68-Dan Evert, [18]; 13. 22-Vince Jegtvig, [17]; 14. 6-Austin Veralrud, [16]; 15. 12T-Brandon Tendeland, [2]; 16. 5T-Matt Talley, [20]; 17. 9-Torey Fischer, [21]; 18. 76G-Gwen Sailer, [19]; 19. (DNF) 8-Billy Michaelsohn, [15]; 20. (DNF) 22V-Ryan Veralrud, [13]; 21. (DNF) 77-Charles Jensen, [4]

Heat 1: 1. 40-Chris VanMil, [7]; 2. 22S-Brian Schaffer, [1]; 3. 51-Kelly Jacobson, [6]; 4. 76-Reile Sailer, [4]; 5. 22V-Ryan Veralrud, [3]; 6. 6-Austin Veralrud, [5]; 7. 76G-Gwen Sailer, [2]

Heat 2: 1. 15-Matthew Clark, [2]; 2. 8J-Luke Johnson, [7]; 3. 2D-Dan Dowling, [6]; 4. 12T-Brandon Tendeland, [1]; 5. 5-Scott Jacobson, [5]; 6. 22-Vince Jegtvig, [3]; 7. 5T-Matt Talley, [4]

Heat 3: 1. 33-Brennan Urbach, [5]; 2. 47-Kreig Kasin, [3]; 3. 77-Charles Jensen, [2]; 4. 19C-Dustin Hartwig, [7]; 5. 8-Billy Michaelsohn, [6]; 6. 68-Dan Evert, [1]; 7. 9-Torey Fischer, [4]

IMCA Hobby Stocks

A Feature 1: 1. 31X-Tim Shiek, [4]; 2. 30A-Adam Goff, [5]; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, [3]; 4. 11S-William Smith, [7]; 5. 106-Eric Novacek, [2]; 6. 701-Kyle Hallgren, [1]; 7. 73-Maranda Borg, [6]; 8. 00-Arnie Lovdokken, [9]; 9. (DNF) 14-Alyssa White, [10]; 10. (DNF) 21X-Tim Smith, [8]

Heat 1: 1. 31X-Tim Shiek, [7]; 2. 30A-Adam Goff, [8]; 3. 106-Eric Novacek, [3]; 4. 701-Kyle Hallgren, [1]; 5. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, [5]; 6. 73-Maranda Borg, [6]; 7. 11S-William Smith, [10]; 8. 21X-Tim Smith, [9]; 9. 00-Arnie Lovdokken, [2]; 10. 14-Alyssa White, [4]

IMCA Stock Cars

A Feature 1: 1. 4-Rick Schulz, [3]; 2. 40-Rob VanMil, [5]; 3. 219-Brandon Schmidt, [4]; 4. 21-Tim Church, [1]; 5. 18-MIke Anderson, [2]; 6. 96-Erv Grossman, [6]; 7. 48-Larry Niemi, [7]

Heat 1: 1. 18-MIke Anderson, [3]; 2. 21-Tim Church, [2]; 3. 40-Rob VanMil, [6]; 4. 4-Rick Schulz, [4]; 5. 219-Brandon Schmidt, [5]; 6. 96-Erv Grossman, [1]; 7. 48-Larry Niemi, [7]

INEX Legends

A Feature 1: 1. 5D8-Dylan Johnson, [1]; 2. 79-Scott Richardson, [4]; 3. 58-Sean Johnson, [7]; 4. 6-Chad Sogge, [10]; 5. 14T-Tim Estenson, [8]; 6. 5-Dean Julsrud, [6]; 7. 72-Tye Wilke, [9]; 8. 20-Alex Braseth, [3]; 9. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, [5]; 10. 29-Brandon Erickson, [11]; 11. 7-Cade Sogge, [13]; 12. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [12]; 13. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [2]; 14. 29B-Ryan Braseth, [14]; 15. 24-Shaun Erickson, [15]; 16. 22-Corey Hansen, [17]; 17. 5G-Garrison Miller, [16]

Heat 1: 1. 5D8-Dylan Johnson, [3]; 2. 79-Scott Richardson, [5]; 3. 5-Dean Julsrud, [6]; 4. 14T-Tim Estenson, [7]; 5. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [4]; 6. 29-Brandon Erickson, [1]; 7. 7-Cade Sogge, [8]; 8. 24-Shaun Erickson, [2]; 9. 22-Corey Hansen, [9]

Heat 2: 1. 20-Alex Braseth, [2]; 2. 58-Sean Johnson, [4]; 3. 6-Chad Sogge, [6]; 4. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, [3]; 5. 72-Tye Wilke, [5]; 6. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [8]; 7. 29B-Ryan Braseth, [1]; 8. 5G-Garrison Miller, [7]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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]