The last couple days here in Bismarck have been overcast and kind of cold and there is a very distinct feel in the air. This feeling comes from a hard fought season of racing that has survived through the dog days of summer. This is the time of the year where hard fought seasons end in triumph or heartbreak and it the pits echo with cheers of joys and the heartbreak of defeat. Yes, it is the closure of the regular race season, it is the championship season. After a hard fought summer, all of the tracks look to wrap up their racing seasons for all of their classes over the next couple weeks.
Two tracks have already had their champions crowned and they are the McLean County Speedway and the Tri-County Speedway. They crowned their champions at the end of July. Another track crowned one of their classes last night was the Dacotah Speedway as Tom Berry Jr. was crowned the modified champion for the year. Dacotah Speedway still has the rest of their classes to crown next week. However, the rest of the state still has to crown their champions. So here is a brief look in at each tracks championship battles.
Dacotah Speedway:
The Dacotah Speedway wraps up next week and the points battle that is drawing the most attention is the IMCA Sport Compacts as the top three are only separated by six points. Stan Thompson currently is your leader but is closely followed by Braydee Hanson and Craig Kastner. Hanson is coming off of back to back weekly racing wins and Kastner has near the front consistently all year. Thompson will have to pull out all the tricks that he knows to stay in the lead. The rest of the classes are pretty much wrapped up for the points championships barring any major changes.
Devil's Lake Speedway:
DLS wraps up on Labor Day weekend and as of right now Seth Klostreich, Bailey Cousins, and Cody Armstrong all have a pretty strong hold on their respective division. Cody in the pure stock class still needs to perform well for the final couple races as he only has a twenty-eight point lead but the other two have close to a hundred point lead on their competition. The other class of interest if you go by myracepass points is the CAOSS sprint car class as there is a family battle for the points championship. Both Kevin and Dusty Lawson go into next weeks race tied in the points race. They still need to careful of Colton Young as he is only twelve points back and could strike at any moment.
Jamestown Speedway:
Jamestown has two more races after this weekend and right now the point battles are close in a majority of their classes. The top five in the modifieds are all within fifteen points with Casey Arneson in the lead with Josh Eberhardt and Marlyn Seidler hot on his tail. In the midwest mod class Reise Stenberg saw his huge points lead disappear after he rolled last week and now has to worry about Nate Reinke who is only seven points behind him now. The rest of the classes are a bit more spread out as Jonny Carter has a twenty point lead over Robert Banish Jr. in the street stocks. Meanwhile Donavin Wiest holds a thirty three point lead in the the legends and Billy Carrow holds a twenty two point lead over Leann Christensen in the bombers.
Nodak Speedway:
Nodak Speedway has an amazing situation going as all of their classes have extremely close battles in the points. Tom Berry Jr. Has a ten point lead over Drew Christianson in the modifieds. The sport mods has Robby Rosselli and Erik Laudenschlager in a six point slug fest as Rosselli hopes to hold off Laudenschlager. Brad king holds a nine point lead over Andrew Bertsch in the hobby stocks and Christopher Zenz has a six point lead over James Gilbert in the sport compacts. Then there is the stock cars as mad Mike Hagen holds a one point lead over Dalton Flory. So as it stands right now, every class has a meaningful battle in the points and there will certainly be excellent story lines to follow going into championship night.
Red River Valley:
Much like Nodak Speedway there is a lot to be excited for when attending the final two weeks of racing. The top six in the modifieds all are within eight points as Matt Aukland and Dylan Gopland are currently tied for the lead with Casey Arneson sitting in third only two points behind the leaders. The sport mods have the top three drivers within fourteen points. Luke Johnson is in the lead with a tie for second between Ryan Restad and Austin Veralrud. Mathew Olson has a twenty point lead in the hobby stocks and Rob VanMil has seven point lead in the stock cars over Rick Schulz and Brennan Borg is close as well in third. Sean Johnson also has a slight lead and will need to finish the year strong to take the legends.
River Cities:
River Cities is wrapping up another exciting year. Brad Seng has an eight point lead over Shane Edginton in the Wissota Late Models. In the NOSA sprints it's Nick Omdahl holding a fifteen point lead over Austin Pierce. John Halvorson needs to hold off Bryce Reimer in the street stocks and in the midwest mods Lance Schill holds a commanding lead over the rest of the field.
Sheyenne Speedway:
Sheyenne has had a very successful season this year and with that they have added the modifieds and the legends by sprinkling them in throughout the season. Jarrett Carter holds a three point lead over Dave Shipley and is being hounded by Myles Tomlinson, Kevin Bliese, andJohn Corell. The other close race within the points are the midwest mods and it's again another battle between the Reinke family as Nate leads Zach by fifteen points. The rest of the classes have their leaders having a healthy lead over their competitors. Matt Bogart, and Brady Carlsrud have all but clinched the titles.
Southwest Speedway:
Southwest has had a nice season and has a couple divisions that are going to be fun watch close out the season. The hobby stock division has Casey Vernon leading A.J. Davenport by six points while the sport mods have Eric Paul leading Zach Frederick by two points. Chris Lael of Dickinson looks to hold his one point lead over Tanner Hofer in the sport compacts and Kendall Booke has aten point lead over Hunter Domagala in the street stocks. The other classes are pretty much wrapped up as Myles Tomlinson has a twenty-seven point lead over Travis Tooley and Ivan Sailer has a strangle hold over the legends division.
Williston Basin Speedway:
WBS has two classes where the point battles are either tied or are one point back. Philip Keller leads Kelly Henderson by one point in the sport mods but has Chaz Mosby and Brady Bjella hot on their heels. In the hobby stocks Tyler Lucy and Tim Anderson are tied for the points lead but need to keep a close eye on John Flory Jr. who is lurking within striking distance. The stock cars has mad Mike Hagen leading Chris Ellis by seven points while Dalton Flory, Joren Boyce, and Keith Mattox are all within striking distance. In the modifieds John Flory has the lead but Wayne Johnson, Ed Conlin, Jermiah LeDue, and Tommy Lee are mathematically still in the points battle.
Estevan Motor Speedway
Our friends north of the border are in for an exciting season championship night as three of there four nightly classes (excluding the slingshots) have point battles within ten points of the leader. Both the modifieds and the sport mods have their respective points leaders (Travis Hagen and Darren Medler) holding only a two point lead over their next closest competitor (Kody Scholpp and Robby Rosselli). Meanwhile in the hobby stocks, Leevi Runge holds a seven point lead over Landon Runge and it's Joren Boyce with a fifteen point lead over Keith Mattox in stock cars.