Title night at the track

The final night of regular-season racing will unfold at Jamestown Speedway tonight, where five drivers will be crowned track champions by the end of the evening.

The night will come down to the wire in the Hornets division. Jamestown’s Steven Nicholson holds a slim four-point lead over Fargo’s Sean and Dylan Johnson in the season standings.

Nicholson has rolled to an impressive six feature victories at the track this summer, while the Johnson boys have teamed up in the same car to notch five feature wins in the four-cylinder beginner’s class.

Earlier this week it was reported that Nicholson held a commanding 48-point lead over the Johnsons, but speednetdirect.com — the website the speedway uses to post its season standings — was the root of the inaccuracy.

The website limits points to be awarded by driver and not by car, and points in the Hornets class in Jamestown are awarded to the car. Although false, the website currently has Sean Johnson scored 71 points back of Nicholson and Dylan Johnson 336 points back of the leader.

The next closest points battle that will be settled tonight is in the WISSOTA Modifieds, where Jamestown’s John Corell holds a 12-point lead over Jamestown’s Randy Tarno.

Corell has earned one win at the track this season, and as long as he makes tonight’s feature race and keeps Tarno behind him, the Jamestown racing veteran will add another track championship to his trophy case.

Carrington’s Rusty Kollman and Marion’s Jeff Vogel have all but locked up championships in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified and Bomber ranks, respectively.

Kollman has won the past two B-mod races in Jamestown and leads Scott Bintz by 31 points. Kollman and Bintz have combined to win eight races at the track in 2011.

Vogel has had a great season in Jamestown, winning five feature Bomber events, and leads Spiritwood’s Leann Christensen by 32 markers. The real race in the Bombers is for second — barring a Vogel no-show — as Carrington’s Chris Gussiaas is just one point back of Christensen and Jamestown’s Bryan Wolf is just six points back.

Hannaford’s Rory Opp may have won the last four consecutive WISSOTA Street Stock races, but Jamestown’s Troy Nelson is still on top of the standings by 19 points over Carrington’s Kelly Hagel.

Nelson has been leading the standings for most of the season and has rolled to three feature wins. Opp is in fourth, 28 points off the pace.

The season championships will get underway tonight at 7 p.m.

Still on the schedule for Jamestown Speedway are its annual $1,000-to-win WISSOTA Midwest Modified and Street Stock Labor Day specials. The Midwest Mod special will be held on Sep. 3, with the Street Stock special to unfold on Sep. 4.

The season will officially wrap up with the 40th annual Jamestown Speedway Stock Car Stampede on Sep. 23-24.

Jamestown Speedway

Point standings

Top 10

Hornets

1, Steven Nicholson, Jamestown, 403; 2, Sean/Dylan Johnson, Fargo, 399; 3, Alex Kelstrom, Jamestown, 355; 4, Andrew Michel, Jamestown, 343; 5, Bud Cruff, Valley City, 320; 6, Dylan Wiesz, Carrington, 284; 7, Anthony Clark, LaMoure, 240; 8, Sam Gray, Jamestown, 237; 9, Aaron Michel, Jamestown, 232; 10, Mark Miller, Valley City, 219.

Bombers

1, Jeff Vogel, Marion, 599; 2, Leann Christensen, Spiritwood, 567; 3, Chris Gussiaas, Carrington, 566; 4, Bryan Wolf, Jamestown, 561; 5, Lucas Rodin, Fullerton, 554; 6, Shawn Becker, Jamestown, 553; 7, Matt Miller, Valley City, 491; 8, Tyler Hintz, Buchanan, 445; 9, Keith Striefel, Jamestown, 402; 10, Ben Tompkins, Jamestown, 377.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

1, Rusty Kollman, Carrington, 652; 2, Scott Bintz, Jamestown, 621; 3, Josh Eberhardt, Jamestown, 586; 4, Lyn Lamb, Lisbon, 576; 5, Kelly Hagel, Carrington, 542; 6, Ryan Lehr, Jamestown, 523; 7, Jeremy Forester, Jamestown, 471; 8, Greg Friestad, Valley City, 470; 9, Tony Konold, Clear Lake, S.D., 459; 10, Eric Edwards, Edgeley, 458.

WISSOTA Street Stocks

1, Troy Nelson, Jamestown, 545; 2, Bob Banish Jr., Milnor, 526; 3, Kelly Hagel, Carrington, 518; 4, Rory Opp, Hannaford, 517; 5, Royce Jawaski, Adrain, 493; 6, Justin Kollman, Aberdeen, 441; 7 (tie), Spencer Johnson, Jamestown, 434; Dustin Erickson, Jamestown, 434; 9, Randy Kollman, Fargo, 409; 10, Jake Emo, Jamestown, 406.

WISSOTA Modifieds

1, John Corell, Jamestown, 472; 2, Randy Tarno, Jamestown, 460; 3, Bob Sagen, Arthur, 441; 4, Eric Edwards, Edgeley, 430; 5, Jerry Lamb, Lisbon, 428; 6, John Nord, Enderlin, 398; 7, Dwight Wegner, Jamestown, 359; 8, Ryan Mikkelson, Jamestown, 357; 9, Randy Klein, Valley City, 346; 10, Blake Jegtvig, Hawley, Minn., 344.

Feature wins

Bombers: Jeff Vogel 5; Chris Gussiaas 3; Shawn Becker 2; Bryan Wolf 1; Cory Rodin, Marion, 1.

Hornets: Steven Nicholson 6; Sean/Dylan Johnson 5; Andrew Michel 1.

WISSOTA Modifies: Blake Jegtvig 3; John Corell 1; Jayson Corell, Jamestown, 1; Ward Imrie, Winnipeg, 1; Ben Mickelson, Jamestown, 1; Mike Greseth, Harwood, 1; Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, 1; Jerry Lamb 1; Brian Strand, Bemidji, Minn., 1

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds: Scott Bintz 4; Rusty Kollman 4; Lyn Lamb 1; Kelly Hagel 1; Bobby Eckerdt, Grand Forks, 1, Dustin Strand, Grand Forks, 1.

WISSOTA Street Stocks: Rory Opp 5; Troy Nelson 3; Spencer Johnson, 2; Kelly Hagel 1.

Sun sports writer Michael Savaloja can be reached at (701) 952-8461 or by email at mikes@jamestownsun.com

Tags: auto racing, sports, speedway