Carrington’s Kollman captures points title in style

Winning track championships is nothing knew to Carrington’s Rusty Kollman, but accomplishing the season-long feat behind the wheel of a WISSOTA Midwest Modified, however, is.

Kollman held a comfortable 31-point lead in the season standings over Jamestown’s Scott Bintz entering season championship night at Jamestown Speedway on Saturday, and all he really needed to do was show up and make the feature to secure the title.

But Kollman did more than just that.

Starting seventh in the 20-car feature field, Kollman shot toward the front and overtook the lead from Minot’s Shawn Nostdahl just five laps into the 20-lap event. Kollman then set his No. 2 machine on the very bottom of the racing surface and checked out, building up a full- straightaway lead on the rest by the time the checkered flag flew.

Bintz’s night wasn’t nearly as memorable. He was caught up in an eight-car accident near the exit of turn No. 4 with 13 laps left and was scored with a 16th-place finish after he won his heat and started the feature in eighth.

It was Kollman’s third-consecutive win in Jamestown — his fifth overall at the track this summer — as he locked up the points title by 46 markers over Bintz in his first full-season of WISSOTA Midwest Modified racing.

“It’s great. The beginning of the year was a little tough ... The first month-and a-half we were playing around with a lot of things on the car, but now we’re sticking to what we know,” Kollman said. “But there’s always something better out there, and I’m sure next year we’ll be trying a few different things again.”

Kollman’s car looked comfortable from the beginning, as he settled into third behind Nostdahl and second-place runner Grant Hall, of Brandon, Manitoba, three laps in.

But getting to the front proved a bit tricky on Saturday night, as the only racing groove with much speed in it was flat on the bottom, which was exactly where Nostdahl was running.

Kollman was able to get under Hall to complete the pass for second, but he was forced to try his hand up high to get by Nostdahl. The gamble worked.

“(Nostdahl) was fast enough that I couldn’t get by him, but once I cleared the No. 4 car (Hall) in one and two, I was able to get him in three and four,” Kollman said. “I knew where my car wanted to be. I just had to get there.”

And that place was on the bottom.

Kollman went straight back to the bottom line after clearing Nostdahl, and it was all over after that.

“It’s real tough to do. But we’ve got the setup right,” Kollman said of winning three-straight in Jamestown. “We put a little bit more gear into it tonight, and the Dakota Engine was awesome, like always.

“The track was our kind of track,” he added. “There was some tack in spots and then it was a little slick in spots.”

Valley City’s Greg Friestad finished second after staring fourth, while Tony Konold, of Clear Lake, S.D., finished third after starting fifth. Nostdahl wound up fifth, as Hall scored a 15th-place finish.

Also picking up track championships in Jamestown on Saturday were Jamestown’s John Corell, Jamestown’s Troy Nelson, Marion’s Jeff Vogel and Fargo’s Sean and Dylan Johnson.

Corell held a 12-point lead over Jamestown’s Randy Tarno in the WISSOTA Modified season standings to begin the night. He went on to post a solid second-place finish in the A-mod feature, while Tarno captured fourth, as he beat Tarno by 18 points for the track title.

Nelson posted three WISSOTA Street Stock feature wins at the track over the course of the summer, and entered the evening with a 19-point cushion over Milnor’s Bob Banish Jr. in the standings. Both drivers struggled on Saturday, as Banish Jr. took 11th in the 20-lap feature and an accident six laps in ended Nelson’s night.

Nelson was scored as finishing 20th in the 21-car field, but it was still enough to win the points title by 14 points.

A total of five feature wins in the Bomber division over the summer all but locked up the points title for Vogel before the night even started.

It was a good thing, as Vogel was unable to finish the 15-lap feature on Saturday but still earned the track championship over Spiritwood’s Leann Christensen and Jamestown’s Bryan Wolf by 18 points.

Wolf won the race — his second at the speedway this summer — while Christensen finished fifth and Vogel was scored 21st out of 22 cars.

Jamestown’s Steven Nicholson held a slim, 4-point lead over Fargo’s Sean and Dylan Johnson in the Hornets division at the start of the night. But a flat left-front tire on Nicholson’s No. 05 machine handed the points title over to the Johnson’s

Nicholson was running second behind Sean Johnson when his tire let go with just five laps left in the 15-lap race. Johnson went on to win the duo’s sixth feature of the year, and defeated Nicholson in the championship chase by 7 points.

For more on the races, including Saturday’s complete results, turn to page B2.

Jamestown Speedway

Final points standings

Top 10

Bombers

1, Jeff Vogel, Marion, 635; 2 (tie) Bryan Wolf, Jamestown 617; Leann Christensen, Spiritwood, 617; 4, Lucas Rodin, Fullerton, 606; 5, Chris Gussiaas, Carrington, 605; 6, Shawn Becker, Jamestown, 596; 7, Matt Miller, Valley City, 533; 8, Tyler Hintz, Buchanan, 480; 9, Keith Striefel, Jamestown, 454; 10, Mike Sahr, Jamestown, 416.

Hornets

1, Sean/Dylan Johnson, Fargo, 434; 2, Steven Nicholson, Jamestown, 427; 3, Alex Kelstrom, Jamestown, 384; 4, Andrew Michel, Jamestown, 376; 5, Bud Cruff, Valley City, 352; 6, Dylan Wiesz, Carrington, 315; 7, Anthony Clark, LaMoure, 270; 8, Sam Gray, Jamestown, 265; 9, Aaron Michel, Jamestown, 232; 10, Mark Miller, Valley City, 219.

WISSOTA Modifieds

1, John Corell, Jamestown, 525; 2, Randy Tarno, Jamestown 507; 3, Eric Edwards, Edgeley, 480; 4, Jerry Lamb, Lisbon, 476; 5, John Nord, Enderlin, 451; 6, Bob Sagen, Arthur, 441; 7, Ryan Mikkelson, Jamestown, 397; 8, Dwight Wegner, Jamestown, 395; 9, Blake Jegtvig, Hawley, Minn., 390; 10, Mike Stearns, Hecla, S.D., 387.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

1, Rusty Kollman, Carrington, 708; 2, Scott Bintz, Jamestown, 662; 3, Josh Eberhardt, Jamestown, 634; 4, Lyn Lamb, Lisbon, 623; 5, Kelly Hagel, Carrington, 582; 6, Ryan Lehr, Jamestown, 567; 7, Greg Friestad, Valley City, 525; 8, Jeremy Forester, Jamestown, 514; 9, Tony Konold, Clear Lake, S.D., 513; 10, Eric Edwards, Edgeley, 472.

WISSOTA Street Stocks

1, Troy Nelson, Jamestown, 582; 2, Bob Banish Jr., Milnor, 568; 3, Kelly Hagel, Carrington, 566; 4, Rory Opp, Hannaford, 556; 5, Randy Kollman, Fargo, 538; 6, Royce Jawaski, Adrain, 528; 7, Justin Kollman, Aberdeen, S.D., 489; 8, Spencer Johnson, Jamestown, 488; 9, Dustin Erickson, Jamestown, 481; 10, Josh Ganser, Jamestown, 455.

Tags: auto racing, sports, speedway