Bintz bests Kollman: Gussiaas motors to Bombers feature victory

• Bintz

Jamestown’s Scott Bintz (1s) races through corner No. 1 alongside Jamestown’s Jeremy Forester (22) during a WISSOTA Midwest Modified heat race at Jamestown Speedway on Saturday. Bintz won the 20-lap feature event. (Michael Savaloja / The Sun)

Talk about it

Two of the area’s best drivers put half a lap on the field and provided a wild two-car battle for the top spot in the 20-lap WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature race at Jamestown Speedway on Saturday night.

But when the dust settled it was Jamestown’s Scott Bintz who visited the winner’s stage, as a great run off the bottom of corner No. 4 coming to the white flag sent Bintz flying past Kollman and he’d hold on from there to win it.

“It was an awesome race. I wasn’t sure once I got into second there if I was going to catch him or not, then I kind of had two shots at it,” Bintz said of his battle with Kollman. “He’s definitely hard to pass.”

Kollman started the race behind Bintz in eighth, but he was able to weed his way through traffic to take over the top spot just three laps in after a pair of early cautions. Landon Becker led the first two laps from the third starting spot, surviving a bump from Lisbon’s Jason Lamb in turns three and four that sent his No. 56 spinning around.

Lamb — who started on the outside pole — was sent to the rear and finished 14th, while Becker finished fifth.

“Early in the race Rusty had got ahead of me already, because on a couple of restarts I got shuffled back,” Bintz said. “So even though I started sixth, I think I was 10th at one point … But the car was working good.”

Bintz worked his way past Becker for the third spot eight laps in, and the race’s fourth and final caution flag set up a 12-lap shootout between Kollman and Bintz to decide it.

Kollman stuck his No. 2 up high through the turns. Bintz went to work on the bottom, but a bobble in turn No. 2 with seven laps left gave Kollman roughly a five car-lengths lead.

“I thought I missed my opportunity. I was overdriving the car,” Bintz said. “Then I was just telling myself that sometimes you’ve got to slow down to go fast, so I was going in a little easier and it was coming out better.”

Bintz caught back up using the low line, and the pair ran side-by-side all by themselves at the flag stand in the closing laps. That is until Bintz’s charge off the bottom with one to go.

“I was telling myself to settle down,” Bintz said. “I guess I hit it right, enough to catch up and win on the last lap, so that was kind of a shock.

Valley City’s Greg Friestad finished behind Kollman in third, as Fullerton’s Lucas Rodin charged from the 12th starting spot to capture fourth.

It was Bintz’s second victory of the season. The driver also has a win at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, S.D.

Kollman — who won Jamestown’s opener on May 5 — currently has a two-point lead over Friestad in the track standings with 164 points. The night’s B-Mod action included 37 cars and drivers and a pair of B-Mains.

Bombers

Carrington’s Chris Gussiaas used the bottom of the track to slip by the polesitter, Jamestown’s Mike Sahr, six laps in to the 15-lap Bomber feature, and he held off a late charge by Enderlin’s Tyler Pfaff from the high side in the closing laps to capture his first victory of the season.

Gussiaas held off a hard-charging Leann Christensen to win his heat race and started the feature from the seventh position. But the driver used the bottom of the track on each of three cautions to start the race to move up into the third position after just two laps were in the books.

“That’s pretty much my game plan every week,” Gussiaas said. “Dive low and if it doesn’t work try to find something that does.”

Gussiaas motored past Jamestown’s Matthew Kropp for second a lap later, before reeling in Sahr.

“The track was perfect,” Gussiaas said. “It was probably one of the best tracks I’ve ever raced on.”

Pfaff started ninth and dodged a big bullet while running second with six laps left. The lapped car of Lisbon’s Byron Whetsel looped around in corner No. 4 and collected Pfaff, along with the fifth-place runner, Jamestown’s Jon Perkins.

But both Pfaff and Perkins were able to continue and received their spots back. Perkins ran an incredible race, finishing fifth after starting second to last (22nd).

The yellow put Pfaff right on Gussiaas’ back door. He was able to mount a charge on Gussiaas from the top of the track in the closing laps, but Gussiaas’ line through the middle held up.

“I had an idea (he was up there), but I couldn’t see how close he was,” Gussiaas said. “He’s fast, so I knew he was close.”

Pfaff won the season-opener on May 5 and holds a five-point lead over Cory Rodin in the points standings with 164 points. Gussiaas won three feature events at Jamestown Speedway last season.

“It feels pretty good to break the ice,” Gussiaas said. “It gets the pressure off.”

Sahr finished third behind Pfaff, while Christensen took fourth.

Jamestown Speedway

Results

Saturday

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

Feature: 1, Scott Bintz; 2, Rusty Kollman; 3, Greg Friestad; 4, Lucas Rodin; 5, Landon Becker; 6, Jeremy Forester; 7, Bryce Kuska; 8, Darren Pfau; 9, Tony Konold; 10, Nate Reinke; 11, Eric Edwards; 12, Kelly Hagel; 13, Travis Aljets; 14, Jason Lamb; 15, Ryan Lehr; 16, Zack Reinke; 17, Brandon Gussiaas; 18, Shannon Schlenker; 19, Lyn Lamb; 20, Mike Greseth.

Consi 1: 1, L. Lamb; 2, Z. Reinke; 3, Troy Nelson; 4, Tyler Schrenk; 5, Andy Kapp; 6, Kevin Oeder; 7, Grant Hall; 8, Andee Beierle; 9, Jay Sahr; 10, Ethan Mabus; 11, Josh Eberhardt.

Consi 2: 1, Lehr; 2, N. Reinke; 3, Preston Carr; 4, Jim Morlock; 5, Terry Sahr; 6, Jason Thoms; 7, Nate Jenrich; 8, Brodie Jahner; 9, Nick Ziegler; 10, John Clemens.

Heat 1: 1, Konold; 2, Becker; 3, Gussiaas; 4, Hagel; 5, Schrenk; 6, Z. Reinke; 7, Hall; 8, Mabus; 9, Oeder; 10, Thoms.

Heat 2: 1, Friestad; 2, Bintz; 3, Forester; 4, Edwards; 5, N. Reinke; 6, T. Sahr; 7, Carr; 8, Jenrich; 9, Clemens.

Heat 3: 1, Kollman; 2, J. Lamb; 3, Pfau; 4, Schlenker; 5, L. Lamb; 6, Kapp; 7, Beierle; 8, Jahner; 9, Nelson.

Heat 4: 1, Greseth; 2, Kuska; 3, Rodin; 4, Aljets; 5, Lehr; 6, Morlock; 7, Ziegler; 8, J. Sahr; 9, Eberhardt.

Bombers

Feature: 1, Chris Gussiaas; 2, Tyler Pfaff; 3, Mike Sahr; 4, Leann Christensen; 5, Jon Perkins; 6, Cory Rodin; 7, Bryan Wolf; 8, Matthew Kropp; 9, Dusty Hinrichs; 10, Kyle Anderson; 11, Taran Langland; 12, Brandon Moser; 13, Keith Striefel; 14, Justin Schempp; 15, Dalton Polries; 16, Keith Kinzler; 17, Scott Miller; 18, Steven Nicholson; 19, Anthony Clark; 20, Tyler Schlenker; 21, Byron Whetsel; 22, Devin Christ; 23, Kelly Jacobson.

Heat 1: 1, Gussiaas; 2, Christensen; 3, Sahr; 4, Jacobson; 5, Kinzler; 6, Moser; 7, Perkins; 8, Striefel.

Heat 2: 1, Rodin; 2, Langland; 3, Schempp; 4, Wolf; 5, Polries; 6, Nicholson; 7, Clark; 8, Whetsel.

Heat 3: 1, Pfaff; 2, Anderson; 3, Kropp; 4, Miller; 5, Christ; 6, Schlenker; 7, Hinrichs.

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

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