Rally from the back: Strand starts 17th, wins WISSOTA Modifieds feature
Starting position can be everything in racing and having a pole position of 17th out of 23 cars doesn’t bode well for any driver.By: Chris Aarhus, The Jamestown Sun, The Jamestown Sun
- WISSOTA Modifieds Heat Race
- Midwest Modifieds Heat
Starting position can be everything in racing and having a pole position of 17th out of 23 cars doesn’t bode well for any driver.
But Dustin Strand of Grand Forks bucked the odds, coming from the back of the pack to win his first WISSOTA Modifieds feature of the year Saturday at Jamestown Speedway.
“I didn’t think we were ever coming through like that,” he said. “It’s tough. With the field of cars here, it’s very competitive. That was just an awesome deal.”
He did it in style, too.
Enderlin’s Randy Klein started second, but passed pole-winner Jerry Lamb of Lisbon during the first lap. Klein fought off the pack — including Strand — for most of the race. But Strand found the outside off of turn 4 and sling-shot past him on the front straightaway with a lap to go.
“(Klein) was running through the middle,” Strand said. “I was better on top in (turns) 1 and 2. I kind of had momentum and rolled around (turns 3-4). I still didn’t know if we were gonna get it done. He was crowdin’ the top pretty good.”
It wasn’t until the 10th lap that Strand made his appearance in the top five, squeezing past Edgeley’s Eric Edwards. With five laps to go, he battled Jamestown’s Jason Grimes for second place until passing him and Klein on the same lap.
“This is my first win of the season in modifieds,” Strand said. “I haven’t really been racing the modifieds. I’ve been racing late models full-time.”
Klein finished one spot ahead of Grimes for second place. Edwards and Estevan, Saskatchewan’s Tyson Turnbull rounded out the top five, respectively.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Tyler Hall of Fertile, Minn., had plenty of competition in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds class.
Thirty-four cars showed up, so the officials went with four heats and two B-mains. With 14 cars not qualifying for the A-main, competition to get into the feature was fierce.
Bryce Kuska of Litchville and Eric Edwards of Edgeley won the qualifiers to get into the feature, where they hoped to rally from the back.
However, Hall started fifth and took over the top spot by the second lap, besting pole-sitter Tony Konold of Groton, S.D. Hall was challenged by Konold, Jamestown’s Scott Bintz and Carrington veteran Rusty Kollman.
Bintz placed second, and Kollman, Jamestown’s Jeremy Forester and Valley City’s Greg Friestad finished in the top five, respectively. Konold placed sixth.
For full results, see Page B 3
Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com
Tags: auto racing, sports, racing
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