Ost can boast: Twenty-year veteran wins first-ever feature

• Steve Ost

Steve Ost of Adrian takes the high side around a sideways Ryan Lehr of Jamestown in WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds heat-race action Saturday night at Jamestown Speedway. Ost won his first feature race in more than 20 years on the dirt track. (Chris Aarhus/The Sun)

Talk about it

Steve Ost can’t recall all of the second-place finishes he’s garnered in 20 years of dirt-track racing. He’s knows there’s been plenty, though.

Most recently, the Adrian native remembers a runner-up finish a few years ago at the Stock Car Stampede.

But the top spot has eluded him his entire life.

“I’ve got a lot of seconds,” Ost said. “It’s kind of that bridesmaid-never-a-bride-type deal.”

He’s officially at the altar, and he had to earn it, too.

With a field of 42 cars, five heats and two B-mains, Ost won it all on Saturday at Jamestown Speedway, taking his first WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds feature.

“This is the first one ever,” Ost said. “It feels great.”

Ost said his nerves didn’t calm down until he was well back at his trailor.

“I was so nervous I was shaking like a leaf,” he said. “I couldn’t figure out how to get out of the car (in front of the trophy stand).”

Still, Ost indicated racing isn’t life or death for him, noting how pleased he was to get all of those runner-up finishes and that he never let trying to win a race frustrate him.

“I figure if I can be that close, that’s almost a win,” he said. “This is over the top.”

Ost rode the high line to victory, which was no surprise considering the driver loves to be on the outside. However, he said it’s usually not synonymous with winning in Jamestown.

“Usually, it’s a bottom track,” said Ost, who won his heat and started second in the feature. “I got a good starting position and the high line was there for me. I’ve always liked the high line. That’s kind of been my thing.”

Ost didn’t waste any time, flying by pole-sitter Preston Carr of Carrington on the first lap and remaining up front the rest of the way. He had considerable space from the pack at times, but Carr didn’t go away, either.

After losing his top spot, Carr stayed in second and held off Scott Jacobson of Fargo most of the way. Winnipeg, Manitoba’s Austin Hunter passed Jacobson on the final lap to steal third place, while Jacobson finished fourth. Lucas Rodin of Fullerton started sixth and got as high as fourth before settling for fifth.

WISSOTA Street Stocks

A little added weight can go a long way.

Joe Jacobson of Jamestown said he added a little to the left side of his WISSOTA Street Stock car, and the result was his first feature win of the season.

“You never know when you come into something,” Jacobson said. “We tried something different and it worked out for us.”

Jacobson started fourth and blew by the top three in the first lap. After dominating his heat race by a safe distance, Jacobson made the feature look one in the same. He didn’t face much for challengers and his biggest issue was lapped traffic at the end.

“I was a little cautious when I caught up to them,” Jacobson said. “The low side definitely worked best for me.”

Though they didn’t come very close to Jacobson, challengers were aplenty for the second spot. Lisbon’s Duffy Froemke went from ninth to second and battled with pole-sitter Barrett Berg of Lincoln and Jake Emo of Jamestown. Froemke won the competition, while Billie Christ of Jamestown slipped into third place. Berg was fourth and Horace’s Royce Jawaski rounded out the top five.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

Heat 1: Austin Hunter, Lucas Rodin, Scott Bintz, Chuck Christ, John Clemens; Heat 2: Preston Carr, Brice Kuska, Landon Becker, Dave Peterson, Grant Hall, Eric Edwards, Jim Morlock, Kevin Oeder; Heat 3: Steve Ost, Troy Nelson, Patrick Sobolik, Jason Lamb, Darren Pfau, Brandon Gussiaas, Brennon Weight; Heat 4: Scott Jacobson, Andy Kapp, Eric Haugland, Jason Thoms, Cole Haugland, Tyler Schrenk; Heat 5: Greg Friestad, Rusty Kollman, Scott Vasichek, Travis Aljets, Terry Sahr, Brodie Jahner, Andee Beierle, Shannon Schlenker. DNF (heat): Ryan Cousins (1), Jay Sahr (1), Bob Sagen (1), Mark Lecount (2), Ryan Lehr (3), Bryan Kakela (4), Jeremy Forrester (4).

First feature qualifier (top 2): Ryan Lehr, Brandon Gussiaas, Terry Sahr, Bob Sagen, Darren Pfau, Brodie Jahner, Brennon Weight, Kevin Oeder; Second qualifier (top 2): Eric Edwards, Jim Morlock, Richard Hamel, Grant Hall, Bryan Kakela, Andee Beierle, Shannon Schlenker, Ryan Cousins, Jay Sahr. DNF (qualifying race): John Clemens (1), Mark Lecount (1), Cole Haugland (2), Tyler Schrenk (2).

Feature: 1, Ost. 2, Carr. 3, Hunter. 4, Jacobson. 5, Rodin. 6, Nelson. 7, Kollman. 8, Bintz. 9, Becker. 10, Friestad. 11, Lehr. 12, Kapp. 13, Peterson. 14, Haugland. 15, Vasichek. 16, Aljets. 17, Gussiaas. 18, Thoms. 19, Sobolik. 20, Edwards. 21, Morlock. 22, Lamb. 23, Christ. 24, Kuska (DNF).

WISSOTA Street Stocks

Heat 1: Rory Opp, Barrett Berg, Jeff Vogel, Trent Grager, Josh Ganser, Dustin Erickson, Matthew Lesmeister, Kyle Langland; Heat 2: Duffy Froemke, Jake Emo, Jonny Carter, Jim Geringer, Shawn Becker, James Meagher, Cody Wall; Heat 3: Royce Jawaski, Joe Jacobson, Billie Christ, Travis Ulmer, Geoff Hellman, James Wall; DNF (heat): Nick Linert (3).

Feature: 1, Jacobson. 2, Froemke. 3, Christ. 4, Berg. 5, Jawaski. 6, Opp. 7, Ulmer. 8, Emo. 9, Grager. 10, Vogel. 11, Carter. 12, Geringer. 13, Erickson. 14, Hellman. 15, Lesmeister. 16, Becker. 17, Ganser. 18, Wall. 19, Linert. 20, Meagher. 21, Langland. 22, Wall.

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

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