Trucks debut

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John M. Steiner / The Sun Ward Imrie (2) of Winnipeg heads out of the turn during a Super Trucks heat race on Saturday night at Jamestown Speedway. The trucks were making their first appearance at the track.

Talk about it

Winnipeg’s Lee McRae was run over, spun out and knocked sideways, but he was still somehow able to drive to victory in the Super Trucks’ debut at Jamestown Speedway on Saturday.

The Super Trucks are out of Winnipeg, Man., where they run weekly at Red River Co-op Speedway. The trucks run similar engines to WISSOTA Super Stocks, except for a high-rise aluminum intake, and have similar suspension components as WISSOTA Late Models.

On the track, the class appears to look almost like the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series, primarily because all trucks must run 1995 or newer truck bodies.

The series brought a total of eight trucks to Jamestown over the weekend in its first appearance at the track, and all eight machines diced it up to try and take command of the 20-lap feature.

The Super Trucks were the last class to hit the track, which was by then dry-slick and extremely icy through the middle of the turns. Success was found at the very bottom, where McRae set up shop.

“The track was really smooth, but I couldn’t get enough bite,” McRae said. “The low lane had some tack and I tried to stay there if possible.

“It was a tough battle there. I figured anything could happen and I just braked early and tired not to slide.”

Lynn Lucken, of Winger, Minn., led the field to the green from the pole, but had trouble staying there early. Lucken was caught up in one of three caution flags in the opening lap, after spinning around in turns one and two along with Winnipeg’s Murray Kozie.

Winnipeg’s Ward Imrie took the point after the dust settled, with McRae riding second and Winnipeg’s Jerome Guyot in third. Imrie stayed down by the guardrail as Jerome Guyot, on the high side, briefly swapped second with McRae.

McRae reclaimed the second spot, following Imrie’s line down low, with 14 laps to go. Imrie had worked up almost a straightaway lead on the field by this point, until Kozie spun in turns one and two to bring out another yellow with nine laps left.

One lap after the restart, McRae was able to get his nose under Imrie in turn one and took over the lead down the backstretch. But Imrie wasn’t going quietly.

Imrie smashed hard into the driver’s side of McRae’s truck in turns one and two with four laps left, and both trucks came to a rest at the bottom of the track to bring out the yellow. Both were able to drive on, and McRae was awarded back the lead.

“(Imrie) climbed me pretty hard. I figured the ball joint was shot, but the (track official) said it was good,” McRae said.

McRae would get a few more gray hairs before the race was over. On the restart, Guyot almost knocked McRae’s back bumper off going into turn one and battled McRae side-by-side for the lead back to the line.

Guyot got into McRae again out of four with two laps left, almost spinning out the leader. Both trucks slowed and Winnipeg’s Tayvia Dorge shot to the lead, but the contact between Guyot and McRae drew the sixth caution flag of the race.

“I figured it was a one-lane highway and I was sticking to the bottom,” McRae said. “Jerome and I are good buddies. That was just a racing deal.”

McRae was again awarded back the lead and got off to a great restart to cruise to victory. Imrie took second, as Dorge settled for third.

The winner said he was impressed with Jamestown Speedway, and added he hopes the Super Trucks can return.

“The trucks would come back in a heartbeat. We’d come back next week if we were invited,” McRae said. “I love the track. It has a nice progressive bank, it’s the perfect size and it takes rubber, which is something we don’t need back home.”

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

Grand Forks’ Dustin Strand cruised to his 18th feature win of the season and his sixth win at Jamestown Speedway in WISSOTA Midwest Modified action. Strand started eighth and used the low line in turns one and two and the high line in three and four to take the lead with 12 laps to go.

“On the first lap I kind of got crossed up and got passed by four or five guys. But (track officials) bladed the track during the intermission and that made it really racy,” Strand said. “It was a fun race. I stuck to the bottom in one and two and went high in three and four. That seemed to be the fastest way around, for me anyway.”

LaMoure’s father and son duo of Brent Weight and Taylor Weight started the 20-lap feature on the front row, with the elder Brent Weight on the pole.

Brent Weight took the early lead, while Taylor Weight was passed by both Fargo’s Austin Arneson and Jamestown’s Ryan Mikkelson in the early laps. With 15 laps remaining, Arneson and Mikkelson had worked their way past Brent Weight and Strand had slid into the fourth position.

But Arneson’s run up front was short-lived as the leader spun in turns one and two to bring out the race’s first caution just two laps later.

Strand shot high from the third spot on the restart while Mikkelson ran the bottom and Brent Weight chose the middle. Strand led the field back to the line and stretched his legs from there.

Following the Grand Forks native at the line was Mikkelson in second, Brent Weight in third, Edgeley’s Eric Edwards in fourth and Taylor Weight in fifth.

Strand should take over the WISSOTA Midwest Modified National points lead with the win. Strand was just eight points back of Shane Sabraski, of Rice, Minn., heading into Saturday’s race for the national lead.

Sabraski had racked up 1,660 points, while Strand had 1,652 prior to the event. But it should be pointed out that Sabraski has run in 47 events this year, while Strand has only run 33 events.

Strand finished second in the national points run a season ago.

“I guess we’ve made it a point to run for (the title) this year. Hopefully things keep going like they are,” Strand said. “We’ve had an awesome season. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

“We just need to keep doing what we have been doing and not worry about the points deal.”

WISSOTA Modifieds

Jamestown’s Jason Grimes shot past Eric Edwards with nine laps left to win his fifth WISSOTA Modified feature win of the season and his third at Jamestown Speedway.

Grimes is putting together a solid season, after taking second out of 69 WISSOTA Modifieds in the Minnesota Modified Nationals at Alexandria, Minn., over the Fourth of July weekend.

“The track was a little tricky tonight, but it worked out,” Grimes said. “We struggled last year, and the year before, but this new car is really paying off.”

Grimes started the feature from the eighth position in his new Hughes-built chassis. Edwards took command of the race early, with Lisbon’s Jerry Lamb sliding past the pole sitter, Arthur’s Bob Sagen, for second in the opening laps.

Following a pair of caution flags, Grimes had worked all the way to Edwards back bumper and began challenging for the lead with 13 laps to go. After another caution one lap later, a three-way battle for the lead ensued with Edwards running high, Grimes running the middle and Mike Stearns, of Hecla, S.D., down on the apron. Stearns started sixth.

Edwards sailed a little too high in turn four with nine laps left which handed the lead to Grimes. Grimes then set his car up high and checked out.

“I prefer the high line. I guess that’s why they always call me ‘High Side Grimes,’” Grimes said. “I had the momentum on the high side, but I think the bottom was fast also. The middle is kind of no man’s land at this place. It’s not often you can work it in the middle.”

Stearns took second, while Edwards finished third and Blake Jegtvig, the WISSOTA Modified national point leader, brought home fourth.

WISSOTA Street Stocks

A side-by-side battle down the stretch between Trent Grager of Sykeston and Rusty Kollman of Carrington ended in Grager’s second feature win this year at Jamestown Speedway.

Grager was able to hold off Kollman using the high line over the final five laps, while Valley City’s Luke Nelson took third and Aberdeen’s Tyler Lambert finished fourth.

“The bottom side wasn’t working as well as I thought it would. Once I got to the high side it worked out a lot better,” Grager said. “I saw (Kollman) down there quite a bit. I pushed the car harder into the corners and the high side was working really well.”

Carrington’s Casey Stangeland shot out front following a caution flag for the polesitter, Tony Konold of Clear Lake, Minn., who got loose coming out of turn two on the first lap. Two solid lanes of traffic built up behind Stangeland on the restart, as Carrington’s Kelly Hagel and Grager challenged for the lead from the second and third positions.

Hagel and Grager, however, appeared to have a little incidental contact in turns three and four during the second lap of the race. Hagel ended up spinning around and was collected in the driver’s side by Adrian’s Cammy Ost. Both Hagel’s and Ost’s nights were over.

A tight battle for the lead ensued on the restart between Stangeland and Grager, running door-to-door at the line over several laps. With 14 laps to go, Dickinson’s Travis Ulmer had moved to third, and Kollman and Nelson were going at it for the fourth spot.

As the laps ticked down a three-wide race for the lead between Grager, Kollman and Stangeland unfolded. But with six laps remaining Grager was able to take command on the high side and hold off Kollman and the rest of the field to the checkered flag.

“This year’s been going really good,” Grager added. “I hope I can keep it out front down the stretch.”

Bombers

Jamestown’s Shawn Becker bested a field of 23 cars in a caution-free, 15-lap Bomber feature, picking up his first feature win of the season.

Starting from the sixth position, Becker moved up to second place in the first four laps to battle Jamestown’s Joe Jacobson for the lead. Jacobson was working the high side and with 10 laps left Becker was able to work underneath Jacobson for the top spot coming out of turn No. 2.

Becker used the middle of the track from there to roll on to victory, with Jacobson taking second and Jamestown’s Jake Emo finishing third. Rounding out the top five was Justin Kollman, of Aberdeen, S.D., and Marion’s Jeff Vogel.

“The car just hooked up and went. It felt good,” Becker said. “It’s nice to finally get the monkey off my shoulders.”

Jamestown Speedway

Saturday’s results

WISSOTA Modifieds

Feature: 1, Jason Grimes, 2, Mike Stearns, 3, Eric Edwards, 4, Blake Jegtvig, 5, Bob Sagen, 6, Kent Arment, 7, John Corell, 8, Corky Thomas, 9, Randy Tarno, 10, Jerry Lamb, 11, Dale Kraling, 12, Mark Trautner, 13, Ross Romdalvik, 14, Chase Carlson, 15, Brandon Carlson, 16, Dwight Wegner, 17, Corey Seckerson, 18, Ben Mickelson.

Heat 1: 1, Arment, 2, Sagen, 3, Edwards, 4, Wegner, 5, Mickelson, 6, B. Carlson, 7, Kraling.

Heat 2: 1, Jegtvig, 2, Lamb, 3, Grimes, 4, Tarno, 5, C. Carlson, 6, Compson.

Heat 3: 1, Corell, 2, Stearns, 3, Thomas, 4, Romdalvik, 5, Seckerson, 6, Trautner.

WISSOTA Street Stocks

Feature: 1, Trent Grager, 2, Rusty Kollman, 3, Luke Nelson, 4, Tyler Lambert, 5, Casey Stangeland, 6, Travis Ulmer, 7, Rory Opp, 8, Royce Jawaski, 9, Bob Banish Jr., 10, Geoff Hellman, 11, Nate Keena, 12, Tony Konold, 13, Barrett Berg, 14, Nic Klein, 15, Jordan Zillmer, 16, Randy Kollman, 17, Jesse Pederson, 18, Ryan Hugelen, 19, Cammy Ost, 20, Kelly Hagel.

Heat 1: 1, Opp, 2, Hagel, 3, Lambert, 4, Rusty Kollman, 5, Berg, Zillmer, 6, Keena, 7, Jawaski, 8, Paul Kirkeide.

Heat 2: 1, Nelson, 2, Stangeland, 3, Grager, 4, Randy Kollman, 5, Hellman, 6, Klein, 7, Scott Witkowski, 8, Hugelen.

Heat 3: 1, Konold, 2, Ulmer, 3, Pederson, 4, Banish, 5, Ost, 6, Bryce Kuska, 7, Dustin Erickson, 8, Cody Pratschner.

B-Main: 1, Jawaski, 2, Keena, 3, Klein, 4, Hugelen, 5, Zillmer, 6, Kuska, 7, Erickson, 8, Kirkeide, 9, Pratschner, 10, Witkowski.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

Feature: 1, Dustin Strand, 2, Ryan Mikkelson, 3, Brent Weight, 4, Eric Edwards, 5, Taylor Weight, 6, Scott Bintz, 7, Levi Arneson, 8, John Corell, 9, Landon Becker, 10, Austin Arneson, 11, Josh Eberhardt, 12, Cale Arneson, 13, Zach Naastad, 14, Royce Jawaski, 15, Jim Morlock, 16, Ryan Fike, 17, Josh Skorczewski, 18, Dale Johnson, 19, Brent Perleberg, 20, Alex Guthmiller.

Heat 1: 1, A. Arneson, 2, Corell, 3, Skorczewski, 4, Fike, 5, Eberhardt, 6, Jeremy Forester, 7, Brad Sheridan, 8, Jason Halvorson, 9, Naastad.

Heat 2: 1, T. Weight, 2, Becker, 3, Mikkelson, 4, L. Arneson, 5, Perleberg, 6, Jason Grimes, 7, Jerry Theis, 8, Ryan Carr, 9, Cale Arneson.

Heat 3: 1, Edwards, 2, B. Weight, 3, Guthmiller, 4, Jawaski, 5, Tim Compson, 6, Jordon Jangula, 7, Erik Pratschner, 8, Tyler Schrenk.

Heat 4: 1, Strand, 2, Bintz, 3, Johnson, 4, Morlock, 5, Shawn Nosdahl, 6, Travis Aljets, 7, Dave Peterson, 8, John Clemens.

B-Main 1: 1, C. Arneson, 2, Eberhardt, 3, Forester, 4, Jangula, 5, Sheridan, 6, Pratschner, 7, Carr, 8, Compson.

B-Main 2: 1, Perleberg, 2, Naastad, 3, Grimes, 4, Nostdahl, 5, Peterson, 6, Halvorson, 7, Clemens, 8, Aljets, 9, Theis.

Bombers

Feature: 1, Shawn Becker, 2, Joe Jacobson, 3, Jake Emo, 4, Justin Kollman, 5, Jeff Vogel, 6, Tyler Michel, 7, Charlie Carr, 8, Bryan Wolf, 9, Brandon Gussiaas, 10, Lucas Rodin, 11, Levi Nenow, 12, Leann Christensen, 13, Chris Gussiaas, 14, Tyler Pfaff, 15, Devin Christ, 16, Kyle Sand, 17, Ryan Widmer, 18, Jason Thoms, 19, Paul Wanzek, 20, Donnie Martin, 21, Tyler Ashley, 22, Brenton Wiesz, 23, Josh Ganser.

Heat 1: 1, Kollman, 2, Wiesz, 3, Becker, 4, Michel, 5, Nenow, 6, Wanzek, 7, Sand, 8, Ashley.

Heat 2: 1, Wolf, 2, Ganser, 3, Carr, 4, Martin, 5, Vogel, 6, Christensen, 7, Widmer, 8, Pfaff.

Heat 3: 1, B. Gussiaas, 2, Emo, 3, Jacobson, 4, Rodin, 5, Christ, 6, C. Gussiaas, 7, Thoms.

Super Trucks

Feature: 1, Lee Mcrae, 2, Ward Imrie, 3, Tayvia Dorge, 4, Murray Kozie, 5, Jerome Guyot, 6, Lynn Lucken, 7, Don Guyot, 8, Glen Manning.

Heat 1: 1, Imrie, 2, D. Guyot, 3, Mcrae, 4, Lucken.

Heat 2: 1, Dorge, 2, J. Guyot, 3, Manning, 4, Kozie.

Road Hogs

1, Josh Sherman and Cash Biel, 2, Tyler Thoms and Will Ahrendt, 3, Jamie Schrade and Nick Rowley, 4, Brian Smith and Jeff Seher, 5, Nick Landscoot and Evan Wiest, 6, Duane Wiest and Kelly Gordon

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

Tags: auto racing, sports, trucks, jamestown, speedway