Championship Night at Nodak Speedway unfazed by weather

Minot Daily News

MINOT — Battling unpredictable Mother Nature and each other, Championship Night at Nodak Speedway in Minot brought forth the adrenaline rush that was ripped away a year ago when the event got rained out. Lurking storms on Sunday threatened to pull an encore and derail the action for a second straight season. But, unnerved and determined, the track crew got the 3/8-mile dirt surface ready, and the drivers raced on. The rain never came. All of the feature races were held, and five track champions were crowned at the end of the night. Race recaps and track champions for each of the five classes: IMCA Modifieds Coming into the final race with five feature wins already under his belt, Tom Berry Jr. from Newberg was in a relatively comfortable position, leading Minot native Drew Christianson by 15 points. No crashes or problems and the track title was a formality. It was never going to be that easy. In his heat race, Berry Jr. lost control of his modified and went off the track in the middle of turns No. 1 and No. 2. He didn’t complete the heat race, heading back to the garage area with three laps left. Unable to get his No. 11x modified fixed to his standards, Berry Jr. borrowed the No. 75M modified from race competitor Justin Medler for the main feature. Christianson started the feature 11 spots ahead of Berry Jr. In his new ride, Berry Jr. worked his way up from the back to finish sixth and avoid losing his track title. The feature was won by Travis Hagen ahead of Aaron Turnbull. IMCA Sport Mods

Last week, Minot native Robby Rosselli was unable to finish the Sport Mods main feature. Pulling off the track early, Rosselli handed his points lead over to fellow Minot native Erik Laudenschlager. Five points separated the drivers going into Championship Night, and they lined up next to each other in row No. 5 to start the 20-lap main feature. A caution with 14 laps left had Rosselli a couple of cars in front of Laudenschlager while being in the middle of the pack. That’s how the situation stayed as they raced up the field. Then, Cole Hanson spun Laudenschlager around with six laps left. The damage, however, wasn’t enough to end Laudenschlager’s night. He stayed on the track and lined up right behind Rosselli. Jeff Hooker clipped off laps at the front and went on to win his third straight feature at Nodak Speedway. Rosselli shot up to take second place. Laudenschlager, despite the crash scare, took fifth and held on to capture the track title. IMCA Hobby Stocks

The closest battle heading into Championship Night was in the Hobby Stocks. Minot natives Brad King and Andrew Bertsch were only two points apart with King holding the upper hand. Like the Sport Mods, King and Bertsch both started in row No. 5. King got the better jump off the opening green flag and was inside the top 5 with 10 laps left. Multiple cautions followed and slowed the race down dramatically. The race finished with a green-white-checkered sequence. King never allowed Bertsch to get by him on his way to a fourth-place finish and the track title. Kadi Ruby shocked the Playground of Power with her first feature win of the season. She made multiple passes in the final laps and nipped Riese Dignan on the line. IMCA Stock Cars

Two drivers were within 20 points of Mike Hagan’s points lead at the start of the night: Austin Daae (15 points back) and Dalton Flory (17 points back). Hagen, a Williston native, was never under any pressure. He won a heat race, started 10th and finished eighth. Hagen did avoid a wreck with five laps left to secure the track title. At the front, Will Scheresky drove off the track with 12 laps left and handed the lead over to Flory. He was passed by Daae on a restart with nine laps left. Daae won his fourth feature at Nodak this season ahead of Flory. IMCA Sport Compacts

The only thing Christopher Zenz, from Max, had to do to win the Sport Compacts track title was not finish last in a seven-car main feature. When race leader and heat winner Larry King went off the track in the middle of turns No. 1 and No. 2 because of a flat tire, that official secured Zenz’s title over James Gilbert. For a consolation prize, Gilbert beat Zenz to win the main feature on Sunday. Next Up Nodak Speedway has one more weekend of racing, as it hosts Motor Magic events next week Friday through Sunday. The All-Star Race will be held Friday night. Saturday will be a full Sprint Car and Sports Compact show, plus Harvest 100 heat races for the Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks. Sunday brings a full Sports Compact show and a handful of last chance qualifiers for the Harvest 100 to be held later in the evening. The Harvest 100 is 100 laps of feature racing between the Modifieds (30 laps), Stock Cars (25), Sport Mods (25) and Hobby Stocks (20). Friday’s action will start at 7 p.m. while Saturday and Sunday will get underway at 5 p.m.