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Mathison pockets 7k at Viking

Alexandria, Mn (July 4th, 2009) - Clearwater, Mn hotshoe Dale Mathison became the fifth different driver in the past five seasons to win the Annual $7,000 to win Minnesota Modified Nationals at Viking Speedway. Mathison collected the win during qualifying action on Friday night which put him on the pole for the 50-lap A-main. Princeton, Mn driver Dave Mass picked up a mighty impressive win in WISSOTA Super Stock action while Travis Saurer held off a hard charging Jeff Marshall to pocket the $500 win in WISSOTA Midwest Modified competition. The capacity crowd at Viking witnessed some tremendous two and three wide racing during day two of Amsoil Dirt Track Series Racing held at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Alexandria, Mn.

Like night one, the WISSOTA Super Stocks got the feature festivities underway with Mike Peterson and Dave Mass battling for the point early on. Mass finally grabbed the advantage while eighth starter Don Eischens began to move forward. Eischens had successfully moved up five spots while the cross flags waving over the field on lap ten. A scary incident involving Jon Stepan and Mark Blom halted action during the midway part of the A-main. Stepan took a very hard hit but was okay as well as Blom. The two speedway regulars evenings were ended in the process. On the restart, Mass led over Peterson with Eischens in third. The Super Stocks had a hard time establishing a rhythm during their A-main so with seven laps remaining the checkered flags waved over the field. Mass scored the victory followed by Peterson, Eischens, Jeff Flaten and Todd Carter. Eischens, Flaten and Carter were the victors in WISSOTA Super Stock heat race action earlier in the program.

After the conclusion of the WISSOTA Super Stock A-main, speedway officials decided to blade the track to give the WISSOTA Modifieds to best opportunity to have a track that did not spot rubber. Driver introductions were held followed by a four-wide solute to the fans which sent chills up and down the bodies of the capacity crowd. Twenty-five American flags were held out the window as the 25-car field came down the front straightaway four wide. Order was restored after the classy gesture with Jason Grimes and Dale Mathison manning the front row starting duties. When the green flag dropped, Grimes blasted off into the early lead with Mathison holding the second spot. While most drivers worked the high side of the speedway, Trent Follmer found the bottom to his liking moving by Jason Thoennes and Scot Danzeisen early on taking the third spot in the process. The speedway was lightning fast as Grimes pedaled his Hughes Chassis to a half of a straightaway advantage sixteen laps into the event. The first yellow flag waved over the field after an incident in turn one occurred with several cars spinning to avoid damage. Mathison, like the night before was on the inside of row two along side of Follmer behind Grimes. Mathison got a great jump and once again made a bid for the lead in turn one. Grimes backed his machine into the cushion and pulled even with Mathison as they raced off of turn two. Mathison once again was able to steal the lead from Grimes while Follmer retired pitside with a broken rear axle shortly there after. When the fuel stop occurred on lap 25, Mathison was your new race leader. Head flagman Mike Commerford dropped the green over the field once again. This time it was more than apparent that Kelly Lake, Mn driver Kelly Estey was on the move. Estey entered each turn in the middle groove, while exiting the bottom. Estey moved into seventh with 15 laps remaining while Mathison was gone out front. Ninth starter Dennis Bitzan decided it was go time as well as his car looked strong cracking the top five with 15 to go. The yellow waved once again with sixteen laps remaining. They went back one lap which put Bitzan back in sixth. On the restart, Estey got a great jump as He and Bitzan used the bottom of the speedway to move up to positions three and four in the process. Bitzan and Estey now ignited a great battle for the third spot. Estey used the middle of the speedway once again to disposed of Bitzan for the third spot with eleven to go while Grimes did his best to reel in Mathison. Grimes with ten laps remaining inched closer and closer to Mathison. Blooming Prairie, Mn legend Mark Noble began to come on during the ladder stages of the event as well. After starting 22nd, Noble entered the top ten with seven laps remaining. Bitzan executed a power move on Estey for the third spot with seven laps remaining while Gillette, WY driver Tony Leiker began to come alive. Leiker moved by Thoennes for the fifth spot with three laps remaining and quickly began to catch the backside of Estey for fourth. On the final trip around Leiker ventured to the top shelf in an attempt overtake Estey for the fourth spot. Estey, however, slammed the door and held the position. On the final trip around Mathison made no mistakes and went on to score the biggest win of his racing career. Grimes, who established himself as a person to be reckoned with, had an unbelievable run coming home second ahead of Bitzan, Estey and Leiker.

The final event of the evening belonged to the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds with two of the best in the business on the front row. Travis Saurer and Brock Gronwold brought the 24-car field around as the green flag dropped. Saurer got a good jump and beat Gronwold to turn one taking the opening lap advantage. Gronwold settled into second before immediately receiving pressure from Jeff Marshall. Tenth starter Brett Hoium looked strong early on as well using the high side of the speedway to move into the top five. Ron Jones looked as if he might have the car to beat during the middle stages of the event as He and Brock Gronwold battled for the third spot. Gronwold and Jones made contact on the frontstretch which ended Jones night in the process. The yellow would bunch up the field behind Saurer for the Delaware double-filer restart. Marshall once again moved into second with Gronwold in third being flanked by Hoium. Fifth starter Jason VandeKamp used the final restart to his advantage as he pedaled his #16 machine around the extreme high side of the speedway. VandeKamp made the pass for third spot on the white flag lap. Marshall tried everything in his arsenal to overtake Saurer for the lead but it was not enough as Travis went on to score the victory. Marshall, VandeKamp, Gronwold and Jason Hoffman rounded out the top five running order for the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds. Shane Sabraski was the hard charger of the event starting in the 22nd position and finishing ninth.

Viking Speedway officials as well as the staff at FYE Motorsports would like to thank all the drivers, fans and pit-crew members that made the 5th Annual Minnesota Modified Nationals a success. This Tuesday night Viking Speedway will once again host a special event when the Dart Challenge Series and Governor's Ethanol Challenge competitors make their year stop at the high-banked 1/2 mile located in Alexandria, Mn. For more information log onto vikingspeedway.net

SUMMARY:

WISSOTA Modifieds:
Feature- Dale Mathison, Jason Grimes, Dennis Bitzan, Kelly Estey, Tony Leiker, Jason Thoennes, Shane Sabraski, Ricky Weiss, Mark Noble, Mark Noble, JJ Schuelke, Craig Thatcher, Dave Cain, Joey Jensen, Andy Gordon, Jason Voigt, Danny Bayer, Scot Danzeisen, Darrell Nelson, Steve Arpin, Scott Gilbertson, Mitch Johnson, Jason Miller, Trent Follmer, Ron Jones, Brad Waits
Heat 1- Leiker, Grimes, Schuelke, Dave Storck, Alexander, Matt Gilbertson, Saurer, Anderson, Eischens, Justin Elmer
Heat 2- Johnson, Nelson, Thatcher, Greer, Ostrander, Duval, Gulbrandson, McDonald, Staff, Blascyk
Heat 3- Weiss, Gordon, Lund, Jones, Koehntop, Edginton, Gierke, Smith, Crouse, Splitstoesser
Heat 4- Mathison, Jensen, Danzeisen, Engebretson, Loveday, Estey, Engelstad, Tofte, Schroeder, Esala
Heat 5- Arpin, Voigt, Cain, Bayer, Gilbertson, Lemke, Mike Storck, Rosser, Hanson
Heat 6- Thoennes, Sabraski, Bitzan, Berry Christiansen, Canon, Jacobson, Romdalvik, VandeKamp
Heat 7- Waits, Follmer, Miller, Noble, Richardson, Wildman, Lavesseur, Nayes, Dykstra
B-main 1- Jones, Schuelke, Sabraski, Miller, Gilbertson
B-main 2- Jensen, Estey, Cain, Noble, Bayer
Last Chance Qualifier - Nelson

WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature- Dave Mass, Mike Peterson, Don Eischens, Jeff Flaten, Todd Carter, Jason Vejtruba, Larr Lund, Irvin Cook, Cory Tammen, Alan Johnson, Jeremy Jerve, Jeff Hapala, Bryan Hellerman, Dominic Baker, Dusty Peterson, Ashley Donald, Cody Lee, Todd Hauer, Matt Miller, JB Stortz, Jeff Crouse, Jeff Kluver, Bob Holtquist, Mark Blom, Jon Stepan
Heat 1- Eischens, Crouse, Tammen, Stepan, Kluver, Lee, Donald, Peterson, Hapala
Heat 2- Flaten, Vejtruba, Peterson, Lund, Blom, Miller, Hellerman, Holtquist
Heat 3- Carter, Mass, Stortz, Cook, Jerve, Baker, Johnson, Hauer

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
Feature- Travis Saurer, Jeff Marshall, Jason VandeKamp, Brock Gronwold, Jason Hoffman, Brett Hoium, Jeremy Kerzman, Skeeter Estey, Shane Sabraski, Josh Thoennes, William Lund, Matt Suckow, Brendan Blascyk, Wes Hines, Brooke Hellerman, Ryan Studanski, Travis Vanderby, Scott Gill, Pete Loecken, Ron Jones, Nate Barber, Derek Quinn, Jeremy Houle, Shawn Olson
Heat 1- Gronwold, Marshall, Jones, Quinn, Studanski, Sobolik, Craig, Soderstrom, Haben, Czech
Heat 2- T. Saurer, Kerzman, Thoennes, Lund, Braaten, Pew, Brenny, Caul, Wolkowski
Heat 3- Estey, Hoffman, Hines, Barber, Gill, Sabraski, Greeley, Carter, Bitzan
Heat 4- Suckow, Vanderby, Hellerman, Loecken, Olson, Schmidt, Kuhnau, Weisman, Thorstad
Heat 5- VandeKamp, Hoium, Houle, Blascyk, Smith, Tofte, R. Saurer, Mensen, Anderson
B-main 1- Gill, Studanski, Smith, Haben, Bitzan
B-main 2- Sabraski, Olson, Tofte, Sobolik, Czech
Night 1 - Mathison dominates Minnesota Modified Nationals at Viking|

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Alexandria, Mn (July 3rd, 2009) - Dale Mathison captured the win during the 25-lap qualifying feature Friday night at Viking Speedway. After the race Mathison chose the outside of row one for Saturday night's $7,000 to win main event. Jon Stepan continued his great season with a win in the WISSOTA Super Stock division while Jeremy Kerzman tallied a mighty impressive win in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified action. Sixty-seven WISSOTA Modifieds checked into the back gate for some great Amsoil Dirt Track Series racing during night one action at the 5th Annual Minnesota Modified Nationals.

The night got underway with the WISSOTA Super Stock main event. Pole-sitter Don Eischens looked to be the car to beat early on before a left year flat made him retire pitside. That handed the lead over to Jon Stepan. Stepan remained smooth out front while a few drivers began to make thier moves from deep in the back. Eighteenth and final starter Cory Tammen sliced and diced his way through the field entering the top five with four laps remaining. Tammen was able to move up one more position in the remaining laps ending a great run in fourth. Like Tammen, Annandale's Shawn Nolan used a fast racecar to move up nine positions from his row seven starting spot ending a great run in fifth. In the end, however, it was Stepan picking up his second Viking Speedway victory of the season. Jeff Kluver, Jeff Crouse, Tammen and Nolan joined Stepan in the top five while Matt Miller moved up eleven positions to finish. sixth. Stepan and Eischens were victorious in heat race action for the WISSOTA Super Stocks.

Although it took him a few laps to get to the front, Grey Eagle, Mn mudslinger Jeremy Kerzman dominated Friday night's WISSOTA Midwest Modified A-main from his 5th starting position. Great battles could be found all over the speedway but the main attraction was Travis Saurer's charge from deep in the field. After sneaking into the main event through a B-main, Saurer began the event in the 21st starting position. Through a bit of attrition and a very fast racecar Saurer entered the top ten with seven laps still up on the board. Saurer used his familiar diamond maneuver to dispose of most of his rivals while most of the drivers ran the high side of the speedway. Saurer made his final pass on the last trip around ending a beautfiul run in the sixth position. Thunder Bay, Ont pilot Jeff Marshall pressured Kerzman during various times in the event but was never able to overtake Jeremy for the lead. Out front it was all Kerzman as he went on to score the mighty impressive feature triumph. Marshall settled for a hard fought second with Brian Haben third, Josh Thoennes fourth and Princeton, Mn legend Ron Jones fifth. Forty-Six WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds signed in for battle with heat race wins being collected by Jamie Thorstad, Haben, Marshall, Thoennes and Kerzman. The division also feature two B-mains with Travis Saurer and Canadian driver Brady Caul collecting victories in those events.

The final event of the evening belonged to the WISSOTA Modifieds for their 25-lap qualifying A-main. Jason Grimes took the early lead while he fended off charges from Scot Danzeisen. The two fought tooth and nail ahead of the rest of the field while Mathison and Trent Follmer began to join the fray. The caution waved with eleven laps remaining which put Danzeisen and Mathison in the second row behind race leading Grimes. As the entered turn one, Mathison made a banzai move to the bottom of the speedway in turn one. Grimes smashed the loud pedal and pulled even with Mathison as the duo raced door to door down the backstretch. Mathison drove it in deep into turn three taking the lead in the process. Grimes and Danzeisen picked up where they left off and ignited a battle once again, this time for the second position. Jason Thoennes looked strong during the ladder stages of the event as he passed Follmer for the fourth spot with one lap still remaining up on the board. Craig Thatcher, Tony Leiker and Steve Arpin battled for the sixth position with Thatcher ultimately taking seizing hold of the position with four laps remaining. On the final trip around Mathison made no mistakes and went on to score the A-main Qualifying feature victory. Grimes in his new Hughes Chassis turn a lot of heads with a great second place finish followed by Danzeisen, Thoennes and Follmer. The sixty-seven Modifieds were divided into seven heat races with wins being collected by Leiker, Mitch Johnson, Ricky Weiss, Mathison, Arpin, Thoennes and two-time and defending USRA Modified national champion Brad Waits of Zumbrota, Mn.

Saturday's program would feature C and B-mains, the last chance qualifier and the 50-lap A-main finale for the WISSOTA Modifieds as well as a full program for the WISSOTA Super Stocks and WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds once again.

SUMMARY:

Qualifying Feature:
Feature- Dale Mathison, Jason Grimes, Scot Danzeisen, Jason Thoennes, Trent Follmer, Craig Thatcher, Tony Leiker, Steve Arpin, Dennis Bitzan, Ricky Weiss, Jason Voigt, Brad Waits, Mitch Johnson, Andy Gordon
Heat 1- Leiker, Grimes, Schuelke, Dave Storck, Alexander, Matt Gilbertson, Saurer, Anderson, Eischens, Justin Elmer
Heat 2- Johnson, Nelson, Thatcher, Greer, Ostrander, Duval, Gulbrandson, McDonald, Staff, Blascyk
Heat 3- Weiss, Gordon, Lund, Jones, Koehntop, Edginton, Gierke, Smith, Crouse, Splitstoesser
Heat 4- Mathison, Jensen, Danzeisen, Engebretson, Loveday, Estey, Engelstad, Tofte, Schroeder, Esala
Heat 5- Arpin, Voigt, Cain, Bayer, Gilbertson, Lemke, Mike Storck, Rosser, Hanson
Heat 6- Thoennes, Sabraski, Bitzan, Berry Christiansen, Canon, Jacobson, Romdalvik, VandeKamp
Heat 7- Waits, Follmer, Miller, Noble, Richardson, Wildman, Lavesseur, Nayes, Dykstra

WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature- Jon Stepan, Jeff Kluver, Jeff Crouse, Cory Tammen, Shawn Nolan, Matt Miller, Irvin Cook, Jeff Flaten, Larry Lund, Frank Fabio, Ashley Donald, Alan Johnson, Bryan Hellerman, Jason Vejtruba, Mark Blom, Mike Peterson, Cody Lee, Don Eischens
Heat 1- Stepan, Blom, Fabio, Crouse, Peterson, Lee, Johnson, Donald, Miller
Heat 2- Eischens, Kluver, Vejtruba, Flaten, Lund, Hellerman, Nolan, Cook, Tammen

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
Feature- Jeremy Kerzman, Jeff Marshall, Brian Haben, Jason Thoennes, Ron Jones, Travis Saurer, Jason VandeKamp, Marshall Tofte, Shane Sabraski, Ron Saurer, Jason Hoffman, Ryan Mikkelson, Darrin Braaten, Matt Suckow, Skeeter Estey, Shawn Olson, Brady Caul, William Lund, Jamie Thorstad, Dustin Bitzan, Jeremy Houle, Mike Gibson, Brett Hoium, Brian Krog
Heat 1- Thorstad, Gibson, VandeKamp, Hoffman, Olson, Estey, Anderson, Studanski, Berends
Heat 2- Haben, Tofte, Houle, Braaten, Caul, Wolkowski, Sobolik, Hellerman, Johnson
Heat 3- Marshall, Krog, Suckow, Lund, Scott, Vanderby, Greeley, Mensen, Tomford
Heat 4- Thoennes, Bitzan, R. Saurer, Mikkelson, Muzik, Hines, Schmidt, Craig, Loecken
Heat 5- Kerzman, Jones, Sabraski, Hoium, T. Saurer, Gill, Merten, Quinn, Blascyk
B-main 1- T. Saurer, Olson, Blascyk, Tomford
B-main 2- Caul, Estey, Studanski, Muzik, Sobolik

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