Ogilvie Raceway

By: R.J. Sahlstrom (May 19)

Armed Forces weekend was the initial focus of the racing program tonight at the Ogilvie Raceway. As fans entered the grandstand gate they had a great opportunity to see “The Patriot Car” which honors all the fallen soldiers from Minnesota since the 9/11 tragedy. Representatives from the Ogilvie American Legion were on hand and assisted with the National Anthem.

As the first session of hot laps entered the track the focus shifted to the weather radar. The skies were unstable and a cell of rain was expanding in the distance. Track officials were hoping that the cell would skirt around the track so the show could go on as scheduled. Two heat races were completed and the third was on a parade lap when they were sent to the pits.

A torrential downpour followed for a few minutes as rain pounded down on the track. Track maintenance vehicles were sent out to prepare the surface for racing again after the rains stopped. Following a considerable rain delay and a huge effort from the track crew and many drivers the heat races were resumed. All was well on the western front for a while until the rains made another appearance during the Midwest Modified Feature. That would be the final event of the program as the rains forced the program to be stopped.

The WISSOTA Dirt Track Racing Series Modified heat race number one was won by veteran driver, Larry Zeller. Heat race number two was claimed by Dave Mass. The A-Main fell victim to the weather and will be made up at a later date.

The WISSOTA Super Stock heat race checkers went to Dan Gullikson. The Feature will be made up as part of a future program as it was also postponed due to rain.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modified heat winners were Bud Martini, Denis Czech, Charlie Zander and Zach Stewart. On the front row for the Feature were Czech and Tyler English. Czech bolted out to the lead when the green dropped and fronted the rest through lap eight. Justin Oestreich took the lead on lap nine which would prove to be very important. A caution flag came out on lap ten for a car spinning out in turn three. When the yellow was displayed the clouds opened up once again forcing officials to call the race complete at that point. Oestreich claimed the trophy for the win in the Moon Motorsports ride followed by Czech, Jeremy Nelson, Martini and Ryan Bowers.

The WISSOTA Street Stock heat checkers were taken by Justin Pogones and Keith Tourville. Leading the field to the Feature green were Adam Prieve and Patrick Zerfas. Zerfas paced the field as he led the first five laps. Tourville passed Zerfas for the lead on lap six and battled off all challengers taking the JJ Motorsports ride to victory lane. He completed the clean sweep followed by Brad Schmidt, Zerfas, John Adams and Kurt Becken.

The WISSOTA National Mod-4 class Heat was won by Kyle Thell which took place after a lengthy rain delay. Sitting on the front row for the Feature were Chad Funt and Dustin Zieske. Zieske took the early lead as he was out front for the first two laps. Corry VanMil would become the second and last leader of the event in his Edeen Family Dentistry sponsored ride. He led every lap from that point on to take top honors for the night. Chasing him at the finish line were Thell, Matt Halls, Tommy McGough and Zieske.

Travis Swanson and Quain Busitzky took the checkers in the Hornet heats. The Feature did not run due to weather.

The next event at Ogilvie Raceway will be a Memorial Day weekend double-header on Saturday May 26^th and Sunday May 27^th. A full program will be raced on both nights. The first green flag drops at 6:30pm.  If you are looking for some exciting dirt track racing on Memorial Day weekend, come to the “BIG O” for dirt track racing at its finest.

Results:

WISSOTA Modified

Heat 1: Larry Zeller, Jody Bellefeuille, Dustin Nelson, Jason Voigt, John Schuelke, Kristopher Peterson

Heat 2: Dave Mass, Keith Tourville, JT Johnson, Brett Johnson, Tim Alexander, Denny Holm

Feature: Postponed

WISSOTA Super Stock

Heat: Dan Gullikson, Dave Mass, Josh Anderson, Mike Mueller, Donna Schmidt, Ronnie Malecki, Brandon Englund, Dexter Robyn, Jacob Swalboski

Feature: Postponed

WISSOTA Midwest Modified

Heat 1: Martini, English, Bowers, Fontecchio, Gerwing, Joel Madson, Schuelke, John Nelson

Heat 2: Czech, VandeKamp, Putnam, Hastings, Lien, Voigt, Fouquette

Heat 3: Zander, Oestreich, Newgard, Reineke, Josh Madson, Hines, Matuska

Heat 4: Stewart, Jeremy Nelson, Schulte, Davis, Bombardo, Perry, Bohlman

Feature: Justin Oestreich, Denis Czech, Jeremy Nelson, Bud Martini, Ryan Bowers, Jason VandeKamp, Charlie Zander, Kevin Newgard, Gino Fontecchio, Travis Schulte, Tyler English, Alan Bohlman, Kyle Matuska, Kyle Hastings, Shane Gerwing, Joe Voigt, Ricky Davis, Andrew Schuelke, Mike Reineke, Josh Madson, Brandon Bombardo, Brandon Hines, Ryan Putnam, Zach Stewart, Jeffery Lien, Jr., Joel Madson, Clark Perry, Chad Fouquette, John Nelson

WISSOTA Street Stock

Heat 1: Pogones, Prieve, Adams, Howland, Becken, Cheney, Jones

Heat 2: Tourville, Schmidt, Zerfas, Nelson, Frey, Voigt

Feature: Keith Tourville, Brad Schmidt, Patrick Zerfas, John Adams, Kurt Becken, Justin Pogones, Adam Prieve, Rick Nelson, Kyle Howland, Jeff Frey, Bill Cheney, Dylan Jones, Mark Voigt

WISSOTA Mod 4’s

Heat: Thell, VanMil, Funt, McGough, Zieske, Halls, Wetterlin, Kuehl, Larson, Kresal

Feature: Corry VanMil, Kyle Thell, Matt Halls, Tommy McGough, Dustin Zieske, Troy Kuehl, Aaron Wetterlin, Chad Funt, Tyler Larson, Andrew Kresal

Hornets

Heat 1: Travis Swanson, Clay Blosberg, Teale Kraft, Brandon Opsahl, Levi Voss, Madison Zerfas, Jenna Kraft, Tyler Troupe

Heat 2: Quain Busitzky, Sam Lungstrom, Brady Grummons, Dillon Troupe, Payton English, Jacob Olson, Noah Olson