5/31/2021
Ogilvie Raceway
Night 2 of the MN Mod Nationals Completed just As Mother Nature Moved In.
Ogilvie, MN (May 30) – After a very successful night 1 of WISSOTA Dirt Race Action at Wagamon’s Ogilvie Raceway, 95 drivers signed back in for night 2 of the 16th Annual Wehrs Machine Minnesota Modified Nationals driven by Boston Trucking. There was a threat of rain throughout the day, however the show was completed in the nick of time. Dave Mass, Jody Bellefeuille and Matthew Dittman took their first trophies of the weekend and Jason VandeKamp won his second.
Zach Benson nosed ahead with the lead as the green waved for the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, however after a quick caution, Jason VandeKamp shot out of turn two and snagged the lead. Benson held the second point with Kennedy Swan keeping close. Swan didn’t let the leaders out of her sight and just before another caution she put pressure on VandeKamp. Just was Swan snuck ahead of the #16 another caution occurred. As the race resumed, Benson and Swan raced for the runner up point with Brennan Gave, Tyler Kintner and Nick Ayotte three wide for fourth. VandeKamp stretched his lead a couple seconds over his competition, as the battle for second heated up. Swan and Benson were door to door as the white flag was raised. They drag raced to the finish line and Zach Benson snagged the point. Kennedy Swan, Brennan Gave and Nick Ayotte grabbed top points while Jason VandeKamp rolled his FYE Motorsports sponsored car into victory lane.
Shane Sabraski and Kevin Burdick led the WISSOTA Super Stocks around the track surface for the second feature of the night, and as the green flew, Sabraski sped off. Burdick, Dave Mass and Trevor Nelson raced three wide for second. Mass broke away from the battle and dove low on the track to challenge Sabraski. Mass made the pass just in time to secure the top point as the yellow lights turned on. Mass brought the drivers back to green with Burdick and Sabraski on his bumper. After a few laps, the top drivers spaced out and others battled for positions. Mass slowly caught traffic and as he made his way around the drivers, Sabraski closed the gap Mass had established. Sabraski was .61 seconds away from Mass, however Mass kept his foot down and the newly nicknamed “Super Dave” took the win in his Structural Buildings sponsored #2. Shane Sabraski, Dexton Koch, Kevin Burdick and Trevor Nelson rounded out the top five.
A pair of 11’s brought the WISSOTA Modifieds around the track, and those 11’s were driven by Andy Jones and Jody Bellefeuille. When the green dropped, Bellefeuille claimed the lead with Jones and Dave Cain to his rear. After a couple of cautions, Bellefeuille continued to show the way around the track. Cain moved into the second point and dove low to battle with Bellefeuille. Cain and Bellefeuille raced door to door for the lead while Jeremy Nelson (06) and Brandon Dolman battled side by side for third. As the drivers exited turn four, Cain nosed ahead with the lead and has he tried to pull away, another caution occurred. Cain led the drivers to green, and Bellefeuille came back to fight for first. Bellefeuille raced along the wall, Cain raced the lower groove, as Shane Sabraski moved into third. After another restart, the battle for first resumed with Bellefeuille high along the wall, Cain lower on track. Mike Anderson and Ryan Gierke slid in to challenge Sabraski, but he pulled ahead and continued to watch the battle for first. Cain and Bellefeuille remained glued to one another as they raced parallel lap after lap. As the top two drivers crossed the finish line, each lap’s results changed. With the final laps counting down, it truly was anyone’s race. Sabraski slid in behind the top two and looked to see if he could make a move. The white flag was raised high in the sky and Cain and Bellefeuille sped down the straightway. Just a couple more turns would determine the winner, and as they shot out of turn four, it was Jody Bellefeuille who crossed first in and took the exciting win in his Kivi Bros Trucking sponsored #11. Dave Cain settled for second, however after driver’s went through tech, Cain was disqualified. Shane Sabraski ended up in second with Ryan Gierke, Mike Anderson and Jeremy Nelson (06) as the top finishers.
The WISSOTA Hornets were the final race of the event with Joseph Wilber and Matthew Dittman on the front row. As the green waved, Dittman grabbed the lead, Wilber held second with Jonathan Aderman and Jamie Ammerman in a fight for third. After 5 laps passed, Aderman secured the third point, and he began to reel in Wilber for second. Dittman had the cruise set as he rounded the curves of the Big O when contact occurred among drivers resulting in Megan Ammerman’s #15 rolling on the front stretch. The race went red as track and emergency officials went to check on Megan. After getting the car back on 4 tires, Megan was able to climb out and was OK. The drivers were realigned and retook the green with Dittman in command. Matthew Dittman never looked back once he took the lead and took the checkers in his Nitro Jimmy’s Transmission #22 hornet. Remaining top points went to, Jonathan Ammerman, Joseph Wilber, Jesse Turnvall and Carter Rieland.
With rain knocking on the door of the Big O, the 16th Annual Wehrs Machine Minnesota Modified Nationals driven by Boston Trucking was in the books. Thank you to all drivers, crew and fans who attended this great event. Wagamon’s Ogilvie Raceway will be back in action on Saturday June 12th for a Saturday Night Shootout.
Article Credit: Tami Jo Kuehn
