Sports
Race heats up with more at stake
Tyler Ohmann
08/07/2012
The third annual Harvest Classic race night at Thunder Mountain Speedway north of Bottineau set things up nicely for championship night, which will be on August 19.
It did so especially in the sport stock division where only a single point separates first-placed Steve Beckedahl and second-placed Erik Blada.
Matt Hunter is not far behind either, sitting just 13 points back, which gives him an outside shot of winning as well.
One may remember that last year Blada held off a championship night storm by Beckedahl, who gained eight points on the final night to fall just eight points short of the track championship.
Last Sunday, at the Harvest Classic, there was a familiar racing face in Bottineau taking the drivers seat for a one-week deal — Bob Nostdahl.
Bob, who normally just helps his son Shawn drive in the modified division, drove the 12x car normally driven by Chris Romfo.
“Those guys, they’re the ones that got me to do it, but it was fun,” Bob said. “I had a blast.”
Bob finished in third place in the opening heat race, falling behind the Smiths, Cody and Kevin.
Bob bounced back by holding a lead, and taking a trophy dash win. Bob also did well in the feature, coming away with a runner-up finish to Hunter.
“I knew the car was good enough, since it won the feature last time around, but I didn’t know if I’d be that good,” Bob said. “I just wanted to stay out of trouble.”
Speaking of trouble, it came on strong in the feature race, with four cautions. The worst of which came with 13 laps to go. Leaders Blada and Beckedahl collided, which started the beginning of a pile up, where Frank Smith’s No. 6 car flipped completely over. The car did land on its tires and Frank was ok.
Bob said he avoided the wreck, but didn’t see what happened after he got by.
“I saw it early enough and got to the outside,” Bob said. “I didn’t see anything that happened behind me, but it didn’t look too good for him.”
Points stand at:
1. Steve Beckedahl 337
2. Erik Blada 336
3. Matt Hunter 324
4. Cody Smith 311
5. Kevin Smith 307
Fresh blood was the name of the game in the Wissota Midwest Modified (modified) division last Sunday.
That is because new winners in the feature and heat races shone respectively for the first time this year.
Jarret Lovcik. of Rugby, took the checkered in the heat race. One of the most loyal and dedicated riders, it was his first checkered flag of the year.
Then, in the feature, Tyler Dosch, also of Rugby, won his first feature of the year, zooming his 99 car around the track for a 20-lap win.
“The feature is a long race, and the track was slick,” Dosch said. “You just need to keep the car smooth and go nice and easy on the throttle, and on a race track like that, you are more worried about racing the track than your competitors.”
“It felt good to get the first one out of the way,” Dosch added.
Dosch, who started at the front, said that sometimes that is just the way the race goes, whoever is in front, stays there.
“This track, sometimes it’s all about starting position,” Dosch said. “But the track was racing well tonight, there were multiple grooves.”
He also noted that when you get a lead it’s more about racing the track, than your opponent.
“When two cars are side by side, it can be a little harder to keep position,” Dosch said. “When you start out front you can run your own race, you don’t have to worry about your competitor.”
Points stand at:
1. Jim Morlock 300
2. Ray Smith 291
3. Norm Reitan 285
4. Tyler Dosch 274
5. Jarret Lovcik 265
The track championship will begin with hot laps at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, August 19.
A schedule note, the TMS ‘80s and newer demo derby will now be held from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday Sept. 8, and will be moved to the Bottineau County Fairgrounds. They will also have a beer garden, which will be a change from previous years.