Sports
Points races take shape one week before Championship Night
Tyler Ohmann
08/20/2013
Points races remained tight as racers took the track at Thunder Mountain Speedway last Sunday for the last chance before Championship Night to make up some ground.
Sport Stocks
In the sport stock division the Smith’s from Canada had a strong night on the oval, which was slightly tacky from a few shots of rain earlier in the day.
In the first heat it was Cody Smith who took the checkered with a strong race in the 08 car. Brian Bellew finished runner-up to help notch him closer to points leader Steve Beckedahl.
In the second heat it was Frank Smith’s turn atop the podium, as he beat out Brady Soland and Matt Hunter, who were close behind.
Hunter had another strong race in the trophy dash as he finished first, beating out Soland and Boomer Patterson.
The smooth racing continued on the night with the sport stock feature race. The drivers went 20 laps, but there wasn’t much of a doubt who would win. Patterson jumped to a big lead and eventually had a quarter-lap margin and held it for the rest of the race.
Romfo came in second and Bellew finished third.
The finishes from Sunday set up the points race like this heading into next Sunday’s Championship Night:
1. Steve Beckedahl 240
2. Brian Bellew 237
3. Kevin Smith 233
4. Matt Hunter 232
5. Jamie Smith 231
6. Cody Smith 228
7. Boomer Patterson/Chris Romfo 227
8. Bryon Lesmann 217
9. Kendra Meyer/Chris Romfo 216
10. Brady Soland 201
Wissota Midwest Modifieds
For the Wissota Midwest Modifieds (modifieds) the races were also pretty fierce, as title’s on the line means for some strong racing.
In the first heat Kyle Lovcik came out on top as he beat out Pat Smith an Zach Dockter.
In heat two Lance Schill easily cruised to victory past Shawn Nostdahl.
Dockter made up for his third place finish in the heat by winning not only the trophy dash, but also holding on to win the feature race as well.
The feature race was an interesting one as several racers were involved in a crash coming out of turn two on the first lap. However, a blessing in the form of a passing shower helped the banged up re-enter the track after the rain stopped.
“It’s been a year where the rain has given us a challenge here and there,” said Norm Reitan of Bottineau. “But we got the feature in and the track was really good, had some moisture on it and was a good, open track.”
“You’ve got to have a good motor those nights, and make things work,” Reitan added.
The race continued and Schill, who was one of the racers injured in the earlier crash, pushed hard toward the front and challenged Dockter in the race. However, Dockter held out and took home the feature race. Kyle Lovcik finished third.
Reitan had a few engine problems on the night, but remained atop the point standings.
He hopes he can remain there when all is said and done next week.
“We’re going to keep business as usual,” Reitan said. “We’re having some engine troubles, but we’ll get that worked out.”
“You just have to run the races and stay ahead of the competitors,” Reitan added.
Reitan hopes that more cars will be at the race next week.
“I hope we get a few cars, the more cars the better,” Reitan said about Championship Night. “Hopefully we can get 10 to 15 cars and put on a good show.”
He is pleased with how things have turned out this year so far at TMS.
“It’s been a good year up here at the speedway,” Reitan said.
Point standings after last Sunday’s race for the modifieds look like this:
1. Norm Reitan 254
2. Ray Smith 251
3. Zach Dockter 240
4. Jarett Lovcik 237
5. Kyle Lovcik 236
6. Pat Smith 212
7. Shawn Nostdahl 206
8. Lance Schill 205
It was also kids night and several kids took the opportunity to ride in and on their favorite cars around the track.
Championship next week begins at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. It will conclude the 2013 race season and points champions will be crowned. Beckedahl is looking for back-to-back point titles.