Sports

Beckedahl, Schill come away winners at rare midweek TMS event

By Matthew Semisch

06/17/2014

Steve Beckadahl of Landa picked up his first sport stock feature victory at Thunder Mountain Speedway (TMS) this season Wednesday evening in a rare midweek race day at Bottineau’s quarter-mile dirt track.

Wednesday’s action was the first time in the 20 years of racing at TMS that the track hosted an originally-scheduled midweek race. The only other time it had happened was when the track hosted one midweek race last season that was rescheduled after a washout.
Beckadahl didn’t win his sport stock preliminary heat Wednesday, but he did win the trophy dash and feature race. Boomer Patterson finished second in the sport stock feature after making an unsuccessful late challenge.
He led for most of the feature, including after a caution flag early on froze the drivers into their positions.
“I got a head start (on the restart) because I’d been out in front of everyone else trying to get ahead, and I just had nothing but clean air in front of me. Everyone’s trying to get to the front and you sometimes get caught in the traffic, but if you can get out in front of it, then you’re good to go.”
Lance Schill, one of two drivers from Langdon taking part in the Wissota Midwest modified races Wednesday at TMS, won the feature race in that classification.
It was Schill’s second victory at TMS this season. He was in the trailing pack for much of the first half of the Wissota feature race, but he eventually pulled away.
“I’m not very good at playing follow-the-leader,” Schill said, “So I just figured I’d see if that top line on the banks would work with how good the traction was underneath, and it worked out pretty well.”
The next races at TMS will take place Sunday starting at 4 p.m. Tweed Country Ag will be the title sponsor for the speedway’s fourth event of the season.