Oh my how a year has absolutely flown by! From the high expectations and early season excitement to the dog days of summer, we have managed to reach the conclusion of the 2021 regular race season. Many had high hopes of a successful season and many have fallen victim for one reason or another. Yet, here we are and to those who have flexed their muscle and have had an iron will to persevere the duldrums of this challenging season it is now time to go big and go all in. Yes, it's championship time as track championships are on the line! There is just something about a track championship that is so special. The driver was committed to defending their turf and had to overcome so many challenges throughout the season. They also had to be willing to sacrifice a lot to commit to an entire season. Often, this is time with their friends and family but it is also the fact that they may have had to sacrifice traveling to a big money race at another track, not to mention a massive financial sacrifice if the racing got hard on the equipment. Add in a nationwide tire shortage and you have yourself one extremely long season. So here's to you drivers staying after it, your sacrifices don't go unnoticed.
So let's look at the tracks that have already waved the checkered flag to their regular season. Starting with the Tri County Speedway in Wishek, Paul Morman held off Chris Michaelsohn by three points for the hobby stocks, while Donavin Wiest bested Austin Wiest by six points for the INEX legends. Lucas Rodin and Jodie Michaelsohn won their respective classes as well. Looking over at the McLean County Speedway the point battles were intense for their regular classes. Joren Boyce would seal the deal in his green hot rod as he would win by two points. Jason Ruby would take the IMCA hobby stock championship by five points and Logan Schmitz would take the IMCA sport mods. We know that Thunder Mountain has wrapped their season up as well but have yet to find an official season points total yet.
Looking towards this weekend the Southwest Speedway in Dickinson looks to close the regular season out with some extremely close battles. Travis Ulmer leads Casey Binstock in the IMCA stock cars by four points, while Chandler Wanner is hanging on by five points over Caden Roberts in the IMCA sport mods, and Bill Hultberg looks to hold off Cody Hulse in the hobby stocks.
Next weekend is when it all comes to a dramatic end for the state as eight tracks hold their regular season championships! The Dacotah, Estevan, Jamestown, Nodak, Red River Valley, River Cities, Sheyenne, and Williston Basin Speedways will be holding their points championship nights and there are some extremely close battles happening!
Looking at the Dacotah Speedway as of now there are two major wars going on. First their is the IMCA modifieds as Quentin Kinzley and Jeremy Keller are locked in a major war. Neither are backing down or away from the other. Keller has looked stellar all year but still finds himself in second as Kinzley has hounded him and remained consistent and now finds himself two points in the lead with two weeks to go. Then there's the IMCA sport compacts as the crowd hero Stan Thompson looks to will himself back past the IMCA sport compact dominator Ken Sandberg. Sandberg has racked up the wins but a couple bad nights has him in a deadlock with Thompson. With two weeks to go this rivalry continues to have the underdog vs. champion feel, who will walk away with the championship?
Moving north of the border the race fans have the annual Dirt Wars to close out the season. The key word is "WARS" as every class is within striking distance with two nights in one weekend left to go! From the slingshots to the IMCA modifieds every division could see a change at the top of the leader board. Starting with the slingshots we find Ryder Raynard and Cash Saxon going at with both of the young drivers finding success this year. Only seven points seperates them but only one can walk away the 2021 season champ. In the IMCA hobby stocks we find the biggest gap between first and second. However, that doesn't mean squat as the double header could play vital to the hopes of Landon Runge and Dexter Saxon. Yet, the two can't only focus on each other as third (Conor Hansen) and Kaiden Tuchscherer are one point back from second. The IMCA sport mods has Kyle Scholpp nipping at the heels of the points leader Leevi Runge and with one mistake the eight point lead can disappear in a blink of an eye. IMCA stock cars is another barn burner as Gregg Mann has a four point lead over Chris Hortness. However, there is also Devon Gonas lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce on any opportunity to play spoiler for these two. Finally, the IMCA modifieds is shaping up to be a heavyweight bout between two of the most recognizable names! Scholpp vs. Turnbull! The defending track champion holds a seven point lead but Tyson Turnbull isn't about to shy away from what is expected to be an absolute war in the final two nights. Will Scholpp be able to defend his title or will Turnbull find a way to overcome the deficit?
We move back to central North Dakota as the Jamestown Speedway has two weeks to go and the storylines are off the charts in the INEX legends and IMCA modifieds. First the INEX legends have had large car counts all year and yet the cream rises to the top as three time INEX national champion Donavin Wiest finds himself on top of the points mountain. However, Ulen Minnesota's Ryan Braseth is looks to steal the thunder as he is only three points behind Wiest and has proven to be a contender for the win every single week. This battle of titans looks to keep the fans on the edge of their seats! Taking a quick look at the Wissota Midwest Mods Brennon Weight has a sixteen point lead on Jaren Wibstad and in the bombers Dylan Steele has a fourteen point lead over Paul Morman. With two weeks left these divisions are still open for a shake up in the points, especially with the Midwest modifieds have the Carpenter Memorial this weekend. Finally, there is the IMCA modifieds where John Nord has a ten point lead over John Correll. While this will be an interesting points battle, there is a massive storm brewing for third through seventh. With only six points seperating third from sixth and a handful more from seventh this could be a slugfest for the final podium spot. Keep your eyes peeled folks as Chris Mack, Scott Gartner, Andrew Kapp, Dwight Wegner, and Shawn Becker all go at it these final two weeks!
The Playground of Power has a lot of thunder right now but is it the thunder from the motors or the thunder from storm brewing in the point battles there? The IMCA hobby stocks, sport mods, and modifieds all find their competitors in a tight points race and much to the fans delight. The IMCA hobby stocks has the defending champion Andrew Bertsch on top but John Flory Jr. is right there only five points behind and Caden Appelt only a few more behind him. Meanwhile in the IMCA sport mods it is another incredibly close battle as it really is a five car battle for the championship as all of them are within eleven points of each other. Daren Medler holds a two point lead over the fastest cop in the west Erik Laudenschlauger and two more points behind him is Chad Strachen. Yet, if that wasn't enough for Medler to worry about you have both Jeff Hooker and Logan Schmitz eleven points back and in striking distance. Will Medler hold off the challengers? Or may it end up like the 2020 season with a tie? Finally, there is the IMCA modifieds and the fans have been enjoying a great points battle all season between Travis Hagen and Wayne Johnson. Only one point has Hagen in the lead but the veteran Wayne Johnson has kept Hagen in his crosshairs and he is just waiting for Hagen to slip up. Yet, while these two deal with each other another individual has slipped their way into the conversation ever so silently. Jerad Thelen has crept into the points championship as he is only fifteen points back and you can be sure that with Hagen and Johnson focusing on each other he will be looking to play spoiler on these two!
Out East you have the Red River Valley Speedway and the competition has been red hot. There are a few classes that it looks to be sorted out already but there are some intriguing match ups that race fans will want to take notice to. First, the IMCA 305 Racesaver sprints has only had four consistent followers this year but sprint car rookie Tye Wilke is only three points behind sprint car veteran Ty Hanten. Will the veteran hold off the young gun or will Wilke play spoiler and claim the title for the first season of the sprints? Speaking of Wilke, he holds an eight point lead over Sean Johnson in the INEX legends. These two have raced very hard so far this year and the finish line is in sight, will Wilke be able to win two classes or will Johnson spoil the party? In the IMCA sport mods Scott Jacobson and Rich Pavlicek have raced away from the rest of the field and now only seven points separates them. In the IMCA modifieds Tyler Hall has an eleven point lead on Jesse Skallicky. Both have been bad fast and have found consistency, it's not exactly a long shot for Skallicky to win this but it certainly would be an impressive comeback story for him with one night left to go.
Going a little further North you will find the River Cities Speedway and the bull ring rewards those who are willing to put it all on the line and to those who have found a little luck. This year is no different and the point leaders are pretty much locked up besides two classes. The NOSA sprints have had an interesting year and currently it's Austin Pierce with a fourteen point lead ahead of NOSA hot shoe Brendan Mullen and only one point back from him is NOSA veteran Wade Nygaard. While Pierce has some breathing room, he can't afford to slow down as these two intend to run his lead down. Then there is the Wissota midwest mods as Jory Berg and the mustache maffia only has a five point lead over Jamie Dietzler. This should be a slugfest to the end folks! What makes this so extremely fascinating is that when you look at the points first and second are only five points apart but third is over two-hundred points back. However, this is going to be the points battle to watch folks as these two have put it all on the line this season.
Looking just a few hours south is the Sheyenne Speedway and to be blunt the points are pretty much locked up with just two races to go in this season. However, that doesn't mean there isn't intriguing storylines to follow here. First let's look at the one potential points battle that could foreseeably happen and that's with the Wissota midwest mods. Lucas Rodin has been a literal nightmare for everyone this year and is leading the points by thirty-six over Zach Reinke. This weekend is the big $5,000 to win Rebel Midwest Modified Tour and the field is going to be stacked and huge. So let's play one hypothetical out: the nightmare goes out early and wrecks in his heat or misses the feature and Zach wins or places rather high. This should essentially pull him within the teens back from Rodin. If this were to happen, it would make the points battle a little more chaotic going into the final week. However, if Reinke misses the feature the points are locked up. The second storyline to follow is the mini stock second place battle as second (Dalton Aabrekke), third (Tempest Trone), and fourth (Mason Bogart) are only two points apart. The final storyline to watch for is the third place battle in the INEX legends between Brian Frederick and rookie Ashton Spieker.
Finally, way out West is the Williston Basin Speedway. The battle lines have been drawn and it comes down to the final week as the point battles are close. The car counts need to be good though to make some of the battles to be feasible for the challengers to catch the leaders. The slingshots have three within seven points of each other. Landon Gaudreau, Sage Borud, and Ayden Hill are all within striking distance for the championship. With the previous race getting ten cars it is feasible for Sage and Ayden to catch and defeat Landon. The youngsters will be certainly on their A games going into the final night. Then there is the IMCA modifieds and we find a familiar battle taking place as Travis Hagen defends his home turf from Wayne Johnson. Twelve points separates them and car counts have to be solid again if Johnson wants any shot at the title. While the car count is out of Johnson's control he has been dangerously consistent all year and Hagen will need to run another excellent race to hold of the challenge from Johnson. The IMCA sport mods have a solid battle waiting for the final night as Brady Bjella holds a seven point lead over Darren Schatz. Both are bad fast and can win on any given night but how will Schatz find a way to prevail with one night to go? Odds are, the fans are in for one heck of a race. Finally, the IMCA hobby stocks have the closest points battle as Andrew Bertsch and Riese Dignan are separated by two points. Two positions on the track is all the separates these two and you can be sure that both drivers know this going into the final week.
Now the final track is the Devils Lake Speedway and they have four shows left to go. However, we are a little confused on the difference between the track championship and the points championship. However, it shouldn't make a huge difference on the points battles for the majority of the classes. The one remaining battle that remains is a doozy though as the Wissota midwest mods is still up for grabs. Six points separates Jory Berg and Logan Salazar. Both have victories this year and both have shown their dominance over the fields. It will be an interesting last couple weeks as the big paying shows are on their way. Will both stay and battle for the points or will one stray away for the big paying shows? Only time will tell!
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