Wagner Speedway welcomed in the month of August and 68 cars to the pits for a hot night of action Friday night, presented by Dave’s Service of Wagner, Hollman Apiaries and H2 Honey Company.

Following the opening ceremonies, all the heat races went as smooth as can be, that is until the 305 sprint cars hit the dirt. When heat one rolled out, Bob Dvorak (Stuart, NE) began the event on the outside of the front row, but his night would end shortly thereafter. As a group of cars slid through turn four, Dvorak found himself in a spot he didn’t want to be in and the car went into a series of flips and rolls before coming to a rest on the high side of turn four. Safety crews were immediately on the scene to assist and Dvorak was helped from the car and was okay. The car was too heavily damaged though, and their night was over.

The Roth Custom Farming Hobby Stock division saw a young driver, in just his sixth start in a race car, show that he is a quick learner and one of the rising stars in the class. Kaylb Brunssen (Le-Mars, IA) was involved in a serious mishap in week three at the track and took a little time off regroup. When your crew chief is your father and former track champion Jeff Brunssen, you tend to learn a little faster.

The second-generation driver began his quest from his fifth starting position and as he worked his way up, the final obstacle was Jordan Vosika (Gregory). Vosika was strong all evening long, but the young Brunssen found something that no one else did, the top. In victory lane, Brunssen knew the top side, took him to the top in the main event. “No one was going to the top and I knew my car was set for that. They were getting me on restarts, so I just went up high and it kind of worked. This car was fast.” Kaylb also used the time away to learn a valuable lesson about driving a race car, “now I know how to drive cautiously, not use my bumper and not wreck other people's stuff so we can have more competitors out here.” Following Brunssen and Vosika were Nate DeSive (O’Neill, NE) starting eighth to take third, Joey Jaton (Wagner) and Matt Goth (Huron) rounding out the top five from his ninth position. Two drivers each moved up eight spots in the feature, including Pierce VanderPol (driving the 19A of Taylor Blom) and Chase Keller (Sioux City, IA), finishing seventh and eighth respectfully. Heat races were won by Jordan Vosika, Joey Jaton and Kaylb Brunssen.

The Ponca Valley Seeds Sport-Mods saw one of the more eventful endings you will see at a track. After taking the white flag, race leader Dudley Schroeder, Jr (Armour) had serious mechanical failure, causing a large amount of smoke to billow out of the car, forcing his night to come to an end. That would bring out a caution flag to reset the field. As the green flag waved, Wes Hochstein (Randolph, NE) led Josh Pfeifer (St. Paul, NE) to the stripe. As those two battled back and forth, Hochstein had the advantage in turns three and four, but another caution came out. Hochstein parked his car in front of the flag stand, thinking he had won the event. After discussion with race officials, it was determined the race was not over and there would be another restart with another green, white, checkered shoot out. Unfortunately, Hochstein’s luck would take a further turn for the worse. As he was getting lined up for the ensuing restart, the car developed drivetrain issues and was unable to continue. With Pfeifer inheriting the lead, he would go on to take his third victory of the season. Kevin McCarthy (Naper, NE) would settle for second, Kendall McCarthy (Naper, NE) captured third, with Jerry Pfeifer (Spencer, NE) and Brian Shutt (Atkinson) completing the top five. Heat races were won by Josh Pfeifer and Dudley Schroeder, Jr.

The Manthey Farms Sport Compacts continue to be dominated by Connor Brown (Yankton). Following some major electrical issues in hot laps and his heat race, Brown found poor connection on the battery, repaired the issue, and roared from his seventh starting position to take his fifth win in as many starts. Cody Feenstra (Corsica) settled for second, with Ethan Knoll (Avon), Matthew Andresh (Wagner) and Shawn McKnelly (Hartford) completing the top five. Heat races were won by Cody Feenstra and Matthew Andresh.

The Butte Implement B-Mods would hit the track next and for the fifth time this season, Tyler Myers (Alexandria) would show the way, coming from his sixth starting spot. After working to find a line to get around Wade Wright (Ravinia), Myers made the most of a small piece of Charles Mix County real estate to overtake Wright and went on to a hard-fought victory. Following Myers were Kyle Pecena (O’Neill, NE), Camden Myers (Ethan), Logan Kafka (Wagner) and Jeff Brunssen (LeMars, IA), coming out of retirement, taking the fifth spot. Heat races were won by Wade Wright and Logan Kafka.

The C & B Operations of Wagner Late Models roared onto the speedway and the green flag was quickly replaced by the red flag. As a group of cars were working for position in turn four, Justin Havranek (Wagner) went for a wild ride. Havranek’s car got sideways and caught the track, sending him into series of violent flips, before coming to a stop in the middle of turn four. MedStar Race Rescue, Tyndall Ambulance and Wagner Fire Department crews were immediately on the scene to assist in the accident. Following several minutes, Havranek was helped from the wreckage, walked to the ambulance under his own power and was taken to a local healthcare facility to examination. Following being checked over, the driver was okay, but the car was not.

Following a stoppage for the ambulance to return to the track, action resumed and Brad Vogt (Pierce, NE) would withstand numerous challenges by Lyndon Bolt (Rapid City) to pick up his first victory of the season. Bolt, who started sixth, would settle for the runner-up spot, followed by Gale Vogt (Yankton), Jared Hoerle (Chambers, NE) and Doug Tomka (Stanton, NE). Heat races were won by Lyndon Bolt and Doug Tomka.

Finally, in the DK Flooring and Custom 305 sprint car division, Jared Jansen (Sioux Falls) took off from his fourth starting spot and rocketed to the checkers, holding off challenges from Tony Drueke (Naper, NE). Jansen and his team had work to do before the event, just to make it to the event. “We junked a car at Jackson a couple weeks ago and finished this one to come down here with you guys tonight,” said Jansen in the postrace interview. “We finished up about 3 o’clock today, put it in the trailer. I’m glad we can finish on this note.” Following Jansen and Drueke across the stripe were Jesse Lindberg (Sioux Falls), Jeff Reiman (West Point, NE) and Jacob Hugues (Hartford). Heat races were won by Jesse Lindberg and Tony Drueke.

That sets up this week’s action, sponsored by Juffer’s Inc and Brecke Pest Control on Friday night. The T & R Contracting Late Model Street Stock touring series will invade the speedway for their sanctioned points race. Joining them will be the 305 sprint cars, late models, b-mods, sport mods and hobby stocks.

For more information, complete results, point standings and more, check out the track’s website at wagnerspeedway.com or follow their Facebook page.

8/7/2020 at Wagner Speedway 305 Sprints - Winged

A Feature 1: 1. 81-Jared Jansen[4]; 2. 99-Tony Drueke[6]; 3. 43MB-Jesse Lindberg[5]; 4. 24J-Jeff Reiman[1]; 5. 8-Jacob Hughes[3]; 6. 30-Dennis Engelhaupt[2]; 7. 20-Logan Hershey[9]; 8. 10D-Daniel Nekolite[8]; 9. 9ER7-John Otte[12]; 10. 15F-Danial Frickel[10]; 11. 9-Neil Dvorak[7]; 12. (DNS) 17D-Bob Dvorak

Heat 1: 1. 43MB-Jesse Lindberg[6]; 2. 8-Jacob Hughes[4]; 3. 24J-Jeff Reiman[3]; 4. 9-Neil Dvorak[5]; 5. (DNF) 20-Logan Hershey[1]; 6. (DNF) 17D-Bob Dvorak[2]

Heat 2: 1. 99-Tony Drueke[2]; 2. 81-Jared Jansen[4]; 3. 30-Dennis Engelhaupt[1]; 4. 10D-Daniel Nekolite[6]; 5. 15F-Danial Frickel[3]; 6. 9ER7-John Otte[5]

B Modifieds

A Feature 1: 1. 27-Tyler Myers[6]; 2. 54K-Kyle Pecena[4]; 3. 1-Camden Myers[5]; 4. 6K-Logan Kafka[3]; 5. 10 10-Jeff Brunssen[7]; 6. 6-Matt Esterling[1]; 7. 81-Tanner James[8]; 8. 15-Adam Chernotik[11]; 9. 94-Kyle Kasa[10]; 10. 11-Raymond Bigge[9]; 11. (DNF) 88-Wade Wright[2]

Heat 1: 1. 88-Wade Wright[3]; 2. 1-Camden Myers[5]; 3. 6-Matt Esterling[4]; 4. 10 10-Jeff Brunssen[6]; 5. 11-Raymond Bigge[2]; 6. 15-Adam Chernotik[1]

Heat 2: 1. 6K-Logan Kafka[2]; 2. 54K-Kyle Pecena[4]; 3. 27-Tyler Myers[5]; 4. 81-Tanner James[3]; 5. 94-Kyle Kasa[1]

Dirt Late Models

A Feature 1: 1. 11-Brad Vogt[1]; 2. 3X-Lyndon Bolt[6]; 3. 1V-Gale Vogt[4]; 4. 21X-Jared Hoerle[3]; 5. 3-Doug Tomka[5]; 6. 55-Rod Barse[9]; 7. 9-Jared Jelsma[8]; 8. (DNF) 83-Mike Babcock[7]; 9. (DNF) 88-Justin Havranek[2]

Heat 1: 1. 3X-Lyndon Bolt[4]; 2. 11-Brad Vogt[1]; 3. 1V-Gale Vogt[3]; 4. 83-Mike Babcock[2]; 5. 55-Rod Barse[5]

Heat 2: 1. 3-Doug Tomka[4]; 2. 21X-Jared Hoerle[3]; 3. 88-Justin Havranek[1]; 4. (DNS) 9-Jared Jelsma

Hobby Stocks

A Feature 1: 1. 00K-Kaylb Brunssen[5]; 2. 24-Jordan Vosika[3]; 3. 31K-Nate Desive[8]; 4. 7-Joey Jaton[4]; 5. 17-Matt Goth[9]; 6. 1-Reese Powers[11]; 7. 19A-Pierce Vander-Pol[15]; 8. 58-Chase Keller[16]; 9. 3-Cassy Cooper[10]; 10. 40-Lowell Janssen[2]; 11. 40S-Rich Schaefer[17]; 12. 77R-Derik Rolston[18]; 13. 33-Tucker Hawley[1]; 14. 34-David Petrik[13]; 15. (DNF) 16J-Joe Namminga[14]; 16. (DNF) 29-Derrick Scott[6]; 17. (DNF) 55M-Mike Hanson[7]; 18. (DNF) 99-Tori Wendell[12]

Heat 1: 1. 24-Jordan Vosika[6]; 2. 40-Lowell Janssen[5]; 3. 29-Derrick Scott[4]; 4. 3-Cassy Cooper[3]; 5. 34-David Petrik[2]; 6. 58-Chase Keller[1]

Heat 2: 1. 7-Joey Jaton[6]; 2. 31K-Nate Desive[3]; 3. 33-Tucker Hawley[1]; 4. 1-Reese Powers[4]; 5. 16J-Joe Namminga[5]; 6. 40S-Rich Schaefer[2]

Heat 3: 1. 00K-Kaylb Brunssen[3]; 2. 17-Matt Goth[6]; 3. 55M-Mike Hanson[2]; 4. 99-Tori Wendell[5]; 5. 19A-Pierce VanderPol[1]; 6. 77R-Derik Rolston[4]

Sport Compact

A Feature 1: 1. 35X-Conner Brown[8]; 2. 4R-Cody Feenstra[5]; 3. 7K-Ethan Knoll[3]; 4. 11-Matthew Andersh[4]; 5. 6-Shawn McKnelly[1]; 6. 13-Tom Koster[7]; 7. 27-Sean Staples[9]; 8. 17J-Jason Johnson[2]; 9. 48-Kevin Andersh[6]; 10. (DNS) 35JR-Taylor Brown

Heat 1: 1. 4R-Cody Feenstra[4]; 2. 7K-Ethan Knoll[3]; 3. 6-Shawn McKnelly[1]; 4. 13-Tom Koster[2]; 5. (DNS) 35JR-Taylor Brown

Heat 2: 1. 11-Matthew Andersh[3]; 2. 48-Kevin Andersh[4]; 3. 17J-Jason Johnson[2]; 4. (DNF) 35X-Conner Brown[5]; 5. (DNS) 27-Sean Staples

Limited Modified

A Feature 1: 1. 33J-Josh Pfeifer[4]; 2. 66M-Kevin McCarthy[1]; 3. 11M-Kendell McCarthy[7]; 4. 33-Jerry Pfeifer[5]; 5. 75S-Brian Shutt[8]; 6. (DNF) 21B-Wes Hochstein[2]; 7. (DNF) 15F-Logan Fernau[6]; 8. (DNF) 23JR-Dudley Schroeder Jr[3]

Heat 1: 1. 33J-Josh Pfeifer[2]; 2. 21B-Wes Hochstein[4]; 3. 33-Jerry Pfeifer[1]; 4. 11M-Kendell McCarthy[3]

Heat 2: 1. 23JR-Dudley Schroeder Jr[4]; 2. 66M-Kevin McCarthy[3]; 3. 15F-Logan Fernau[1]; 4. 75S-Brian Shutt[2]