Week 10 of the Fort Randall Casino and Hotel Weekly Racing Series was a hot and muggy day but turned out to be a comfortable and entertaining evening this past Friday night, as Wagner Speedway celebrated Military personal, First Responders and members of the medical field with free admission, courtesy of First Dakota National Bank and S & S Masonry, both of Wagner.

After a fast-moving heat race session, Tony Fetterman (Elk Point, SD) showed he was the fast mover in the Roth Custom Farming IMCA Hobby Stocks. Starting outside the fourth row, Fetterman worked his way up the ladder, finally passing Toby Ives (Verdigre, NE) late in the event to pick up his second victory of the season. Ives would have to settle for second, with Jordan Vosika (Gregory, SD) taking third, Mike Hanson (Meckling, SD) fourth and Derik Rolston (Wagner, SD) rounding out the top five. Heat races were won by Jordan Vosika and Toby Ives. With the win, Fetterman opened a 10-point advantage in the championship standings and picked up a $100 "Hard Charger" bonus for moving up seven spots from his eighth starting position. The Hard Charger bonus money was put up by Reese Powers Racing, in memory and honor of Zach Johnson of Avon, SD who tragically and unexpectedly passed away this past week.

The Ponca Valley Seeds IMCA Northern Sport Mods hit the track next and Dudley Schroeder, Jr (Armour, SD) started sixth and made his way to the front in workmanlike fashion, picking up his fifth victory of the season. Josh Pfeifer (St. Paul, NE) would settle for second, with Kendell McCarthy (Naper, NE), Kevin McCarthy (Naper, NE) and Raymond Bigge (Armour, SD) completing the top five, in that order. With that victory, Schroeder, Jr has now widened his point lead over Pfeifer to four points with five races remaining. Heat races were won by Kendell McCarthy and Josh Pfeifer.

An early race mishap would bring out the first red flag of the night in the DK Flooring and Custom IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars. As the field was coming off number four corner, John Otte (Ravinia, SD) got tangled up with another car and went for a series of flips and rolls, before finally coming to a stop on the entrance of the front straightaway. The Butte Implement Safety Team responded to the scene as the Wagner Fire Department and EMTs along with the Lake Andes / Wagner Ambulance assisted in getting Otte out of the car. John walked away, but the car was not so lucky, having to be hauled away on a flatbed.

Once the race restarted with 12 laps to go, Tony Drueke (Naper, NE) powered his way to his first victory of the season at Wagner. Drueke also becomes the fifth different driver to secure a feature win in the class in 2021. Trefer Waller (O'Neill, NE), who has three victories on the season, would finish second, Jared Jansen (Sioux Falls, SD) settled for third, Gary McCarthy (Platte, SD) finished in fourth with Danny Nekolite (O'Neill, NE) rounding out the top five. Heat races were won by John Otte and Tony Drueke.

Conner Brown (Yankton, SD) was able to cruise to his fifth victory of the season, besting the field in the Payer Livestock IMCA Sport Compact division. Aaron (Bear) Wilson (Armour, SD) had his strongest showing of the season in taking second. Troy Brown (Yankton, SD), Jason Johnson (Tyndall, SD) and Taylor Brown (Yankton, SD) completed the top five respectively. Taylor Brown won the heat race.

The second red flag of the evening waved in the early stages of the CHS / Farmer's Alliance Late Models, as Cody Martin (Mitchell, SD) had his first appearance of the season not turn out the way he wanted it too. Martin had turned many laps in other classes in the past at the speedway, but his first trip in as a late model driver came to a sudden stop, literally.

As cars were exiting number two corner early in the event, Martin's car got too high up the speedway, slid off the back straightaway and plowed into a large pile of tires that protect the pit area and cushion an impact that the wall behind them would cause. With the high rate of speed at that part of the track, Martin's car hit the tires, flew straight up in the air, and landed back on its wheels. Again, the Butte Implement Safety Team responded quickly and assisted Martin out of his 24M machine. Martin was able to walk away under his own power as his car was towed back to the pits.

Once the race resumed, Gale Vogt (Yankton, SD) completely dominated the field, picking up his second win of the season. Vogt was driving his own car but was being scored as the 11 of his brother Brad Vogt (Pierce, NE) who was having problems with his own car. Jared Hoerle (Chambers, NE) would come in second, point leader Doug Tomka (Stanton, NE) settled for third, while Ben Sukup (Norfolk, NE) and Kyle Pecena (O'Neill, NE) rounded out the top five placers.

Lastly, the Mark's Machinery IMCA Stock Cars were unable to take the green flag as rain started to fall at the speedway. This feature will be made up next week.

For more information, complete results and point standings, see wagnerspeedway.com

The next two weeks at Wagner Speedway are going to be shows you don't want to miss.

Friday, July 30th will have the RepairableVehicles.com Tri-State Late Models making their only appearance of the season, to go with the twin features for the Mark's Machinery IMCA Stock Cars, the Ponca Valley Seeds IMCA Northern Sport Mods, the Roth Custom Farming IMCA Hobby Stocks and the Payer Livestock IMCA Sport Compacts.

Then on Friday, August 6th, Wagner Speedway will host the Randy Meiers Memorial twin features event for IMCA Hobby Stocks. Thanks to the generosity of many local friends and businesses, the second feature of the night for the Hobby Stocks will have a total purse of $5000. More details will be made available soon.