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GEREAU GARNERS "GEREAT" PAYDAY FRIDAY AT WAGNER

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GEREAU GARNERS "GEREAT" PAYDAY FRIDAY AT WAGNER

By
: Rod Pattison

Week 14 of The Fort Randall Casino and Hotel Weekly Racing Series was the final chapter of the 2021 racing season, as champions were crowned in all six classes. The evening also featured a large payout for the IMCA Stock Cars, courtesy of Midtowne Sinclair, Oil and Wash of Wagner, Gerstner Oil Company of Yankton, Von Eschen Lawn and Landscaping, along with many others. $999 to win with $200 to start brought cars from four different states.

The Roth Custom Farming IMCA Hobby Stocks would get the feature party started and Joel Magee (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) wasted no time to get to the front. His march started from the fourth position and he would quickly overtake Reese Powers (Avon), then Tori Wendell (Fairfax), then finally Lowell Janssen (Yankton) to reach the summit. Magee took his third win of the season, which ties him with track champion Tony Fetterman (Elk Point) and points runner-up Jordan Vosika (Gregory) for the most in the class. Lowell Janssen would settle for second, with Tori Wendell, Jordan Vosika and Matt Goth (Huron) completing the top five. Heat races were won by Tori Wendell and Lowell Janssen and the track champion for 2021 is Tony Fetterman.

For the first time all season, the winner of the Ponca Valley Seeds IMCA Northern Sport Mods did not have the last name Schroeder or Pfeifer. Kendell McCarthy (Naper, NE) started outside the second row and drove to victory. Points champion Dudley Schroeder, Jr (Armour) raced from sixth to second, putting an exclamation point on a stellar season. Kevin McCarthy (Naper, NE) finished in third, Logan McMartin (Vermillion) took fourth and Matt Esterling (Sioux Falls) rounded out the top five. Heat races were won by Matt Esterling and Kevin McCarthy and the champion is Dudley Schroeder, Jr, who won eight of the fourteen races in 2021.

18 cars from South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota would take the green flag, looking for a big paycheck, in the Mark's Machinery IMCA Stock Cars main event. Over $3000 in added purse money was put up by Midtowne Sinclair, Oil and Wash of Wagner and Gerstner Oil Company of Yankton, among others. With nearly $6000 in prize money up for grabs, there was some intense racing.

Before lap one could be recorded, there was a multi-car incident in turn four, bringing out a red flag. There were no injuries in the incident, but the track was blocked and cars were shut down. Drivers involved included points champion Brady Wenzlaff (Yankton), Heath Vandenbosch (Whiting, IA), Jeff Larson (Lakefield, MN) and Brenton Palmer (Sioux City, IA). with those cars retiring from the event. Eventually, racing would get underway again with a couple "Siouxland Hot Shoes" putting on quite a show. Todd Gereau (Sioux City, IA) started in ninth position, was able to get by fellow Sioux City, IA driver Travis Barker, then hold off many challenges for the win and the $999 payday. This was Gereau's second victory of the season, but it couldn't have come at a better time. Following Todd Gereau across the line was Travis Barker, who finished second. Mark Krieger (Stuart, NE) settled for third, Jason Schneiders (North Sioux City) started 12th and took home fourth and Spenser Kalass (Luverne, MN) began the quest in 13th and rounded out the top five. Heat races were won by Travis Barker, Paul Wenzlaff (Yankton) and Jason Schneiders. Brady Wenzlaff was crowned points champion, being one of six different drivers to win a feature at Wagner, picking up five.

The Payer Livestock IMCA Sport Compacts would have plenty to talk about as Jerik Stabler (Ethan) shot out to the lead from his front row starting spot and looked very impressive in his new #7 chariot. Things were looking very good until two laps to go, when the right rear wheel dislodged from the car, sending Stabler up and over the banking in turn one, bringing out the red flag. The car landed on the three remaining wheels and sustained damage, but Jerik was able to walk away from the incident. The following restart saw "Bear" roar to his first victory of the season, only racing the second half of the campaign. Aaron "Bear" Wilson (Armour) held off challenges from Dylan Tirrel (Toronto) to hoist the hardware. Jerik Stabler would be scored in third, Troy Brown (Yankton) in fourth and Brady Dufek (Armour) scored in fifth. Jerik Stabler and Conner Brown (Yankton) won their respective heat races and Conner Brown also won the points title with six feature wins to his credit, edging out his brother Taylor Brown (Yankton) who picked up five wins. The margin in points between the two was seven points.

A familar face appeared in victory lane in the CHS / Farmer's Alliance Late Models, as Gale Vogt (Yankton) started fourth and made his final move halfway through the race, rocketing past then leader Jared Jelsma (Springfield) down the back straightaway. Once that mission was accomplished, Vogt dominated the event, winning by a full straightaway, picking up his third win of the season and 16th of his career at Wagner. The win ties him with Don Smith and Quentin Myers for third all-time in late model wins at the speedway. Jared Jelsma settled for second, with Jon Haase (Plainview, NE), Doug Tomka (Stanton, NE) and Jared Hoerle (Chambers, NE) in the top five respectively. Jon Haase won the heat race and Doug Tomka repeated as late model champion, edging out Jared Hoerle by just three points, both picking up two feature wins on the season.

The evening's finale would bring out the DK Flooring and Customs IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars for their 15 laps of lightning. Dennis Englehaput (Page, NE) used his front row starting spot and would pick up his first win of the season and became the seventh different driver to win at Wagner in 2021. Robert Dvorak (Stuart, NE) was able to hang on to second, Jared Jansen (Parker) gained a top three finish, while Danny Nekolite (O'Neill, NE) secured fourth and Jacob Hugues (Hartford), who started 10th, completed the top five finishers. Jeff Reiman (West Point, NE) and Jared Jansen won heat races and "Doc" Nekolite was good enough to be crowned champion, finishing eight points better than Trefer Waller (O'Neill, NE). Jacob Hugues was awarded the Turp's Automotive "Hard Charger" $50 bonus money by passing three cars in the heat and five in the feature, for eight total cars passed.

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

There is one more event on the schedule in 2021, as Wagner Speedway will host the Labor Day Enduro on Monday, September 6th at 2 p.m. to wrap up the season.