The end of the regular season is less than a week away and fans were treated to intense action Friday night at Wagner Speedway, presented by Brecke Pest Control.

Week 13 of the Fort Randall Casino and Hotel Weekly Racing Series saw the Butte Implement Safety Team, consisting of the Wagner and Dante Fire Departments and the Lake Andes/Wagner Ambulance Service, very busy. The first red flag stoppage came on lap one of the DK Flooring and Customs IMCA Racesaver sprint cars, as John Otte (Ravinia) found himself in a precarious spot in turn one. Otte would make significant contact with traffic and sent him into a series of flips, with the car coming to rest in turn two. Otte walked away from the incident, but the car was done for the night.

The Roth Custom Farming IMCA Hobby Stocks took the green first, with Joel Magee (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) leading from wire to wire to gain his second win of the season. He would have to hold off two of the top drivers in the class to hoist the hardware, as Jordan Vosika (Gregory) charged from sixth to the runner up spot, Tony Fetterman (Elk Point) roared from his 10th starting spot to take third, with Matt Rezac (Tabor) settled for fourth and Travis Landauer (Albion, NE) came from the 11th spot to claim a top five finish. Heat races were won by Jordan Vosika, Joel Magee and Reese Powers (Avon)

It was more of the same in the Ponca Valley Seeds IMCA Northern Sport Mods, as Dudley Schroeder, Jr (Armour) picked up his eighth feature win out of 13 starts, coming from seventh starting spot to dominate the event. Raymond Bigge (Armour) had his best showing of the season, taking the second, Kevin McCarthy (Naper, NE) would hang on for third, with Matt Esterling (Sioux Falls) and Josh Pfeifer (St. Paul, NE) rounding out the top five. Heat races were won by Josh Pfiefer and Matt Esterling.

Taylor Brown (Yankton) saw the checkered flag first for the fifth time in 2021 in the Payer Livestock IMCA Sport Compacts. Brown's brother Conner Brown (Yankton) would finish runner up and Aaron "Bear" Wilson (Armour) completed the top three. Conner Brown won the heat race.

Just a week before the big money being up for grabs next week in the Mark's Machinery IMCA Stock Cars, two of the locals put on quite a show in the "A" main. Joey Jaton (Wagner) took the green from the outside of the front row, getting by Paul Wenzlaff (Yankton) to assume the point. While he had a relatively comfortable lead early, that would slowly evaporate into a classic battle with Joel Namminga (Avon). Namminga began his quest from the fifth starting spot and by the end of lap 10, Namminga was close to occupying Jaton's trunk. The two veterans waged one of the best battles of 2021, with Jaton hanging on for his first official victory of the season. Namminga was right behind Jaton to settle for second, with points leader and 2021 IMCA Stock Car track champion Brady Wenzlaff (Yankton) finishing third. Wenzlaff has had a tremendous season and has wrapped up the track championship in 2021, with five wins and 12 top five finishes so far. Pearce Vander Pol (Geddes) and Paul Wenzlaff completed the top five respectively, with heat races won by Joel Namminga and Pearce Vander Pol.

The CHS / Farmer's Alliance Late Models saw Kyle Pecena (O'Neill, NE) rocket out to the lead in his heat race and he carried over his performance in the main event, but after crossing the finish line first in the "A", his car did not pass postrace inspection, forcing his disqualification. The bad luck of Pecena was the good luck of former champion Jared Hoerle (Chambers, NE), who was awarded the victory. Mike Babcock (Creighton, NE) would finish third, with Doug Tomka (Stanton, NE) placing third, Shawn Sucha (Orchard, NE) in fourth and Terry McCarthy (Springview, NE) rounding out the top five. Kyle Pecena won the heat race.

Finally, in the DK Flooring and Customs IMCA Racesaver sprint cars, it was a battle of attrition, as this event was marred by two red flag accidents. Melee number one happened in turn three, as Gary McCarthy (Platte) and Dennis Englehaupt (Page, NE) would go for wild rides, causing both drivers to end up on their sides. Robert Dvorak (Stuart, NE) would be involved in the incident as well, all three drivers were okay, but all three had to retire from the event with significant damage to their cars. One of Englehaupt's teammates would be involved in accident number two, as point leader Danny Nekolite (O'Neill, NE) went for a wild ride, getting together with Daniel Frickel (Atkinson, NE). Nekolite would have to retire from the event with too much damage to the car, but Frickel would be able to continue. Once the green waved again, Josh Sterrett (Huron) held off a fierce charge through the field from Trefer Waller (O'Neill, NE). Waller started his march from the 11th position, keeping out of trouble during the event and putting major pressure on the "Fair City" pilot. Sterrett picked up his first victory of the season in just his second start at the speedway. With Waller gaining fourth and Nekolite retiring early, he closed the gap in the points race to just four with one race remaining. Daniel Frickel grabbed a top three finish, with Jared Jansen (Parker) and Tony Drueke (Naper, NE) rounding out the top five. Heat races were won by Daniel Frickel and Dennis Englehaput. Waller also was able to pick up $50 in bonus money for being the Turp's Automotive "Hard Charger" for the night, advancing 10 spots in the feature.

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

That sets up Season Championship night at Wagner Speedway, Friday, August 27th, presented by Midtowne Sinclair of Wagner and Gerstner Oil Company of Yankton. All six classes will have their champions crowned and a major purse increase for the IMCA Stock Cars. The format will be a regular IMCA points race, but the purse has increased by over $3000. This feature will be $999 to win and $200 to start the 20-car field. More details on this event will be coming during the week of the event.