Early morning rain showers made for a super racy track on Friday, June 13th. Over 90 cars checked in for the Mandan Dirt Series.
The Slingshot feature kicked off the evening. We had 13 youngsters between the ages of 6-14 hit the track. Unfortunately, it was a rough start for these young racers as the feature started with two complete restarts. The drivers were warned the next caution would end the race early due to time limit. The youngsters got a full lap in before another caution slowed the pace. Officials declared Landen Hallgren the feature winner over second place Caiden Davenport. Sisters Libby Keller and Hailey Keller finished third and fourth while Jax Tooley finished a season best of fifth place.
Pole sitter Joseph Feist led early in the Hobby Stock feature. Feist started to pull away early as the battle for second between Nathan Mundahl and Ryker Vetter was heating up. Mundahl grabbed the second position as Vetter started to fade through the field, losing positions to Josh Roehrich, Seth Howe-Kellar and Bill Hultberg. As the checkered flag neared, Kelly Hoerner was a force to be wrecked with as he climbed through the field. Roehrich and Hoerner battled hard for second before Hoerner took the position with six laps to go. Hoerner cut into Feist’s lead but came up short at the finish line. Joseph Feist picked up his first victory of the season over Kelly Hoerner. Josh Roehrich finished third while Nathan Mundahl edged Bill Hultberg at the finish line for fourth place.
Bismarck’s Austin Wiest led early in the INEX Legend feature. The low line was the fast line around the ⅜ mile race track. Second place Bryce Barnhardt dove lower than Wiest and grabbed the lead on lap five. Points leader, Preston Martin, was inching his way closer to the lead passing Donavin Wiest for fifth and then Brandon Anderson for fourth. Martin used the highline to also pass Noah Madler for third and then Austin Wiest for second. The momentum from the highline allowed Martin to quickly catch Barnhard for the lead. However, Martin was fast in corners one and two but struggled in corners third and four. When the checkered flag waved, Bryce Barnhardt held off Preston Martin for his second feature victory of the season. Austin Wiest finished third ahead of Andy Bargmann and Noah Madler.
Dylan Herner and Dustin Frank led the field to the green flag in the IMCA Stock Car feature. While Herner and Frank raced side by side for the lead, it was four and five wide racing behind them for third place. Geoff Hellman, who started 10th, pushed the limits and put his race car in tight spots to grab third place and challenge for the lead. Hellman took the lead on lap six. The battle for second was heating up between Scott Gartner and Travis Ulmer. While racing hard for second, Ulmer blew it off the top of corner four and dropped through the field. Scott Gartner would finish second while points leader, Brock Beeter, held off Matt Dosch for third. Todd Carter would round out the top five while Geoff Hellman would cruise to his second victory of the season.
In the final feature of the night, pole sitter, Elijah Puckett, would lead early in the IMCA Modified feature. Spencer Wilson, who started third, quickly caught Puckett and passed him for the lead on lap four. Wilson pulled away from the field while it was a four car battle for third place between Crist Pittenger, Shawn Strand, Quentin Kinzley and Jeremy Keller. Keller would shuffle into the second position and set his sights on Puckett. Coming to the white flag, Jeremy Keller made a last lap pass to finish second ahead of Elijah Puckett. Shawn Strand finished fourth while Crist Pittenger finished fifth. Returning to victory lane for the first time since 2023 was Spencer Wilson who won in dominating fashion.
For complete racing results, go to https://www.myracepass.com/events/565395/races
Join us this Friday, June 20th for the Mandan Dirt Series presented by Acme Tools.