For only the third time in Dacotah Speedway history, Dacotah Speedway hosted the first race of the season in the month of April. It was a rare beautiful Friday night for racing that saw 127 cars check in.
Dacotah Speedway’s future drivers kicked off the 2025 racing season. New for 2025, Slingshots joined the weekly running order and the youngsters did not disappoint. Charging through the field was young Landen Hallgren in a Slingshot he built himself. He quickly pulled away from second place Caiden Davenport and third place Easton Olson. Hailey Keller, who started 10th, quickly drove through the field but the battle on the track was for fifth place between Libby Keller and Jaeger Mahlen. As the laps wound down, Jaeger Mahlen grabbed the fifth position where he would finish ahead of Libby Keller. Hailey Keller finished fourth behind third place Easton Olson. Caiden Davenport finished second behind feature winner, Landen Hallgren.
When the Green flag waved in the Hobby Stock feature, Derrick Appert and Jeremy Engelhardt paced the field. Third place Trenton Kohler started to fade early, losing positions to Joseph Feist, Josh Roehrich and Kelly Hoerner. With only a few laps remaining, the battle for third was heating up. Back-to-back cautions with two laps to go reset the field. On the final restart, it was a three wide battle for second between Engelhardt, Roehrich and Feist. Contact between the drivers allowed Derrick Appert to pull away and pick up the victory. Joseph Feist finished second ahead of Jeremy Engelhardt and Josh Roehrich. Kelly Hoerner held off Barrett Herr and Ryker Vetter for fifth.
Pole sitter Brandon Anderson led early in the INEX Legends feature. Defending track champion, Donavin Wiest, wasted no time getting to the front. Wiest, who started twelfth, quickly raced his way into the second position. Wiest then set his sights on the leader, Anderson. As Anderson and Wiest raced for the lead, it allowed third place, Ty Olson, and fourth place, Preston Martin, to reel in the leaders. Using the highside of the race track, Olson and Martin made it a four car battle for the win. Olson slipped into the lead with seven laps to go but had his hands full with a speedy Martin. With three laps to go, Preston Martin grabbed the top spot and went on to win the feature victory. Ty Olson was forced to settle for second place ahead of Donavin Wiest and Brandon Anderson. Rounding out the top five was Gage Madler.
Adam Goff and Jeremy Engelhardt started on the front row of the IMCA Stock Car feature. Early cautions regrouped the field and allowed Shawn Volk to make it a three car battle. Using the highside of the track, Volk slipped into the lead. However, Volk had his hands full with a strong Andrew Jochim. The two drivers raced hard for the lead. With three laps to go, Jochim dove low under Volk and slid up into the lead with a killer slidejob. Andrew Jochim held off Shawn Volk for his first Dacotah Speedway victory. Brock Beeter finished third while Marlyn Seidler and Kalvin Kesselberg made a last race charge to the front to finish fourth and fifth respectively. In the final feature of the evening, Jason Wolla led the field to the green flag. Wolla quickly pulled away while it became a race for second place between Shawn Strand, Quentin Kinzley and Jeremy Keller. As the leaders started to catch slower traffic, it allowed Travis Hagen to catch the leaders. As the laps wound down, Hagen continued his climb to the front, passing Keller and Strand. Hagen and Kinzley battled for the second position. However, when the checkered flag waved, Quentin Kinzley held off Travis Hagen for second. Jeremy Keller finished fourth ahead of defending track champion, Shawn Strand. While “The Big Show” Jason Wolla led all 25 laps in dominating fashion to win the feature.
Racing resumes this Friday, May 2nd and Saturday, May 3rd for the Mandan Meltdown. Two complete shows for the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, INEX Legends, Hobby Stocks and Slingshots. Racing starts at 7:00pm both nights. Catch the action LIVE on www.dacotahspeedway.tv!