---

2008 Fall Classic Race Report

Alexandria, Mn (October 3rd-4th, 2008) - Zach Johnson put on a cap on his 2008 WISSOTA Late Model National Championship by winning the 6th Annual Viking Fall Classic held at Viking Speedway in Alexandria, Mn. Pat Doar charged from mid-pack to garner his first ever Fall Classic trophy in the WISSOTA Modifieds while Don Shaw picked up his third straight win in the WISSOTA Super Stock division. Perhaps the most impressive run of the weekend was turned in by Jamestown, ND driver Ryan Mikkelson who scored the win in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified division. Cory Rosen put an exclamation point on another great season by winning the WISSOTA Street Stock finale. 263 race teams participated in the year end spectacular with drivers and fans showing up from all over WISSOTA country, for one of the last sanctioned events of the season. Two solid days of Amsoil Dirt Track Series action was seen by the aforementioned spectators and drivers.

With a whopping 263 race teams packing the pits, many thought some of the heat race action would have to be pushed off to Saturday afternoon. They were wrong, however, as each division was able to complete the heat races during the 4 hours of race time slated for Friday night. The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds got the program underway. The 68 cars in attendance were divided into seven heat races with Matt Weisman, Brian Haben, Josh Thoennes, Dusty Bitzan, Ryan Mikkelson, Randy Klein and Brock Gronwold all picking up victories. Other drivers to qualify for the WISSOTA Midwest Modified A-main through the heat races included: Brendan Blascyk, Wes Hines, Cale Arneson, Andy Jones, Brandon Nelson, Jeremy Kerzman and Travis Saurer. Saturday's installment of the Fall Classic would feature three B-mains with the top three from each transferring on to Saturday night's main event.

The WISSOTA Street Stock division boasted 52 cars with heat race wins going to Cory Rosen, Justin Pogones, Henry Peters, Cory Tammen, Jim Williams and Scott Paulson. Other drivers to qualifying for the main event through the heat races included: Justin Vogel, James Tandeski, Devin Neske, Jason Babcock, Cory Crapser, Tyler Lambert, Rusty Kollman, Levi Babcock, Travis Berends, Kris Peterson, Shawn Wageman and Mike Jans. Two WISSOTA Street Stock B-mains were scheduled for Saturday with the top three in each putting on their dancing shoes for Saturday night's feature event.

Five WISSOTA Super Stock heat races were held during Friday night's qualifying action. The 50 car field was divided into five 10-car qualifying events with Jason Vejtruba, Todd Carter, Corky Thomas, Rick Kobs and JB Stortz all reigning victorious in heat race action. Don Shaw, Jon Stepan, Dave Mass, Mike Peterson, Roger Host, Jeff Flaten, Tim Johnson, Matt Sparby, Jim Gullikson and Shawn Nolan were all successful in qualifying for Saturday night's main event as well through heat race action held on Friday night. The top two in each of Saturday's twin B-mains would transfer on to Saturday night's A-main feature event for the WISSOTA Super Stocks.

A loaded field of 58 Modifieds took to the speedway next. Heat race wins were collected by Scott Gilbertson, Keith Tourville, Ron Jones, Jason Thoennes, Craig Thatcher and Joey Jensen. Second place finishes in Friday night's heat race action were collected by Terry Engebretson, Pat Doar, Scott Tofte, Jay Richardson, Danny Bayer and Dale Mathison. A third place finish would too garner a driver a spot in Saturday night's main event. The final six drivers to qualify through the heat races included: JJ Schuelke, Shane Sabraski, Dennis Bitzan, Scot Danzeisen, Randy Tarno and Kent Wilms. Two large B-mains were scheduled for Saturday afternoon with the top two finishers from each qualifying them self for Saturday night's $3,000 to win main event.

The WISSOTA Late Models boasted a nice car count of 35. Those 35 drivers were split into four heat races with Dave Tyrchniewicz, Shaun Peterson, Don Shaw and Zach Johnson all garnering heat race victories. The top five drivers in each heat race would qualify for Saturday's $4,000 to win main event. These drivers included: Jeff Wildung, Ricky Weiss, Blaine Doppler, Scott Greer, Shawn Kirwin, Brad Seng, Joel Cryderman, Dave Zimmerman, Jeff Hinkemeyer, Pat Doar, Mike Balcaen, Rick Schroeder, Danny Bayer, Ryan Corbett, Matt Aukland, Brady Johanneck.

With all the heat race action in the books, Saturday's portion of the Fall Classic got underway at 3:00 p.m. The first three drivers to lock themselves into Saturday night's A-main were WISSOTA Midwest Modified pilots Jason Hoffman, Josh "Buzz" Muzik and Shane Sabraski. The 2nd WISSOTA Midwest Modified B-main seen Ron Saurer, Ryan Restad and Kyle Koehntop sneak their way into the main event by running 1-2-3 in the second consi. The 3rd and final consi was collected by Korey Krafthefer. Krafthefer was followed to the line by Modified legend Ron Jones and Pete Loecken. Marshal Tofte would receive the provisional to set the lineup for Saturday night's $1,000 to win main event.

The first of two WISSOTA Street Stock B-mains was held next with Atwater, Mn driver Ryan Buer scoring the victory. Buer was followed to the line by a very game Scott Walker and third place finishing Chuck Olson. The 2nd and final B-main was collected by Luck, WI driver Chanda Fjorden-Nord. Chanda reigned victorious in B-main number two followed to the line by fellow transfers Mark Blom and Roger Christiansen.

Speedway regulars Larry Lund and Dominic Baker transfered through B-main number one for the WISSOTA Super Stocks while Derek Lemke picked up the win in the second. Canadian driver Leo Feeleus picked up the 2nd and final transfer spot in B-main two with a last lap, last corner pass on Eric Thiesse and Paul Veert.

The WISSOTA Modified B-mains were dominated by Jamestown, ND veteran John Corell and Elk River, Mn mudslinger Trent Follmer. Brad Loveday and Don Eischens each garnered transfer spots as well with Jamie Lemke picking up the champions provisional setting Saturday night's A-main field.

The WISSOTA Late Model division only had one B-main qualifier which was dominated by 2007 Viking Fall Classic Champion Lance Matthees. Matthees took the lead from the get go and proceeded to check out on the field in a very short time. Dave Mass, Tom Corcoran and Joey Jensen each garnered transfer spots as well setting Saturday nights Late Model A-main.

With all heat races, qualifiers and tributes in the books, the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were first to get the call. Young drivers Brian Haben and Ryan Mikkelson shared the front row starting duties as head flagman Mike Commerford dropped the green. Mikkelson charged his Elite Chassis machine into turn one taking the lead as the field spread out down the backstretch. On lap three, however, Haben suffered a mechanical breakdown which caused a chain reaction sending Cale Arneson into a series of rolls on the front stretch. Arneson and Kyle Koehntop were unable to continue. Order was restored and Mikkelson once again showed the front runners to the green. While Mikkelson stretched his advantage out front, Josh Thoennes and Brock Gronwold waged a great battle for the second spot. Twentieth starter Ron Jones moved up eleven positions in the first seven laps finding himself in ninth while Mikkelson still lead out front. Gronwold worked to the inside and also to the outside of Thoennes but was unable to take the spot for the time being. Thirteenth starter Travis Saurer and seventeenth starter Korey Krafthefer began to work their way through the field as the cross flags showed signaling there was 12 laps in the books. Yellow flags hampered the middle of the event before order was restored and Thoennes and Gronwold ignited their memorable battle once again. Saurer and Krafthefer each entered the top five with four laps remaining while Jones moved up to seventh when the final checkered flags waved. Thoennes was able to hold off Gronwold in the end for the second spot while Mikkelson cruised on to his first ever Viking Speedway victory. Out front it was Mikkelson scoring the win ahead Thoennes, Gronwold, Saurer and Krafthefer. Jones picked up the hard charger award starting 20th and finishing 7th.

Two of the best in the business in Cory Tammen and Cory Rosen were aligned on the front row for the 25-car WISSOTA Street Stock main event. Rosen beat Tammen to turn one and grabbed the lead as the field exited turn two. Rosen kept his momentum up on the high side and was scored the leader at the conclusion of the first lap. Tammen settled into the second spot while eighth starter Shawn Wageman cracked the top five early on. Near the midway point of the race, the yellow flag waved for an incident in turn two. During that time, second place runner Cory Tammen headed pit side to change a flat tire. That would now hand the second place spot to Wageman, who was very fast near the midway point of the race. Back in traffic, Tyler Lambert and Mark Blom began picking their competitors off one by one. Lambert, who started the event in 16th, cracked the top five with six to go while Blom moved to fifth from his 22nd starting position. Rosen continued to work the high line with five laps still up on the board while Wageman followed closely. Babcock, Lambert and Blom battled for the third spot while Rosen and Wageman began to distance themselves from the pack. On the final lap, Rosen jumped the cushion in turn three which allowed Wageman to work to the inside off of turn four. When the two front runners crossed the line, it was Rosen taking the victory by a half of a car length. Fourteenth starter, Babcock, finished third ahead of the hard charging duo of Lambert and Blom. Blom was the hard charger of the event moving up 17 positions in 20 laps.

Ham Lake, Mn driver Don Shaw took the lead from the outside of row one during opening lap action in the WISSOTA Late Model division. Shaw immediately stretched his advantage out front while Jeff Wildung quickly moved his way forward from his third starting spot. Pole-sitter Danny Bayer remained strong early on before fading back to the seventh spot five laps in. Two drivers who were more than apparently on the move were Joel Cryderman and Lance Matthees. Cryderman, who started the event in the sixteenth spot, moved up eight positions in the first twelve laps finding himself in the eighth position. Matthees, who started twenty-first, cracked the top ten, fifteen laps into the event. Shaw continued to lead out front while the lap cars started to become part of the equation. Eighth starter Zach Johnson moved by Wildung for the second spot on lap twenty-one before tracking down Shaw for the lead with fourteen laps remaining. Shaw rode the high side with Johnson in the ditch. The two remained side by side for the better part of the five laps before Johnson took the lead off of turn four. Cryderman and Mathees cracked the top five with six laps remaining but were unable to make anymore progress in the final laps. Wildung closed up on the backside of Shaw for the second spot with three laps to go and was able to overtake Don using the high groove in turn two. In the end, however, it was Johnson picking up the biggest win of his young career. Wildung had another great run in the second spot ahead of Shaw, Cryderman and Matthees. Matthees moved up 16 spots during the 40-lap affair garnering the hard charger award in the process.

Joey Jensen took the lead on the opening lap of the WISSOTA Modified finale. Jensen held the lead early on while the action was hot and heavy behind. Sixth starter Ron Jones looked as if he might be the car to beat early on when he moved into second on lap seven. Fifteenth starter Scot Danzeisen looked very impressive with 22 laps still up on the board as he moved into seventh just eight laps into the event. Jensen still held the lead on lap twelve as Pat Doar and Craig Thatcher were now locked into a battle for the second spot. Danny Bayer moved into the top five from his eleventh starting spot on lap seventeen and looked as if he might spoil the party. Doar, however, found the high side of the speedway to his liking as he pedaled by Jensen for the top spot with ten laps remaining. A late restart would put Thatcher and Jensen next to each other behind Doar for the final time. As the field entered turn one, Thatcher was able to work his way past Jensen for the second spot while Doar continued to pound the high side of the speedway. JJ Schuelke and Jason Thoennes had a great battle going for the sixth spot with Schuelke eventually grabbing the spot in the end. Schuelke ran very well moving up eleven positions during the duration of the A-main. Danzeisen continued to chip away at the field, and with two laps remaining was able to dispose of Jensen for the third spot. Thatcher tried everything to reel in Doar, but in the end it was Pat taking his first ever WISSOTA Modified win at Viking. Doar was joined in the star studded top five by Thatcher, Danzeisen, Jensen and Bayer. Don Eischens picked up the hard charger award, starting 22nd and finishing 8th.

The final event of the 2008 season belonged to the WISSOTA Super Stocks. Tim Johnson stoled the lead from Corky Thomas early on and was scored the leader at the conclusion of the first lap. Johnson held the lead until lap five when Don Shaw blasted by on the extreme high side of the speedway. With the track sporting a very racy surface, many drivers began to move forward. Myriad of yellow flags halted action before Shaw and Johnson began to get after it once again for the point. Shaw continued to run the high side while Johnson diamonded the corners in attempt to overtake Shaw. Johnson was able to pull even on more than one occasion, but was unable to overtake Shaw out front. Shawn Nolan made a hard charger from deep in the field. With four laps remaining, Shawn found himself in a great battle with Dave Mass for the fourth spot. Nolan actually overtook Mass for a short time, before Dave worked back to the inside taking the position in the end. Deer Park, WI native Rick Kobs looked very strong during Saturday night's A-main as well finishing third in his Fegers Super Stock mount. For the third time in his career, and third year in a row, Don Shaw picked up the Fall Classic win in the Super Stock division. Shaw was joined in the top five by Johnson, Kobs, Mass and Nolan. Nolan picked up the hard charger award starting 20th and finishing 5th.

FYE Motorsports owner Chris Stepan and all the staff at Viking Speedway would like to thank all the fans, drivers, pit crew members and sponsors that made the 6th Annual Viking Fall Classic a success. With the help of all you great people, an event of this magnitude would not be possible. Stay tuned to www.fyemotorsports.com for dates of next year's FYE events. We hope to see you all back here next year.

SUMMARY:

WISSOTA Late Models:
Feature- Zach Johnson, Jeff Wildung, Don Shaw, Joel Cryderman, Lance Matthees, Dave Tyrchniewicz, Jeff Hinkemeyer, Mike Balcaen, Brad Seng, Dave Zimmerman, Pat Doar, Pat Doar, Dave Mass, Scott Greer, Tom Corcoran, Shaun Peterson, Blaine Doppler, Ricky Weiss, Danny Bayer, Rick Schroeder, Shawn Kirwin, Ryan Corbett, Joey Jensen, Rick Nelson, Matt Aukland, Brady Johanneck
Heat 1- Tyrchniewicz, Wildung, Weiss, Doppler, Greer, Eilers, Bruns, Dyrdahl, Jensen
Heat 2- Peterson, Kirwin, Seng, Cryderman, Zimmerman, Matthees, Corcoran, Nelson, Lehn
Heat 3- Shaw, Hinkemeyer, Doar, Balcaen, Schroeder, Mass, Mueller, Jegtvig, Chris Lehn
Heat 4- Z. Johnson, Bayer, Corbett, Aukland, Johanneck, Brian Diede, Rick Nelson, Williamson
B-main- Matthees, Mass, Corcoran, Jensen, Mueller

WISSOTA Modifieds:
Feature- Pat Doar, Craig Thatcher, Scot Danzeisen, Joey Jensen, Danny Bayer, JJ Schuelke, Jason Thoennes, Don Eischens, Dennis Bitzan, Ron Jones, Dale Mathison, Rick Jacobson, John Corell, Jay McDonald, Keith Tourville, Shane Sabraski, Jay Richardson, Kent Wilms, Terry Engebretson, Trent Follmer, Scott Gilbertson, Randy Tarno, Scott Tofte, Jamie Lemke, Brad Loveday
Heat 1- Scott Gilbertson, Engebretson, Schuelke, Lemke, Corell, Edgington, Nayes, Aukland, Cain, Matt Gilbertson
Heat 2- Tourville, Doar, Sabraski, Follmer, Eischens, J. Trautner, Froehlich, Lofthus, Blue, Thiesse
Heat 3- Jones, Tofte, Bitzan, Loveday, Duval, Miskowic, Arneson, Laske, Nystrom, Bryce Bjerke
Heat 4- Thoennes, Richardson, Danzeisen, Romdalvik, McDonald, Sexton, Thomas, M. Trautner, Wildman, Frollik
Heat 5- Thatcher, Bayer, Tarno, Mike Storck, Jegtvig, Mike Anderson, Williamson, Blood, Olafson
Heat 6- Jensen, Mathison, Wilms, Jacobson, Bruns, Alexander, Schroeder, Arne Anderson, Gulbrandson
B-main 1- Corell, Loveday, Lemke, Edgington, Jegtvig, Cain, Duval, Gilbertson, Storck, Wildman
B-main 2- Follmer, Eischens, Jacobson, Trautner, Romdalvik, Gulbrandson, Bruns, Sexton, Thomas, Schroeder

WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature- Don Shaw, Tim Johnson, Rick Kobs, Dave Mass, Shawn Nolan, Todd Carter, Larry Lund, Jon Stepan, Cory Tammen, Ed Rolfson, JB Stortz, Dominic Baker, Mike Peterson, Jason Vejtruba, Jeff Flaten, Cal Rossner, Jim Gullikson, Jim Urseth, Corky Thomas, Ron Host, Derrick Lemke, Leo Feeleus, Matt Sparby, Zach Schultz, Scott Brown
Heat 1- Vejtruba, Shaw, Stepan, Schultz, Baker, Collins, Shipley, Eischens, Thiesse, Lancaster
Heat 2- Carter, Mass, Peterson, Rolfson, Lemke, Gangl, Wilson, Johnson, Miller, Host
Heat 3- Thomas, Roger Host, Flaten, Tammen, Lund, Hauer, Sauby, Brown, Yeats, Feeleus
Heat 4- Kobs, Tim Johnson, Sparby, Rossner, Hellerman, Veert, Jerve, Lee, Kluver, Lawrence
Heat 5- Stortz, Gullikson, Nolan, Urseth, Lindell, Pellersels, Cleveland, Thieschafer, Read, Balcaen
B-main 1- Lund, Baker, Gangl, Wilson, Eischens
B-main 2- Lemke, Feeleus, Thiesse, Balcaen, Collins

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
Feature- Ryan Mikkelson, Josh Thoennes, Brock Gronwold, Travis Saurer, Korey Krafthefer, Matt Weisman, Ron Jones, Ron Saurer, Jason Hoffman, Shane Sabraski, Jeremy Kerzman, Ryan Restad, Marshal Tofte, Brandon Nelson, Pete Loecken, Wes Hines, Brendan Blascyk, Dustin Bitzan, Josh Muzik, Andy Jones, Kyle Koehntop, Cale Arneson, Brian Haben, Randy Klein
Heat 1- Weisman, Blascyk, Vezina, Koehntop, Smith, Schultz, Zenner, Mensen, Kipka, Dowdell
Heat 2- Haben, Hines, R. Saurer, Jones, Kollman, Heinle, Sogge, Kuhnau, Menk, Hellerman
Heat 3- Thoennes, Arneson, Krafthefer, Hoffman, Thorstad, Loecken, Smith, Limoges, Brenny, Kyle Reents
Heat 4- Bitzan, Andy Jones, Muzik, Al Sadek, Krog, Ims, Merten, Bintz, Czech, Stall
Heat 5- Mikkelson, Nelson, Restad, Sniezek, Tofte, Olson, Pavlicek, Kuhlman, Greeley
Heat 6- Klein, Kerzman, Jumbeck, Hoium, VandeKamp, Schmidt, Vanderby, Deering
Heat 7- Gronwold, Saurer, Sabraski, Reents, Berg, Studanski, Swanson, Sparby, Anderson
B-main 1- Hoffman, Muzik, Sabraski, Kollman, Ims, Smith, Studanski, Czech, Limoges, Kuhnau
B-main 2- Ron Saurer, Restad, Koehntop, Thorstad, Hoium, Reents, Swanson, Olson, Greeley, Merten
B-main 3- Krafthefer, Jones, Loecken, VandeKamp, Mensen, Berg, Pavlicek, Jumbeck, Sniezek, Kuhlman

WISSOTA Street Stocks:
Feature- Cory Rosen, Shawn Wageman, Jason Babcock, Tyler Lambert, Mark Blom, Scott Paulson, Henry Peters, Devin Neske, Rusty Kollman, Kris Peterson, Cory Tammen, James Tandeski, Ryan Buer, Roger Christiansen, Chuck Olson, Levi Babcock, Cory Crapser, Scott Walker, Scott Horn, Chanda Fjorden-Nord, Justin Vogel, Mike Jans, Justin Pogones, Travis Berends, Jim Williams
Heat 1- Rosen, Vogel, Tandeski, Juven, McCain, Rhode, Johnson, Horn, Huston
Heat 2- Pogones, Neske, Babcock, Fjorden-Nord, Christiansen, Sorrell, Blumke, Blom, Kern
Heat 3- Peters, Crapser, Lambert, Buer, Olson, Sahli, Miskowic, Leininger, Burrows
Heat 4- Tammen, Kollman, Babcock, Goulet, Schmidt, Peterson, Wall, Jacobson, Severson
Heat 5- Williams, Berends, Kris Peterson, Bangsund, Walker, Laage, Berg, Becker
Heat 6- Paulson, Wageman, Jans, Winter, Swartz, Potter, Voigt, Forcier
B-main 1- Buer, Walker, Olson, Blumke, Juven, Burrows, Huston, Horn, Wall, Sahli
B-main 2- Fjorden-Nord, Blom, Christiansen, Miskowic, Potter, Goulet, Severson, Winter, Kern, Berg

---

Back to News