Allen Kent sympathized with Robert Hellebust following Sunday's IMCA Modifieds feature race at Nodak Speedway.
For the second consecutive week car damage ruined a lead for Hellebust and this time it allowed Minot's Kent to take the lead and pick up his second win of the season.
"You always like to race a guy 'til the end," Kent said. "I never like to see him get knocked out like that, but I'll take it. I still had to earn it after that."
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Daniel Allar/MDN
Minot’s Allen Kent (33) races in a preliminary heat Sunday at Nodak Speedway. Kent won his second IMCA Modifieds race of the season later in the evening.
Kent took the lead with eight laps remaining after Hellebust's door fell off onto the track. The Kenmare native was sent to the back of the field per track rules, which force a driver back if a piece of his or her car causes a caution.
Hellebust led for the first 17 laps, but his door gradually loosened after a dust-up earlier in the race. Last week, he totaled his top car.
"I've had this luck all year here," Hellebust said. "(I'll) be leading the race and something happens all the time. One of those years, I guess."
Fact Box
Unofficial results
IMCA Hobby Stocks
Heat 1: 1. Brandon Beeter, Minot; 2. Dave Swallers, Williston; 3. Doug Thompson, Minot.
Heat 2: 1. Dana Brandt, Minot; 2. Jason Olsen, Minot; 3. Keith Mattox, Ray.
Heat 3: 1. Kadi Vondal, Minot; 2. Gary Goudy Jr., Stoughton, Sask; 3. Scott Joern, Minot.
Feature: 1. Beeter; 2. Brandt; 3. Michael Vennes, Minot; 4. Eric Sinness, Williston; 5. Thompson.
IMCA Sport Modifieds
Heat 1: 1. Robbie Conway, Westhope; 2. Jordan Huettl, Minot; 3. Erik Laudenschlager, Minot.
Heat 2: 1. Jeff Hooker, Minot, 2. Ryan Wolla, Williston; 3. Jimmy Ness, Minot.
Feature: 1. Hooker; 2. Conway; 3. Huettl; 4. Tyler Modlin, Grand Forks.
IMCA Stocks
Heat 1: 1. Josh Wolla, Minot; 2. Bob Fuegmann, Minot; 3. Steven Pfeifer, Bowbells.
Heat 2: 1. Randy Conway, Minot; 2. Nathan Burke, Minot; 3. Randy Fyllesvold, Minot.
Heat 3: 1. Kelly Henderson, Minot; 2. Austin Daae, Estevan, Sask; 3. Robby Rosselli, Minot.
Feature: 1. Pfeifer; 2. Fyllesvold; 3. Burke; 4. Randy Conway, Minot; 5. Henderson.
IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1: 1. Robert Hellebust, Kenmare; 2. Spencer Wilson, Minot; 3. Marlyn Seidler, Underwood.
Heat 2: 1. Mike Hagen, Williston; 2. Joey Galloway, Emo, Ont; 3. Allen Kent, Minot.
Feature: 1. Allen Kent, Minot; 2. Wilson; 3. Ed Turnbull, Estevan, Sask; 4. John Flory, Williston; 5. Seidler.
Hellebust won his preliminary heat and his secondary car held up despite being rear-ended by Bowbells' Steven Pfeifer following the heat as the cars slowed to enter the infield for weigh-ins. Pfeifer was consequently disqualified from the feature and was one of two drivers to get eliminated for aggressive driving on a night when tempers flared throughout the four classes.
"(Pfeifer) said he didn't do it on purpose," Hellebust said. "He said he was going after the 75 car and didn't mean to hit me, but me and him had a run-in last week and it took us both out of the race and totaled my car.
"I don't really know. Me and him are good friends, but obviously on the track there is no friends."
Pfeifer won the IMCA Stocks feature by more than two seconds after building larger leads after nearly every restart. He took the lead with 13 laps remaining on a turn four move past Minot's Randy Conway. Randy Fyllesvold and Nathan Burke - both of Minot - took second and third, respectively.
Minot's Jeff Hooker won a wild feature in the IMCA Sport Modifieds series. Hooker was in the mix for the entire race and survived eight cautions and rough maneuvers from Minot's Justin Medler.
Hooker immediately took a lead from Medler on a restart with six laps remaining. Medler proceeded to bump Hooker twice before earning the black flag and disqualification.
"Apparently when the restart went, (Jordan) Huettl got into (Medler) a little bit and he assumed it was me," Hooker said. "Anybody who watches me race knows I don't race like that and cooler heads prevailed and we got the win."
Only four drivers of the 14-car field remained at the checkered flag. Hooker held off Westhope's Robbie Conway by less than a second and Minot's Huettl took third.
Hooker also won Friday night in Rugby.
In the IMCA Hobby Stocks feature, Minot's Brandon Beeter won for the second straight night and third straight Sunday. Beeter followed his win in Williston on Saturday with a dominant run at Nodak. Beeter led for the final 11 laps and survived four cautions to hold off Minot's Dana Brandt by half-a-car length. Michael Vennes, of Minot, finished third.
Beeter has four wins and a second-place finish in Minot this season.