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Captivating racing on Championship Night at Nodak Speedway

IMCA Hobby Stocks, Andrew Bertsch. Alex Eisen/MDN

The 2020 season at Nodak Speedway has been anything but traditional. From not knowing if a season would even be possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic to racing 14 weeks straight, the summer-long journey has been a wild ride.

So, with that in mind, it was only right that this unusual season would deliver one of the most memorable Championship Nights ever seen at Nodak Speedway.

Given how close the point standings were going into Sunday night with multiple drivers in each weekly class in contention for a track title, there was a possibility that something historic was in the works.

However, nobody could have predicted the pandemonium that ensued. Race recaps can be found below. All results remain unofficial.

IMCA Modifieds

IMCA Sport Mods, Robby Rosselli. Alex Eisen/MDN

Four drivers entered the evening with a shot at the track title after Jason Wolla was disqualified last week and lost his huge points lead. Wolla was a no-show on Championship Night.

Robert Hellebust took over the points lead with a slim advantage over Marcus Tomlinson (three points back), Wayne Johnson (four points back) and Drew Christianson (six points back).

In the final feature of the night, Johnson took the race lead away from Jerad Thelen halfway through the 25-lap race. Meanwhile, Hellebust was stuck riding around seventh place.

Hellebust made a bold pass to get around John Flory and Drew Christianson with under five laps to go to crack the top 5 and get closer to regaining the virtual points lead.

Christianson crashed with three laps left to bring out the only caution in the race — exactly what Johnson didn’t want to see.

IMCA Sport Compacts, Christopher Zenz. Alex Eisen/MDN

Coming to the restart with Johnson in first and Hellebust in fifth, the two were tied in the season point standings. The first tiebreaker is feature wins on the season.

Johnson held on to beat Travis Hagen and win his second feature race of the season, topping Hellebust’s one win at Nodak Speedway this year. But, Hellebust drove his way into third place over the final three laps to narrowly eke out the track title by two points.

Marcus Tomlinson settled for fifth on Sunday and third in the point standings.

IMCA Sport Mods

The tiebreaker rule first surfaced with the IMCA Sport Mods. In an unbelievable turn of events, Robby Rosselli made up a four-point deficit on Sunday to tie Chad Strachen for the points lead. Rosselli won the tiebreaker with two feature wins.

IMCA Stock Cars, Mike Hagen. Alex Eisen/MDN

Strachen was caught up in a five-car crash with 16 laps left to cause a slight scare. Strachen kept his place inside the top 5.

Rosselli rode around in the third place and watched the battle for the win unfold between Erik Laudenschlager and Kelly Henderson. Laudenschlager was one of the first drivers across any of the classes to get the bottom groove working, and that adjustment got him to victory lane. Henderson kept second and Rosselli stayed in third.

Strachen, however, lost spots to Brady Bjella, Logan Schmitz and Jeff Hooker over the last few laps to finish seventh. The late slip-up cost him exactly the number of points Rosselli needed to finish level with him. And the track title for Strachen was lost on the tiebreaker.

Rosselli avenged his runner-up finish to Laudenschlager in the season point standings from a season ago.

IMCA Hobby Stocks

IMCA Modifieds, Robert Hellebust. Alex Eisen/MDN

The IMCA Hobby Stocks kicked off the feature races on Sunday with a frightful sight that lead to a lengthy red flag.

Caden Appelt, the points leader, was in a vicious crash two laps into the main feature. Appelt went high to avoid a spin car and went over the banking in corner No. 2.

Appelt’s No. 70 machine flipped roughly 10 times in a scary incident. When the car finally came to a stop, Appelt got help climbing out of the car and was taken to the hospital via an ambulance to get x-rays and treatment.

The devastating crash allowed Andrew Bertsch to take over the points lead and eventually claim the track title. He came into the race six points behind Appelt, who won the most feature races at Nodak Speedway this season with five.

Alan Bertsch held off Andrew Bertsch and Brad King to win his first feature race this season.

IMCA Stock Cars

The points leader coming into Sunday night in the IMCA Stocks Cars, Mike Hagen, also failed to finish his feature race. Hagen, however, had some luck on his side.

At first, everything was going Hagen’s way with Will Scheresky and Brett Woznicki caught in a crash with 18 laps remaining. Both Scheresky and Woznicki entered the evening 10 points behind Hagen in the point standings, tied for second place.

Both cars got torn up. Scheresky suffered a flat, and Woznicki had his crew rip the hood off his car. Yet, it was Hagen’s car that stopped working with 11 laps left.

Hagen pulled off the track and settled for 14th place.

Woznicki took advantage and found another gear in his quest to get to the front. Needing to make up 11 positions because Hagen held the tiebreaker, Woznicki finished fourth and made up 10 spots. Another tie.

Hagen, despite not finishing the race, collected the track title.

Dalton Flory won the race ahead of Joe Flory and Jake Nelson.

IMCA Sport Compacts

Larry King and Christopher Zenz went head-to-head in a mesmerizing battle for the feature win.

Points leader Christopher Zenz could have backed off and avoided any possibility of losing his track title to his father Greg Zenz with a crash or mechanical problems. But, Christopher Zenz wanted the double: the track title and the Championship Night feature win.

Larry King blocked everything Christopher Zenz tried until the final lap. Zenz went high and found enough momentum to pull even with King coming to the checkered flag.

Side-by-side coming to the line, Zenz barely nipped King in a classic photo finish. A picturesque moment to encapsulate a championship.

Up Next

There is one more weekend of racing at Nodak Speedway to close out the 2020 season. Prize money is at stake across three days of Motor Magic competition. The annual event will run from Sept. 4-6 with the green flag dropping at 7 p.m. on Friday and then 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.

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