Alex Eisen/MDN IMCA Modified drivers Jason Wolla (27W) and Marcus Tomlinson (5T) race side-by-side in heat race Sunday evening at Nodak Speedway.

Every triumph and every lapse of concentration are magnified in the final races of the season. Under the microscope, drivers strapped in for the second to last weekend of Magic City Dirt Series racing at Nodak Speedway.

The penultimate showdown in Minot delivered plenty of drama.

Three of the weekly IMCA classes competed — modifieds, hobby stocks and stock cars — plus the non-winged sprint cars returned for another special appearance. Race recaps are below.

IMCA Modifieds

State and track points leader Jason Wolla started 10th out of 13 cars in the main feature and was forced to work his way through the crowd to get to the front.

Wolla did the same thing in his heat race and took second — unable to track down Marcus Tomlinson in eight quick laps.

Both Wolla and Tomlinson had to avoid spinning pole-sitter Steven Seibel on the second lap of the main feature. Wolla even made a quick trip to the hot pit to get his car checked out after making slight contact. He remained in the race and continued his climb through the pack.

Up front, Wayne Johnson built up a sizable gap over John Flory and the rest of the chasers.

Wolla passed Tomlinson for fifth place with 14 laps remaining. Three laps later, Wolla was nudged and pushed up the track by Drew Christianson.

The two tangled again two laps later to bring out a caution with Wolla facing the wrong way on the track. Christianson was charged with the yellow flag, and Wolla went to the hot pit again, which forced him to the back of the field as well.

Tempers flaring, Wolla and Christianson traded more paint with a few more aggressive bumps in the cool-down laps waiting for the green flag. Race officials deemed Wolla started the excessive bumping and showed him the black flag, disqualifying him from the race.

In protest and out of anger, Wolla performed a burnout on the front stretch before leaving the track.

Wolla not only lost a chunk of points in pursuit of a track title he basically had wrapped up coming into Sunday (leading by 21 points), there is a possibility his end of race antics could land him a suspension and not allow him to race Championship Night next weekend.

If that is the case, then Wolla will lose his track title this season.

Back to the racing on Sunday, Johnson avoided all the drama to claim his first feature win at Nodak Speedway this season. He beat out Flory and Zach Dockter. Robert Hellebust settled for fourth place, but he will be the driver to beat next week for the track title if Wolla isn’t in attendance.

IMCA Hobby Stocks

Starting next to each other on row No. 4 of the main feature were the two contenders fighting for the track title this season: Caden Appelt (points leader) and Andrew Bertsch (one point back).

The high groove was the place to be as Appelt made quick work on the top side to take the lead after only two laps.

Shawn Green brought Appelt back to the pack by bringing out the first caution with nine laps remaining.

Bertsch used the restart to get around Alex Tvedt and then got into a multi-lap battle with Tim Anderson to take second place behind Appelt.

With two laps left, Bertsch went for a slide-job pass on Anderson and went off the track on the exit of corner No. 2. The risky move ended up costing Bertsch a top-five finish and perhaps his chance at the track title.

Bertsch slipped back to finish in sixth while Appelt rode away to take his fifth feature victory of the season at Nodak Speedway.

Anderson, Tvedt, Brad King and Brock Beeter rounded out the top five in front of Bertsch.

There was also a rare Canadian appearance at Nodak Speedway for this season with the return of Stoughton, Saskatchewan, native Beth Ann Goudy. She made the trip across the COVID-19 restricted border to return to school and found the time to get back in her race car.

IMCA Stock Cars

Joren Boyce jumped out to an early lead but was constantly being hunted down by Dalton Flory. The Williston native passed Mike Swallers and Tyler Ashley to move into second place with 13 laps left.

Flory got under Boyce six laps later to take the lead.

However, Rob Stenvold spun out in the middle of turns No. 3 and No. 4 to reset Boyce in front of Flory. Points leader Travis Hagen joined the party by passing Ashley for third place off the restart.

Flory completed a slide-job pass, with Boyce going for the crossover move, to take the lead in the final laps. Luckily, for Flory, another caution with two laps left didn’t come soon enough to put Boyce back in the lead.

After a decent restart, Flory took the checkered flag for his first feature win of the season at Nodak Speedway. Boyce followed in for second and Hagen slotted into third.

Heat winner Bob Fuegmann allowed Will Scheresky to use his car in the feature race to try and keep up in the points race with Hagen. Despite the friendly gesture, Scheresky finished ninth and lost more ground to Hagen with one race to go.

Non-Winged Sprint Cars

Fresh off a win at Devils Lake Speedway on Saturday night, Dusty Lawson returned to his home track in Minot on Sunday and attempted to continue his run of domination.

Lawson got around Zach Hultstrand on the high side halfway through his heat race to seal that win but drew starting spot No. 6 for the feature.

That proved too far back for him to be a factor for the win. He ended up finishing where he started: sixth.

Pole-sitter Joel Larson lost his initial lead to Hultstrand with 14 laps left.

Brandon Palm harassed Hultstrand over the final 10 laps but couldn’t find the passing lane needed to take the lead.

Hultstrand, out of Bismarck, picked up his first feature win of the season after winning a heat race at Devils Lake Speedway last week.

Next Sunday is Championship Night at Nodak Speedway. Heat races will begin at 7 p.m. with all five of the weekly classes battling for track titles.

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