Sean Williams/MDN Chad Strachen from Minot in the No. 132 car and Brock Beeter from Minot in the No. 48 car took first and second place, respectively, during the 20-lap SportMod feature race on Sunday night.

It was another beautiful Sunday night at Nodak Speedway, as racing season in the Magic City is starting to find its footing after a delayed start.

With the temperature being in the mid 70s, a cloudy sky being present all afternoon, and not as much rain leading into race night, the four-group feature races could look a little bit different this time around with the track not being as wet.

Overall, the format on Sunday night was a little bit different as well, with there being a total of four features. The groups taking the track were SportMods, Stock Cars, Sport Compacts, and Modifieds.

Last week’s winners included Gabriel Deschamp from Bottineau in the SportMods, Will Scheresky from Max in the Stock Cars, Chrys Yost from Belflour in the Sport Compacts, and Travis Hagen from Williston in the Modifieds.

As a new week emerged, the small group of drivers aimed to continue building momentum at the Playground of Power, while the rest were looking to make their way to victory lane in Minot for the first time in 2023.

During the heat races, aside from track maintenance that had to put a brief pause on the action, it was a fairly smooth transition into the main feature races of the night. The stands were packed, and the fans were ready for the main events and another night filled with thrilling action.

Kicking off the festivities was the SportMod group and their 20-lap feature race. Chad Strachen from Minot in the No. 132 car and Darren Schatz from Williston in the No. 29 car took first place in the heat races before the final event.

Strachen, Schatz, and Darren Medler from Minot in the No. 74 car made up the top three as the green flag was waived. Just as the featured started, a yellow flag came up which made way for Medler to grab an early lead.

Bad luck took over, as Medler spun out just beyond corner three, moving him from first to the back of the pack with 16 laps to go. Nearing the halfway mark, corner three caused more problems as Dave Rivinius from Minot in the No. 35 car had to be towed off the track.

With 10 laps to go, Strachen remained in front with Brock Beeter from Minot in the No. 48 car, and Robby Rosselli from Minot in the No. 0 car rounding out the top three. Deschamp looked to make a push in the final few laps and made it up to third, but Beeter refused to let him move up beyond that.

In the end, Strachen held on to win in a race where he remained in front most of the way. Beeter took second place, while Schatz finished in third place.

Up next was the Sport Compact group, with their 12-lap feature race, the shortest one of the night. Couy Snyder from Mandan in the No. 02 car and Yost were neck and neck early on, until Yost went over the back straightaway with six laps to go.

Unfortunately for Snyder, he led most of the way but with three laps to go his car began smoking and had to be taken off the track for the rest of the race. A minor crash at the same time put a pause on the action with three laps to go, making way for an interesting finish.

Yost, Kyle Eklund from Sawyer in the No. 18W car, and Alex Thompson from Bismarck in the No. 16 car made up the top three once the green flag came back up.

Overcoming a few turns that put him over the track, Yost was able to hang on and post back-to-back wins in the Sport Compact group. Thompson took second place, while Brian Hughbanks in the No. 03 car took third place.

Taking the track next were the Stock Cars for a 20-lap feature race. With immediate drama, three cars went off the track at the end of corner two on the first lap. One of those was last week’s winner in Scheresky.

Not wanting to let his results from earlier put a damper on the night, Deschamp took the lead when the race resumed, with Joe Flory from Williston in the No. 20 car keeping it close in second. The two kept going at it with 10 laps to go.

With six laps to go coming off turn two, Flory finally got the lead he was looking for and built some separation heading into the final few laps. Flory held on to secure a spot in victory lane, with Deschamp taking second, and Adam Goff from Minot in the No. 30A car taking third place.

Putting a bow on another fun night at Nodak Speedway was the Modifieds and their 25-lap feature race. Dalton Flory from Williston in the No. 20F car and Jason Wolla from Ray in the No. 27W car went at it early on, with Wolla establishing the lead.

Making his way up from ninth was Wayne Johnson from Minot in the No. 4 car, as he posed as a threat to Wolla’s lead. As the midway point was nearing, Johnson, Terry Faul from Minot in the No. 75 TG car, and Tim Dignan from Kenmare in the No. 5D car were involved in a crash that held off the action temporarily.

Still holding the lead was Wolla, who now had Marcus Tomlinson from Turtle Lake in the No. 5T car and Hagen lurking as they moved into the final eight laps. Hagen made it extremely difficult on Wolla, but Wolla held on to take first place. Hagen took second place and Erik Laudenschlager from Minot in the No. 49 car took third place.

Nodak Speedway will be busy for the next action, as they will host Magic City Dirt series on Sunday, May 28 and then go for back-to-back nights with Topless Monday on May 29. Both race nights are scheduled to start at 6 p.m.