Adam Papin/MDN Travis Hagen, in the No. 14T car, tries to maneuver passed Scott Garner, in the No. 0 car, during the second stop of the Dakota Classic Modified Tour on Sunday night in Minot.

If Travis Hagen continues to race the way he is at the Dakota Classic Modified Tour, he may have to find a new nickname. Hagen, a Williston native who now lives in McGregor, goes by “The Dark Horse.” However, after two races and two A-feature runner-up finishes that have him sitting atop the Tour standings, fans might want to start calling him the favorite.

At the Playground of Power on Sunday night in Minot, Hagen found himself locked in a battle with one of the top Modified drivers in the country in Tom Berry Jr. Berry Jr. won every feature last year to claim the tour championship, with Hagen finishing second. After recording a did-not-finish (DNF) on opening night in Jamestown, Berry was eager to drive himself back into victory lane.

Hagen sat on pole after the frisbee draw, where he was joined in the front row by Berry.

Early on, it was all Hagen. He jumped out to a nearly two second lead over Berry in the opening laps. However, that sizable early lead proved costly, as Hagen found himself in heavy lap traffic that allowed Berry to pull even.

On turn three of lap 15 of the 30-lap feature, Berry seized his opportunity. With Hagen’s No. 14T car trapped behind the No. 0 car, driven by Scott Gartner, Berry dropped to the middle line and weaved through traffic to take the lead and ultimately the victory.

“Leading is hard when you have lap traffic like that,” said Berry. “I was just being patient, and I timed it out right to get by him. It was a matter of that corner for who was to win the race.”

“I was running the top and then the middle started to rubber up, so it got quicker, and I wasn’t aware of that as I was running right around the lip,” said Hagen after the race. “By the time I realized that he had passed, he went down there, and then I got in line behind him and ran right with him until the very end.”

Without a caution flag in the finale to pull the leaders back together, it proved a battle of who was the strongest overall driver, and Berry showed he could navigate the lap traffic just a little bit better.

“I was kind of bottled in behind the lap cars,” said Hagen. “I should have put the left rear lower to see if I was gripping down there, but I didn’t. I was riding the cushion at the time.”

Kody Schlopp and Tim Ward were third and fourth, respectively. Cody Laney finished fifth.

Local favorite Aaron Turnbull qualified in third. However, he had to switch out his No. 21 car for the 12J before the A-Feature, which sent him to the back of the field. Despite the relegation, he was able to move up to finish in 18th place.

Although he is still looking for his first tour feature win, Hagen is elated with how the week is going so far.

“I’m happy.” Hagen added, “We’ve definitely got the speed. He’s probably the fastest Mod in the country. IMCA, USMTS. You name it. It’s just fun to be in the conversation and running up front.”

After two nights of racing, the top ten in the Modified standings are as follows: 1. Travis Hagen (78 points), 2. Tim Ward (77), 3. Codey Laney (71), 4. Ricky Alvarado (69), 5. Kody Schlopp (67), 6. Drew Janssen (63), 7. Tom Berry Jr. (57), 8. Cole Czarneski (56), 9. Aaron Turnbull (55), 10. Kollin Hibdon (51).

Even with the return to victory lane, Berry won’t defend his tour title. He will be leaving after the Williston race to compete in the USMTS Mod Wars in Ogilvie, Minn.

In the stock car division, Minot’s Adam Goff looked to bounce back from a disappointing opening night in Jamestown, where mechanical issues plagued him in a 12th-place finish.

A win in the third heat sent Goff to the frisbee draw, where he drew the third position for the 25-lap A-feature.

The green flag saw most of the drivers attacking the top of the track, however, Goff took advantage of a wide-open bottom line to move up to second early on. However, using that open lane meant sacrificing some speed, and Goff soon found himself behind his rivals.

Goff did move up to the top, but he was unable to overtake leaders Trent Grager, Rob Van Mil and Austin Daae.

Ultimately, that would be how the four would finish, as Grager got a little bit of revenge for Van Mil edging him out the night before in Jamestown.

“I knew the top was going to be the place to be,” said Grager. “[Zachary] Madrid kind of slipped up a little bit. I lucked out and was able to get by him.”

The Sykeston native won the tour last year and now sits tied atop the IMCA Stock Car standings with Van Mil.

Goff’s top four finish moved him into the top ten in the Tour standings, where he sits 13 points back of Grager and Van Mill.

The top ten in the Stock Car standings are: 1. Trent Grager and Rod Van Mil (79 apiece), 3. Austin Daae (74), 4. Zachary Madrid (73), 5. Angel Munoz (72), 6. Jeremy Swanson (67), 7. Adam Goff (66), 8. Cole Czarneski (63), 9. Troy Heupel (62), 10. Jordan Zillmar (57).

Results from last night’s tour stop in Estevan were after press deadline. Tonight, the drivers will race at Williston Basin Speedway in Williston before heading to Dickinson on Wednesday. The champions in each division will be crowned Thursday night at the Dacotah Speedway in Mandan.