The Jamestown Speedway was back in action on Saturday, August 12th for Back to School Night presented by the University of Jamestown Football Team and Jimmie Booster Club. We have to thank our sponsors and supporters for donating backpacks and doing the 50/50 raffle for the race fans. The track was in great shape as it was smooth, fast, and the racing action was intense. We had some great battles throughout the field last night with several three and four-wide racing and even, five-wide racing during the features. The weather was beautiful, which kept the track fast and racy.
Overall, we had 119 cars in the pits to do battle!
Congratulations goes out to our feature winners and runner-ups:
Bombers/Pure Stocks - 20 Cars:
- Winner: Chris Rangeloff, Runner-Up: Travis Edinger
- Hard Charger: Joe Jacobson +11 (15th to 4th)
Chris Rangeloff was able to take the lead and had to hold off a hard-charging Travis Edinger during the race. The battle up front was intense as Travis Edinger was trying everything down low to get around Chris Rangeloff. Rangeloff held off all of the challenges to pick up his 2nd Jamestown Speedway win. Travis Edinger took home second, Jayden Michaelsohn got around Joe Jacobson at the line for 3rd as Joe Jacobson moved up 11 spots to finish 4th, and rookie Tripp Nelson rounding out the top 5.
INEX Legends - 32 Cars:
- Winner: Glenn Mitchell, Runner-Up: Ryan Erdahl
- Hard Charger: Brad Vanhouton +10 (26th to 16th)
A very good, competitive race for the INEX legends. Drivers from 5 states were lined up to do battle and it was an intense race throughout the field. Kody Machart led early as he held off challenges from Ryan Erdahl, Zander Compson, and Evan Hendrickson. A caution came out on lap 10 and on the restart, both Preston Martin, who started 12th, and Glenn Mitchell, who started 10th, started their charge to the front. Glenn took over the lead on lap 13 before a red flag came out for a wreck on the front straightaway where Lauren Partin from Peebles, Ohio, rolled. Lauren was ok after the incident. On the restart and over the remaining laps in the feature, Glenn held off a hard-charging Ryan Erdahl, who went low on the white flag lap to battle side-by-side with Glenn Mitchell. Glenn held on for the win with Ryan Erdahl taking home second, Preston Martin in third, Evan Hendrickson in fourth, and Zander Compson rounding out the top 5. We even had Kevin Harvick's son, Keelan Harvick, racing with us and he finished in 19th for the night. Thank you to all of the travelers for joining us and we hope you had a great time in Jamestown.
Wissota Midwest Modifieds - 21 Cars:
- Winner: Zach Reinke, Runner-Up: Lucas Rodin
- Hard Charger: Troy Nelson +8 (17th to 9th) & Zack Nord +8 (21st to 13th)
This was a great race for the win. Zach Reinke worked his way past Matt Duchscherer, Jay Sahr, and Tim Compson to take the early lead of the race. However, a hard-charging Lucas Rodin and Jaren Wibstad were working their way through the field. Zach Reinke was running the bottom of the track and Lucas Rodin went to the top side of the Speedway and caught Reinke. A clean, but hard-fought battle ensued up front as the leaders went through lapped traffic. Reinke held off Rodin through the final laps to pick up his second win in Jamestown and first one of the 2023 season. Lucas Rodin took home second, Jaren Wibstad in third, Scott Bintz in fourth, and Brennon Weight in fifth.
Wissota Street Stocks - 16 Cars:
- Winner: Geoff Hellman, Runner-Up: Dustin Erickson
- Hard Charger: Billie Christ +12 (16th to 4th)
This was a fast and quick race. The Wissota Street Stocks went caution free and ran all 20 laps in about 6 minutes. The race had a lot of great battles as drivers were side by side battling for position on a multiple groove, smooth track. Geoff Hellman took the lead early and ran away from the field as he won by over 2 seconds. However, Billie Christ was very fast and worked his way from the back of the pack after a broken right front in his heat race to move into second by lap 14. Billie and Dustin Erickson had a hard-fought battle until Billie almost spun out in turns 3-4 and Dustin Erickson caught Billie's car to straighten it out for the remainder of the race. Billie dropped back to 5th and worked his way back up to 3rd and had a great battle with Trent Grager, who was driving Rory Opp's 43 machine. At the finish line, Hellman won, Erickson was second, Grager took home third by a fender over Christ in fourth, and Spencer Johnson finished in the top 5. Only 5 points separates Dustin Erickson and Chris Ritter in the point standings as we enter the final two point races.
IMCA Modifieds - 24 Cars:
- Winner: Kollin Hibdon, Runner-Up: Lucas Rodin
- Hard Charger: Cody Peterson +10 (18th to 8th) & Kevin Oeder +10 (20th to 10th)
Travis Traut took the early lead in his new IMCA Modified. However, Lucas Rodin got around Traut on the high side early on as Kollin Hibdon was working his way to the front as running this past week in Iowa. Rodin was running the high-side around the Speedway and Hibdon was running up high in turns 1-2 and down low in turns 3-4. A caution hit the Speedway on lap 9 as John Corell got into the front straightaway wall and ended up in turn 1. John's night was over as the right front of the car was damaged. On the restart, Kollin Hibdon and Jordan Sours were all over Rodin as Hibdon used the high line to take over the lead and held about a second advantage over Rodin. A great battle ensued for second as Jordan Sours was all over Lucas Rodin as your defending Stock Car Stampede Champion, Shawn Strand worked his way from 11th to 4th. Shawn Strand got around Sours and used the middle groove to try and get around Rodin. A few cautions came out towards the end of the race and on the restarts, Jordan Sours got back around Shawn Strand and battled hard with Lucas Rodin for second. Kollin Hibdon held on for his first win of the year in Jamestown as Lucas Rodin took home second, Jordan Sours spun out coming to the checkered as he went off the high side of turn 3, and therefore, Shawn Strand took home 3rd, Quentin Kinzley went from 12th to 4th, and John Nord in 5th.
Jr./Sr. Slingshots - 6 Cars:
Winner: A.J. Matzke, Runner-Up: Reed Ketterling
Once again, thank you to all of the drivers, fans, sponsors, and track personnel that came out to the show on Saturday night. We really appreciate everyone's support at the Jamestown Speedway and we have to thank everyone for coming out. We hope all of the drivers had a great time and hope to see everyone back throughout the season.
Please join us on August 19th for the 5th Annual Carpenter Memorial Race and rescheduled REBEL MW Mod Tour Race for the Wissota Midwest Modifieds and the JRMC Driven to Care Program Night. The Wissota Midwest Modifieds are racing for an increased purse as over $11,000 has been raised so far for the event and it is $2,537 to WIN! All regular classes will be running! The gates open at 5:30 pm and racing action begins at 7:00 pm. Hope to see everyone on August 19th for some horsepower at the Jamestown Speedway!