7/23/2023
Ogilvie Raceway
The Crowd Cheered in Unison as Ashley Mehrwerth Topped the Midwest Modified Competition, and Earned her 1st Ogilvie Raceway Feature Win.
By: Tami Jo Kuehn
Ogilvie, MN (July 22) – Fans filled the stands at Wagamon’s Ogilvie Raceway Saturday for a night of WISSOTA Dirt Race Action. A handful of buses were also on hand for bus races, and at the end of the night, Keith Tourville, Dexton Koch, Ashley Mehrwerth, Jody Bellefeuille and Brady Albertson went home with the hardware.
The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds kicked off the night’s features with Tanner Gehl and Ashley Mehrwerth on row one. After a quick caution, Mehrwerth took the lead. Corey Mehrwerth slid into second with William Moelter in third. The drivers remained in that order as they rounded the curves of the Big O. With a couple of cautions occurring during the race, Travis Schulte made his way from the ninth point to second, and chased after Ashley Mehrwerth. With just two laps to go, there were back-to-back cautions keeping pressure on Ashley to hold top spot, and when the race resumed, Ashley Mehrwerth sped away from the boys and took the win. Travis Schulte, David Swearingen, Corey Mehrwerth and Tanner Gehl rounded out the top five points.
Thomas Worth and Kyle King led the WISSOTA Street Stocks through the curve for the next event, and Worth claimed the immediate lead. Charlie Shiek slid into second with Keith Tourville going from eighth to third in the opening laps. By lap four, Tourville claimed the lead and began to pull away. Jim Gullikson passed Worth for second and looked ahead at Tourville. However, no one was able to catch the #111 as Keith Tourville took the win and Jim Gullikson, Justin Pogones, Charlie Shiek and Thomas Worth finished in second through fifth respectively.
Russell Kostreba started on the pole and snagged the lead when the WISSOTA Super Stock feature began while Shane Sabraski and Kyle Copp raced to his rear. Copp and Sabraski swapped for the second point while Dexton Koch, who started eighth, took the third point. Kostreba looked strong with Sabraski and Koch chipping at his bumper. A caution slowed the drivers and reset the field, with Kostreba still in control. Sabraski and Koch kept after Kostreba until Koch slid to the high side and drove by the #14. With just three laps to go, Dexton Koch had taken over the lead, and continued on to take the win. Russell Kostreba, Shane Sabraski, Denis Czech and Jeremy Nelson rounded out top points.
A star-studded field of WISSOTA Modifieds took the green with Jack Rivord, Jeremy Nelson and Jody Bellefeuille grabbing points one, two and three at the end of lap one. Drivers raced two and three wide as they battled for positions with Rivord leading the way. With a handful of laps in the books, Bellefeuille passed the #19J for the lead. Rivord and Nelson swapped for second and third as Dave Cain and Shane Sabraski joined the mix. Cars covered the whole race surface with Bellefeuille sitting strong in the top point. As the laps winded down, Sabraski closed the gap Bellefeuille had established and with a difference of just 0.169 seconds, Jody Bellefeuille took the win. Shane Sabraski settled for second with Jeremy Nelson, Dave Cain and Clayton Wagamon as the top five finishers.
Marcus Ammerman claimed the immediate lead as the WISSOTA Hornets went green with Brady Albertson and Tony Jenson in tow. The top drivers kept close as Joe Wilber moved into third and put pressure on Albertson. Wilber and Albertson swapped back and forth for second as they raced alongside the leader. Less than half-a-second separated the top three drivers, and with five laps to go, Albertson nosed out the lead. Brady Albertson stretched his lead to nearly a second the final few laps, and took the checkers in his #16 Hornet. Remaining top points went to Marcus Ammerman, Joseph Wilber, Alex Aderman and Tony Jenson.
With the conclusion of the Hornet feature, the Bus drivers took the track and wrapped up the night’s program. Next Saturday, the Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour will swing by the Big O for their tour stop. Racing will resume at 6:30pm.
Article Credit: Photo By: On Point Photography