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4th Annual Mod Wars Kicked Off Thursday With a Great Night of Race Action

By: Tami Jo Kuehn

Ogilvie, MN (July 11) – Thursday night kicked off night one of the 4th Annual Mod Wars which features the USMTS Modifieds taking on our own WISSOTA Modifieds in a night of WISSOTA Dirt Track Race Action. With lots of three-wide and multi-groove racing occurring throughout the night, Jason VandeKamp and Tommy Bawden took WISSOTA Wins and Dan Ebert won the Modifieds.

Jake Smith and Ashton Schulte led the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds to green for the first feature of the night and Smith claimed the immediate lead. A couple cautions occurred in the first handful of laps, but Smith continued to show the way. As the drivers again retook the green, they raced three-wide for positions. Smith was in command however Jason VandeKamp kept after the #21. Lucas Rodin bobbled in the curve allowing David Swearingen to take the point, however Rodin kept close for positions. With a handful of laps left, VandeKamp was aside Smith and slid to Smith’s outside. Jason VandeKamp took the lead with four laps to go, and ended with the win. Jake Smith, Lucas Rodin, Ashton Schulte and Denis Czech rounded out the top five points.

WISSOTA Mod Fours were next up for the night with Robert Holtquist and Blake Hawker on row one. They battled for the point as the green waved, and at the end of lap one, Hawker claimed the point. Holtquist raced back to Hawker’s door with Tommy Bawden closing in. Holtquist retook the lead with Bawden in second and Tyler Larson in third. With laps passing Bawden raced to Holtquist’s door, and after a short battle, took the lead. Bawden pulled away from the field as the yellow waved and reset the field. Bawden brought the drivers back to green while Hawker, Larson and Dustin Holtquist fought for second. Larson snagged the point and looked ahead at Bawden, but D. Holtquist had other plans and stole the runner-up position. With only four laps to go, Dustin Holtquist attempted to catch the TB81, however Tommy Bawden grabbed the checkers. Dustin Holtquist settled for second with Tyler Larson, Luke Erlandson and Blake Hawker in points three through five.

The Modifieds were the final feature of the night with the USMTS challenging the WISSOTA Modifieds for a 30 lap event. The drivers took the green with Dan Ebert and Jake Timm on row one, and Ebert took the lead. Drivers battled three and nearly four-wide around the Big O as the top three drivers prepared to put others down a lap. Ten laps were in the books when Ebert found himself with slower cars. Timm caught and passed Ebert while in the traffic, but Ebert kept Timm in his sights. Rodney Sanders put pressure on Ebert for second with Jake O’Neil to their rears. Ebert, Sanders and O’Neil raced close for points two through five with Timm not far away in first. As Timm rounded turn two, contact occurred between him and a slower driver and the yellow waved. Timm accepted charge for the caution, so as the race resumed, Ebert assumed the lead. Sanders and Ebert separated from the field as Ebert remained in control, but again the yellow waved with three laps to go. Ebert sped away as the final green dropped while Sanders, O’Neil and Jim Chisholm went three-wide for second. Chisholm dropped low, O’Neil ran high, and both put pressure on Ebert, however, Dan Ebert proved successful and took the double checkers. Remaining top points went to Jim Chisholm, Rodney Sanders, Jake O’Neil and Kyle Brown.

The final flags waved, and Night 1 of the 4th Annual Mod Wars was in the books. Night 2 will kick off Friday night with the green dropping at 7:00pm.

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