4/20/2025
Ogilvie Raceway
2025 Season Opener at Wagamon's Ogilvie Raceway Kicked Off Saturday Night with 119 Drivers Signing in to Battle
By: Tami Jo Kuehn
Ogilvie, MN (April 20) – 119 drivers checked in for a night of WISSOTA Dirt Track Race action Saturday night to start the 2025 race season at Wagamon’s Ogilvie Raceway. The night featured all 6 regular classes, great racing and the night was a KME Late Model Series Point Night.
The WISSOTA Street Stocks kicked off the Season’s features with Andrew Hanson edging out the early lead. Weston Ramsrud raced to Hanson’s door, and after a door-to-door battle, Hanson began to stretch the lead. Laps passed without incident and as Hanson established a 3 second lead, he suffered a mechanical problem and coasted to a stop. The caution flew and drivers were reset with Ramsrud in the lead followed by Austin Hamre and Levi Randt. Randt, Hamre and Jeff Ekdahl kept pressure on Ramsrud as Randt made the pass for first. With just a few laps to go, Levi Randt took the checkers followed by Jeff Ekdahl, Weston Ramsrud, Austin Hamre and Sam Fankhauser in top points.
Denis Czech and Dylan Kromschroeder led the Zoomie’s Race Engines WISSOTA Super Stocks to the stand and Czech grabbed the immediate lead. Kromschroeder held second as Ryan Kostreba and Dustin Nelson fought for third. Shane Sabraski was on their rears, and as Joey Jensen joined the battle, a caution was triggered. Czech brought the drivers back to green with Nelson, Sabraski, Jensen and Kostreba very close in points two through five. A couple of cautions slowed the drivers, but Denis Czech was unphased, as he took the win with Shane Sabraski, Joey Jensen, Dylan Kromschroeder and James Trantina grabbing the top points.
The Dirt Race Central WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were next with a stellar field of drivers lined up side by side. Ashton Schulte and Haley Dykhoff sped off from row one with Schulte in first and David Swearingen took second. Schulte and Swearingen quickly caught slower drivers, and Swearingen took the lead as they passed through traffic. Jason VandeKamp made his way into second and sped to Swearingen’s door. VandeKamp secured the lead and put space between him and the field while Swearingen and Dykhoff battled for second. Swearingen then dropped back a couple points as Dykhoff and Jensen grabbed second and third as one final yellow flew. Only three laps remained as VandeKamp felt the heat of Dykhoff and Jensen, and when the green waved, Jensen, Dykhoff and VandeKamp were three-wide. The white waved with VandeKamp and Jensen nose to nose, and as they shot down the front chute, only 0.014 seconds was the difference. Joey Jensen grabbed the exciting win while Jason VandeKamp settled for second with Tyler Vernon, Haley Dykhoff and David Swearingen as the top five drivers.
Jack Koranda and Josh Zimpel remained door to door the opening lap of the KME WISSOTA Late Models feature, with Tyler Peterson in third. Koranda secured the top point and pulled away as Peterson dove to Zimpel’s door. Peterson and Zimpel closed the gap with Koranda and put pressure on his #22. The top three drivers were three-wide and swapped for lead until Peterson secured it. A caution slowed the drivers, but Peterson led them back to green with Zimpel keeping close to the 1TPO. Laps went by without incident which allowed Peterson to stretch his lead, until one final caution occurred. Just three laps remained as the drivers regrouped with Zimpel and Mass on Peterson’s bumper. Tyler Peterson had a great restart and took the checkers followed by Dave Mass, Josh Zimpel, Jack Koranda and Kevin Burdick.
Racer’s X Performance Parts WISSOTA Modifieds were next on the agenda with Eric Lamm and Ryan Gierke leading the way. Lamm took the early lead, but Jody Bellefeuille quickly made his way to second. Bellefeuille slid by the #88 of Lamm for first as Landon Atkinson made his way into second. Atkinson began to reel in Bellefeuille as laps passed quickly. Atkinson worked the high line and snuck by Bellefeuille as slower drivers were in view. Bellefeuille continued to chase after Atkinson as Joseph Thomas caught the leaders. Atkinson, Bellefeuille and Thomas raced three wide with lapped traffic and Bellefeuille reclaimed the lead. Once again, with just a couple laps to go, a caution occurred, and the field was reset. The Mods sped off as the green flag waved, and Jody Bellefeuille took the lead, and then, the win. Travis Schulte, Joseph Thomas, Tyler Peterson and Landon Atkinson rounded out the top five drivers.
The East Central Sports Hornets closed out the 2025 Season Opener with Nikota Larson in the lead followed by Tony Jenson. Jenson raced the low line and challenged Larson for first. Jenson took the lead and pulled away until the caution lights flickered on. Jenson and Larson battled for first when the green reappeared, Jenson took the lead, but Larson kept close and was glued to Jenson’s bumper. Bobie Arnes raced in the third point and closed in on the leaders with a few laps to go, Larson and Arnes were on Jenson’s rear. Tony Jenson held off his competitors and took the win while Nikota Larson, Bobie Arnes, Brendan Bockwitz and Tim Larson grabbed points two through five.
Wagamon’s Ogilvie Raceway will be back in action next weekend for a Saturday Night Shootout, once again featuring all 6 of our regular classes. Racing begins at 6:30pm.
Article Credit: Photo By: Mark Anderson Images
