BY MIKE CARROLL
OF THE PLAINSMAN
HURON — Dakota State Fair Speedway kicked off its first full-time racing season since 2017 on Saturday.
A pair of first-time winners emerged during the opening night of a 13-race night schedule.
Collecting their first career wins on at the Huron oval were Jayden Bogh of Huron in the WISSOTA street stock division and Darren Engesser of Gary in the WISSOTA Midwest modified division.
Other feature winners during the season opener on Saturday are no strangers to Victory Lane at DSFS. Cole Searing of Huron won in the WISSOTA late model division, while Trevor Nelson of Warner claimed the top spot in the WISSOTA super stock main event.
After finishing second on Friday during the first time on the track at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen with a brand new car he built from the ground up with the help of Cody Daly of Daly Fabrications, Bogh was excited for a second solid outing in a row.
“We were able to capitalize tonight, so gotta be happy about that,” Bogh said of securing the win. “This is a brand new car Cody Daly built. He had a vision and trusted me, so we went with it, and it’s going better than we imagined.”
Bogh started third in the 16-car field for the street stock feature race and used the low groove in turn two to take the lead on the third lap of the 15-lap event.
Grady Myers of Winner, who started a row behind Bogh, made things work on the high side of the track and was able to steal the lead at the line two laps later, but Bogh battled back to regain the lead on the following lap. He held on to the top spot by a slim margin until the first caution flag of the race flew with three laps remaining.
On the ensuing restart, Bogh’s father, Michael, who owns 19 career wins at DSFS, had his night ended with a roll between turns No. 1 and 2. The elder Bogh emerged from the incident uninjured.
Matt Goth of Huron, who moved into the third spot on lap nine, capitalized on the restart and was able to snag the second spot from Myers. However, he wouldn’t be able to catch Bogh during the final three revolutions.
“It was pretty competitive,” Bogh said of the feature race. “I just trusted myself and trusted the car, and all the lines matched up.”
Prior to Saturday’s racing program, Bogh had just a pair of top-5 finishes at DSFS, with both of those coming in 2024, when he was second once and third once. In 2025 he earned five wins and recorded 17 top-5 finishes in 31 events, but didn’t have the opportunity to race in Huron due to rain outs.
Rounding out the top five in Saturday’s street stock feature race were James Hoing of Kimball in fourth and Clifford Houser of Kimball in fifth.
Winning the street stock heat races were Maria Broksieck of Goodwin and Broc Stout of Winner.
Engesser led from start to finish in the 15-lap Midwest modified main event to claim his first victory at the Huron track. However, he faced a stiff challenge throughout the race.
Jayme Peterson of Highmore trailed Engesser around the 3/8-mile oval during the opening lap, but Adam Brotherton of Huron used the low groove coming out of turn four to steal the second spot on the second lap.
While Engesser maintained the top spot, Peterson would battle back on the high side of the track to regain the second spot on lap No. 5.
Peterson would make a strong push for the lead, but with three laps remaining would see his chance of a victory disappear with a spin while going for the top spot.
Brotherton, who had drifted back to fourth before moving back into the third spot a lap before the race was slowed for Peterson’s spin, would battle Jake Wranek of Sioux Falls for the runner-up finish during the final three laps.
Wranek held the second spot with a lap remaining, but Brotherton battled back on the outside to steal the spot back coming out of the final turn.
Nick Perry of Huron was fourth, followed by Scott Hansen of Garden City.
Claiming victories in the Midwest modified heat races were Hansen, Brotherton and Scott Tyrrell of New Underwood.
Chad Becker of Aberdeen, who was the most recent late model driver to win a feature race at DSFS with a win during a Tri-State Late Model Series event in 2025, started on the pole and was well on his way to win No. 27 at the Huron track. However, a caution flag brought out when second-place running Mike Stearns of Aberdeen slowed on lap 14 of the 20-lap feature race changed that narrative.
Cole Searing of Huron, who had moved up to fourth after starting eighth, would be the biggest benefactor of the caution period. He lined up on the restart beside Josh Skorczewski of Aberdeen on Becker’s rear bumper and was able to use the low side of the track coming out of turn two to take the lead on the second lap following the restart.
“The caution definitely helped. We were probably a second-place car at best without the caution and realistically a third-place car,” Searing said. “This place is just so aerodynamic-dependent that it’s hard to catch anybody in clean air like that. So, the yellow will definitely make you or break you sometimes, and tonight it helped us.”
Searing would lead the final six laps to secure win No. 27 of his career at his hometown track. Becker was second, followed by Konner Sperle of Aberdeen, Skorczewski and Thomas Weisgram of Northville.
Winning the late model heat races were Searing and Becker.
Trevor Nelson of Warner collected the seventh feature win of his career at the Huron oval on Saturday. After having to change transmissions between the heat and feature races, he started fourth in the 9-car field and moved to the front on the second lap of the 15-lap feature race.
Bryson North of Huron, who started on the pole, led the opening lap and ran second for the next four laps.
Brad Kopecky of Miller used the low groove in turn two to get past North for the second position on lap six and stayed there the remainder of the race.
North would finish third, followed by Austin Arbogast of Huron and Derek Zastrow of Gann Valley.
Nelson also won the lone super stock heat race.
Racing will return to Dakota State Fair Speedway on May 16 with the same for classes in action.
Dakota State Fair Speedway
May 2
G&G Seamless
WISSOTA Street Stock
Heat 1: 1, Maria Broksieck, Goodwin; 2, Michael Bogh, Huron; 3, Matt Goth, Huron; 4, James Hoing, Kimball; 5, Dave Brooker, Tulare; 6, Chris Asmus, St. Lawrence; 7, Domanick Havard, Wessington Springs; 8, Casey Carstens, Mitchell.
Heat 2: 1, Broc Stout, Winner; 2, Grady Myers, Winner; 3, Jayden Bogh, Huron; 4, Chris Serr, Aberdeen; 5, Clifford Houser, Kimball; 6, Ferlin Sheridan, Aberdeen; 7, Wyatt Brooker, Huron; 8, Shane Supik, Kimball.
Main event: 1, J. Bogh; 2, Goth; 3, Myers; 4, Hoing; 5, Houser; 6, W. Brooker; 7, Sheridan; 8; Asmus; 9, Supik; (did not finish) 10, D. Brooker; 11, Stout; 12, Serr; 13, M. Bogh; 14, Broksieck; 15, Carstens; Havard.
Radiant Roofing & Siding
WISSOTA Midwest Modified
Heat 1: 1, Scott Hansen, Garden City; 2, Jayme Peterson, Highmore; 3, Jake Wranek, Sioux Falls; 4, Tracy Johnson, Lake Preston; 5, Matt Heinzerling, Spearfish; 6, Jordan Kienow, Miller; 7, Jace Baloun, Highmore; 8, Scott Hinricher, Flandreau.
Heat 2: 1, Adam Brotherton, Huron; 2, Nick Perry, Huron; 3, Darren Engesser, Gary; 4, Kurtis Clark, Madison; 5, Jeff Metzinger, Pierre; (did not finish) 6, Devon Carroll, Parker; 7, Chris Moore, Madison.
Heat 3: 1, Scott Tyrrell, New Underwood; 2, Luke Johnson, Miller; 3, Todd Stark, Watertown; 4, Lorin Johnson, Miller; 5, Trevor Ryan, Highmore; 6, Britt Williams, Ft. Pierre; 7, Sophie Anderson, Chokio, Minn.
Main event: 1, Engesser; 2, Brotherton; 3, Wranek; 4, Perry; 5, Hansen; 6, Baloun; 7, Kienow; (did not finish) 8, Carroll; 9, Moore; 10, Ryan; 11, Peterson; 12, Hinricher; 13, Clark; 14, Anderson; 15, Johnson; 16, Williams; 17, Tyrrell; 18, Metzinger; 19, Luke Johnson; 20, Heinzerling; (did not start) Lorin Johnson; Stark.
Ghost Graphix
WISSOTA Super Stock
Heat 1: 1, Trevor Nelson, Warner; 2, Bryson North, Huron; 3, Derek Zastrow, Gann Valley; 4, Brad Kopecky, Miller; 5, Austin Arbogast, Huron; 6, Kody Lehr, Bath; 7, Kenneth Clements, Madison; 8, Brian Hoing, Kimball; (did not start) Wyatt Schweigert, Huron.
Main event: 1, Nelson; 2, Kopecky; 3, North; 4, Arbogast; 5, Zastrow; 6, Clements; 7, Lehr; (did not finish) 8, Hoing; 9, Schweigert.
Carlson’s Service Center
WISSOTA Late Model
Heat 1: 1, Chad Becker, Aberdeen; 2, Josh Skorczewski, Aberdeen; 3, Mike Stearns, Aberdeen; 4, Konner Sperle, Aberdeen; 5, Ryan Baumgart, Pierre.
Heat 2: 1, Cole Searing, Huron; 2, Chase Gelling, Aberdeen; 3, Thomas Weisgram, Northville; 4, Brandon Sprinkel, Pierre; (did not finish) Dustin Arthur, St. Lawrence.
Main event: 1, Searing; 2, Becker; 3, Sperle; 4, Skorczewski; 5, Weisgram; 6, Gelling (did not finish) 7, Baumgart; 8, Sprinkel; 9, Stearns; (did not start) Arthur.
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