HURON — Aberdeen’s Kent Arment moved closer to the 200-win milestone with a pair of feature wins during the season opener on Saturday at Dakota State Fair Speedway.
The first victory came during the WISSOTA modified feature race, where Arment led all 15 laps after starting fourth on the grid.
While Arment, who is the defending track champion and the 2016 WISSOTA nation champion in the modified division, had a firm hold on the top spot throughout the event, the battle for the second spot was the one to watch during the opening laps.
Dave Carlson of Huron, who started on the outside of the front row, settled into the second spot for the first two until the lone caution flag flew on the third lap.
Tyler McDonald of Huron, who started fifth, snagged the second spot on the restart, but Chad Olsen of Hendricks, Minn., who started on the outside of the fourth row, was in hot pursuit of the position. Olsen managed to get past McDonald on the fourth lap of the race, but McDonald was able to retake the spot on the following lap and held on to claim the runner-up finish.
Olsen would finish third, followed by Carlson, who used the high side of the track to hold off polesitter Dale Ames of Huron for the fourth spot.
Arment and Ames won the modified heat races.
The second victory of the night and the 191st of his career, which came in the WISSOTA late model division, didn’t come as easy for Arment.
After starting on the outside of the fourth row, Arment worked his way through the field during the 20-lap feature race.
A spin on the opening lap by Tyler Lambert of Bath, who started on the outside of the front row, collected Aberdeen’s Chad Becker. Both drivers were forced to retire from the race, which would then go start to finish without being slowed again.
David McDonald of Huron, who moved up to replace Lambert on the restart, who snagged the lead on the opening lap and would stay out front until lap 13. Olsen, who was making his debut in the late model division, used a slide job to move into the lead coming out of the fourth turn.
As the frontrunners found themselves in lapped traffic, McDonald would make his way back to the lead on the following lap, but Olsen moved back out front on lap 15. His lead was short-lived, however, as Arment took advantage of the lapped track and shot to the front.
Arment would lead the final five laps to secure the victory, with Olsen and McDonald finishing second and third, respectively. Gary Brown Jr. of Brandon was fourth, followed by Dustin Arthur of St. Lawrence.
Arment and Becker inked wins in the late model heat races.
Defending track champions Broc Stout of Winner and Cole Searing of Huron, recorded wins in the WISSOTA street stock and super stock divisions, respectively.
After starting seventh, Stout moved into the lead on the third lap of the 15-lap street stock main event.
Blayne Baloun of St. Lawrence led the opening lap of the street stock feature, but tangled with Dave Brooker of Tulare as the pair battled for the lead on the second lap. Baloun was forced to retire from the race, while Brooker was able to continue but could not work his way back into contention after being sent to the back of the field.
Dustin Davis of Waubay, who started sixth on the 19-car grid for the street stock feature race, would lead the second lap before being overtaken by Stout on the third lap. Stout would go on to collect the 15th feature win of his career at the Huron oval.
Dustin Davis was second, followed by Landan Davis of Waubay, Ryan Nelson of Madison, Minn., and Michael Bogh of Huron, who was the 2015 street stock champion at DSFS.
Stout and Dustin Davis won the street stock heat races.
Searing, who started on the pole, led from start to finish in the 15-lap super stock feature race.
Corey Elward of Mitchell, who was making his return to racing, held the second spot through the duration of the event. Kelly Duffy of Winner passed Casey Hanson of Badger for third with six laps remaining and held on to claim the spot, while Kip Myers of Ethan and Trevor Nelson of Warner were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Elward and Searing won the super stock heat races.
Mike Nichols of Watertown recorded his first-ever win at DSFS during the 2016 season opener. His second victory at the track came a year later, as he repeated the feat on Saturday in the Midwest modified main event.
Nichols grabbed the lead from Adam Brotherton of Huron on the third lap, but not a lot of real estate separated the pair during the next nine laps of the 15-lap race. As the pair reached lapped traffic, the first of three caution flags flew to regroup the field for the final five laps.
Lorin Johnson of Miller, who had moved up to challenge the duo of frontrunners for the top spot, suffered a broken rear end on the restart and was forced to retire from the race after bringing out the second caution.
The final caution came on the ensuing restart as Nichols led the field to the green flag. Mechanical issues prevented Brotherton from getting up to speed and resulting chain reaction throughout the field created a situation where two cars towards the back of the field became locked together, leaving rookie driver Blake Meyer no where to go.
Meyer was collected in the melee and would end up doing a soft roll before his Midwest modified would land back on its wheels.
Due to the time the race had consumed up to that point, the Midwest modified was shortened a lap. Nichols would hold on to the lead the final four laps to secure the win, while Kyle Knouse of Huron, who moved to second on the restart, was the runner-up. Scott Hansen of Garden City was third, followed by Camden Myers of Ethan and Tracy Johnson of Lake Preston.
Midwest modified heat wins went to Myers, Lorin Johnson, Lane Johnson of Miller and Brotherton. Tony Konold of Clear Lake and Jordan Kienow of Miller inked wins in the Midwest modified B main events.
Racing will return to Dakota State Fair Speedway, which will host the 2017 WISSOTA 100 on Sept. 13-16, at 7 p.m. Saturday with all five classes competing.
Summary WISSOTA Street Stock Heat 1: 1, Broc Stout, Winner; 2; Blayne Baloun, St. Lawrence; 3, Scott Borstad, Volga; 4, Chris Serr, Aberdeen; 5, Michael Bogh, Huron; 6, Andy Rossow, Florence; 7, Walter Cable, Geddes; 8, Cole Philips, Winner; 9, Toby Price, Oglala; 10, Travis Oxandaburu, Huron. Heat 2: 1, Dustin Davis, Waubay; 2, Dave Brooker, Tulare; 3, Warren Pourier, Kyle; 4, Landan Davis, Waubay; 5, Bruce Lundin, Hanley Falls, Minn.; 6, Leonard Ferguson, Kyle; 7, Michael Logelin, Rapid City; 8, Matt Goth, Madison; 9, Ryan Nelson, Madison, Minn.; (did not finish) 10, Eric Riley, Morris, Minn. Main event: 1, Stout; 2, D. Davis; 3, L. Davis; 4, Nelson; 5, Bogh; 6, Baloun; 7, Pourier; 8, Serr; 9, Riley; 10, Phillips; 11, Borstad; 12, Rossow; 13, Brooker; 14, Logelin; 15, Price; 16, Oxandaburu; (did not finish) 17, Goth; 18, Cable; 19, Ferguson; 20, Lundin. WISSOTA Midwest Modified
Heat 1: 1, Camden Myers, Ethan; 2, Brian Bachmann, Pierre; 3, Cole DeJong, Cavour; 4, Darren Engesser, Gary; 5, James Reiner, Wessington Springs; 6, Kyle Carter, Wolsey; 7, Tanner Grohs, Wessington Springs; 8, Nate Grehl, Hitchcock; (did not finish) 9, Tony Konold, Clear Lake. Heat 2; 1, Lane Johnson, Miller; 2, Tracy Johnson, Lake Preston; 3, Kyle Knouse, Huron; 4, Todd Meek, Miller (did not finish) 5, Cody Daly, Huron; 6, Robert Harder, Huron; (did not start) Jeremy Groenwold, Yale; Kurtis Clark, Madison; Jerik Stabler, Letcher. Heat 3: 1, Lorin Johnson, Miller; 2, Mike Nicholas, Watertown; 3, Scott Hansen, Garden City; 4, Blake Meyer, Huron; 5, Britt Williams, Ft. Pierre; 6, Shaun Cooper, Pierre; (did not finish); 7, Scott Phillips, Huron; 8, Jason Edwards, Box Elder; (disqualified) Jayme Peterson, Highmore. Heat 4: 1, Adam Brotherton, Huron; 2, Jake Dimond, Rapid City; 3, Brad Kopecky, Miller; 4, Brock Hess, Sioux Falls; 5, Scott Borkowski, Mitchell; 6, Jordan Kienow, Miller 7, Dusty Seitz, Madison; (did not finish) 9, Jason Milbrandt, Huron. B-Main event 1: 1, Konold; 2, Reiner; 3, Peterson; 4, Borkowski; 5, Cooper; (did not finish) 6, Grehl; (did not start) Harder; Edwards; Clark; (disqualified) Grohs. B-Main event 2: 1, Kienow; 2, Williams; 3, Seitz; (did not finish) 4, Groenewold; 5, Stabler; (did not start) Daly; Phillips; Milbrandt; (disqualified) Carter. Main event: 1, Nichols; 2, Knouse; 3, Hansen; 4, Myers; 5, T. Johnson; 6, Kopecky; 7, Hess; 8, Bachmann; 9, Meek; (did not finish) 10, Kienow; 11, Konold; 12, Williams; 13, Dimond; 14, Meyer; 15, Brotherton; 16, Lorin. Johnson; 17, DeJong; 18, Reiner; 19, Engesser; (did not start) Lane Johnson. WISSOTA Modified Heat 1: 1, Dale Ames, Huron; 2, Chad Olsen, Hendricks, Minn.; 3, Chris Prussman, Brookings; 4, Nich Grehl, Hitchcock; 5, Justin Boomsma, Hitchcock; 6, Jesse Young, Warner. Heat 2: 1, Kent Arment, Aberdeen; 2, Tyler McDonald, Huron; 3, Dave Carlson, Huron; 4, Trevor Anderson, Watertown; 5, Jayson Good, Watertown; (did not finish); 6, Alex Guthmiller, Huron. Main event: 1, Arment; 2, McDonald; 3, Olsen; 4, Carlson; 5, Ames; 6, Good; 7, Anderson; 8, Boomsma; 9, Young; (did not finish) 10, Prussman; 11, Grehl; 12, Guthmiller. WISSOTA Super Stock Heat 1: 1, Corey Elward, Mitchell; 2, Casey Hanson, Badger; 3, Trevor Nelson, Warner; 4, Alan Dorris, Wolsey; 5, Jeremy North, Huron; 6, Kip DeGroot, Platte; 7, Dave Brooker, Tulare; (did not finish) 8, Billy Prouty, Alexandria; 9, Dale Tomes, Dell Rapids. Heat 2: 1, Cole Searing, Huron; 2, Kip Myers, Ethan; 3, Tyler Myers, Ethan; 4, Kelly Duffy, Winner; 5, Taylor Schmidt, Bath; 6, Adam Butterfield, Watertown; 7, Brandon Tingle, Mitchell; 8, Matt Jaratowski. Main event: 1, Searing; 2, Elward; 3, Duffy; 4, K. Myers; 5, Nelson; 6, Hanson; 7, T. Myers; 8, North; 9, DeGroot; 10, Tingle; 11, Schmidt; 12, Brooker; (did not finish) 13, Jeratowski; 14, Butterfield; 15, Tomes; 16, Dorris; (did not start) Prouty. WISSOTA Late Model Heat 1: Kent Arment, Aberdeen; 2, Chad Olsen, Hendricks, Minn.; 3, Gary Brown Jr., Brandon; 4, Tyler Lambert, Bath; 5, Jordan Heiman, Sioux Falls; 6, Ryan Engels, Watertown; 7, Mike Stade Rapid City; (did not finish) 8, Scott Borkowski, Mitchel. Heat 2: 1, Chad Becker, Aberdeen; 2, Curt Kranz, Watertown; 3, David McDonald, Huron; 4, Dustin Arthur, St. Lawrence; 5, John Hoefert, Sioux Falls; (did not start) Blake Swenson, Watertown; Rich Thomas, Aberdeen. Main event: 1, Arment; 2, Olsen; 3, McDonald; 4, Brown Jr.; 5, Arthur; 6, Stadel; 7, Heiman; 8, Engels; 9, Hoefert; (did not finish) 10, Borkowski; 11, Becker; 12, Lambert; (did not start) Swenson; Thomas; (disqualified) Kranz.
