Gronwold earns win at MCS

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MILLER — With a top prize of $1,000 being paid to the winner of the WISSOTA Midwest modified main event on Saturday, Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls, Minn., made his first trip of the season to Miller Central Speedway.

Gronwold, who is sitting fifth in the national point standings, was set to take the race lead on the third lap, but a mishap on the front straightaway sent Nathan Grehl of Hitchcock hard into the retaining wall bringing the entire 22-car field to a halt.

Thankfully, Grehl was able to walk away from the incident fairly unscathed, but his crumpled car would go off on the hook.

When the race resumed, Dawson Zabel of Selby led the field to the green with Gronwold in hot pursuit.

On lap six of the 20-lap feature race, Gronwold ducked to the low groove to make the pass for the lead and pulled away for his ninth win of the season.

Zabel drifted back into a battle for the second spot, which included Mike Nichols of Watertown, Lorin Johnson of Miller and Adam Brotherton of Huron, who is the current WISSOTA national points leader in the WISSOTA Midwest modified division.

Nichols would get around Zabel on the final lap to claim the second spot, while Johnson was fourth, and Brotherton, who started 14th was fifth.

Winning Midwest modified heat races were Gronwold, Johnson, Nichols and James Reiner of Wessingotn Springs.

Also inking his first feature win of the season at Miller Central Speedway on Saturday was Blake Whitlock of Watertown in the WISSOTA super stock division. In fact, it was his first career win at track.

Whitlock started fifth in the 9-car field and moved into the second spot on the third lap after a melee erupted on the previous lap.

Alan Malsam of Mobridge, who started on the pole, led the opening lap, with Doug VanLiere of Madison taking the lead on the second lap from his starting spot on the outside of the second row.

With the top four cars battling hard for the lead, Malsam powered into turns three and four recklessly, bringing out the second caution of the race for a spin. Malsam was shown the black flag and asked to leave the track.

Following the restart, VanLiere led for 10 laps before Whitlock used the low groove in turn two to get to the front. In attempt to regain the top spot VanLiere would spin in turn two but was able to get back on the throttle before a caution flag flew.

Whitlock would claim the win with Dale Tomes of Dell Rapids taking second. Roger Kenaston of Miller was third, with VanLiere rounding out the field of cars left on the track in fourth.

VanLiere won the lone super stock heat race.

Jayden Michaelsohn of Aberdeen used a last-lap pass to claim the win in the 10-lap Pump-N-Pak pure stock feature race to become the all-time winningest driver in the class. The victory, which was his seventh of the season, gives him a career total of 19 wins at the speedway.

Michaelsohn, who started eighth in the 13-car feature race, pressured Cody Songer of Wolsey for the lead for much of the race before moving to the high side of the track to complete the move coming out of turn two on the final lap.

Curtis Johnson of Miller, who ended a six-race win streak by Michaelsohn a week earlier, was third.

Aaron Holan of Kimball was fourth, followed by Wyatt Brooker of Tulare, who started 12th.

Johnson and Songer won the pure stock heat races.

Despite starting eighth in the field of nine cars, Chad Becker of Aberdeen was able to claim the victory in the 20-lap WISSOTA late model feature race.

It appeared Justin Boomsma of Huron was staged to claim his first feature win of the season in the late model division after he started on the pole and built a substantial lead over the rest of the field during the first 14 laps of the race. That lead evaporated when Cole Searing of Huron, who was battling Tyler McDonald of Huron for the second spot, spun.

On the restart, Boomsma was able to hold off a stiff challenge from Becker and started to rebuild his advantage. However, two laps later Becker found a better groove and used the high side on the back straightaway to gain control with three laps remaining.

It was the second straight feature win and fourth of the season for Becker in Miller.

Boomsma would finish second, followed by David McDonald of Huron, Tyler McDonald and Searing.
Searing won the lone late model heat race.

Mike Stearns of Hecla claimed his third win in the last four races at Miller Central Speedway in the WISSOTA modified division.

Nick Wranek of Harrisburg started on the outside of the front row and led the first eight laps of the 15-lap feature race. Ryan Damm of Watertown, who started on the pole, ran second the first eight laps before bringing out the first caution of the race after spinning during a battle for the spot with Trevor Anderson of Watertown.

Wranek led the first lap following the restart, but Stearns used the low side of the track heading into turn one to take the lead and led the final six laps for the win.

Anderson was second, followed by Dale Ames of Huron, Arne Anderson of Watertown and Kelly Duffy of Winner.

Stearns also won the lone heat race in the modified division.

Broc Stout of Winner returned to Victory Lane in the WISSOTA street stock division after a one-week hiatus.

Stout started fifth and snagged the lead on the fourth lap of the 12-lap feaure race. It was the seventh win of the season for Stout in Miller. His trek to the victory included three restarts, where he held off challenges from Spence Pollock of Orient.

The final caution came three laps from the end of the race, when cars deeper in the field tangled and Clifford Houser of Kimball ended up rolling and his car coming to rest on its top. He emerged from the incident unharmed.

After the track was cleared, Stout would hold on for the win. Chris Serr of Aberdeen used a pass on the final lap against Pollock to claim the second spot. Jodie Michaelsohn of Aberdeen was fourth, followed by Travis Oxandaburu of Huron.

Stout, Pollock and Warren Pourier Jr. of Kyle won the street stock heat races.

Next up at Miller Central Speedway is the 6th Annual Dog Days of Summer Big Dog Race on Saturday.

All six classes will be in action, starting at 7 p.m.

Miller Central Speedway
July 31 results

Pump-N-Pack Pure Stock
Heat 1: 1, Curtis Johnson, Miller; 2, Jace Baloun, Highmore; 3, Bruce Scott, Pierre; 4, Andy Brooker, Tulare; 5, Bill Gortmaker, Harrold; 6, Camden Rassel, Woonsocket; (did not finish) 7, Carlie Songer, Miller.
Heat 2: 1, Cody Songer, Wolsey; 2, Jayden Michaelsohn, Aberdeen; 3, Mike Hammill, Miller; 4, Aaron Holan, Kimball; 5, Scott Hoffer, Winner; 6, Wyatt Brooker, Tulare; 7, Mackenzie Kopecky, Miller.

Main event: 1, Michaelsohn; 2, Cody Songer; 3, Johnson; 4, Holan; 5, W. Brooker; 6, Scott; 7, Hammill; 8, A. Brooker; 9, Baloun; 10, Hoffer; 11, Gortmaker; 12, Kopecky; (did not finish) 13, Rassel; (did not start) Carlie Songer.

WISSOTA Street Stock
Heat 1: 1, Warren Pourier Jr., Kyle; 2, Jodie Michaelsohn, Aberdeen; 3, Kyle Bertram, Dallas; 4, James Hoing, Kimball; 5, Jayden Bogh, Huron; (did not finish) 6, Luke Johnson, Miller; 7, Casey Carstens, Mitchell.
Heat 2: 1, Spence Pollock, Orient; 2, Travis Oxandaburu, Huron; 3, Chris Serr, Aberdeen; 4, Caleb Yost, Miller; 5, Brandon Hammill, Miller; 6, Jordan Rawstern, Blunt.
Heat 3: 1, Broc Stout, Winner; 2, Leonard Ferguson, Kyle; 3, Clifford Houser, Kimball; 4, Michael Bogh, Huron; 5, Kenneth Clements, Madison; 6, John Cable, Geddes.
Main event: 1, Stout; 2, Serr; 3, Pollock; 4, Michaelsohn; 5, Oxandaburu; 6, Johnson; 7, Ferguson; 8, Hammill; 9, Hoing; 10, M. Bogh; 11, Rawstern; 12, Cable; (did not finish) 13, Pourier Jr.; 14, Yost; 15, Houser; 16, Clements; 17, Bertram; 18, J. Bogh; (did not start) Carstens.

WISSOTA Midwest Modified
Heat 1: 1, Lorin Johnson, Miller; 2, Lane Johnson, Miller; 3, Blake Meyer, Huron; 4, Chad Kopfmann, Alpena; (did not finish) 5, Connor Blumhardt, Bath; (did no start) Cory Berquist, Huron.
Heat 2: 1, Mike Nichols, Watertown; 2, Tommy Nichols, Watertown; 3, Jake Wranek, Winner; 4, Adam Brotherton, Huron; (did not finish) 5, Payden Scott, Pierre; (did not start) Jayme Peterson, Highmore.
Heat 3: 1, James Reiner, Wessington Springs; 2, Britt Williams, Ft. Pierre; 3, Trevor Ryan, Highmore; 4, Nathan Grehl, Hitchcock; 5, Joel Reiter, Kimball; (did not finish) 6, Jackson Hansen, Hamill.
Heat 4: 1, Brock Gronwold, Fergus Falls, Minn.; 2, Dawson Zabel, Selby; 3, Jordan Kienow, Miller; 4, Cayden Schmeling, Watertown; 5, Jeff Rawstern, Blunt.
Main event: 1, Gronwold; 2, M. Nichols; 3, Zabel; 4, Lorin Johnson; 5, Brotherton; 6, Wranek; 7, Lane Johnson; 8, Kienow; 9, Peterson; 10, Williams; 11, Blumhardt; 12, Meyer; 13, Ryan; 14, Scott; 15, Kopfmann; (did not finish) 16, T. Nichols; 17, Hansen; 18, Reiner; 19, Schmeling; 20, Reiter; 21, Grehl; 22, Rawstern; (did not start) Berquist.

WISSOTA Super Stock
Heat 1: 1, Doug VanLiere, Madison; 2, Alan Malsam, Mobridge; 3, Blake Whitlock, Watertown; 4, Garrett Gross, Aberdeen; 5, Robin Schmitt, Redfield; 6, Robert Schmitt, Redfield; 7, Dale Tomes, Dell Rapids; (did not finish) 8, Austin Arbogast, Huron; 9, Roger Kenaston, Miller.
Main event: 1, Whitlock; 2, Tomes; 3, Kenaston; 4, VanLiere; (did not finish) 5, Robin Schmitt; 6, Arbogast; 7, Gross; 8, Robert Schmitt; (disqualified) Malsam.

WISSOTA Modified
Heat 1: 1, Mike Stearns, Hecla; 2, Trevor Anderson, Watertown; 3, Nick Wranek, Harrisburg; 4, Ryan Damm, Watertown; 5, Dale Ames, Huron; 6, Kelly Duffy, Winner; 7, Arne Anderson, Watertown; 8, Jesse Young, Warner.
Main event: 1, Stearns; 2, Anderson; 3, Ames; 4, Anderson; 5, Duffy; (did not finish) 6, Wranek; 7, Damm; 8, Young.

WISSOTA Late Model
Heat 1: 1, Cole Searing, Huron; 2, Tyler McDonald, Huron; 3, Dustin Arthur, St. Lawrence; 4, David Carlson, Huron; 5, Justin Boomsma, Huron; 6, David McDonald, Huron; 7, Cody Martin, Mitchell; 8, Chad Becker, Aberdeen; (did not finish) 9, Rich Thomas, Aberdeen.
Main event: 1, Becker; 2, Boomsma; 3, D. McDonald; 4, T. McDonald; 5, Searing; 6, Arthur; 7, Martin; 8, Carlson; (did not finish) 9, Thomas.