MILLER — Taylor Schmidt of Bath recorded his third-straight feature win in the WISSOTA super stock division, while Curtis Johnson of Miller became the sixth member of the Johnson clan to win a feature race at Miller Central Speedway on Saturday.
Schmidt, who started on the outside of the third row, moved to the front of the field on the fifth lap and cruised to his fourth victory of the season at MCS. Cole Searing of Huron, who started directly behind Schmidt in the 13-car field moved up as far as second, but couldn’t catch the leader as the laps dwindled away.
Billy Prouty of Alexandria, who led the first four laps, finished third in the super stock feature race, while Cody Martin of Ethan was fourth and Jeremy North of Huron was fifth.
The pure stock feature race was a two-car battle between Johnson and Mike Hammill of Miller. Johnson led the opening lap, but lost the top spot to Hammill until regaining it with a lap to go and held on for the victory. Hammill was second, followed by Destrie Morris of Miller.
Blayne Baloun of St. Lawrence also inked his first feature win of the season on Saturday in the WISSOTA street stock main event..
Baloun, who started on the outside of the front row, was able to keep his car in front of a hard-fought battle for the second spot between Zach Pollock of Miller and Broc Stout of Winner.
Pollock and Stout tangled coming out of turn four on the final lap with Stout emerging with the position. However, a caution flag early in the lap caused by a melee in turns one and two, reverted the finish order back to the previous lap, meaning Pollock was second followed by Stout.
Chris Serr of Aberdeen, who started near the back of the field in 13th, was fourth, followed by Trajan Schmidt of Watertown.
A pair of Huron drivers recorded wins in the WISSOTA Midwest modified and modified main events on Saturday.
Capitalizing on a restart with four laps down in the 12-lap feature race Cory Berquist of Huron powered his way to his second win of the season in the WISSOTA Midwest modified main event.
Berquist, who started ninth, moved to second before a pair of caution flags slowed the field. Polesitter Spence Pollock of Orient led the first three laps before being passed by Lorin Johnson of Miller on the following lap.
Berquist lined up on Johnson’s bumper for the restart on the fifth lap and used the high side of the track to work his way to the front. Joining Berquist in the high groove was Kyle Knouse of Huron, who moved into the second spot.
Knouse pressured Berquist for the lead during the remainder of the race, but couldn’t get past the leader. Johnson would finish third, followed by Dylan Zabel of Selby and David Carlson of Huron, who started last in the 17-car field.
Alex Guthmiller became the second Huron driver to win a feature Saturday, as he topped the 7-car field in the modified main event.
Guthmiller, who has six feature wins at the Miller track, moved to the front from his third-place starting spot on the opening lap. He led the rest of the way in the 15-lap feature race.
Tyler McDonald of Huron was second in the modified main event, followed by David McDonald of Huron, Curt Gelling of Aberdeen and Kent Arment of Aberdeen.
Gelling would return for the WISSOTA late model main event and lead a sweep of the top three spots for Aberdeen drivers.
Gelling passed Blair Nothdurft of Sioux Falls for the lead on the fifth lap of the 20-lap feature and then needed to work his way through lapped traffic while holding off a stiff challenge for Chad Becker and Josh Skorczewski, both of Aberdeen.
PHOTOS BY MIKE CARROLL/PLAINSMAN
Trajan Schmidt of Watertown (12s) leads Blayne Baloun of St. Lawrence and James Hoing of Kimball during their WISSOTA street stock heat race on Saturday at Miller Central Speedway.
Next, Curtis Johnson of Miller leads Mike Hammill of Miller during the pure stock feature race.
And next, Cole Searing of Huron (10) and Kipp DeGroot of Platte battle for position during their WISSOTA super stock heat race on Saturday.
