2nd-year driver Jergens wins Mod Tour feature at Southwest Speedway

• Galloway and Noteboom

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Joey Galloway (01) and Jay Noteboom (7n), top left, fight for position during a heat race at the Dakota Classic Modified Tour on Wednesday night at the Southwest Speedway. Bringing up the rear is Drew Christianson (29), Hank Berry (25) and Allan Frederick (5).

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Mike Jergens was one of the top IMCA Modified rookie drivers in the nation last season.

His sophomore season is shaping up just fine, too.

The Plover, Iowa, driver came away with the feature race victory during the first of two nights of Dakota Classic Modified Tour racing Wednesday at the Southwest Speedway.

Jergens won his heat and was in the fourth position to start the feature. He quickly took the lead and stayed there on the cool, misty night punctuated by a stiff south wind.

Bismarck’s Tim Perkins was leading the first heat until he his engine blew coming across the finish line with one lap remaining. Riley Emmel of Estevan, Saskatchewan, who was behind him much of the way, went on to win the heat.

Bob Heffer of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, rolled away from the field en route to a win in the second heat. Only Tyson Turnbull of Estevan was able to keep pace with Heffer.

Heat 3 was filled with so many cautions, only two cars actually finished the race. Matt Brack of Mead, Colo. took a 1.6-second victory over Grenora’s Tommy Lee as five cars hit the pits and one sat in the infield.

Joey Galloway of Manor, Saskatchewan, got the best of defending Tour champion Jay Noteboom of Hinton, Iowa, in a loaded fourth heat. Galloway won by two-tenths of a second.

Derrick Big Eagle got out in front of a fast fifth heat early and left the trio of Paul Leach, Kyle Schlopp and Les McLenehan chasing his dust.

Dickinson’s Jeff Decker took the pole in Heat 6 and got out to a big early lead before a breakdown forced him into the pits. Bismarck’s Tracey Domagala, who was trailing Decker at the start, held on to win the heat.

Minot’s Spencer Wilson claimed the seventh heat as Steven Pfeifer of Bowbells and Bismarck’s Shawn Strand battled for position behind him.

Turnbull, Noteboom, Allen Kent of Billings, Mont., and David Karst of Mills, Wyo., won the consolation races to earn automatic bids to the feature.

The fourth and final consolation race was slowed by John Barber’s nasty end-over-end wreck. The Swift Current driver hit the wall on the back straightaway and got into Cole LeMontagne of Bismarck, which caused him to flip front over back end.

Dickinson’s Josh Jones and Dwight Burwick finished first and second, respectively, in the last-chance race to earn spots in the 30-lap feature.

The Minot trio of Bob Fuegmann and Nathan Burke and Robby Rosselli and won the IMCA Stock Car heats. Dickinson’s Travis Ulmer, in his Wissota Street Stock, was the lone local driver in the Stock races.

Burke also went on to win the 25-lap feature race.

Dakota Classic Modified Tour

At Southwest Speedway

IMCA Modifieds

Notes: Heat races were 10 laps with the winners automatically advancing to the feature. The consolations were 12 laps with the top four advancing to the feature. The last-chance race consisted of the fifth- through eight-place finishers of the consolations and was 12 laps. The top two finishers advanced to the feature.

Heat 1: 1, Riley Emmel. 2, Robert Hellebust. 3, John Hanson. 4, Fran Martin. 5, Randy Burwick. 6, Travis Ulmer. 7, Mike White. 8, Brent Schlafmann. 9, Tim Perkins, DNF.

Heat 2: 1, Bob Heffer. 2, Tyson Turnbull. 3, Dylan Barnhardt. 4, Jeremy Sorensen. 5, Masen Big Eagle. 6, Dwight Burwick. 7, Brian Brennan. 8, Jason Dinius. 9, Kurt Erdman, DNS.

Heat 3: 1, Matt Brack. 2, Tommy Lee. 3, Donaven Sorensen, DNF. 4, Troy Heupel, DNF. 5, Anthony Miller, DNF. 6, Aaron Turnbull, DNF. 7, Will Brack, DNF. 8, Steven Kuntz, DNF. 9, Travis Olheiser, DNF.

Heat 4: 1, Joey Galloway. 2, Jay Noteboom. 3, Drew Christianson. 4, Hank Berry. 5, Allan Frederick. 6, Darrell Bauer. 7, Lenny Makowski. 8, Tylor Velo. 9, Shaun Ring, DNF.

Heat 5: 1, Derrick Big Eagle. 2, Paul Leach. 3, Kyle Schlopp. 4, Les McLenehan. 5, Dale Burwick. 6, Pete Bradley. 7, Wyatt Dinius. 8, Kirk Wojahn. 9, Eric Burwick, DNF.

Heat 6: 1, Tracey Domagala. 2, Allen Kent. 3, John Flory. 4, Marlyn Seidler. 5, Josh Jones. 6, Eric Paul. 7, Eric Fetzer. 8, Tyler Wagner, DNF. 9, Jeff Decker, DNF.

Heat 7: 1, Spencer Wilson. 2, David Karst. 3, Shawn Strand. 4, Terry Davidson. 5, Steven Pfeifer. 6, Bill Miller. 7, Allan Fetzer. 8, Brenden Gemmill, DNF.

Heat 8: 1, Mike Jergens. 2, Paul Donnelly. 3, Troy Gemmill. 4, Brandon Schlopp. 5, John Barber. 6, Brian Miller. 7, Cole LaMontagne. 8, Kelly Bauman, DNF.

Consolation 1: 1, T. Turnbull. 2, D. Barnhardt. 3, Hanson. 4, Martin. 5, Dw. Burwick. 6, Soresen. 7, Br. Brennan. 8, R. Burwick. 9, Schlafmann. 10, White. 11, J. Dinius, 11, Erdman, DNF. 12, Ulmer, DNF. 13, Hellebust. 14, M. Big Eagle, DNS. 15, Perkins, DNS.

Consolation 2: 1, Noteboom. 2, Berry. 3, A. Turnbull. 4, Christianson. 5, Lee. 6, Heupel. 7, Kuntz. 8, Sorenson. 9, Bauer. 10, Frederick. 11, Ring. 12, Olheiser. 13, W. Brack. 14, Velo. 15, Miller, DNF. 16, Makowski, DNF.

Consolation 3: 1, Kent. 2, Seidler. 3, Flory. 4, McLenehan. 5, Jones. 6, Burwick. 7, Wagner. 8, Paul. 9, Bradley. 10, Leach. 11, E. Fetzer. 12, W. Dinius, DNF. 13, Wojahn, DNF. 14, Decker, DNF.

Consolation 4: 1, Karst. 2, Strand. 3, Pfeifer. 4, B. Gemmill. 5, K. Schlopp. 6, Br. Miller. 7, Donnelly. 8, Davidson. 9, Bauman, DNF. 10, T. Gemmill, DNF. 11, A. Fetzer, DNF. 12, Bi. Miller, DNF. 13, LaMontagne, DNF. 14, Barber, DNF.

Last chance (top two advanced to feature): 1, Jones. 2, Dw. Burwick.

Feature (30 laps): 1, Jergens. 2, M. Brack. 3, A. Turnbull. 4, Wilson. 5, Seidler. 6, Karst. 7, Domagala. 8, Pfeifer. 9, B. Gemmill. 10, Strand. 11, Barnhardt. 12, Berry. 13, Kent. 14, Noteboom. 15, Martin. 16, D. Big Eagle. 17, Flory. 18, Jones. 19, McLenehan. 20, Dw. Burwick.

IMCA Stocks

Notes: Heat races were 10 laps with all drivers advancing to the feature.

Heat 1: 1, Bob Fuegmann. 2, Josh Walla. 3, Shawn Volk. 4, Lindsey LaBatte. 5, Mike Swallers. 6, Travis Ulmer. 7, Wes Baier.

Heat 2: 1, Robby Rosselli. 2, Steven Pfeifer. 3, Randy Conway. 4, Joe Flory. 5, Sterling Labatte. 6, Lee Schaff.

Heat 3: 1, Nathan Burke. 2, Kelly Henderson. 3, Austin Daae. 4, Corey Westerness. 5, Tim Sorensen. 6, Allan Kent, DNF.

Feature (25 laps): 1, Burke. 2, Pfiefer. 3, Wolla. 4, Rosselli. 5, Westerness. 6, Swallers. 7, Schaff. 8, Volk. 9, Labatte. 10, Baier. 11, Daae. 12, Flory.

Tags: auto racing, dakota classic modified tour, southwest speedway, sports