Domagala hangs on for 1st Southwest Speedway title

• Tracey Domagala

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Tracey Domagala of Bismarck drives in a pack during his heat race on Saturday night during the Southwest Speedway’s Season Championship races. Domagala went on to win his IMCA Modifieds feature race and clinch his first-ever season title after entering the day one point back in the standings.

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Tracey Domagala held his breath for what seemed like an eternity.

After three cautions and green-white-checkered flag restarts, the Bismarck driver finally crossed the finish line a champion.

Domagala won the IMCA Modifieds feature Saturday night at the Southwest Speedway, and in doing so, he won his first-ever Season Championship at any race track.

“I just came out here with the thought process that I’ve got to win this race. It’s a good way to end the season,” Domagala said.

Domagala entered the night one point behind Mandan’s Darrel Bauer in the point standings.

He needed a perfect night to win the title.

He got one.

The race went Domagala’s way from the opening lap. He started ahead of Bauer and gradually made his way to the front of the pack. He took the lead going around the second turn of the ninth lap and had a huge lead three laps later.

Bauer, meanwhile, stayed in the top 10 but could never get close. He finished fifth and ended the season second in the standings.

With five laps left, Domagala had a seemingly insurmountable lead.

Then, as fate would have it, Domagala ran into lap traffic. Kurt Wojahn, running in the back of the pack, spun out and Domagala got into him.

After two more restarts, Domagala finally got his title.

“Those restarts are tough,” he said. “I just had to hold the low groove and not let anybody pass me on the low side.”

Schaun Olheiser made a slow and cautious march to his first track title.

The Dickinson Pure Stocks driver came into the night with a practically insurmountable lead and raced like it, hanging back in both his heat and feature races.

The strategy paid off.

In a 15-lap race filled with nearly as many cautions and lasted just over 30 minutes, Olheiser did what he did all year. He finished the race.

“I’m glad I got through that frickin’ ordeal,” he said.

It was Olheiser’s first season title.

“That’s a big relief. I’m glad I got it,” he said.

Scott Gartner, who locked up the season points championship at the Dacotah Speedway in Mandan on Friday night, won his fourth feature race of the season at the Southwest Speedway.

He got a good jump on a restart that put him into the lead, passing Deryk Voller – a Dickinson racer who tied Dickinson’s Cole Lewis for the second place on the season – and inching past Chad Hausauer as he crossed the finish line.

“When there’s long cautions like that, it’s worse because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Gartner, a 21-year-old who said he plans to stay in the Pure Stocks class at least one more year.

Josh Olheiser clinched his second Wissota Street Stocks season title at the Southwest Speedway after winning his heat and taking third in the feature race.

Olheiser fended off a caution in the third lap of the 20-lap feature to come back and keep himself far enough ahead of Travis Ulmer, who entered the night eight points back.

“It’s not the prettiest way to do it, but it’s done,” he said. “I’m glad this week’s over, that’s all I can say.”

Zach Frederick won the feature, his first of the season at the track, with his father, Allan Frederick, coming in second.

“I wasn’t running for points so I didn’t really care,” Zach Frederick said. “But it’s good to see him (Josh Olheiser) win it.”

Cory Reisenauer was mindful of his surroundings in the Thunder 4’s.

The Dickinson driver wrapped up his first title by beating friendly rival Cody Hulse of Dunn Center by a single point.

Gary Barnett won both the heat and feature races with Hulse coming in second, enough to gain points on Reisenauer but not enough to pass him.

“I’ve been worried about it all week,” said Reisenauer, who came into the night with a four-point lead and finished fourth in the feature. “I knew I had to beat him or stay behind him (by two spots).”

Southwest Speedway

Season Championship

IMCA Modifieds

Heat 1: 1, Dwight Burwick. 2, Travis Ulmer. 3, Tracey Domagala. 4, Travis Olheiser. 5, Josh Jones, DNF. 6, Nathan Speten, DQ.

Heat 2: 1, Dale Burwick. 2, Wyatt Dinius. 3, Eric Paul. 4, Randy Sandvick. 5, Kirk Wojahn.

Heat 3: 1, Darrell Bauer. 2, Marlyn Seidler. 3, Bill Miller. 4, Lenny Makowski. 5, Rusty Corneliusen.

Feature: 1,

Wissota Street Stocks

Heat 1: 1, Josh Olheiser. 2, Zach Frederick. 3, Monte Gawryluk. 4, Jason Meidinger. 5, Aaron Schoon. 6, Richard Jordan. 7, Terry Zastoupil. 8, Kelly Wanner.

Heat 2: 1, Allan Frederick. 2, Jim Heaton. 3, Darin Tarrel. 4, Travis Ulmer. 5, T.C. Shelhamer. 6, Hailey Jordan. 7, Geoff Hellman, DNF.

Feature: 1, Z. Frederick. A. Frederick. 3, Olheiser. 4, Gawryluk. 5, Ulmer. 6, Shelhamer. 7, Zastoupil. 8, Schoon. 9, R. Jordan. 10, Wanner. 11, Meidinger. 12, H. Jordan. 13, Heaton, DNF. 14, Hellman, DNS. 15, Tarrel, DNS.

Pure Stocks

Heat 1: 1, Donn Olstad. 2, Brandon Deavy. 3, Nathan Messer. 4, Chad Jahner. 5, Devon Wandler. 6, Dustin Herz. 7, Lucas Preston. 8, Carl Johanson.

Heat 2: 1, Deryk Voller. 2, Scott Gartner. 3, Roy Erickson. 4, Schaun Olheiser. 5, Tyler Bartholomew. 6, Chad Hausauer. 7, Kendall Booke. 8, Monty Hoffman.

Heat 3: 1, Deen Brecht. 2, Cole Lewis. 3, Mark Selle. 4, Jon Wells. 5, Corey Merriman. 6, Hunter Domagala. 7, Alex Braun.

Feature: 1, Gartner. 2, Hausauer. 3, Lewis. 4, Voller. 5, Olheiser. 6, Jahner. 7, Erickson. 8, Selle. 8, Messer. 10, Bartholomew. 11, Merriman. 12, Braun. 13, Johanson. 14, Hoffman. 15, Brecht, DNF. 16, Olstad, DNF. 17, Domagala, DNF. 18, Booke, DNF. 19, Deavy, DNF. 20, Wells, DNF. 21, Wandler, DNF. 22, Herz, DNF. 23, Preston, DNF.

Thunder 4

Heat: 1, Gary Barnett. 2, Cody Hulse. 3, Cory Reisenauer. 4, Scott Hagemeister. 5, Derek Nitschke. 6, Khord Christie. 7, Nylee Boyce, DNF.

Feature: 1, Barnett. 2, Hulse. 3, Nitschke. 4, Reisenauer. 5, Hagemeister. 6, Christie, DNF. 7, Boyce, DNF.

Tags: tracey domagala, auto racing, southwest speedway, sports