by Chris Stepan

KASSON, Minn. (July 8, 2001) - Mike Lawson lead the parade of first time winners at the Dodge County Speedway on Sunday, July 8th, which also included Jon Van Minsel and Chad Behne.

Street Stocks were the first feature event on the card with Dan Gullikson taking the lead at the drop of the green, but front row sitter Arlen Diercks stayed right on the cushion and powered right back to the outside of Gullikson for the lead.

Diercks retook the lead on the backstretch and began to pull away from Gullikson as John Bushman was beginning to pressure Gullikson for the second spot on lap 2.

The leaders began to run in line around the speedway as Jeff Brauer began to make his way toward the front when suddenly Gullikson suffered a flat tire and ended his fine run. A great battle was ensuing between Bushman, Brauer and Greg Erickson, as Diercks continued to show the way.

Suddenly Diercks sheared his right rear tire off of his # 73 machine, ending his sure feature win and bunching up the field for a 3 lap shoot out to the finish. On the restart, Brauer took command and held the lead to the checkered with Bushman holding off Erickson for third.

Jerry Young took the lead at the drop of the green in the Midwest Modified, with Nick Kramer powering right back on the high side and retaking the lead from Young on lap 2. Mike Lawson shot to the outside of both Kramer and Young into the lead on the backstretch and immediately began to pull away from the field.

After a quick caution, Lawson pulled out to a big advantage again as Matt Madsen began to battle with Chad Herman for fourth while Jim Arnold and Carter Gerlach were storming from the tail of the field and both appeared in the top five on lap 11.

As the laps began to wind down, Gerlach and Arnold continued their march toward the front as Lawson still held a solid advantage. As the white flag flew, Kramer's # 79K broke, which ended his fine run and bunched up the field as Lawson picked up his first DCS feature win of the season ahead of Young and Gerlach, who ran a great race to finish in third.

Jon Van Minsel took the lead at the start of the Super Stock feature from his front row starting spot and set off into the lead, while Bill Clemens and Mark Wytaske raced side by side for second early on. A great battle was ensuing a bit further back between Curt Myers and Don Eischens while they were both trying to make their way to the front. Van Minsel continued to sit up front while Clemens and Wytaske continued to duke it out for second.

Eischens began to make his presence felt as he moved in on Clemens for third before the caution flew again.

On the restart, Clemens again began to battle with Wytaske for second as Eischens was dogging the leaders just past the mid point of the race. Eischens then did a slide job on Clemens for third and immediately began to pressure Wytaske for second. Myers and Nick Herrick were swapping the fifth spot just behind the leaders while Van Minsel continued to run out front.

As the laps wound down, Eischens continued to pressure the leaders, but Van Minsel was up to the challenge and went on to record his first DCS feature win of the season ahead of Eischens and Wytaske.

Chad Behne got the jump on the field at the start of the Modified feature and immediately stretched out to a sizeable advantage over Steve Wetzstein, who was working on Jim King for second. Wetzstein stole the spot away from King and set off after Behne for the lead, but Chad had a big lead until the caution flew for a crash on the backstretch.

On the restart, Behne jumped out the lead again as Todd Scharkey and King were locked in battle for third, while Wetzstein caught Behne up front. The leaders then began to duke it out for the top spot, while Brad Waits, Jay Ihrke, Todd Klees and Darywn Karau were in a good contest for sixth just behind the leaders.

Back up front, Wetzstein began to pressure Behne for the lead until Steve jumped the cushion a bit and allowed Behne to stretch his lead again. As the leaders began to encounter lapped traffic, Behne was calm and collected as he cruised to his first career Modified feature win over Wetzstein and Scharkey.

Racing resumes at Dodge County this Sunday for the Dodge County Fair special, which will pay $1,000 to win the IMCA Modifieds, $500 to win the WISSOTA Super Stocks, $250 to win the WISSOTA Street Stocks and $250 to win the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds. Racing starts at 7pm.

RESULTS

WISSOTA SUPER STOCKS

Feature: Jon Van Minsel, Don Eischens, Mark Wytaske, Curt Myers, Nick Herrick, Dave Haberman, Rick Franzen, Kelly Anderson, Stacey Edgar, Roger Herrick

Heat 1: Van Minsel, Myers, Mark Teske, N. Herrick, Bill Clemens

Heat 2: Eischens, Haberman, Wytaske, Franzen, Dave Solum

WISSOTA STREET STOCKS

Feature: Jeff Brauer, John Bushman, Greg Erickson, Steve Goodenough, Mark Jennings, Rex Welch, Chuck Nerland, Joe Wernecke, Alan Oljenbruns, John Guilt

Heat 1: Dan Gullikson, Welch, Brauer, Arlen Diercks, Nerland

Heat 2: Goodenough, Erickson, Bushman, Jennings, Guilt

WISSOTA MIDWEST MODIFIEDS

Feature: Mike Lawson, Jerry Young, Carter Gerlach, Jim Arnold, Chad Herman, Dana Brunkhorst, Matt Madsen, Greg Pfiefer, Matt Stark, Matt McCarthy

Heat 1: Lawson, Corey Miller, Madsen, Pfiefer, Harland Morehart

Heat 2: Herman, Arnold, Stark, Justin Hainka, McCarthy

Heat 3: Brunkhorst, Nick Kramer, Young, Ron Skalicky, Gary Wilde

IMCA MODIFIEDS

Feature: Chad Behne, Steve Wetzstein, Todd Scharkey, Jim King, Bobby Sorensen, Jay Ihrke, Todd Klees, Brad Waits, Darwyn Karau, Jeff Ringerburg

Heat 1: Wetzstein, Behne, Ihrke, Sorensen, Mike Isder

Heat 2: T. Scharkey, Karau, Ringenburg, Waits, King