Turcotte gets early Father's Day gift
NORTH CENTRAL SPEEDWAY
BARROWS - Street Stock driver Tom Turcotte and his wife are expecting an addition to their family in August. On Saturday evening, Turcotte received an early Father's Day gift with his first victory in two years at North Central Speedway as he held off Jason Vandekamp in a thrilling feature event.
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For Turcotte the race was the culmination of two things. First is the work that Peggy Jensen and Cliff Sasker and the rest of the track crew do in keeping the conditions ideal for racing. The second thing is the quality of the drivers in the Super Stock class and the friendly competition that exists with the group.
"It's a class with a lot of talented drivers," said Turcotte. "Anyone of us on any given night can win. It's not like there is a top five. As far as the drivers, there are a lot of good guys behind me. I just started from the front row."
Tom Turcotte of East Gull Lake won the Wissota Street Stock race Saturday at North Central Speedway in Barrows. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey » Purchase reprints of this photo.
Two of those talented drivers, Jeff Innes and Mark Johnson were looking to become repeat winners in 2007 and they started together from row two. Turcotte and Randy Sprague started from row one with each one looking to capture their first feature victory of the year.
A caution flag for debris on the track at the midway point saw Turcotte in first place with Johnson in second place and Vandekamp in third. Johnson was spun out later in the race which took him out of the running for the top spot. That left it up to Turcotte and Vandekamp for a thrilling run to the finish. Turcotte was victorious by less than a car length.
"I heard those guys were coming," said Turcotte. "The only thing I saw was the last lap when Vandekamp was door-to-door with me. The best thing about it was that it was fun and I finally got the monkey off my back."
Mason Karlsgodt of Brainerd (left) and Jeff Klun of Ironton traded paint coming around a corner during a Pure Stock heat Saturday at North Central Speedway. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey » Purchase reprints of this photo.
Pure Stock Feature - A slow start in 2006 kept Dan Ebert from gaining the points championship.
It doesn't look like 2007 will be a repeat as Ebert took another checkered flag. The impressive part of this race was Ebert coming from row four and gaining the lead on just the fourth lap of the race. Ebert led the rest of the way with Derek Olson finishing second and Allen Brehmer finishing in third.
Midwest Modified Feature - Troy Jordan held the points lead coming into Saturday nights event and there was no change as Jordan gained the checkered flag ahead of Mark Anderson and Bud Martini.
Super Stock Feature - Ken Puckett leads the points race with the Mid-Season Championship coming next weekend. 2007 champion Tim Johnson doesn't want Puckett to feel comfortable in that spot. Johnson did his part with a win over Puckett in the feature on Saturday.
Mike Brenny (right), of Foley, spun out on a turn while Chuck Moss went by, trailing smoke during a Midwest Modified heat Saturday at North Central Speedway. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey » Purchase reprints of this photo.
Modified Feature - Ryan Canon is the national leader in Wissota for the Modified class and he was the feature winner on Saturday. Don Eischens and Rick Jacobson were the two other major players on Saturday, and with Canon, they provided a great green-white-checker finish coming out of a caution with two laps left. Canon held off Eischens with Jacobson finishing in third.
NCS PURE STOCK
Feature-1-Dan Ebert, 2-Derek Olson, 3-Allen Brehmer
B Feature- 1-Corey Juaire, 2-Travis Klun, 3-Jim Ringheimer
Heat 1- 1-Nate Hanson, 2-Brian Boser, 3-Dustin Joel
Heat 2- 1-Mark Olson, 2-Allen Brehmer, 3-Cody Przybilla
Heat 3- 1-Derek Olson, 2-Dan Ebert, 3-Franky Daudt
WISSOTA STREET STOCKS
Feature-1-Tom Turcotte, 2-Jason Vandekamp, 3-Robert Young
Heat 1-1-Randy Sprague, 2-Cory Rosen, 3-Jason Vandekamp
Heat 2 -1-Charlie Peterson, 2-Jeff Innes, 3-Mark Johnson
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODIFIEDS
Feature-1-Troy Jordan, 2-Mark Anderson, 3-Bud Martini
B Feature 1-1-Brad Feierabend, 2-Tim Siercks, 3-Karl Tollefson
B Feature 2-1-Mike Lien, 2-Bill Matzdorf, 3-John Sharpnack
Heat 1-1-Scott Blood, 2-Ryan Studanski, 3-Erik Peterson
Heat 2-1-Shane Sabraski, 2-Mike Jones, 3-Ryan Kriese
Heat 3-1-Mark Anderson, 2-Troy Jordan, 3-Dennis Czech
Heat 4-1-Matt Weisman, 2-John Thompson, 3-Danny Vang
Heat 5-1-Mitch Lowe, 2-Bud Martini, 3-George Sniezek
WISSOTA SUPER STOCKS
Jerry Mar of Motley, racing Midwest Modified, cornered hard Saturday at North Central Speedway. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey » Purchase reprints of this photo.
Feature-1-Tim Johnson, 2-Ken Puckett, 3-Erick Thiesse
Heat 1-1-Josh Anderson, 2-Butch Butcher, 3-Ken Puckett
Heat 2-1-Tim Johnson, 2-Erick Thiesse, 3-Dave Mass
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
Feature-1-Ryan Canon, 2-Don Eischens, 3-Rick Jacobson
B Feature-1-Doug Miller, 2-Dano Ostrander, 3-Alex Engelstad
Heat 1-1-Andy Miskowic, 2-Bud Martini, 3-Kevin Yeager
Heat 2-1-Brian Strand, 2-Jim Chyba, 3-Erick Thiesse
Heat 3-1-Rick Jacobson, 2-Luke Hines, 3-Ryan Canon