By Tony Steuck
All The Dirt! Racing News
FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 18) - Mod Four drivers Tommy Bawden and
Keith Thell spent seemingly every lap of action within a few car lengths
of each other during the WISSOTA 100. Bawden made a late pass on Thell
to earn his first WISSOTA 100 title on Saturday, and the paycheck worth
$1,500.
Bawden and Thell shared the front row of the 20-lap Mod Four feature
with Skyler Smith in the three-wide start. Bawden jumped out and grabbed
the initial lead, but Thell charged to the front in turns three and four
of lap one. Smith raced in third and Dean Larson was fourth while Robert
Holtquist and Chad Funt battled for fifth. The top two quickly pulled
away while Holtquist advanced to fourth and pressured Smith for
position. Thell opened a bit of a lead before the first caution on lap
five. The caution flag made several more appearances throughout the
remainder of the race.
Bawden stayed with Thell through the restarts; Holtquist was up to
third, but spun to bring out a lap 10 caution. Tyler Larson climbed to
fourth, and then was elevated to third after Holtquist’s misfortune.
The battle for the lead increased in intensity early in the second half
of the race. Bawden moved in and pulled even with Thell before a lap 14
caution slowed the action. He kept the heat on before another caution
flag with 16 laps scored.
When the race resumed, Bawden showed no signs of slowing down; he raced
to the inside of Thell and barely led the completion of lap 17. Thell
powered back into the lead out of turn two and paced the field through
turns three and four, but a caution dropped before the lap could be scored.
Bawden led to the restart with three laps left. Thell charged into the
second corner, but slipped high and Tyler Larson moved by for second.
Funt rallied to grab fourth before the final yellow with 18 laps recorded.
Thell reclaimed second after the restart and made one final push over
the remaining distance. He used the upper groove, but was unable to make
a pass. Bawden earned the victory with Thell second, Tyler Larson third,
Funt fourth and Smith fifth. Dean Larson, Jamie Flickinger, Jeff Kittle,
Blake Erickson and Dustin Holtquist rounded out the top 10.