By Tony Steuck
All The Dirt! Racing News
FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 18) - Dan Ebert added a WISSOTA 100 Modified championship to his ever-growing resume on Saturday night at I-94
Speedway. The Lake Shore, MN driver made his move in the second half of
the race and held off 26th-starter Johnny Broking for the $6,000 paycheck.
Ebert led the field to the green flag in the 40-lap WISSOTA 100 Modified
feature, but he hit the gas too soon, and was docked one row in the
three-wide restart. Jimmy Mars grabbed the lead after the restart with
Mike Stearns second and Tyler Peterson third. Stearns looked under Mars
early and Tim Johnson raced with Ebert in the top five. Peterson moved
into battle for second before a caution flag waved with just three laps
scored.
Peterson made a big run into turn one after the restart; he slid up in
turn two and took the lead away from Mars. Ebert blasted into third and
the top three drivers distanced themselves from the rest of the pack.
Stearns and Johnson both remained in the top five further behind the
lead trio. Ebert picked up the pace and challenged Mars for a few laps,
but Mars moved away again. Peterson was about to catch the tail of the
field when the yellow appeared again on lap 11.
Peterson continued to set the pace in the next green flag run while Zach
Johnson, who started 15th, started to battle with Stearns and Johnson
for a position in the top five.
After a restart with 16 laps scored, Ebert made his move for second and
stayed with Peterson at the front. Johnson raced with Mars for third and
Johnny Broking, who started the race in 26th, cracked the top five
before halfway. Broking maneuvered by Johnson for fourth on lap nine and
both cars put the heat on Mars. Peterson slowly opened his advantage
once again before the final caution with 26 laps recorded.
Peterson led the pack to the restart, but Ebert set his sights on the
top spot and threw a slide job on the leader in turn two. Ebert grabbed
the position, and Broking moved to third and challenged for another
spot. Broking fought by Peterson for second on lap 27 and Zach Johnson
reemerged in the top five around the same time.
Ebert pulled away from the field over the next couple circuits and
Peterson tried to regain second for a few laps, but fell into the grips
of Zach Johnson. Broking found his rhythm on the high side and closed on
the leader when Ebert had to deal with a lapped machine. Broking chipped
away and was within striking distance with three laps to go, but his
machine was too sideways during the following laps and Ebert drove away
to the WISSOTA 100 championship. Ebert scored his second WISSOTA 100
title - his first came in a Midwest Modified during the 2012 event at
Dakota State Fair Speedway.
Broking’s run from the tail ended with a runner-up finish while
Peterson, Zach Johnson and Tim Johnson earned top five finishes. Mars
finished sixth ahead Stearns, 17th-starter Ryan Gierke, 20th-starter
Josh Beaulieu and Brandon Dolman.
The final qualifying event for the division was the Last Chance
Qualifier, which kicked off action for the Modifieds. After a few early
cautions, Landon Atkinson pulled away with the lead while Johnny Broking
quickly worked to second from fifth and Dale Ames was close in third.
Josh Thoennes, Jake Wildman and Brent Dutenhoffer occupied the final
three transfer positions in fourth through sixth.
Brett Hoium raced the low groove and slipped by Dutenhoffer for the
final transfer on lap nine of 15; he worked on Wildman in an effort to
gain another position. Brian Haben, who started deep in 15th, also raced
by Dutenhoffer, but was still in seventh on the final lap. Although the
field appeared to be set with the checkers in the air, Wildman broke
loose in turns three and four, which allowed Haben to sneak by for the
sixth and final transfer position. Atkinson, Broking, Ames, Thoennes and
Hoium also transferred with top-five finishes.