Courtesy of Redwood Speedway/Steve Mejia

REDWOOD FALLS — It was a perfect Sunday night at the Redwood Speedway as racing finally returned after a two-week weather delay for H.O.T.R.O.D. Vintage Night.

Fans packed “The Big House” for an action-packed night featuring five classes of hard-fought racing.

WISSOTA STREET STOCKS

Presented by Zeuli Race Engines, the WISSOTA Street Stock feature kicked off the evening with six cars taking the green flag. The start was nothing short of thrilling, with drivers fanning out nearly four-wide into Turn 1. The No. 3 of Austin Hamre came out on top to lead Lap 1, but the lead changed hands on Lap 3 when the 16A of Coltyn Schuler took command. Moments later, the caution flew for a scary incident involving the 2* of Dustin Schultz from Montevideo, whose car appeared to lose brakes and slid off between Turns 3 and 4, making hard contact with the wall. Fortunately, Schultz was uninjured. On the restart, Schuler was untouchable, cruising to his first win of the year at Redwood Speedway.

EVOLUTION AG TECH IMCA HOBBY STOCKS

The Hobby Stocks, one of Redwood’s premier classes, have been dominated all season by Brewster, Minnesota’s 75C Cory Probst. Fourteen cars lined up for the feature, with 63-year-old veteran George Motto from St. Peter on the pole, and 16-year-old Blake Foesch from Bird Island alongside — a perfect example of the division’s diversity. The race got off to a rocky start, with the first caution waving before the field reached Turn 1 as the 81 of Tyler Kerkhoff spun. Foesch took the early lead on the restart, showing impressive speed, but another caution slowed the pace. When racing resumed, Foesch held strong until Lap 3, when a mechanical failure sent him hard into the Turn 1 wall, also collecting the 7K of Jon Schroeder. Both drivers were done for the night. That put point leader Probst out front, with the 69 of Roger Krebs from Clements, Minnesota, in pursuit. Krebs stayed glued to Probst’s bumper but could never find a way by. The final caution on Lap 10 restacked the field, but Probst pulled away to score his seventh win of the season, with Krebs settling for second.

IMCA MODIFIEDS

Presented by Mager Construction Seven IMCA Modifieds took the green in their feature event. The 8M of Dalton Magers from Redwood Falls grabbed the early lead, but the advantage lasted just three turns before the 19M of Dan Menk surged to the front to lead Lap 1. By Lap 3, Danube, Minneosota’s Brandon Beckendorf in the No. 5 car had powered his way to the lead and never looked back. Beckendorf dominated the rest of the way, with point leader Trent Loverude from New Ulm finishing second and Magers rounding out the podium in third.

IMCA SPORT

COMPACTS

Only six cars made the call for the IMCA Sport Compact feature, with half the field coming from Wisconsin. Point leader Gary Schumacher in the 51X started on the pole with the 24G of Dale Gatton to his outside. Gatton led the first five laps before mechanical trouble forced him to the pits, handing the lead to the 444 of Chad Halterman from Stanley, Wisconsin. On the final lap, Halterman was challenged by the 36 of Riley Sopiarz from Cadott, Wisconsin. The two raced side-by-side through Turns 3 and 4, with Sopiarz edging ahead at the line for what appeared to be his first win at Redwood. However, both Sopiarz and Halterman were disqualified in post-race tech, giving the win to Schumacher.

J & S TRUCKING IMCA STOCK CARS

The night wrapped up with the “Class Too Tough to Tame”– the J & S Trucking IMCA Stock Cars. Thirteen cars made up the field, with Jackson, MN’s Luke Sathoff on the pole and Danube, MN’s Shaun Bruns on the outside. Bruns took the early lead, but Sathoff reclaimed it on Lap 2. The two battled door-to-door until a caution on Lap 5 for the 110 of Ken Tietz, who spun and collected the 71X of Jake Bruns, ending Tietz’s night. On the restart, Sathoff was in control, but the show was in the back as the XX of Brandon Beckendorf, filling in as a substitute driver, charged from 11th to second. Beckendorf closed rapidly in the final laps but fell just 0.687 seconds short at the checkers. For Sathoff, the victory was extra special — it marked his first career feature win at “The Big House.”