Timms Keeps Rolling At Huset’s

BRANDON, S.D. — Ryan Timms, Dustin Gulbrandson and Dusty Ballenger blazed to Huset’s Speedway victories on Sunday during Heiman Fire Equipment Night.

Additionally, Dylan Waxdahl captured the Heser Auto & Detailing RaceSaver Sprint Car Series championship for his first title at the track.

Timms recorded his track-leading fifth Cressman Sanitation 410 Outlaw Sprint Cars feature triumph of the season in dominant fashion.

Timms, who started sixth, took the lead on a restart on Lap 15 and pulled away following the fourth-and-final red flag with four laps remaining to win by 3.814 seconds.

“I had a great car the whole race,” he said. “At the beginning we were a little free. Then I think the track just came to my car. Phenomenal race track. This is the best I think Huset’s has been all year.”

Points leader Kaleb Johnson was involved in a red flag on Lap 10 while running sixth. Timms, who ranks second in the track’s championship standings, was up to third at that point and took second on the restart.

Another red flag five laps later gave Timms the opportunity to pass leader Christopher Thram, who led the first 14 laps.

“Honestly, I was going to commit to the bottom and I missed it,” Timms said. “I was going to slide up behind him. I got about halfway to the corner and I thought I could clear him if I stay in it. I got a really good restart that time and was able to capitalize on it.”

Another caution on Lap 18 and the final red flag on Lap 22 bunched the field together, but Timms was in another league as he quickly pulled away from Thram each time.

“He was way better than we were in clean air,” he said. “The No. 10 car and Ryan, they are obviously really good right now and it shows. We got all three Joel Pingeon Trucking cars here on the podium tonight so that’s pretty neat.”

Scott Winters maneuvered from eighth to third place to tie his season-best result at Huset’s Speedway.

“I feel like I let one get away last weekend,” he said. “The car was good. Hopefully we keep the good runs coming.”

Brendan Mullen charged from 18th to fourth place and Matt Juhl rounded out the top five.

Gulbrandson picked a great time to garner his first Nordstrom’s Automotive Late Model Street Stocks triumph of the season by topping the $5,000-to-win Heiman Challenge.

“Honestly, it doesn’t seem real,” he said. “I haven’t raced for that much money before. It’s awesome. I’ve got to thank Heiman for putting this up. It was a fun race. You just had to hit your marks, not overdrive your car. The track was awesome.”

A trio of cautions was the only thing to slow Gulbrandson, who led all 25 laps during the special race. It marked his 37th career victory at the track, but the first in the division.

Eighth-starting Cory Yeigh finished 1.088 seconds behind Gulbrandson with Tim Dann, points leader Chris Ellingson and J.J. Zebell completing the top five, respectively.

Craig Hanisch set quick time during qualifying before Zebell, Yeigh and Ellingson picked up heat race wins.

Ballenger led the distance of the Heser Auto & Detailing RaceSaver Sprint Car Series for his 32nd career victory at Huset’s Speedway.

“I wanted to go to the top in the worst way, but I kept watching the screen and nobody was gaining up there,” he said. “It’s good to get another win right at the end of the season.”

A caution on Lap 3 had championship implications as Waxdahl, who entered with a 10-point lead over Brady Donnohue in the championship standings, was involved in a spin in turn four when two cars collided in front of him. Waxdahl restarted at the back of the pack near Donnohue, who was penalized for jumping the initial start.

Both drivers advanced a few positions with Donnohue ending the race 12th and Waxdahl 14th, earning him the title by an unofficial eight points.

“I knew he was back there toward the back still,” Waxdahl said of not panicking after his early incident. “I just knew if I could stay on his tail I’d be good.

“It means a lot. This is what we’ve been working for the last two years. Last year was our first full season.”

With the championship battle happening in the back half of the field, Aydin Lloyd closed on Ballenger for the top spot in the closing laps. On the final scheduled lap, Lloyd dove low into turn three, but clipped the infield berm and spun around to set up a green-white-checkered finish.

Zach Patterson, who started 15th, capitalized to move into second place, finishing only 0.302 seconds behind Ballenger, who was the 10th different feature winner in 10 division races this season.

Lee Goos Jr. placed third after starting 11th with Casey Abbas ending fourth and Tye Wilke fifth.

The finish:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 10-Ryan Timms (6); 2. 24T-Christopher Thram (1); 3. 23W-Scott Winters (8); 4. 11M-Brendan Mullen (18); 5. 09-Matt Juhl (2); 6. 2KS-Jack Anderson (4); 7. 53-Jack Dover (9); 8. 16-Riley Goodno (13); 9. 83JR-Sam Henderson (25); 10. 6K-Kaleb Johnson (5); 11. 14H-Kelby Watt (12); 12. 10J-Justin Jacobsma (22); 13. 96-Blaine Stegenga (10); 14. 17B-Ryan Bickett (23); 15. 47-Brant O’Banion (24); 16. 80P-Jacob Peterson (14); 17. 2-Alex Pettas (20); 18. 9-Dominic Dobesh (17); 19. (DNF) G5-Gage Pulkrabek (3); 20. (DNF) 31-Koby Werkmeister (11); 21. (DNF) 13-Mark Dobmeier (7); 22. (DNF) 27-Weston Olson (15); 23. (DNF) 10X-Trevor Serbus (16); 24. (DNF) 81-Justin Henderson (19); 25. (DNF) 14-Jody Rosenboom (21); 26. (DNF) 77-Logan Domagala (26); 27. (DNS) 8-Micah Slendy.