BRANDON, S.D. — Christopher Thram, J.J. Zebell and Dillon Bickett scored emotional victories on Sunday evening at Huset’s Speedway, which hosted Bike Night presented by Indian Motorcycle of Sioux Falls.
For Thram and Bickett, it was their first career triumph at the track while Zebell’s win came on a weekend when he lost a loved one.
Thram’s trip into the Sea Foam Victory Lane following the Cressman Sanitation 410 Outlaw Sprint Cars feature also marked his first 410ci winged sprint car win.
“It’s really special for us being a family team and all,” he said. “It means a ton to all of us. I’ve been dreaming of (winning at) this place. Since (I was) a kid I’ve been coming here and it’s pretty cool to win here.”
Skylar Prochaska led the first eight laps of the 25-lap feature before Brooke Tatnell took the lead on a restart on lap nine. A couple of laps later, Thram moved into second place running the bottom lane and he capitalized on lap 14 when Tatnell was dramatically slowed while trying to lap a car entering turn one.
Thram held the point for the final dozen laps, which included restarts on Lap 18 and on lap 23.
“It worked out pretty well,” he said. “I honestly didn’t think we were going to be really good at the beginning. We were pretty tight, but the bottom kept coming and coming and coming to us. It was really good at the end so that’s all that matters.”
Ryan Timms used a last-lap pass to finish second — only .828 seconds behind Thram.
“Early on it was a little free and I kind of dropped a few spots,” Timms said. “After a couple of cautions I just kept trying to get it cleaned off up there and kept running it harder and harder. There was a certain sweet spot the way you had to hit it without getting tight or anything. I got it figured out toward the end and we were coming.”
Jack Dover rounded out the podium for his best finish of the season at Huset’s Speedway.
“Normally back in my early days I was always up top against the fence banging it down,” he said. “I just seem to roll really good around the bottom here. I was a little snug at the beginning and it seemed about 10 laps in we lost a little fuel and we got better.”
Chase Randall scored a fourth-place finish and Kaleb Johnson recorded a fifth-place run.
Zebell dominated the Nordstrom’s Automotive Late Model Street Stocks main event, leading every lap and winning by 3.630 seconds to garner his track-leading third triumph of the season.
“I was pretty motivated tonight,” he said. “I lost my dad on Friday. Just driving with a lot of emotion tonight. This one’s for my old man.”
The race went non-stop after a caution on lap two. Zebell had a close call near the midpoint of the race, which allowed his competitors to close. However, Zebell rallied in the second half of the feature to regain a sizeable advantage before the checkered flag was waved.
“I about wrecked it down here,” he said. “I jumped the cushion, slid, it got sideways on me and I thought, ‘Oh shit, I’m going to lose this thing.’ I think I had someone riding alongside me.”
John Hoing was the runner up with Mike Chaney placing third. Ron Howe ended fourth and Dan Jensen finished fifth.
Bickett became the seventh different Wyffels Hybrids RaceSaver Sprint Car Series feature winner after pacing the field for all 20 circuits.
“It feels pretty good,” he said. “I just knew that starting up front on this track would be good for me. I was asking where I should go there on the reds and they said keep it down low.”
Cautions on lap six and on lap 12 were both followed by a red flag on each restart, which kept the leader out of traffic throughout the race. Bickett hit his marks on the bottom groove around the dirt oval to win by 1.146 seconds.
Jacob Peterson finished second with Brandon Bosma third, Nake Eakin fourth and Bayley Ballenger fifth. It marked the season-best outing at Huset’s Speedway for Peterson, Eakin and Ballenger.