Three drivers found their way back to the winner’s circle at Brown County Speedway Friday night.
Trevor Nelson of Warner won his third straight feature, while Chad Becker of Aberdeen and Nick Perry of Huron made it back-to-back feature victories at the local track.
Becker outdueled fellow Aberdeen racer Kent Arment to win the Late Model feature by a bumper at the finish line.
Becker started out driving the low side of the oval before Arment started hooking up on the high side and eventually took a brief lead.
“I kind of figured it was going to come to that,” Becker said of the high side coming in. “I just didn’t know how long it would take, so I went down on the bottom. When I noticed somebody was up there, I had to get going. I got up there.”
Becker had no trouble running the high side until he encountered lap traffic. That made things interesting, especially on the final lap when Becker was forced to leave his path. That allowed Arment a chance to try and slide underneath him at the finish.
“The lap car kind of got in the way there at the end and kind woke me up big time. I was a little worried,” Becker said. “I knew he’d try and slide me and get up in there, but me and Kent usually always have great races together, so I can’t complain about that at all.”
Becker was able to edge Arment by the smallest of margins at the finish.
Nelson also used the high side to his advantage in winning his third staight Super Stock feature victory. He took a chance on the high side knowing it would be difficult to pass if he maintained his line on the bottom.
“You just kind of had to keep the momentum up and roll through the marbles and just try something,” Nelson said. “You’re not going to win unless you try something. Just fortunate it paid off in our way and we had a good car tonight.”
Once Nelson grabbed the lead midway through the race, he was able to stay in control as there were no caution flags to allow the pack to catch up.
“I really didn’t know what I had behind me,” Nelson said. “You just kind of hit your marks and hope for the best.”
Mike Stearns of Aberdeen made his move early to help ensure a win in the Modified feature. He was able to grab a lead in the opening laps and then stayed in control to take the checkered flag.
“I just kind of watched the B Mods. … I felt like the bottom was going to be really good, but I’m thinking everybody else is seeing that, too,” Stearns said. “You just got to take your chances when you get ’em.”
Stearns took that chance and it paid off for him.
“You kind of got to be aggressive,” Stearns said, “but you don’t want to be overly aggressive.”
Ryan Erdahl was also able to find a way to the front of the pack on the way to his first career feature win, taking the Legends main event.
“It’s my sixth year in a Legend car now, and it’s been pretty tough,” said the 23-year-old driver from Jamestown, N.D.
Naturally, Erdahl was pleased with his initial feature victory.
“It feels amazing,” he said.
Perry had a lead, lost it on a restart, but got it back when a caution flag came out before the lap was completed on the way to winning the Midwest Mod feature.
“I’d like to blame rookie mistakes,” Perry said of giving up the lead. “This is our third year now, but I’m still learning, I’m still trying to hit my marks and be consistent.”
Once Perry was given his position back, he did not relinquish it, even when another yellow came out.
“I’m only going to let that happen once,” Perry said.
Broc Stout of Winner won the Street Stock feature in the nick of time. He led from start to finish in a race that went green, white, checkered before a collision occured right after he had crossed the finish line.
“It scared the heck out of me, because they all wrecked over there,” Stout said, “and then I go pulling off onto the horse track.”
Stout thought the race was over, but didn’t know for sure right away.
“I took the checkered already. I didn’t know if they were going to call it,” Stout said, “so I was sitting over there in victory lane just sweating bullets.”
Racing continues at 7 p.m. Friday.
To see the complete results, click on the following link:
