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Before any races began, folks at Brown County Speedway paid tribute to a local legend on Friday, July 3.
Ron Droog of Aberdeen, known as Mr. X-Citement to local race fans, died June 23. His contributions to the speedway and many accomplishments were acknowledged at the start of the night.
Droog was a great driver, claiming 26 checkered flags in 1987 alone. He also ran the Aberdeen track from 1975 to 1997.
Current track promoter and racer Kent Arment said it was only fitting to remember Droog, who was 78 when he died.
“I was a big Ron Droog fan. He was such a class act, and it was cool to honor him before the races tonight,” Arment said. “We had a lot of cars tonight, good racers, and I hope the fans appreciated it because I just paid for those fireworks, and they’re not cheap … I’m kidding. Seriously, tonight was a lot of fun, and we’re happy it turned out pretty good for the fans.”
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Between the tribute and the fireworks display that capped the night, there was plenty of racing.
Like Droog, Arment pulls double duty on Friday nights, and he might have been channeling Droog just a bit as he held off Mike Stearns, also of Aberdeen, to win the Modified feature race.
“Generally, my car hasn’t been good there. It’s been better on the bottom of the track, but we got the car working better and pretty sure we found what was going on all year, and, boy, it felt better tonight,” Arment said. “I knew Mike was behind me and it was gonna be tough holding him off, but, yeah, tell you what, the car just handled well on the cushion, and I wasn’t bouncing around like I had been.”
Aberdeen’s Stewart Schipke approaches the fourth turn while winning the Super Stock feature Friday, July 3 at Brown County Speedway. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Schipke takes Super Stock checkered flag
Stewart Schipke of Aberdeen beat Warner’s Trevor Nelson to the finish line in the Super Stock feature.
Nelson entered the night with five wins in six features at Brown County Speedway this season.
“It’s not easy holding Trevor off at all, he’s a good driver and a good kid,” Schipke said. “Trevor’s dad was a good driver, they have really good equipment. I’m getting up there in age. I’ll be 64, and I’m racing against guys in their 30s and 20s, so I don’t feel too bad when I beat ’em.”
He was able to maintain his lead over Nelson and the rest of the field after a couple restarts.
“I wanted to get a little extra jump at the green flag, and I tried to stagger it, either go early or late, depending on how close the guys were behind me. I just felt like tonight, with the car we had, if I got the lead, it would be pretty hard to take it from me,” Schipke said.
He knows he’s a lot closer to the end of his racing career than the beginning.
“Maybe a couple more years. I mean, the adrenaline rush, yeah, I still feel it. It’s kind of my drug, in a sense, but yeah, it may be getting close for me to stop,” Schipke said.
Huron’s Jayden Bogh stays towards the middle of the track heading into the second turn during the Street Stock feature Friday, July 3 at Brown County Speedway. He won the race. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
While on the track, Bogh remembers Huron’s troubles
Huron’s Jayden Bogh had a little more on his mind than racing when he got into his Street Stock car.
He was thinking about friends and family in Huron who were dealing with the effects from a severe thunderstorm with 100 mph winds that ripped through the city on Thursday, July 2.
“Yeah, it’s not good. There are a lot of people without power, and there’s a lot of damage,” Bogh said. “At first, I didn’t think it was that bad, but once you got into town it was like, ‘Holy Crap.’ There’s a lot of house damage, business damage. It’s gonna take a little while to clean everything up.”
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At least his race went smoothly as he claimed his second feature victory of the season. He started sixth, but was able to maneuver past Jodie Michaelsohn in the sixth lap.
“After the yellow (flag), I wasn’t sure how hard I needed to drive the car, and I was kinda messing up there near the end, but within a split second I was back on the gas,” Bogh said. “You can’t get behind cars if you’re in front of them, and I knew I had to push it pretty hard.”
Feature race winners during the annual Fireworks Spectacular were:
- Late Model: Thomas Weisgram, Aberdeen.
- Midwest Modified: Brennan Weight, LaMoure N.D.
- Preston Martin: Lincoln, N.D.
- Super Stock: Schipke.
- Modifieds: Arment.
- Street Stock: Bogh.
Balanced attack gives Aberdeen Circus win over Groton
Aberdeen Circus got timely hitting and a solid starting pitching performance to knock off Groton Locke Electric 7-1 in amateur baseball action on Monday, July 6 at Fossum Field.
Casey Vining launches a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning during the Circus’ 7-1 win over Groton. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
“We’ve got multiple bats when our full lineup is here, and that’s a good thing for us,” said player/coach Evan Brandt. “We’ve got guys like Casey (Vining and) WolfDon (Thorson) who can leave the yard every single time and mix it in with guys who can get on base. Yeah, when we’ve got that group, we’re a very good team.”
Vining proved that going two for three with a home run to left field.
“I was actually looking for a changeup, but it was a fastball in the middle of the zone, and I put a pretty good swing on it. When we have a full roster, or close to it, we’re a really competitive ball club, and we can play with anybody,” Vining said.
Chad Ellingson got the start and tossed six innings, allowing one run on four hits. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.
“Well, it takes a little bit for the arm to get loose as the years go by, and you try to limit how many pitches you throw and tonight, I thought it was where it needed to be,” Ellingson said. “I was able to get ahead in the count, for the most part, tonight, and the guys behind me made the plays when they needed to, which was big.”
Circus led 7-0 after four innings and cruised the rest of the way.
Aberdeen scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and logged a 12-2 triumph against Northville on Wednesday, July 1 at Fossum Field. Aberdeen added five more runs in the fourth with Kris Kwak driving in two on a single.
The Circus returns to action Wednesday, July 8 at home against Redfield at 6 p.m.
The Aberdeen Smittys celebrate with Levi Hoffman, center, after his walk-off single that gave the Smittys a 7-6 win over Palace City Thursday, July 2 at Fossum Field. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Smittys rally past Groton for 12-10 victory
Down six runs after three innings, Aberdeen’s offense took over as the Smittys claimed a 12-10 victory against Groton in American Legion baseball action Tuesday, July 7 in Groton.
Aberdeen scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to draw within 8-6, but would need more production as the game moved along.
In the top of the seventh, the Smittys plated three more runs to grab an 11-9 edge. They took advantage of five walks issued by Groton pitchers in that frame.
Jackson Post and Joe Cogley both had three hits for Aberdeen as relief pitcher Bennett Eisenbeisz got the win on the mound.
Aberdeen found its offense at the last possible moment on Thursday, July 2 at Fossum Field.
Trailing Palace City of Mitchell 6-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Smittys erupted for six runs, capped by a Levi Hoffman RBI single, to pick up a 7-6 win.
Aberdeen starting pitcher Bennet Eisenbiesz delivers a pitch in the top of the second inning against Palace City on Thursday, July 2 at Fossum Field. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
Hoffman’s hit to right field came off Palace City relief pitcher Nolan Widstrom and scored Joe Cogley for the game-winner.
“I was just looking for a fastball near the plate, something easy to hit, and I got it,” Hoffman said. “We just had a lot of energy in the (seventh) inning. Once we got a couple hits, everyone just got more confident.”
The count was 1-1 when he connected.
“I was thinking, ‘There it is, that’s the pitch I was looking for,’ and I swung. Once I saw where the right fielder was playing, I knew it was game over,” Hoffman said.
Aberdeen head coach Josh Steinwandt said the Smittys bats came alive at a critical time.
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“We had 13 innings … of ‘Why can’t we hit the ball?’ to suddenly, in the last inning, everyone can hit the ball,” he said. “I can’t really describe what happened, but this is a really good group of guys. We were going down a bad path, and getting this win is absolutely huge.”
Aberdeen starting pitcher Bennett Eisenbiesz went six and two-thirds innings, allowing six runs — four earned — on 12 hits.
“He just battles,” Steinwandt said. “He’s at 74 pitches with one out in the fourth inning, and I had someone head to the bullpen to warm up and he made it until two outs in the seventh inning. He mixes his knuckleball and curveball and throws strikes while keeping guys off balance at the plate.”
Palace City won the opening game of the twin bill 8-1.
On Monday, July 6, the Smittys dropped a home doubleheader Harrisburg Gold Monday.
Aberdeen’s pitchers had trouble finding the strike zone in losing the opener 7-3 and game two 20-11.
“We’ve been struggling at the plate the past couple of weeks, then, today we figured out our bats. Now, all of a sudden, we can’t throw strikes,” Steinwandt said.
Smitty pitchers walked 13 Harrisburg batters and hit another 10 in the two games. While Aberdeen finished with 21 hits in the doubleheader, that wasn’t enough to overcome the free passes.
Northern State season tickets available to first-time buyers
Season ticket packages for Northern State athletics are now on sale for first-time buyers.
General admission tickets for all regular season Northern home games cost $365, but there are various packages to choose from. Ticket packages to basketball games only start at $215, while football-only season tickets start at $230.
Wolves Buddies tickets for kids in 12th grade and younger start at $70. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit shorturl.at/o9zq3.
American Legion baseball scoreboard
Monday, July 6
Groton 4, Sisseton 2
Sisseton 10, Groton 7
Clark-Willow Lake 7, Redfield 5
