7/10/2023
Tom Berry Jr.
TBJ scores Nodak victory with Dakota Classic Modified Tour
Tom Berry Jr. piloted Mike Wedelstadt’s Lethal Chassis No. 77 Modified for four consecutive days over the second weekend in July, taking a win and two additional top-10 finishes along the way.
The action commenced at Princeton Speedway (Princeton, Minnesota) on Friday when Berry was part of a 17-car IMCA Modified field in the track’s Fight to the Finish! event. Berry won his heat race on the quarter-mile oval, then drove from his ninth-place starting spot to a third-place finish in the 20-lap A-Main. Toby Patchen won the race, with Clint Hatlestad second. Jeff Patchen came home fourth behind Berry, with Tim Patchen taking the fifth spot.
On Saturday, Berry traveled to Jamestown Speedway (Jamestown, North Dakota) for the first night of the 34th annual Dakota Classic Modified Tour. Berry was the 2022 champion of the IMCA-sanctioned program, which pays $2,000 to each night’s winner.
A whopping 62 IMCA Modifieds entered the event at the quarter-mile Jamestown track, where Berry drove from eighth to third in his heat race. He started seventh in the 30-lap A-Main but was forced to exit early just before halfway and finished 24th.
Berry’s fortune turned around the next night at Nodak Speedway (Minot, North Dakota) where he dominated the 54-car strong tour stop at the 3/8-mile “Playground of Power.”
He won his heat after starting seventh and began the 30-lap main event from the second spot. He took the lead on Lap 16 and paced the field the rest of the way to take the $2,000 winner’s check and his eighth feature victory of the year. Travis Hagen finished as the runner-up, 1.077 seconds behind Berry. Kody Scholpp, Tim Ward and Cody Laney rounded out the top five.
On Monday, the Dakota Classic Modified Tour moved north of the border to the 3/8-mile Estevan Motor Speedway (Estevan, SK) for an event featuring 45 IMCA Modifieds. Berry steered to an 11th-place finish in his heat race, then advanced from 14th to 10th in the 30-lap main event to take his third top-10 result in four days.
Berry elected to forego the remainder of the tour after Monday to prepare for this weekend’s Summit United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) action at Ogilvie Raceway (Ogilvie, Minnesota).
Full results are available at www.princetonspeedway.com and www.facebook.com/dakotamodtour.
Article Credit: Tyler Hagen Photography image
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