MANDAN, N.D. — Travis Hagen and Brendon LaBatte won the inaugural IMCA.TV Dakota Tour features Thursday night at Dacotah Speedway.
Tim Ward and Rob VanMil, meanwhile, wrapped up tour titles during the aptly billed championship night show in Mandan.
Hagen led the last 26 of 30 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified laps, earning $2,000. LaBatte came out on top of what might have been the best race of the 34th annual tour, regaining the lead on the last lap and beating Dan Mackenthun to the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car checkers by a tenth of a second.
That win was good for $1,000 and put LaBatte on the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational eligible list.
Ninety-one cars representing 16 states and two Canadian provinces saw action in the finale for the tour, title sponsored and broadcast by SPEED SPORT.TV affiliate IMCA.TV.
Runner-up in both the first two shows of the week, Hagen became the fifth different winner in as many modified tour features at the end of a race that ended with a 28-lap green flag run. Spencer Wilson led early and Kyle Strickler spun out of second following lap two contact to bring out the sole caution.
Hagen took command from that point and while Ward cut into his lead, he was never able to deny Hagen the checkers. Mark Dahl, Wilson and 10th starting Cody Laney completed the top five.
“It’s amazing,” Hagen said as the last of the confetti continued to swirl around the infield. “I’ve never won in Mandan before so that was a bonus. I looked at the leader board and saw Tim was coming and I knew I had to get around the lapped cars.”
Hard charger Jason Wolla raced from 23rd to eighth. Ward had also ruled 2021 tour point standings.
The race for the stock car championship largely became moot when challenger for the crown Trent Grager exited while leading on lap five. LaBatte swapped the front spot with Shawn Strand and stayed in the lead through a myriad of mid-race cautions before the 10th-starting Mackenthun came to call.
Mackenthun, chasing his first tour win as well, was finally scored first across the stripe on lap 24. LaBatte answered quickly however, getting the lead back and winning a race to the checkers by the blink of an eye.
“This win was a long time coming. It feels awesome,” he said. “We’ve worked hard on this car and to be able to put it in victory lane was great. We had a lot of fun out there.”
VanMil, the only driver with multiple feature wins during the week, wrapped up his first tour title with a third place finish.
Strand and Chase Davidson were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Modified Feature Results (30 Laps)
1. Travis Hagen, 2. Tim Ward, 3. Mark Dahl, 4. Spencer Wilson, 5. Cody Laney, 6. Dan Roedl, 7. Jeremy Keller, 8. Jason Wolla, 9. Drew Christianson, 10. Aaron Turnbull, 11. Zach Frederick, 12. Marlyn Seidler, 13. Jake McBirnie, 14. Kyle Strickler, 15. Jordan Sours, 16. Eddie Belec, 17. Justin O’Brien, 18. Tanner Black, 19. Ricky Alvarado, 20. Kody Scholpp, 21. Crist Pittenger, 22. Drew Janssen, 23. Isaac Sondrol, 24. Kollin Hibdon, 25. Kelsi Foley, 26. Hank Berry
Stock Car Feature Results (25 Laps)
1. Brendon LaBatte, 2. Dan Mackenthun, 3. Rob VanMil, 4, Shawn Strand, 5. Chase Davidson, 6. Zachary Madrid, 7. Angel Munoz, 8. Shelby Williams, 9. Scott Gartner, 10. Brennan Borg, 11. Jason Berg, 12. Brody Carlsrud, 13. Adam Goff, 14. Grady Clements, 15. Jordan Zillmer, 16. Bill Brack, 17. Troy Heupel, 18. Kevin Roberts, 19. Alex Braun, 20. Casey Binstock, 21. Shawn Volk, 22. Jeremy Richey, 23. Reid Keller, 24. Trent Grager
Keyword: Hagen, LaBatte Score On IMCA Dakota Tour