Goede fends off Dewald for pole in Sweet 16 final

The No. 28 Ski Doo and New Germany, Minn., native Matt Goede holds the pole position for the 63rd World Championship Snowmobile Derby Sunday afternoon after fending off defending champion Zach Dewald in the star-studded 10-sled field in the Sweet 16 final to close the door on Friday Night Thunder festivities. 

It seemed to be a pick 'em between Dewald, Goede, and fast-qualifier Joey Burch once the 10 finalists took to the line for the 16-lap final to cap off the night. Each of the three cruised through their Formula III heat races with wins, with Burch posting a best lap of 18.688, Dewald posting an 18.330 and Goede besting both with an 18.236. 

Burch then outlasted Goede by .089 seconds in the first semi-final, while Dewald won the second semi-final pretty easily. 

It was then time for the big 16-lap race to determine the pole-sitter for Sunday’s WC. Burch got the inside line off the start line, while Dewald started in second and Goede in third. The defending champ led the field into turns one and two and came out in front down the backstretch. Dewald led the first five laps before a red flag flew for a crash. 

On the restart, Dewald found his line once again and led the pack around the half-mile oval with Goede right behind. The No. 28 Ski Doo made his move a lap or two into the restart and led the final 10 laps, creating space between him and Dewald, who ended up finishing second. Goede had his best lap of 18.316, and Dewald was at 18.266, as both racers were battling with each other in the front. 

Third place went to the No. 102 of Blaine Stephenson, with his Wahl Bros teammate Tanner Foss taking fourth place. The No. 54 of Ryan McCaig took fifth, while the No. 2 sled of Tyler Town finished in sixth. The 220 of Gunnar Sterne was seventh, while Dakota Harris, Burch and Gavin Peterson finished eighth through 10th. 

Everyone but Goede will take part in WC qualifying tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 17, in the afternoon wave of races at the Derby Complex. Racers will go through 5-lap heat races, 5-lap quarterfinal races and then 7-lap semifinal races. The top three in each semifinal race will make up the front row for the World Championship race on Sunday afternoon. Everyone who doesn’t qualify on Saturday will run a last-chance qualifier on Sunday between 11 and 11:30 a.m., with the two top finishers getting a back row starting position in the big race.