Star-studded front row set for Sunday’s 63rd WC

The Formula III World Championship class took to the ice again Saturday afternoon at the World Championship Derby Complex for qualifying races to set the front row of the 63rd World Championship Snowmobile Derby, and has now been determined.

Pole sitter Matt Goede sat in the announcer's booth while his peers battled it out for the remaining nine spots on the front row of Sunday’s WC. The star-studded front row of 10 racers includes a combined seven World Championships.

Semifinal race winners No. 57 Zach Dewald, the defending world champion, No. 221 Reed Klinger of Athens, and four-time champion No. 102 Blaine Stephenson will follow Goede up to the line tomorrow afternoon. 

The No. 111 Tanner Foss, No. 29 Joey Burch, No. 220 Gunnar Sterne, No. 54 Ryan McCaig, No. 23 Dakota Harris and No. 2 Tyler Town all made the front row by finishing in the top three in one of the three semifinal races. 

Drivers went through four heat races, with the top three finishers in each advancing directly to one of the three semifinal races. Foss won the first heat and Burch and McCaig rounded out the top three to advance. 

Dewald ran away in the second heat, posting a fast time by nearly a second. The 220 and 2 of Sterne and Town advanced through the semis with their second and third-place finishes. 

Heats three and four saw Stephenson, Andy Shoemaker, Luke Olson, Klinger, Dakota Harris and Preston DeShano advance to the semifinals.

Anyone who finished outside of the top three in heats battled it out in two quarterfinal fields. No. 61 Ezra Graumann and No. 43 Chris Holly beat out Ryan Spencer in the first quarterfinal to get a shot at a top-three finish in the semifinal races. 

Dustin Schwanndt and Jordan Siebold grabbed the top two spots in quarterfinal two to advance their sleds. 

From there, Klinger stayed out in front for much of the opening semifinal race, as he worked around the half-mile track. Foss took second, and Sterne finished third after starting fourth on a late restart. In the second semifinal, Dewald and Burch were separated from the field in first and second, as Dewald handled his sled clean through the turns to take first place. Harris finished third in the second semifinal to make the front row.  

Stephenson controlled the top spot in the third semifinal and dueled with McCaig, who grabbed second place. Town beat out Preston DeShano for third place and was the 10th qualifier on the front row. 

The remaining drivers who did not finish in the top three during the semifinals will battle for two back-row starting spots in the WC last-chance qualifier between 11 and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.