There were plenty of fireworks on the track, before the actual fireworks exploded above the track at Brown County Speedway Friday night.

Literally minutes before the fireworks were shot off, the Late Model feature came down to the final turn before Chad Becker of Aberdeen edged Huron’s Cole Searing for the checkered flag.

Becker appeared to have the race in hand before a yellow flag caused a restart with just two laps remaining.

“At the restart with two to go, I knew it was going to be a tough gig there,” Becker said, “who was going to go where and what, you just had a big guessing game.”

Becker, who had been running on the low side in turns one and two, and the high side on three and four, actually lost the lead on the final lap when Searing slid past him into the final turn. That lead was very short lived, however, as Becker ducked underneath Searing to beat him to the finish.

“I knew there wasn’t much up top there to hold on to,” Becker said, “so I knew I could get back underneath of him.”

Searing won the make-up Late Model feature earlier in the evening. Becker was in the hunt to win that race as well, before suffering a flat tire when he got caught up in lap traffic.

“I was hoping to get both of them tonight,” Becker said, “but we took one, I guess.”

Clear Lake’s Tony Konold held off Kent Arment of Aberdeen in a close finish to the Modified feature.

Konold said the strategy throughout the race was making sure he stayed in the fast groove of the track.

“Just stay up on the cushion and try to stay out front there,” Konold said. “I was kind of taking it easy once I got out front and tried not to blow it over the top. The cushion was pretty treacherous but once I (saw) Kent there I just kind of centered the last lap.”

Multiple times throughout the race Konold had to hold off other drivers, including Arment for several laps. Konold had to keep to the strategy he had in place to get the win.

“Just keep hitting my marks and try to stay up in the traction there on the cushion,” Konold said.

Konold said the track made it an enjoyable night to race.

“It was pretty good. It was a little rough getting into (turn) one, but other than that there was two lanes to race on and that’s about all a guy can ask for,” Konold said.

In the NOSA Sprint class, Jade Hastings from Grand Forks, N.D. took home the win after a stellar performance in which he led from start to finish.

Hastings’ strategy was simple.

“Run away and hide,” Hastings said. “Starting on the pole that’s about all you can do. You can’t see what’s going on behind you. You just have to try and get that early lead and stand on it.”

Hastings said he was pleased with how the track was set up.

“I wish we could’ve brought more cars. I think it would’ve made for a much better race just getting into lap traffic and whatnot, but the track was really good,” Hastings said. “There was a top groove and a bottom, and slick for slide drops through the middle. I loved it.”

For much of the race, Hastings was able to mount a big lead over his opponents. He credited his team and the car for the dominant performance.

“I guess I couldn’t see how big of a lead I had, but our car was just hooked up,” Hastings said. “Our guys put a really good setup under it, and I just kind of let the track come to me there.”

After the win, Hastings thanked the fans for supporting the drivers. “I’d just like to thank all the fans for coming out,” Hastings said. “It’s really cool to race in front of a packed house, and it’s packed tonight.”

The high side of the oval was the place to run in the earlier features.

Nathan Grehl of Hitchcock took an early lead in the Super Stock feature and then held on for the checkered flag. He found a groove to his liking on the high side, before he ran into a bit of trouble.

“It seemed like it was getting better all race and then I was almost getting too hooked up,” Grehl said. “I was actually getting a little tight.”

Stewart Schipke of Aberdeen actually was side-by-side with Grehl with one lap left, but was unable to secure the lead.

“That got interesting,” Grehl said after collecting his third career feature victory and first of the season.

Selby’s Dawson Zabel won the Midwest Modified feature in much the same fashion as Grehl. Zabel led from start to finish, but was challenged at the end by Jarod Klein of Jamestown, N.D., who was running on the bottom of the oval.

“I slipped up getting into one on the top and messed my line up, so I didn’t have much traction out and he stuck his nose up underneath of me,” Zabel said. “But I knew that I had the dominant line and if I could keep hitting my marks that I would be good.”

Zabel, who has had some frustrating moments so far this season, said changes made to his vehicle played a key role in his feature victory.

“We’ve actually done a bunch of set-up changes with the car,” Zabel said. “We put a different engine in. We’ve been working tirelessly to get this back to where it should be.”

Racing continues at 7 p.m. Friday.

To see complete race results, click on the following link:

https://www.myracepass.com/events/472593/races