What won the race: Kevin Burdick of Proctor, Minn., wrestled control of the lead from Tyler Peterson on lap 24 and stayed smooth the remainder of the distance to capture Friday’s 40-lap Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series feature at I-94 EMR Speedway. Burdick swapped the top spot five times with Peterson between laps 15 and 24 en route to a $3,000 triumph in the WISSOTA tour’s season-opening event.

Quotable: “I knew (the car) would take a few laps to come in, and once it did, it was pretty darn good,” Burdick said. “I mean, these guys were tough. TPO (Peterson) took off, trying to catch them … luckily, we got a caution and we were able to pull some sliders on each other, probably make it an interesting race for the fans. This is one of my favorite tracks by far. The crew here, they do a phenomenal job every year.”

Key notes: Burdick was victorious in I-94’s WISSOTA Challenge event for the second consecutive. It was his third career win on the series. … Peterson led three times (laps 8-14, 16-19 and 23) while Burdick paced laps 15 and 20-22 before seizing command for good on lap 24. … While Peterson didn’t let Burdick out of his sight late in the race, the driver of the Rocket Chassis house car tribute machine — it carries the color scheme of the first Rocket1 car — crossed the finish line 1.289 seconds behind the victor. … Kevin Eder pulled ahead of Peterson for second on lap 33 but lost the position the following circuit and settled for a third-place finish. … Jeff Provinzino led the race’s first seven laps but slipped backward to a sixth-place finish. … Defending WISSOTA Challenge Series champion Dave Mass retired on lap 13 while at the back end of the top 10. … Five caution flags slowed the feature, including pauses on laps 14 and 17 for infield tires being shoved onto the racing surface and on lap 35 for debris. … Lee Grosz spun on lap 22. … Eight cars piled up in turn three on the lap-22 restart after Provinzino and Eden came together and slid sideways battling for second; the race was red-flagged during the cleanup. … The feature took 39 minutes to complete with 15 of the 19 cars running at the finish remaining on the lead lap. … James Trantina III of St. Joseph, Minn., recently took ownership of I-94 from former racer Don Shaw, who recently retired because of health concerns. In addition to owning the No. 60 driven by Lucas Oil Series regular Dan Ebert, Trantina also owns Minnesota tracks North Central Speedway and Granite City Motor Park.

On the move: Taylor Madrinich of Duluth, Minn., started 25th and finished 13th.

Winner's sponsors: Burdick’s MB Customs Race Car carries sponsorship from Radko Iron & Supply, Mohawk’s Salvage, Mike’s Place and Fastlane Motorsports.

Points chase: It was the tour's season opener.

Current weather: Clear, 70°F

Car count: 32

Fast qualifier: Cory Crapser

Time: 16.336 seconds

Polesitter: Jeff Provinzino

Heat race winners: Dave Mass, Jeff Provinzino, Kevin Eder, Matt Gilbertson

Consolation race winners: Lance Matthees

Next series race: May 16, Viking Speedway (Alexandria, MN) $4,013