Hron, Carlson, Traynor, Schelitzche Open 36thNorthern Nationals with Feature Wins

Nelson claims Supers vs Mid-Mods ‘Showdown’

by Nick Gima

               Superior, WI, September 5 – The Gondik Law Speedway hosted its first full-program night of the 36^thannual XR Plus Northern Nationals, presented by Bay Lock & Security, which included the Northern Renegade winged sprints as its featured attraction on this night.

Polestarter John Vaillancourt led the first couple of circuits of the sprints’ 20-lap main event, but it was his front-row-starting mate, Ken Hron of Grand Rapids, MN, who grabbed the lead after a restart and held on to the finish for his first Northern Nationals title. The caution came out due to fourth-running Austin Phillips’ stop against the turn 2 wall, which eliminated Vaillancourt’s half-second early cushion.

Hron, who was scored in second at the time, opted to restart on the outside of row 2 and took the high line to get by Vaillancourt on lap 3. And although he couldn’t put the field away from there, Hron did build a one-second lead on Vaillancourt, who was fending off a determined Jamey Ogston, by lap 5.

Hron’s lead was up to 1.7 seconds by lap 8, just as Ogston had displaced Vaillancourt for second, before Zach Olson’s spin slowed the pace on the fast, smooth surface. Vaillancourt made one last effort to get by Ogston just after the restart, allowing Hron to slip away to a .86-second final margin of victory. Ogston shook loose of Vaillancourt’s challenges to come home second, while Casey Lang and Leigh Thomas, who started last on the ten-car grid, completed the top-five.

Superior’s Cody Carlson added a Northern Nationals feature win to his resume on Thursday, holding off a fierce challenge from Jason VandeKamp for much of the second half of the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds’ 20-lap A-main.

Polestarter Michael Blevins Sr worked the inside line against fellow front-row starter Carlson over the first lap but eventually fell into line behind Carlson, while VandeKamp won an early battle with Jimmy Latvala for third. Carlson pushed his advantage to over 1.2 seconds after six laps, but that lead shrunk by half as he began to catch up to the tail-end of the field, allowing Blevins and VandeKamp to reel him in.

Adam Hansen’s looped ride at mid-race gave VandeKamp the opportunity to take over second on the restart, and he stuck to the leader’s rear pushbar as closely as he could as they pulled away from the field. But Carlson held tight to the point despite being tested by multiple restarts throughout the back-half of the run.

On lap 14 Mervin Castle III lost the handle on his ride, and a lap later Bill Speak spun to pause the proceedings. After Eric Anderson partially climbed the turn 1 wall on the ensuing green flag, new third-place runner McLean Andrews spun completely sideways coming off turn 2 in front of all but Carlson and VandeKamp – and, miraculously, wasn’t hit by any of the oncoming rush of cars.

Carlson had VandeKamp nipping at his heels for the final four-lap shootout but held his line and came home less than seven-tenths of a second ahead. Simpson scored a third-place finish ahead of Paul Ripley and Blevins.

Ten of the eleven WISSOTA Street Stocks that accepted GLS’s invitation to participate in Thursday’s Northern Nationals program started the 15-lap feature, but Nick Traynor of Barron was first to the checkered flag.

Kyle Bolt shot out front from his outside-front-row starting spot and pulled away from a battle between Tom Worth, polestarter Kolby Kiehl and Traynor for runner-up honors. Brendan Makkinga’s spin on lap 2 slowed things for a moment, and after Worth threw a quick challenge at Bolt, Traynor slipped by for second. Two circuits later Traynor worked an inside pass on Bolt to take over pacesetting duties, and when Bolt lost the handle on his ride just after the pass, Traynor stayed at the front for the remainder of the run.

Kiehl stayed on Traynor’s trunklid for a few laps but could not mount a challenge, and Traynor eventually pulled away to a 1.77-second buffer at the final stripe. Kiehl fell back into a battle with AJ Kellar but held on for second, while Worth and a recovered Makkinga claimed fourth and fifth, respectively.

In a WISSOTA Pure Stock feature that boasted the top four drivers in national points, Eric Crosby of Amery led every lap on his way to his first Northern Nationals win.

Crosby – himself the top rookie in the national standings – started from the pole and, after a lap 1 spin by Jason Simonson and a six-car mess on the ensuing restart, fended off a determined Devin Fries before pulling out to a four-car advantage. Fries fell into a battle with national title contenders Chaston Finckbone and Aaron Bernick for a lap before he and Finckbone closed on Crosby again on lap 3.

Crosby drew away again as the race reached its mid-point and was not to be threatened again as he sped to a 1.28-second final margin. Finckbone and Fries put on an entertaining battle for second before Finckbone settled the discussion on the final lap, and Bernick had his hands full fighting off a late charge by Brent Mindock, who is also in the national title hunt, for fifth. National points leader Dustin Puffe struggled to a tenth-place finish.

Justin Schelitzche of Chaska, MN, settled the debate that was the WISSOTA Hornets feature early, taking the lead from the pole and heading up every lap for his third Northern Nationals championship.

GLS Hornets track champ DeJay Jarecki followed Schelitzche into second right away but found himself in a battle with Nikota Larson for several laps, allowing the leader to establish a significant advantage while staying ahead of Derek Dunbar and a debate between Riley Ament and Canadian first-nighter Selena Owen for fifth. The 15-lap finale ran non-stop, allowing Schelitzche to maintain his comfortable margin all the way to the finish and well ahead of Jarecki, who put some space between himself and Larson as the race went on.

Dunbar came home a distant fourth, with Ament an equal distance back in fifth.

During Wednesday’s open practice night, XR Plus presented its “Showdown in Souptown” challenge race between the top eight in final track points between the WISSOTA Super Stocks and the Midwest Mods. After Merrifield, MN’s Dylan Nelson set the fastest qualifying time at 17.890 seconds (80.089 mph avg), he started his Super Stock on the pole and led every lap of the 20-lap spotlight event.

Behind Nelson, Evan Checkalski affixed his Mid-Mod into second ahead of DJ Keeler’s Super Stock and the Mid-Mods of Ryan Savoy and Carlson. Latvala moved his Mid-Mod into fifth after a couple of laps, but Nelson dominated the run, pushing out to an uncontested 3.21-second lead on the field.

What Nelson did not need was a caution stop, but that’s what he faced when Savoy spun out of his top-five run with five laps remaining. On the ensuing restart Keeler got by Checkalski for second, with Carlson following along to third a lap later.

As the white flag flew above the leaders, Checkalski’s car slowed to a stop, setting up a one-lap dash to the finish, which Nelson handled without issue, crossing under the checkers better than a half-second ahead of Carlson, who dove low to take runner-up honors from Keeler on that final lap. James Vendela (Mid-Mod) and Latvala claimed fourth and fifth.

Nelson became the first Super Stock racer to win the “Showdown” in its three-race history.

For more information regarding the 36^th annual Northern Nationals, log on to the track’s website, www.gondiklawspeedway.com or check out its FaceBook page.

Results

Northern Renegades Winged Sprints

               Feature: 1-10: Ken Hron, Grand Rapids, MN; Jamey Ogston, Hermantown, MN; John Vaillancourt, Faribault, MN; Casey Lang, Linwood, MN; Leigh Thomas, Duluth, MN; Zach Olson, Grand Rapids, MN; Danny Wait Jr, Cohasset, MN; Jesse Grife, Grand Rapids, MN; Josh Braford, Grand Rapids, MN; Austin Phillips, Osceola.

               11: Tony Gernert, Luck.

               Heat 1: Vaillancourt; Hron; Grife; Olson; Thomas; Wait.

               Heat 2: Ogston; Phillips; Lang; Braford; Gernert.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

               Feature: 1-10: Cody Carlson, Superior; Jason VandeKamp, Scandia, MN; David Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Paul Ripley, Duluth, MN; Michael Blevins Sr, Hibbing, MN; Evan Checkalski, Duluth, MN; James Vendela, South Range; Ryan Savoy, Superior; Sam Blevins, Hibbing, MN; Dalton Mains, Foxboro.

               11-20: Kevin Monteith, Rosslyn, ON; Kolby Reed, Kakabeka Falls, ON; Justin Bassa, Cotton, MN; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Mervin Castle III, Grand Rapids, MN; Chris Bretting, Washburn; Ross Fuhrman, Ashland; Bill Speak, Thunder Bay, ON; Jonny Nowak, Proctor, MN; McLean Andrews, Duluth, MN.

               21-25: Eric Anderson, Chisholm, MN; Adam Hansen, Minneapolis, MN; Jason Hobbs, Ham Lake, MN; Kalan Wagner, International Falls, MN; Adam Shinn, Duluth, MN.

               Heat 1: Ripley; Monteith; Vendela; Mains; S Blevins; Fuhrman; Wagner; Bretting.

               Heat 2: M Blevins; Latvala; Checkalski; Andrews; Hansen; Speak; Nowak; Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, MN.

               Heat 3: VandeKamp; Shinn; Reed; Castle; Wayne deBruin, Murillo, ON; Jesse Polson, Superior; David Swearingen, Stacy, MN.

               Heat 4: Carlson; Simpson; Savoy; Anderson; Bassa; Hobbs; John Coppock, Thunder Bay, ON.

               Semi-Feature: S Blevins; Bassa; Hansen; Wagner; Hobbs; Fuhrman; Nowak; Speak; Bretting; Coppock; deBruin; Swearingen.

WISSOTA Street Stocks

               Feature: 1-10: Nick Traynor, Barron; Kolby Kiehl, Barron; AJKellar, Devlin, ON; Thomas Worth, Milaca, MN; Brendon Makkinga, Thunder Bay, ON; Nathan Henny, Kakabeka Falls, ON; Kyle Bolt, Rosslyn, ON; Warren Bartelt, Westboro; Andrew Piilo, Nolalu, ON; Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne.

               11: Tyson Waller, Nolalu, ON.

               Heat 1: Bolt; Kellar; Traynor; Treviranus; Bartelt; Henny.

               Heat 2: Kiehl; Worth; Piilo; Makkinga; Waller.

WISSOTA Pure Stocks

               Feature: 1-10: Eric Crosby, Amery; Chaston Finckbone, Grand Rapids, MN; Devin Fries, Phillips; Aaron Bernick, Duluth, MN; Brent Mindock, Prentice; James Rahn, Poskin; Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne; Jason Simonson, Poplar; Stephen Erickson, Virginia, MN; Dustin Puffe, Laporte, MN.

               11-13: Trevor Treviranus, Hawthorne; Jessie Treviranus, Superior; Travis Zembo, Duluth, MN.

               Heat 1: Crosby; Finckbone; Bernick; Puffe; Trevor Treviranus; Jessie Treviranus; Zembo.

               Heat 2: Fries; Rahn; Mindock; Tom Treviranus; Erickson; Jimmy Rich Jr, Duluth, MN; Simonson.

WISSOTA Hornets

               Feature: 1-8: Justin Schelitzche, Chaska, MN; DeJay Jarecki, Ashland; Nikota Larson, Barnum, MN; Riley Ament, Mahtowa, MN; Derek Dunbar, Iron River; Selena Owen, Thunder Bay, ON; Lauren Johnson, Madisyn Olson, Culver, MN.

               Heat: Schelitzche; Jarecki; Larson; Owen; Ament; Olson; Johnson; Dunbar.

“Showdown in Souptown”

               Feature: 1-10: Dylan Nelson, Merrifield, MN (Super); Cody Carlson, Superior (Midwest Mod); DJ Keeler, Superior (S); James Vendela, South Range (MM); Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs (MM); Don Livingston, Washburn (S); Scott Lawrence, Superior (S); Paul Riply, Duluth, MN (MM); Rita Anderson, South Range (S); Evan Checkalski, Duluth, MN (MM).

               11-16: Ryan Savoy, Superior (MM); Matt Deragon, Ashland (S); David Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON (MM); Dan Peterson, Foxboro (S); Adam Shinn, Duluth, MN (MM).

               Qualifying: Nelson, 17.980 secs (80.089 mph).