Mackey & Van House Pick Up Wins Before Fog Rolls In at Gondik Law Speedway
by Nick Gima
Superior, WI, June 2 – Officials at the Gondik Law Speedway hustled things along as best they could on Friday night, but the six-division program was cut short by a heavy fog that rolled in during the features.
As it was, 91 entries completed 12 heat races and two features on the tacky-fast, wide, smooth race surface before officials deemed the conditions too dangerous for further activities on the big track. Fast-lap times in several of the heat races were within a half-second of the track’s records for the respective divisions, and in one heat, Pat Doar of New Richmond set a new track single-lap record for a WISSOTA Late Model with a time of 15.397 seconds (93.525 mph avg).
Each feature that was completed brought about plenty of excitement to fill the whole show – especially that of the WISSOTA Super Stocks, where for the second time in less than a week Andrew Mackey of Duluth, MN, took advantage of a late-race restart to swipe the win. Polestarter Kyle Copp grabbed the early advantage from front-row mate Scott Lawrence and tried to draw away. Lawrence lost second to the fourth-starting Mackey on lap 2 and third to Steve Stuart during the next circuit, while Copp maintained about a three-quarter-second cushion.
By lap 5 Copp and Mackey had separated themselves from the battle for third, as Nick Oreskovich had joined Stuart and Lawrence. But eventually Stuart distanced himself from that group, and by midrace he began to pressure Mackey.
Once he disposed of Mackey, Stuart quickly reeled in Copp as the lead pair caught the tail of the running order. On lap 14, running in tight formation, Copp got caught behind the slower car of Rita Anderson, allowing Stuart to slip by. Just then, Jim Campbell rode up and over the wall in turns 1 and 2 to bring out the red flag; he was uninjured.
The fog became more intense as safety crews rescued Campbell’s ride, and when the green flag reappeared Copp and Stuart swapped the lead. Contact between the two caused Stuart to spin, and when advised that he was to be penalized for the incident Copp pulled into the pits.
Mackey attacked at the next restart, and on lap 15 he slipped by Stuart to take the lead for good. Stuart stayed close, but Mackey claimed his first feature win in Superior since August 2020 by two-thirds of a second. Dylan Nelson, who spent most of the 20-lap run mired mid-pack, charged through after the final restart to claim third, ahead of Lawrence and 14th-starting Austin Blom.
Deven Van House of Silver Bay, MN, led all 20 laps of the WISSOTA Midwest Modified A-main – his first in the division here since six years ago to the date. But while the 2012 and ‘16 Superior Mid-Mod track champ made it look like a runaway early, restarts shuffled the challengers behind him and kept the heat on him.
Van House started outside on the front row and beat polestarter Cory Jorgensen through the first two turns. Ryan Savoy followed into second and chased the leader while pulling away from a wild dogfight from third on back, as Jorgensen tried to fend off as many as eight other cars running within a few lengths of his back bumper and often two- and three-wide. One of those in this pack – Cody Carlson – slowed coming out of turn 4 on lap 4 to bring about the first of the race’s three caution slowdowns, but back under green Van House pulled away again, Savoy gave chase, and Jorgensen fought off the chaos behind him.
Debris brought out the yellow flag again on lap 11, and while Van House held strong to the point, Jorgensen slipped in turn 2 and fell back. James Vendela immediately worked his way past Savoy for second, and then Evan Checkalski, who was also among those in that mad pack for third, spun completely around in turn 3 to stop the race for the final time.
Vendela bobbled in the first corners after the restart to lose second, but Jason VandeCamp – who originally started 15th on the 20-car grid – made his way around Savoy to take the runner-up spot. VandeCamp stayed within a half-second of Van House, who had built leads of as much as 2.3 seconds during the run, but the leader completed the green-to-checkered effort.
Wyatt Boyum, who had started 14th but was sitting fourth on the final restart, came home third, followed in close formation by 11th-starting David Simpson and 12th-starting Dalton Mains.
WISSOTA Late Model drivers rolling out onto the Speedway for the feature after the Super Stock event were polled for their opinions about the conditions during their warm-up laps, and it was then decided that the program should be stopped.
The Gondik Law Speedway is back in action on Friday, June 9, with the WISSOTA Late Models, Modifieds, Midwest Mods, Pure Stocks and Hornets on the docket. Make-up features from the June 2 fog-out will most likely figure in to the program, while the WISSOTA Super Stocks will have the night off. Hot laps will start at 6:30 pm, followed by racing at 7.
For more information, log on to the track’s website, www.gondiklawspeedway.com, or its FaceBook page.
Results
WISSOTA Late Models
Feature: cancelled due to heavy fog; to be rescheduled.
Heat 1: Skeeter Estey, Kelly Lake, MN; Dave Flynn, Superior; Mike Bellefeuille, Duluth, MN; Derek Vesel, Hibbing, MN; Kevin Burdick, Proctor, MN; Tim McMann, Duluth, MN; Doug Woodhull Jr, Superior.
Heat 2: Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, MN; Deven VanHouse, Silver Bay, MN; Terry Lillo, Duluth, MN; Travis Budisalovich, Minneapolis, MN; Kevin Carlson, Hermantown, MN; Carey LePage, Culver, MN; Jeff Massingill, Keewatin, MN.
Heat 3: Pat Doar, New Richmond; Danny Vang, Deerwood, MN; Brett Shafer, Menomonie; Harry Hanson, Eveleth, MN; Robbie Cooper, South Range; Ronnie Malecki, Duluth, MN.
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: cancelled due to heavy fog; to be rescheduled.
Heat 1: Johnny Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, MN; Jody Bellefeuille, Carlton, MN; Todd Gehl, Solon Springs; Brandon Mehrwerth, Foley, MN; Bob Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Al Uotinen, Superior; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Tanner Williamson, Fort Frances, ON.
Heat 2: Rick Rivord, Superior; Donnie Lofdahl, Duluth, MN; Tyler Vernon, Mason; Billy Kendall III, Walker, MN; Brady Uotinen, Superior; Brandon Copp, Brule; Dan Kingsley, Superior; Mike Klippenstein, Duluth, MN; Leo Schweiss, Hibbing, MN.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Andrew Mackey, Duluth, MN; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Dylan Nelson, Merrifield, MN; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Austin Blom, Saginaw, MN; Andy Grymala, Superior; Darin Meierotto, Superior; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Rita Anderson, South Range; Paul Gucinski, Superior.
11-14: Kyle Copp, Brule; Jim Campbell, Two Harbors, MN; Dan Peterson, Foxboro; Jase Lien, Mora, MN.
Heat 1: Lawrence; Stuart; Mackey; Oreskovich; Lien; Peterson; Blom; DJ Keeler, Superior.
Heat 2: Nelson; Copp; Meierotto; Gucinski; Campbell; Grymala; Anderson.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Deven VanHouse, Silver Bay, MN; Jason VandeKamp, Scandia, MN; Wyatt Boyum, International Falls, MN; David Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Dalton Mains, Foxboro; Jesse Polson, Superior; Ryan Savoy, Superior; James Vendela, South Range; Tanner Gehl, Solon Springs; McLean Andrews, Duluth, MN.
11-20: Cory Jorgensen, Duluth, MN; Justin Bassa, Cotton, MN; Tyler Vernon, Mason; Paul Ripley, Duluth, MN; Andrew Inman, Canyon, MN; Scott Thompson, International Falls, MN; Kalan Wagner, International Falls, MN; Evan Checkalski, Duluth, MN; Taylor Madrinich, Duluth, MN; Cody Carlson, Superior.
Heat 1: Carlson; Vendela; Savoy; Inman; Wagner; Gehl; Bassa.
Heat 2: Checkalski; Polson; VanHouse; Simpson; Boyum; Ripley; Madrinich.
Heat 3: Vernon; Jorgensen; Thompson; Mains; VandeKamp; Andrews.
WISSOTA Pure Stocks
Feature: cancelled due to heavy fog; to be rescheduled.
Heat: Aaron Bernick, Duluth, MN; Tyler Kachinske, Duluth, MN; Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne; Jessie Treviranus, Hawthorne; Dylan Shelton, Hermantown, MN; Zeb Graves, Keewatin, MN; Kristy Rose, Duluth, MN; Travis Hazelton, Chippewa Falls; Rob Christman, Superior.
WISSOTA Hornets
Feature: cancelled due to heavy fog; to be rescheduled.
Heat: Justin Schelitzche, Chaska, MN; AJ House, Cloquet, MN; Tyler Schramm, Two Harbors, MN; Carter Matthews, Clearbrook, MN; Brandon Anderson, Duluth, MN; Marcus Ammerman, Mora, MN; McKenna Folstad, Hibbing, MN; Ryan LaBorde, South Range.
