Peterlin Cashes In Big from Gondik Law Speedway LM Run
by Nick Gima
Superior, WI, July 28 – A large crowd of fans both young and old thoroughly enjoyed a visit with their favorite drivers on the front straightaway of the Gondik Law Speedway in Superior prior to last Friday night’s racing program. But Kyle Peterlin may have enjoyed his visit to the Speedway’s victory stage later in the evening even more.
Peterlin, of Hibbing, MN, scored the biggest victory of his racing career in the 30-lap WISSOTA Late Model feature win and collected the $5,000 check that went with it. Peterlin came from the seventh starting position in the 26-car field, flew past several strong frontrunners and weaved expertly through traffic in an impressive performance.
The event was the first of three shows over the weekend in the KME Late Model Series presented by Kivi Brothers Trucking, which continued on Saturday in Hibbing, MN, and on Sunday in Proctor, MN, as well as the third of eight scheduled races for the track’s own GLS Late Model Series.
After a jump of the initial start of the spotlight event by scheduled polestarter Max Nelson, Pat Doar and Darrell Nelson made up a very formidable front row for the re-do, and Doar claimed a slim early advantage before the stalled cars of Danny Vang and Larry Fitzsimmons drew a second caution flag. Doar pulled away to a full-second lead two laps after that restart, with Darrell Nelson fending off Travis Budisalovich for second and Peterlin already up to fourth and challenging for more.
Peterlin worked the low groove to steal second away on lap 7, and within two laps he erased Doar’s advantage and stole the lead for good. Peterlin then built a commanding lead of over two seconds by the time he reached the tail of the field just after mid-race.
Nelson claimed second from Doar on lap 18 and, with Peterlin working his way through backmarkers, closed the gap to the leader over the next six circuits, but he could get no closer than within a car-length of Peterlin’s back bumper, as once in the clear the leader again drew away. Over the final four laps Peterlin reconstructed his lead until it was nearly 1.8 seconds over Nelson at the checkers for his first win at Superior since July 2019.
Twelfth-starting Jeff Massingill quietly worked his way to third without the benefit of a caution stoppage over those final 29 laps, with Doar holding on to fourth ahead of national and track Late Model points leader Kevin Burdick, who started 11th.
Shane Sabraski of Rice, MN, continued his run of strong performances at GLS by taking his fourth WISSOTA Modified feature win of the season here on Friday. Sabraski, who started ninth, took advantage of several early caution slowdowns that kept the field close, then stole the lead away when the leader spun.
That leader was young Brady Uotinen, who was impressive in holding off Sabraski’s persistent threats throughout much of the run. After two early stops – one for a three-car mess in turn 1 on the initial start of the race, and another a circuit in to the 20-lap run when Leo Schweiss and Mike Klippenstein got together on the front straight – Uotinen found himself behind only Johnny Broking, who had made a daring thread-the-needle move on the first restart to claim the lead, and polestarter Colin Chaschuk. But Uotinen himself made a bold low-lane dive after the lap 1 re-do to drive past both and into the lead.
Sabraski worked his way into third behind Uotinen and Broking on lap 4, just two laps before a hard crash on the front straight ended the night for Donnie Lofdahl and Bob Broking, who were racing for position just outside of the top-five. Sabraski then overtook Broking for second and raced Uotinen close for the next seven laps, showing his car’s nose to Uotinen’s left with nearly every corner exit.
Uotinen finally succumbed to the pressure on lap 14, when Sabraski executed a daring slide-job in front of Uotinen in turn 4; Uotinen looped his ride as Sabraski went by to bring about the final caution flag of the run. Over the final six laps Sabraski gradually built a second-and-a-quarter advantage at the final stripe over tenth-starting Billy Kendall, who took second from Johnny Broking on that final restart.
Nelson, who started 17th on the 20-car grid, used a four-wide pass on the last restart to take fourth, and Rick Rivord claimed fifth.
The win could have been Sabraski’s second of the night had it not been for the determined effort of Kyle Copp, who held off Sabraski for much of the second half of the 20-lap WISSOTA Super Stock A-main. Copp, from Brule, started outside on the second row, with Sabraski directly behind him, and they stayed together throughout much of their march to the front.
Polestarter Doug Koski held the top spot through most of the first half of the go, while DJ Keeler slipped past Austin Blom into second. Koski held about a half-second edge over Keeler as Copp took over third on lap 3 and maintained that margin until Chris Johnson’s spin brought about the first of the race’s two caution slowdowns on lap 10. Koski bobbled a bit through the first turns after the green flag came back on, opening the door for Copp to sweep around for the lead, with Sabraski in tow to second.
Copp could get no further than a car-length or so away from the pesky Sabraski throughout much of the rest of the run, which included the second stoppage on lap 17 for a hard crash involving Johnson and Rita Anderson, resulting in a long delay. Copp got the better of the field upon the restart, while Sabraski was shuffled back in the first pair of turns after the reboot. Copp held on for a half-second advantage for his second win of the season here, ahead of Keeler, a charging tenth-starting Matt Deragon, Cole Chernosky and Sabraski.
Chernosky’s night got off to a great start in the race just before the Super Stock main, as he stole the lead from race-long leader James Vendela on the white-flag lap and earned his first WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature win here in 2023.
After a restart for debris before lap 1 was logged, the rest of the 20-lapper flew by uninterrupted as Vendela, who started outside on the front row, edged past polestarter Taylor Madrinich to set the pace, with Chernosky and Deven VanHouse following to second and third, respectively. Within the first five laps Vendela’s lead grew to nearly a full second, while Chernosky pulled away from VanHouse by a similar margin as the field spread out around the big northwestern Wisconsin oval.
Once past the race’s midpoint, however, the Thunder Bay, ON, young gun chewed away on his deficit to the leader. As the frontrunners caught backmarker Don Craig, Chernosky was within a car-length of Vendela, and in the closing laps Chernosky positioned himself for an outside move coming off of turn 2 on the final lap to take the lead and post a .6-second winning margin.
VanHouse was well back of the lead pair in third but comfortably ahead of Jason VandeKamp and Shane Howell.
Hawthorne’s Jessie Treviranus has been running stronger every night out in recent weeks, and her efforts paid off with her first-ever feature win in Friday’s WISSOTA Pure Stock main event. Treviranus, who lost a close battle with Aaron Bernick in the division’s heat race earlier in the program, battled again with Bernick throughout much of the feature.
Treviranus came out ahead of a four-wide group at the start of the 12-lap race, with Bernick right behind, and the two sped away from the balance of the field within the first two laps. Bernick worked low to get the better of Treviranus on lap 4, but Treviranus drove a determined race and stayed close.
Bernick’s car began to show blue smoke just past mid-race, and that may have contributed a little to Treviranus pulling alongside of the leader on lap 9 and clearing him on lap 10, but Treviranus left no doubt that she was faster on this night and flew to a one-second advantage for the landmark win. First-in-points Tyler Kachinske grabbed third from Keegan Kough on lap 5 and was about a half-straightaway back of the leaders, but he made up nearly the entire deficit over the course of the remaining laps. Kough held on to fourth ahead of Kristy Rose.
Carter Matthews of Clearbook, MN, ran away from the WISSOTA Hornets feature field for his second win of the summer here. Fifth-starting Justin Schelitzche dove low to drive to the front through the opening corner, while Matthews, who started outside on the front row, followed him to second, but within two laps Matthews had worked his way around Schelitzche and took the point for good.
The lead pair pulled away from the rest of the field in close formation for a few laps until Matthews eventually drew away to better than a half-straightaway buffer, which he maintained to the checkers. Divisional points leader AJ House dueled with second-in-points Derek Dunbar throughout the run before eventually nailing down third, and visiting Ellen Lange staked her claim to fifth
A little pre-race help from Mother Nature (with off-and-on light showers throughout the day) and another well-prepared racing surface contributed to another updating of the GLS record book during qualifying-race action earlier in the evening. Doar lowered his Late Model single-lap heat-race record for the second time this summer with a 15.254-second (94.401 mph average) tour of the big four-tenths mile oval, and Howell dropped the fast-lap mark for Midwest Mods to 17.726 seconds (82.237 mph) in his heat.
A pass-the-helmet collection during intermission raised over $3,300 for a donation to Late Model driver Dave Flynn’s wife Amanda and Midwest Mod star Ryan Savoy and his wife Bre, who suffered significant injuries during an accident last weekend.
On Sunday, August 6, the track will host the make-up of the rained-out Twin Ports Twin 25s, to conclude the XR “Northern Storm” Series for the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series, Modifieds and Midwest Mods, with two 25-lap Late Model features paying $2,000 to win each, plus $1,000 and $750 payouts to the Mod and Mid-Mod feature winners, respectively. Finally, on Monday, August 7, the XR Super Series “Superior Showcase” will bring many of the country’s best dirt Late Model racers to the Northland for a $25,000-to-win main event, with Modifieds and Midwest Mods also on the docket.
Hot laps for the Fair races will start at 6:30 pm, followed by racing at 7. Discounted advance tickets are available for the XR Super Series event for a limited time online at https://xrsuperseries.com. For information on advance tickets and camping info for other upcoming events, log on to the track’s website, www.gondiklawspeedway.com, or its FaceBook page.
Results
WISSOTA Late Models
Feature: 1-10: Kyle Peterlin, Hibbing, MN; Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, MN; Jeff Massingill, Keewatin, MN; Pat Doar, New Richmond; Kevin Burdick, Proctor, MN; Travis Budisalovich, Minneapolis, MN; Zach Wohlers, Cohasset, MN; Jayme Lautigar, Gilbert, MN; Aaron Lillo, Proctor, MN; Deven VanHouse, Silver Bay, MN.
11-20: Skeeter Estey, Kelly Lake, MN; Harry Hanson, Eveleth, MN; Terry Lillo, Duluth, MN; Mike Bellefeuille, Duluth, MN; Derek Vesel, Hibbing, MN; Rick Niemi, Eveleth, MN; Kevin Carlson, Hermantown, MN; Lukas Koski, New Richmond; Carey LePage, Culver, MN; Kevin Eder, Cameron.
21-26: Trevor Wilson, Superior; Max Nelson, Milaca, MN; Josh Rieck, Fergus Falls, MN; Robbie Cooper, South Range; Larry Fitzsimmons, East Bethel, MN; Danny Vang, Deerwood, MN.
Heat 1: D Nelson; Vang; Wohlers; Vesel; Massingill; LePage; Cooper; VanHouse; Wilson.
Heat 2: M Nelson; A Lillo; Budisalovich; Burdick; Estey; Koski; Bellefeuille; Rieck; Fitzsimmons.
Heat 3: Doar; Peterlin; Eder; Hanson; Lautigar; T Lillo; Niemi; Carlson.
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN; Billy Kendall III, Walker, MN; Johnny Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, MN; Rick Rivord, Superior; Hunter Anderson, Phillips; Al Uotinen, Superior; Colin Chaschuk, Thunder Bay, ON; Dan Kingsley, Superior; Kennedy Swan, Chippewa Falls.
11-20: Brandon Copp, Brule; Devin Fouquette, St Cloud, MN; Jack Rivord, Superior; Brady Uotinen, Superior; Todd Gehl, Solon Springs; Kelly Estey, Hibbing, MN; Donnie Lofdahl, Duluth, MN; Bob Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Mike Klippenstein, Duluth, MN; Leo Schweiss, Hibbing, MN.
Heat 1: Lofdahl; B Uotinen; Sabraski; Kendall; Kingsley; A Uotinen; Klippenstein.
Heat 2: J Broking; Jody Bellefeuille, Carlton, MN; Chaschuk; Copp; Estey; Schweiss; Fouquette.
Heat 3: R Rivord; Anderson; B Broking; Gehl; Swan; D Nelson; J Rivord.
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Kyle Copp, Brule; DJ Keeler, Superior; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Cole Chernosky, Thunder Bay, ON; Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN; Doug Koski, Chisholm, MN; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Austin Blom, Saginaw, MN; Rick Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Andrew Mackey, Duluth, MN.
11-17: David Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Darin Meierotto, Superior; Larry Both, Thunder Bay, ON; Dan Peterson, Foxboro; Rita Anderson, South Range; Chris Johnson, Superior.
Heat 1: Koski; D Simpson; Mackey; Keeler; Stuart; Johnson; Meierotto; Peterson; Anderson.
Heat 2: Sabraski; Chernosky; Copp; Blom; Deragon; Lawrence; R Simpson; Both.
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Cole Chernosky, Thunder Bay, ON; James Vendela, South Range; Deven VanHouse, Silver Bay, MN; Jason VandeKamp, Scandia, MN; Shane Howell, Buffalo, MN; Andrew Inman, Canyon, MN; Evan Checkalski, Duluth, MN; McLean Andrews, Duluth, MN; Cody Carlson, Superior; Tanner Gehl, Solon Springs.
11-20: Paul Ripley, Duluth, MN; Wyatt Boyum, International Falls, MN; Justin Bassa, Cotton, MN; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Taylor Madrinich, Duluth, MN; Kolby Reed, Kakabeka Falls, ON; Don Craig, Thunder Bay, ON; Anthony Gallian, Superior; Dalton Mains, Foxboro; Cory Jorgensen, Duluth, MN.
Heat 1: Carlson; VandeKamp; Madrinich; Craig; Ripley; Gallian; Jason Schill, Centuria.
Heat 2: VanHouse; Vendela; Mains; Latvala; Boyum; Gehl; Bassa.
Heat 3: Inman; Howell; Chernosky; Checkalski; Andrews; Reed; Jorgensen.
WISSOTA Pure Stocks
Feature: 1-7: Jessie Treviranus, Hawthorne; Aaron Bernick, Duluth, MN; Tyler Kachinske, Duluth, MN; Keegan Kough, Proctor, MN; Kristy Rose, Duluth, MN; Ryan Kough, Isabella, MN; Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne.
Heat: Bernick; J Treviranus; Kachinske; K Kough; Rose; R Kough; T Treviranus.
WISSOTA Hornets
Feature: 1-8: Carter Matthews, Clearbrook, MN; Justin Schelitzche, Chaska, MN; AJ House, Cloquet, MN; Derek Dunbar, Iron River; Ellen Lange, Staples, MN; Nikota Larson, Barnum, MN; Ryan LaBorde, South Range; Mikayla LaBarge, Keewatin, MN.
Heat: Matthews; Larson; Dunbar; House; Schelitzche; Lange; LaBorde; LaBarge.
