Pierce Leads XR ‘Superior Showcase’ Flag to Flag, Collects $20k from GLS

by Nick Gima

               Superior, WI, August 7 – Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, IL, led all 50 laps of the XR Super Series’ “Superior Showcase” for Dirt Super Late Models on Monday night in front of a capacity crowd at Gondik Law Speedway.

Pierce, fresh off of a World of Outlaws victory at Cedar Lake Speedway near New Richmond a couple of nights prior, admitted after his heat win Monday that he wasn’t too comfortable with the fast, smooth four-tenths-mile at the western edge of Lake Superior. But he acclimated himself very quickly, running the outermost line for nearly the entire race on his way to a $20,000 winner’s check.

Pierce beat local star and polestarter Pat Doar out of the first pair of turns and within just two laps led by nearly a full second. Behind Doar, Ashton Winger and Brian Shirley battled for third, with Winger getting the better of the discussion by lap 4. Chris Madden was soon up to challenge Shirley a couple of laps later but didn’t finish his pass for fourth until lap 7, just as Winger closed on and displaced Doar for second.

Brent Larson’s lap 8 slowdown due to a flat tire brought out the first of just three caution flags in the run – all coming before mid-race. Pierce resumed his high-side tour of GLS with the waiving of the green and was a full second-and-a-half ahead of Winger within just six laps, while Doar worked to fend off Madden and Shirley raced with Ryan Gustin for fifth. Then the second yellow flag was thrown, for Skeeter Estey’s slowing ride on lap 17 – just as Pierce was about to put him a lap in arrears.

               The field completed one more circuit before Kevin Burdick’s car slowed, but the final 32 laps clicked off in rapid succession, with Pierce never challenged throughout the balance of the run. Madden did slip around Winger for second just after that final restart, but he was .86 seconds behind the leader at the end of lap 20 and rarely got much closer.

For the final dozen laps or so Pierce could do no wrong, working the perimeter of the smooth-slick oval while Madden shadowed nearly every move the leader made, albeit from a distance. It was only on the final lap that Pierce struggled a bit negotiating through backmarkers, allowing Madden to chop a full second-plus off the 1.8-second advantage Pierce had with five laps to go. Pierce sped under the double-checkers .708 seconds ahead of Madden, with 15^th-starting Ricky Thornton Jr completing a fine run to third a few lengths back. Winger held on for fourth, and popular Canadian star Ricky Weiss drove home fifth.

Shane Sabraski is on more of a tear in Superior than usual as of late – he had won the WISSOTA Modified feature here in dramatic fashion on Sunday, took a feature win in his WISSOTA Super Stock the previous Friday, and collected a feature-winner sticker in the Mod on July 28. On Monday, the Rice, MN, star added to his already impressive 2023 season with his sixth Modified feature win and 11^th overall at GLS.

Although outside front-row starter Billy Kendall edged ahead of polestarter Dave Cain for the initial advantage, Cain swiped it back after a couple of fast laps. Sabraski worked quickly to snare second on lap 3, and he then made a strong inside move stick to take the lead from Cain the next ime around. And with no caution stops to bring the field back to him, Sabraski sped away.

Jody Bellefeuille, who started outside on the third row, directly behind Sabraski, used his favored high-side line to eventually gain third and draw in on Cain, about two-thirds of a second back of the leader and well ahead of a dogfight for fourth between Kendall, Brennan Gave and Mike Anderson. As Sabraski reached backmarkers at the halfway point of the 25-lapper, Cain and Bellefeuille got within a half-second of the leader – but that would be as close as either would get to Sabraski the rest of the way.

With six laps left Bellefeuille finally overtook Cain for second, but even with heavy slower traffic to deal with Sabraski gained yardage on Bellefeuille and the rest of the field. He passed under the checkers 1.7 seconds ahead of Bellefeuille, with Cain, Anderson and Gave completing the top five.

Zach Benson of Princeton, MN, is in a serious battle for the national WISSOTA Midwest Modified crown in ’23, and his first feature win of the season here could be a huge step toward that title.

Benson started directly behind polesitter and former track champion Andrew Inman and ran door-to-door with Paul Ripley for the first three-quarters of a lap, before Jake Stai was spun in turn 3. Benson then hung with Inman as the lead pair pulled away from the field, while further back young Canadian hotshoe Garrett Paull, who started ninth, made some big strides toward the front in taking third from Justin Bassa within four short laps.

Just before the midpoint of the 20-lap run Inman showed that he might run away with the win, holding a half-second lead, but just a couple of tours later Benson was back to Inman’s rear push-bar. With six laps remaining Inman and Benson had caught the tail of the field, allowing a hard-charging Brady Larson to close in from third. On lap 16 Benson went high-side to overtake Inman, while Larson went low to get by for second a lap later. Larson had arguably the strongest car at the end of the run, but he was still four-tenths of a second behind Benson at the final stripe.

Inman held off Cole Boston and Jamie Davis for third in a tight battle over the closing laps.

On Friday, August 11, the Gondik Law Speedway will present its fifth annual Suicide Prevention and Awareness Night, with WISSOTA Street Stocks and WISSOTA Pure Stocks running for an enhanced purse. The Northern Vintage Stockcar Racers group, as well as the WISSOTA Modifieds, Midwest Mods and Hornets, will make for a great seven-division show, while the WISSOTA Late Models will be off. Hot laps are at 6:30 pm, with racing scheduled to start at 7.

For information on advance tickets and camping info for these and other upcoming events, log on to the track’s website, www.gondiklawspeedway.com, or its FaceBook page.

Results

XR Super Series Late Models

               Feature: 1-10: Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, IL; Chris Madden, Gray Court, SC; Ricky Thornton Jr, Martinsville, IN; Ashton Winger, Senoia, GA; Ricky Weiss, Headingley, MB; Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, IA; Brian Shirley, Chatham, IL; Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, NC; Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL; Tanner English, Benton, KY.

               11-20: Pat Doar, New Richmond; Hudson O’Neal, Martinsville, IN; Shane Clanton, Zebulon, GA; Nick Hoffman, Mooresville, NC; Dennis Erb Jr, Carpentersville, IL; Daulton Wilson, Fayetteville, NC; Ethan Dotson, Bakersfield, CA; Jonathan Davenport, Blairsville, GA; Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, MN; Kevin Burdick, Proctor, MN.

               21-24: Kyle Bronson, Brandon, FL; Skeeter Estey, Kelly Lake, MN; Tyler Erb, New Waverly, TX; Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, MN.

               Heat 1: Doar; Madden; Davenport; Clanton; English; Jake Timm, Winona, MN; T Erb; Danny Vang, Deerwood, MN; Dillon McCowan, Urbana, MO.

               Heat 2: Shirley; Weiss; Burdick; Thornton; Bronson; Strickler; James Giossi, Hudson; Jesse Glenz, Fall Creek.

               Heat 3: Pierce; D Erb; O’Neal; Larson; Sheppard; Sorensen; Aaron Lillo, Proctor, MN; Jeff Massingill, Keewatin, MN; Chad Mahder, Bloomer.

               Heat 4: Winger; Gustin; Hoffman; Estey; Wilson; Dotson; Sam Mars, Menomonie; Travis Budisalovich, Minneapolis, MN.

               Semi-Feature 1: English; Bronson; Strickler; Timm; T Erb; Glenz; Giossi; McCowan; Vang.

               Semi-Feature 2: Sheppard; Wilson; Dotson; Sorensen; Mars; Budisalovich; Mahder; Lillo; Massingill               Keewatin, MN.

               Fast Qualifier: Davenport, 16.300 secs (88.344 mph).

WISSOTA Modifieds

               Feature: 1-10: Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN; Jody Bellefeuille, Carlton, MN; Dave Cain, Corcoran, MN; Mike Anderson, Jim Falls; Brennan Gave, Princeton, MN; Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, MN; Billy Kendall III, Walker, MN; Brandon Copp, Brule; Kaden Blaeser, Chippewa Falls; John Toppozini, Thunder Bay, ON.

               11-20: Kelly Estey, Hibbing, MN; Al Uotinen, Superior; Kennedy Swan, Chippewa Falls; Brady Uotinen, Superior; Rick Rivord, Superior; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Parker Anderson, Phillips; Shaun Kreyer, Hayward; Jack Rivord, Superior; Bob Broking, Grand Rapids, MN.

               21-27: Tony Caissie, Winnipeg, MB; Mike Klippenstein, Duluth, MN; Leo Schweiss, Hibbing, MN; Brock Gronwold, Fergus Falls, MN; Johnny Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Dan Kingsley, Superior; Donnie Lofdahl, Duluth, MN.

               Heat 1: Cain; Copp; Toppozini; B Uotinen; Blaeser; J Broking; P Anderson; Caissie; B Broking.

               Heat 2: Kendall; Sabraski; Bellefeuille; J Rivord; A Uotinen; Gronwold; Oreskovich; Klippenstein; Schweiss.

               Heat 3: Gave; M Anderson; Swan; Estey; Ebert; R Rivord; Kreyer; Lofdahl; Kingsley.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

               Feature: 1-10: Zach Benson, Princeton, MN Brady Larson, Amery; Andrew Inman, Canyon, MN; Cole Boston, Lindstrom, MN; Jamie Davis, Fort Frances, ON; Garrett Paull, Fort Frances, ON; Tanner Gehl, Solon Springs; Will Moelter; Elk Mound; Cole Chernosky; Thunder Bay, ON; Landyn Randt; Siren.

               11-20: Justin Bassa; Cotton, MN; David Simpson; Thunder Bay, ON; James Vendela; South Range; Paul Ripley; Duluth, MN; Jake Stai; New Auburn; Taylor Madrinich, Duluth, MN; Joey Wagamon, Blaine, MN; Cory Jorgensen, Duluth, MN; Carey LePage, Culver, MN; Glen Brown, Rosslyn, ON.

               21-22: Don Craig, Thunder Bay, ON; Jesse Polson, Superior.

               Heat 1: Ripley; Boston; Polson; Larson; Simpson; Chernosky; Davis; Craig.

               Heat 2: Inman; Stai; Paull; Gehl; Randt; Brown; Wagamon.

               Heat 3: Benson; Bassa; Moelter; LePage; Vendela; Jorgensen; Madrinich.