Sabraski Doubles Down at 49th Red Clay Classic; Wagamon Repeats, Blevins is a First-Time Winner
by Nick Gima
Ashland, WI, September 28 – Shane Sabraski of Rice, MN, once again cashed in big at the ABC Raceway, winning both the WISSOTA Late Model and WISSOTA Super Stock features at the 49th annual Red Clay Classic powered by Enbridge Inc, and presented by FastLane Motorsports & Custom Powdercoating and by Tim’s Automotive Machine, on Saturday night.
Also winning features in this prestigious season-ending event were Clayton Wagamon of Ramsey, MN, who successfully defended his WISSOTA Modified win from a year ago, and Hibbing, MN’s Michael Blevins Sr, who won his first-ever RCC feature in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds.
A scheduled purse in excess of $120,000 was paid out over the course of two days of glorious summer-like weather, with temperatures nearing 90 on Friday afternoonand in excess of 80 by race time on Saturday.
Sabraski, who took home over $36,000 by winning both the Late Model and Modified features at ABC’s “444 Memorial” race in early August, worked from his inside-third-row starting spot in the $6,000-to-win, 50-lap Late Model headline event, running with former RCC feature winners Ashley Anderson, Kevin Burdick, Kyle Peterlin and Dave Flynn. Over the first 17 laps Anderson set the pace, but Peterlin was on an early charge, overtaking polestarter Burdick on lap 5 for second and threatening Anderson as the lead pair closed on slower traffic.
Anderson was able to rebuild his lead, to 1.1 seconds, as he and Peterlin negotiated their way through the slower cars at the tail of the field. But that lead was wiped out when AJ Diemel, challenging Burdick for fifth at the time, spun to bring about the first of just two cautions slowdowns in the race. Peterlin took advantage of the restart to sweep around Anderson for the lead, while Burdick followed him into second two laps later.
Peterlin pulled to a 1.3-second lead quickly as the race neared its midpoint, which was also about the time for Sabraski to make his move, as he claimed second from Burdick on lap 22. Sabraski bided his time until Lap 30, when Peterlin reached the tail-enders, and he clipped nearly three-quarters of a second off the leader’s cushion. Also on the charge at this time was 12th-starting Daniel Bargender, who was up to third and closing on the lead pair by lap 36.
As a growing fog bank rolled in off Lake Superior, a caution flag for debris on lap 37 bunched the field together, and Peterlin spent the next 13 laps trying to outrun Sabraski, who threw “slide jobs” at the leader on every lap. Behind them, Bargender and Jeff Massingill dueled side-by-side within a few car-lengths of the leaders. Sabraski finally cleared Peterlin with a smooth slide from the bottom of turn 1 to the top of turn 2 with just four laps remaining, and from there Sabraski held on for his 19th career feature win in Ashland, by .863 seconds over Peterlin, with Bargender and Massingill close behind.
Four-time RCC Late Model winner Jake Redetzke started 11th and finished fifth. Nineteen of the 24 starters were running at the checkers, all on the lead lap.
Wagamon started the 40-lap, $5,000-to-win Fuhrman Designs WISSOTA Modified A-main from the outside of row 2 and followed Al Uotinen, polestarter and track points champ Mike Anderson, and Jody Bellefeuille during the initial laps. Brandon Copp’s spin on lap 3 reset the field, and Bellefeuille made a high-side attempt to get by Anderson for second on the restart. But Bellefeuille threw his car too hard into turn 4 in front of the rest of the field, and, although he recovered, at least a half-dozen cars had to swerve drastically to avoid what could have been a huge melee among the frontrunners.
John Toppozini looped his ride on the next lap, marking the final time the yellow flag would fly in the run. Over the next couple of laps Uotinen had Anderson, Wagamon and two-time RCC Mods winner Dave Cain hot on his heels. Then, on lap 7, Wagamon completed an outside sweep of both Anderson and Uotinen to take the lead, and from there he disappeared into the gradually foggy night.
Well back of the battle for second, Anderson and Nelson duked it out side-by-side for fourth, a battle that would continue clear through to the end of the race.
Wagamon built a lead of nearly two full seconds on Uotinen by the time he caught slower traffic on lap 19 and increased that lead by leaps and bounds as he worked his way through the backmarkers. By the time Uotinen reached the tail-end of the field on lap 22 Wagamon had over two-and-a-half seconds on him, and with ten laps remaining Wagamon had increased his advantage to over four-and-a-half seconds. Cain slipped past Uotinen with four laps left, but by the time he reached the checkers he was 8.468 seconds – over half a lap – behind Wagamon, who won at ABC for just the second time in his career but for the second straight year in this event.
Uotinen followed Cain closely for third, and Anderson edged Nelson to cross the finish line fourth. Unfortunately, Anderson’s car did not pass its post-race technical inspection, thus moving Nelson to fourth and 13th-starting youngster Kaden Blaeser to fifth at the pay window.
Sabraski’s 18th career feature win here, in the 30-lap, $4,000-to-win Superior Floral WISSOTA Super Stock feature, played out for the vast majority of the run as a thrilling side-by-side duel with 2024 and four-time defending ABC division champ Steve Stuart, who started outside on the front row and jumped ahead of polestarter and 2016 RCC Supers winner Tommy Richards to start. Once Sabraski cleared Richards for second at the completion of lap 1 the race was on, with Stuart flying around his preferred high groove of the three-eighths-mile red-clay oval and Sabraski hugging the bottom lane for the most part.
A four-car mess in turn 2 erased Stuart’s three-quarter-second advantage on lap 9, and Cory Casari’s spin a lap after the restart kept the field bunched up tight to Stuart’s rear bumper. Then, after Scott Lawrence’s stalled ride drew another caution light on that restart, Kevin Salin’s spin slowed the proceedings again on lap 12. From there the race ran under green for the next ten laps, providing plenty of side-by-side competition between Stuart and Sabraski, while former three-time RCC winner Curt Myers pestered Richards for third and Shawn McFadden debated fifth with 2021 RCC Supers winner Terran Spacek.
On lap 18 Stuart nipped Sabraski at the stripe by just 31 one-thousandths of a second – barely a foot and a half – but at the completion of the next lap Sabraski had the edge by barely over twice that distance in taking the lead for good. Sabraski had just begun to build on his lead, with Spacek moving up quickly with an outside pass of Myers to third, when the caution flag waived again for debris on lap 22.
Another Salin spin on that restart gave Stuart another chance to challenge Sabraski, but the two-time defending RCC champ quickly pulled away to a lead of over a second. Then, just as the leaders reached the white flag, a three-car entanglement set up a green-white-checkered finish and one last chance for Stuart, but again Sabraski was too strong on the re-do and ran to a three-quarter-second margin of victory.
Spacek, Myers and Richards made up the balance of the close-knit top-five. Seventeen of the 24 starters were still running on the lead lap at the race’s completion.
Sabraski became just the third driver to win two features during the same RCC race weekend, joining Tom Nesbitt (1991, Late Models and Super Stocks) and Jimmy Mars (2004, Late Models and Modifieds). Sabraski also joins Mars (6) and Nesbitt (5) as the only drivers to win five or more RCC titles, and he is the third driver to win three straight RCC features in the same class, again joining Nesbitt and Mars. He’s the first to win RCC features in four straight years, counting his Mod win in 2021.
Blevins led every lap of the 20-lap, $2,000-to-win Lightning Storm Graphics WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature for his third win at ABC and first since winning in a WISSOTA Pure Stock here in 2016. Starting from the outside of the front row, Blevins took the lead from polestarter Jimmy Latvala right away and held a safe but not dominant advantage throughout the run.
Behind the lead pair in the early going, four-time RCC winner Joey Jensen worked his way past Paul Suzik for third, just a lap before Carey LePage’s spin on lap 4 brought about the only yellow-flag delay of the race. One lap after the restart Jensen got by Latvala to take second, and although he stayed in lock-step with Blevins throughout the balance of the run, Blevins made it tough for Jensen to cut into the deficit.
As Blevins maintained his one-second advantage while running a higher line than Jensen, James Vendela slipped past Latvala for third on lap 8, while Jay Richardson worked his way into the top-five via the low line. The battle for fourth became more intense as the race clicked along, with Tyler Vernon joining the fray.
Blevins caught the slower LePage at the white flag to put him a lap in arrears, and he continued on to a winning margin of six-tenths of a second over Jensen. Vendela was a full three-and-a-half seconds off the winner’s pace but well ahead of Richardson, who edged Vernon in the close battle for fourth. Twenty-one of the 24 starters finished the race, with 20 on the lead lap, in a race that took less than eight minutes for Blevins to complete.
The Neighborly Bar once again held a fundraiser prior to the weekend’s activities to promote its popular “Bridesmaid’s Challenge,” which generates a cash bonus to be paid to each feature’s second-place finisher if they put on a formal gown in Victory Lane for their photos and interviews. Peterlin, Cain, Stuart and Jensen each “donned the dress” and took home an additional $1,100 apiece, giving Jensen a slightly bigger payday than Blevins in the Midwest Mods.
Kleen Air Heating & Cooling provided “clean-sweep” bonuses of $100 each to the drivers that won both their heat race on Friday and their feature on Saturday. Wagamon (Mods), Sabraski (Supers), and Blevins (Mid-Mods) each collected those bonuses.
Northern Clearing Inc paid out $100 bonuses to the drivers posing the fastest laps in their respective features, based on electronic scoring and timing. The bonuses were paid out to Anderson in the Late Models (16.275 secs; 82.949 mph), Uotinen in the Mods (16.557; 81.537), Sabraski in the Supers (17.114; 78.883), and Joey Jensen in the Midwest Mods (17.469; 77.280).
“Hard-charger” honors, for advancing the most positions from their original starting spot in their respective features, went to Bargender in the Late Models, Nelson in the Mods, Spacek in the Supers, and Brandon Jensen in the Midwest Mods. Bargender’s bonus was $250, courtesy of Joe Provo Racewear, while the others collected $125 each from Clint Larson Trucking.
Friday’s heat winners were awarded unique commemorative T-shirts, complements of SSR Race Cars, and also earned $100 bonuses from Dirt Race Central. Traction Stands handed out $100 certificates toward purchases of their products to four random drivers, and each feature winner also received a product certificate from Freedom Race Lift.
Prior to Friday’s preliminary racing action, Raceway Board president Eric Erickson revealed plans for the 50thRed Clay Classic, to be held September 26-27, 2025. The historic event is slated to be highlighted by a purse in excess of $225,000 and feature-winner payouts of $15,000 for the Late Models, $10,000 for the Modifieds, $7,000 for the Super Stocks, and $3,000 for the Midwest Mods.
Erickson pointed out that efforts would be ongoing throughout the racing off-season and during 2025 to increase the purse and add other bonuses.
The ABC Raceway will complete its 2024 racing season with its annual awards banquet, to be held in January 2025. The ABC Raceway is located 3-1/2 miles south of Ashland on State Highway 13 and one mile west on Butterworth Road. For raceday information call (715) 682-4990, log on to the track’s website, www.abcraceway.com, or check out its FaceBook page.
Results
WISSOTA Late Models
Feature: 1-10: Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN; Kyle Peterlin, Hibbing, MN; Daniel Bargender, Chippewa Falls; Jeff Massingill, Keewatin, MN; Jake Redetzke, Menomonie; Ashley Anderson, Elk Mound; Dave Flynn, Superior; Kevin Burdick, Proctor, MN; Chad Mahder, Bloomer; AJ Diemel, Elk Mound.
11-20: Nick Anvelink, Bonduel; Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, MN; Troy Springborn, Shawano; Harry Hanson, Eveleth, MN; Paul Niznik, Medford; John Kaanta, Elk Mound; Andy Nezworski, Blue Grass, IA; Steve Laursen, Cumberland; Tony Bahr, Haugen; Jayme Lautigar, Gilbert, MN.
20-24: Lukas Koski, New Richmond; Sam Mars, Menomonie; Lance Matthees, Winona, MN; Tim McMann, Duluth, MN.
Heat 1: Anderson; Mars; Redetzke; Nelson; Anvelink; Kaanta; Koski; Brett Shafer, Menomonie; Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls; Rick Niemi, Eveleth, MN.
Heat 2: Peterlin; Sabraski; Bargender; Jesse Glenz, Chippewa Falls; Nezworski; Laursen; Matthees; Jared Zimpel, Braham, MN; Keith Niemi, Gilbert, MN; Lucas Lillo, Duluth, MN.
Heat 3: Burdick; Hanson; Mahder; Bahr; McMann; Adam Ayotte, Elk River, MN; Joe Kienzle Jr, South Range; Eric Lillo, Proctor, MN; Jase Lien, Mora, MN.
Heat 4: Flynn; Diemel; Massingill; Lautigar; Niznik; Springborn; Todd Gehl, Solon Springs; Taylor Madrinich, Duluth, MN; Kevin Eder, Cameron.
Semi-Feature 1: Kaanta; Koski; Crapser; K Niemi; Ayotte; L Lillo; Kienzle.
Semi-Feature 2: Springborn; Matthees; Zimpel; Lien; Gehl; Madrinich; E Lillo.
Fuhrman Designs WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Clayton Wagamon, Ramsey, MN; Dave Cain, Corcoran, MN; Al Uotinen, Superior; Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, MN; Kaden Blaeser, Chippewa Falls; AJ Diemel, Elk Mound; Shane Halopka, Greenwood; Pat Cook, Washburn; Jody Bellefeuille, Carlton, MN; Jake Hartung, Elmwood.
11-20: Andrew Mackey, Duluth, MN; Tyler Vernon, Mason; Jeff Spacek, Phillips; Brady Uotinen, Superior; Andrew Inman, Canyon, MN; Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Brandon Copp, Brule; Rick Rivord, Superior; John Toppozini, Thunder Bay, ON; Mark Hanson, Chippewa Falls.
21-23: AJ Roschen, Somerset; Cole Spacek, Phillips; Steve Hallquist, Fall Creek.
Heat 1: Mike Anderson, Jim Falls; Cain; C Spacek; R Rivord; Hallquist; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Copp; Scott McKinnon, Thunder Bay, ON; Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN.
Heat 2: Bellefeuille; Roschen; Blaeser; Hartung; Shaun Kreyer, Hayward; Kennedy Swan, Chippewa Falls; Shane Kisling, Butternut; Jack Rivord, Superior; Steve Stavenger, Gilbert, MN.
Heat 3: A Uotinen; Mackey; Cook; Inman; Vernon; Kevin Eder, Cameron; Brent Prochnow, Colfax; Tyler Kintner, Hibbing, MN; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls.
Heat 4: J Spacek; Oreskovich; Halopka; Hanson; Nick Ayotte, New Richmond; B Uotinen; Jake Hiatt, Mason; Josh Beaulieu, Bemidji, MN.
Heat 5: Wagamon; Diemel; Nelson; Toppozini; Michael Truscott, Chippewa Falls; Cody Wolkowski, Thunder Bay, ON; Travis Anderson, Colfax; Donnie Lofdahl, Duluth, MN.
Semi-Feature 1: Vernon; Hallquist; Sabraski; Truscott; Kintner; Wolkowski; Prochnow; Kisling; Beaulieu; T Anderson; Eder; Lavasseur.
Semi-Feature 2: Copp; B Uotinen; Dunbar; McKinnon; Swan; Kreyer; Lofdahl; Hiatt; Stavenger; J Rivord.
Superior Floral WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN; Steve Stuart, Ashland; Terran Spacek, Phillips; Curt Myers, Cameron; Tommy Richards, Mondovi; Shane Kisling, Butternut; Alex Myers, Cameron; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Patrick Beeksma, Ironwood, MI; Eric Olson, Ladysmith.
11-20: Matt Deragon, Ashland; Kyle Copp, Brule; Jesse Redetzke, Eau Claire; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Randy Graham, Trego; Kevin Salin, Iron, MN; Robert Lore, Embarrass, MN; Andy Grymala, Superior; DJ Keeler, Superior; Austin Blom, Saginaw, MN.
21-24: Don Livingston, Washburn; Cory Casari, Montreal; Chad Johnson, Colfax; Wayne Dean, Strum.
Heat 1: Stuart; Kisling; E Olson; Dean; Myron Basina, Bayfield; Dan Severson, Crosby, MN; Jordan Henkemeyer, Sauk Rapids, MN; Rick Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Tristan LaBarge, Kelly Lake, MN; Jason Melton, Rhinelander.
Heat 2: Richards; McFadden; Lawrence; Spacek; Beeksma; Dalton Truchon, Washburn; Jeff Eisner Jr, Merrill; Kolby Kiehl, Barron; Leslie Leu, Medford; Ryan House, Neebing, ON.
Heat 3: Sabraski; C Myers; Redetzke; A Myers; Matt Koski, Elmwood; Scott Geiger, Dorchester; Trenton Bond, Iron River; Tanner House, Neebing, ON; Jake Nevala, Ashland; Paul Gucinski, Superior.
Heat 4: Grymala; Lore; Deragon; Livingston; Avery Anderson, Elk Mound; Graham; Ryan Olson, Ladysmith; Jakob Bond, Mason; Simon Hachez, O’Connor, ON.
Heat 5: Keeler; Johnson; Casari; Copp; Blom; Doug Koski, Chisholm, MN; Salin; Dan Peterson, Foxboro; Tucker Quinn, Ladysmith.
Semi-Feature 1: Blom; Graham; M Koski; Basina; Henkemeyer; R Olson; Truchon; Leu; LaBarge; Hachez; J Bond; Eisner; Melton; Kiehl.
Semi-Feature 2: Beeksma; Salin; Anderson; T Bond; D Koski; Quinn; Geiger; Gucinski; R House; Simpson; Peterson; T House; Nevala.
Lightning Storm Graphics WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: 1-10: Michael Blevins Sr, Hibbing, MN; Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, MN; James Vendela, South Range; Jay Richardson, Spring Valley; Tyler Vernon, Mason; Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Brandon Jensen, Ellsworth; Nick Koehler, Bloomer; Dylan Miller, Hibbing, MN; Michael Truscott, Chippewa Falls.
11-20: Paul Suzik, Ironwood, MI; Cody Carlson, Superior; Andy Davey, Hibbing, MN; Evan Checkalski, Duluth, MN; Ryan Savoy, Superior; Marcus Dunbar, Marenisco, MI; Kolby Reed, Kakabeka Falls, ON; Paul Ripley, Duluth, MN; George Dalbeck, Wakefield, MI; Sam Kolar, Marble, MN.
21-24: Carey LePage, Culver, MN; Tyler Hudack, Ashland; Bill Speak, Thunder Bay, ON; Tanner Hicks, Ashland.
Heat 1: Latvala; Koehler; Hudack; Derrick Reed, Emerald; Eric Anderson, Chisholm, MN; Keegan Kough, Proctor, MN; Randy Haupt, Chisholm, MN; Bryan Lund, Ashland; Brant Gruba, Britt, MN; Colby Petrunak, Neebing, ON.
Heat 2: Blevins; Reed; Davey, Hibbing, MN; Ross Siiter, Esko, MN; Ripley; Chris Bretting, Washburn; Kolar; Michael Grover, Chetek; Les Duellman, Winona, MN; Kory Jolliff, Mass City, MI.
Heat 3: Suzik; Checkalski; B Jensen; Dunbar; Travis Anderson, Colfax; Dalbeck; Ross Fuhrman, Ashland; Rich Bishop, Ladysmith; Justin Bassa, Cotton, MN.
Heat 4: Truscott; Vernon; Miller; LePage; Speak; Connor Fall, Hudson; Jesse Young, Couderay; William Moelter, Elk Mound; Ryan Barningham, Bayfield.
Heat 5: J Jensen; Richardson; Savoy; Jesse Polson, Superior; Antonio Pintaro, Osseo; Zach Slayton, Hayward; Robert Crust, Hayward; Joshua Kough, Proctor, MN; Kenny Rogers, Unity.
Heat 6: Vendela; Carlson; Hicks; Mark Thomas, Menomonie; Brent Prochnow, Colfax; Dalton Mains, Foxboro; Matt Jacobson, Bessemer, MI; Nick Traynor, Barron; Andrea Keeney, Ridgeland.
Semi-Feature 1: Speak; LePage; E Anderson; Haupt; Jacobson; D Reed; Rogers; Bishop; K Kough; Keeney; Fall.
Semi-Feature 2: Ripley; Kolar; Bretting; Jolliff; Bassa; Pintaro; Slayton; Lund; Traynor; Siiter; Petrunak; Polson; Moelter.
Semi-Feature 3: Dunbar; Dalbeck; Mains; Thomas; Barningham; Fuhrman; Grover; T Anderson; Prochnow; J Kough; Gruba.