Sabraski, Searing Split ‘Twin 25s’ at Gondik Law Speedway
by Nick Gima
Superior, WI, July 19 –Shane Sabraski won the first of the two WISSOTA Late Model features and Cole Searing took the second – each worth $2,500 – during Friday’s “Twin Ports Twin 25s” special at Gondik Law Speedway.
Sabraski doubled up by taking the WISSOTA Super Stock feature win at the big four-tenths-mile clay oval at the head of Lake Superior on this warm midsummer night, while youngster Cade Nelson improved to 3-0 in USRA Limited Late Model visits here.
The first of the two Late Model features counted as part of the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series as well as the locally-based KME Late Model Series, as the event drew 51 entries for the division from five states and Canada. After timed qualifying, six heat races and three semi-features, the field was paired down to 26 starters for feature number one, with the winner having the traditional honor of drawing a chip to determine the number of positions inverted from that race’s finishing order to set up the starting grid for feature two.
Sabraski, WISSOTA’s top Late Model rookie from Rice, MN, earned enough passing points from his heat race to start on the pole for the first 25-lap feature, and he was never bested throughout the run, although a couple of early restarts tried his patience. After a get-together between Kevin Burdick and Johnny Broking in between turns 3 and 4 on the first lap, Tyler Peterson side-smacked the turn 1 wall on the ensuing restart to slow the early pace.
On the next try, Sabraski beat fellow front-row mate Josh Zimpel out of the first pair of turns and sped off into the night, pushing his lead to over a second in less than two laps. John Kaanta grabbed third at the time, ahead of a pack of at least a half-dozen cars battling for fourth.
By lap 8, as Sabraski was pushing his advantage into the two-second range, Kaanta had separated himself from the pack trailing him and drew up to challenge Zimpel. Just as Kaanta had pulled alongside Zimpel on lap 10, Jeff Provinzino and Burdick collided in turn 3 to bring about the final yellow-flag slowdown of the run.
Again Sabraski pulled away on the restart, but Kaanta took advantage of the side-by-side realignment to grab second one lap after the showing of the green flag. Zimpel did not yield the position easily, though, and that battle allowed Sabraski to run off to a second-and-a-half advantage with ten laps remaining. Eventually Kaanta established himself as runner-up, and over the course of the waning laps he trimmed Sabraski’s advantage by half with three laps to go, without help from backmarkers getting in the leader’s way.
Sabraski had less than a one-second gap between himself and Kaanta at the checkers, while Zimpel finished a distant third. A tangle in the final corner between fourth-place combatants Johnny Broking and Don Shaw sent Shaw’s car airborne for a moment; both cars suffered significant damage, and Shaw was awarded fourth while Broking was penalized for the incident, moving Adam Ayotte to fifth.
The invert put 11th-finishing Peterson on the pole for feature 2, with Searing, the current Challenge Series points leader, starting alongside. Peterson, WISSOTA’s defending national Late Model champ and current national points leader, snagged the early edge when Searing bobbled in the opening turn, and Searing, himself a former national champ from Huron, SD, fell into a dogfight for second with Jeff Massingill, who qualified for the “Twin 25s” via a provisional after struggling through his heat and B-main.
By lap 4 Chad Mahder, who set the fastest time in Late Model qualifying earlier in the program, joined Searing and Massingill to make up a very entertaining skirmish for second, allowing Peterson to scamper away to a 2.3-second lead by lap 10. With no caution stoppages to slow the pace, Peterson caught the tail-end of the running order by lap 13, but this allowed Searing, who had finally broken free for second, to eliminate the leader’s cushion by lap 15.
Searing used an inside move in traffic to edge ahead of Peterson, and although the pair stayed close while weaving their way through the backmarkers, Searing eventually pulled away to a final margin of 1.3 seconds. Massingill recovered to make things interesting late but ending up with third-place money, followed at a distance by Mahder and Ryan Mikkelson.
Sabraski and Dylan Nelson raced each other hard to start the 15-lap, $750-to-win WISSOTA Super Stock A-main, and just as Nelson seemed to inch ahead on lap 2, Sabraski charged right back and took over pace-setting duties for good one circuit later. From there the defending WISSOTA national champ in this division ran off a series of nearly-flawless laps to build on his career win total, which is now in excess of 900.
The feature ran non-stop, allowing Sabraski to slowly but certainly draw away from Nelson, while behind them Scott Lawrence had his hands full keeping a six-car pack at bay for third. Lawrence eventually pulled away from all but Matt Deragon, who hounded the former GLS track champ for much of the run.
Sabraski caught and lapped last-running Rita Anderson with three laps left and cruised to a final winning margin of 2.5 seconds. Nelson was all alone in second, well in front of Lawrence, who fended off Deragon’s last-lap threats for third. Darin Meierotto completed the top-five.
Nelson, the 14-year-old from Hermantown, MN, won his third USRA Limited Late Model feature in as many tries at Gondik Law Speedway in 2024, after an early battle.
Nelson started from the pole but was beaten by Larry Fitzsimmons out of turn 2 to start the 15-lap main, and the lead pair ran away from Derek Quinn, who in turn separated himself from the battle for fourth between Derek Berg and Patrick Kelley. Nelson never trailed Fitzsimmons by more than a car-length or two as the race clicked off without caution flags.
At mid-race Nelson grabbed enough momentum off of turn 2 to pull even with Fitzsimmons, and on lap 9 he took over at the point. From there the youngster dominated the run, finishing nearly a full two-and-a-half seconds ahead of Fitzsimmons, and then parking in Victory Lane to be greeted by nearly two dozen ecstatic members of his youth hockey team.
Quinn ran by himself for nearly the entire race and finished third, and Berg eventually pulled away from Kelley for fourth.
That night will also include the fourth race of the GLS KME Late Model Series, presented by Kapella Machine Electronics, which will pay $5,000 to the winner of the Late Model feature.
WISSOTA Modifieds, Midwest Mods, Pure Stocks and Hornets will join the program. The pits will open at 4 pm and the grandstand gates at 5. The pre-race meet-and-greet session will get started at approximately 6:30 pm, followed by the night’s racing action. For more information on the Gondik Law Speedway, log on to the track’s website, www.gondiklawspeedway.com.
Results
WISSOTA Late Models
Feature 1: 1-10: Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN; John Kaanta, Elk Mound; Josh Zimpel, Braham, MN; Don Shaw, Ham Lake, MN; Adam Ayotte, Elk River, MN; Chad Mahder, Bloomer; Jake Redetzke, Menomonie; Ryan Mikkelson, Alexandria, MN; Jeff Massingill, Keewatin, MN; Cole Searing, Huron, SD.
11-20: Tyler Peterson, Hickson, ND; Travis Budisalovich, St Paul, MN; Dave Flynn, Superior; Joel Bennett, Hortonville; Daniel Bargender, Chippewa Falls; Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, MN; Rick Niemi, Eveleth, MN; James Giossi, Hudson; Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls; Pat Doar, New Richmond.
21-26: Johnny Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Kevin Eder, Cameron; Dave Mass, East Bethel, MN; Kevin Burdick, Proctor, MN; Jeff Provinzino, Hibbing, MN; Ashley Anderson, Elk Mound.
Feature 2: 1-10: Searing; Peterson; Massingill; Mahder; Mikkelson; Kaanta; Redetzke; Zimpel; Budisalovich; Bargender.
11-20: Sabraski; Ayotte; R Niemi; Nelson; Anderson; Giossi; Burdick; Crapser; Doar; Flynn.
21-24: Bennett; Eder; Mass; Provinzino.
Heat 1: Kaanta; Sabraski; Nelson; Bennett; Todd Frank, Montrose, IA; Danny Vang, Deerwood, MN; Keith Niemi, Gilbert, MN; Crapser; Robbie Cooper, South Range.
Heat 2: Broking; Bargender; Mahder; Brett Shafer, Menomonie; Gunner Frank, Montrose, IA; Sam Mars, Menomonie; Eder; Mike Klippenstein, Proctor, MN; Skeeter Estey, Kelly Lake, MN.
Heat 3: Burdick; Zimpel; Budisalovich; Provinzino; Doar; Mike Prochnow, Menomonie; Mike Bellefeuille, Duluth, MN; Patrick Kelley, Wyoming, MN; Terry Lillo, Duluth, MN.
Heat 4: Shaw; Peterson; Searing; Mass; Harry Hanson, Eveleth, MN; Todd Gehl, Solon Springs; Tim McMann, Duluth, MN; Massingill.
Heat 5: Flynn; Ayotte; Mikkelson; Billy Kendall III, Walker, MN; Trent Follmer, Brainerd, MN; Brad Loveday, Fort Frances, ON; Deven VanHouse, Silver Bay, MN; Anthony Woodhull, Superior.
Heat 6: Redetzke; Anderson; Giossi; Derek Vesel, Hibbing, MN; R Niemi; Jayme Lautigar, Gilbert, MN; Ronnie Malecki, Duluth, MN; Blake Boelens, Brandon, MN.
Semi-Feature 1: Mass; Giossi; Provinzino; Doar; Lautigar; Mars; Massingill; Bellefeuille; Kelley; VanHouse; Vang; Cooper.
Semi-Feature 2: Budisalovich; R Niemi; Prochnow; Gehl; Crapser; K Niemi; Malecki; Vesel; G Frank; Kendall.
Semi-Feature 3: Searing; Eder; Estey; Hanson; McMann; Boelens; T Frank; Loveday; Klippenstein; Shafer; Follmer.
Qualifying: Mahder, 16.315 secs (88.262 mph).
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: 1-10: Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN; Dylan Nelson, Merrifield, MN; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Darin Meierotto, Superior; Kyle Copp, Brule; Andy Grymala, Superior; Don Livingston, Washburn; Dan Peterson, Foxboro; Rita Anderson, South Range.
11-12: Randy Graham, Trego; DJ Keeler, Superior.
Heat 1: Sabraski; Nelson; Meierotto; Graham; Livingston; Peterson.
Heat 2: Lawrence; Keeler; Deragon; Copp; Grymala; Anderson.
USRA Limited Late Models
Feature: 1-6: Cade Nelson, Hermantown, MN; Larry Fitzsimmons, East Bethel, MN; Derek Quinn, Brandon, MN; Derek Berg, Amery; Patrick Kelley, Wyoming, MN; Chad Dawson, Isanti, MN.
Heat: Nelson; Fitzsimmons; Quinn; Berg; Kelley; Dawson.