Spacek Captures Third Straight FastLane Series Win at Gondik Law Speedway

by Nick Gima

               Superior, WI, June 14 – Terran Spacek of Phillips used a late-race pass in heavy traffic to snag a hard-earned third straight FastLane Motorsports Northland Super Stock Series feature win at Gondik Law Speedway on Friday night.

               Other feature winners on this cool but comfortable evening at the western end of Lake Superior included Superior’s Jack Rivord in the WISSOTA Modifieds; Joey Jensen of Forest Lake, MN, in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds; Duluth, MN’s Aaron Bernick in the WISSOTA Pure Stocks; and Carson Gotelaere of Superior in the WISSOTA Hornets.

               Spacek, who has been on a tear as of late with heat-and-feature sweeps at the Series’ recent stops in Proctor, MN, and Grand Rapids, MN, continued the trend with a heat win earlier in tonight’s program. He started the feature outside on row 2 but used a thread-the-needle move between DJ Keeler and Andrew Johnson to secure second place behind polestarter Curt Myers before the completion of lap 1.

Myers, the Series’ inaugural champ in 2015, and Spacek basically raced nose-to-tail as they pulled away from the rest of the 26-car field, with no caution-flag slowdowns throughout the 33-lap event to draw the pack back to them. Jensen, pulling double-duty on this night, slipped past Keeler during the early stages to third, and within a half-dozen laps Shane Sabraski worked through a very competitive pack to grab fifth.

Spacek snuck a few peeks to the inside on Myers throughout the first ten laps, but Myers maintained the point as the lead pair closed on backmarkers. The wide, slick, smooth surface made for plenty of room to weave through slower traffic, which the leaders did with relative ease. Trailing at a distance, Sabraski got by Keeler for fourth and closed in on Jensen.

Throughout the middle stages of the run Spacek was relentless in his pestering of Myers, while the leader pushed further out in the corners searching for enough of a cushion to maintain his drive off of the turns – often getting close to GLS’s concrete outer walls in the process. As the leaders dealt with heavier traffic over the final ten laps, Myers stayed in the outer lanes, and on lap 25 Spacek took advantage of a sliver of an opening at the bottom coming off of turn 4 and took over control of the run under the flagstand.

Spacek didn’t entirely get away from Myers, but he did use a handful of open-field opportunities to maintain a half-second margin during the closing laps and sped under the checkers with Myers no more than a couple of car-lengths back. Sabraski and Jensen, dealing with the same traffic as the lead pair, put on a similarly entertaining show while coming home about two seconds back in third and fourth, respectively, and Kyle Copp worked his way to fifth, another two seconds back.

The WISSOTA Modifieds also ran their feature flag-to-flag, with Rivord giving the rest of the field an absolute schooling for his first win of the season.

Polestarter Bob Broking got the better of front-row mate Tanner Gehl in securing the lead after the drop of the green flag, while Rivord, who started directly behind Gehl, drove around Gehl and into second after the first lap was scored.

It took a couple more circuits, with Rivord looking outside on Broking, but he finally got by on lap 3, and from there no one was going to catch him. By lap 7 Rivord had half a straightaway on the battle for second between Broking, Andrew Inman and Brandon Copp, and Rivord built that advantage to nearly a full straightaway on the big four-tenths-mile oval by mid-race.

Copp worked outside to take third from Inman just after the halfway point of the 20-lap run, as Rivord closed on the tail of the field. With five remaining Rivord settled in to a nice pace directly behind the tail-enders, while maintaining his huge cushion of a lead, and even though Copp finally disposed of Broking for second with three laps left, Rivord still had better than three-and-a-third seconds on Copp at the final stripe.

Johnny Broking got by his dad Bob for third on the closing lap, and Inman held on for fifth.

Jensen’s move for the win came late in the 20-lap WISSOTA Midwest Mod feature, as he worked his way from the ninth starting spot in the 27-car field.

Polestarter Jimmy Latvala set the pace for the first couple of laps, with Ryan Savoy following him from the second row ahead of Cole Chernosky, before a tangle between Cory Jorgensen and Ross Siiter brought about the first of three well-spaced caution stoppages. Savoy then dropped low on Latvala on the restart and took over at the point, pulling away to a healthy advantage before David Simpson’s broken ride drew the second yellow flag on lap 7.

Jensen was up to seventh for the ensuing restart and gained a couple more positions over the next three laps, as Chernosky took second and brought James Vendela along to third and Will Moelter to fourth. Reagan Ruffi’s stalled racer brought the proceedings to a halt right at mid-race, and on that restart Jensen stole third from Vendela and set his sights on Chernosky, eventually taking runner-up honors away on lap 12.

Jensen stayed right on Savoy’s rear bumper as the pair pulled away from the field, and Jensen used an outside pass on lap 16 to secure the lead, then pulled away just enough to a final winning margin of .635 seconds. Chernosky was about a second back of the lead pair in third, followed at a distance by Vendela and Moelter.

Bernick has been close on a number of occasions this season without winning a WISSOTA Pure Stock feature, but on this night he was on the successful end of “close.”

Bernick started outside on the front row and beat polestarter Shane Basina through the first set of turns on his way to leading all 12 laps of the run, although never by much. Jake Smith worked the low line to take second from Basina, and the three stayed in very tight formation throughout the run.

Contact between Dylan Shelton and Tom Treviranus while battling for fourth had the back half of the field scrambling, but the lead trio continued their dogfight, with Bernick’s car no more halfway ahead of and just to the outside of Smith’s and Basina’s car right on Bernick’s rear bumper. Smith took several shots at pulling even or slightly ahead of Bernick but could not get his car to hook up enough to complete the pass, and the duo began to separate from Basina just a bit until lap 9, when the caution flag waived for Trevor Treviranus’ stopped racer.

Bernick, Smith and Basina resumed their battle for the final three laps and stayed in the same formation as they took the checkers, with Bernick barely ahead of Smith for the win. Justin Barsness and Jessie Treviranus trailed at a distance to complete the top five.

The WISSOTA Hornets finale saw Gotelaere grab the lead right away and walk off to a relatively easy win. After a Cade Johnson spin in the opening corner, Gotelaere ran the outside line of a three-wide pass around Larson and DeJay Jarecki and from there drew away in a dominant performance.

Jarecki took over second spot and chased Gotelaere – who drives a car formerly raced by Jarecki – but was no match for the leader. By mid-race Gotelaere had better than a half-straightaway on Jarecki, and the margin did not decrease as the last six laps clicked off without interruption. Gotelaere actually stretched the lead by a couple more car-lengths as he took the checkers, with Jarecki running a similar distance ahead of Larson, who had his hands full hanging onto third ahead of Riley Ament and Joe Puidokas.

The tenth edition of the FastLane Series heads to Oglivie, MN, on Saturday, June 15, and Sauk Rapids, MN, on Sunday the 16thbefore finishing up at Rice Lake Speedway on Wednesday, July 3.

The Gondik Law Speedway will host its fifth annual Badger State Hornet Nationals as well as the opening round of the track’s eight-race KME Late Model Series on Friday, June 21. WISSOTA Late Models will run for $1,500 to win on this night as well as for points toward the KME Series’ overall $30,000 points fund.

Hot laps will start at 6:30 pm, followed by racing at 7. For more information on this event, log on to the track’s website, www.gondiklawspeedway.com.

Results

WISSOTA Modifieds

               Feature: 1-10: Jack Rivord, Superior; Brandon Copp, Brule; Johnny Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Bob Broking, Grand Rapids, MN; Andrew Inman, Canyon, MN; Jody Bellefeuille, Carlton, MN; Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN; Brady Uotinen, Superior; Tanner Gehl, Solon Springs; Al Uotinen, Superior.

               11-16: Nick Oreskovich, Mason; Kennedy Swan, Chippewa Falls; Rick Rivord, Superior; Aiden Hoffman, Rice Lake; Kelly Checkalski, Poplar; Cole Chernosky, Thunder Bay, ON.

               Heat 1: B Broking; Inman; Gehl; Copp; Hoffman; Checkalski; Oreskovich; Chernosky.

               Heat 2: A Uotinen; J Broking; J Rivord; Bellefeuille; B Uotinen; Sabraski; R Rivord; Swan.

WISSOTA Super Stocks

               Feature: 1-10: Terran Spacek, Phillips; Curt Myers, Cameron; Shane Sabraski, Rice, MN; Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, MN; Kyle Copp, Brule; DJ Keeler; Superior; Matt Deragon, Ashland; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Andrew Johnson, Brainerd, MN; Austin Niemeyer, Brainerd, MN.

               11-20: Dylan Nelson, Merrifield, MN; Tim Johnson, Brainerd, MN; James Trantina III, St Joseph, MN; Jordan Henkemeyer, Sauk Rapids, MN; Doug Koski, Chisholm, MN; Chris Wark, Zimmerman, MN; Shawn McFadden, Ashland; Dexton Koch, Becker, MN; Alex Myers, Cameron; Andy Grymala, Superior.

               21-26: Rick Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON; Jim Campbell, Two Harbors, MN; Jason Garner, Iron River; Rita Anderson, South Range; Don Livingston, Washburn; Tucker Quinn, Ladysmith.

               Heat 1: Keeler; Jensen; Sabraski; McFadden; Livingston; Tommy Richards, Mondovi; Wes Hines, Nisswa, MN; Shane Kisling, Butternut.

               Heat 2: A Johnson; Wark; Quinn; Garner; Kenny Davis, Elk Mound; Dan Peterson, Foxboro; Nelson.

               Heat 3: C Myers; Copp; Koch; T Johnson; Henkemeyer; Grymala; Paul Gucinski, Superior.

               Heat 4: Spacek; Koski; Trantina; Campbell; A Myers; Myron Basina, Bayfield; Rita Anderson, South Range.

               Heat 5: Lawrence; Niemeyer; Deragon; Simpson; Chad Johnson, Colfax; Doug Bolt, Rosslyn, ON; Allan Cleveland, Breckenridge, MN.

               Semi-Feature 1: Henkemeyer; Nelson; Livingston; Kisling; C Johnson; Basina; Peterson; Gucinski.

               Semi-Feature 2: A Myers; Grymala; Richards; Davis; Anderson; Hines; Bolt.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

               Feature: 1-10: Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, MN; Ryan Savoy, Superior; Cole Chernosky, Thunder Bay, ON; James Vendela, South Range; William Moelter, Elk Mound; Cody Carlson, Superior; McLean Andrews, Duluth, MN; Paul Ripley, Duluth, MN; Deven VanHouse, Silver Bay, MN; Shane Howell, Buffalo, MN.

               11-20: Jimmy Latvala, Solon Springs; Dalton Mains, Foxboro; James Trantina III, St Joseph, MN; Brady Caul, Fort Frances, ON; Evan Checkalski, Duluth, MN; Jesse Polson, Superior; Kolby Reed, Kakabeka Falls, ON; Adam Shinn, Duluth, MN; Cory Jorgensen, Duluth, MN; Taylor Madrinich, Duluth, MN.

               21-27: Reagan Ruffi, Lake Nebagamon; Ross Siiter, Esko, MN; Chris Bretting, Washburn; Joshua Kough, Proctor, MN; Justin Bassa, Cotton, MN; Lance Relf, Winnipeg, MB; David Simpson, Thunder Bay, ON.

               Heat 1: Bassa; Chernosky; Latvala; Carlson; VanHouse; Ripley; Jorgensen; Kough; Bretting.

               Heat 2: Simpson; Vendela; Jensen; Howell; Polson; Checkalski; Reed; Siiter; Relf.

               Heat 3: Savoy; Moelter; Andrews; Mains; Shinn; Caul; Madrinich; Ruffi; Trantina.

WISSOTA Pure Stocks

               Feature: 1-9: Aaron Bernick, Duluth, MN; Jake Smith, Cohasset, MN; Shane Basina, Bayfield; Justin Barsness, Grand Rapids, MN; Jessie Treviranus, Superior; Bob Klein, Grand Rapids, MN; Trevor Treviranus, Hawthorne; Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne; Dylan Shelton, Hermantown, MN.

               Heat: Bernick; Tom Treviranus; Smith; Basina; Barsness; Jessie Treviranus; Klein; Shelton; Trevor Treviranus.

WISSOTA Hornets

               Feature: 1-9: Carson Gotelaere, Superior; DeJay Jarecki, Ashland; Nikota Larson, Barnum, MN; Riley Ament, Mahtowa, MN; Joseph Puidokas, Cloquet, MN; Derek Ament, Mahtowa, MN; Derek Dunbar, Iron River; Ryan LaBorde, South Range; Cade Johnson, Iron, MN.

               Heat: D Ament; Gotelaere; Jarecki; Larson; R Ament; Puidokas; LaBorde; Johnson; Dunbar.