7-2 Page 7 | ATD Racing News

Sabraski seals at $10,000 Mod win with final corner pass Sunday at Gondik Law Speedway

By Nick Gima

SUPERIOR, WI (June 30) - After two second-place finishes, Shane Sabraski decided he wasn’t going to finish runner-up again.

Sabraski chased down race-long leader Brandon Copp, pestered him repeatedly, and finally snuck by in the final corner of the 50-lap WISSOTA Modified feature to capture the $10,000 winner’s check to conclude the second night of the eighth annual Great Lakes Border Battle on Sunday night at Gondik Law Speedway.

In Sunday’s other WISSOTA Dirt Track Series headliners, Johnny Broking, Kyle Copp, Tyler Vernon were victorious, while Cade Nelson scored his second USRA Limited Late Model feature win of the weekend.

In the Modified finale, Copp started the spotlight event alongside polesitter Ryan Gierke and, after the pair sized each other up over the first lap and change, Copp worked his way by on the high side of the big, smooth, slick GLS oval and took charge on lap two. He stayed there after the race’s first of only two caution-flag slowdowns - for Justin Weinberger’s stopped racer on lap three.

The race stayed under green for the next 36 laps, allowing Copp to build up a commanding lead. Positions were swapped frequently behind him, as Jeremy Nelson claimed second from Gierke, and behind them Kaden Blaser, Jody Bellefeuille, Mike Anderson and J.T. Johnson debated top-five spots.

Sabraski was busy slicing his way through the field during the first 10 laps, making his way to fifth by lap 11, while Copp had more than a one-second lead. As the leader reached the tail-enders, Nelson, Gierke, Bellefeuille and Sabraski were deeply involved in a fierce competition for the other top-five positions.

Just after the race’s mid-point, Sabraski had just taken fourth from Gierke when he bounced off of the turn two wall on lap 28, setting him back a spot and costing him some valuable momentum. But he recovered well enough to regain fourth place within a couple of laps.

Bellefeuille grabbed second from Nelson on lap 32 while maneuvering through heavy lapped traffic, but he was a good 3.5 seconds behind Copp. Bellefeuille cut a full second off of that deficit as the leader worked through backmarkers, and then the complexion of the race changed dramatically when sixth-running Kaden Blaeser’s car stopped against the turn four wall on lap 39. This put Bellefeuille and Sabraski on Copp’s rear bumper for the restart.

Sabraski took second from Bellefeuille on the restart and hounded Copp for the lead. With five laps to go, Copp had built what looked to be an insurmountable one-second gap, but Sabraski charged one last time, taking the white flag to the inside of Copp, just .026 seconds back. Copp drove the same line that had worked for him since lap three - high and smooth - but Sabraski dove strong to the inside going into turn three, slipped high coming out of turn four to grab some traction, and edged Copp at the stripe by .171 seconds for career feature win number 898.

Bellefeuille was a short distance back in third, followed by Gierke and a late-charging Johnny Broking, who had started 11th.

In the WISSOTA Late Models, Broking started from the pole, but Lukas Koski claimed the early lead. Broking gave up second to Pat Doar on lap five, and Doar quickly disposed of Koski for the lead two circuits later. Broking followed Doar into second after another time around, but by then Doar was well on his way to a 1.5-second cushion.

The first stoppage of the race was for a scary roll of Skeeter Estey’s car in turn four on lap 12, and the restart was costly to Doar; Broking used a daring move to snare the lead. Over the next 11 laps Broking built a solid 1.25-second margin until he caught the tail-end of the field, at which point eighth-starter Sabraski challenged Doar for second.

On lap 24, fourth-place Kyle Peterlin’s car stopped along the outside wall at the end of the front straight. On the ensuing restart, Sabraski snuck low to pull alongside Broking going into turn three, and the pair slid up the turn four hill, but Broking recovered to outrun Sabraski back to the flagstand and maintained the lead. Broking rim-rode the rest of the way, while Sabraski skated through the middle lanes, and Broking held on to win by less than a quarter-second for his first feature win in a Late Model at Superior, collecting the $2,500 check.

Twelfth-starting Ashley Anderson finished third at a distance, while Doar held on to fourth ahead of James Giossi.

The WISSOTA Super Stocks ran their 25-lap feature nonstop for the second night in a row, with Kyle Copp staving off a determined Sabraski for the $1,000 win. Copp started from the pole, with D.J. Keeler alongside and Sabraski directly behind him, but within a couple of laps Copp had established control of the pace.

Once Sabraski had laid claim to second by working his way past Keeler, he was about a full second back of the leader. Steadily he reeled his way to Copp’s trunk lid, with the pair running almost side by side as they caught the slower end of the field by mid-race. At about the same time Curt Myers took over third by getting past Keeler, bringing Doug Koski along to fourth.

Copp and Sabraski were mired in heavy slower traffic over the final six laps, but each worked their way through without incident. The pair finished under the checkers completely surrounded by lapped cars, with Copp about a half-second ahead of Sabraski, and the pair well ahead of Myers, Koski and Tristan LaBarge.

After a two-car get-together to start the 25-lap, $1,000-to-win WISSOTA Midwest Modified A-main, outside front-row starter Vernon beat defending national champ Zach Benson to the front for the early advantage. Joey Jensen, however, was quicker than both and stole the lead away a lap later, and he and Vernon drew steadily away from Benson and the rest.

Jensen was separating from Vernon by lap five when Kalan Wagner spun to bring out a caution flag, and the restart gave Vernon a chance to challenge for the lead, before debris on the track delayed the event once again on lap six. Gavin Paull, who was running sixth at the time, spun on that restart, and on the next try Vernon dove low and Benson swept high to attempt a three-wide pass of Jensen, but the leader held true.

On lap eight Vernon made one last inside dive for the lead, and this one stuck as he powered ahead for good. As the final 19 laps clicked off nonstop, Vernon had Jensen nipping at his heels until they reached the tail of the field on lap 17, after which Vernon extended his lead to a final winning margin of 1.945 seconds for what he called the biggest win of his career in victory lane afterwards.

Benson maintained third throughout the long green-flag run to the finish, followed by Jason VandeKamp and William Moelter.

Nelson walked away to a second USRA Limited Late Model feature win during the Border Battle weekend - matching a feat his father Darrell Nelson did in a WISSOTA Late Model in 2019, to round out action in Superior.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 45J-Johnny Broking[1]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[8]; 3. 81-Ashley Anderson[12]; 4. 11-Pat Doar[3]; 5. 11(G)-James Giossi[7]; 6. 5-Josh Zimpel[6]; 7. 19-Steve Laursen[4]; 8. 6M-Jeff Massingill[24]; 9. 31-Travis Budisalovich[10]; 10. 44-Darrell Nelson[14]; 11. 71-Zach Wohlers[23]; 12. 30-Kevin Burdick[19]; 13. 10-Daniel Bargender[13]; 14. 57-Mike Anderson[15]; 15. 68-Mike Prochnow[21]; 16. 7-Harry Hanson[22]; 17. (DNF) 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[11]; 18. (DNF) 23-Kyle Peterlin[20]; 19. (DNF) 21-Mike Bellefeuille[5]; 20. (DNF) 1-Lukas Koski[2]; 21. (DNF) 22E-Kevin Eder[9]; 22. (DNF) 29F-Dave Flynn[18]; 23. (DNF) 37X-Skeeter Estey[16]; 24. (DNF) 16-Derek Vesel[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Steve Laursen[2]; 2. 11(G)-James Giossi[3]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski[6]; 4. 10-Daniel Bargender[7]; 5. 7-Harry Hanson[4]; 6. 29F-Dave Flynn[5]; 7. 30-Kevin Burdick[9]; 8. 24(L)-Jase Lien[1]; 9. 71-Zach Wohlers[10]; 10. 24(E)-Eric Lillo[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 45J-Johnny Broking[4]; 2. 21-Mike Bellefeuille[5]; 3. 22E-Kevin Eder[6]; 4. 68-Mike Prochnow[1]; 5. 57-Mike Anderson[8]; 6. 99-Billy Kendall III[9]; 7. 22-Brett Shafer[7]; 8. 12X-Ben Heinle[2]; 9. 81W-Anthony Woodhull[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Lukas Koski[3]; 2. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[2]; 3. 31-Travis Budisalovich[6]; 4. 81-Ashley Anderson[8]; 5. 16-Derek Vesel[4]; 6. 2-Todd Gehl[5]; 7. 28-Jeff Provinzino[9]; 8. 47-Danny Vang[7]; 9. (DNF) 212-Mike Klippenstein[1]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Josh Zimpel[1]; 2. 11-Pat Doar[6]; 3. 44-Darrell Nelson[2]; 4. 23-Kyle Peterlin[4]; 5. 37X-Skeeter Estey[8]; 6. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[5]; 7. 12-Mark Heinle[3]; 8. 6M-Jeff Massingill[7]; 9. (DNF) 31T-Trent Follmer[9]

B Feature #1 (12 Laps): 1. 16-Derek Vesel[3]; 2. 30-Kevin Burdick[5]; 3. 68-Mike Prochnow[1]; 4. 71-Zach Wohlers[9]; 5. 2-Todd Gehl[4]; 6. 47-Danny Vang[8]; 7. 24(L)-Jase Lien[7]; 8. 31T-Trent Follmer[11]; 9. 12-Mark Heinle[6]; 10. 24(E)-Eric Lillo[10]; 11. (DNF) 99-Billy Kendall III[2]

B Feature #2 (12 Laps): 1. 29F-Dave Flynn[3]; 2. 23-Kyle Peterlin[1]; 3. 7-Harry Hanson[2]; 4. 6M-Jeff Massingill[8]; 5. 28-Jeff Provinzino[5]; 6. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[4]; 7. 212-Mike Klippenstein[10]; 8. 12X-Ben Heinle[7]; 9. (DNF) 81W-Anthony Woodhull[9]; 10. (DNF) 22-Brett Shafer[6]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (50 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[19]; 2. 22-Brandon Copp[2]; 3. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[4]; 4. 26G-Ryan Gierke[1]; 5. 45J-Johnny Broking[11]; 6. 4(N)-Jeremy Nelson[3]; 7. 2C-Dave Cain[14]; 8. 44-Darrell Nelson[23]; 9. 57-Mike Anderson[7]; 10. 99-Billy Kendall III[9]; 11. 89JR-JT Johnson[8]; 12. 24-Brandon Dolman[20]; 13. 621-Colin Chaschuk[6]; 14. 98-Al Uotinen[24]; 15. 18S-Kennedy Swan[15]; 16. 11JR-Andrew Inman[22]; 17. 224-Cody Wolkowski[17]; 18. 2-Tanner Gehl[21]; 19. (DNF) 43K-Kaden Blaeser[5]; 20. (DNF) 22(S)-Cole Spacek[18]; 21. (DNF) 21(J)-Jake Smith[16]; 22. (DNF) 60-Dan Ebert[13]; 23. (DNF) 11(W)-Justin Weinberger[10]; 24. (DNF) 45-Bob Broking[12]

B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 224-Cody Wolkowski[1]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[3]; 3. 2-Tanner Gehl[2]; 4. 44-Darrell Nelson[4]; 5. 19J-Jack Rivord[7]; 6. 112-Brennan Gave[6]; 7. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[5]; 8. 515-Devin Fouquette[11]; 9. 04N-Nick Ayotte[10]; 10. 95-Rick Rivord[8]; 11. (DNS) 9-Brady Uotinen

B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 22(S)-Cole Spacek[1]; 2. 24-Brandon Dolman[5]; 3. 11JR-Andrew Inman[2]; 4. 98-Al Uotinen[9]; 5. 17B-Zach Benson[3]; 6. 24D-Duane Dale[4]; 7. T23-John Toppozini[8]; 8. (DNF) 3T-Travis Schulte[6]; 9. (DNF) 12-TJ Heinle[10]; 10. (DNS) 22(J)-Jeff Spacek; 11. (DNS) 7-Andrew Mackey

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 26-Kyle Copp[1]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[3]; 3. 33-Curt Myers[5]; 4. 76-Doug Koski[4]; 5. 19-Tristan LaBarge[7]; 6. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[2]; 7. 6(K)-Shane Kisling[10]; 8. 77-Scott Lawrence[9]; 9. 77K-Rick Simpson[13]; 10. 79A-Andy LaBarge[11]; 11. T23-John Toppozini[6]; 12. 2-Don Livingston[8]; 13. 11R-Rita Anderson[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Kyle Copp[4]; 2. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[7]; 3. T23-John Toppozini[2]; 4. 19-Tristan LaBarge[6]; 5. 6(K)-Shane Kisling[5]; 6. 79A-Andy LaBarge[3]; 7. (DNF) 77K-Rick Simpson[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 2. 76-Doug Koski[2]; 3. 33-Curt Myers[4]; 4. 2-Don Livingston[3]; 5. 77-Scott Lawrence[6]; 6. 11R-Rita Anderson[5]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[2]; 2. 30-Joey Jensen[4]; 3. 17B-Zach Benson[1]; 4. 16(V)-Jason VandeKamp[11]; 5. 87-William Moelter[6]; 6. 15-James Vendela[15]; 7. 32III-Cody Carlson[8]; 8. 17-Ashley Boyum[12]; 9. 16(D)-Deven VanHouse[18]; 10. 21(J)-Jake Smith[13]; 11. 16(P)-Garrett Paull[5]; 12. 73-Cole Boston[17]; 13. 28-Paul Ripley[16]; 14. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[3]; 15. 16-Ryan Savoy[22]; 16. 47-Don Craig[10]; 17. 55-Jesse Polson[19]; 18. 21-Wyatt Boyum[20]; 19. 69-Justin Bassa[21]; 20. 44K-Joshua Kough[14]; 21. 1W1-Kalan Wagner[7]; 22. 34-Taylor Madrinich[23]; 23. (DNF) 19-Darrin Lawler[24]; 24. (DNF) 33C-Andy Jones[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17B-Zach Benson[5]; 2. 1W1-Kalan Wagner[2]; 3. 16(V)-Jason VandeKamp[1]; 4. 15-James Vendela[4]; 5. 70-David Simpson[6]; 6. 73-Cole Boston[8]; 7. 16(D)-Deven VanHouse[3]; 8. (DNF) 15(G)-Eric Gadach[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16(P)-Garrett Paull[2]; 2. 87-William Moelter[3]; 3. 33C-Andy Jones[5]; 4. 44K-Joshua Kough[1]; 5. 55-Jesse Polson[4]; 6. 69-Justin Bassa[8]; 7. 7-Reagan Ruffi[6]; 8. 19-Darrin Lawler[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[5]; 2. 30-Joey Jensen[6]; 3. 21(J)-Jake Smith[3]; 4. 28-Paul Ripley[4]; 5. 34-Taylor Madrinich[2]; 6. 16-Ryan Savoy[1]; 7. 10X-Matthew Cunha[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[5]; 2. 32III-Cody Carlson[2]; 3. 17-Ashley Boyum[1]; 4. 47-Don Craig[7]; 5. 45-Keegan Kough[4]; 6. 16(J)-Cory Jorgensen[6]; 7. (DNF) 21-Wyatt Boyum[3]

B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 73-Cole Boston[5]; 2. 16(D)-Deven VanHouse[9]; 3. 55-Jesse Polson[3]; 4. 21-Wyatt Boyum[13]; 5. 69-Justin Bassa[6]; 6. 16-Ryan Savoy[7]; 7. 34-Taylor Madrinich[2]; 8. 19-Darrin Lawler[12]; 9. 45-Keegan Kough[4]; 10. 7-Reagan Ruffi[10]; 11. (DNF) 16(J)-Cory Jorgensen[8]; 12. (DNF) 10X-Matthew Cunha[11]; 13. (DNS) 70-David Simpson; 14. (DNS) 15(G)-Eric Gadach

USRA Late Models:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 44-Cade Nelson[1]; 2. 63-Patrick Kelley[6]; 3. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[2]; 4. 8-Matthew Larson[3]; 5. 208-Kory Ressie[4]; 6. 5B-Derek Berg[5]; 7. 52-Jason McFadden[7]; 8. 54-Chad Prissel[8]

Heat (8 Laps): 1. 44-Cade Nelson[4]; 2. 8-Matthew Larson[2]; 3. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[6]; 4. 5B-Derek Berg[1]; 5. 208-Kory Ressie[8]; 6. 63-Patrick Kelley[3]; 7. 52-Jason McFadden[5]; 8. 54-Chad Prissel[7]