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Searing speeds to first Superior feature win during Friday night Challenge Series stop at Gondik Law Speedway

By Nick Gima

SUPERIOR, WI (August 9) - Friday’s stop at Gondik Law Speedway for the Northern Storm Series included 113 entries competing in a 21-race program that was highlighted by plenty of drama and excitement, as well as Cole Searing’s first-ever feature win at the northwestern Wisconsin track.

Other WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners during the program included Brandon Copp and Deven VanHouse.

Late Model polesitter Jeff Provinzino darted to the initial advantage in the 40-lap, $2,500-to-win Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series feature, ahead of Pat Doar, Darrell Nelson, Kyle Peterlin, Searing and Shane Sabraski. The leader pushed to a strong 1.3-second margin over the first 10 laps. Meanwhile, Searing picked off positions with nearly every lap around the big, wide, smooth-as-glass oval, taking fourth from Peterlin after just three laps and then working his way by Nelson for third during lap 10.

On lap 12, Provinzino caught the tail-end of the 26-car field, allowing Doar and Searing to close the gap by nearly half as they waged their own battle for position. Searing worked the lower lane to get by Doar on lap 14, and within two more circuits he caught and slipped by Provinzino for the lead, with Doar following to second another lap later.

Doar stayed as close as he could to Searing while the pair negotiated slower traffic as the race reached its mid-point, while behind them two drivers - James Giossi, who started the race directly behind Searing, and Ashley Anderson, who had to qualify for the main event from a semi-feature and started 19th - began to charge forward. Giossi pestered Nelson for several laps before slipping by to fourth on lap 24, and Anderson took that spot from Giossi on lap 27.

Searing pulled away to a somewhat comfortable 1.5-second lead despite the traffic, but as the race entered its final 10 laps, Anderson, who was by now up to third, joined Doar in cutting that deficit down to less than a second. Searing used some open-field running during the final six laps and rebuilt the advantage to over three seconds as Anderson overtook Doar for second. Anderson was able to draw to within a few car-lengths of the leader as slower racers became a factor in the closing stages, but Searing held on to win by .839 seconds.

Doar was well back of Anderson in third at the final stripe, while Giossi came home a close fourth and eighth-starting Johnny Broking claimed fifth. The nonstop run took less than 15 minutes, 17 of the 26 starters finished on the lead lap, and only three drivers did not finish.

Doar set the fast mark in the earlier timed qualifying session with a lap of 15.434 seconds (93.301 mph average) - within two-tenths of a second of his own track record.

With his win and Challenge Series leader Tyler Peterson’s disappointing 14th-place finish, Searing closed to within five points of Peterson at the top of the series standings, with six races left.

In the WISSOTA Modifieds, Copp used a gutsy move at one of the trickiest parts of the speedway as laps wound down to grab the win in the 30-lap event.

Early control of the race was up for grabs as front-row starters Kaden Blaeser and Dave Cain swapped the lead spot often over the first lap. J.T. Johnson’s stalled ride after one lap was scored drew the only yellow-flag stop during all three features combined. After the restart, the veteran Cain and the teenager Blaeser resumed their fierce discussion before Cain finally won the argument and pulled away to a 1.5-second lead by the end of the first five laps.

Eighth-starter Copp was in the middle of a great race for third among Kennedy Swan and Justin Froemming. Copp finally broke free from that battle on lap 10, but by now Cain had stretched his lead to nearly 2.5 seconds. On lap 14, Copp passed Blaeser for second and, with Cain now over four seconds ahead, he headed to the uppermost racing groove on the track - close to the outer concrete wall and tricky to run at best.

Cain caught the backmarkers with 12 laps to go, giving Copp the opportunity to cut drastically into the deficit. The difference between the pair was less than a second with nine laps left, and Copp was on Cain’s bumper just two laps later, looking outside for room to get by.

With three laps to go, Copp made a daring move to the outside of Cain as they weaved through traffic in turn two. Copp shot for a sliver of an opening between the leader and the outer wall and squeezed by to drag-race Cain down the backstretch, ending up as the new leader as they came off of turn four. From there Copp “rode the rim” the rest of the way to a 1.7-second final margin of victory, with Cain nearly the same distance ahead of Blaeser.

Sabraski, who won his B feature in order to make the show, came from a 17th-place start to take fourth, just ahead of Swan. Despite the lone early caution flag, the race clicked off in just over 13.5 minutes.

Deven VanHouse, of Silver Bay, MN, led all 25 non-stop laps of the WISSOTA Midwest Modified A-main to kick off the night’s feature action in dominant fashion. VanHouse started on the pole and, despite some strong performances behind him, was never really challenged.

Early on, the race for second between Paul Ripley and Joey Jensen was very entertaining, but it allowed VanHouse to scamper away to a lead of more than a second within the first four laps. Jensen cleared Ripley on lap two and put some distance on a new group debating third, which included Jason VandeKamp, Ripley, Zach Benson and Cole Boston. Jensen, who has been dominant at local tracks this summer, could not seem to gain ground on the leader, however, even as VanHouse caught the back of the pack at the mid-race crossed flags.

On lap 17, Jensen dropped out of the race with mechanical woes, causing VanHouse’s advantage to grow from a second-and-a-half to more than two seconds over the new runner-up VandeKamp, who himself had a significant cushion on Benson. With the frontrunners well-distanced from one another, VanHouse zigged through slower traffic with relative ease and cruised to a 2.365-second winning margin over VandeKamp, Benson, Boston and Ryan Savoy.

On Friday, August 16, Gondik Law Speedway hosts its sixth annual Suicide Prevention and Awareness Night, along with its annual Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. The Late Model portion of the program will be part of the season-long KME Late Model Series at the track, WISSOTA Street Stocks will join the program, and the Northern Vintage Stockcar Racers group will bring their winged-modified and stock-bodied divisions in for a huge, special night of racing.

The WISSOTA Super Stocks and Pure Stocks will also return to action at GLS on this night; the WISSOTA Hornets will have the night off. For more information on this event, log on to the track's website, www.gondiklawspeedway.com.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[5]; 2. 81-Ashley Anderson[19]; 3. 11-Pat Doar[2]; 4. 11G-James Giossi[7]; 5. 45J-Johnny Broking[8]; 6. 28-Jeff Provinzino[1]; 7. 7A-Shane Sabraski[6]; 8. 30-Kevin Burdick[16]; 9. 28S-Sam Mars[11]; 10. 44-Darrell Nelson[4]; 11. 23-Kyle Peterlin[3]; 12. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[9]; 13. 31-Travis Budisalovich[17]; 14. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[13]; 15. 27-Jake Redetzke[26]; 16. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[23]; 17. 7X-Jesse Glenz[12]; 18. 6M-Jeff Massingill[21]; 19. 29F-Dave Flynn[18]; 20. 54-Rick Niemi[20]; 21. 54L-Jayme Lautigar[14]; 22. 22E-Kevin Eder[25]; 23. 63-Patrick Kelley[24]; 24. (DNF) 47-Danny Vang[15]; 25. (DNF) 7-Joel Bennett[22]; 26. (DNF) 19-Steve Laursen[10]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[2]; 2. 11-Pat Doar[4]; 3. 7X-Jesse Glenz[3]; 4. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[7]; 5. 6M-Jeff Massingill[1]; 6. 54-Rick Niemi[8]; 7. (DNF) 212-Mike Klippenstein[9]; 8. (DNF) 99-Billy Kendall III[5]; 9. (DNS) 16-Derek Vesel

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[2]; 2. 23-Kyle Peterlin[5]; 3. 54L-Jayme Lautigar[1]; 4. 30-Kevin Burdick[4]; 5. 29F-Dave Flynn[7]; 6. 7H-Harry Hanson[6]; 7. 7-Joel Bennett[9]; 8. 81-Ashley Anderson[3]; 9. 25-Hank Berry[8]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 11G-James Giossi[1]; 2. 45J-Johnny Broking[2]; 3. 28S-Sam Mars[3]; 4. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[6]; 5. 31-Travis Budisalovich[7]; 6. 27-Jake Redetzke[5]; 7. 22E-Kevin Eder[8]; 8. 63-Patrick Kelley[9]; 9. (DNF) 21F-Gunner Frank[4]

Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 28-Jeff Provinzino[3]; 2. 44-Darrell Nelson[4]; 3. 47-Danny Vang[2]; 4. 19-Steve Laursen[7]; 5. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[6]; 6. 21-Todd Frank[5]; 7. 24-Eric Lillo[8]; 8. (DNF) 88-Steve Hucovski[1]; 9. (DNF) 2-Todd Gehl[9]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 31-Travis Budisalovich[1]; 2. 81-Ashley Anderson[7]; 3. 6M-Jeff Massingill[3]; 4. 27-Jake Redetzke[4]; 5. 99-Billy Kendall III[9]; 6. 22E-Kevin Eder[6]; 7. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[2]; 8. 21-Todd Frank[5]; 9. (DNS) 212-Mike Klippenstein; 10. (DNS) 21F-Gunner Frank

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 29F-Dave Flynn[1]; 2. 54-Rick Niemi[2]; 3. 7-Joel Bennett[3]; 4. 24-Eric Lillo[5]; 5. 16-Derek Vesel[10]; 6. 2-Todd Gehl[9]; 7. 7H-Harry Hanson[4]; 8. 25-Hank Berry[7]; 9. 63-Patrick Kelley[6]; 10. (DNS) 88-Steve Hucovski

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 22-Brandon Copp[8]; 2. 2C-Dave Cain[2]; 3. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[1]; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski[17]; 5. 18S-Kennedy Swan[3]; 6. 33X-Justin Froemming[4]; 7. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[16]; 8. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[5]; 9. 5K-Tyler Kaeter[13]; 10. 57-Mike Anderson[19]; 11. 26G-Ryan Gierke[23]; 12. 44-Darrell Nelson[9]; 13. 4-Jeremy Nelson[21]; 14. 98-Al Uotinen[18]; 15. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[6]; 16. 22T-Michael Truscott[11]; 17. 45-Bob Broking[10]; 18. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[25]; 19. 55W-Jeffrey Wood[12]; 20. 19J-Jack Rivord[7]; 21. (DNF) 9E-Don Eischens[20]; 22. (DNF) 89JR-JT Johnson[24]; 23. (DNF) 7-Andrew Mackey[15]; 24. (DNF) 40-Kevin Adams[22]; 25. (DNF) 22(S)-Cole Spacek[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[3]; 2. 19J-Jack Rivord[1]; 3. 22(S)-Cole Spacek[2]; 4. 7-Andrew Mackey[4]; 5. 4-Jeremy Nelson[5]; 6. 11JR-Andrew Inman[8]; 7. 11(W)-Justin Weinberger[6]; 8. 89JR-JT Johnson[9]; 9. 9-Brady Uotinen[7]; 10. 2-Tanner Gehl[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Dave Cain[2]; 2. 22-Brandon Copp[1]; 3. 55W-Jeffrey Wood[4]; 4. 22T-Michael Truscott[8]; 5. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 6. 98-Al Uotinen[10]; 7. 17B-Zach Benson[5]; 8. 343-JD Ford[3]; 9. 74-Shaun Kreyer[9]; 10. (DNF) 32C-Curtis Stieh[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Kennedy Swan[2]; 2. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[3]; 3. 5K-Tyler Kaeter[1]; 4. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[9]; 5. 40-Kevin Adams[6]; 6. 9E-Don Eischens[5]; 7. 25-Adam Bohlman[8]; 8. 442-Aaron Johnson[10]; 9. 6-Dale Ames[7]; 10. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 33X-Justin Froemming[1]; 2. 44-Darrell Nelson[2]; 3. 45-Bob Broking[5]; 4. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[4]; 5. 7A-Shane Sabraski[7]; 6. 26G-Ryan Gierke[8]; 7. 224-Cody Wolkowski[6]; 8. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[9]; 9. 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[3]

B Feature #1 (12 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[2]; 3. 4-Jeremy Nelson[3]; 4. 26G-Ryan Gierke[4]; 5. 11(W)-Justin Weinberger[6]; 6. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[11]; 7. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[8]; 8. 25-Adam Bohlman[5]; 9. 6-Dale Ames[10]; 10. 442-Aaron Johnson[7]; 11. 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[9]; 12. 32C-Curtis Stieh[12]

B Feature #2 (12 Laps): 1. 98-Al Uotinen[1]; 2. 9E-Don Eischens[4]; 3. 40-Kevin Adams[2]; 4. 89JR-JT Johnson[7]; 5. 17B-Zach Benson[5]; 6. 343-JD Ford[8]; 7. 11JR-Andrew Inman[3]; 8. 2-Tanner Gehl[11]; 9. 9-Brady Uotinen[9]; 10. 224-Cody Wolkowski[6]; 11. 74-Shaun Kreyer[10]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 117-Deven VanHouse[1]; 2. 16(V)-Jason VandeKamp[6]; 3. 17B-Zach Benson[4]; 4. 33C-Cole Boston[5]; 5. 16-Ryan Savoy[9]; 6. 28-Paul Ripley[2]; 7. 40D-Blake Adams[10]; 8. 32III-Cody Carlson[7]; 9. 15-James Vendela[17]; 10. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[19]; 11. 87-William Moelter[18]; 12. 16(P)-Garrett Paull[8]; 13. 32-Justin Froemming[14]; 14. 25-Adam Bohlman[12]; 15. 55-Jesse Polson[16]; 16. 11-Ashton Schulte[11]; 17. 64-Evan Checkalski[23]; 18. 69-Justin Bassa[24]; 19. 7M-Dalton Mains[20]; 20. 67-Glen Brown[21]; 21. 2-Ariel Mueller[25]; 22. 47-Don Craig[13]; 23. (DNF) 7X-Marcus Dunbar[15]; 24. (DNF) 30-Joey Jensen[3]; 25. (DNF) 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[22]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17B-Zach Benson[2]; 2. 32III-Cody Carlson[4]; 3. 11-Ashton Schulte[6]; 4. 64-Evan Checkalski[3]; 5. 7X-Marcus Dunbar[8]; 6. 87-William Moelter[9]; 7. 50-Brady Caul[10]; 8. 19-Darrin Lawler[1]; 9. 2-Ariel Mueller[5]; 10. OK-Matt Kelley[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 117-Deven VanHouse[3]; 2. 16(P)-Garrett Paull[4]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 4. 55-Jesse Polson[2]; 5. 15-James Vendela[1]; 6. 4L-Carey LePage[9]; 7. 40-Tanner Henderson[5]; 8. 3D-Daniel Bjonfald[8]; 9. 45-Keegan Kough[6]; 10. 25C-Cole Sondergaard[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Boston[2]; 2. 16-Ryan Savoy[4]; 3. 30-Joey Jensen[9]; 4. 32-Justin Froemming[6]; 5. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[5]; 6. 67-Glen Brown[3]; 7. 69-Justin Bassa[7]; 8. 09-Skylar Findley[8]; 9. (DNF) 21R-Ross Siiter[1]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 16(V)-Jason VandeKamp[2]; 2. 28-Paul Ripley[6]; 3. 47-Don Craig[1]; 4. 25-Adam Bohlman[7]; 5. 7M-Dalton Mains[3]; 6. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[9]; 7. 46-Zach Slayton[4]; 8. 445-Charles Bistodeau[8]; 9. 8-Jonny Nowak[5]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 15-James Vendela[3]; 2. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[4]; 3. 67-Glen Brown[5]; 4. 64-Evan Checkalski[1]; 5. 2-Ariel Mueller[9]; 6. 45-Keegan Kough[10]; 7. 25C-Cole Sondergaard[11]; 8. (DNF) 09-Skylar Findley[8]; 9. (DNF) 4L-Carey LePage[2]; 10. (DNS) 40-Tanner Henderson; 11. (DNS) 19-Darrin Lawler

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 87-William Moelter[1]; 2. 7M-Dalton Mains[3]; 3. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[2]; 4. 69-Justin Bassa[6]; 5. 50-Brady Caul[4]; 6. OK-Matt Kelley[10]; 7. 21R-Ross Siiter[11]; 8. 8-Jonny Nowak[9]; 9. 3D-Daniel Bjonfald[7]; 10. 46-Zach Slayton[5]; 11. 445-Charles Bistodeau[8]