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Ebert earns flag-to-flag Modified Qualifying Feature win on night two of the WISSOTA 100 at I-94 Speedway

By Meghan Diemel, Editor
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 12) - Dan Ebert has many laps around I-94 emr Speedway, so it was no surprise when the No. 60 finished his Thursday night in victory lane following WISSOTA Modified Qualifying Feature action at the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100.

Shane Sabraski and Joseph Thomas earned the front row for the start of the Qualifying Feature, but misfortune struck Sabraski before the green even flew. He left the track on the hook with a mechanical issue, handing the pole to Thomas, with Ebert flanking him along the front row for the start of the 15-lapper.

Ebert took off into the lead early on, with Thomas under pressure from Clayton Wagamon for second. Brian Haben was fourth and Ryan Gierke completed the top five before the caution fell for Don Eischens, who was spun into the infield.

Joseph Thomas and Dan Ebert (Cody Papke Photo)

Ebert led the field back to green, as Thomas and Wagamon restarted their war for second. It didn’t last long as the field was back under yellow once again with just three laps scored.

Back under green, Ebert drove back out to a commanding lead, as Thomas continued to fight off Wagamon. Brady Gerdes was into fourth, while Johnny Broking had cracked the top five from his 10th starting spot. Another caution fell, this time for a Brett Hoium spin.

With 10 laps left on the board, Ebert was out front as Wagamon drove by Thomas for second. Broking pressured Gerdes for fourth, before Gerdes found another gear and moved in on Thomas for third. Gerdes took the spot the next lap.

Dale Ames and Tyler Peterson (Cody Papke Photo)

As Ebert held a healthy lead out front, Wagamon, Gerdes, Thomas and Broking continued to hold top five spots with five laps to go.

At the checkered flag, Ebert’s lead was more than 2 seconds, as he took the victory ahead of Wagamon and Gerdes in the top three. Broking supplanted Thomas for fourth during the final lap. Brendan Blascyk, Ryan Gierke and Mike Stearns were the final top eight finishers.

Those drivers accepting the top eight spots in Saturday’s Championship Finale included Ebert, Wagamon, Gerdes, Broking, Thomas, Blascyk, Brian Haben and Dale Ames.

In heat race action earlier in the program, Kevin Adams and Travis Saurer led the first heat to the green flag. Adams jumped out to the early advantage, ahead of Saurer and Brian Haben in the top three. As Adams ran through the middle of the track, Saurer’s high side momentum cut into his lead quickly, and with two to go he was right on Adams’ bumper heading into turn one. Saurer slid Adams and drove into the lead in turn four, with Adams driving back past to complete the lap at the start-finish line. Saurer drove into turn one along the bottom underneath Adams, and his car pushed, making contact with Adams. Adams and Saurer spun in front of the field and the yellow fell.

Following the restart, Adams took off into the lead once again, narrowly holding off Haben in second at the checkered. Ryan Gierke improved three spots to third.

In the second heat race, Joseph Thomas was the early leader ahead of Clayton Wagamon. Tyler Peterson raced in third. With three laps complete, Wagamon was side by side with Thomas for the lead; they were nearly dead even in the turns, while Thomas pulled away slightly along the front and backstretch. Wagamon gave it his best shot on the final lap along the bottom, but Thomas was able to pull ahead at the checkered flag to take the win by .303 seconds ahead of Wagamon. Peterson was third.

Brendan Blascyk and fourth-starter Shane Sabraski appeared to be dead even at the start-finish line to complete the first lap of the third heat race in the Modifieds, though Sabraski pulled away solidly into the lead along the backstretch during lap two. Blake Jegtvig hung back in third. Sabraski was set on cruise control out front to the checkered flag, taking the win ahead of Blascyk and Jegtvig in the top three.

In the fourth and final heat race, Brock Gronwold and Taylor Garberich led the field to the green flag, with Gronwold holding the early lead before a first-lap caution involving Justin Froemming brought the field back together for a complete restart.

Back under green, Brett Hoium made contact with Zach Johnson and spun, and the field was back under yellow and regrouped for another try at a complete restart. Gronwold led the first lap followed by Gerdes and Johnson, who had smoke pouring from his left rear. Gerdes drove by Gronwold for the lead with three laps complete, as Johnson moved in on Gronwold for second with seventh-starter Dan Ebert close behind.

Two laps later, Ebert made his way past Johnson, who then came to a halt with a flat tire, presumably from the earlier contact, and the field was back under caution.

Gerdes led after the final restart, taking the win ahead of Ebert, who displaced Gronwold for second in the final two laps.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 60-Dan Ebert[3]; 2. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[5]; 3. 2X-Brady Gerdes[6]; 4. 45J-Johnny Broking[10]; 5. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[2]; 6. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[11]; 7. 26G-Ryan Gierke[7]; 8. 12D-Mike Stearns[9]; 9. 6*-Brian Haben[4]; 10. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[13]; 11. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[14]; 12. 22C-Brandon Copp[17]; 13. 6-Dale Ames[12]; 14. 7-Bryce Borgen[22]; 15. 18S-Kennedy Swan[24]; 16. 52-Jason Thoennes[20]; 17. 2G-Brock Gronwold[16]; 18. 24-Brandon Dolman[19]; 19. 40F-John Farrington[23]; 20. 13-Cayden Schmeling[21]; 21. (DNF) 5H-Brett Hoium[18]; 22. (DNF) 9E-Don Eischens[15]; 23. (DNF) 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 24. (DQ) 40-Kevin Adams[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[1]; 2. 6*-Brian Haben[5]; 3. 26G-Ryan Gierke[6]; 4. 12D-Mike Stearns[8]; 5. 7-Bryce Borgen[3]; 6. 13-Cayden Schmeling[7]; 7. 21X-Travis Saurer[4]; 8. 33C-Cole Chernosky[9]; 9. (DNF) 121-Dano Ostrander[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6ST-Joseph Thomas[2]; 2. 14W-Clayton Wagamon[4]; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[3]; 4. 9E-Don Eischens[5]; 5. 6-Dale Ames[8]; 6. 22C-Brandon Copp[9]; 7. 51A-Avery Anderson[6]; 8. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[1]; 9. 11X-Austin Chyba[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[4]; 2. 9B-Brendan Blascyk[2]; 3. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[3]; 4. 24-Brandon Dolman[1]; 5. 52-Jason Thoennes[5]; 6. 40F-John Farrington[6]; 7. 18S-Kennedy Swan[8]; 8. 15T-Jeff Flaten[9]; 9. 22-Tyler Kintner[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Brady Gerdes[3]; 2. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 3. 2G-Brock Gronwold[1]; 4. 45J-Johnny Broking[8]; 5. 5H-Brett Hoium[6]; 6. 18-Taylor Garberich[2]; 7. (DNF) 6X-Zach Johnson[4]; 8. (DNF) 7R-Mike Rohwedder[9]; 9. (DNF) 33X-Justin Froemming[5]