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Sabraski scores WISSOTA 100 Late Model victory after late moves past Greseth and Grosz then a thrilling final lap

By Tony Steuck
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 14) - There is not much Shane Sabraski has left to accomplish at the WISSOTA 100, but on Saturday night, he added a Late Model title to that list. The rookie in the division already holds Modified, Super Stock and Midwest Modified race titles, and made late-race moves to add the Late Model Championship Feature victory to that list.

Sabraski started on the pole for the 50-lap main event, but Lee Grosz and Mike Greseth raced into the first two positions when the green flag waved. After a caution with one lap recorded, Sam Mars moved in to challenge Sabraski for third, and Kevin Burdick raced at the tail of the top five. Grosz had pulled away with five laps scored, and Sabraski moved in on Greseth for second. Burdick remained fifth, but had to deal with Chad Becker and Tyler Peterson. The caution fell with 10 laps recorded.

Grosz slipped away again after the restart, and remained around the very outside of the speedway, close to the wall. Greseth and Sabraski continued to run in tight formation for second, and Mars and Peterson raced in the top five ahead of Kollin Hibdon.

Lee Grosz and Mike Greseth (Cody Papke Photo)

Grosz had trouble with the turn-two cushion on lap 20, and Greseth closed in immediately. Greseth moved to the lead after a brief battle, but the caution flag dropped and negated the move with 21 laps officially recorded.

The leaders were nearly three wide for the lead after the restart, and Mars took advantage to move by Sabraski into the top three. Grosz grazed the wall in turns one and two, which allowed Greseth and Mars to remain close. Peterson fought with Sabraski for fourth before a hard crash in the first turn brought the field under red. Hibdon made contact with the wall on the frontstretch and Johnny Broking and Don Shaw were among those to pile in. The three drivers had heavily damaged race cars, but were uninjured.

Greseth used the middle groove to challenge for the lead after the lap-28 restart, but Grosz found just enough space to squeeze by on the outside and remain out front on lap 29. Greseth remained close for a few laps, but Grosz opened up a small cushion as he continued to graze the wall with an already damaged spoiler on the right rear corner.

Sabraski used the low groove to reclaim third from Mars on lap 35, and he and Greseth closed on the leader with 10 laps left. Sabraski hugged the inside line, and worked under Greseth for second on lap 41. Sabraski fought forward in the low groove and stole the lead out of turn four to complete lap 42. Grosz was not done, however, and mounted another charge in the high groove; while he prepared to make a bid for the lead, hard contact with the wall in turn one ended his run after a hard-fought 45 laps. The caution waved for one final time.

Shane Sabraski and Mike Greseth coming out of turn four on the final lap (Cody Papke Photo)

Sabraski held control for the restart, and Ryan Mikkelson used the inside groove to climb into fourth, and then bypass Mars for third on lap 46. Greseth’s final hope for the victory was a high side rally; he used the cushion to close onto Sabraski’s bumper under the white flag. Greseth lost ground in turns one and two, but charged through turns three and four with momentum. Sabraski, however, drifted up the track in turn four and blocked Greseth’s run. Greseth cranked his machine sideways, and with Mikkelson close, the top three crossed under the finish line in quick succession with Sabraski earning the victory over Greseth and Mikkelson. Mars and Burdick rounded out the top five, while Cole Searing, Jeff Provinzino, Shawn Meyer, 29th-starter Trevor Anderson and Josh Zimpel rounded out the top 10.

The final six cars to earn a spot in the main event came through the Last Chance Qualifier. On the start, carnage near the middle of the pack left Corey Seckerson’s car resting on top of Dustin Arthur’s machine. Both drivers were uninjured in the crash. One lap was scored before Blake Boelens rode the backstretch and the caution appeared.

Travis Saurer was comfortable at the head of the field when the race restarted, and Dylan Kromschroeder moved to second with Amelia Eisenschenk third ahead of Jared Zimpel. Trevor Anderson slipped by Zimpel for fourth on lap three, and Danny Vang was the next to challenge Zimpel. Vang made the pass, and Todd Frank raced in the final transfer before a caution with seven laps scored. Zimpel left the speedway under caution.

Saurer remained in control over Kromschroeder and Eisenschenk, while Vang displaced Anderson for fourth, and Jayson Good and Frank battled for sixth. Good lost a spot to Chase Gelling, who was in line to challenge for a transfer until he spun with 13 laps scored.

Seven cars remained for the restart; Frank held the final transfer, but tagged the wall out of turn two and drifted down into Good. The caution waved, and Good suffered rear suspension damage, but was the sixth car on the speedway.

The field restarted for a one lap dash, and Saurer raced to the win over Kromschroeder, Eisenschenk, Vang and Anderson. Good rode out the final lap with a heavily damaged race car for the sixth and final transfer position.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

Feature (50 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 2. 17-Mike Greseth[2]; 3. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[19]; 4. 28S-Sam Mars[4]; 5. 30-Kevin Burdick[5]; 6. 10-Cole Searing[7]; 7. 28-Jeff Provinzino[8]; 8. 18X-Shawn Meyer[14]; 9. 20-Trevor Anderson[29]; 10. 5-Josh Zimpel[16]; 11. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[6]; 12. 5E-Shane Edginton[12]; 13. 44-Cole Schill[22]; 14. 47-Danny Vang[28]; 15. 11-Austin Kuehl[23]; 16. 07-Cory Crapser[15]; 17. 2M-Dave Mass[13]; 18. 24H-Mike Hart[31]; 19. (DNF) 4J-Lee Grosz[3]; 20. (DNF) 71X-Cory Tammen[18]; 21. (DNF) 32-Jordan Tollakson[20]; 22. (DNF) 31-Travis Budisalovich[32]; 23. (DNF) 48K-Kollin Hibdon[11]; 24. (DNF) 45J-Johnny Broking[17]; 25. (DNF) 42S-Don Shaw[10]; 26. (DNF) 12-Chad Becker[9]; 27. (DNF) 85G-Jayson Good[30]; 28. (DNF) 7-Joel Bennett[21]; 29. (DNF) 21F-Gunner Frank[24]; 30. (DNF) 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[27]; 31. (DNF) 66-Sam Zender[33]; 32. (DNF) 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[26]; 33. (DNF) 66X-Travis Saurer[25]

LCQ (15 Laps): 1. 66X-Travis Saurer[2]; 2. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[3]; 3. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[6]; 4. 47-Danny Vang[8]; 5. 20-Trevor Anderson[5]; 6. 85G-Jayson Good[13]; 7. (DNF) 21-Todd Frank[10]; 8. (DNF) 18G-Chase Gelling[7]; 9. (DNF) 27-Jared Zimpel[1]; 10. (DNF) 32H-Lindsey Hansen[9]; 11. (DNF) XXX-Jon Tollakson[11]; 12. (DNF) 15X-Blake Boelens[4]; 13. (DNF) 15-Laela Eisenschenk[15]; 14. (DNF) 77-Corey Seckerson[12]; 15. (DNF) 21X-Dustin Arthur[14]; 16. (DNS) 24-Mike Stearns