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Cole Searing (Breanna Hamlin Photo)

Searing steals his fifth Challenge Series win of 2024 at Hibbing while Sabraski, Castle, LaBarge and Schelitzche score big buck Labor Day Shootout victories

By Chris Stepan

HIBBING, MN (September 1) - The Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series powered by Momentum Truck Group, Freightliner, and Western Star wrapped up the Labor Day Shootout weekend at Hibbing Raceway in Hibbing, Minnesota with a whale of a race. Cole Searing came out on top of a lead-swapping duel with Hibbing’s own Jeff Provinzino to win his fifth Challenge Series race of the 2024 season and cut into Tyler Peterson’s point lead heading into the final series race of the season September 11 at the WISSOTA 100.

Searing and Provinzino earned the front row for the night’s 40-lap, $3,000-to-win feature event, with Searing taking the lead on the initial start from the pole. He led the field into turn number one on the opening circuit, only to have the start called back; a tangle at the tail of the field didn’t allow the field to complete the opening lap.

On the restart, Searing got the upper hand and took off into the lead with Provinzino close in tow. The battle for third early on was stout among Tyler Peterson, Ben Heinle and Johnny Broking, with Peterson emerging in third early in the event. Provinzino was able to race by Searing into the lead and set off into the night out front.

Laps clicked off quickly with two- and three-wide battles the norm throughout traffic, with entertaining races for third, as well as fifth between Keith Niemi and Ben Heinle. As the field reached the halfway point, Provinzino led with Searing, Peterson, Broking and Niemi inside the top five.

The second caution of the night flew on lap 24, which bunched the field up and allowed Searing to stay close to Provinzino out front. On the restart, Searing jumped the cushion and slipped over the banking back into seventh, but a crash occurred in turn three at the same time, negating the lap and giving Searing new life, putting him back into the runner-up spot on the next start.

On that start, Provinzino took back off into the lead with Searing searching for the fastest way around to try to get by. Meanwhile, Saturday night's winner Kyle Peterlin was working his way from his ninth into the top five on lap 26, while the leaders were battling in close quarters out front.

The final caution of the night flew with just eight laps to go, and on the final restart of the event, Searing found something on the top side and began to roll alongside Provinzino for the top spot. As the two ran nose to tail and side by side out front, Searing was finally able to sweep around the outside of Provinzino’s car as they raced into turn one with just six laps to go.

Once out front, Searing raced to his fifth series win of the season by 1.2 seconds. Provinzino finished second with Peterson third. Fourth went to Broking with Sabraski rounding out the top five.

Mervin Castle III won the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature from his fifth-row starting spot, taking the lead with less than a handful of laps to go. Mikey Blevins, 12th-starter Tim Jackson, Sam Blevins, and Garrett Paull were top-five finishers.

Sabraski won the WISSOTA Modified feature from the pole, leading start to finish for the victory by about a second ahead of fellow front-row starter Bob Broking. Jeremy Nelson, Jody Bellefeuille and Tyler Kintner completed the top five.

Tristan LaBarge won a wild WISSOTA Super Stock feature race, garnering the victory ahead of 13th-starter Sabraski, 10th-starter Austin Blom, Dalton Carlson and 11th-starter Andy LaBarge in the top five.

Justin Schelitzche won the WISSOTA Hornet main event for the second straight night to cap off the night. Calvin Skaja, McKenna Folstad, A.J. House and Trenton Beel rounded out the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[1]; 2. 28-Jeff Provinzino[2]; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[4]; 4. 45J-Johnny Broking[7]; 5. 7A-Shane Sabraski[17]; 6. 23-Kyle Peterlin[9]; 7. 14N-Keith Niemi[6]; 8. 31-Travis Budisalovich[8]; 9. 47-Danny Vang[14]; 10. 12X-Ben Heinle[3]; 11. 30-Kevin Burdick[13]; 12. 21F-Gunner Frank[5]; 13. 54-Rick Niemi[15]; 14. 37X-Skeeter Estey[10]; 15. 71M-Zach Wohlers[20]; 16. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[11]; 17. 6M-Jeff Massingill[22]; 18. 54L-Jayme Lautigar[24]; 19. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[16]; 20. 12-Mark Heinle[21]; 21. 63-Patrick Kelley[23]; 22. (DNF) 7-Harry Hanson[18]; 23. (DNF) 0-Zack Drews[12]; 24. (DNF) 16-Derek Vesel[25]; 25. (DNF) 13-Roger Paolo[26]; 26. (DNF) 7B-Joel Bennett[19]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21F-Gunner Frank[2]; 2. 23-Kyle Peterlin[1]; 3. 45J-Johnny Broking[4]; 4. 30-Kevin Burdick[3]; 5. 7B-Joel Bennett[6]; 6. 16-Derek Vesel[5]; 7. 24-Jase Lien[7]; 8. 24L-Eric Lillo[9]; 9. (DNF) 54L-Jayme Lautigar[8]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[3]; 2. 12X-Ben Heinle[6]; 3. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[2]; 4. 54-Rick Niemi[1]; 5. 7A-Shane Sabraski[4]; 6. 729-Michael Winn[7]; 7. 34-Taylor Madrinich[9]; 8. (DNF) 212-Mike Klippenstein[8]; 9. (DNF) 9-Chris Lillo[5]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 14N-Keith Niemi[1]; 2. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[4]; 3. 0-Zack Drews[2]; 4. 47-Danny Vang[3]; 5. 6M-Jeff Massingill[5]; 6. 12-Mark Heinle[7]; 7. 71M-Zach Wohlers[6]; 8. 35-George Ledin Jr[8]; 9. 63-Patrick Kelley[9]

Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 28-Jeff Provinzino[3]; 2. 37X-Skeeter Estey[2]; 3. 31-Travis Budisalovich[4]; 4. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[1]; 5. 7-Harry Hanson[6]; 6. 21-Mike Bellefeuille[5]; 7. 9L-Aaron Lillo[7]; 8. 13-Roger Paolo[8]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 2. 7B-Joel Bennett[2]; 3. 12-Mark Heinle[3]; 4. 16-Derek Vesel[5]; 5. 24L-Eric Lillo[7]; 6. 54L-Jayme Lautigar[10]; 7. 13-Roger Paolo[8]; 8. 9L-Aaron Lillo[6]; 9. 212-Mike Klippenstein[9]; 10. 34-Taylor Madrinich[4]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 7-Harry Hanson[1]; 2. 71M-Zach Wohlers[5]; 3. 6M-Jeff Massingill[2]; 4. 21-Mike Bellefeuille[4]; 5. 24-Jase Lien[6]; 6. 35-George Ledin Jr[7]; 7. 729-Michael Winn[3]; 8. 63-Patrick Kelley[8]; 9. (DNS) 9-Chris Lillo

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 2. 45-Bob Broking[2]; 3. 4-Jeremy Nelson[3]; 4. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[6]; 5. 22-Tyler Kintner[8]; 6. 88-Tanner Williamson[4]; 7. 55-Jeff Wood[5]; 8. 22C-Brandon Copp[7]; 9. 55W-Jeffrey Wood[21]; 10. 11JR-Andrew Inman[9]; 11. 24D-Duane Dale[13]; 12. 85-Jeff Davis[10]; 13. T23-John Toppozini[19]; 14. 7J-Rick Jacobson[18]; 15. 21-Matt DePiero[15]; 16. 2-Charlie Castle[16]; 17. 77-Michael Blevins Sr[17]; 18. 66-Kevin Lear[22]; 19. 04N-Nick Ayotte[12]; 20. 4A-Dawson Allen[23]; 21. (DNF) 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[14]; 22. (DNF) 12-TJ Heinle[20]; 23. (DNF) 37X-Mack Estey[11]; 24. (DNF) 4S-Steve Stavenger[24]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[1]; 2. 4-Jeremy Nelson[5]; 3. 11JR-Andrew Inman[4]; 4. 04N-Nick Ayotte[3]; 5. 37X-Mack Estey[7]; 6. 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[8]; 7. 12-TJ Heinle[2]; 8. 4A-Dawson Allen[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22C-Brandon Copp[1]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[6]; 3. 85-Jeff Davis[3]; 4. 24D-Duane Dale[4]; 5. 2-Charlie Castle[2]; 6. 7J-Rick Jacobson[5]; 7. T23-John Toppozini[8]; 8. 4S-Steve Stavenger[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Williamson[2]; 2. 55-Jeff Wood[4]; 3. 45-Bob Broking[8]; 4. 22-Tyler Kintner[7]; 5. 21-Matt DePiero[1]; 6. 77-Michael Blevins Sr[3]; 7. 55W-Jeffrey Wood[6]; 8. 66-Kevin Lear[5]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 19-Tristan LaBarge[1]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[13]; 3. 3B-Austin Blom[10]; 4. 57-Dalton Carlson[5]; 5. 79A-Andy LaBarge[11]; 6. 36-Darin Meierotto[3]; 7. 76-Doug Koski[15]; 8. 41-Mikey Vajdl[6]; 9. 24R-Robert Lore[12]; 10. T26-Nic Lewis[8]; 11. 01-Trevor Arens[19]; 12. 11-Kevin Salin[9]; 13. 7-Tim Carlson[22]; 14. 82-Paul Gucinski[14]; 15. 19X-Larry Both[20]; 16. 5-Danny Doran[17]; 17. 41X-Brian Vajdl[23]; 18. 77K-Rick Simpson[2]; 19. (DNF) 27C-Cameron Labelle[4]; 20. (DNF) 30S-Dan Severson[7]; 21. (DNF) 14-Ricky Helms[18]; 22. (DNF) 17-Faye Lewis[21]; 23. (DNF) 15G-Andrew Groom[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Tristan LaBarge[5]; 2. 30S-Dan Severson[1]; 3. 79A-Andy LaBarge[3]; 4. 3B-Austin Blom[6]; 5. 76-Doug Koski[2]; 6. 7A-Shane Sabraski[8]; 7. 19X-Larry Both[7]; 8. 17-Faye Lewis[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77K-Rick Simpson[4]; 2. T26-Nic Lewis[2]; 3. 57-Dalton Carlson[6]; 4. 11-Kevin Salin[7]; 5. 15G-Andrew Groom[3]; 6. 5-Danny Doran[1]; 7. 01-Trevor Arens[8]; 8. 7-Tim Carlson[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 36-Darin Meierotto[2]; 2. 27C-Cameron Labelle[4]; 3. 41-Mikey Vajdl[5]; 4. 24R-Robert Lore[3]; 5. 82-Paul Gucinski[1]; 6. 14-Ricky Helms[6]; 7. (DNF) 41X-Brian Vajdl[7]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 10M-Mervin Castle III[10]; 2. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[4]; 3. 48-Tim Jackson[12]; 4. 187-Sam Blevins[3]; 5. 16-Garrett Paull[2]; 6. 18X-Dylan Miller[9]; 7. 26K-Sam Kolar[11]; 8. 2291-Andy Davey[20]; 9. 14-Adam Shinn[7]; 10. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[16]; 11. 21R-Ross Siiter[5]; 12. 7A-Eric Anderson[19]; 13. 69-Justin Bassa[8]; 14. 2X-Scott Splittstoesser[6]; 15. 14G-Brant Gruba[23]; 16. 45T-Tyler Fjeld[14]; 17. M2-Chris Magistad[22]; 18. 20X-Matthew Anderson[13]; 19. 44-Brayden Rewertz[18]; 20. 44K-Joshua Kough[21]; 21. OK-Matt Kelley[24]; 22. 45-Keegan Kough[17]; 23. 10D-Patrick Davis[15]; 24. (DNF) 1-Joe Pangrac[25]; 25. (DNF) 17-Deven VanHouse[1]; 26. (DNF) 20-Carson Madsen[26]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Garrett Paull[3]; 2. 26K-Sam Kolar[1]; 3. 45T-Tyler Fjeld[4]; 4. 18X-Dylan Miller[8]; 5. 44K-Joshua Kough[5]; 6. 20-Carson Madsen[6]; 7. 14G-Brant Gruba[2]; 8. 6-John Norris[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 187-Sam Blevins[2]; 2. 69-Justin Bassa[3]; 3. 10M-Mervin Castle III[5]; 4. 20X-Matthew Anderson[7]; 5. 44-Brayden Rewertz[1]; 6. 2291-Andy Davey[6]; 7. 17X-Matthew Cunha[8]; 8. 1-Joe Pangrac[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21R-Ross Siiter[1]; 2. 48-Tim Jackson[2]; 3. 14-Adam Shinn[6]; 4. 10-Michael Blevins Sr[3]; 5. 10D-Patrick Davis[7]; 6. M2-Chris Magistad[4]; 7. 8-Jonny Nowak[5]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Scott Splittstoesser[1]; 2. 17-Deven VanHouse[6]; 3. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[7]; 4. 45-Keegan Kough[3]; 5. 7A-Eric Anderson[2]; 6. 4L-Carey LePage[5]; 7. OK-Matt Kelley[4]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 7A-Eric Anderson[1]; 2. 2291-Andy Davey[6]; 3. 44K-Joshua Kough[2]; 4. M2-Chris Magistad[3]; 5. 14G-Brant Gruba[8]; 6. OK-Matt Kelley[9]; 7. 20-Carson Madsen[5]; 8. 6-John Norris[12]; 9. 8-Jonny Nowak[10]; 10. 1-Joe Pangrac[11]; 11. (DNF) 4L-Carey LePage[4]; 12. (DQ) 17X-Matthew Cunha[7]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 14-Justin Schelitzche[2]; 2. 38-Calvin Skaja[4]; 3. 25K-McKenna Folstad[1]; 4. 19-AJ House[11]; 5. 30-Trenton Beel[6]; 6. 188-Ian Vanvickle[24]; 7. 24JR-Jada Lore[3]; 8. 78JR-Rex Hall[8]; 9. 31-Zeb Graves[7]; 10. 79JR-Mikayla LaBarge[9]; 11. 46-Louis Skaja[10]; 12. 8X-Adam Kessler[16]; 13. R20-Riley Terry[12]; 14. 13K-Anastashia Chavez[13]; 15. 60M-Bruce Peterson[19]; 16. 10-Easton Pfeiffer[14]; 17. 21-Tiffani Hauta Sanders[18]; 18. 4-Brian Barker[20]; 19. 16-Joey Tracy[23]; 20. (DNF) 08-Shayne Houle[21]; 21. (DNF) 24-William Cancienne[17]; 22. (DNF) 27-Brady Fosso[5]; 23. (DNF) 72-Aiden Kessler[22]; 24. (DNF) 92S-Zachary Sims[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Justin Schelitzche[3]; 2. 25K-McKenna Folstad[8]; 3. 46-Louis Skaja[2]; 4. 19-AJ House[5]; 5. 79JR-Mikayla LaBarge[9]; 6. 8X-Adam Kessler[1]; 7. 60M-Bruce Peterson[4]; 8. 72-Aiden Kessler[6]; 9. (DNF) 188-Ian Vanvickle[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24JR-Jada Lore[3]; 2. 38-Calvin Skaja[5]; 3. 30-Trenton Beel[6]; 4. 13K-Anastashia Chavez[1]; 5. 92S-Zachary Sims[4]; 6. 24-William Cancienne[2]; 7. 08-Shayne Houle[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Brady Fosso[2]; 2. 31-Zeb Graves[1]; 3. 78JR-Rex Hall[4]; 4. R20-Riley Terry[5]; 5. 10-Easton Pfeiffer[3]; 6. 21-Tiffani Hauta Sanders[6]; 7. 4-Brian Barker[7]; 8. (DNF) 16-Joey Tracy[8]

Scott Hughes