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Grand Rapids gets to go green and Thursday night WISSOTA winner list includes Kiker, Puffe, Sabraski and Burdick

By Shannon Reigel & Meghan Diemel, ATD Editor

GRAND RAPIDS, MN (May 22) - Mother Nature finally cooperated with Grand Rapids Speedway, as the track hosted its season opener Thursday, May 22. There were many exciting moments throughout the program, with WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners Russell Kiker, Jr., Shane Sabraski, Dustin Puffe, and Kevin Burdick taking home top honors.

The WISSOTA Pure Stocks were led to the green by Austin Carlson, who inherited the pole from Jake Smith when he incurred mechanical problems prior to the start of the race. He was joined in the battle for the lead under green by Puffe, as Alex Berg, Derek Ament, Bob Klein, and Dylan Elhardt were also in the mix for top-five spots.

Carlson continued to lead the field out front after several laps. Puffe moved in and they were side by side about two laps later, and remained side by side for another lap before Carlson shook loose once again. As they shot down the backstretch they came upon a lapped car and Puffe moved to the inside of both Carlson and the lapper; Carlson got past Puffe down the frontstretch, with contact made between the two once again. Puffe moved to the lead in the next turns, with lapped traffic in both lanes just ahead.

Carlson spun heading into turn one, and Puffe appeared to inherit the lead. Another lap passed, however, and the yellow eventually flew for Carlson in the infield, with Puffe put to the back during the caution period.

Back under green, Puffe came from the back of the pack to the front in less than a lap, passed Berg on the white-flag lap, and grabbed the victory at the line. Ament was third, Klein was fourth and Elhardt was fifth.

Twelve WISSOTA Modifieds rolled onto the track with Blake Adams and Tyler Kintner out front of the pack. Adams was the early leader, with pressure from Kintner in the turns along the high side. They were side by side for several laps with Sabraski close in third, before Kintner slipped up the track and Sabraski and Bob Broking moved by into second and third.

Adams raced along the high side, with Sabraski using the low side. Broking and Kintner were side by side for third, as out front Sabraski was challenging Adams to his inside for the lead. After several laps of side-by-side action, Sabraski moved past in turn four and took the slight lead. As they headed into turn one, a lapped car was directly in Sabraski’s path, but he slipped by and took control once again. Adams was ever-so-close behind in second, with Broking in third. Jeffrey Wood and Kintner were arguing over fourth farther back from the leaders.

As the leading duo worked their way through lapped traffic, Sabraski was able to pull away and he took the eventual victory. Adams, Broking, Wood and Kintner were top-five finishers.

Kevin Burdick had a good night in his WISSOTA Late Model, taking the victory. He had the early advantage ahead of Sabraski and Billy Kendall. Devin Fouquette was fourth, and Harry Hanson was fifth. Several laps later, Peterlin drove by Fouquette for fourth, and Jeff Provinzino did the same two turns later.

Burdick had a healthy lead as he began to work the back of the field, while Sabraski did the same from second. A spin by Brandon Englund regrouped the field under yellow.

Following the restart, Kendall used the inside line to grab second from Sabraski, while Burdick continued his dominance out front. Peterlin and Provinzino were close behind and then nearly three wide with Sabraski for third as the track had begun to show character; Sabraski survived the pressure to retain third.

Burdick hung on for the victory and Kendall was second. Sabraski held his narrow advantage over Provinzino at the line for third, and Peterlin was fifth.

Russell Kiker, Jr. (Shannon Reigel Photo)

In the WISSOTA Hornets, Zeb Graves and Russell Kiker, Jr. led the field to green, with Kiker the early leader. Tristen McLynn quickly moved into second, but Graves battled back a lap later and regained the spot.

At the halfway point Kiker continued in the top spot, and worked his way through the back of the field ahead of Graves in second. A spin in turn four regrouped the field.

Back under green Kiker held a slight advantage over Graves, and Brady Fosso was into third from his ninth-starting spot. Another yellow regrouped the field.

After the restart, Fosso and Kiker were side by side for the lead down the backstretch, with Kiker getting the slight advantage into turn one. McLynn was right on their heels in third. Kiker picked up the victory ahead of Fosso, McLynn, Graves and 10th-starter Mikayla LaBarge in the top five.

Ken Hron led from start to finish in the Northern Renegades, grabbing the victory. Chris Lewis, Zach Olson, K.C. Hawkinson, and Terry Lillo were top-five finishers.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1: 1. 30-Kevin Burdick[1]; 2. 99-Billy Kendall[4]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski[3]; 4. 28-Jeff Provinzino[8]; 5. 23-Kyle Peterlin[7]; 6. 7-Harry Hanson[5]; 7. 15-Devin Fouquette[6]; 8. 45J-Johnny Broking[17]; 9. 47-Danny Vang[12]; 10. 6M-Jeff Massingill[14]; 11. 16-Derek Vesel[11]; 12. 21X-Joel Collins[15]; 13. 12-Mark Heinle[10]; 14. 12X-Ben Heinle[2]; 15. 73-Brandon Englund[13]; 16. (DNF) 79-Kevin Carlson[16]; 17. (DNF) 71-Zach Wohlers[9]; 18. (DNF) 34-Taylor Madrinich[18]

Heat 1: 1. 30-Kevin Burdick[1]; 2. 99-Billy Kendall[3]; 3. 7-Harry Hanson[2]; 4. 12-Mark Heinle[5]; 5. 73-Brandon Englund[4]; 6. (DNF) 79-Kevin Carlson[6]

Heat 2: 1. 15-Devin Fouquette[2]; 2. 28-Jeff Provinzino[6]; 3. 71-Zach Wohlers[4]; 4. 16-Derek Vesel[5]; 5. 6M-Jeff Massingill[3]; 6. (DNF) 45J-Johnny Broking[1]

Heat 3: 1. 23-Kyle Peterlin[2]; 2. 12X-Ben Heinle[3]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski[5]; 4. 47-Danny Vang[1]; 5. 21X-Joel Collins[4]; 6. (DNF) 34-Taylor Madrinich[6]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1: 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[3]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 3. 45-Bob Broking[4]; 4. 55W-Jeffrey Wood[6]; 5. 22-Tyler Kintner[2]; 6. 9-Brady Uotinen[8]; 7. 23-Ryan Jensen[7]; 8. 2-Charlie Castle[9]; 9. 12-TJ Heinle[10]; 10. M2-Chris Magistad[5]; 11. 8E8-Jessy Krause[11]; 12. 8E8J-Jennie Krause[12]

Heat 1: 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[2]; 2. 9-Brady Uotinen[1]; 3. 55W-Jeffrey Wood[4]; 4. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 5. 2-Charlie Castle[3]; 6. 8E8-Jessy Krause[6]

Heat 2: 1. 45-Bob Broking[5]; 2. 23-Ryan Jensen[1]; 3. 22-Tyler Kintner[4]; 4. M2-Chris Magistad[3]; 5. 12-TJ Heinle[2]; 6. 8E8J-Jennie Krause[6]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1: 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[4]; 2. 18B-Alex Berg[5]; 3. 00-Derek Ament[6]; 4. 7-Bob Klein[3]; 5. 13D-Dylan Elhardt[7]; 6. 8-Karen Puschinsky[8]; 7. 44P-Payton Swenson[9]; 8. (DNF) 57-Austin Carlson[2]; 9. (DNS) 86J-Jake Smith

Heat 1: 1. 21X-Dustin Puffe[2]; 2. 57-Austin Carlson[5]; 3. 86J-Jake Smith[9]; 4. 18B-Alex Berg[1]; 5. 7-Bob Klein[4]; 6. 00-Derek Ament[8]; 7. 13D-Dylan Elhardt[7]; 8. 8-Karen Puschinsky[6]; 9. (DNF) 44P-Payton Swenson[3]

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1: 1. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[2]; 2. 27-Brady Fosso[9]; 3. 40R-Tristen McLynn[6]; 4. 31-Zeb Graves[1]; 5. 79JR-Mikayla LaBarge[10]; 6. 25K-McKenna Folstad[4]; 7. 10-Easton Pfeiffer[7]; 8. 24JR-Jada Lore[3]; 9. 81R-Ryker Larson[8]; 10. 71-Nathan Bird[12]; 11. 24J-Jerry Adams[14]; 12. (DNF) 16-Joey Tracy[13]; 13. (DNF) 34-Mark Gangl[15]; 14. (DNF) 13-Anastashia Chavez[11]; 15. (DNF) 11-Tucker Smith[5]; 16. (DNS) 92S-Zachary Sims; 17. (DNS) 24-William Cancienne

Heat 1: 1. 13K-Russell Kiker Jr[2]; 2. 31-Zeb Graves[5]; 3. 40R-Tristen McLynn[6]; 4. 10-Easton Pfeiffer[7]; 5. 27-Brady Fosso[8]; 6. 13-Anastashia Chavez[9]; 7. 16-Joey Tracy[1]; 8. (DNF) 34-Mark Gangl[3]; 9. (DNF) 24-William Cancienne[4]

Heat 2: 1. 25K-McKenna Folstad[5]; 2. 24JR-Jada Lore[3]; 3. 81R-Ryker Larson[6]; 4. 11-Tucker Smith[2]; 5. 79JR-Mikayla LaBarge[7]; 6. 71-Nathan Bird[1]; 7. 24J-Jerry Adams[8]; 8. (DNF) 92S-Zachary Sims[4]

Northern Renegades:

A Feature 1: 1. 46H-Ken Hron[1]; 2. 5J-Chris Lewis[6]; 3. Z15-Zach Olson[5]; 4. 46-KC Hawkinson[7]; 5. 24-Terry Lillo[12]; 6. 51-Peyton Emerson[3]; 7. 56-Josh Braford[2]; 8. 22-Travis Krumrei[11]; 9. 36-Tyler Wass[10]; 10. (DNF) 2-Teal Arnason[4]; 11. (DNF) 92-Danny Wait Jr[9]; 12. (DNF) 101-Paul Schultz[8]; 13. (DNF) 17-Mariah LaPatka[13]

Heat 1: 1. 46H-Ken Hron[4]; 2. 46-KC Hawkinson[2]; 3. 51-Peyton Emerson[6]; 4. 56-Josh Braford[1]; 5. 92-Danny Wait Jr[3]; 6. 22-Travis Krumrei[7]; 7. (DNF) 17-Mariah LaPatka[5]

Heat 2: 1. 101-Paul Schultz[1]; 2. 5J-Chris Lewis[4]; 3. Z15-Zach Olson[5]; 4. 2-Teal Arnason[6]; 5. 36-Tyler Wass[3]; 6. (DNF) 24-Terry Lillo[2]