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Budisalovich, a pair of Copps, Jensen, Smith & Larson are up front at the finishes Friday at Gondik Law

By Nick Gima

SUPERIOR, WI (June 12) - After significant rainfall in the Twin Ports area late in the week, and more light showers on Friday morning, the chance of racing at the Gondik Law Speedway on Friday night looked to be iffy at best. But diligent work by the track prep crew to knock the early-program dust down, combined with a season-high 93 entries and comfortable June weather, created a smooth, wide, fast multi-groove black-slick surface.

After two seasons without reaching GLS’s victory stage, Travis Budisalovich started on the pole and led all 25 laps of the nonstop WISSOTA Late Model spotlight event for his second feature win of the season.

Other WISSOTA-sanctioned winners included Brandon Copp, Joey Jensen, Kyle Copp, Jake Smith and Nikota Larson.

In the WISSOTA Late Models, Budisalovich was the early leader ahead of a thrilling duel for the runner-up position between Skeeter Estey and Shane Sabraski. Budisalovich quickly built up a 1.5-second lead, while behind the first three, the race for fourth between Johnny Broking and Billy Kendall was just as exciting.

As Budisalovich pulled away, the low-groove-running Estey and Sabraski, who ran the high lane, swapped second frequently, each nosing ahead of the other by the slimmest of margins. Budisalovich began dealing with backmarkers before midrace, which caused his lead of 1.8 seconds to shrink by better than half once Estey claimed second for good.

With seven laps remaining Estey was within .7 of a second of the leader. But the same traffic that allowed him to catch Budisalovich also slowed his progress, and Budisalovich zoomed away to a final winning margin of more than 4.2 seconds.

Sabraski held firm to third, while Kendall edged Broking for fourth in the closing laps.

The WISSOTA Modifieds put on a great show, highlighted by a race-long, side-by-side battle for the win.

After an initial-start spin by Lance Schilling, second starter Brandon Copp worked the upper line of the track to edge ahead of visiting Mike Anderson, who had overtaken polesitter Andrew Inman for second. Anderson stayed committed to the low groove, while Copp worked the outermost lane; within a few short laps Anderson nosed ahead.

Cody Carlson’s spin on lap eight generated the race’s only other slowdown, and after the restart Anderson and Copp resumed their side-by-side debate. But this time Copp’s line proved a bit faster, as he gained the lead on lap 11 and did not give it back, despite Anderson charging back to within a mere .008 seconds of the lead with five tours left.

Copp finished less than .25 seconds ahead of Anderson for his first win here of 2026. Tenth-starter Jody Bellefeuille took third on the lap eight restart and stayed there to the finish, while Sabraski fended off 12th-starter David Simpson for fourth.

Kyle Copp started on the pole and led every lap of the WISSOTA Super Stock A-main. It was Copp’s first feature win in Superior since 2024.

Copp outran fellow front-row starter Rick Simpson to the first pair of turns and was never bested from there, running a steady line around the upper lane of the racing groove. Simpson stayed firmly in second, not challenged much by early third-place runner Trenton Bond, while Cole Chernosky ran fourth just ahead of a cluster of strong runners.

Just prior to mid-race, as Copp enjoyed a lead of around 1.3 seconds, Chernosky caught and passed Bond for third. At the crossed flags Sabraski broke free from the tight-knit pack racing for fifth, and joined Chernosky and Bond in a fun three-car battle for third. On lap 11, just after he had overtaken Bond, Sabraski’s car slowed and he drove it into the infield with mechanical woes.

Copp extended his lead in the closing laps as he caught the tail end of the field, and his final cushion was 2.89 seconds as he took his first checkered flag in nearly two years. Simpson had Chernosky closing on his trunk lid as he came home second, while Bond completed an impressive run in fourth, followed by Joey Jensen.

Jensen had started the feature action off earlier Friday with a visit to victory lane after the WISSOTA Midwest Modified headliner. It was Jensen’s first Mid Mod feature at Gondik Law Speedway since the May 15 opener, when he rolled his racer during heat-race action.

At the start of the 20-lap run, outside front-row starter David Simpson spun in the first turn and collected several others; a long delay ensued as track crews attempted to extract Simpson’s front bumper from the underside of Deven VanHouse’s racer.

Jensen, who initially started behind polesitter Adam Shinn, swept around Shinn on the restart and set the pace the rest of the way, while Ryan Savoy got by VanHouse for third after one lap.

With Jensen extending his lead, Savoy caught and passed Shinn for second on lap three, while an entertaining three-car battle for fourth ensued not far back. A lap seven spin by Hunter Brink brought the field back together for a restart, but Jensen once again pulled away, as James Vendela worked his way by Shinn for third.

With the final 13 laps running uninterrupted and without the tail of the field to contend with, Jensen built a lead of more than 2.3 seconds at one point as he cruised to the win. Savoy and Vendela debated runner-up honors for much of that long run before Vendela claimed the position, and he closed to within 2.07 seconds at the final stripe, with Savoy a distant third.

Shinn, who is quickly becoming a consistent front-runner, scored a career-best fourth-place finish, as he held off the threats of Paul Ripley.

The WISSOTA Pure Stock feature was the most chaotic race of the night, but it ended with Jake Smith of Cohasset, MN, collecting his second feature win of the young season here.

Front-row mates Shane Basina and Austin Fencl raced door-to-door throughout the first circuit until Fencl spun in turn three, and on the restart Simon Wahlstrom got by Basina for the lead, only to nearly loop his racer in front of the field; a Jessie Treviranus spin near the back of the pack as a result of the scramble ahead of her brought about another quick yellow flag.

Smith, who initially started inside on row three, paced the field at that restart and drew away to a nearly full-second advantage within a few laps, with Basina and Rob Christman in tow just ahead of a tight five-car bunch. On lap seven Tim Carlson, who was in the midst of that bunch, spun to bring out the final yellow of the race.

Christman got around Basina on the restart for second, and a lap later Wahlstrom tried the outside lane for a three-car pass around Christman and Basina, but the going got too tight. With the white flag waving Wahlstrom tried an inside move and took second away from Christman, but Smith was too far away to challenge and took the checkers a full second ahead. Christman nipped Basina for third, and Carlson came home fifth.

Nikota Larson became the third different WISSOTA Hornet feature winner this season at GLS after an entertaining race-long battle with Nick Ruzich.

At the drop of the initial green flag for the 12-lapper, visiting Connor Danylko’s car got squeezed into the front-straight wall and ground to a stop, but on the restart Ruzich and Larson pulled away to set up their battle for the lead, with polestarter Madisyn Olson and Nathan Penney just behind. On lap two Larson slipped low to pass Ruzich, and for the next seven laps the lead pair were never much more than a car-length apart.

Only during the final couple of laps was Larson able to put any cushion between himself and Ruzich, and at the checkered flag Larson held a half-second margin of victory. Penney took third before mid-race and nearly reeled in the lead pair, while Olson fought off the challenges of Brady Fosso for fourth.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 31-Travis Budisalovich[1]; 2. 37X-Skeeter Estey[4]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski[2]; 4. 99-Billy Kendall[7]; 5. 45J-Johnny Broking[6]; 6. 24-Aaron Lillo[5]; 7. 2-Todd Gehl[3]; 8. 54-Rick Niemi[15]; 9. 42-Paul Niznik[9]; 10. 11D-Tim McMann[11]; 11. 9M-Ronnie Malecki[12]; 12. 7C-Robbie Cooper[8]; 13. 16-Cory Jorgensen[10]; 14. 14N-Keith Niemi[13]; 15. 34-Taylor Madrinich[16]; 16. 9-Eric Lillo[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 2. 99-Billy Kendall[6]; 3. 31-Travis Budisalovich[5]; 4. 45J-Johnny Broking[2]; 5. 42-Paul Niznik[4]; 6. 11D-Tim McMann[3]; 7. 14N-Keith Niemi[8]; 8. 54-Rick Niemi[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Aaron Lillo[1]; 2. 37X-Skeeter Estey[8]; 3. 2-Todd Gehl[4]; 4. 7C-Robbie Cooper[7]; 5. 16-Cory Jorgensen[6]; 6. 9M-Ronnie Malecki[2]; 7. 9-Eric Lillo[3]; 8. 34-Taylor Madrinich[5]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 22-Brandon Copp[2]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[3]; 3. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[10]; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski[6]; 5. 70-David Simpson[12]; 6. 17-Deven VanHouse[8]; 7. 98-Al Uotinen[5]; 8. 621-Colin Chaschuk[18]; 9. 33C-Cole Chernosky[13]; 10. 7-Andrew Mackey[15]; 11. 18S-Kennedy Swan[14]; 12. 64-Evan Checkalski[11]; 13. 10-Kyle Helling[20]; 14. 43-Lance Schilling[19]; 15. (DNF) 9-Brady Uotinen[7]; 16. (DNF) 09-Skylar Findley[17]; 17. (DNF) 32III-Cody Carlson[4]; 18. (DNF) 11JR-Andrew Inman[1]; 19. (DNF) 19J-Jack Rivord[16]; 20. (DNS) 45-Johnny Broking

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Brandon Copp[1]; 2. 17-Deven VanHouse[2]; 3. 45-Johnny Broking[4]; 4. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[6]; 5. 33C-Cole Chernosky[7]; 6. 19J-Jack Rivord[3]; 7. 43-Lance Schilling[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32III-Cody Carlson[2]; 2. 98-Al Uotinen[3]; 3. 11JR-Andrew Inman[5]; 4. 64-Evan Checkalski[4]; 5. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 6. 09-Skylar Findley[7]; 7. (DNF) 10-Kyle Helling[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[2]; 2. 9-Brady Uotinen[4]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[1]; 4. 70-David Simpson[6]; 5. 7-Andrew Mackey[3]; 6. 621-Colin Chaschuk[5]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 26-Kyle Copp[1]; 2. 77K-Rick Simpson[2]; 3. 33C-Cole Chernosky[8]; 4. 44-Trenton Bond[3]; 5. 21-Joey Jensen[10]; 6. 25-Dylan Nelson[9]; 7. 2-Don Livingston[16]; 8. 80-Steve Stuart[7]; 9. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[6]; 10. 21C-Patrick Beeksma[15]; 11. 24-Andy Grymala[4]; 12. 76-Doug Koski[12]; 13. 3B-Austin Blom[14]; 14. 11R-Rita Anderson[13]; 15. 6-Dan Peterson[11]; 16. (DNF) 7A-Shane Sabraski[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 80-Steve Stuart[2]; 2. 24-Andy Grymala[3]; 3. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[1]; 4. 44-Trenton Bond[7]; 5. 25-Dylan Nelson[5]; 6. 6-Dan Peterson[8]; 7. 11R-Rita Anderson[6]; 8. 21C-Patrick Beeksma[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77K-Rick Simpson[2]; 2. 26-Kyle Copp[1]; 3. 33C-Cole Chernosky[7]; 4. 7A-Shane Sabraski[8]; 5. 21-Joey Jensen[6]; 6. 76-Doug Koski[4]; 7. 3B-Austin Blom[5]; 8. 2-Don Livingston[3]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[3]; 2. 15-James Vendela[8]; 3. 16-Ryan Savoy[6]; 4. 32-Adam Shinn[1]; 5. 28-Paul Ripley[7]; 6. 17-Deven VanHouse[5]; 7. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[11]; 8. 7A-Eric Anderson[18]; 9. WIN1-Parker Frolik[14]; 10. 71-Jacob Anderson[13]; 11. 317-Austin Polonoski[9]; 12. 89-Kolby Reed[15]; 13. 69-Justin Bassa[4]; 14. 18-Hunter Brink[10]; 15. 14-Ryan Garson[16]; 16. 21R-Ross Siiter[12]; 17. (DNF) 57JR-Robert Squitti[17]; 18. (DNF) 70-David Simpson[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-James Vendela[2]; 2. 16-Ryan Savoy[1]; 3. 17-Deven VanHouse[5]; 4. 30-Joey Jensen[8]; 5. 317-Austin Polonoski[4]; 6. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[6]; 7. 71-Jacob Anderson[3]; 8. 89-Kolby Reed[7]; 9. (DNF) 7A-Eric Anderson[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Paul Ripley[3]; 2. 70-David Simpson[2]; 3. 69-Justin Bassa[5]; 4. 32-Adam Shinn[6]; 5. 18-Hunter Brink[4]; 6. 21R-Ross Siiter[7]; 7. WIN1-Parker Frolik[9]; 8. 14-Ryan Garson[8]; 9. 57JR-Robert Squitti[1]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

Feature (12 Laps): 1. 86J-Jake Smith[5]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[3]; 3. 66X-Rob Christman[7]; 4. 69ER-Shane Basina[1]; 5. 31(C)-Tim Carlson[11]; 6. 231-Trevor Treviranus[13]; 7. 31-Tom Treviranus[4]; 8. 925-Dnae Rose[12]; 9. 3D-Sean Duffy[14]; 10. (DNF) 52W-Austin Fencl[2]; 11. (DNF) 17-Aaron Bernick[6]; 12. (DNF) 131-Jessie Treviranus[15]; 13. (DNF) 5M-Michael Pederson[8]; 14. (DNS) 24-Dylan Helget; 15. (DNS) 67-Alex Larson

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 66X-Rob Christman[1]; 2. 52W-Austin Fencl[8]; 3. 69ER-Shane Basina[3]; 4. 5M-Michael Pederson[4]; 5. 24-Dylan Helget[5]; 6. 31(C)-Tim Carlson[2]; 7. 231-Trevor Treviranus[6]; 8. (DNF) 131-Jessie Treviranus[7]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 86J-Jake Smith[2]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 3. 17-Aaron Bernick[3]; 4. 31-Tom Treviranus[4]; 5. 67-Alex Larson[1]; 6. 925-Dnae Rose[7]; 7. 3D-Sean Duffy[6]

WISSOTA Hornets:

Feature (12 Laps): 1. 26N-Nikota Larson[4]; 2. 9-Nick Ruzich[2]; 3. 2X-Nathan Penney[3]; 4. 69-Madisyn Olson[1]; 5. 27-Brady Fosso[5]; 6. 34-Selena Owen[7]; 7. 16-Avery Chaschuk[8]; 8. (DNF) 37-Connor Danylko[6]

Heat (6 Laps): 1. 2X-Nathan Penney[4]; 2. 26N-Nikota Larson[2]; 3. 9-Nick Ruzich[1]; 4. 27-Brady Fosso[7]; 5. 69-Madisyn Olson[3]; 6. 37-Connor Danylko[6]; 7. 34-Selena Owen[5]; 8. 16-Avery Chaschuk[8]