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Larson locks up first Mod Four feature win at Hibbing dirt track in more than 20 years

By Jackson Braun

HIBBING, MN (July 8) - WISSOTA Mod Fours made their first appearance in Hibbing in more than 20 years, Tuesday, July 8, with Dean Larson taking top honors in the class.

Other WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Bob Broking, Dalton Carlson, Kevin Burdick and Joey Jensen.

The WISSOTA Modifieds started the night with a 10-car, 20-lap feature. Jeff Wood used his Hibbing Speedway experience to power around the high side and lead the first four laps. Bob Broking moved forward from his third starting spot and passed Wood around the high side of turns one and two, as Broking looked to make it back-to-back wins at the track. Behind Broking, a pair of No. 22s in Tyler Kintner and Josh Beaulieu fought it out for runner-up honors. Track point leader Kintner held off Beaulieu, who was making his first Hibbing visit of 2025, for the second position. Broking continued his hot streak and led the rest of the way to claim his second win of the season at Hibbing. He was followed by Kintner, Beaulieu, Blake Adams and Jeffrey Wood in the top five.

The visiting WISSOTA Mod Fours hit the track for their 15-lap affair, and Chad Funt took the early lead from the pole. Dean Larson worked his way forward to the lead by lap three. The chase was on when heat race winner Dustin Holtquist moved into second following lap four. Larson’s torrid pace was too much, however, and he ran a clean race to the checkered flag to claim the win. Holtquist, Funt, Blake Hawker and ninth-starter Ashton Schwinn followed behind in the top five.

The WISSOTA Late Model 20-lapper was led early on by Skeeter Estey, as the always-fast Kevin Burdick and Kyle Peterlin battled it out for second. A caution reset the field and Burdick hooked up his No. 30 to the high side of the speedway, made his way around Estey, and took over out front.

Burdick set sail at a comfortable pace with a clean line around both sides of the speedway. Peterlin powered around Estey and chased Burdick for the remainder of the race, but he could not quite catch up to the smooth Burdick. Johnny Broking spent a majority of the race ripping the lip and he nipped Estey at the line for third. Estey and Jeff Massingill completed the top five.

Next came the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, boasting the largest car count of the evening with 19 on hand. Third-starter Joey Jensen got up on the wheel right away and was in the lead by the end of the first lap. Jensen’s experience was apparent, as he dominated the 20-lap endeavor. A lapped car was nearly an issue, which scuffed up some sheet metal on the No. 30, but he still won by 4.5 seconds over Gary James Nelson, Andy Davey, Landyn Randt and Mikey Blevins in the top five.

The endcap of the night was the 20-lap feature for the WISSOTA Super Stocks. Multi-time track champion Tristan LaBarge and perennial front-runner Dalton Carlson set off from the front row in this feature, with LaBarge claiming the lead to complete lap one. LaBarge fought a tight race car and Carlson inherited the lead on the next lap. It was not quite over, as LaBarge continued to try and fight through the handling issues. Doug Koski also threw his hat in the mix for a podium spot, as he took third on lap five.

A late-race restart put Carlson in the catbird seat, with LaBarge and Koski ready to pounce if any mistakes were made. However, Carlson drove a smooth final portion of the race and took the checkered flag. Koski was second ahead of Tristan LaBarge, while Andy LaBarge and Kevin Salin completed the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 30-Kevin Burdick[2]; 2. 23-Kyle Peterlin[3]; 3. 45J-Johnny Broking[5]; 4. 37X-Skeeter Estey[1]; 5. 6M-Jeff Massingill[7]; 6. 16-Derek Vesel[4]; 7. 12X-Ben Heinle[8]; 8. 12-Mark Heinle[10]; 9. 13-Roger Paolo[9]; 10. 35-George Ledin Jr[11]; 11. (DNF) 28-Jeff Provinzino[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Kyle Peterlin[2]; 2. 45J-Johnny Broking[1]; 3. 37X-Skeeter Estey[3]; 4. 30-Kevin Burdick[4]; 5. 13-Roger Paolo[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12X-Ben Heinle[1]; 2. 16-Derek Vesel[3]; 3. 28-Jeff Provinzino[4]; 4. 6M-Jeff Massingill[5]; 5. 12-Mark Heinle[2]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 45-Bob Broking[3]; 2. 22-Tyler Kintner[7]; 3. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[1]; 4. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 5. 55W-Jeffrey Wood[8]; 6. M2-Chris Magistad[6]; 7. 12-TJ Heinle[4]; 8. 8E8J-Jennie Krause[10]; 9. 8E8-Jessy Krause[9]; 10. (DNF) 55-Jeff Wood[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Tyler Kintner[1]; 2. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[2]; 3. 12-TJ Heinle[4]; 4. M2-Chris Magistad[3]; 5. 8E8-Jessy Krause[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 45-Bob Broking[2]; 3. 55W-Jeffrey Wood[4]; 4. 55-Jeff Wood[3]; 5. 8E8J-Jennie Krause[5]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 57-Dalton Carlson[2]; 2. 76-Doug Koski[4]; 3. 19-Tristan LaBarge[1]; 4. 79A-Andy LaBarge[6]; 5. 11-Kevin Salin[10]; 6. 81X-Matt Sparby[5]; 7. 40C-Chaston Finckbone[7]; 8. 47J-Justin Barsness[12]; 9. 01-Trevor Arens[3]; 10. (DNF) 30-Dan Severson[9]; 11. (DNF) 41-Mikey Vajdl[8]; 12. (DNF) 69X-John Sharpnack[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Tristan LaBarge[4]; 2. 40C-Chaston Finckbone[3]; 3. 01-Trevor Arens[1]; 4. 41-Mikey Vajdl[6]; 5. 30-Dan Severson[5]; 6. 69X-John Sharpnack[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 79A-Andy LaBarge[1]; 2. 57-Dalton Carlson[2]; 3. 76-Doug Koski[4]; 4. 81X-Matt Sparby[5]; 5. 11-Kevin Salin[3]; 6. 47J-Justin Barsness[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[3]; 2. 74-Gary James Nelson[1]; 3. 91-Andy Davey[2]; 4. 11R-Landyn Randt[6]; 5. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[7]; 6. 44-Brayden Rewertz[4]; 7. M2-Chris Magistad[12]; 8. 15-Sam Blevins[11]; 9. 10X-Matthew Cunha[5]; 10. 26K-Sam Kolar[10]; 11. 14*-Adam Shinn[15]; 12. 76-Keith Koski[18]; 13. 12A-Alex O'Dell[13]; 14. (DNF) 31-Randy Haupt[16]; 15. (DNF) 68G-Eric Gruba[19]; 16. (DNF) 22-Chad VanDuker[9]; 17. (DNF) 22E-Ethan Elhardt[17]; 18. (DNF) 14G-Brant Gruba[14]; 19. (DQ) 7A-Eric Anderson[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[1]; 2. 91-Andy Davey[3]; 3. 7A-Eric Anderson[2]; 4. 26K-Sam Kolar[7]; 5. 12A-Alex O'Dell[6]; 6. 31-Randy Haupt[4]; 7. 68G-Eric Gruba[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 74-Gary James Nelson[1]; 2. 11R-Landyn Randt[2]; 3. 10JR-Mikey Blevins[4]; 4. 15-Sam Blevins[5]; 5. 14G-Brant Gruba[3]; 6. 22E-Ethan Elhardt[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Brayden Rewertz[2]; 2. 22-Chad VanDuker[1]; 3. 10X-Matthew Cunha[3]; 4. M2-Chris Magistad[6]; 5. 14*-Adam Shinn[4]; 6. 76-Keith Koski[5]

WISSOTA Mod Fours:

A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 37-Dean Larson[3]; 2. 5H-Dustin Holtquist[4]; 3. XL21-Chad Funt[1]; 4. 21-Blake Hawker[7]; 5. 18-Ashton Schwinn[9]; 6. 92-Jeffrey Marthaler[2]; 7. XL1-Andrew Funt[6]; 8. 4-Dawson Oelrich[5]; 9. D5-Doug Frederick[8]

Heat (8 Laps): 1. 5H-Dustin Holtquist[1]; 2. 37-Dean Larson[3]; 3. 92-Jeffrey Marthaler[4]; 4. XL21-Chad Funt[9]; 5. 4-Dawson Oelrich[2]; 6. XL1-Andrew Funt[7]; 7. 21-Blake Hawker[8]; 8. D5-Doug Frederick[6]; 9. 18-Ashton Schwinn[5]