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Monday, August 3

After it was rescheduled from earlier this summer, the Iron Man Invitational began on Monday night, August 3 at Hibbing Speedway.

The Late Models were the featured division Monday, with a 30-lap, $2,000-to-win event on the table for them. The Midwest Modifieds and the Mod Fours were also on the opening night card. It was the first appearance of the year at the speedway for the Mod Fours.

As he was last year, NASCAR and open-wheel legend Ryan Newman was again a part of this year's Iron Man, racing all three nights in various classes, signing autographs and being a part of the event.

Unlike last year, he did not run a Late Model for opening night, instead running a Midwest Mod for the Michael Blevins team, which had four cars in action on Monday. On Wednesday the plans were for him to run a Sprint Car.

Blevins told me that the Super Stock he recently acquired and has already won a feature in was a car wrecked by Jada Lore earlier this year. He bought it lock, stock and barrel and after fixing it up, has found it to be very fast. He said he enjoys racing it, but also still likes his Mid Mod too.

I also got a chance to talk briefly with Bemidji’s Justin Jones, who I don't see race too often. He told me he has been too busy to race very much this year so far. Today he cut short work so he could make it to the track and also plans on doing so tomorrow again, having left his rig in the pits and hitched a ride home. He later did very well; he started seventh and finished third in the Midwest Mod feature.

The Mod Fours had 13 drivers on hand, quite good for a Monday night in an area where there aren’t many Mod Fours. Dean Larson was among those on hand, but because of an issue racing on Sunday night at Granite City, he had to change a motor before he could race on Monday. He later started the feature minus his hood, an indication that all things were not going well on the car.

Twenty Late Models were on hand with just about all the local drivers in attendance and a small number of travelers. Of course the “Iron Man” was on hand for the Iron Man but with an open trailer. My assumption was that he was headed back home and probably would not return until Wednesday, when both the Mods and Super Stocks were on the schedule.

It was a quick program on a Monday night, just what the participating drivers and fans were looking for. Heat races and features for three classes were the program; Late Models ran double heat races for passing points, with the feature then lined straight up off those points earned. The six heat races were won by six different drivers, setting up an interesting feature race.

And although there were three different leaders during the 30-lap feature, things did not go quite as smoothly as the qualifiers did. Lots of things were happening in the opening few laps and most were not of a good nature.

Kyle Peterlin sat on the outside pole, which seemed to be the place to be to get a good start. Indeed, he led the opening lap but a spin quickly put the race under yellow.

Then things kind of fell apart. On the restart, was there a jump? Some thought so, others not so much. In any event Peterlin must have felt it was as he lost the lead in turn two to Skeeter Estey. It appeared he retaliated by “dumping” Estey in turn three which stacked up a considerable number of drivers. Estey got his spot back, Peterlin went to the tail, but the real loser was Derek Vesel — an innocent bystander who went off on the hook.

On the next restart, was there a brake check? Perhaps so, perhaps not, as it wasn't called. Johnny Broking was loving it all, as he started on the outside row for the restart and he got a great jump. He was the leader of the race before the next lap was completed.

After that, the field was chasing him for the remainder of the contest and he maintained his lead over Estey the rest of the way. There were three more yellows just at the halfway point for minor spins, but each time Broking pulled away on the restarts. The race was so bogged down at the midpoint that officials called for a single-file restart.

Behind Estey, Sabraski came up from the fourth row and finished third, while Peterlin came back through the field for fourth and Zach Wohlers completed the top five. Despite all the yellows, only three drivers failed to finish.

Blake Adams ran pretty much uncontested to victory in the Midwest Mod feature. A fine field of 27 drivers signed in for this class and they ran three heats and redrew for the main event.

Adams started in third and made an opening lap move to pass both drivers on the front row, but it was nixed by a yellow. Surprisingly, he was able to do the exact same thing on the second attempt, with no one doing anything to counteract his move; he drove into the lead once again.

After that, it was just a matter of keeping the patience through a painful series of yellow flags for back-of-the-pack spinners. There was one spurt of green-flag racing that lasted for 10 laps but as seems to be the case always these days, there had to be that late yellow setting up a two-lap race to the checkers.

Adams maintained for the win. A good battle for second that lasted many laps ended with Austin McClellan prevailing over Andy Davey, and then Jones slipped past Davey at the end for third.

Dustin Holtquist has been very fast of late and he continued that trend with a strong run to top the Mod Four feature. Rowan Tramm did lead the first eight laps after starting on the pole, and he had a good run early as it took Holtquist some time to work his way forward from the third row.

However, when Holtquist found the outside line, he really took off and Tramm was helpless to stop him as he blew past on the outside down the back chute. Tramm actually briefly fell back to third before he fought his way back around Bob Holtquist to prevent a family sweep. Shannon George and Josh Madson completed the top five.

Track officials moved the show along nicely and track officials beat the storms. The show was done around 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday, August 4

The second night of the Iron Man Invitational had me back at Hibbing Speedway on August 4. The promised thunderstorms that were chasing us down on Monday night did hit the track later that night, making for a very muddy infield.

It did give the track a bit of character on Tuesday as well, with a particularly troublesome spot in turns one and two. For several heat races, the cars were bucking and bouncing quite a bit if they hit that corner wrong.

With no grader on site apparently, the water truck and a couple buses that were in place for the bus races the weekend of August 8 were used to pack the rough area and that helped quite a bit. Most drivers figured out they had to either race below or above the bumpy area. I have to assume the rain from overnight was responsible for that issue, as the track was as smooth as glass on Monday.

On Tuesday, the Midwest Mods and Mod Fours returned for a full program on Tuesday. The Hornets also ran a full show, giving the crowd a three-class WISSOTA program and alongside the local Crown Vics.

Just as the Late Models had done on Monday night, the MidMods were also racing for $2,000 to win, a very nice sum for this class. There were double heat races and passing points were used to calculate the starting positions. A B feature was also necessary to whittle the 30-car field down to 24. That problem did not exist for the other divisions.

Most drivers returned from Monday night with the Midwest Mods adding several strong runners in David Simpson, Joey Jensen, Brennan Schmidt and Paul Ripley, all of whom were part of the up-front action as the evening progressed.

Certainly the highlight event was the Midwest Mod feature, which turned out to be an excellent race.

Josh Beaulieu was the only driver to win two heat races and because of that, he earned the pole position for the 30-lap main. Beaulieu then led the opening lap before he was passed by Ripley for the lead. A top-five group including Jensen, Garrett Paull and Sam Blevins ran in tight formation, sliding each other and jockeying for position in what was a highly entertaining opening 10 laps.

The first yellow came with nine laps complete and after that, the yellows came out often. In total, the race was slowed eight times for one-car spins. Thankfully there were no serious wrecks, but the individual spins kept nagging us. It seemed that just a some real intense racing broke out, the yellow flew once again.

Jensen took over the lead on lap 14 and held the point at the halfway signal, with Ripley second and Beaulieu, Blevins and Paull next in line. Just two laps later, bad luck struck Ripley, as he broke and slowed on the track, triggering what was the fifth yellow.

Jensen continued to lead but Beaulieu was all over him, challenging on each corner, with Blevins occasionally shooting down low and coming up inside the front runners as the race remained very close.

One final yellow set up a four-lap sprint to the finish with the top duo trailed by Blevins, Schmidt and Simpson. Beaulieu got a great run in turn one as he used a slightly different line, catching the edge of the tacky bumpy part of the track, which shot him down the back chute and into the lead. Jensen wasn't done though, as he got a great run off turn four and edged back into the lead as the white flag flew. Beaulieu couldn’t duplicate his turn one again, and Jensen maintained his slight lead on the final lap to take the win over Beaulieu, Blevins, Simpson and Schmidt.

Despite all the yellow flags, only four drivers didn’t finish the race and because of all the slowdowns, lapped traffic never became a factor. It was a good race that could have been a great one without the yellows, but that kind of thing happens from time to time.

The Mod Four feature ran green to checkered. This class was down some in car count, as Monday night’s action eliminated a couple of racers. Connor Bruss started on the pole and with the opening lap kind of scrambled, he was able to open up a very big lead early. With no yellows to slow things down and bunch up the field, it was clear sailing for him.

Brooke Erickson had a strong second place run going until a flat tire ended her race. The other driver to watch, Dustin Holtquist, had to start in the back of the pack after having heat race problems.

He had a poor start because of the jumbled green and found himself considerably behind the rest of the field early. He drove a hard race, getting up to second, but he was still almost a full straightaway behind the winner when the checkered flew. Ashton Schwinn completed the top three.

The Hornet feature saw three different leaders before the checkers flew with Trenton Beel leading lap one before he was passed by Nathan Penney one lap later. Penney held the top spot for a few laps before Nick Ruzich passed him for the lead.

By the halfway point of the race, Brady Fosso was up to third, while Jacob Petrich and Astion Schelde also ran close to the leaders.

Penney was really able to find some speed in the corners though, and he repassed Ruzich to take over the top spot once again, just past the halfway marker. He then held on for the win. Ruzich and Fosso were both close behind but neither could muster a challenge in the closing laps.

A scoreboard or at least a lap counter is on my wish list for the track. I don't need anything fancy, but it would be nice to know just where we are, lap wise, come feature time.

The Midwest Mods ran their feature last and what was brewing to be a very early evening didn't quite produce; there were multiple yellows but we were still done before 10 p.m.

Wednesday, August 5

The third and final night of the Iron Man Invitational was held on Wednesday night, August 5 at Hibbing Speedway. It was another delightful August night for racing with two WISSOTA classes racing on Wednesday.

For the first time this week, both the Modifieds and Super Stocks had their chance to race and be a part of the Iron Man, along with the non-winged Sprint Car racers who also had a chance to show their skills.

The Modifieds were the top show on Wednesday, racing for $2,000 to win, while the Super Stocks were racing for $500 for their top prize. I assume the Super Stocks didn't get to race for a big prize during this event because they already had their special race at the Tardy Memorial recently.

I think it only fair to describe the car counts for the final night of the Iron Man as disappointing. I know that both classes racing on Wednesday have been struggling for weekly racing, but, for the Modifieds to only have 10 drivers signed in to race when they were running for $2,000 to win and $200 to start was very surprising. I don't know that I've ever been to a show that paid that much and had such a small field of drivers entered.

However, for those who were on hand, they weren't complaining! The Modifieds, as the premier class on hand for Wednesday, ran the double heat race format that was used for the previous two nights. The Supers just ran one set of heats, with them using the draw/redraw format, while the Modifieds used passing points.

It was a decidedly up-and-down night for Shane Sabraski. Currently running second in national points in two classes (actually three, but the Late Models weren't racing on Wednesday), he was looking for points as well as money when he rolled into Hibbing on Wednesday. For him, things turned out well in one class but not so good in the other.

Andrew Inman led the opening lap of the Modified feature, as he got a good run off the top side of the track. Just one lap later, Sabraski passed Inman and took over the lead. Two yellows in the during the first half of the race kept the field bunched, but the final 12 laps ran off clean and green. And while Sabraski led the rest of the way, he didn't dominate like he normally does. Inman was able to stay within a couple car lengths of Sabraski and pushed him right to the end.

Sabraski, however, was not going to make a mistake and drove home for the win, while Bob Broking picked up the pace on the final few laps, almost nipping Inman for second.

It is a rare night when Sabraski is leading and flat out gets passed for the top spot. However, that is what happened in the Super Stock feature, a race that will probably be sparking some discussion in the days to come.

Brian Vajdl led the opening lap of the 20-lap feature for the Supers but Sabraski moved to the top side of the track and blew past into the lead just one lap later. As he continued to lead, Michael Blevins Sr. started to move up from his sixth starting spot and began to close on Sabraski, slowly at first but then at a quicker pace. Spins were plentiful in this race and frequent yellows kept the field bunched.

Sabraski continued to lead but Blevins Sr. had a great run after a lap nine yellow and drove under Sabraski off turn two and took over the lead.

Not only did he continue to lead, but he started to put distance on Sabraski, who was instead locked in a tough battle for second with Dalton Carlson. Eventually he fought off Carlson and started experimenting with different lines around the track. He was having a tough time getting his car to turn, particularly in turn three.

Finally, Sabraski began to close back up on Blevins, Sr., but he was having to drive very hard into the corners to do so. On lap 17, they both drove deep into turn three, with Blevins, Sr. going around and triggering the sixth caution. Everyone held their breath to see what the call would be; Sabraski was sent to the back. While Sabraski is classy enough to just accept the call and go to the tail, there was quite the outcry in the grandstands over a call that will likely be discussed further this week.

With Blevins back in the lead, he pulled away over the final three laps and drove home to get his second Super Stock feature win in less than a week. Carlson was second with Austin Blom racing home third. Sabraski settled for eighth, not having many laps to work his way back to the front.

It was a quick night of racing with the final checkers waving at 9:15 p.m. These days, it seems folks are pleased to be done early.

It must have been quite a grind for track management and all the employees to put on the show three straight nights, but they did a good job at all their tasks.

Thursday, August 6

Racing continued on the Iron Range on Thursday night, August 6 with a regular night of racing at Grand Rapids Speedway. It was their normal six-class program of WISSOTA racing, featuring the Late Models as the top division.

The car count was more than satisfactory on Thursday, except for the Modifieds, a class that continues to struggle at all tracks on the Range.

There was not a lot of news to note in the pits on Thursday, although there were a couple of interesting developments. All three Heinles — Mark, Ben and TJ — were in Late Models Thursday and that appears the way it will be the rest of the racing season. Two of the cars are MB and one is a Warrior. Right now they are kind of jumping around among drivers and cars, trying to find the car that suits each driver's style the best.

A surprise entrant was Dustin Nelson, with perhaps the newest Super Stock he has had in quite some time. He just purchased a Dirt Dueller that had about 20 shows on it, put the engine from his other Super in it, and was at Grand Rapids testing it out Thursday. If the opening night performance was any indication, it looks like it will be a good move for him. He raced from sixth to third in the Super feature and was one of the few drivers who raced the bottom side of the track successfully, on a top-side dominant track at that point.

Dale Peterson was on hand again, as the Cameron Pure Stock rookie makes the long haul to Grand Rapids in his pick-up truck, just him and his dog Thursday. It must be a long ride home through deer country.

Track workers did their due diligence on Thursday, chasing a woodchuck away from the track before the start of a race, and thus avoiding a possible confrontation.

It was a night of smooth competition overall, with few yellow flags and big crashes. The program was in its 10th heat race before the first yellow flag of the night flew and in total there were only two yellow in all the qualifying events. The yellow got a little more of a work out in the mains but still, three of the six ran off nonstop. The whole show was completed by about 9:15 p.m.

Certainly the highlight event of the evening was the Late Model feature, which was a dandy with at least four drivers having a legitimate chance to win the race. Harry Hanson, Johnny Broking and Kevin Burdick all led the race at one time or another and some of the slide jobs were spectacular, as drivers traded spots just about every lap.

There was only one sticky part and that was when Broking and Jeff Provinzino got together, with Provo sliding off the front chute backward. After a long delay, all drivers got their spots back and we raced on. However, no call was the wrong call and it is up to track officials to step up and make a decision, even when it gets sticky as this one obviously was.

Late in the race, the action between Burdick and Broking was great, as they traded slide jobs on every corner cleanly before Burdick finally got the upper edge and then drove on for the win.

Shane Sabraski was a double winner as he topped both the Super Stock and Modified feature races.

In the Super Stocks, we had a battle between the top two drivers in national points right now with Dylan Nelson grabbing the early lead by hammering the cushion but Sabraski was able to get his car working in the middle groove and gradually caught and then passed Nelson, who must have felt that the only way his car was working was to ride the cushion.

As the nonstop race progressed, Sabraski's car worked better and better as he gradually pulled away. Isn't it interesting how a car can work so well one night after clearly struggling on Wednesday?

In the Modified feature which also went green to checkered, Lance Schilling got the jump on Bob Broking by working the cushion to lead the opening lap. Then Sabraski came up quickly from the second row, running that middle line once again. He passed Schilling and then drove away from the field, winning by a full straightaway. Broking led Mervin Castle home as they chased Sabraski.

Speaking of Blevins, he got another feature win on Thursday to back up his Wednesday night triumph, but it was in a different class as he topped the Mid Mod feature.

Up first after intermission, the freshly “juiced-up” track was fast up on the cushion, which developed quickly and was quite heavy. Running that line was the way to go, you just had to be cautious of the berm.

Blevins had the perfect starting spot on the outside pole and he used that to gain the early lead. He was chased most of the race by Blake Adams, who got close on several occasions but just couldn't build enough speed to drive under Blevins.

Blevins had other factors going his way during this race as well. He jumped the cushion twice but on the first miscue he ran Adams down into the tires on the inside of the track and held onto the lead. The second time he jumped it, Adams got past but a yellow flag for a spin saved Blevins.

This set up a three-lap dash to the finish and to his credit he held his line this time and showed enough speed to keep Adams behind him to the finish. Lost in all of this was the charge of Skyler Smith from 11th to third, and Caley Emerson from 18th for fourth.

Brady Fosso, the current national point leader in the Hornets, scored a big win when he came from behind to pass McKenna Folstad as they were coming to the line to receive the white flag.

Folstad led all laps up to this point, while Fosso had gradually worked his way to the front after starting fifth.

Fosso was able to use the high side of the track, a line normally not used by the low horsepower Hornets, but he drove around other drivers up high and passed Folstad using that same line, driving on for the win. Ryker Larson finished third.

Jake Smith dominated the Pure Stock feature. He started on the pole, led all laps and was never challenged for the lead. Austin Carlson held second for the duration — until the last corner, when Dylan Elhardt made a great move and drove around Carlson on the high side to edge him out for second. This could have been the best run by Elhardt this season.

Carlson, in fact, was lucky to even have a car to race the feature. He was punted into the turn four guardrail on the final lap of the heat race, suffering a lot of front end damage. It must have taken quite a thrash by his people to even get him on the track for the main event.

It was a quick and an entertaining show, perfect for midweek racing.

Friday, August 7

The WISSOTA Structural Buildings Challenge Series made one of its eastern most stops on Friday night, August 7, with a visit to Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, WI. The weather gave a bit of a brief scare during the early afternoon hours, but it didn't even rain enough to settle the dust. By race time the sun was back out on what turned out to be a very pleasant August night.

A fine field of Late Models signed in for Friday night racing, with 37 of them coming through the gates.

Eight of the top 10 in current points were on hand, plus many local drivers who run Red Cedar weekly, and a few surprises to go along with that.

Along with the Late Models, WISSOTA-sanctioned Midwest Modifieds and Modifieds also raced, with solid fields in both those two classes also. The USRA Late Models were also present, making it four full classes and a full pit area.

Ty Hample made the long trip from Billings, Montana to race the WCS this weekend. Given that he is driving an MB chassis and that everything looked fresh and new, I'm guessing he made this a double trip, having likely spent some time at Mars’ shop just down the road from the track.

Kevin Eder was in a car borrowed from Chad Olsen for the weekend. Eder wrecked his car last weekend and also hurt the motor, the worst possible daily double to commit. Olsen stepped in and loaned him a car, since Eder is doing well in the WCS points and Olsen has raced very seldom this year. Eder later had a top-five finish in the feature, making the exchange more than worth the effort.

Eder reports that his car should be ready by next weekend when the WCS has a crazy, four-night-in-a-row stand in central Minnesota.

It appears that the Kaden Blaeser-Longhorn experiment has come to an end. Blaeser was certainly very successful running the Longhorn Modified out of Dan Bargender's shop, but that has apparently ended. Blaeser has been missing from the local tracks for a few weeks now but reappeared with a couple of different cars to drive, thanks to friends of his. Blaeser drove the No. 73 MB Mod for Jeff Helget from Thunder Bay at Red Cedar Friday, along with the Mid Mod of Eric Gadach. He did relatively well, finishing sixth in the Modified feature and 10th in the Midwest Mod feature, in cars I'm guessing he has not sat in before. As far as what Blaeser's future plans are, I guess we will see in the coming weeks.

As per Challenge Series policies, their night began with qualifying. Jesse Glenz set quick time at 15.496 seconds for his group and also overall. Other quick timers were Brett Shafer, Ashley Anderson and Gavin Tarras.

Four heats and a pair of B Features set the field for the Late Model 40-lap main. The most significant moment of the heat races occurred on lap one of the final heat, when WCS point leader Tyler Peterson tried to squeeze by on the high side in turn one and instead got into the concrete wall. He went off on a hook, started the B feature from the back and ended up taking a provisional for the main event.

Starting 23rd, he just battled to stay on the lead lap and ended up 16th, drastically narrowing up his point lead, which has suddenly turned into a tight contest.

Twenty-five drivers in all started the Late Model feature which had only a single yellow flag. John Kaanta got into one of the infamous infield tractor tires on lap one and spun, but he was able to restart and after that the race went green to checkered. TPO was on the end of the lead lap with five drivers a lap down and five who didn't finish.

It was a Jesse Glenz show from start to finish, as he won a heat race with a strong move to the front following his quick time and then started on the pole and led all 40 laps in a dominant run for the win, worth $4,000.

He only had issues when he caught the back of the pack; by the halfway point of the race the track had narrowed up considerably with virtually the entire field hugging the low side. Any attempt to run higher or up by the wall seemed futile.

Ashley Anderson seemed to be Glenz’s biggest threat, as he ran second for virtually the entire race. Glenz put distance on the field on an open track but when he caught the back of the pack, he had to be careful picking his times to pass. This allowed the second group of drivers to catch him on a couple occasions.

James Giossi had settled into third by the halfway point of the race, with Kevin Burdick and Eder next in line. They pretty much lined up in train fashion and followed each other around the track, looking for the driver in front of them to get hung up in traffic or slip up the track.

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