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Savoy seals it with a thriller while Amundson and Fencl fastest on first night of Northern Nationals at Gondik Law Speedway

By Nick Gima

SUPERIOR, WI (September 10) - The first full night of the 38th annual Race XR Northern Nationals at Douglas County Gondik Law Speedway Thursday included a last-corner pass for one feature win, a couple of dominant performances, and an emotional win for one driver.

The nailbiter came at the very end of the 20-lap WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature, where Ryan Savoy stole the thrilling win.

After Eric Anderson’s stopped racer brought about a first-lap yellow flag, polesitter Jacob Anderson edged away from Jimmy Latvala, who stayed just ahead of about six others racing for his spot. A lap after the restart, Joey Jensen worked his way around Anderson for the lead, and he stayed there until the final 150 feet of the race.

Savoy, the 2025 GLS Midwest Mod champ, was seventh for the lap-one restart, but gained ground quickly, moving past Anderson and Latvala into second during lap five. Savoy then chipped away at Jensen’s 2.3-second lead during the next 11 laps, trimming the deficit down to just 1.3 seconds when the race’s only other caution flag was thrown. Adam Shinn’s ride was parked on top of the turn three wall on lap 16.

Savoy took advantage of the restart by chasing Jensen for most of the last three laps, before diving to the low side in the final turn while Jensen maintained a line about halfway up the big oval’s semi-steep banking. As they raced out of the final turn, Savoy pulled alongside the leader and then outran him to the checkers, edging Jensen by .066 seconds for his third Northern Nationals win and second in a Midwest Mod.

James Vendela stole third away on the lap 16 restart and stayed there, just ahead of 2026 GLS Midwest Mod champ Paul Ripley and Anderson.

Thirteen WISSOTA Street Stocks made their way to Superior for Thursday’s program, and in the division’s 20-lap main event Shawn Amundson ran away with his second dominant performance of the season here.

Polesitter Weston Ramsrud made things difficult for Amundson early in the run, holding the point for the first two laps before Dnae Rose spun her ride. But one circuit after that restart, Amundson dove to the inside on Ramsrud to take a lead that he built upon during the next seven laps.

Amundson was ahead of a six-car tussle for the runner-up position by more than 2.5 seconds on lap nine, but one lap later Rose spun again to bring about the only other stoppage of the run. It took Amundson only about four laps to rebuild his lead, and he continued to run away as the dogfight for second got ever more entertaining, with Tom Worth taking the spot away from Trent Keller on lap 15, and then Andrew Hanson throwing a “slide-job” on Worth to steal the position on the final lap.

By the time the checkers flew, Amundson had a 3.26-second cushion on Hanson, with Worth, Keller and Brendan Makkinga following in close formation.

It was announced during Thursday’s program that WISSOTA Street Stocks would be added to Gondik Law Speedway’s regular Friday night race program in 2027.

Austin Fencl survived three late-race cautions to capture his fifth WISSOTA Pure Stock feature win of the season and his first-ever Northern Nationals title.

Fencl edged ahead from his pole-position start, as 2026 track champ Aaron Bernick slipped by Carsyn Olson for second. On lap two Olson’s car spun, collecting Dylan Helget in the process, bringing about the race’s first delay.

The race stayed under green during the next eight laps, allowing Fencl to ease away from a very entertaining battle for second involving Bernick, Chad Carlson, and, occasionally, Derek Bartz. Bernick and Carlson seemed to swap the position with every lap, which allowed Fencl to escape to a 3.4-second advantage, but the lap-nine slowdown for Michael Pederson’s spin initiated a string of yellow-flag stoppages and dramatic twists.

After Helget’s spin on the ensuing restart, Bartz and Bernick got together while debating second on lap 12, which sent Bartz to the back. Before the race went back under green, Carlson took his ailing racer to the infield, giving up a potential podium run. And although Bernick gave Fencl a good run for the win during the final three laps, Fencl held on for a winning margin of 1.6 seconds.

Tim Carlson, Pederson and Anthony Ravina made up the balance of the top five.

Nikota Larson started on the pole, led all 15 laps, and tallied his eighth-straight WISSOTA Hornets feature win of 2026 at Superior.

While Larson never really dominated the run, he stayed just far enough ahead of a fierce battle for second between William Lange and Jase Wiarda, who swapped the position with every lap turned. A pair of mid-race caution stops - on lap seven for Bobby Kent’s stalled ride, and another on lap eight for a stalled Parker McDougall - kept the field close to Larson, but the 2006 GLS divisional champ maintained enough of a margin.

Sam Bolt’s broken racer set up a green-white-checkered finish, and Wiarda used the restart to get in the last word regarding the discussion over second, but Larson set the pace for his first-ever Northern Nationals victory. Lange held on for third, ahead of Riley Ament and Payton Swenson.

The 16 visiting Northern Renegades/UMSS Winged Sprints put on an entertaining 20-lap feature of their own, as Casey Lang came from deep in the field to score an emotional win.

In victory lane, it was revealed that Thursday’s run at Superior was Lang’s first in nearly a year, after undergoing a major surgery last fall.

A total of 84 entries were on hand for Thursday night’s program, with above-average temperatures and pleasant conditions making for a fast, smooth racing surface.

Wednesday’s practice session was capped off by the seventh annual XR “Showdown in Souptown,” pitting some of the track’s top points finishers in the WISSOTA Super Stocks and Midwest Modifieds in a 20-lap feature.

GLS Super Stocks champ Steve Stuart parlayed a pole-position start into the $2,000 feature win, finishing better than 2.6 seconds ahead of fellow Super Stocker and 2025 track champ Andy Grymala.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 16-Ryan Savoy[7]; 2. 30-Joey Jensen[6]; 3. 15-James Vendela[8]; 4. 28-Paul Ripley[4]; 5. 71-Jacob Anderson[1]; 6. 3D-Kevin Monteith[3]; 7. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[10]; 8. 89CH-Jeff Chuchmuch[5]; 9. 63JR-Brady Larson[9]; 10. 69-Justin Bassa[13]; 11. 20-Jaxon Helland[24]; 12. 44-Bryce Melanson[14]; 13. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[2]; 14. 32M-Mason Musel[12]; 15. 67-Glen Brown[17]; 16. 66-Bill Speak[22]; 17. 11-Carrie Allen[16]; 18. 47-Don Craig[20]; 19. 89-Kolby Reed[19]; 20. 13-Chris Bretting[11]; 21. 99J-John Coppock[23]; 22. 62K-Ryan Kough[25]; 23. 723-Wayne deBruin[21]; 24. (DNF) 32-Adam Shinn[18]; 25. (DNF) 7A-Eric Anderson[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[1]; 2. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[2]; 3. 89CH-Jeff Chuchmuch[8]; 4. 11-Carrie Allen[4]; 5. 20-Jaxon Helland[7]; 6. 89-Kolby Reed[5]; 7. 27B-Dave DeVente[6]; 8. (DNF) 70-David Simpson[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3D-Kevin Monteith[4]; 2. 28-Paul Ripley[5]; 3. 13-Chris Bretting[1]; 4. 44-Bryce Melanson[2]; 5. 67-Glen Brown[7]; 6. 723-Wayne deBruin[6]; 7. 12K-Shane Kotnik[8]; 8. 62K-Ryan Kough[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[6]; 2. 63JR-Brady Larson[1]; 3. 15-James Vendela[7]; 4. 7A-Eric Anderson[3]; 5. 32-Adam Shinn[5]; 6. 99J-John Coppock[2]; 7. (DNF) 15K-Connor Kaseno[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Jacob Anderson[7]; 2. 16-Ryan Savoy[4]; 3. 32M-Mason Musel[2]; 4. 69-Justin Bassa[5]; 5. 66-Bill Speak[3]; 6. 47-Don Craig[6]; 7. 401K-Mitch Patrick[1]

B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 67-Glen Brown[2]; 2. 32-Adam Shinn[4]; 3. 89-Kolby Reed[6]; 4. 47-Don Craig[8]; 5. 723-Wayne deBruin[7]; 6. 66-Bill Speak[3]; 7. 99J-John Coppock[5]; 8. 20-Jaxon Helland[1]; 9. 12K-Shane Kotnik[9]; 10. 401K-Mitch Patrick[10]; 11. (DNF) 62K-Ryan Kough[12]; 12. (DNF) 15K-Connor Kaseno[13]; 13. (DNS) 27B-Dave DeVente; 14. (DNS) 70-David Simpson

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 19A-Shawn Amundson[3]; 2. 20-Andrew Hanson[7]; 3. 55-Thomas Worth[6]; 4. 27-Trent Keller[5]; 5. 426-Brendan Makkinga[2]; 6. 77-Kyle Bolt[4]; 7. 35-Nathan Henny[8]; 8. 67-Weston Ramsrud[1]; 9. 24-Andrew Piilo[10]; 10. 5-Alaina Chaplin[9]; 11. 19J-Jenna Herrman[11]; 12. 50S-Amanda Smith[12]; 13. (DNF) 92R-Dnae Rose[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Weston Ramsrud[4]; 2. 27-Trent Keller[2]; 3. 77-Kyle Bolt[7]; 4. 20-Andrew Hanson[5]; 5. 24-Andrew Piilo[1]; 6. 19J-Jenna Herrman[3]; 7. 92R-Dnae Rose[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 426-Brendan Makkinga[1]; 2. 19A-Shawn Amundson[4]; 3. 55-Thomas Worth[2]; 4. 35-Nathan Henny[5]; 5. 5-Alaina Chaplin[6]; 6. 50S-Amanda Smith[3]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 52W-Austin Fencl[1]; 2. 17-Aaron Bernick[4]; 3. 31-Tim Carlson[6]; 4. 5M-Michael Pederson[3]; 5. 10-Anthony Ravina[11]; 6. 53-Travis Zembo[9]; 7. 00-Derek Bartz[7]; 8. (DNF) 21-Chad Carlson[5]; 9. (DNF) 15-Kyle Siiter[8]; 10. (DNF) 57-Dylan Helget[10]; 11. (DNF) 1-Carsyn Olson[2]; 12. (DNS) 131-Tom Treviranus

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 52W-Austin Fencl[2]; 2. 21-Chad Carlson[1]; 3. 17-Aaron Bernick[6]; 4. 00-Derek Bartz[3]; 5. 57-Dylan Helget[4]; 6. 10-Anthony Ravina[5]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 1-Carsyn Olson[2]; 2. 5M-Michael Pederson[3]; 3. 31-Tim Carlson[5]; 4. 15-Kyle Siiter[4]; 5. 53-Travis Zembo[6]; 6. (DNF) 131-Tom Treviranus[1]

WISSOTA Hornets:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 26N-Nikota Larson[1]; 2. 35-Jase Wiarda[2]; 3. 40-William Lange[3]; 4. 00-Riley Ament[8]; 5. 44P-Peyton Swenson[10]; 6. 26M-Martin Bolt[4]; 7. 13T-Tyson DeVente[12]; 8. 12-Curtis Oleksuk[7]; 9. 34-Selena Owen[6]; 10. 1-Parker McDougall[9]; 11. 26S-Sam Bolt[13]; 12. 26B-Rick Breukelman[5]; 13. 3-Bobby Kent III[11]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 40-William Lange[1]; 2. 26N-Nikota Larson[7]; 3. 34-Selena Owen[2]; 4. 00-Riley Ament[3]; 5. 44P-Peyton Swenson[4]; 6. 13T-Tyson DeVente[5]; 7. 26S-Sam Bolt[6]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 35-Jase Wiarda[2]; 2. 26M-Martin Bolt[1]; 3. 26B-Rick Breukelman[5]; 4. 12-Curtis Oleksuk[6]; 5. 1-Parker McDougall[3]; 6. 3-Bobby Kent III[4]

Northern Renegades/UMSS Winged Sprint Cars:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 609-Casey Lang[9]; 2. 15E-Caley Emerson[10]; 3. 14-Garrett Tatnell[2]; 4. 46G-Jackson Geragi[5]; 5. 24-Terry Lillo[13]; 6. 42X-Brett Peterson[3]; 7. Z15-Zach Olson[11]; 8. 30-Tylar Alton[1]; 9. 92-Danny Wait Jr[12]; 10. 52-Jake Lempelius[7]; 11. 390-Mitchell Schoenoff[8]; 12. 56-Josh Braford[14]; 13. (DNF) 95-John Vaillancourt[4]; 14. (DNF) 03-Jamey Ogston[6]; 15. (DNF) 95T-Kevin Bradwell[15]; 16. (DNS) THE1-Tony Gernert

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 95-John Vaillancourt[1]; 2. 42X-Brett Peterson[5]; 3. 46G-Jackson Geragi[6]; 4. 390-Mitchell Schoenoff[2]; 5. 15E-Caley Emerson[3]; 6. 92-Danny Wait Jr[4]; 7. 56-Josh Braford[7]; 8. (DNF) 95T-Kevin Bradwell[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Garrett Tatnell[7]; 2. 30-Tylar Alton[5]; 3. 03-Jamey Ogston[4]; 4. 609-Casey Lang[1]; 5. 52-Jake Lempelius[6]; 6. 24-Terry Lillo[2]; 7. Z15-Zach Olson[8]; 8. (DNF) THE1-Tony Gernert[3]