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Third night is the charm for Mars, who wins LM Qualifier and will start outside row one Saturday at the 100

By Ryan Schmitz
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 17) - Action for the third night of the Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 got underway Thursday evening, following the completion of the rain-affected Wednesday night features.

Thursday’s WISSOTA Late Models Qualifying Feature was a dandy and was captured by Sam Mars, who started seventh on the grid en route to the checkered flag.

Jason Good and Georgia invader Cody Overton sat on the front row for the 20-lap Late Model Qualifying Feature. Overton, who ran strongly all week, raced out to the early lead ahead of Zach Johnson, who moved into second.

Five laps into the race Overton led Johnson, Shane Sabraski, Sammy Mars, and Dave Mass in the top five, while Dan Ebert and Kevin Burdick battled for sixth.

Overton continued lead, as Ebert and Burdick were joined by Jeff Provinzino in the battle for the final transfer spot. Meanwhile, Mars and Sabraski fought for third behind Johnson. Mars made the pass on lap eight and quickly began to pressure Johnson and Overton, who were side by side at the halfway flag. On the ensuing lap Johnson went to the bottom of the track in an effort to get by Overton, which allowed Mars to get by into second.

Sam Mars (28) and Cody Overton (37). (Cody Papke Photo)

With just five laps remaining Mars pulled within half a second of Overton as they leaders began to enter lapped traffic. Mars threw a slide job on Overton in turn three and Overton crossed him over as the duo came to the start/finish line with four to go. On the ensuing lap Mars completed the pass in turn one and raced into the lead.

Mars quickly stretched his lead to about 10 car lengths as he took the white flag, and then drove on to the victory. Overton was second, Johnson was third, Mass was fourth, and Sabraski was fifth. Burdick, Good and Charlie Olsen claimed the final transfer spots.

Everyone accepted their starting spots for Saturday’s finale.

Cody Papke Photos

The first heat rumbled to the track with local driver Mike Hart and multi-time national champion, Tyler Peterson, on the front row. Jayson Good moved out to the early lead on the top side of the track, bringing Dave Mass with him as the duo circled the speedway. Peterson settled into third, as the front two checked out on the field. As the leaders continued to blister the speedway Dan Ebert moved from his ninth starting spot to fourth on lap three as he marched to the front. Good was the winner, Mass was second, Peterson was third, and Ebert settled for fourth. Jordan Tollakson completed the top five.

Ben Wolden and Charlie Olsen brought heat two to the green and Olson raced to the lead on lap one, with Wolden in tow. Behind Wolden Corey Seckerson, Mike Greseth, and Nick Corbett raced for top-five positioning. On lap four Greseth fell off the pace in the Matt Schow-owned No. 2 machine and pulled to the infield. Up front Olsen left no doubt and raced to the win ahead of Wolden and Seckerson in the top three. Corbett and Shawn Meyer rounded out the top five.

Mars and Jon Tollakson started on the front row of the nine-car field in heat three. At the drop of the green Mars threw his yellow machine into turn one and drifted to the high side into the lead with Shane Sabraski in tow. Before he completed a lap Tollakson pulled his machine to the infield with issues, but the green flag stayed out. As Mars came to the stripe with two to go, Sabraski looked to the inside, but Mars fought him off and held on for the win with Sabraski in second and Zach Johnson rounding out the podium. Dexton Koch and Konner Sperle rounded out the top five.

The final WISSOTA Late Model heat race of the evening was loaded with heavy hitters. Cole Schill and Dustin Arthur paced the field to the green. At the drop of the green second-row starters Cody Overton and Chad Becker ambushed Schill, and as lap one was completed Overton led Schill, Becker, and Arthur in the top four. The yellow blinked on over the speedway for Josh Rieck, who spun in turn four. Overton brought the field back to green and powered back to the lead. From there Overton continued to dominate and cruised to the win ahead of Schill, Becker, 2026 Structural Building WISSOTA Challenge Series Champion Kevin Burdick, and Jeff Provinzino in the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 28S-Sam Mars[7]; 2. 37-Cody Overton[2]; 3. 73-Zach Johnson[3]; 4. 2-Dave Mass[8]; 5. 7A-Shane Sabraski[6]; 6. 30-Kevin Burdick[10]; 7. 85-Jayson Good[1]; 8. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[4]; 9. 60-Dan Ebert[5]; 10. 78K-Dexton Koch[16]; 11. 28-Jeff Provinzino[12]; 12. 33TPO-Tyler Peterson[18]; 13. 32-Jordan Tollakson[9]; 14. 44*-Cole Schill[14]; 15. 50-Ben Wolden[13]; 16. 24S-Mike Stearns[20]; 17. 18X-Shawn Meyer[11]; 18. 1S-Konner Sperle[23]; 19. 29F-Dave Flynn[24]; 20. 90-Lance Matthees[22]; 21. 77-Corey Seckerson[17]; 22. M8-Dalton Magers[21]; 23. 6-Nick Corbett[19]; 24. (DNF) 12-Chad Becker[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 85-Jayson Good[4]; 2. 2-Dave Mass[3]; 3. 33TPO-Tyler Peterson[2]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[9]; 5. 32-Jordan Tollakson[10]; 6. M8-Dalton Magers[8]; 7. 10X-Robert Bitz[6]; 8. 24-Mike Hart[1]; 9. (DNS) 22B-Josh Beaulieu; 10. (DNS) 47-Danny Vang

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[2]; 2. 50-Ben Wolden[1]; 3. 77-Corey Seckerson[3]; 4. 6-Nick Corbett[5]; 5. 18X-Shawn Meyer[9]; 6. 90-Lance Matthees[8]; 7. 155-Gavin Shaw[7]; 8. 17-Talon Seckerson[6]; 9. (DNF) 2S-Mike Greseth[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 28S-Sam Mars[1]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[4]; 3. 73-Zach Johnson[7]; 4. 78K-Dexton Koch[6]; 5. 1S-Konner Sperle[5]; 6. 24S-Mike Stearns[9]; 7. 71X-Cory Tammen[3]; 8. (DNF) 01-Alex Tschakert[8]; 9. (DNF) XXX-Jon Tollakson[2]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Cody Overton[3]; 2. 44*-Cole Schill[1]; 3. 12-Chad Becker[4]; 4. 30-Kevin Burdick[7]; 5. 28-Jeff Provinzino[9]; 6. 29F-Dave Flynn[6]; 7. 21XX-Dustin Arthur[2]; 8. 18-Josh Rieck[8]; 9. (DNS) 07-Cory Crapser