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Searing seizes final Challenge Series event and earns pole for WISSOTA 100 Championship Feature

By Tony Steuck
All The Dirt! Racing News

FERGUS FALLS, MN (September 16-17) - Cole Searing dominated Wednesday's WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series main event — postponed to Thursday — and also earned the pole for Saturday’s Speedway Motors WISSOTA 100 Championship Feature.

And in the race to the finish for the championship, Kevin Burdick used the low lane to work his way to 10th from 21st, stay out of trouble, and secured the series title.

Cody Overton and Searing brought the WISSOTA Late Models to the green of their 40-lap main event, with the top eight also earning a spot in Saturday’s big show. Searing grabbed the initial lead ahead of Georgia racers — and Ward Motorsports teammates — Overton and Ty Giles. Sabraski slipped by Giles on lap five, and looked to close the gap to Overton. Dexton Koch ran in fifth while twin sisters Laela and Amelia Eisenschenk raced for sixth.

Cody Overton (37) and Cole Searing (10). (Cody Papke Photo)

Searing started to work through the tail of the field on lap 10, and Overton tried not to lose touch with the leader. The first caution of the race fell with 12 laps scored when Cory Crapser slowed at the top of turn four. After a failed restart, Koch spun in turn four without another lap scored and forfeited a top-five run.

After the restart, Overton slid in front of Searing in turn two, but Searing reclaimed the spot out of the turn. Behind them, Giles made contact with Sabraski, who slipped high and fell from the top five. Laela Eisenschenk was fourth, but under pressure from Thomas Weisgram. Another caution waved with 16 laps recorded.

Giles took over second after the restart, and Weisgram used the high side to race around Overton for third. A faint trail of smoke appeared from Overton’s No. 37, and he dropped from competition before the halfway mark. Dan Ebert and Laela Eisenschenk swapped fourth, and Sabraski joined that battle before he slowed to bring out a caution with a flat left-rear tire with 20 laps to go.

Searing pulled away when the race resumed, and Weisgram took a few laps to work around Giles for second. Johnny Broking fought his way into fourth, while Ebert, Laela Eisenschenk and Challenge Series point leader Burdick battled for fifth. Ebert claimed the spot, and moved in to fight with Broking for fourth.

Searing continued to stretch his lead out front, while Giles and Weisgram traded second place. The caution flag fell once again with nine laps to go.

Danny Vang (47) and Thomas Weisgram (16). (Cody Papke Photo)

Searing slipped away after the restart, and Giles reclaimed second. Broking picked off Weisgram for third, and put the heat on Giles. Ryan Mikkelson, who started 15th, was making a late-race charge and moved by Weisgram in the late stages. Searing completed his dominating run to the checkered flag, while Broking raced by Giles on the last lap for second. Mikkelson finished fourth and Weisgram was fifth. Ebert, 19th-starter Tyler Peterson, and Sabraski claimed the final transfer positions.

Burdick held on to finish 10th and claim his first Challenge Series championship.

Of those drivers eligible to transfer, Ebert, Peterson, Sabraski, Burdick, 11th-finisher Jeff Provinzino and 13th-finisher Dave Mass all declined their transfer spots to race again on Thursday night.

Cody Papke Photos

Earlier in the program, Cole Schill led the opening Late Model heat race, but Giles stole the top spot on lap five and led the field to the checkered flag. Danny Vang worked into third by the finish with Trevor Anderson fourth and Sam Mars fifth.

Koch started on the front row and pulled away to the victory in the second heat race. Weisgram finished comfortably in second ahead of Amelia Eisenschenk, Corey Seckerson and Charlie Olsen in the top five.

Crapser led the opening lap of the third heat race before Tyler Peterson worked his way past on the inside. On the following lap, Overton squeezed under Peterson for the lead, and Crapser moved by Peterson into second. Broking found speed late and powered by Peterson, but could not quite get past Crapser at the checkered flag. Overton took the win followed by Crapser, Broking, Josh Zimpel and Peterson in the top five.

In heat four, Sabraski started in the second row and snagged the lead in the first set of turns. Laela Eisenschenk raced by Jordan Tollakson for second in the early stages before a mid-race caution; Eisenschenk used the high side of the speedway after the restart, and edged ahead of Sabraski to secure the lead under the white flag. She picked up the win ahead of Sabraski, Nick Corbett, Mikkelson and Jeff Provinzino in the top five.

After a wild opening lap in heat five, Ebert settled into the top spot, and Searing picked off Dave Mass for second. After a mid-race restart, Searing stole the lead with a slide job in turn two, and Ebert fended off Mass in the closing laps for second. Zach Johnson and Travis Saurer rounded out the top five.

The top three from a pair of B-features transferred to the qualifying feature. Zach Johnson entertained no challengers in the first B feature. He ran away to the win in the 12-lap race, while Tyler Peterson battled with Burdick for much of the second half of the race, but narrowly edged him out for the position.

Jordan Tollakson wrestled the lead away from Saurer in the opening laps of the second B feature, but Saurer remained close and used the high groove to mount a late charge; he stole the win from Tollakson in the closing laps, while Josh Beaulieu and Mike Stearns had a battle for the final transfer that lasted nearly the entire race. Beaulieu grabbed the spot at the line.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[2]; 2. 45J-Johnny Broking[14]; 3. 37JR-Ty Giles[3]; 4. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[15]; 5. 16-Thomas Weisgram[7]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[12]; 7. 33TPO-Tyler Peterson[19]; 8. 7A-Shane Sabraski[5]; 9. 21X-Travis Saurer[18]; 10. 30-Kevin Burdick[21]; 11. 28-Jeff Provinzino[23]; 12. 15L-Laela Eisenschenk[4]; 13. 2M-Dave Mass[16]; 14. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[8]; 15. 6-Nick Corbett[10]; 16. 78K-Dexton Koch[6]; 17. (DNF) 34-Taylor Madrinich[24]; 18. (DNF) 22B-Josh Beaulieu[22]; 19. (DNF) 44*-Cole Schill[13]; 20. (DNF) 37-Cody Overton[1]; 21. (DNF) 32-Jordan Tollakson[20]; 22. (DNF) 73-Zach Johnson[17]; 23. (DNF) 47-Danny Vang[9]; 24. (DNF) 07-Cory Crapser[11]; 25. (DNF) 28S-Sam Mars[25]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37JR-Ty Giles[3]; 2. 44*-Cole Schill[1]; 3. 47-Danny Vang[5]; 4. 20-Trevor Anderson[2]; 5. 28S-Sam Mars[4]; 6. 30-Kevin Burdick[6]; 7. 18X-Shawn Meyer[9]; 8. 24S-Mike Stearns[7]; 9. 49-Collin Compson[10]; 10. 21XX-Dustin Arthur[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[2]; 2. 16-Thomas Weisgram[3]; 3. 1-Amelia Eisenschenk[4]; 4. 77-Corey Seckerson[1]; 5. 10CO-Charlie Olsen[6]; 6. 53-Chris Mensen[9]; 7. 17T-Talon Seckerson[5]; 8. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[7]; 9. M8-Dalton Magers[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Cody Overton[4]; 2. 07-Cory Crapser[2]; 3. 45J-Johnny Broking[3]; 4. 5-Josh Zimpel[5]; 5. 33TPO-Tyler Peterson[1]; 6. 2S-Mike Greseth[6]; 7. 50-Ben Wolden[7]; 8. 34-Taylor Madrinich[8]; 9. 18-Josh Rieck[9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 15L-Laela Eisenschenk[3]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[4]; 3. 6-Nick Corbett[5]; 4. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[6]; 5. 28-Jeff Provinzino[7]; 6. 32-Jordan Tollakson[1]; 7. (DNF) 01-Alex Tschakert[9]; 8. (DNF) 85G-Jayson Good[2]; 9. (DNS) 15X-Blake Boelens

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing[3]; 2. 60-Dan Ebert[1]; 3. 2M-Dave Mass[2]; 4. 73-Zach Johnson[4]; 5. 21X-Travis Saurer[6]; 6. XXX-Jon Tollakson[5]; 7. 10X-Robert Bitz[8]; 8. 24-Mike Hart[9]; 9. (DNF) 71X-Cory Tammen[7]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 73-Zach Johnson[1]; 2. 33TPO-Tyler Peterson[5]; 3. 30-Kevin Burdick[7]; 4. 28-Jeff Provinzino[2]; 5. 2S-Mike Greseth[8]; 6. 77-Corey Seckerson[3]; 7. 17T-Talon Seckerson[9]; 8. M8-Dalton Magers[13]; 9. 34-Taylor Madrinich[11]; 10. 49-Collin Compson[12]; 11. 24-Mike Hart[10]; 12. (DNF) 71X-Cory Tammen[15]; 13. (DNF) XXX-Jon Tollakson[6]; 14. (DNS) 10CO-Charlie Olsen; 15. (DNS) 01-Alex Tschakert

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 21X-Travis Saurer[4]; 2. 32-Jordan Tollakson[6]; 3. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[11]; 4. 24S-Mike Stearns[10]; 5. 21XX-Dustin Arthur[13]; 6. 18X-Shawn Meyer[5]; 7. 18-Josh Rieck[12]; 8. 50-Ben Wolden[9]; 9. 10X-Robert Bitz[8]; 10. (DNF) 53-Chris Mensen[7]; 11. (DNF) 85G-Jayson Good[14]; 12. (DNS) 20-Trevor Anderson; 13. (DNS) 15X-Blake Boelens; 14. (DNS) 28S-Sam Mars; 15. (DNS) 5-Josh Zimpel