9-23 Page 20

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Many of the drivers who ran on Saturday returned and there were 15 additional racers on hand, including several late additions after Bemidji was rained out. The Randt team also stopped on their way home from Thunder Bay and six different Late Model drivers who probably couldn't be ready on time to race on Saturday were more than happy to try on Sunday.

There were six WISSOTA sanctioned classes on hand plus a nonsanctioned Crown Vic class and the hodgepodge Late Model class.

Rather than retell a blow by blow story of just how the six feature races played out on Sunday, I think the main two story lines were the somewhat surprising sweep of the weekend by drivers in four of the six WISSOTA classes racing and the monumental win by Shane Sabraski (actually it was two), which propelled him past the 1,000-feature win barrier.

First, let's look at the sweepers of the weekend. Despite a solid field in all the WISSOTA classes, there were three drivers in four classes who managed to sweep the features Saturday and Sunday.

I think the list has to begin with Blake Adams. Not only did he sweep the Midwest Mod division on Saturday and Sunday, but he did the same in the Modified class. That is quite an achievement and was a lucrative one as well.

Granite City put up some nice money for the drivers this weekend and Adams, by sweeping in both classes, went home with seven grand — not bad for a weekend's worth of racing. He won all of his heats, too. The only race he didn't lead from start to finish was on Sunday in the Modified feature, when Brandon Dolman got the jump on him. It was a tough battle for 12 laps until Dolman got boxed in one time by a slower car and when he pushed up the track slightly, Adams was right there to drive under him and then away for his fourth win of the weekend.

They were also big point nights for Adams. I have no clue exactly where the national points sit, but at last glance Adams and Sabraski were in a close battle for the title in the Mods and those two sweeps had to have helped Adams. I think he is locked into fourth in the Midwest Mods but his 38 feature wins for the year to date is pretty impressive, much less for a 16-year old!

Dustin Holtquist is also locked in a very tight point battle in the Mod Fours and he also won feature races both nights, which certainly helped his point title chances.

The other double winner was Tony Jensen in the Hornet class. He got a bit of help on Sunday when apparent winner Travis Roush was disqualified in tech following the race. That gave the win to Jensen.

The other highlight Sunday was when Sabraski finally broke the 1,000 feature win mark. He indicated that he returned to the Granite City area from Thunder Bay after racing there Friday because he was on the cusp of winning his 1,000th feature and wanted to do that in front of his home fans, sponsors and friends, which is a very nice touch.

It seemed like the Sabraski fans, which was a considerable portion of those on hand to watch Sunday, were just ready to explode when he crossed the line, and as he reached the final checkered in his Late Model, the fans stood and applauded him. There was quite a celebration in victory lane with banners and a lot of family, friends and sponsors. The celebrating probably continued long into the evening but they had to take a short break. In true Sabraski style, he still had two more feature races to run. One of them was in the Super Stocks, which he also won. Now he has to get started on that 2,000 mark, don't cha know!

There seemed to be a bit of misinformation flying around that Sabraski was the first race car driver to ever reach 1,000 feature wins, but there are several others documented who have won more than 1,000 times. Still, this achievement is monumental and no doubt one of the most impressive totals ever achieved by a short track driver.

Two things stand out to me. One, Shane is only 46-years old, which means that if he doesn't get tired of this sport, he certainly could add hundreds more before he finally hangs up his driver’s suit. And secondly, he races in a part of the country where our racing season is relatively short compared to that of a western or southern US driver, which means he has gotten a lot more done in a shorter period of time than perhaps any driver who has sat behind the wheel of a race car.

In any event, the numbers are mind boggling and he, along with his family, his sponsors and car owners, all the members of his crew who have spun wrenches over the years, and anyone involved in his operation, deserve much credit.

Congratulations and thanks also to the GCMP crew for battling through the weather and getting two full nights of racing action completed against challenging conditions. As the Sunday program was being completed, lightning again lit up the skies and another batch of rain moved into the area. I barely got out of my car upon arriving home before another downburst hit our area.

One thing to note: Granite City only charged $10 to get into the grandstands both nights of this event, which is certainly much less than any other special I have seen this year. That certainly had something to do with the large crowd that gathered on Sunday, typically not the best day for racing this time of year.