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Giossi grabs a Late Model win and Adams takes two open-wheeled features as Gondik Law paves road to next race

By Nick Gima

SUPERIOR, WI (September 2) – James Giossi of Hudson survived multiple challenges and collected his second career Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series feature during the first-ever “Road to the Silver” invitational-season kickoff event at Douglas County Gondik Law Speedway Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Blake Adams did Giossi one better by taking both the WISSOTA Modified and WISSOTA Midwest Modified features for his first and second wins ever at Superior.

Of the 78 total entries for this inaugural WISSOTA Dirt Track Series event, 35 were Late Models, as the Challenge Series kicked off an important four-track, five-day Labor Day weekend swing.

Prior to heat race action, Kevin Eder set a new GLS qualifying-lap track record for Late Models at 15.415 seconds (93.416 mph).

Giossi started the 40-lap spotlight race on the outside of row two, and he involved himself with Shane Sabraski and Pat Doar while chasing the early battle for the lead between polesitter Kevin Eder and fellow front-row starter Billy Kendall. But after just a couple of laps around the big oval at the western edge of Lake Superior, Giossi broke away from the third-place discussion and set sail for the front.

On lap three Kendall moved past Eder for the lead, but Eder retook the top spot just before a lap seven caution slowdown for a stopped Tyler Peterson. Giossi took advantage of the redo to drive by Eder and take over the pace-setting chores, while seventh-starter Dave Mass used the next three laps to claw his way into second.

Giossi and Mass entertained the large crowd on hand by duking it out for the lead over the next seven laps, until the tail-end of the field became a factor. The lead pair stayed close to each other while negotiating the slower traffic, and on a couple of occasions Mass was scored as the leader, albeit by the slimmest of margins. Finally, on lap 24, Giossi regained the lead for good, pushing his advantage to nearly 2.5 seconds before one last yellow flag flew, for debris, on lap 34.

Eder used a low-side pass on the restart to take second from Mass, and he offered up a couple of low-lane threats to take the lead away as well, but Giossi was up to the challenge and pulled away to a final 1.15-second margin of victory. Eleventh-starter Ashley Anderson slipped past Mass for third coming out of the final turn, and a hard-charging Kevin Burdick, who started 14th, closed in to take fifth.

Burdick extended his series points lead ahead of Sabraski and will continue to carry the leader’s yellow spoiler into Thursday’s 54th annual Silver 1000 at Proctor Speedway.

Adams parlayed his good fortune of front-row starting spots in both the 25-lap Modified feature and the 20-lap Mid-Mod main into his landmark wins — leading all 45 laps to boot.

In the WISSOTA Modified headliner Adams got a strong jump on fellow front-row-starter Cole Chernosky to take the initial lead, only to have Chernosky and Kaden Blaeser close back in after a couple of laps.

Tyler Vernon’s slowed racer brought about the first of the race’s two caution stops, after which Adams flew away again, taking just a couple of circuits to build up a 1.2-second cushion. Farther back, 10th-starting Jody Bellefeuille was clawing his way to the front, following Sabraski past Blaeser for fourth on lap 10. Then, after the race’s other yellow-flag stop for Justin Weinberger’s spin on lap 12, he displaced Sabraski for third on lap 13.

Bellefeuille took over second from Chernosky on lap 14 and quickly cut Adams’ 1.1-second lead in half over the next couple of tours. With five laps remaining Bellefeuille had the deficit trimmed down to less than .4 of a second, and on several occasions the runner-up was showing the leader the nose of his car in the corners. But Adams hit his marks and held his ground in the battle of national championship contenders for his second win of the night, by just .44 seconds.

Mike Anderson, who started fifth but fell back out of touch with the lead battles, stormed back to within a .25 of a second of Bellefeuille’s rear pushbar to claim third. Chernosky and Sabraski completed the top-five at a distance.

Adams also fended off a serious threat from one of the best in the business at this track — Joey Jensen — in the WISSOTA Midwest Mod feature. Adams established himself as the leader with an inside move on David Simpson through the first pair of turns, and he was ahead by nearly a full second within just two laps before the pace was slowed for Mason Musel’s stalled ride.

The next attempt to run under green was delayed for a two-car altercation at the restart, but Adams pulled away after that, while Simpson and track champion Paul Ripley swapped second and third behind him. Ripley then fell back before a spin by Brady Caul brought the field back together. This time Jensen, who was fourth before the yellow, drove low to get by third-place Jimmy Latvala on lap eight and then repeated the move to displace Simpson for second on lap nine.

Adams’ lead at mid-race was just under a half-second, and that margin shrank with nearly every lap. It disappeared completely when Ripley’s racer slowed to bring about a final four-lap dash to the finish.

Following the restart, Jensen showed the nose of his racer to Adams’ left side several times, but Adams prevailed by a mere .2 of a second at the checkered flag. Simpson lost third to 14th-starter Jason VandeKamp, but regained it again at the final stripe, and VandeKamp wrestled with Ryan Savoy during the white-flag lap. The pair scraped door panels while coming to the checkered flag, before VandeKamp edged Savoy out by .015 seconds.

Also on the final lap, Jason Anderson, who finished second in Midwest Mod points at GLS in 2026, flipped his ride onto its roof in turn four. The car sustained some damage, but Anderson was said to be okay.

The Douglas County Gondik Law Speedway will continue its 2026 racing season in a big way with its 38th annual XR Northern Nationals weekend, Wednesday-Saturday, September 9-12.

Wednesday’s program will include a three-hour practice session open to all classes, followed by the seventh annual XR “Showdown in Souptown,” pitting WISSOTA Super Stocks against Midwest Modifieds in a feature race for bragging rights.

On Thursday the Midwest Mods will be joined by UMSS Winged Sprints and WISSOTA-sanctioned Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Hornets for a complete program. The schedule for both Friday and Saturday will include full programs each night for the WISSOTA Late Models, Modifieds, Super Stocks and Midwest Mods. Saturday’s program concludes with the always-popular “Canadian Challenge,” pitting those competing from “north of the border” against each other for a fan-enhanced purse.

For information on the Northern Nationals weekend, log on to the track's website, www.gondiklawspeedway.com.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

Structural Buildings A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 11G-James Giossi[4]; 2. 22E-Kevin Eder[1]; 3. 81-Ashley Anderson[11]; 4. 2M-Dave Mass[7]; 5. 30-Kevin Burdick[14]; 6. 7A-Shane Sabraski[5]; 7. 11-Pat Doar[3]; 8. 45J-Johnny Broking[10]; 9. 37X-Skeeter Estey[8]; 10. 28S-Sam Mars[16]; 11. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[21]; 12. 99-Billy Kendall[2]; 13. 21-Mike Bellefeuille[13]; 14. 27-Jake Redetzke[6]; 15. 44-Darrell Nelson[17]; 16. 19-Steve Laursen[20]; 17. 28-Jeff Provinzino[15]; 18. 85-John Kaanta[25]; 19. 07-Cory Crapser[23]; 20. 78K-Dexton Koch[12]; 21. 34-Taylor Madrinich[24]; 22. (DNF) 16-Derek Vesel[19]; 23. (DNF) 54L-Jayme Lautigar[18]; 24. (DNF) 7-Andy Nezworski[22]; 25. (DNF) 33-Tyler Peterson[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Jake Redetzke[1]; 2. 99-Billy Kendall[4]; 3. 30-Kevin Burdick[3]; 4. 33-Tyler Peterson[8]; 5. 2-Todd Gehl[5]; 6. 9-Eric Lillo[7]; 7. (DNF) 85-John Kaanta[2]; 8. (DNF) 14N-Keith Niemi[6]; 9. (DNS) 9M-Ronnie Malecki

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11G-James Giossi[2]; 2. 2M-Dave Mass[3]; 3. 81-Ashley Anderson[4]; 4. 37X-Skeeter Estey[8]; 5. 16-Derek Vesel[5]; 6. 23-Kyle Peterlin[6]; 7. 34-Taylor Madrinich[9]; 8. (DNF) 24-Aaron Lillo[7]; 9. (DNF) 6M-Jeff Massingill[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Pat Doar[2]; 2. 78K-Dexton Koch[1]; 3. 45J-Johnny Broking[4]; 4. 28S-Sam Mars[3]; 5. 19-Steve Laursen[6]; 6. 54L-Jayme Lautigar[7]; 7. 7-Andy Nezworski[9]; 8. 54-Rick Niemi[8]; 9. (DNF) 29F-Dave Flynn[5]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski[1]; 2. 22E-Kevin Eder[4]; 3. 21-Mike Bellefeuille[3]; 4. 28-Jeff Provinzino[5]; 5. 44-Darrell Nelson[6]; 6. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[2]; 7. 07-Cory Crapser[7]; 8. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[8]

B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 44-Darrell Nelson[2]; 2. 54L-Jayme Lautigar[5]; 3. 16-Derek Vesel[3]; 4. 19-Steve Laursen[1]; 5. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[9]; 6. 7-Andy Nezworski[7]; 7. 54-Rick Niemi[13]; 8. 85-John Kaanta[12]; 9. 07-Cory Crapser[11]; 10. 9-Eric Lillo[6]; 11. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[14]; 12. 14N-Keith Niemi[15]; 13. (DNF) 23-Kyle Peterlin[10]; 14. (DNF) 24-Aaron Lillo[16]; 15. (DNF) 34-Taylor Madrinich[8]; 16. (DNS) 2-Todd Gehl; 17. (DNS) 29F-Dave Flynn; 18. (DNS) 6M-Jeff Massingill; 19. (DNS) 9M-Ronnie Malecki

WISSOTA Modifieds:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[10]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[5]; 4. 33C-Cole Chernosky[2]; 5. 7A-Shane Sabraski[4]; 6. 73-Kaden Blaeser[3]; 7. 22(S)-Cole Spacek[9]; 8. 44-Darrell Nelson[7]; 9. T23-John Toppozini[6]; 10. 7-Andrew Mackey[14]; 11. 9-Brady Uotinen[11]; 12. 95-Jack Rivord[8]; 13. 98-Al Uotinen[19]; 14. 45-Bob Broking[13]; 15. 40-Tanner Henderson[20]; 16. 04N-Adam Ayotte[15]; 17. 2-Tanner Gehl[17]; 18. (DNF) 7XJR-Marcus Dunbar[21]; 19. (DNF) 11(W)-Justin Weinberger[18]; 20. (DNF) 64-Evan Checkalski[12]; 21. (DNF) 40JR-Tyler Vernon[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[4]; 2. T23-John Toppozini[1]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 4. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[7]; 5. 04N-Adam Ayotte[2]; 6. 2-Tanner Gehl[3]; 7. 40-Tanner Henderson[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[2]; 2. 44-Darrell Nelson[1]; 3. 22(S)-Cole Spacek[4]; 4. 9-Brady Uotinen[3]; 5. 45-Bob Broking[7]; 6. 11(W)-Justin Weinberger[5]; 7. 7XJR-Marcus Dunbar[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 73-Kaden Blaeser[2]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski[4]; 3. 95-Jack Rivord[5]; 4. 64-Evan Checkalski[3]; 5. 7-Andrew Mackey[6]; 6. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[7]; 7. 98-Al Uotinen[1]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 30-Joey Jensen[9]; 3. 70-David Simpson[2]; 4. 16(V)-Jason VandeKamp[14]; 5. 16-Ryan Savoy[7]; 6. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[3]; 7. 15-James Vendela[5]; 8. 7XJR-Marcus Dunbar[18]; 9. 10Z-Cade Johnson[16]; 10. 50-Brady Caul[20]; 11. 27B-Dave DeVente[19]; 12. 31J-Mike Jacques[12]; 13. 47-Don Craig[8]; 14. 13-Chris Bretting[6]; 15. (DNF) 71-Jacob Anderson[13]; 16. (DNF) 28-Paul Ripley[4]; 17. (DNF) 41-Tyler Vernon[11]; 18. (DNF) 62K-Ryan Kough[15]; 19. (DNF) 32M-Mason Musel[10]; 20. (DNS) 14-Ryan Garson; 21. (DNS) 69-Justin Bassa; 22. (DNS) 4L-Carey LePage

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Paul Ripley[2]; 2. 13-Chris Bretting[4]; 3. 16-Ryan Savoy[7]; 4. 32M-Mason Musel[6]; 5. 31J-Mike Jacques[8]; 6. 7XJR-Marcus Dunbar[5]; 7. 27B-Dave DeVente[3]; 8. 50-Brady Caul[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[4]; 2. 70-David Simpson[7]; 3. 47-Don Craig[1]; 4. 41-Tyler Vernon[5]; 5. 16(V)-Jason VandeKamp[6]; 6. 14-Ryan Garson[2]; 7. (DNF) 69-Justin Bassa[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15-James Vendela[2]; 2. 21(L)-Jimmy Latvala[6]; 3. 30-Joey Jensen[3]; 4. 71-Jacob Anderson[4]; 5. 62K-Ryan Kough[1]; 6. 10Z-Cade Johnson[7]; 7. (DNF) 4L-Carey LePage[5]