DOAR WINS 32ND NORTHERN NATIONALS LATE MODEL FEATURE
By Jerry O’Brien
9-12-20 (Superior, WI)
9-12-20 (Superior, WI)
The 32nd annual Northern Nationals’ for day run finished up on Saturday
September 12th under cloudy skies but were spared any predicted rain and blessed
with mild wind speeds making for a fairly comfortable evening to view the four
main events to determine the 2020 Northern Nationals Champions.
Once again the speedway surface became tacky and very fast as the night went
on.
On Friday the 11th all of the WISSOTA Late Model qualifying heat races were
run as part of the revival of the Russ Laursen Classic honoring the late Russ
Laursen, a great driver who lost his life 50 years ago this year in a Sprint Car
accident.
Full shows for the WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks and Midwest
Modifieds were also on Saturday’s schedule, but it was the Late Models that took
center stage first out of the box with 24 drivers lining up on the 4/10ths mile clay
oval set to race for 40 laps and the $5519 “Big Check” to the winner. Russ
Laursen’s most famous race car number was 519 because his car owner Glenn
Carlson had a business with the address of 519 Tower Avenue in Superior. Hence
part of the winning check number was set at $519 added to the $5000 prize.
Bringing the two dozen hot racers to the green flag were pole sitter Pat Doar of
New Richmond, WI and defending track champion Deven VanHouse of Silver bay
Minnesota. VanHouse grabbed the lead for the first circuit but that start was called
off as VanHouse was judged to have jumped the start and was penalized to the
second row. The next try saw Doar and Rick Hanestad battle for the lead but it was
Doar who came out on top. Moving to second from the second row was another
number 11, that of young James Giossi in third, VanHouse fourth, Steve Laursen
moved up from the third row to run fifth in the 519 Late Model. The front runners
were being tracked by the Mars family, Dad Jimmy in the yellow 28m in sixth and
son Sam in the white 28s. Doar settled in at he point with Giossi and Hanestad
keeping pace just ahead of VanHouse. VanHouse began to lose ground as Jimmy
Mars got by. Also moving forward was the #31 of Travis Budiaslovich along with
John Kaanta. The order stayed pretty much the same until there were 22 laps in the
books until there was another caution flag, the second of the event for the #79 of
Kevin Carlson in turn three. The green flag returned with two laps shy of half way
and the status quo stayed the same with Doar, Giossi and Hanested in the top
three. Jimmy Mars got by Laursen to fifth as Budiaslovich passed Sam Mars as did
Kaanta. Once again the caution flag slowed the action as Hanestad’s mount pulled
up lame and out of competition. The restart came with 18 laps remaining with
Doar leading Giossi and Mars in the top three. Budiaslovich used the occasion to
get past Laursen into fourth. Almost immediately the fourth caution flag flew for a
tangle between Keith Nimi and Chris Lillo in turn two. The restart saw Doar and
Giossi maintain the the top spots, Mars moved to third and Budiaslovich took
fourth. Mars moved up to battle with Giossi and secured the second spot. Caution
flag number five appeared for debris on the track and the restart came with 11 laps
to go. A lap later it was caution flag number six that was waving for a tangle in
turn four involving Sam Mars, Clint Larson, Mike Prochnow, and Joe Kinzlie, Jr.
The restart came with ten laps to go with Doar still in the lead but the seventh
caution flag turned into a red flag condition when a tangle deposited the 21k of
Joe Kinzlie, Jr’s car deposited on the top or turn four wall. The restart came with
still ten laps to go but that didn’t last long as another mixup occurred this time in
turn one between Jody Bellefeuille and Chris Lillo. Only 15 cars of the starting 24
took the call for the next attempt to finish the last ten laps. Doar clung to the lead
over Gioss at the green as Jimmy Mars tried for the win. Laursen, Darrell Nelson,
Budiaslovich, Kaanta, Justin Fegers, Derek Vesel and Kevin Eder were all in the
mix striving for a good finish. The final finishing order in the top five was Pat
Doar winning his third Northern Nationals, his first since 2014, Jimmy Mars,
Steve Laursen, Nelson and Budiaslovich. Giossi, Fegers, Kaanta, Vesel, and Eder
were in the top ten.
Next up were the WISSOTA Modifieds going for a 30 lap ride around the
speedway. For the second straight feature, a number 11 was on the pole, Jody
Bellefeuille was set to lead off from the front row next to Dave Cain’s #2c,
Bellefeuille led off from pole to take the lead but Cain stuck to him like glue.
Darrell Nelson ran third, Greg Chesley fourth and Jeremy Nelson was fifth in the
early going. Cain edgedd the nose in front of Bellefeuille and they took off away
from the pack to fight it out between them. The two warriors battled side by side
with Cain having a slight lead past the flag stand. Cain was on top as the 14th lap
was reached, but Chesley got turned around in turn turn two along with Tyler
Luger. The restart turned out to be a positive one for Bellefeuille as he was able to
take over the lead. Darrell Nelson who had been waiting in the wings, so to speak,
took over the second spot. Also hanging around near the front was Shane Sabraski,
but it was Clayton Wagemon who had come from the 11th starting spot who
wrestled second place from Nelson but couldn’t do anything with Bellefeuille as
he went on to take the feature win. It was a sweep for the Duluth driver.
Wagemon, Sabraski, Nelson and Ashley Anderson finished in the top five. It was
Bellefeuille’s second Northern Nationals win in the last three years.
In the WISSOTA Super Stock main event, Kevin Burdick led a good portion of
the 25 lap feature from the pole but Shane Sabraski was able to track him down
and make the pass late in the race and go on to take the win. Burdick spent a
number of laps battling with Nick Oreskovich for the lead. Scott Lawrence was
running in third, Sabraski fourth and Matt Deragon in fifth. There was some action
in the first couple of laps that brought out a couple of early caution flags. The most
potentially serious incident brought out the red flag. It appeared the 12k of DJ
Keeler was turned sideways on the back stretch and was hit by the 76 of Doug
Koski. Jim Campbell in the #12 could not avoid the wreck and piled in and flipped
over on his roof. Apparently none of the drivers were injured. On the restart
Burdick and Oreskovich resumed their battle, but a few laps later Sabraski got by
Oreskovich who started to fade and tracked down Burdick. He finally caught up to
the #30 and worked on him for several laps before getting by. The pair had pulled
away from Lawrence. Making a run from his tenth starting spot was Dave Flynn
who got by Oreskivich and Deragon. With three laps remaining a caution flag,
only the second one of the event, flew on a debris call. Sabraski went on to take
the win over Burdick, Lawrence, Flynn and Deragon in the top five.
The final race of the 2020Northern Nationals was for the WISSOTA Midwest
Modifieds. They fielded 25 cars for their adventure led by Andrew Inman and
Ryan Savoy. The race got off to a raged start with a caution flag on the start with
several cars involved in the fourth turn. Amongst those cars were ones driven by
McLean Andrews, Ross Fuhrman, Mark Kangas, John Kallas, Paul Ripley,
Brandon Mehrweth and Justin Weinbereger. The restart came with no laps
recorded and Inman jumped to the lead. Iit didn’t take long fro Savoy to wrest the
lead away from Inman and he led for a few laps over Inman, David Swearingen,
Kangas, and Shane Howell. The second caution flag came out with five laps in as
Jeffery Wood spun in turn two. The restart saw Inman regain the point and Howell
make a run to second. It was unfortunate that the third and last caution flag was for
Inman who spun in turn four. Inman was restored to second place at the restart
with sevin laps to go. Making a move from his tenth starting spot was 2020track
champion Cody Carlson from his tenth starting spot. At the checkered flag, it was
Howell to thw win followed by Inman, a fast closing Skeeter Estey from 18th,
Shane Sabraski driving the #EZ1 Midwest Modified and Carlson in fifth.
