NELSON, BURDICK AND FLYNN WISSOTA WINNERS FIRST NIGHT 0F NATIONALS

by · Published September 10, 2016 · Updated May 23, 2017

By Jerry O’Brien
9-9-16
Superior, WI

It was a perfect early Fall night for racing as the 28th Annual Rick Gondik Law

Offices Northern Nationals moved into the meat of the event. On tap for Friday

September 9th was the annual visit of the Interstate racing Association (IRA)

Outlaw Sprint Cars as well as WISSOTA PolyDome Dirt Track Series Midwest

Modifieds, Super Stocks and Modifieds.

Along with the 20 sprint cars there were 44 Midwest Modifieds, 26 Super

Stocks and 27 Modifieds for a total car count of 117 cars.

Passing points were used in the heat races for the WISSOTA divisions to set

the main event lineups. There were five heats and a pair of B Features in the

Midwest Modifieds. The heats went to Denny Cutsforth; Dave Flynn; Dale

Suomala, Brady Caul and Cody Carlson. David Swearingin and Jason VandeKamp

topped the B Features.

Willie Johnsen, Jr; Shane kisling and Curt Myers won the Super Stock heats

while Neil Balduc, Darrell Nelson and Paul Wrazidlo were Modified heat winners.

IRA Sprint heats went to Steve Meyer, Scotty Thiel and Blake Nimee and track

record holder Davey Heskins (12.652) again sat atop the pile with a lap of 13.669

seconds.

The Sprints went their usual 30 laps for $2500 to win. Last time they were here

Heskins was not the fastest timer but won the race. This time he ran into bad luck

and the first and second turns wall putting him on the sidelines six laps in. Jeremy

Schmidt grabbed the lead at the outset and raced off to a big lead while Balog

quickly worked his way into second from the outside of the third row. The only

caution flag was on laps six for Heskin’s introduction to the wall. On the restart

Balog tried a massive slide job on Schmidt but couldn’t hold it. Shortly thereafter

he made the pass on Schmidt and, for all intents and purposes it was all over as

Balog lapped all the way up to fifth place.

The Midwest Modifieds were the first WISSOTA division up for the feature

events and it would be 20 laps and a full field of 24 cars plus a provisional which

turned out to be Shane Howell. The Buffalo, MN facer would start in the 25th

position.

At the green flag pole sitter Denny Cutsforth took the lead followed by Kevin

eder, Dan kingsley,, Dave Flynn and Brady Caul. Cutsforth held sway at the front

while Eder, Kingsly, Flynn and Caul were joined by Mack Estey. Seven laps in the

first caution flag flew for Willie Thompson’s troubles in turn two. Cutsforth held

onto the lead for three more laps before Eder managed to make the pass. Eder was

in control as Flynn claimed second over Cutsforth and Kingsley who were joined

by Estey and Deven VanHouse. Eder put some distance on Flynn but Flynn was

able to regain the ground and close up as the mid point was reached. Eder held

sway at the front and looked to back up his win from the previous year, but that

was not in the cards. The second caution flag came with three laps remaining as

Cutsforth lost control and spun around in turn two. The third caution flag came on

the restart attempt when several cars tangled up on the bottom of the fourth turn

exit. Eder still had a chance for the win but unfortunately the number 40 broke in

turn four bringing out the caution and ending his race a couple laps short of the

finish. Flynn inherited the lead with two to go and held off Kingsley for his first

win in the Midwest Modifieds at the speedway for the season. Nick Daronco,

VanHouse, and Curt Myers finished in the top five.

Next it was 25 laps for the Super Stocks with a full field of 26 cars set to take

the green . Dave Flynn and Curt Myers barely had time to catch their breath before

they found themselves staring through the wind screens of their Super Stocks

looking for the green flag. Myers got the jump but Willie johnsen, Jr had some

problems as did Brian Mikkonen bringing out the caution before the first lap could

be completed. Flynn was quicker on the throttle the next time and took the point

but Myers was not to be denied and wrestled the lead back. Myers and Flynn were

soon joined by Scott Lawrence, Kevin Burdick and Keith Kern while Shane

Kisling scrambled to chase them down. Lawrence and Burdick were in a tight

battle, tight enough to cause a shower of sparks as they scrapped the front stretch

wall. They finally tangled and Lawrence was sent to the rear charged with the

incident. Myers led off on the restart but Burdick heaped on the pressure and

drove past to the lead. Burdick held onto the point and pulled away while Myers,

Flynn, Kisling, Jim Campbell, Andy Grymala, Nick Oreskovich and Kern kept up

the pressure. With five laps remaining Jean Fortin’s #44 caught a marker tire in

turn one and turned over, appeared to land on it’s wheels and caught fire under the

hood. Fortin was reportedly okay and the fire was quickly extinguished. Almost

unnoticed, Lawrence had been working his way up from 25th and restarted 9th with

five to go. Myers got the good restart and had the lead going into the first turn.

Burdick didn’t panic and kept after him, lined him up and out accelerated Myers

off turn four to pull off the narrow win with a last corner pass. Flynn, Lawrence

and Jeff Klopstein finished in the top five. Klopstein was barley noticed as he

came from 16th to the top five.

All 27 cars were set to start the 30 lap Modified main event with Joey Jensen

and Paul Wrazidlo set to lead the field to the green. Jensen grabbed the lead at the

start over Wrazidlo, Jody Bellefeuille, Kelly Estey and Darrell Nelson. Neil

Balduc and Al Uotinen were also in contention. No laps were complete before the

caution flag flew when Donnie Lofdahl slid into the forth turn wall. He was able to

continue. Jensen held the lead at the restart with Wrazidlo second, Estey third,

Nelson forth and Bellefeuille fifth. Nelson began a classic run forward, made it to

second and began reeling Jensen in. With 21 laps remaining Nelson made his

move to first. At this point we began to see comers and goers as Wrazidlo still

held third, Bellefeuille was fourth and Uotinen cracked the top five. Almost

immediately the second caution flag flew for Scott Heikkinen’s car that had found

the fourth turn wall. With only ten circuits complete the car count had been

reduced to 22 still running. Nelson still had the top spot at the green but Uotinen

had one of the fastest cars on the track at this juncture as he found some traction

on the very bottom of the track and took second. Nelson was long gone by this

time but Uotinen made a valiant effort to track him down. Anouther racer also

found his car to be very fast at this point, also. Ashley Anderson raced his way

into third as Jensen began to fade. Just like a big score on Jeopardy, Nelson could

not be caught such was the size of his lead. Anderson got by Uotinen for second,

Mike Anderson moved to fourth at the checkered flag and Jensen managed to

rebound for a top five finish.

It was Nelson’s forth Northern Nationals Modified win and third in a row.

Results Northern Nationals 9-9-16

WISSOTA PolyDome Dirt Track Series Modifieds (27 cars)

Feature (30 laps)

Darrell Nelson Hermantown; Ashley Anderson Elk Mound; Al Uotinen Superior;

Mike Anderson Colfax; Joey Jensen Harris MN; Jody Bellefeuille Duluth; Kelly

Estey Kelly Lake; Neil Balduc Bessemer; Kevin Eder Ashland; Paul Wrazidlo

Duluth; Paul Niznik Medford, WI; Rick Niemi Eveleth; Jeff Broking Grand

Rapids; Steve Lavesseur River Falls, WI; Rick Rivord Superior; Jeff Tardy

Hibbing; Pat Cook Washburn; Cody Wolkowski Thunder Bay; Jake Hiatt New

Richmond DMF: Destin Lorimor Superior; Brian Mikkonen Iron River; Al

Stettner Newport, MN; Jaymde Lautigar Gilbert, MN; Donnie Lofdahl Duluth;

Dustin Hudack Ashland; Scott Heikkinen Eveleth; Peter Loecken Paynesville, MN

Heat 1: Balduc; Eder; Estey; A. Anderson; Mikkonen; Lautigar; Lavasseur;

Loecken; Wolkowski

Heat 2: Nelson; Uotinen; Bellefeuille; Niemi; Rivord; Niznik; Hudack; Tardy

Hiatt

Heat 3: Wrazidlo; Jensen; M. Anderson; Lorimor; Broking; Cook; Stettner;

Heikkonen DNF: Lofdahl

WISSOTA PolyDome Dirt Track Series Super Stocks (26 cars)

Feature (25 laps)

Kevin Burdick Proctor; Curt Myers Cameron; Dave Flynn Superior; Scott

Lawrence Superior; Jeff Klopstein, Jr Tomahawk, WI; Andy grymala Superior;

Keith Kern Superior; Shawn McFadden, Jr Ashland; Jim Campbell Two Harbors;

Pat Beeksma Ironwood; Terran Spacek Phillips; Don Muzzy Ironwood; Brian Carl

Duluth; Butch Butcher Buhl, MN; Mike Weber Osceola; Luke Schultz Cameron;

D. J. Keeler Superior; Larry Both Thunder Bay; Adam Shinn Duluth DNF: Shane

Kisling Phillips; Jean Guy Fortin Neebing, ON; Nick Oreskovich; Matt Hammitt

Clooquet; Willie Johnsen, Jr Superior DNS: Keith Corcilius Phillips

Heat 1: Johnsen, Jr; Lawrence; Burdick; Spacek; Beeksma; Klopstein, Jr; Both

DNF: Corcilius; Fortin

Heat 2: Kisling; Campbell; Kern; Keeler; Oreskovich; Weber; Hammitt DNF:

Shinn; Mikkonen

Heat 3: Myers; Flynn; McFadden; Grymala; Muzzy; carl; Schultz; Butccher

WISSOTA PolyDome Dirt Track Series Midwest Modifieds (44 cars)

Feature (20 laps)

Dave Flynn Superior; Dan Kingsley Superior; Nick Daronco Mountain Iron;

Deven VanHouse Silver Bay; Curt Myers Cameron; Dale Suomala, Jr

Hermantown; Jason VandeKamp Scandia, MN; David Swearingen Little Canada,

MN; Cody Carlson Superior; Craig Lofdahl Duluth; Ryan Adamzak Ashland;

Denny Cutsforth Rice Lake, WI; Keith Niemi Forest Lake, MN; Shane Howell

Buffalo, MN; Kevin Montieth Thunder Bay; Brandon Copp Brule; Cole Spacek

Phillips; Brady Caul Fort Frances, ON DNF: Wyatt Boyum International Falls;

Jason Haugerud Somerset, WI; Brad Hanson Mountain Iron; Kevin Eder Ashland;

David Simpson Thunder Bay; Mack Estey Hibbing; Willy Thompson Hibbing

B Feature #1: Swearingen; Simpson; Hanson; Spacek; Jason Williamson Fort

Frances; Cole Chernosky Thunder Bay; Mike Jacques Thunder Bay; Jamie Smart

Kakabeka Falls, ON; Alex Smith Solon Springs; Tyler Hudack Ashland; Tyler

Vernon Ashland; Al Stettner Newport, MN DNF: Carey Lepage Culver; Ross

Siiter Cloquet; Jeremy lindqwuist Ashland DNS: Jason Goldfine Superior

B Feature #2: VandeKamp; Adamzak; K. Niemi; Montieth; T. Hudack; T.

Vernon; Howell; David Kivi Nolalu, ON; Don Craig Thunder bay; Gunner

Peterson Cable DNF: Jeff Forseen Mountain Iron; Eric Anderson Chisholm; Nick

Koehler Bloomer DNS: Mike Blevins Hibbing

Heat 1: Cutsforth; Kingsley; Boyum; Daronco; Niemi; VandeKamp; Kivi DNF:

Koehler DNS: Goldfine

Heat 2; Flynn; Copp; Jacques; Lindquist; Adamzak; Chernosky; Williamson;

Siiter; Smith

Heat 3: Suomala; Estey; Eder; Thompson; Spacek; Smart; Howell DNF: Peterson;

Blevins

Heat 4: Caul; VanHouse; Hudack; Haugerud; Craig; Montieth; Stettner DNF:

Simpson; Anderson

Heat 5: Carlson; Lofdahl; Hanson; Myers; Swearingen; Forseen DNF: LePage;

Veron