NORTHERN NATIONALS (Day 2)
By Jerry O’Brien
(9/10/20) Superior, WI
(9/10/20) Superior, WI
The second day of the Northern Nationals was added a few seasons ago in order to
give the WISSOTA Pure Stocks, Hornets and Midwest Modifieds along with the
Northern Renegade Traditional Sprints (No Wings) a chance to be involved with a
Fall Special at the Gondik Law speedway.
It was a full show for all of the classes, qualifying heats and features. The call
brought out a total of 66 cars in the four divisions. Qualifying heats in all divisions
were run through quickly and the first feature, 20 laps for the Midwest Modifieds
rolled onto the track at 8:25 p.m.
Cole Boston started from the pole with Jack rivord on his outside. Boston got a
great start at the green flag and grabbed the lead followed by Rivord, Michael
Blevins, sr, Wyatt Boyum, Cody Carlson and Ryan Savoy. Coming on was Jimmy
Latvala and soon he was battling with Boyum in a duel of the 21’s. four laps in
Rivord made his move on Boston taking over the point. A couple laps later
Blevins moved past Boston to second. The dueling 21’s were fourth and fifth while
Carlson ran sixth. Savoy, Shane Howell, Brady Uotinen and Mark Kangas were all
in the mix. The first caution flag flew and Justin Weinberger’s #11 was sent to the
rear. The restart saw Rivord retain the lead with Blevins running second. Boston
got a slow restart and Boyum, Latvala, and Savoy got past. With eight laps
remaining, Boston’s race took a turn for the worse in turns one and two sending
out with a DNF and a 21st place finish. There was no catching rivord in the
remaining laps which ticked off without another stoppage. He left the rest to
squabble amongst themselves for position as he led the rest of the way for his first
special event feature win. Boyum, Blevins, Latvala and Carlson filled out the top
five.
Next up the eleven Northern Renegade Traditional Sprints on hand for their 20
lap main event. Teal Arnason’s number 2 led the pack to the green with the green
number 15E of Caley Emerson hot on his tail from the outside pole. Unfortunately,
Arnason’s time at the front lasted a short time as he spun in turn two. Luckily
everone missed him. That left the point to Emerson and he made the most of it as
he led Jori Hughes, Chris Lewis, a charging Paul Schultz, Rick Niemi and Lance
Solem. There was one more caution flag that turned into a red flag condition when
Zach Olson took a trip over the second turn wall. No injuries were reported in the
incident. The event went the rest of the way without another caution flag as
Emerson stayed out front to the checkered flag. There was a battle between
Schultz and Hughes for second with Hughes taking the spot. Niemi and Lewis
rounded out the top five. It was a sweep for Emerson as he won his qualifying
heat, also.
It would be 15 laps for the WISSOTA Pure Stocks with defending WISSOTA
National Champ Cory Jorgensen leading the way to the green flag. Outside pole
sitter Mike Schnider got the jump, however and led from flag to fald for his
second win at Gondik Law Speedway this season. There were other colored flags
in the mix, however, including a couple of the yellow ones. In fact the first of them
showed up a couple laps into the 15 lap feature for an incident in turns one and
two. Visitor Travis Hazelton was charged and sent to the back. Schnider was not
to be denied on the restart and blasted away from Jorgensen. By the half way point
Schnider had a commanding lead and Jorgensen was left to handdle the charging
2020 track champ James Vendela with Mikey Blevins lurking close behind alsong
with Trevor Treviranus. The second caution flag flew for a spin in turns one and
two by Sammy Blevins. The restart came with seven circuits to go and now the
pack was right on Schniders’ tail. Schnider had little problems drawing away from
Jorgensen and the rest. Jorgensen lost second to Vendela but gained it back the
next time by. Schnider, the Rice Lake Speedway champ had little trouble staying
out front to the checkered flag. Jorgensen, Trevor Treviranus, Vendela and Mikey
Blevins rounded out the top five.
The evening of racing came to a close wqith the 15 lap main event for the
WISSOTA Hornets. DeJay Jarecki and Mike Klippenstein led the field to the
green. Klippenstein had a good run but ran afoul of post race teching and was
disqualified. Jarecki took over the point after there was a caution flag on the start
for an incident in turn one. Klippenstein was right there the entire way but lost
second. Everyone moved up one after his disqualification and the final order
behind Jarecki was former winner Jase Wiarda, Marcus Ammerman, Mitch Kieber
and rookie Carson Gotelaere in the top fivr. Lucaas Lillo, Ken Harpy, kristy
Marken, Jamie Ammerman and Rachel Boston finished in the top ten.
