MASS ESTEY AND JOHNSON CAPTURE NORTHERN NATIONALS FEATURES
By Jerry O’Brien
9-8-17 Superior, WI
Opening night of the 29th annual Rick Gondik Northern Nationals drew a huge near capacity
crowd as well as one hundred eighteen cars in the three WISSOTA divisions on the card along
with the annual visit to the speedway by the Interstate Racing Association (IRA) 410 Outlaw
Sprints.
Amongst the WISSOTA divisions, the Midwest Modifieds led the parade with 50 cars while
the Modifieds produced 32 cars and the Super Stocks fielded 36 cars. Heat races and B Features
were numerous as the Midwest Modifieds lead the way with five heats and three B Features.
The Midwest Modified feature set for 20 laps was a tough one for many drivers with five
caution flags thrown during the event. Through it all 2017 track champion Skeeter Estey
remained oblivious to what was occurring behind him and led all 20 laps for the win. Estey
began the event from the pole and never let the anyone get the jump on him on restarts. Andrew
Inman, Nick DaRonco, Jamie Davis, Brandon Copp were Estey’s main competitors in the early
going. DaRonco hung around in second while Copp, Davis along with Inman battled amongst
themselves and were soon joined by Jason VandeKamp. VandeKamp used his speed coupled
with the caution flags to make it to second, and just past half way was in position to challenge
Estey but was unable to make a move on him following the final yellow flag which came with
eight laps remaining. Estey won his sixth feature race of the season at the speedway and his 28th
of the season thus far. DaRonco drove a steady race to finish third while Davis was able to
prevail for a fourth place finish ahead of a very competitive Jeffery Lien, Jr in fifth.
The Super Stocks were set for 25 laps in their feature run with a pair of tough customers on
the front row in “Iron Man” Shane Sabraski and veteran Dave Mass. After a quick caution flag
after one lap was complete, for a tangle between Don Muzzy and Adam Soltis over in turn two
the next laps appeared to settle down as Sabraski was strong and smooth. It was a cat and mouse
battle between Sabraski Mass and Tim Johnson as Scott Lawrence hounded them from the fourth
spot. The real battle at this point was behind the front four as Derek Vesel, Dexton Koch, D. J.
Keeler and Jeff Klopstein took turns running in fifth. It came down to the last restart with
Sabraski seemingly in control, but Mass had other ides and made a strong move with two laps
remaining and took the point off turn two. Mass pulled away for the win with Sabraski second.
Lawrence got past Johnson for third, but Johnson returned the favor and finished third. Lawrence
was fourth and Dexton Koch won the battle for fifth.
It was the first Northern Nationals title for Mass in a Super Stock and the 22nd feature win this
season and the 494th feature win of his career.
The Modifieds were set for 30 circuits in their main event and it was same thing, different
division as Tim Johnson and Shane Sabraski started side by side on the front row in the 24 car
field. Johnson jumped to the front with Sabraski second and Andy Davey to third. Those
positions failed to change as the event went green to checkered. There was plenty to watch
behind them as Joey Jensen and Jeremy Nelson scratched tooth and nail looking for that fourth
spot. It was Johnson’s first ever Northern Nationals win in the Modified though he has four
others in thr Super Stocks. Davey was rock solid in third, Joey Jensen fourth and Jeremy Nelson
fifth.
Earlier in the evening Billy Balog bested Ian Madsen in the 30 lap IRS Sprint feaure.Terry
McCarl turned the fastest lap of the night at 13.270 seconds. Runner up at 13.334 seconds was
track record holder Davey Heskins at 13.335 a bit off from his record time of 12.995. McCarl
was judged to have caused the first yellow flag and was sent to the read of the pack. By the time
the final checkered flag flew he had blown by most of the field to finish third. Scott Neitzel and
Jeremy Schultz finished in the top five. It was Bill Balog’s sixth feature win at the Northern
Nationals and the 99th of his IRA Career.
410 Sprints – Winged | IRA Interstate Racing Association
A Feature 1: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, [3]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen, [9]; 3. 24-Terry McCarl, [2]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel, [7]; 5. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, [5]; 6. 85M-Steve Meyer, [11]; 7. 4K-Kris Spitz, [12]; 8. 19-R.J. Johnson, [10]; 9. 23-Russel Borland, [18]; 10. 99-Kyle Marten, [16]; 11. 68-Dave Uttech, [8]; 12. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, [15]; 13. 12-Michael Decker, [20]; 14. 41-Dennis Spitz, [14]; 15. 14AJX-Heikkinen Patrick, [21]; 16. 9-Jared Goerges, [17]; 17. (DNF) 03-Jamey Ogston, [13]; 18. (DNF) 56-Davey Heskin, [1]; 19. (DNF) 64-Scotty Thiel, [6]; 20. (DNF) 44-Chris Martin, [4]; 21. (DNF) 99X-Skylar Gee, [19]
Heat 1: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, [3]; 2. 24-Terry McCarl, [2]; 3. 85M-Steve Meyer, [5]; 4. 4K-Kris Spitz, [4]; 5. 41-Dennis Spitz, [6]; 6. 99-Kyle Marten, [1]; (DNS) 99X-Skylar Gee,
Heat 2: 1. 19-R.J. Johnson, [2]; 2. 44-Chris Martin, [1]; 3. 56-Davey Heskin, [4]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel, [3]; 5. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, [7]; 6. (DNF) 9-Jared Goerges, [5]; 7. (DNF) 12-Michael Decker, [6]
Heat 3: 1. 18-Ian Madsen, [1]; 2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, [3]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech, [2]; 4. 64-Scotty Thiel, [4]; 5. 03-Jamey Ogston, [6]; 6. 23-Russel Borland, [5]; 7. 14AJX-Heikkinen Patrick, [7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 24-Terry McCarl, 00:13.270[13]; 2. 56-Davey Heskin, 00:13.334[11]; 3. 64-Scotty Thiel, 00:13.433[9]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:13.449[6]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 00:13.560[5]; 6. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 00:13.575[17]; 7. 99X-Skylar Gee, 00:13.662[8]; 8. 19-R.J. Johnson, 00:13.673[1]; 9. 68-Dave Uttech, 00:13.718[18]; 10. 99-Kyle Marten, 00:13.743[15]; 11. 44-Chris Martin, 00:13.795[4]; 12. 18-Ian Madsen, 00:13.801[14]; 13. 85M-Steve Meyer, 00:13.830[7]; 14. 9-Jared Goerges, 00:13.845[21]; 15. 23-Russel Borland, 00:14.176[2]; 16. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:14.332[20]; 17. 12-Michael Decker, 00:14.560[19]; 18. 03-Jamey Ogston, 00:14.758[12]; 19. 41-Dennis Spitz, 00:15.093[10]; 20. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 00:15.156[3]; 21. 14AJX-Heikkinen Patrick, 00:16.079[16]
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1JR-Tim Johnson, [1]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski, [2]; 3. 91-Andy Davey, [4]; 4. 21-Joey Jensen, [5]; 5. 4(N)-Jeremy Nelson, [6]; 6. 11-Jody Bellefeuille, [16]; 7. 224-Cody Wolkowski, [11]; 8. 40-Kevin Adams, [14]; 9. 73-Andy Jones, [3]; 10. 10X-Dave Cain, [18]; 11. 44-Darrell Nelson, [21]; 12. 57-Mike Anderson, [17]; 13. 24JR-Jeffrey Lien Jr., [10]; 14. 99L-Steve Lavasseur, [24]; 15. 81-Ashley Anderson, [23]; 16. 32-Pat Cook, [20]; 17. 99-Neil Balduc, [19]; 18. 98-Al Uotinen, [22]; 19. 37-Kelly Estey, [12]; 20. 71-Todd Gehl, [13]; 21. .308-Patrick Hoffman, [7]; 22. 95-Rick Rivord, [9]; 23. 45C-Greg Chesley, [8]; 24. (DNF) 21B-Brandon Jensen, [15]
Semi Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson, [2]; 2. 99-Neil Balduc, [1]; 3. 44-Darrell Nelson, [5]; 4. 81-Ashley Anderson, [6]; 5. 4X-Steve Stuart, [3]; 6. 04JR-Adam Ayotte, [4]; 7. 1L-Donnie Lofdahl, [7]; 8. 50-Brady Caul, [8]
Semi Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 10X-Dave Cain, [1]; 2. 32-Pat Cook, [2]; 3. 98-Al Uotinen, [5]; 4. 99L-Steve Lavasseur, [8]; 5. 55W-Jeffrey Wood, [3]; 6. 64H-Kelly Checkalski, [6]; 7. (DNF) 97-Peter Loecken, [7]; 8. (DNF) 14-Ryan Garson, [4]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1JR-Tim Johnson, [3]; 2. 95-Rick Rivord, [2]; 3. 37-Kelly Estey, [4]; 4. 11-Jody Bellefeuille, [6]; 5. 99-Neil Balduc, [8]; 6. 55W-Jeffrey Wood, [1]; 7. 44-Darrell Nelson, [5]; 8. 81-Ashley Anderson, [7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 73-Andy Jones, [1]; 2. .308-Patrick Hoffman, [3]; 3. 4(N)-Jeremy Nelson, [7]; 4. 224-Cody Wolkowski, [8]; 5. 10X-Dave Cain, [4]; 6. (DNF) 64H-Kelly Checkalski, [6]; 7. (DNF) 97-Peter Loecken, [5]; 8. (DNF) 50-Brady Caul, [2]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 91-Andy Davey, [1]; 2. 45C-Greg Chesley, [3]; 3. 24JR-Jeffrey Lien Jr., [5]; 4. 71-Todd Gehl, [7]; 5. 57-Mike Anderson, [4]; 6. 4X-Steve Stuart, [8]; 7. 14-Ryan Garson, [2]; 8. 98-Al Uotinen, [6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Joey Jensen, [1]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski, [5]; 3. 21B-Brandon Jensen, [2]; 4. 40-Kevin Adams, [7]; 5. 32-Pat Cook, [4]; 6. 04JR-Adam Ayotte, [6]; 7. (DNF) 1L-Donnie Lofdahl, [3]
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 37X-Skeeter Estey, [1]; 2. 16-Jason VandeKamp, [8]; 3. 8-Nick DaRonco, [5]; 4. 85-Jamie Davis, [7]; 5. 24JR-Jeffrey Lien Jr., [16]; 6. CRAZY 1-Craig Lofdahl, [14]; 7. 7P-Andy Jones, [18]; 8. 22-Brandon Copp, [4]; 9. 11JR-Andrew Inman, [2]; 10. L1-Shane Howell, [15]; 11. 50C-Cody Lee, [3]; 12. EZ1-Randy Laage, [17]; 13. 70JR-David Simpson, [25]; 14. 5-David Swearingen, [21]; 15. 29F-Dave Flynn, [12]; 16. 21-Wyatt Boyum, [20]; 17. 33C-Cole Chernosky, [24]; 18. 50H-Haley Lee, [23]; 19. (DNF) 68K-Dan Kingsley, [19]; 20. (DNF) 17-Deven VanHouse, [9]; 21. (DNF) 47-Don Craig, [13]; 22. (DNF) 32-Cody Carlson, [10]; 23. (DNF) 14SKY-Tyler Hudack, [22]; 24. (DNF) 092-Nick Bruder, [6]; 25. (DNF) 137-Mack Estey, [11]
Semi Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. EZ1-Randy Laage, [1]; 2. 21-Wyatt Boyum, [2]; 3. 50H-Haley Lee, [3]; 4. 17K-David Kivi, [4]; 5. 61-Tom Smart, [5]; 6. 88(T)-Tanner Williamson, [7]; 7. 11-Justin Weinberger, [6]; 8. 96S-Vic Schmidt, [8]; 9. 7(D)-Dalton Mains, [10]; 10. 05-Billy Milne, [11]; 11. (DNF) 2C-Dan Tocheri, [9]; (DNS) 05B-Matthew Bernauer,
Semi Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 7P-Andy Jones, [2]; 2. 5-David Swearingen, [5]; 3. 33C-Cole Chernosky, [3]; 4. 52-Jeremy Lindquist, [8]; 5. 3M-McLean Andrews, [7]; 6. 621-Colin Chaschuk, [6]; 7. 31-Wayne Jacques, [10]; 8. (DNF) 24H-Jeff Hanninen, [9]; 9. (DNF) 88-Tyler Luger, [1]; 10. (DNF) 20-Denny Cutsforth, [4]; (DNS) 00-Jason Hobbs,
Semi Feature 3 (12 Laps): 1. 68K-Dan Kingsley, [3]; 2. 14SKY-Tyler Hudack, [1]; 3. 70JR-David Simpson, [10]; 4. 13-Chris Bretting, [4]; 5. 3D-Kevin Monteith, [5]; 6. 14J-James Kannegiesser, [9]; 7. 20(G)-Glenn Godin, [8]; 8. 27B-Dave DeVente, [7]; 9. (DNF) 99-Mark Kangas, [2]; 10. (DNF) 7A-Eric Anderson, [6]; (DNS) 57-Darren Bernauer,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11JR-Andrew Inman, [2]; 2. 29F-Dave Flynn, [3]; 3. L1-Shane Howell, [6]; 4. 24JR-Jeffrey Lien Jr., [7]; 5. 61-Tom Smart, [1]; 6. 7A-Eric Anderson, [4]; 7. 2C-Dan Tocheri, [5]; 8. 70JR-David Simpson, [8]; 9. 05-Billy Milne, [9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 37X-Skeeter Estey, [5]; 2. 17-Deven VanHouse, [4]; 3. 14SKY-Tyler Hudack, [3]; 4. EZ1-Randy Laage, [7]; 5. 20-Denny Cutsforth, [6]; 6. 3D-Kevin Monteith, [8]; 7. 96S-Vic Schmidt, [2]; 8. 14J-James Kannegiesser, [1]; 9. (DNF) 00-Jason Hobbs, [9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 092-Nick Bruder, [1]; 2. 47-Don Craig, [3]; 3. 8-Nick DaRonco, [8]; 4. 88-Tyler Luger, [7]; 5. 5-David Swearingen, [5]; 6. 88(T)-Tanner Williamson, [4]; 7. 52-Jeremy Lindquist, [2]; 8. 31-Wayne Jacques, [6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 50C-Cody Lee, [2]; 2. 22-Brandon Copp, [5]; 3. 21-Wyatt Boyum, [3]; 4. 99-Mark Kangas, [6]; 5. 68K-Dan Kingsley, [7]; 6. 11-Justin Weinberger, [1]; 7. 27B-Dave DeVente, [8]; 8. 7(D)-Dalton Mains, [4]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 85-Jamie Davis, [1]; 2. CRAZY 1-Craig Lofdahl, [3]; 3. 137-Mack Estey, [7]; 4. 33C-Cole Chernosky, [5]; 5. 13-Chris Bretting, [6]; 6. 3M-McLean Andrews, [4]; 7. 20(G)-Glenn Godin, [2]; (DNS) 57-Darren Bernauer,
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Jason VandeKamp, [1]; 2. 32-Cody Carlson, [4]; 3. 7P-Andy Jones, [3]; 4. 50H-Haley Lee, [6]; 5. 17K-David Kivi, [7]; 6. 621-Colin Chaschuk, [2]; 7. 24H-Jeff Hanninen, [5]; (DNS) 05B-Matthew Bernauer,
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2-Dave Mass, [2]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski, [1]; 3. 1JR-Tim Johnson, [3]; 4. 77-Scott Lawrence, [4]; 5. 78K-Dexton Koch, [14]; 6. 21JR-Jeff Klopstein, [17]; 7. 16-Derek Vesel, [5]; 8. 30-Kevin Burdick, [12]; 9. 8-Keith Kern, [11]; 10. 18-William (Willie) Johnsen Jr., [8]; 11. 19-Tristan LaBarge, [13]; 12. 51JR-Shawn McFadden, [16]; 13. 12-Jim Campbell, [7]; 14. 17-Mike Loomis, [15]; 15. 1-Cory Casari, [10]; 16. 24-Andy Grymala, [18]; 17. 55S-Ryan Schaufler, [21]; 18. 13-Patrick Heikkinen, [22]; 19. 21F-Nick Oreskovich, [9]; 20. (DNF) 10-Kyle Helling, [19]; 21. (DNF) 6-Shane Kisling, [20]; 22. (DNF) 12(K)-Duane Keeler, [6]; 23. (DNF) 1X-Don Muzzy, [23]; 24. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis, [24]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Derek Vesel, [1]; 2. 77-Scott Lawrence, [5]; 3. 19-Tristan LaBarge, [3]; 4. 8-Keith Kern, [8]; 5. 24-Andy Grymala, [6]; 6. 21JR-Jeff Klopstein, [9]; 7. 1X-Don Muzzy, [2]; 8. 32F-Brian Carl, [4]; 9. (DNF) 33C-Cole Chernosky, [7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Dave Mass, [2]; 2. 12(K)-Duane Keeler, [4]; 3. 12-Jim Campbell, [7]; 4. 78K-Dexton Koch, [6]; 5. 13-Patrick Heikkinen, [1]; 6. 32H-Matthew Hammitt, [3]; 7. 17(D)-Wayne Dean, [9]; 8. 11R-Rita Anderson, [5]; 9. 14-Adam Shinn, [8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski, [8]; 2. 21F-Nick Oreskovich, [1]; 3. 18-William (Willie) Johnsen Jr., [6]; 4. 29F-Dave Flynn, [4]; 5. 10-Kyle Helling, [5]; 6. 76-Keith Koski, [7]; 7. 9-Adam Soltis, [2]; 8. 55S-Ryan Schaufler, [3]; 9. 4K-Larry Both, [9]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 1JR-Tim Johnson, [2]; 2. 1-Cory Casari, [1]; 3. 30-Kevin Burdick, [4]; 4. 17-Mike Loomis, [5]; 5. 51JR-Shawn McFadden, [8]; 6. 6-Shane Kisling, [6]; 7. 54-Dan Yrjanson, [9]; 8. 150-Austin McWilliam, [3]; 9. 1(K)-Lukas Koski, [7]
