6/6/2019
Wissota Late Model Challenge Series
Opening Weekend Triumphs
St Augusta, MN (June 6, 2019) - The Wollak Construction WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series opened the season at Brown County Speedway with a great field of 35 cars.
The four heats of WISSOTA Late Models were split when a short rain delay forced a change in the program. Hometown heroes, Curt Gelling and Chad Becker, led the field to the green flag in the Joe Provo Racewear heat race number 1, and Chad Becker took the heat race win in the first heat race scoring 61.25 passing points and a certificate to Joe Provo Racewear. Dirt Track Supply heat race number two was won from the pole by the local young gun, Thomas Weisgram, which put him 6 in the passing points line up with 59 points. Heat races three and four were also won from the pole by Rick Hanestad and John Kaanta. Chad Madher was your QA1 passing points leader following the heat races, but had bad luck in the MyRacePass redraw where he drew a 7
The top 3 out of each b-feature transferred to the 40 lap main event that saw Chad Becker and Rick Hanestad on the front row. The local favorite, Kent Arment started 3rd and was able to take the lead when race leader Chad Becker hit lap traffic. Chad Mahder in the 55c machine drove his from the 7th starting spot to take home a 2nd place finish while Chad Becker hung on for a 3rd place finish. Dustin Arthur passed 7 cars in his 21x machine to take home the Speedwerx Hard Charger award. The defending champion, Pat Doar, brought home a 16th place finish and a certificate to series sponsor Out-Pace Racing Products.
The series drivers departed Brown County Speedway on Saturday on their way to a scheduled series race at Miller Central Speedway. Unfortunately due to Mother Nature the challenge series portion of the race was not used in the challenge series points for the season. The 29 car field saw only 20 cars take the track for the feature.
The weekend finale was at Casino Speedway where 31 cars checked in. Joe Provo Racewear heat race number one took the track with Chad Mahder and Kent Arment leading the field to green, but in the end, Curt Gelling, came from his 5th place starting place to score the win and the QA1 passing points lead where he would hold on to draw a 5 in the MyRacePass redraw. Dirt Track Supply heat race number 2 was won by the Elk Mound, Wisconsin driver John Kaanta followed by Travis Budisalovich. Heat race number 3 was won from the pole by A.J. Diemel followed by Donny Schatz. Heat race number 4 saw one yellow flag, but Brandon Moser held off Jesse Glenz to take the win and 63.5 passing points.
The 40 lap feature went 32 laps without a caution, and this started a chain reaction of multiple cautions on the restarts. Pat Doar took the lead early though and did not look back as he took home the Wollak Construction WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series win. The action packed race saw a lot of passing, and Chad Becker did the most passing when he passed 11 cars to score the Speedwerx Hard Charger award. Cole Schill made a surprise appearance from Horace, ND and scored the Out-Pace Racing Products 16th place finish.
The series has nearly a month break before returning to action at Mississippi Thunder Speedway on July 4th and 5th. Wollak Construction WISSOTA Late Model Series points standings can be found online, in All The Dirt Racing News, and on the MyRacePass app. Visit Mississippi Thunder Speedway to see first hand how the points will change.
Submitted By: Carson Gramm