8/7/2024
Wissota Late Model Challenge Series
Peterson Thunders to Northern Storm Challenge Series Opener
For Immediate Release – August 6th, 2024
The opening night of the 2024 XR Northern Storm Series kicked off at the Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, MN after the opening round was washed out at the Princeton Speedway on Monday night.
42 Late Models checked in for the series opener with Kyle Peterlin setting the Hiller Auction Inc. Quick Qualifying lap with a time of 15.232 seconds around the banked oval.
Cory Crapser, Genner Frank, Rick Niemi, Jake Redetzke and Billy Kendall won the five qualifying heat races to start the night, with Steve Laursen and defending series champion Pat Doar winning the twin b-mains to set the feature field.
Niemi and Redetzke earned the front row for the night’s 40-lap, $2,500-to-win feature event with Redetzke getting the upper hand on the initial start and leading the field into turn number one. With Redetzke out front, Billy Kendall and Niemi were waging a side-by-side war for the runner up spot, as the top three ran in close proximity to one another for the first dozen laps.
Redetzke opened up a slight gap on the battle for second while Kendall’s #99 and Niemi’s #54 ran side by side for second from lap 5 through lap 15, before Tyler Peterson, who started 7th added his name to the mix.
Peterson snuck by Kendall for third and then got by Niemi for the runner up spot on lap 20 and began to chase down Redetzke, who had built up a 2+ second advantage out front. Peterson chipped away at Redetzke’s lead lap after lap until he was able to pull alongside Jake with less than ten laps to go.
With the 1tpo and 27 battling for the lead out front, James Giossi managed to race by Niemi into third and was starting to track down the leaders until he suddenly pulled to the infield, ending his night.
All eyes were on the tussle for the top spot, which Peterson was able to finally secure the lead on lap 35 and was able to race away during the lap five circuits for the victory. Redetzke finished second with Niemi in third. Shane Sabraski, was the Rookie of the Race with by virtue of his fourth-place finish, while Kendall rounded out the top five finishers in the non-stop affair.
David Swearingen won the WISSOTA Midwest Modified main event in thrilling fashion, while Clayton Wagamon stole the WISSOTA Modified feature event in another classic to wrap up the night.
Full results: MyRacePass.com
The next 2024 Challenge Series event is scheduled for Wednesday, August 7th at the Hibbing Raceway in Hibbing, MN with a 7pm start time.
For upcoming schedule information and tickets, visit www.WISSOTAChallengeSeries.com.
Submitted By: Nikki Cook
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