Carlton Racer Wins Track Championship at Proctor Speedway

Click here for the complete race results

Please check back for our complete photo gallery

Aug 21

By Jerry O’Brien

PROCTOR – Championship Sunday marked the end of the regular season at the Proctor Speedway. Two championships were already settled, one was fairly close and two came in tied at the beginning of the night.

Kelly Estey came in with a solid 35 point lead in the Modifieds while all Skeeter Estey needed to do was take a green flag and the WISSOTA Midwest Modified title was his. Scott Lawrence entered the final night with a 23 point lead in the Super Stocks but the real suspense came courtesy of the Late Model and Pure Stock Divisions. Harry Hanson and Kyle Peterlin came in tied for the lead in the top division while Austin Blom and Josh Loucks were knotted for the Pure Stock Championship.

Going into the final night Skeeter Estey had a 51 point bulge on Deven Van House. Justin Oestreich led the early laps as Estey tried to work his way forward using the high side. He finally made the pass for the lead and proceeded to turn the race into a runaway. At the half way point Estey was way out front ahead of Van House, Danny Vang, Oestreich and Dan Ebert.

With five laps of the scheduled 20 recorded, the first caution flag flew when Tommy Turcotte and Andrew Inman got together. Estey continued to lead at the restart over Van House who was getting a challenge from Vang for second. Ebert lurked just behind the battle for second with the laps winding down. Vang moved into second place which became first place when Estey’s transmission gave up the ghost. Vang went on to win his third feature of the season at the speedway over Van House, Ebert, Jeremy Nelson and Oestreich.

Scott Lawrence’s 23 point lead in the Super Stock point race was reachable by second place Kevin Burdick. Donnie Lofdahl led early from the outside pole ahead of Mike Bellefeuille, Dave Mass, Lawrence and Burdick. The top three ran in a bunch until the caution flag flew as Mass and Lofdahl tangled. Lofdahl went off on the hook and Mass went to the back of the pack, leaving the lead to Bellefeuille.

Up to and after the half way point the top five order was Bellefeuille, Lawrence, Burdick, Dave Read and Jeff Tardy. Bellefeuille raced out to a big lead while Lawrence concentrated on staying ahead of Burdick. The caution flag again appeared when Justin Iverson went around in turn two. The green flag flew with seven laps remaining and was a bad one for Burdick who fell back to sixth. Amazingly Mass was on the move and back in the top five. Bellefeuille won his third feature of the season over Lawrence, who won the track title with the second place finish. Tardy, Mass and Read rounded out the top five.

Next up were the WISSOTA Modifieds and the track champion for the second year in a row would be Kelly Estey. It was the second consecutive season that a father and son would be track champions in two divisions. Even 35 points is a lot to overcome in one race; and it proved to be so as Estey and the rest of the field fell to a fast moving Dan Ebert. Ebert wasted little time capturing the lead and began to pull away from the pack. With no caution flags to bunch the field, once Darrell Nelson broke free into second the race settled into single file with no one able to make up any ground on anyone else.

By the half way mark Ebert had a comfortable lead over Nelson and was able to engage cruise control. Nelson, Dave Mass, E J Hietala and Alan Hartel ran in the top five. Jody Bellefeuille, who needed to make up the 35 points that Estey led him by, began to make some moves getting up to fourth but Estey’s sixth place run was enough to give him the track championship. The final top five order was Ebert, Nelson, Mass, Bellefeuille and Hietala in the top five.

The Pure Stock feature would settle the track championship as Austin Blom and Josh Loucks were knotted up in a tie for the title. After each won their heat race they went into the 15 lap final still tied up with both drivers starting side by side in the fourth row. It came down to which one could keep the other behind. Jon McKinnon had the early lead and Dale Suomala made his way to second ahead of Mark Korte. Loucks moved ahead of Blom in the early going. Matt Hammitt spun bringing out the caution flag with11 laps remaining.

The restart saw Korte surge to the lead and at the half way point the championship was still Loucks’ to win or lose as he stayed ahead of Blom, who fell back further. Loucks was on the move trying to take second from Dustin Follett. Blom got his second wind and moved up to challenge Follett and Loucks for second as Korte had a ten car length lead. As the white flag flew for Korte, Loucks moved to second as Follett got between him and Blom at the checkered flag giving Loucks his second Pure Stock track championship, Loucks previously won in 2008. McKinnon hung around the front and finished fifth.

The season’s final weekly feature was for the WISSOTA late Models and included plenty of drama as Kyle Peterlin and Harry Hanson started the event with Peterlin holding the championship lead by a single point by virtue of Peterlin’s heat win and Hanson’s second place finish in his heat.

The race went all 25 laps without a caution flag making it difficult for anyone to make up any ground. Todd Gehl led early form the pole ahead of Kevin Carlson, Aaron Lillo and Hanson. Peterlin was stuck back in the pack and found it difficult to break free. Meanwhile Hanson and Carlson gained on Gehl until Hanson got by into the lead. Peterlin had finally broken the logjam and was sixth. Darrell Nelson was also on the move and drove forward to grab second.

Peterlin began to gain ground and was fourth and moved up to third around the mid-point of the race but it was too little too late. Hanson went on to win the feature and the track championship while Peterlin could not catch Nelson for second. Carlson was fourth and Joey Ogston quietly moved from the fifth row to the fifth position.

Comments can be sent to sports@northlandsportsonline.com