Proctor Speedway

By Jerry O’Brien 7-15-12 Proctor, MN

On a hot warm and muggy night Darrell Nelson of Hermantown mugged the

Late Model and Modified divisions at the South St. Louis County fair races

Sunday night. Nelson started the Late Model feature in the fourth row. National

point leader Todd Frank started from the pole but over cooked it going into the

first turn at the start. Frank shot off the top of turn one into the tire wall on pit

road letting Kevin Carlson blast into the lead. The caution appeared, Frank was

retrieved and restarted at the rear. Carlson got a good start at the green ahead of

Joey Ogston, Nelson, Harry Hanson and Tim McMann. Carlson extended his lead

as Ogston struggled to hold back Nelson. Hanson and McMann were joined by

Kyle Peterlin as they battled for third. Nelson swept past Ogston and set out to

track down Carlson cutting into the lead as the laps wound down. Carlson clung to

the lead but could not hold off Nelson who took over the top spot after a spirited

battle as the white flag flew. Carlson finished second, Ogston, Peterlin and Hanson

finished in the top five.

After so many seasons doing double duty, Nelson is adept at hopping from one

car to the next. With the Late Model and Modified features back to back Nelson

wasted little time changing rides and move out to his fifth starting spot. E. J.

Hietala had the early lead ahead of Paul Schultz, Jeff Tardy, Nelson and Jody

Bellefeuille. The top five ran in a roiling mass in the early going and Nelson burst

out to grab the lead from Hietala. Nelson soon changed zip codes as his lead was

soon more than a straight away. With no caution flags to slow the action, laps

clicked off quickly and with little fanfare the white flag flew followed by the

checkered flag. Bellefeuille worked his way to second ahead of Schultz, Nick

Musel and Tardy.

Rick Simpson started on the pole for the 20 lap Super Stock feature racing out

to a big lead ahead of Dan Yrjanson. Donnie Lofdahl, Kevin Salin ran in the top

four as eighth starting Scott Lawrence was fifth. Lawrence picked ‘em off one by

one and was soon in second. By the half way point Lawrence had caught Simpson

and the battle was on. Lawrence tried Simpson on the low side but there was

nothing there. He then moved to the outside down the back stretch edged ahead

and dived low past a lapped car to take over the top spot. Once Lawrence was

clear of Simpson he pulled away. Last weeks winner Andy Davey finished third,

Salin fourth and Andy Grymala fifth.

Dan Larsen and Andrew Inman led the charge to the green flag in the Midwest

Modified 20 lap feature. Inman got the jump over Larsen, Jake Gondik was third

and Deven VanHouse was close by in fifth. VanHouse was on the prowl and

moved into second bringing Danny Vang and Justin Oestreich along past Inman.

The caution flag flew for a David Simpson spin in turn one. With five laps in, the

top four remained the same at the restart but Gondik drove into fourth. Vang raced

past VanHouse to the lead with Oestreich third, then a distance back to Gondik,

Kingsley and Inman. There was a caution period with six laps remaining and when

the green flag again appeared Vang was in control. He beat Oestreich to the

checkered flag with VanHouse third Kingsley fourth and Inman past Gondik for

fifth.

The fifteen lap Pure Stock feature was filled with caution flags and when the

smoke cleared, Justin Bassa from Hermantown stood in the winners circle. For

several laps the battle for the win was between the brothers Hammitt Jon and Matt,

but Bassa kept getting in between them and Esten Nelson added to the pack trying

for the win. The last of eight caution flags gave Bassa a clear shot at Matt Hammitt

to the outside. He was able to take advantage of the opening and went on to take

his first feature win of the season. Nelson got by for second followed by Matt and

then Jon Hammitt. Jeff Engelmeier finished fifth. Ten of 22 cars that started were

on the track at the finish.

Results Proctor Speedway Fair Races 7-15-12

WISSOTA Late Model (11 cars)

Feature (20 laps) Darrell Nelson Hermantown; Kevin Carlson Hermantown; Joey

Ogston Duluth; Kyle Peterlin Hibbing; Harry Hanson Eveleth; Tim McMann

Duluth; Todd Frank Mason; Jim Morris Hibbing DNF Donnie Lofdahl Proctor;

Robbie Cooper South Range; Dave Esse Cloquet

Heat 1 (8 laps): Nelson; Carlson; McMann; Ogston; Cooper; Morris

Heat 2 (8 laps): Hanson; Frank; Lofdahl; Peterlin DNS Esse

WISSOTA Modified (7 cars)

Feature (20 laps) Darrell Nelson Hermantown; Jody Bellefeuille Duluth; Paul

Schultz Grand Rapids; Nick Musel Duluth; Jeff Tardy Hibbing; Scott Heikkinen

Eveleth DNF E. J. Hietala

Heat (8laps ): Nelson; Tardy; Hietala; Schultz; Bellefeuille; Heikkinen; Musel

WISSOTA Super Stock (15 cars)

Feature (20 laps) Scott Lawrence Superior; Rick Simpson Thunder Bay; Andy

Davey Hibbing; Kevin Salin Iron; Andy Grymala Superior; Mike Bellefeuille

Duluth; Dan Yrjanson Carlton; Al Rapp Saginaw; Pat Heikkinen eveleth; Ashley

Smith Superior; Brian Carl Duluth DNF Donnie Lofdahl Proctor; Bob Preble

Grand Rapids; Ronnie Malecki Superior DNS Todd Carlson Coon Rapids

Heat 1 (8 laps): Lawrence; Simpson; Grymala; Rapp; Carl DNF Smith DNS

Bellefeuille; Carlson

Heat 2 (8 laps): Davey; Lofdahl; Salin; Yrjanson; Preble; Heikkinen; Malecki

WISSOTA Midwest Modified (12 cars)

Feature (15 laps) Danny Vang Brainerd; Justin Oestreich Elk River; Deen

VanHouse Silver Bay; Dan kingsley Superior; Andrew Inman Hermantown; Jake

gondik Foxboro; Josh Heavirland Cloquet; Dan Doran Hermantown; Brian

Youderin Superior; Cory Ziebol Cloquet DNF Dan Larsen Hermantown; David

Simpson Thunder Bay

Heat 1 (8 laps): Vang; Oestreich; Kingsley; Larsen; Doran; Simpson

Heat 2 ( 8 laps): Heavirland; VanHouse; Gondik; Inman; Youderin; Ziebol

Pure Stock (23 cars)

Feature (15 laps) Justin Bassa Hermantown; Esten Nelson Grand Marais; Matt

Hammitt Cloquet; Jon Hammitt Cloquet; Jeff Engelmeier; Saginaw;Glenn

Dammer Duluth; Keith koski Chisholm; Craig Horak Grand Marais; Corey

Lonetto Duluth; Rita Andrson South Range; Brett Leino Moose Lake; Annika

Hammitt Cloquet; Mike Sirois Hermantown; Shaina Rapp Saginaw; Josh Loucks

Carlton DNF Josh Overn Mahtowa; Justin Madsen Foxboro; Derek Ament

Barnum; Andy Leino Barnum; Erik Pederson Saginaw; Dustin Follett Cloquet;

Josh Danielson Carlton DNS Spencer Sorenson Duluth

Heat 1 (8 laps): A. Leino; M. Hammitt; E. Nelson; Loucks; Sirois; Dammer; B.

Leino; a. hammitt

Heat 2 (8 laps): Bassa; Engelmeier; Horak; Koski; Pederson; Ament; Overn DNS

Sorenson