Halvor Lines Speedway held the annual Silver 1000 on Thursday night with 39 Wissota Late Models and 30 Wissota Modifieds competing.
The historic Silver 1000 was first held in Proctor in 1973 and raced every year since except the Covid year of 2020. Think about some of the big names who’ve won the late model portion --- Rick Aukland, Leon Plank, Mitch Johnson, Brady Smith, Pat Doar, John Kaanta, Tom Nesbitt, Jimmy Mars, Rick Egersdorf, Jeff Hinkemeyer, Joel Cryderman – and you’ve got a great history and one of the premier events in Wissotaland.
The past mod winners aren’t too shabby either, Ron Jones, Darrell Nelson, Kelly Estey, Kevin Adams, Craig Thatcher, Steve Arpin being among the winners.
There were going to be no back-to-back winners this year – Jimmy Mars, who won the late model race last year, has retired from driving, while 2022 modified winner Justin Froemming was not in attendance.
Two long, long-time rivals from that region – Harry Hanson of Eveleth and Darrell Nelson of Hermantown – led the Wissota Late Models to the green flag. On the first lap the 15* of Ryan Mikkelson of Alexandria – who has not had a lot of luck this season - slowed with a mechanical issue to bring out the caution. His night was done.
Hanson would take the lead with Nelson settling into second. Three-time Silver 1000 champion John Kaanta of Elk Mound, Wis., settled into third ahead of Ashley Anderson of Menomonie, Wis., who is a former modified champion of the Silver 1000.
The caution would wave with 34 to go as Todd Frank’s 21 car slowed in turn four, his night would end on the hook, but that would be the final yellow of the event. Nelson went back to work on Hanson on the restart as Derek Vesel of Hibbing took over the third spot and was going over Nelson in second.
Nelson made the outside lane work after a lot of persistence and got around Hanson with 28 to go. Anderson snuck past Kaanta for fourth. Challenge series point leader Pat Doar was running sixth but had Jeff Massingill of Keewatin all over him.
Nelson – who between the late model and modified has won 10 Silver 1000s going into the night – opened up a two-second lead over Hanson by the halfway point as the top five got pretty spread out. Anderson was closing the gap on third-place Vesel with 13 to go.
Nelson was in firm control as his MB Customs machine was flawless on his way to his fourth Silver 1000 late model win. He’s also won the modified portion seven times as well. The margin of victory was 3.6 seconds.
Hanson, a former Silver 1000 champion, was a strong second. Vesel, the 2023 Halvor Lines late model champion, was third from fifth. Anderson was fourth and Kaanta rounded out the top five. The hard charger of the event was provisional starter Sam Mars, who went from 23rd to 11th.
Dan Ebert of Lake Shore and Mike Anderson led the Wissota Mods to the green with Ebert leading the first lap. Brandon Copp of Brule, Wis., was third ahead of the veteran Al Uotinen of Superior. The caution would wave one lap into the feature when Cole Spacek spun in turns three and four.
Copp moved into second on the restart with Nelson taking over third. Mod rookie Kennedy Swan of Chippewa Falls was one of the few drivers to venture to the higher lane. Copp and Anderson were fighting for second as Ebert built a 2.5 second lead with 22 to go. Uotinen was close behind Nelson.
Anderson would get past Copp for second but faced a 2.5 second deficit. That was erased when the caution waved with 19 to go for Adam Johnson’s spin.
One car on the move was Johnny Broking of Grand Rapids. He started 14th but had worked up to seventh by that caution.
Ebert – who has raced mainly USMTS this year and not done a lot of Wissota racing – got a big challenge from Copp on the ensuing restart before opening about four car lengths. Broking got up to fourth past Uotinen, who was fighting his long-time rival Nelson for the final spot in the top five.
Anderson stuck his #57 machine to the bottom and would clear Copp for second; the 22 car was facing some heat from Broking. Ebert, meanwhile opened a 1.58 second lead on Anderson with nine to go. Broking passed Copp for the third spot, and Uotinen also passed the 22 machine.
Ebert’s biggest challenge was lapped traffic as the laps waned but that was a non-issue as the 60 car picked up his first Silver 1000 victory. Anderson was second, Broking third (from 14th), Uotinen was fourth and Darrell Nelson worked up to fifth.
It’s interesting that for all of the big races Shane Sabraski of Rice has won – he has more than 800 feature wins in the modified, Midwest modified and super stock classes – but he has yet to win the Silver 1000. He started way back in 17th and had an OK night, finishing 12th. Sabraski leads the Wissota national points in the modified and super stocks.
Thursday Night Notes
--Sophie Anderson of Chokio won the Wissota Pure Stock feature Thursday night at KRA Speedway in Willmar. Ryan Flaten of Madison won the Wissota Modified feature while Dexton Koch of Becker won the Wissota Super Stock feature.
Justin Vogel of Brooten, in a fight for the Wissota Street Stock national points, picked up the street stock win over Braden Brauer of Rochester, who is the national point lead.
--Kyle Anderson of Jamestown went from 23rd to first to record an impressive feature win in the Wissota Street Stocks Thursday night at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen. Maria Broksieck of Goodwin was second, Billie Christ of Jamestown third, Andy Rossow of Florence fourth and Kasey Ussatis of Nome was fifth.
Thursday was the first night of the Big Buck Nationals at Brown County.
Lucas Rodin of Marion won the Wissota Midwest Modified feature Thursday night at Brown County Speedway. Brennon Weight of LaMoure was third.
Mike Stearns of Aberdeen won the Wissota Modified feature over Nate Heinrich of Bellingham. Dale Ames of Huron was third and Joe Thomas of Fargo was fourth.
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