The USMTS completing a three night swing through Minnesota on Sunday night, July 20th with an appearance at the Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids Minnesota. A forty minute drive from Ogilvie on Saturday night completed the compact three night tour for the Modifieds as the final night of the Mod Wars with the USMTS vs. WISSOTA playing out once again.
And for the second straight night, the Modifieds would share the stage with the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series for Late Models and in by far the best feature race of the night, Shane Sabraski would make a late race charge to take the forty lap feature race in a three car duel with Billy Kendall and Kevin Eder.
Midwest Modifieds and Crown Vics completed the card with Landyn Randt winning the MidMod feature and Calvin Saldana surviving in the Crown Vic class.
Cloud cover and even a slight chance of previously not mentioned rain showers made for a more comfortable evening on Sunday. As the "dirty dozen" that seem to now be the travelers for USMTS prepared for their third straight night of forty lap feature racing on one of east central Minnesota's short tracks, Rodney Sanders continues to lead the standings over Jim Chisholm and Mullens with Rodney gaining just a bit of ground following Saturday night's show at Ogilvie.
The Modified car county took a notable drop on Sunday as for many teams apparently, the third night of racing was just not for them. Many of the area teams that raced the first two nights of the weekend simply didn't show up on Sunday night. Only twenty one drivers signed in to race with the late addition of the legendary James Parker who as usual missed his heat race.
Only two heat races were held following qualifying where Joey Thomas, an area racer from Hawley Minnesota, set quick time with a lap at 14.717 seconds. Thomas and Joe Chisholm won the heat races but it was Thomas' heat that set the fire simmering in Mullens.
He was second to Thomas exiting the final corner of the heat when Jim Chisholm threw a slider that best could be described as "questionable." He did get the spot but in doing so, drove Mullens up into the wall under the flagstand with Mullens suffering significant damage to the rear end of his car including pulling the drive shaft out of it. It looked to be significant enough that he might have to pull out a back up car which would forfeit him of his good starting spot.
He said nothing as he left the area, riding on the back of promoter James Trantina III's four wheeler but it was clear that he was boiling over. And as luck would have it, Mullens and team got their car repaired and when he redrew the pole for the main, you knew Mullens meant business. Ironically, it was Chisholm that shared the front row of the feature with Mullens.
There were no shenanigans at the start, but Mullens showed he meant business as he jumped out immediately to the lead, once that he would never relinquish over the forty laps and indeed, a lead that would never be challenged at all. As Mullens pulled away, Jim and Joe Chisholm battled it out for the second spot with Thomas also a part of that fight.
The yellow flew with sixteen laps completed when Kyle Brown rolled to a halt and during the next four laps before the halfway point, a Chisholm fight for position saw Joe get past his brother to take over second with Jim now fighting with Thomas for position.
A long period of green flag racing, well over twenty laps, saw the running order stay the same and Mullens remained in the clear. However, just as the white flag was ready to be displayed, Kyle Strickler pounded the concrete wall for the second straight night, taking a wrecker ride back to the pits and likely tapping into car owner Troy Giralamo's pocket book once again for a car repair.
The two lap dash to the finish was intense but didn't include Mullens who once again checked out. Jim Chisholm selected the inside line but when he cut the corner too tight on the green, he made hard contact with the dreaded infield tractor tire positioned there and doing severe damage to the front end on his car, he limped to the infield as the race finished up.
Mullens drove home unchecked for the win with Joe Chisholm and Thomas following. Zach Benson made a fine drive, coming from eighth on the grid and made a strong run forward in the last twenty laps, winding up fourth. Sanders took full advantage of the late yellow, as he charged up after languishing in mid pack most of the race, to wind up completing the top five. Shane Sabraski had made a charge up into the top five and was still moving forward but contact with a lapped car gave him a slowly leading tire, and following that late yellow, he lost several positions because of that. Sixteen of the twenty one starters were still on the track at the finish. While fighting the odds, the WISSOTA drivers still made a good showing while placing two drivers in the top five finishing positions for the third straight night.
The Late Model feature, a part of the Challenge Series, was by far the best race of the night. They too were down on numbers on Sunday with a hard weekend's worth of racing plus Sunday night racing both taking its toll. Following a couple of scratches, nineteen cars took the green flag for their forty lap feature.
Earlier, Dave Mass, Cody Lee and Sabraski had been quick timers of their groups with Mass quickest overall at 13.748 seconds. Three heats racing for passing points set the field with everyone able to run joining the feature.
Kevin Eder had the pole position and he took the early lead over Mass and Sabraski. This race played out in a very interesting fashion as drivers raced very different lines. Eder was running right through the middle lane while Mass was banging the cushion and Sabraski hugging the ute tires on the inside.
Sabraski took over second as the first of two yellows during the race flew with eight laps complete when Jared Zimpel hit the outside wall. On the restart, as Eder continued to lead over Sabraski, Cole Searing who started fifth, moved into the third position with Billy Kendall also on the move as Mass started to slip back in the field.
As the race moved into its second half, slowly but surely Sabraski started to move in on Eder, gaining little by little on each lap. On lap twenty nine, Sabraski drove under Eder to take over the lead while at the same time, Kendall went to the cushion, passing Searing and then closing in on Eder. One lap later the final yellow waved for debris on the track and the race turned into a ten lap shootout.
Sabraski was leading but Eder then moved to the cushion, seeing the success that Kendall had using that line. Sabraski moved up the track, making his car wide as he tried to block Eder but at the same time, Kendall saw this, dropped to the inside line previously used by Sabraski and began to make time. He passed Eder and then closed in on Sabraski, who now found himself committed to the cushion.
Kendall continued to charge and with just five laps to go, he nosed past Sabraski to take over the lead. How interesting it was with both drivers now finding themselves racing on the opposite lines from where they had success earlier in the race.
The final five laps saw the two racing side by side for the lead. Sabraski nosed ahead on lap thirty eight but it was less than a car length to the good. They continued to run side by side, both charging hard off the final corner and Sabraski took the win by .022 seconds, or about a half car length. Eder, after leading so many laps, would finish a disappointing third with Searing next in line.
A word about fifth place finisher Jayson Good. He was set to race at his father's track, the Casino Speedway in South Dakota until they rained out at mid afternoon. He threw his equipment in his toter and came flying across the state of Minnesota, arriving after the heat races but was allowed to start at the back of the feature.
Although perhaps not a house hold name across the country, Sabraski's probably should be. Although still a young man, the statistics he has built up are almost unbelievable. Sunday night's feature win was his nine hundred and eighty first of his racing career and his thirtieth of the 2025 racing season. With still many races left this year, it seems almost inevitable that he will break the one thousand mark sometime yet in 2025. He is also one of the most prolific racers in our area, racing in three different divisions and often racing in three classes per night with his Metro Buick GMC team, he runs a Late Model, a Modified and a Super Stock and is a threat to win every night in all three classes.
After scratches and such, he started sixteenth on the grid for the main event but with a smooth drive, cracked the top following the last restart, making his trip worthwhile. Only four drivers failed to finish the race and everyone was still on the lead lap at the finish.
While over forty Midwest Mods raced on Saturday night, only eleven found their way to Granite City on Sunday. No matter to Landyn Randt, who stopped at Granite City on his way home after racing in South Dakota over the weekend. He started on the pole and led all laps to take the feature win.
Things got tight at the end as a charging Ryan Putnam nearly caught him but Randt held on for the win. Jake Hagemann, David Baxter and Jason Vokavan completed the top five.
Granite City has started a Crown Vic class at the track this year. They made their debut about a month ago and have now grown their numbers large enough that two heats are required for the class. However, after Sunday night's demo derby disguised as a race, that number may be reduced somewhat for next week's show.
When the antics were completed, it was Calvin Saldana that took the win over Mike Layne and Austin Goedker.
A very good crowd was on hand for the show and it ended up being one of the most pleasant weather nights of the season. USMTS returns to action with races in Oklahoma before heading to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Missouri. The Challenge Series is off now until the second weekend of August when they make a swing through Wisconsin, racing at Red Cedar and Rice Lake. Granite City Motor Park returns with a weekly show next Sunday at 6 pm.
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