7/1/25 Hibbing Speedway Iron Man Late Model Invitational

It was a night of strength during the return of the Iron Man Late Model Invitational to the Hibbing Speedway on Tuesday, July 1st. A strong field of 3 WISSOTA divisions, a strong fan count in the grandstands, and a strong night of competitive racing on the track made for a Tuesday great night at the races. A 50-lap, $5,000-to-win WISSOTA Late Model feature headlined the evening with former NASCAR great Ryan Newman in competition in a 28 Special prepared race car.

The night started with the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds going 20 laps with a 23-car field. A huge round of kudos to all the guys in this division as they completed all 20 laps without a single caution. Michael Blevins Sr., who came into the night 2nd in track points, would take the lead early from the outside front row. He would lead until cutting a tire and retiring from the event. Two of the greatest names in WISSOTA history, Jason VandeKamp and Joey Jensen, were both in attendance and started 8th and 9th respectively. VandeKamp inherited the lead when Blevins ran into his issues. Jensen was decently far behind but gained ground amongst lap traffic each and every lap until the end. Jensen would try to nose his way past VandeKamp on a racy Hibbing Speedway, but VandeKamp would prevail. Jensen and Hibbing regular Chris Magistad would complete the podium.

Next up was the $5,000-to-win Iron Man Late Model Invitational. The field was lined up via passing points from 2 rounds of heat races earlier in the evening. Darrell Nelson and Jeff Massingill would share the front row for the contest. Nelson jetted out to the lead early, and the packed grandstand was rewarded with great racing action throughout the field early on in the 50-lapper. Nelson held steady through the middle of the race, but Johnny Broking did not let Nelson out of his eyesight just yet. Kevin Burdick, Kyle Peterlin and Jeff Massingill also kept pace behind Nelson and Broking. Through a few caution periods and lapped traffic, Nelson continued to look strong in his navigation of the Hibbing Speedway, which was his first Hibbing appearance of 2025. The track settled down to be mostly dominant around the bottom of turns 1 and 2 and the top of turns 3 and 4 towards the end of the race. Nelson would face no issues in coming to the checkers, leading all 50 laps to claim his first Late Model victory since September 2023 at Cedar Lake Speedway. The $5,000 victory was ahead of Broking, Burdick, Peterlin and Massingill. Nelson’s 15-year-old son Cade finished the race in 8th spot from a starting spot of 16th in his rookie campaign in a WISSOTA Late Model. Guest star Ryan Newman had a relatively quiet evening, starting 18th on the field and getting involved with a tractor tire early on in the race. However, he pulled the mangled race car back onto the Hibbing Speedway and managed to log quite a few laps still until eventually dropping a drive shaft.

The WISSOTA Hornets were the nightcap and may have darn near stole the show once again. Saturday winner Nikota Larson started from the point, but faced furious competition from the likes of Jada Lore, McKenna Folstad, Trenton Beel, Bobie Arnes, and Russell Kiker Jr. It was a quick 12-lap affair, leaving no time for any one competitor to run away from the field. Larson was the meat in a Bobie Arnes and McKenna Folstad sandwich as all three battled it out for the win. Beel was right behind waiting to pounce if any shenanigans happened, but a nice clean race to the checkers brought McKenna Folstad back to Hibbing Speedway victory lane in a photo finish over Larson. Arnes, Beel and Kiker rounded out the top 5.

Race Results

WISSOTA Late Models
A Feature (50 Laps)
1. (1) 44 Darrell Nelson – Hermantown
2. (4) 45J Johnny Broking – Grand Rapids
3. (3) 30 Kevin Burdick – Proctor
4. (12) 23 Kyle Peterlin – Hibbing
5. (2) 6M Jeff Massingill – Keewatin
6. (7) 7A Shane Sabraski – Rice
7. (5) 37X Skeeter Estey – Kelly Lake
8. (16) 44N Cade Nelson – Hermantown
9. (9) 71 Zach Wohlers – Cohasset
10. (8) 07 Cory Crapser – Chippewa Falls, WI
11. (6) 99 Billy Kendall – Walker
12. (27) 16 Derek Vesel – Hibbing
13. (15) 54L Jayme Lautigar – Gilbert
14. (20) 12X Ben Heinle – Bovey
15. (25) 12 Mark Heinle – Bovey
16. (24) 13 Roger Paolo – Hibbing
17. (23) 34 Taylor Madrinich – Duluth
18. (10) 79 Kevin Carlson – Carlton
19. (18) 39 Ryan Newman – South Bend, IN
20. (17) 14N Keith Niemi – Gilbert
21. (22) 28 Jeff Provinzino – Hibbing
22. (14) F15 Devin Fouquette – St. Cloud
23. (13) 2 Todd Gehl – Solon Springs, WI
24. (11) 54 Rick Niemi – Eveleth
25. (21) 35 George Ledin Jr. – Britt
26. (19) 31 Travis Budisalovich – Minneapolis
27. (26) 24 Eric Lillo – Proctor (DNS)

Round 1 Heat 1
37X Estey, 2 Gehl, 44 Nelson, 31 Budisalovich, 07 Crapser, 13 Paolo, 39 Newman, 35 Ledin, 16 Vesel

Round 1 Heat 2
71 Wohlers, 6M Massingill, 23 Peterlin, 45J Broking, F15 Fouquette, 44N Nelson, 34 Madrinich, 28 Provinzino, 12 Heinle

Round 1 Heat 3
79 Carlson, 54 Niemi, 30 Burdick, 99 Kendall, 7A Sabraski, 14N Niemi, 54L Lautigar, 24 Lillo, 12X Heinle

Round 2 Heat 1
44 Nelson, 99 Kendall, 12X Heinle, 44N Nelson, 23 Peterlin, 54 Niemi, 2 Gehl, 12 Heinle, 13 Paolo

Round 2 Heat 2
45J Broking, 07 Crapser, 54L Lautigar, F15 Fouquette, 14N Niemi, 71 Wohlers, 35 Ledin, 31 Budisalovich, 24 Lillo

Round 2 Heat 3
7A Sabraski, 30 Burdick, 6M Massingill, 39 Newman, 37X Estey, 28 Provinzino, 79 Carlson, 34 Madrinich, 16 Vesel (DNS)

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
A Feature (20 Laps)
1. (8) 16 Jason VandeKamp – Scandia
2. (9) 30 Joey Jensen – Forest Lake
3. (1) M2 Chris Magistad – Floodwood
4. (3) 15 Sam Blevins – Hibbing
5. (12) 91 Andy Davey – Hibbing
6. (11) 10JR Mikey Blevins – Hibbing
7. (7) 28 Paul Ripley – Duluth
8. (4) 7A Eric Anderson – Chisholm
9. (6) 10X Matthew Cunha – Chisholm
10. (10) 76 Keith Koski – Hibbing
11. (5) 14G Brant Gruba – Britt
12. (14) 14* Adam Shinn – Duluth
13. (16) 31 Randy Haupt – Chisholm
14. (19) 12A Alex O’Dell – Chisholm
15. (15) 44 Brayden Rewertz – Hibbing
16. (13) 26K Sam Kolar – Marble
17. (23) 22E Ethan Elhardt – Bovey
18. (17) 62K Ryan Kough – Isabella
19. (18) 22 Chad VanDuker – Forbes
20. (20) 1 Joe Pangrac – Buhl
21. (21) 62 Jerry Morgan – Brainerd
22. (22) 68G Eric Gruba – Embarrass
23. (2) 10 Michael Blevins Sr. – Hibbing

Heat 1
10 Blevins, 10X Cunha, 14G Gruba, 76 Koski, 26K Kolar, 31 Haupt, 12A O’Dell, 68G Gruba

Heat 2
30 Jensen, 7A Anderson, 28 Ripley, 10JR Blevins, 14* Shinn, 62K Kough, 1 Pangrac, 22E Elhardt

Heat 3
15 Blevins, M2 Magistad, 16 VandeKamp, 91 Davey, 44 Rewertz, 22 VanDuker, 62 Morgan

WISSOTA Hornets
A Feature (12 Laps)
1. (4) 25K McKenna Folstad – Hibbing
2. (1) 26N Nikota Larson – Kettle River
3. (7) 94A Bobie Arnes – Foreston
4. (5) 96 Trenton Beel – Hibbing
5. (8) 13K Russell Kiker Jr. – Brainerd
6. (9) 27 Brady Fosso – Hibbing
7. (6) 11 Tucker Smith – Bovey
8. (16) 79JR Mikayla LaBarge – Keewatin
9. (13) 188 Ian VanVickle – Hibbing
10. (12) 9 Nick Ruzich – Hibbing
11. (3) 47F Raeann Hanson – Brainerd
12. (18) 21L Colton Lodermeier – Pierz
13. (19) 81R Ryker Larson – Grand Rapids
14. (15) 4 Brian Barker – Kelly Lake
15. (14) 74 Jacob Petrich – Hibbing
16. (17) 21 Tiffani Hauta-Sanders – Hibbing
17. (11) 13TB Anastashia Chavez – Babbitt
18. (2) 24JR Jada Lore – Embarrass
19. (10) 7L Tim Larson – Kettle River

Heat 1
26N Larson, 25K Folstad, 27 Fosso, 7L Larson, 188 VanVickle, 79JR LaBarge, 81R Larson

Heat 2
24JR Lore, 11 Smith, 47F Hanson, 13TB Chavez, 74 Petrich, 21 Hauta-Sanders

Heat 3
13K Kiker, 96 Beel, 94A Arnes, 9 Ruzich, 4 Barker, 21L Lodermeier

Hibbing Speedway Points Chases
WISSOTA Late Models
30 Kevin Burdick 213, 45J Johnny Broking 207, 6M Jeff Massingill 206, 37X Skeeter Estey 194, 23 Kyle Peterlin 190, 16 Derek Vesel 178, 79 Kevin Carlson 165, 54 Rick Niemi 139, 12X Ben Heinle 122, 28 Jeff Provinzino 121

WISSOTA Modifieds
22 Tyler Kintner 208, 55W Jeffrey Wood 194, 11JR Andrew Inman 193, 45 Bob Broking 190, M2 Chris Magistad 178, 55 Jeff Wood 138, 12 TJ Heinle 131, 2 Mervin Castle III 100, 37X Skeeter Estey 95, 21 Matt DePiero 85

WISSOTA Super Stocks
57 Dalton Carlson 206, 41 Mikey Vajdl 199, 76 Doug Koski 195, 01 Trevor Arens 191, 40C Chaston Finckbone 182, 47J Justin Barsness 177, 11 Kevin Salin 177, 19 Tristan LaBarge 163, 79A Andy LaBarge 154, 30 Dan Severson 126

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
10JR Mikey Blevins 199, M2 Chris Magistad 192, 15 Sam Blevins 189, 91 Andy Davey 188, 7A Eric Anderson 180, 10 Michael Blevins Sr. 178, 10X Matthew Cunha 178, 14* Adam Shinn 164, 22 Chad VanDuker 162, 14G Brant Gruba 161, 26K Sam Kolar 161

WISSOTA Hornets
25K McKenna Folstad 259, 27 Brady Fosso 256, 79JR Mikayla LaBarge 226, 24JR Jada Lore 226, 188 Ian VanVickle 217, 4 Brian Barker 216, 21 Tiffani Hauta-Sanders 188, 9 Nick Ruzich 182, 96 Trenton Beel 180, 94A Bobie Arnes 160