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Eischens Wins Thriller On Night Two Of Granite Cup

SAUK RAPIDS, MN (September 30, 2017) – Don Eischens didn’t win a WISSOTA Modified Feature the entire season at his home track, yet Eischens won the 2017 Track Championship. Eichens made up for that drought in a trilling finish as he won the WISSOTA Modified Feature on night two of the Granite Cup at Granite City Speedway.

Eischens started on the pole with Sabraski right alongside. The pair immediately shot out in front of the others. Eischens set up on the high side, while Sabraski worked the low side. They would not be separated by more than a car’s length the entire race. When the white flag flew, the leaders remained close as they came up on a lapped car in turn one. Eischens tangled with the lapped car, Sabraski got collected as well and cars were scrambling in all directions to avoid. Eischens went through the infield, but remained in the lead. Dan Ebert who was running in third got past Sabraski in the mad scramble to complete the final lap. Eischens would hang on for the win over Ebert and Sabraski.

“I could see him (Sabaski) down in the bottom of four coming off,” said Eischens following the race. “I could tell he was there the whole race. We were coming up into lapped traffic and the lapped car in front of me was running the middle to the bottom and I thought if I tried to pass him on the outside, Shane would get me on the bottom. So, I stuffed it in on the bottom and then I got into the lapped car and I tried to stay off the lapped car and I got sideways. Shane got into me and I went through the infield and they never threw the caution and I came back out and I won the race.”

Tim Johnson bumped his feature win total to 602 as he won the WISSOTA Super Stock Feature. Johnson took the lead from the start as Tanner Erickson ran in second. Johnson quickly built a sizeable lead as Shane Sabraski who started mid-pack was working his way up. Sabraski got by Erickson but was almost a half a lap behind Johnson when the caution waved for a three car crash on the front stretch just ahead of Johnson. In the dash to the finish, Johnson held off Sabraski’s challenges as he took the win by a car’s length at the checkered flag.

Jeremy Nelson was the class of the field as he won the WISSOTA Midwest Modified Feature. Tommy Bawden spun on the opening lap, forcing a complete restart. When the green waved again, Jason VandeKamp took the lead as Nelson ran alongside. Nelson would get by on lap two as he ran the high side and VandeKamp ran the low side. By the halfway mark, Nelson was able to break away a bit over VandeKamp, who was now fighting to hold off Matt Baker. With seven laps remaining, Baker would move into second, but it was all Nelson as he held tight to the lead the rest of the way to take the win.

Charlie Shiek has been close several times this season, but finally it was his turn to shine as he won the WISSOTA Street Stock Feature. Shiek out-drove Mike Blowers as he took control of the race. Shiek ran an extremely high groove on the track and he used that momentum to keep himself in the lead. On lap seven, Tim Johnson and Jim Gullikson collected coming out of turn four. The entire right side sheet metal was ripped off Johnson’s car and he dropped from the race. Gullikson suffered front end damage and was able to continue. When racing resumed, Shiek went back to his high groove and kept the lead. Steve Eggersgluess brought out the final yellow of the race when he spun in turn four with only a handful of laps remaining. When the green waved again, Gullikson took the lead briefly before Shiek charged back to the front. Gullikson wasn’t able to challenge as Shiek drove hard to take a well deserved win.

In a car that he just purchased two day’s prior, Dustin Holtquist had his new ride tuned to perfection as he won the WISSOTA Mod 4 Feature. Holtquist took the lead from the start as Dean Larson came storming to the front. Holtquist kept the lead as Larson settled into second with Matt Halls and Tyler Larson behind. Holtquist used the cautionless race to his advantage as he cruised to the win by a half of a straightway over Larson for the win.

Corey Mehrwerth is one of the younger drivers at Granite City Speedway but he drove with the calmness of a seasoned veteran as he won the WISSOTA Hornet Feature. Mehrwerth took the lead at the drop of the green. Jake Smith led the group of challengers which included Nick Kipka and Derek Stanoch. Mehrwerth drove a steady pace as Smith stayed close. T.J. Inderieden brought out the lone caution of the race when he spun in turn one. On the restart, Mehrwerth continued to show the way as he held off Smith, Kipka and Nate Servaty for the win.

“The car worked good,” said Mehrwerth after the races. “There was a little bit of grip where I was running and I just went from there.”

The next event at Granite City Speedway will be the WISSOTA National Championship Weekend on October 13, 14 and 15. For more information and to purchase tickets online, go to www.gcspeedway.com

WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 9E-Don Eischens, [1]; 2. 60-Dan Ebert, [3]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski, [2]; 4. 06-Jeremy Nelson, [4]; 5. 4-Jeremy Nelson, [7]; 6. 89JR-JT Johnson, [5]; 7. 45J-Johnny Broking, [6]; 8. 52-Jason Thoennes, [9]; 9. 1JR-Tim Johnson, [11]; 10. 47-Danny Vang, [10]; 11. 414-Clayton Wagamon, [14]; 12. 442-Aaron Johnson, [16]; 13. 45-Bob Broking, [13]; 14. 5K-Tyler Kaeter, [8]; 15. 97-Peter Loecken, [12]; 16. (DNF) 15T-Erick Thiesse, [15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 06-Jeremy Nelson, [2]; 2. 4-Jeremy Nelson, [1]; 3. 9E-Don Eischens, [6]; 4. 45J-Johnny Broking, [3]; 5. 52-Jason Thoennes, [4]; 6. 1JR-Tim Johnson, [5]; 7. 45-Bob Broking, [8]; 8. (DNF) 442-Aaron Johnson, [7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7A-Shane Sabraski, [4]; 2. 89JR-JT Johnson, [2]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert, [5]; 4. 5K-Tyler Kaeter, [1]; 5. 47-Danny Vang, [8]; 6. 97-Peter Loecken, [3]; 7. 414-Clayton Wagamon, [7]; 8. 15T-Erick Thiesse, [6]

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 06-Jeremy Nelson, [2]; 2. 27-Matt Baker, [3]; 3. 16-Jason VandeKamp, [1]; 4. 88-Eric Lamm, [6]; 5. 17B-Zach Benson, [4]; 6. 3-Ryan Studanski, [5]; 7. 20K-Dexton Koch, [8]; 8. 7-Brandon Mehrwerth, [10]; 9. 3T-Travis Schulte, [13]; 10. 5K-Tyler Kaeter, [7]; 11. 25-Brandon Hines, [11]; 12. 71B-Dave Siercks, [9]; 13. TB81-Tommy Bawden, [12]; 14. 112-Brennan Gave, [19]; 15. 2G-Brock Gronwold, [14]; 16. 24-Liz Toepper, [18]; 17. 88T-Jacob Toepper, [16]; 18. US-Jonathan Olmscheid, [17]; 19. 78-Nate Erickson, [15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5K-Tyler Kaeter, [2]; 2. 3-Ryan Studanski, [3]; 3. 17B-Zach Benson, [4]; 4. 20K-Dexton Koch, [6]; 5. 71B-Dave Siercks, [5]; 6. 25-Brandon Hines, [8]; 7. 3T-Travis Schulte, [9]; 8. 78-Nate Erickson, [10]; 9. (DNF) 24-Liz Toepper, [1]; 10. (DNF) 112-Brennan Gave, [7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Jason VandeKamp, [4]; 2. 06-Jeremy Nelson, [2]; 3. 27-Matt Baker, [3]; 4. 88-Eric Lamm, [6]; 5. 7-Brandon Mehrwerth, [5]; 6. TB81-Tommy Bawden, [1]; 7. 2G-Brock Gronwold, [7]; 8. 88T-Jacob Toepper, [9]; 9. US-Jonathan Olmscheid, [8]

WISSOTA Mod 4’s
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 5H-Dustin Holtquist, [1]; 2. 37-Dean Larson, [4]; 3. K95.3-Matt Halls, [3]; 4. 7L-Tyler Larson, [5]; 5. 5-Robert Holtquist, [2]; 6. Y4-Thomas Sabraski, [6]; 7. 5F-Doug Frederick, [7]; 8. (DNF) 16-Jamie Flickinger, [8]

Heat (8 Laps): 1. 37-Dean Larson, [1]; 2. K95.3-Matt Halls, [4]; 3. 7L-Tyler Larson, [8]; 4. 5H-Dustin Holtquist, [2]; 5. 5-Robert Holtquist, [6]; 6. Y4-Thomas Sabraski, [3]; 7. 5F-Doug Frederick, [5]; (DNS) 16-Jamie Flickinger,

WISSOTA Hornets
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 27-Corey Mehrwerth, [1]; 2. 21S-Jake Smith, [6]; 3. 1-Nick Kipka, [2]; 4. 99-Nate Servaty, [3]; 5. 5-Brittany Smith, [7]; 6. 0K-Joseph Wilber, [5]; 7. 11-Paul Ripley, [8]; 8. 1M-Hunter McDougall, [9]; 9. 25-Jimmy Hines, [11]; 10. 13C-Chase Peterson, [10]; 11. 16-Brady Albertson, [14]; 12. 8-Amy Studanski, [13]; 13. (DNF) 12-Derek Stanoch, [4]; 14. (DNF) 3-Thomas Inderieden, [12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21S-Jake Smith, [1]; 2. 12-Derek Stanoch, [3]; 3. 5-Brittany Smith, [4]; 4. 1-Nick Kipka, [5]; 5. 1M-Hunter McDougall, [2]; 6. 25-Jimmy Hines, [6]; 7. 8-Amy Studanski, [7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Corey Mehrwerth, [3]; 2. 99-Nate Servaty, [5]; 3. 0K-Joseph Wilber, [1]; 4. 11-Paul Ripley, [4]; 5. 13C-Chase Peterson, [7]; 6. 3-Thomas Inderieden, [6]; 7. (DNF) 16-Brady Albertson, [2]

WISSOTA Street Stocks
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 19C-Charlie Shiek, [2]; 2. 21-Jim Gullikson, [3]; 3. 01-Justin Pogones, [5]; 4. 34-Mike Blowers, [6]; 5. 34J-Bobby Blowers, [4]; 6. X-tj waln, [10]; 7. 37X-Quain Busitzky, [1]; 8. 15S-Josh Schmidt, [11]; 9. 05-Kyle Howland, [8]; 10. 14-Russell Kostreba, [9]; 11. (DNF) 44P-Steve Eggersgluess, [12]; 12. (DNF) 1JR-Tim Johnson, [7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Jim Gullikson, [5]; 2. 19C-Charlie Shiek, [1]; 3. 1JR-Tim Johnson, [6]; 4. 34J-Bobby Blowers, [2]; 5. 14-Russell Kostreba, [3]; 6. 15S-Josh Schmidt, [4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Justin Pogones, [3]; 2. 05-Kyle Howland, [5]; 3. 34-Mike Blowers, [4]; 4. 37X-Quain Busitzky, [2]; 5. X-tj waln, [6]; 6. 44P-Steve Eggersgluess, [1]

WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 1JR-Tim Johnson, [2]; 2. 7A-Shane Sabraski, [7]; 3. 4E-Tanner Erickson, [1]; 4. 78K-Dexton Koch, [6]; 5. 27X-Andy Miskowic, [4]; 6. 70X-Kurt Becken, [10]; 7. 17-Ryan Kostreba, [5]; 8. 5-Josh Zimpel, [11]; 9. 13-Kyle Oman, [3]; 10. 26-Chad Fouquette, [14]; 11. 30-Kevin Schmidt, [13]; 12. 27-Jared Zimpel, [16]; 13. 13M-Matt Miller, [9]; 14. 9-Ronnie Malecki, [12]; 15. 29S-Joel Snyder, [15]; 16. (DNF) 2-Dave Mass, [8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1JR-Tim Johnson, [2]; 2. 27X-Andy Miskowic, [1]; 3. 7A-Shane Sabraski, [5]; 4. 17-Ryan Kostreba, [3]; 5. 13M-Matt Miller, [4]; 6. 5-Josh Zimpel, [8]; 7. 30-Kevin Schmidt, [6]; 8. 29S-Joel Snyder, [7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Dave Mass, [1]; 2. 13-Kyle Oman, [2]; 3. 4E-Tanner Erickson, [3]; 4. 78K-Dexton Koch, [5]; 5. 70X-Kurt Becken, [7]; 6. 9-Ronnie Malecki, [4]; 7. 26-Chad Fouquette, [8]; 8. 27-Jared Zimpel, [6]

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