10/11/25 Hibbing Speedway Hot Dish Nationals

The 2025 season for the Hibbing Speedway came to a close on a beautiful autumn day perfect for some hot dish with a side of racing at the Hot Dish Nationals. 115 cars were in the pits as each of the WISSOTA classes all competed for $1,000-to-win, and the Crown Vics had their inaugural race at the Hibbing Speedway in a preview of what’s to come weekly in 2026.

The racing got underway at 2:00 PM, with passing points from the heat races setting the lineups for the features. First up was the WISSOTA Super Stocks, where Merrifield’s Dylan Nelson made his first Hibbing appearance of the season and lined up on the pole alongside Thunder Bay’s Rick Simpson. Nelson would take command of the contest and hold the top spot for the first 9 laps of regulation. Unfortunately, going down the backstretch, Nelson’s car came up lame, exiting the backstretch of the oval and surrendering the lead to Saginaw’s Austin Blom. Blom would hold strong ahead of a smattering of competitors vying for positions 2-5. It was redemption for Blom, who was disqualified in post-race tech back in June at Hibbing, which threw a wrench into the momentum of his season. Track champion Dalton Carlson would finish second ahead of Simpson, Doug Koski, and a visitor from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Patrick Beeksma.

Next up were the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, who had a strong field of 39 racers checked in vying for the inaugural Hot Dish Nationals crown. WISSOTA National Champion Tyler Vernon would lead the field to green, but it would be Hibbing’s Michael Blevins Sr. that would get the jump from the outside of the front row. Blevins would jump out to a 1.5 second lead by lap 7 over Vernon. Vernon’s car ended up slowing coming into turn 3, leaving Mikey Blevins and Joey Jensen nowhere to go. Mikey’s car would take quite a tumble, ending the up-and-down season for the younger Blevins. His dad would once again pull out to a decent lead after the race resumed, but this time, Jensen was lurking. With a 20 lap feature on the card and a full field of Midwest Mods, Blevins and Jensen would catch up to lap traffic a few laps before the end of the race. Blevins took the white flag and made a slight mishap in turn 2, which was enough for Jensen to slip past him. Blevins would attempt a “hail mary” move in Turns 3 and 4, but did not have enough juice to complete the victory pass. Jensen had an amazing season, but ended up just short of Vernon in the national title hunt. Track champion Andy Davey, Thunder Bay’s David Simpson and Duluth’s Paul Ripley completed the top 5 behind Jensen and Blevins.

The next race up was a preview of the 2026 season. The Crown Vic division has been added as a weekly class, and anybody with a completed car was invited to compete at the Hot Dish Nationals. 3 established Crown Vic racers made the trip from central Minnesota, with 2 northern racers getting a car put together and ready in anticipation of the 2026 season. Mike Layne from Darwin, Andy Oksa from Sauk Rapids, and Wayne Nelson from Milaca would pull ahead of Goodland’s Dustin Hammer and Pennington’s Jason Jensen to begin the 10-lap showdown. Layne would pilot the field until a broken rear end would take him out of the race. Nelson would take the lead after the restart and never look back, claiming the first-ever Crown Vic win at Hibbing Speedway. Oksa, Hammer, Jensen, and Layne was the rest of the finishing order.

18 WISSOTA Late Models were present for the final 25-lap feature race of the season. Hibbing drivers Kyle Peterlin and Derek Vesel would lead the field to green, and Vesel would shoot around the high side of the speedway to the early race lead. Peterlin gave chase, but Vesel’s green and white throwback machine to his father Steve was a rocket ship. Vesel would lead every lap en route to his first Hibbing victory of 2025 ahead of Peterlin, Kevin Burdick, Jeff Provinzino and Zach Wohlers. Asked about winning in the tribute car to his dad, Vesel was very grateful that he was able to have one more chance to park it in Victory Lane at his home track.

The WISSOTA Modifieds feature race was the penultimate race of the now-evening, as an autumn chill set over the facility. Tanner Gehl made the trip up from Solon Springs, Wisconsin and led the field to green with veteran Bob Broking to his outside. Broking looked just as fast as he has all season at Hibbing, dominating the field ahead of WISSOTA National Champion Blake Adams, Jack Rivord, Mervin Castle III and Jeffrey Wood.

The final feature of the 2025 Hibbing Speedway season was a 30-lap WISSOTA Hornet contest with $1,000 on the line. The drivers of the 4-cylinder division had to pace themselves over the length of the contest, as they usually run anywhere between 15 and 20 laps on a regular basis. Lady power led the field to green, as Hibbing’s McKenna Folstad and Thunder Bay’s Selena Owen started on the front row. Folstad settled into a spot she has gotten pretty used to at Hibbing this season: 1st place. However, Track Champion and winner of both days of the Labor Day Shootout Brady Fosso lurked right behind Folstad. Folstad’s 25K and Fosso’s 27 cars were definitely the cars to beat at Hibbing in 2025, and the Hot Dish Nationals proved to be no different. Folstad, Fosso and Owen set a pretty torrid pace ahead of the rest of the 23-car field. Fosso would end up getting around Folstad during the middle of the race to claim the lead. A late-race restart was bad juju for Owens, as she got knocked out of the racing line and fell all the way to the back of the pack. Fosso would claim the win to complete the sweep of “special season” after winning the track championship with 0 regular season victories. Folstad finished 2nd ahead of Hard Charger Calvin Skaja, who completed an impressive run of 14th-to-3rd over the course of the 30 laps. Track regular Mark Gangl and visitor Kaitlyn Kohl completed the final top 5 of the season.

Hibbing Speedway scheduled the Iron Range Rumble after this article was written, making this the second-to-last race of the season.

Race Results

WISSOTA Late Models
A Feature (25 Laps)
1. (2) 16 Derek Vesel – Hibbing
2. (1) 23 Kyle Peterlin – Hibbing
3. (4) 30 Kevin Burdick – Proctor
4. (9) 28 Jeff Provinzino – Hibbing
5. (5) 71 Zach Wohlers – Cohasset
6. (3) 12X Ben Heinle – Bovey
7. (8) 54L Jayme Lautigar – Gilbert
8. (12) 34 Taylor Madrinich – Duluth
9. (15) 04JR Adam Ayotte – Elk River
10. (7) F15 Devin Fouquette – St. Cloud
11. (14) 42 Paul Niznik – Medford, WI
12. (11) 73 Brandon Englund – Wahkon
13. (13) 55S Ryan Schaufler – Hutchinson
14. (6) 12 Mark Heinle – Bovey
15. (16) 13 Roger Paolo – Hibbing
16. (10) 54 Rick Niemi – Eveleth
17. (18) 37X Skeeter Estey – Kelly Lake
18. (17) 6M Jeffrey Massingill – Keewatin (DNS)

Heat 1
16 Vesel, F15 Fouquette, 54L Lautigar, 54 Niemi, 42 Niznik, 13 Paolo

Heat 2
23 Peterlin, 12 Heinle, 28 Provinzino, 73 Englund, 04JR Ayotte, 37X Estey (DNS)

Heat 3
12X Heinle, 30 Burdick, 71 Wohlers, 34 Madrinich, 55S Schaufler, 6M Massingill

WISSOTA Modifieds
A Feature (20 Laps)
1. (2) 45 Bob Broking – Grand Rapids
2. (4) 40D Blake Adams – Cameron, WI
3. (3) 19J Jack Rivord – Superior, WI
4. (5) 10 Mervin Castle III – Grand Rapids
5. (7) 55W Jeffrey Wood – Chisholm
6. (10) 22B Josh Beaulieu – Bemidji
7. (6) 2R Jeff Reed – Bemidji
8. (9) 22 Tyler Kintner – Hibbing
9. (1) 2 Tanner Gehl – Solon Springs, WI
10. (13) M2 Chris Magistad – Floodwood
11. (8) 43 Lance Schilling – Laporte
12. (12) 12 TJ Heinle – Bovey
13. (11) 46H Ken Hron – Grand Rapids
14. (14) 11 Jody Bellefeuille – Carlton (DNS)

Heat 1
45 Broking, 2 Gehl, 2R Reed, 22B Beaulieu, 55W Wood, 12 Heinle, 11 Bellefeuille

Heat 2
40D Adams, 19J Rivord, 10 Castle, 22 Kintner, 43 Schilling, 46H Hron, M2 Magistad

WISSOTA Super Stocks
A Feature (20 Laps)
1. (4) 3B Austin Blom – Saginaw
2. (3) 57 Dalton Carlson – Cohasset
3. (2) 77K Rick Simpson – Thunder Bay, ON
4. (6) 76 Doug Koski – Chisholm
5. (8) 21C Patrick Beeksma – Ironwood, MI
6. (9) 69X Andy LaBarge – Hibbing
7. (10) T26 Nic Lewis – Bemidji
8. (5) 11 Kevin Salin – Iron
9. (15) 65 Ron Reed – Solway
10. (11) 17 Faye Lewis – Bemidji
11. (7) 01 Trevor Arens – Hibbing
12. (1) 25 Dylan Nelson – Merrifield
13. (14) 30 Dan Severson – Crosby
14. (12) 41X Mikey Vajdl – Chisholm
15. (13) 37 John Garrity – Thunder Bay, ON

Heat 1
57 Carlson, 76 Koski, 11 Salin, 01 Arens, 69X LaBarge, 17 Lewis, 37 Garrity, 30 Severson

Heat 2
3B Blom, 25 Nelson, 77K Simpson, 21C Beeksma, T26 Lewis, 41X Vajdl, 65 Reed, 19 Tristan LaBarge (Kelly Lake) DQ

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
A Feature (20 Laps)
1. (7) 30 Joey Jensen – Forest Lake
2. (2) 10 Michael Blevins Sr. – Hibbing
3. (8) 91 Andy Davey – Hibbing
4. (5) 70 David Simpson – Thunder Bay, ON
5. (3) 28 Paul Ripley – Duluth
6. (4) 1 Jake Stai – New Auburn, WI
7. (11) 15 Sam Blevins – Hibbing
8. (19) 33 Jake Hagemann – Little Falls, MN
9. (20) 3DJR Kyle Monteith – Thunder Bay, ON
10. (9) 76 Keith Koski – Hibbing
11. (16) 69 Mark Kangas – Eveleth
12. (23) 74 Gary James Nelson – Blackduck
13. (15) 428 Kevin O’Dell – Chisholm
14. (14) 7P Cory Peterson – Red Lake
15. (10) 22E Ethan Elhardt – Bovey
16. (24) 7A Eric Anderson – Chisholm
17. (12) 41 Austin McClellan – Hibbing
18. (13) 31 Randy Haupt – Chisholm
19. (22) M2 Chris Magistad – Floodwood
20. (21) 47 Don Craig – Thunder Bay, ON
21. (17) 57JR Robert Squitti – Thunder Bay, ON
22. (1) 41V Tyler Vernon – Mason, WI
23. (6) 10JR Mikey Blevins – Hibbing
24. (18) 50 Brady Caul – Fort Frances, ON (DNS)

B Main 1
33 Hagemann, 47 Craig, 74 Nelson, 1J Joe Pangrac (Buhl), 21R Ross Siiter (Esko), 12A Alex O’Dell (Chisholm), 14G Brant Gruba (Britt), 26K Sam Kolar (Marble), 20 Matthew Anderson (Hibbing), 13X Frank Paolo (Hibbing), 57 Blake Higginbotham (Bagley) (DNS)

B Main 2
3DJR Monteith, M2 Magistad, 7A Anderson, 44 Brayden Rewertz (Hibbing), 27B Dave DeVente (Neebing, ON), 68G Eric Gruba (Embarrass), 33L Travis Tupa (Hibbing), 6 John Norris (Embarrass), 9 Bobby Carpenter (Black River Falls, WI), 76K Mitch Kieber (Rhinelander, WI) (DNS)

Heat 1
1 Stai, 28 Ripley, 69 Kangas, 76 Koski, 21R Siiter, 26K Kolar, 44 Rewertz, 12A O’Dell

Heat 2
30 Jensen, 91 Davey, 50 Caul, M2 Magistad, 7A Anderson, 3DJR Monteith, 20 Anderson, 33L Tupa

Heat 3
41V Vernon, 15 Blevins, 22E Elhardt, 31 Haupt, 9 Carpenter, 68G Gruba, 27B DeVente, 14G Gruba (DQ)

Heat 4
70 Simpson, 10JR Blevins, 57JR Squitti, 47 Craig, 1J Pangrac, 6 Norris, 57 Higginbotham, 76K Kieber (DNS)

Heat 5
10 Blevins, 41 McClellan, 428 O’Dell, 7P Peterson, 33 Hagemann, 74 Nelson, 13X Paolo

WISSOTA Hornets
A Feature (30 Laps)
1. (3) 27 Brady Fosso – Hibbing
2. (1) 25K McKenna Folstad – Hibbing
3. (14) 38 Calvin Skaja – Pengilly
4. (6) 34 Mark Gangl – Bovey
5. (9) 76K Kaitlyn Kohl – Fort Ripley
6. (7) 2X Nathan Penney – South Range, WI
7. (5) 19 Josh Backstrom – Pillager
8. (8) 46 Louis Skaja – Pengilly
9. (2) 34EH Selena Owen – Thunder Bay, ON
10. (17) 9 Landin Lucente – Chisholm
11. (18) 0X Dylan Black – Bemidji
12. (15) 78JR Chris Manska – Hibbing
13. (19) 22 Paige Kintner – Hibbing
14. (16) 21 Tiffani Hauta-Sanders – Hibbing
15. (10) 31 Zeb Graves – Nashwauk
16. (20) 33 Alexis Hagemann – Little Falls
17. (13) 24JR Jada Lore – Embarrass
18. (11) 79JR Mikayla LaBarge – Keewatin
19. (4) 74 Jacob Petrich – Hibbing
20. (21) 218 Astion Schelde – Cook
21. (12) R20 Riley Terry – Floodwood
22. (23) 96 Benny Galli – Hibbing
23. (22) 7 Abby Baum – Superior, WI

Heat 1
74 Petrich, 27 Fosso, 34EH Owen, 31 Graves, 38 Skaja, 0X Black, 22 Kintner, 218 Schelde

Heat 2
25K Folstad, 76K Kohl, 2X Penney, 24JR Lore, 78JR Manska, 21 Hauta-Sanders, 33 Hagemann, 7 Baum

Heat 3
19 Backstrom, 34 Gangl, 46 Skaja, R20 Terry, 79JR LaBarge, 9 Lucente, 96 Galli

Crown Vics
A Feature (10 Laps)
1. (3) 12 Wayne Nelson – Milaca
2. (2) 18 Andy Oksa – Sauk Rapids
3. (4) 99 Dustin Hammer – Goodland
4. (5) 22 Jasen Jensen – Pennington
5. (1) 17 Mike Layne – Darwin

Heat
17 Layne, 18 Oksa, 12 Nelson, 22 Jensen, 99 Hammer