5/31/25 Hibbing Speedway Season Opener

Racing returned to the city of Hibbing, Minnesota with a bang on Saturday, May 31st. Fans lined the nearby streets to support the project to revitalize the almost 100-year-old racing facility now once again known as Hibbing Speedway. 5 WISSOTA classes were in action on the newly-reshaped quarter-mile oval, along with the Northern Renegade Sprints.

WISSOTA Super Stocks kicked off the night with Trevor Arens and Tristan LaBarge leading the field to green for a 20-lap contest. LaBarge took the lead on Lap 1 and never looked back, taking the checkers in his campaign to win a 4th-straight track championship. 8th-starting Dalton Carlson slowly and methodically moved his way through the pack, moving into 2nd place on lap 12 after a restart. Carlson finished 0.6 seconds behind LaBarge; 10th-starting Andy LaBarge completed the podium.

Next up was the 25-lap WISSOTA Late Model feature event. Jack Koranda and defending track champion Johnny Broking led the field to green. Koranda, a rookie in the division after racing a Super Stock, led the first 4 laps. 3rd-place starting Billy Kendall got around Broking to complete the first lap in the 2nd position. He dove to the inside of Koranda on lap 5, taking the lead and extending it over 2 seconds during the middle of the race. 7th-starting Jeff Massingill passed Travis Budisalovich for the 2nd position on lap 15. Massingill would get as close as 0.5 seconds behind Kendall, but Kendall would take his first WISSOTA Late Model win by 1.3 seconds over Massingill with Budisalovich 3rd.

After that was the WISSOTA Modified division with a 20-lap affair. The race got off to a hairy start as pole-sitter Skeeter Estey’s car did not fire right away. Estey and outside pole-sitter Tyler Kintner made contact, stacking up the field and bringing out a caution. Everybody would inherit their original starting position and go again. Kintner stormed around the outside of Estey and would come across the line for lap 1 in 1st. Estey and 2024 track champion Andrew Inman would battle for 2nd in the early stages, with Estey eventually prevailing. Veteran Bob Broking was riding around the high side of the speedway in the 3rd spot when on Lap 16, he collided with the pile of tires at the end of the frontstretch retaining wall. The hard collision would briefly stop the race, but Broking was okay. Kintner would get the jump on the restart and lead all 20 laps to claim the season opener victory at his home track, with Estey and Tanner Williamson following.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds took the track next for another 20-lap contest. Alex O’Dell and Justin Bassa led the 24-car field to the start. O’Dell was able to lead the first lap with fierce competition between Bassa and Mervin Castle III behind him. Castle was able to vault his way ahead to lead the 2nd and 3rd laps. Justin Jones would win his heat race and redraw the 8th starting position. He found some good track position early on, vaulting into the 5th spot after lap 1 and 2nd after lap 2. He would power into the lead by lap 4, but still faced fierce competition in the form of haymaker sliders from Bassa. Jones would settle in the top spot with Castle following behind. After a few cautions, that’s how the top 2 would finish with 13th-place starter Andy Davey making his way through the field to complete the podium.

Jesse Grife and Erik Bjorklund would pilot the Northern Renegade Traditional Sprint Car field to the start of their feature event. Grife would lead the first 7 laps over a hungry pack of competitors in Bjorklund, Hunter Colton, Paul Schultz, and Ken Hron. Schultz would emerge as the primary adversary for Grife, jumping into the 2nd spot on lap 2. Schultz kept Grife within his sights and grabbed the lead on lap 8. Schultz would amass almost a 5-second lead by the end of the feature over Grife. Ken Hron kept Grife in his own sights but was not able to track him down and pass him, ending up with the final podium spot.

The night ended with the WISSOTA Hornet division. Youngster Tucker Smith would line up on the pole alongside Mark Gangl. Gangl got the jump and led the majority of the race, getting passed by McKenna Folstad in the late stages of the competition. Folstad would go on to become the first female feature winner of the 2025 Hibbing season, with Gangl and Brady Fosso rounding out the final podium of the night.

Race Results

WISSOTA Late Models
A Feature (25 Laps)
1. (3) 99 Billy Kendall – Walker
2. (7) 6M Jeff Massingill – Keewatin
3. (5) 31 Travis Budisalovich – St. Paul
4. (4) 30 Kevin Burdick – Proctor
5. (2) 45J Johnny Broking – Grand Rapids
6. (8) 37X Skeeter Estey – Kelly Lake
7. (9) 54 Rick Niemi – Eveleth
8. (6) 16 Derek Vesel – Hibbing
9. (11) 79 Kevin Carlson – Carlton
10. (10) 12X Ben Heinle – Bovey
11. (1) 22 Jack Koranda – Bluffton
12. (12) 12 Mark Heinle – Bovey (DNF)
13. (13) 23 Kyle Peterlin – Hibbing (DNF)

Heat 1
30 Burdick, 31 Budisalovich, 16 Vesel, 99 Kendall, 54 Niemi, 79 Carlson, 23 Peterlin

Heat 2
45J Broking, 6M Massingill, 22 Koranda, 37X Estey, 12X Heinle, 12 Heinle

WISSOTA Modifieds
A Feature (20 Laps)
1. (2) 22 Tyler Kintner – Hibbing
2. (1) 37X Skeeter Estey – Kelly Lake
3. (6) 88 Tanner Williamson – Fort Frances, ON
4. (4) 55 Jeff Wood – Chisholm
5. (10) 55W Jeffrey Wood – Chisholm
6. (12) 85 Jeff Davis – Devlin, ON
7. (9) 12T Tony Caissie – Winnipeg, MB
8. (14) 12 TJ Heinle – Bovey
9. (7) M2 Chris Magistad – Floodwood
10. (3) 11JR Andrew Inman – Canyon (DNF)
11. (8) 45 Bob Broking – Grand Rapids (DNF)
12. (13) 4A Dawson Allen – Fort Frances, ON (DNF)
13. (11) 05 Mark Prueser – Brainerd (DNF)
14. (5) 21 Matt DePiero – Fort Frances, ON (DNF)

Heat 1
22 Kintner, M2 Magistad, 21 DePiero, 88 Williamson, 12T Caissie, 05 Prueser, 4A Allen

Heat 2
45 Broking, 37X Estey, 55 Wood, 11JR Inman, 55W Wood, 85 Davis, 12 Heinle

WISSOTA Super Stocks
A Feature (20 Laps)
1. (2) 19 Tristan LaBarge – Kelly Lake
2. (8) 57 Dalton Carlson – Cohasset
3. (10) 79A Andy LaBarge – Hibbing
4. (9) 3B Austin Blom – Saginaw
5. (3) 76 Doug Koski – Chisholm
6. (7) 41 Mikey Vajdl – Chisholm
7. (4) 40C Chaston Finckbone – Grand Rapids
8. (12) 47J Justin Barsness – Grand Rapids
9. (1) 01 Trevor Arens – Hibbing
10. (6) 41X Brian Vajdl – Chisholm
11. (5) 11 Kevin Salin – Iron
12. (11) 5 Danny Doran – Esko

Heat 1
41 Vajdl, 11 Salin, 01 Arens, 76 Koski, 3B Blom, 5 Doran

Heat 2
40C Finckbone, 19 LaBarge, 57 Carlson, 41X Vajdl, 79A LaBarge, 47J Barsness

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
A Feature (20 Laps)
1. (8) 8 Justin Jones – Bemidji
2. (3) 10M Mervin Castle III – Grand Rapids
3. (13) 91 Andy Davey – Hibbing
4. (2) 69 Justin Bassa – Cotton
5. (5) 10JR Mikey Blevins – Hibbing
6. (4) 15 Sam Blevins – Hibbing
7. (16) 14* Adam Shinn – Duluth
8. (6) 22 Chad VanDuker – Forbes
9. (7) M2 Chris Magistad – Floodwood
10. (12) 26K Sam Kolar – Marble
11. (22) 18X Dylan Miller – Hibbing
12. (17) 44 Brayden Rewertz – Hibbing
13. (14) 14G Brant Gruba – Britt
14. (19) 76 Keith Koski – Hibbing
15. (1) 12A Alex O’Dell – Chisholm
16. (20) 22E Ethan Elhardt – Bovey
17. (11) 7A Eric Anderson – Chisholm (DNF)
18. (10) 16 Garrett Paull – Fort Frances, ON (DNF)
19. (15) 10X Matthew Cunha – Chisholm (DNF)
20. (18) 33L Cejay LaValley – Bemidji (DNF)
21. (9) 10 Michael Blevins Sr. – Hibbing (DNF)
22. (21) 1 Joe Pangrac – Buhl (DNF)
23. (23) 31 Randy Haupt – Chisholm (DNF)
24. (24) 68G Eric Gruba – Embarrass (DNS)

Heat 1
8 Jones, 10 Blevins, 12A O’Dell, 16 Paull, 91 Davey, 14* Shinn, 76 Koski, 1 Pangrac

Heat 2
69 Bassa, 15 Blevins, 10JR Blevins, 7A Anderson, 14G Gruba, 44 Rewertz, 22E Elhardt, 18X Miller

Heat 3
10M Castle, 22 VanDuker, M2 Magistad, 26K Kolar, 10X Cunha, 33L LaValley, 68G Gruba, 31 Haupt

WISSOTA Hornets
A Feature (15 Laps)
1. (9) 25K McKenna Folstad – Hibbing
2. (2) 34 Mark Gangl – Bovey
3. (5) 27 Brady Fosso – Hibbing
4. (8) 38 Calvin Skaja – Pengilly
5. (13) 46 Louis Skaja – Pengilly
6. (7) 188 Ian VanVickle – Hibbing
7. (3) 4 Brian Barker – Kelly Lake
8. (10) 71 Nathan Bird – Kelly Lake
9. (11) 24JR Jada Lore – Embarrass
10. (14) 79JR Mikayla LaBarge – Keewatin
11. (15) 21 Tiffani Hauta-Sanders – Hibbing
12. (12) 24 Jerry Adams – Buhl
13. (1) 11 Tucker Smith – Bovey (DNF)
14. (4) 31 Zeb Graves – Nashwauk (DNF)
15. (17) 96 Trenton Beel – Hibbing (DNF)
16. (16) 22 Paige Kintner – Hibbing (DNF)
17. (6) 9 Nick Ruzich – Hibbing (DNF)
18. (18) 92S Zachary Sims – Chisholm (DNF)

Heat 1
38 Skaja, 27 Fosso, 11 Smith, 34 Gangl, 25K Folstad, 24JR Lore, 46 Skaja, 21 Hauta-Sanders, 96 Beel (DNS)

Heat 2
9 Ruzich, 31 Graves, 188 VanVickle, 4 Barker, 71 Bird, 24 Adams, 79JR LaBarge, 22 Kintner, 92S Sims

Northern Renegades Non-Wing Sprint Cars
A Feature (20 Laps)
1. (4) 101 Paul Schultz – Grand Rapids
2. (1) 11 Jesse Grife – Grand Rapids
3. (6) 46H Ken Hron – Grand Rapids
4. (2) 17B Erik Bjorklund – Sandstone
5. (8) 5J Chris Lewis – Grand Rapids
6. (10) 56 Josh Braford – Grand Rapids
7. (3) 17C Hunter Colton – Sandstone
8. (7) 92 Danny Wait Jr. – Cohasset
9. (5) 59 Jamie Reberg – St. Stephen
10. (11) 22 Tyler Hamilton – Hill City
11. (9) 17 Mariah LaPatka – Nevis

Heat 1
5J Lewis, 59 Reberg, 17B Bjorklund, 92 Wait, 17 LaPatka, 22 Hamilton

Heat 2
46H Hron, 17C Colton, 11 Grife, 101 Schultz, 56 Braford

Hibbing Speedway Points Chases
WISSOTA Late Models
99 Billy Kendall 53, 6M Jeff Massingill 53, 31 Travis Budisalovich 52, 30 Kevin Burdick 52, 45J Johnny Broking 51, 37X Skeeter Estey 47, 16 Derek Vesel 46, 54 Rick Niemi 45, 22 Jack Koranda 43, 79 Kevin Carlson 42, 12X Ben Heinle 42

WISSOTA Modifieds
22 Tyler Kintner 56, 37X Skeeter Estey 53, 88 Tanner Williamson 50, 55 Jeff Wood 50, 55W Jeffrey Wood 47, M2 Chris Magistad 46, 45 Bob Broking 45, 12T Tony Caissie 45, 85 Jeff Davis 45, 11JR Andrew Inman 43

WISSOTA Super Stocks
19 Tristan LaBarge 55, 57 Dalton Carlson 52, 41 Mikey Vajdl 50, 40C Chaston Finckbone 49, 79A Andy LaBarge 49, 3B Austin Blom 48, 76 Doug Koski 48, 01 Trevor Arens 45, 11 Kevin Salin 44, 47J Justin Barsness 43, 41X Brian Vajdl 43

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
8 Justin Jones 57, 10 Mervin Castle III 55, 69 Justin Bassa 53, 10JR Mikey Blevins 50, 15 Sam Blevins 50, 91 Andy Davey 50, 22 Chad VanDuker 48, M2 Chris Magistad 46, 14* Adam Shinn 45, 26K Sam Kolar 44

WISSOTA Hornets
25K McKenna Folstad 53, 27 Brady Fosso 53, 38 Calvin Skaja 53, 34 Mark Gangl 52, 188 Ian VanVickle 49, 4 Brian Barker 47, 46 Louis Skaja 46, 71 Nathan Bird 45, 24JR Jada Lore 43, 31 Zeb Graves 42, 11 Tucker Smith 42