Belland, Isaacson Hold of Strong Challenges to Repeat at TNT By Jeremy Mayo

June 14, 2008; Three Lakes, WI - This week’s list of feature winners reads much the same as last week’s as Bruce Belland, Jordan Kurtti and Jason Isaacson all found their way back to Reliv Victory Lane on Snap-On Tools Night at TNT Speedway.

For Belland, it was his third feature win of the season in the WISSOTA Midwest Mods. Kurtti already has four feature wins to his credit, in just four WISSOTA Street Stock features. Isaacson scored his second win of the season in the TNT Stingers.

It was by no means a Saturday drive for Belland, who lost a wheel in his heat race and finished fourth. Belland was back for the feature, but had to withstand a strong effort from Jerry Grasse.

Grasse started from the outside pole and quickly asserted himself as the leader. Belland came from the back like a rocket ship. He started eighth but had flown all the way to second by lap three.

From there Belland began to reel in Grasse. The two began their side-by-side battle on lap eight, and by lap 11, Belland was in front. Grasse stayed close in the final laps and got back to Belland bumper bar with two laps to go, but could never make the pass.

Kurtti’s road was much easier in the WISSOTA Street Stocks. He lagged behind on the start in a move that proved to be wise. Just three laps later, Ron Van Dusen spun near the front of the pack in turn four and got some air off the infield berm.

Kurtti restarted third and made short work of Dave Williams and then Neal Slizewski to take the lead. Those two battled for second as Kurtti pulled away to the win. Slizewski held second until the final lap when Williams got to the outside in turn two. Williams finished the pass in turn four to take the runner-up spot.

It was a hair-raising TNT Stinger Feature as 17 cars took to the track. They quickly spread out three and four wide. That worked until lap five when Chris Nylund spun, collecting Steve Melton and bringing out the caution.

Cory Dickman led the first six laps of the race, but relinquished it to Isaacson on lap seven. Soon Jay Wilberding, making his 2008 debut, got to second and began to close in. Wilberding slowly chopped into the lead, but ran out of time, finishing three-quarters of a car length behind Isaacson.

The TNT Bombers produced not one, but two first-time winners on Saturday night. In the make-up feature from last week’s rainout, Ben Hendricksen led flag-to-flag from to pole to capture his first career win at TNT. Later in the evening, Rhinelander’s Travis Juedes captured the win, leading the final 12 laps of the race. Jake Ison finished second in both races.

Curiously enough, Juedes’ win broke a long drought for Rhinelander drivers in victory lane. It had been 22 race nights since Lee Schuppler scored a feature win in the TNT Bombers. He was the last Rhinelander driver to win a feature at TNT. That victory came on August 19, 2006.

Racing continues next Saturday night at TNT Speedway. In addition to WISSOTA AMSOIL Dirt Track Series Midwest Mods and Street Stocks and TNT Bombers and Stingers, the Trucks will return for their second show of the season. Hot Laps will begin at 7:00 PM, with racing at 7:45.




RESULTS: TNT Speedway – Saturday, June 14, 2008


WISSOTA Midwest Mods

Heat 1: 1st 5-Jerry Grasse; 2nd 15S-Cody Schmidt; 3rd 1-Jason Zdroik; 4th 7D-Charlie Derickson; 5th 65-Larry Garperini; 6th 22-Charlie Jackson

Heat 2: 1st 13R-Will Roffers; 2nd 101-Leif Gunderson; 3rd 14-Troy Smart; 4th 22B-Bruse Belland

Feature: 1st 22B-Belland; 2nd 5-Grasse; 3rd 15S-Schmidt; 4th 13R-Roffers; 5th 1-Zdroik; 6th 101-Gunderson; 7th 14-Smart; 8th 22-Jackson; 9th 65-Gasperini

WISSOTA Street Stocks

Heat: 1st 26-Jordan Kurtti; 2nd 11-John Johnson, Jr.; 3rd 2-Neal Slizewski; 4th 17-Dave Williams; 5th 04-Ron Van Dusen; 6th 3-Jake Mullins; 7th A8-Bill Froehlich

Feature: 1st 26-Kurtti; 2nd 17-Williams; 3rd 2-Slizewski; 4th A8-Froehlich; 5th 3-Mullins; 6th 11-Johnson, Jr.; 7th 04-Van Dusen

TNT Bombers

Heat 1: 1st 11-John Johnson, Sr.; 2nd 001-Jake Ison; 3rd 1-Ben Hendricksen; 4th 01Z-Ron Reese; DQ 28-Lee Bradley (Did Not Scale)

Heat 2: 1st 2T-Todd Brass; 2nd 321-Travis Juedes; 3rd 7-Jason Melton; 4th 23-Devin Wilson; 5th 88-Michael Votis

Feature: 1st 321-Juedes; 2nd 001-Ison; 3rd 2T-Brass; 4th 11-Johnson, Sr.; 5th 1-Hendricksen; 6th 23-Wilson; 7th 28-Bradley; 8th 7-J. Melton

Make-up Feature (From 6/7): 1st 1-Hendricksen; 2nd 001-Ison; 3rd 7-J. Melton; 4th 321-Juedes; 5th 11-Johnson, Sr.; 6th 28-Bradley; 7th 2T-Brass; 8th 01Z-Reese; 9th 88-Votis

TNT Stingers

Heat 1: 1st 37-Jay Wilberding; 2nd 58-Jason Gaylord; 3rd 27-Bill Martin; 4th 81M-Steve Melton; 5th 2-Brandon Ross; 6th 52J-James Lawson

Heat 2: 1st 87-Jason Isaacson; 2nd 44-Fred Feger; 3rd 97-Leo Nippa; 4th 72-Chris Nylund; 5th 13-John Barlowski

Heat 3: 1st 30V-Nick Visser; 2nd 18-Bobby Sheldon; 3rd 75-Cory Dickman; 4th 88-Will Lundberg; 5th 42-James Leitl; 6th 97L-Logan Lannet

Feature: 1st 87-Isaacson; 2nd 37-Wilberding; 3rd 27-Martin; 4th 30V-Visser; 5th 18-Sheldon; 6th 88-Lundberg; 7th 52J-Lawson; 8th 58-Gaylord; 9th 44-Feger; 10th 75-Dickman; 11th 2-Ross; 12th 72-Nylund; 13th 41-Dennis Mikkelson; 14th 42-Leitl; 15th 97-Nippa; 16th 97L-Lannet; 17th 81M-S. Melton