BARROWS — It’s pretty normal to see a Sabraski holding the checkered flag at the end of the race.
What was a little different on Saturday night was the first name.
Tommy Sabraski earned his first win of the season in the Mod 4 class with a late run to the checkered flag. With the win Sabraski moved into seventh place in the season points standings behind leader Josh Abrahamson.
It has been a difficult season at times for Sabraski, but he believes he’s finally hitting on the correct setup for his Y4 car.
“I blew an engine and I hit a wall at the beginning of the season,” he said. “I have had a lot of wrecks, but I think we have the right combination and the car has been working better and better. We got a win last Sunday so we are starting to come around.”
Fans know Sabraski’s son, Shane, very well as Shane Sabraski and his team have been running and winning for years in three classes at the speedway.
In most cases, racing gets handed down from father to son, but in the case of Tommy and Shane it was the other way around.
“Shane started about 10 years before me in demo cars,” Tommy said. “I thought before you get hurt, we will put you in a real car. He started in short track, but then I got into it when he got out about nine years ago. I have been in a Mod 4 now for four years.”
On Saturday, Tommy started from row two and settled into second place for the first three laps. He moved down to third in back of Rob Vanmil and Abrahamson.
However, Sabraski’s position changed quickly as Vanmil and Abrahamson ran into issues with their cars and were out of the race. It gave Sabraski the lead with three laps left and he took advantage.
“It was a good time. A few of the guys in front of me had some bad luck. We held everyone off and it was a good run,” Sabraski said.
He now hopes that the fun will continue in a class that he has grown to appreciate.
“It’s actually more fun and I know all of the drivers in the class,” Sabraski said. “I have never made the top 10, but am trying to work my way there. All of the drivers in this class respect each other and it is a fun class to be in. Eventually, we will move up someday, but I am enjoying this.”
After the feature, Abrahamson has a five-point lead over Dean Larson.
In other action Saturday, Dan Ebert won the Modified feature with Shawn Fletcher and Rick Jacobson behind him. Tim Johnson holds an eight-point lead over Shane Sabraski.
Johnson beat Shane Sabraski by half a car length in the Super Stock feature and Johnson holds a commanding 41-point lead over Dave Read. Danny Vang leads the points championship race for the Midwest Modified class by 23 points over Shane Sabraski, and he kept that with a first-place finish.
Dave Read took the checkered flag in the Street Stock feature, and Mike Nelson was the winner in the Pure Stock feature. Read trails Jack Peterson by just eight points in Street Stock, and Aaron Johnson has a 20-point lead over Robert Mueller.
Greg Kohl got the win in the Hornet class, and Brandon Mehrwerth paced the Outlaw Hornets. Jake Hagemann and Brandon Mehrwerth are the points leaders in the two Hornet classes.
Drivers will take Aug. 4 off for the Crow Wing County Fair before returning for the stretch run Aug. 11.
NCS Hornets
Feature: 1-Greg Kohl, 2-Jake Hagemann, 3-Taylor Esler
NCS Outlaw Hornets
Feature: 1-Brandon Mehrwerth, 2-Drue Fletcher, 3-Jess Geesey
NCS Pure Stock
Feature: 1-Mike Nelson, 2-Ross Nygren, 3-David Dosh
Heat 1: 1-Tim Bergerson, 2-Devin Larson, 3-Ross Nygren
Heat 2: 1-Gary Ohnstad Jr., 2-David Eich, 3-Mike Nelson
Heat 3: 1-David Dosh, 2-Clay Christopherson, 3-Tim Otterness
NCS Street Stock
Feature: 1-Dave Read, 2-Dan Bartick, 3-Jack Peterson
Heat 1: 1-Tim Johnson, 2-Jack Peterson, 3-John Kropuenske
Heat 2: 1- Dave Read, 2-Scott Baron, 3-Dan Bartick
NCS Mod 4s
Feature: 1-Tommy Sabraski, 2-Dean Larson, 3-Corry Vanmil
Heat 1: 1-Rob Vanmil, 2-Josh Abrahamson, 3-Dean Larson
Heat 2: 1-Corry Vanmil, 2-Tommy Sabraski, 3-Logan Draack
NCS Midwest Modified
Feature: 1-Danny Vang, 2-Shane Sabraski, 3-Rob Vanmil
Heat 1: 1-Rob Vanmil, 2-Ashley Mehrwerth, 3-Kevin Kraemer
Heat 2: 1-Dennis Czech, 2-Tim Johnson, 3-Dan Ebert
NCS Super Stock
Feature: 1-Tim Johnson, 2-Shane Sabraski, 3-Max Dondelinger
Heat 1: 1-Seth Kramer, 2-Shane Sabraski, 3-Max Dondelinger
Heat 2: 1-Tim Johnson, 2-Dave Read, 3-Derek Sweet
NCS Modified
Feature: 1-1-Dan Ebert, 2-Shawn Fletcher, 3-Rick Jacobson
Heat 1: 1-Dan Ebert, 2-Shane Sabraski, 3-Rick Jacobson
Heat 2: 1-Tim Johnson, 2-Shawn Fletcher, 3-Ed Rolfson Jr.
