The 31st edition of the venerable Silver 1000 held annually at the Proctor Speedway added another new winner to it's illustrious list as John Kaanta the current WISSOTA Late Model point leader walked off with the pot of silver at the end of 40 non stop laps of competition Thursday August 28th.  A total of ten former champions were on hand with seven making the 40 lap main event.  The lineup for the feature was set by a five lap dash for the six heat winners with Justin Fegers on the pole determined to make a run for the win that eluded him in the 2002 event.  He was flanked by popular veteran Tim McMann. 

At the green flag Fegers set off to become the Hare chased by the hounds and was able to do so for 30 circuits before the hottest driver in all of WISSOTA, John Kaanta squeezed by to lead the final ten laps.  In the early going McMann, unheralded rookie Andy Simonsen, Kaanta and Joel Cryderman ran in the lead pack while Brady Smith and Pat Doar skirmished for sixth.  Simonsen, McMann and Kaanta battled door to door for second with Simonsen gaining the upper hand. He began to close on Fegers as Cryderman won the skirmish for fourth.  McMann, Doar and tenth starting Hank Berry dueled for fifth.  Fifth starter Mike Meger was off the pace and faded to the rear of the field.  McMann also began to fade and Berry grabbed fifth away from Doar.  At the 20 lap mark it was Fegers, Simonsen, Kaanta and Cryderman while Berry and Doar followed.  Also having strong runs were Paul Wrazidlo, Darrell Nelson, Leon Plank and Brady Smith.  

As Fegers began to put a lap on the pack, Kaanta surged forward to battle for the top spot as Cryderman got past Simonsen into third with Doar winning the duel to take fifth only to have his night end with a flat tire leaving fifth to Berry.  Kaanta took the lead as the three quarters mark was reached.  Cryderman closed on Fegers but ran out of laps to finish third.  Kaanta went on to take the win over Fegers, Cryderman, Berry and Leon Plank who took fifth when Simonsen slipped a wheel over the edge of the fourth turn recovering to finish a respectable tenth.   

At the green Estey led Hart, Engen and Friendt but the caution flag appeared for what would be the last time for a Jerry Hartman spin in turn one.  At the restart Hart tried the low line for the lead but Estey held him off.  Appearing in the top five in third was 1999 champion Craig Thatcher up from the 12th starting slot.  Thatcher moved to second but could not catch Estey running out of laps a car length behind.  Hart, Friendt and Jeff Wood rounded out the top five.