NELSON AWESOME AT SILVER 1000
Makes History With Sweep
By Jerry O'Brien 8-31-06 

Hermantown's Darrell Nelson has been on a hot streak at the Proctor Speedway late in the 2006 season wining the Modified crown and finishing second to Late Model titleist Harry Hanson. Nelson is peaking at just the right time as the big money specials are coming up starting Thursday August 31 with the grand daddy of ‘em all the 34th annual Silver 1000. 

Nelson sent the 44 car field of WISSOTA Late Models to school winning every event he entered except the pole dash in the Late Model division where he finished second to rookie sensation Jake Redetzke of Eau Claire who is the son of former Silver 1000 winner Jerry Redetzke. Nelson won heats in both divisions as well as the 30 lap Modified feature which went flag to flag without a caution period and the 40 lap Late Model feature which had two caution flags, one with nine laps remaining and one with one lap to go which set up a two lap shootout for the win. Nelson held off "Mr Excitement" over the final two circuits for the win and a unique spot in the history books. 

The Modified portion of the event was the fifth leg of the Como Oil & Propane Modified Series. Nelson won his heat race which qualified him for the Taco John's Pole Dash which he promptly won putting him on the pole for the 30 lap feature flanked by Scott Hudack. At the green flag second row starter Justin Jones shot past Nelson and Hudack to the lead and pulled off to a three car length bulge. Nelson gathered it up and quickly closed on Jones slipping past to a lead he would not relinquish as the 30 laps flew by without a slowdown. Jones was second ahead of Hudack by three quarters of a straight away, however Jones bobbled and slid off the back straight luckily losing only second to Hudack. Meanwhile Nelson was having his way with the event and was soon lapping back markers in the 25 car field. Also running in the top five were Kevin "Buzzy" Adams and Al Uotinen. As the mid point of the event was reached Nelson held a substantial lead over Hudack who was likewise well ahead of Jones. Despite being in heavy traffic the veteran Nelson still continued to drive away from Hudack. Jones appeared to be struggling a bit as he grudgingly continued to give up spots. Nelson easily dominated the pack for the impressive win, his second straight Silver 1000 Modified win and third over all. Hudack put together his strongest run in a while for second while Adams finished third. Uotinen and 11th starting Don Copp rounded out the top five. 

For the 40 lap WISSOTA Late Model feature, Nelson's second place finish in the pole dash put him on the outside of the front row which appeared to make little difference. At the green flag Nelson shot into the lead with Jake Redetzke second, 2005 winner Jeff Provinzino in third over Adam Hensel and veteran Rick Egersdorf. While Nelson drove away from the field Provinzino and the 18 year old Redetzke battled for second while Hensel was fourth a few car lengths back and Egersdorf languished in fifth. Former champion Joel Cryderman was on the prowl and was up to seventh from 14th before dropping out with mechanical problems. Also moving forward was Terry Casey closing on the battle for second after getting by Egersdorf and Hensel. Nelson put some lapped traffic and considerable distance between himself and Provinzino who had broken away from Redetzke. 20 laps in Nelson's lead was substantial over Provinzino with Casey now third, Redetzke fourth and Egersdorf maintaining fifth. Nelson was battering the field on his way, apparently, to his second win of the night. The field was really spread out with a lot of traffic separating first from second and third from second and it looked as though Nelson had a lock on the win. A debris caution flag with nine laps remaining ruined the non-stopped action and decimated Nelson's lead. At the restart, Nelson was able to hold off Provinzino and extend his lead as Provinzino was now concerned with pressure from a very fast Casey. Casey soon overtook Provinzino with five laps remaining and set out to track down Nelson. Hensel was fourth with fifth starting Chad Mahder rebounding in the later stages to battle with Redetzke for the fifth spot. The final caution flag flew with two laps remaining as former champions Jeff Hinkemeyer and Tom Waseleski, Sr tangled in the first turn. The incident set up a two lap shootout and gave Casey a chance to steal the win. Casey gave it a great try but overcooked it a bit in turn two on the white flag lap letting Nelson get away for the win. Casey finished a close second with Hensel getting the better of Provinzino for third and Redetzke rounded out the top five.

Darrell Nelson Sweeps Silver 1000 Action

Results 34th annual Silver 1000 Late Model Special (44 cars)
Heat 1: Jake Redetzke, Rick Egersdorf, Steve Vesel, Mitch Johnson, Carter Gerlach, Joey Ogston, Jeff Massingill, Dave Esse, DNS John Carpenter 
Heat 2: Darrell Nelson, Joey Jensen, Chris Ortel, Tom Waseleski, Sr, Todd Gehl, Greg Hill, Tom Waseleski, Jr DNF John Massingill, Aaron Lillo 
Heat 3: Adam Hensel, Bill Byholm, Kelly Estey, Steve Laursen, Danny Young, Kevin Carlson, Bob Slater, DNF Harry Hanson, Mike Rich 
Heat 4: Jeff Provinzino, Brent Larson, Joel Cryderman, A J Diemel, Duane Mahder, Brandon Jensen, Lamce Matthees, Jim Carlson DNF Andy Simonsen 
Heat 5: Chad Mahder, Terry Casey, Pat Doar, Tim McMann, John Kaanta, Jeff Broking, Jeff Hinkemeyer, Nick Musel Pole Dash: Redetzke, Nelson, Provinzino, Hensel, C Mahder 
B Feature: (two advance to feature) Diemel, Gehl, Kaanta, Johnson, K Carlson, Musel, John Massingill, Jeff Massingill DNS Matthees, Rich 
B Feature: (two advance to feature) Waseleski, Sr, McMann, Hinkemeyer, Young, Hanson, Waseleski, Jr, Ogston Disqualified: Carpenter DNF Simonsen DNS Brandon Jensen  

Feature: (40 Laps) Nelson, Casey, Hensel, Provinzino, Redetzke, C Mahder, Jensen, Doar, Egersdorf, Ortel, Estey, D Mahder, Waseleski, Sr, Hanson (provisional), Gehl, Hinkemeyer DNF Kaanta, Vesel, Gerlach, B Larson, McMAnn, Diemel, Cryderman, Laursen, Byholm 

Como Oil & Propane Modified Series (52 cars)
Heat 1: Jeff Spacek, Kelly Estey, Rick Rivord, Rick Friendt, Jason Anderson, DNF Joey Galloway, Kelly Checkalski, Paul Schultz, Troy Girolamo 
Heat 2: Justin Jones, Craig Thatcher, Brad Hanson, Pat Doar, Ricky Roche, Jeff Wood DNF Travis Zollar, Jeff Lien, Brent Larson Heat 3; Al Uorinen, Riley Matthews, Bob Broking, Jeff Hart, Corey Jorgenson, Jeff Ruzich, Steve Lavasseur DNF Duane Dale, Joey Jensen 
Heat 4: Scott Hudack, Nick Nelson, Bill Byholm, Chris Ortel, Dan Schroeder, Dan Sellung DNF Mark Johnson, Jody Bellefeuille, Kyle Gavel 
Heat 5: Kevin Adams, Don Copp, Dave Cain, Bill Stettner, John Carpenter, Rick Cannata DNF Kent Baxter, Jayme Lautigar 
Heat 6: Darrell Nelson, John Reini, Dean Yrjanainen, Jodi Olson, Ross Kightner, Matt Sorenson 
Taco John's Dash: Nelson, Hudack, Jones, Adams, Uotinen, Spacek 
B Feature:(two advance to feature) Ortel, Wood, Checkalski, J Anderson DNF Girolamo, Gavel, Schroeder, Ken Hron, Friendt, Dale Disqualified Cannata. 
B Feature (two advance to feature) Doar, Roche, Sorenson, Carpenter, Stettner, Zollar, Jay Richardson DNF Larson, Bellefeuille, Schultz, Ruzich 
B Feature: (two advance to feature) Jensen, Hart, Johnson, Lavassuer, Jorgenson, Sellung DNF Lautigar, Lightner, Olson, Lien DNS Galloway 

Feature: (40 laps) Nelson, Hudack, Adams, Uotinen, Copp, Spacek, Byholm, Jones, Cain, Estey, Thatcher, N Nelson, Broking, B Hanson, Doar, Wood, Jensen, Ortel, Hart, Roche, Matthews, Yrjanainen DNF Rivord, Larson, Reini. 

Race Notes: nine former Silver 1000 champions attempted to qualify for the 40 lap feature with seven qualifying including 2005 winner Jeff Provinzino, Rick Egersdorf (‘86, ‘91, ‘99) Joel Cryderman (1990), Pat Doar (2000), John Kaanta (2003-04) Harry Hanson ( Provisional) (2002), Tom Waseleski, Sr 2001 and Jeff Hinkemeyer. Failing to qualify were Steve Laursen (‘94, ‘98) Mitch Johnson ("95-"97) 

Three Father and son teams attempted to qualify for the 34th annual Silver 1000 including John and Jeff Massingill of Keewatin, Mn, Tom and Tom Waseleski, Jr, Pengilly, MN and Duane and Chad Mahder, Eau Claire, Wi. Both the Mahders qualified with son Chad finishing 6th and Dad Duane finishing 12th. Waseleski, Sr qualified and finished 13th. Neither Massingill was able to qualify. 

The 40 lap Late Model feature took a total of 18 minutes to complete despite two late race caution flags. Nelson dedicated his wins to his Aunt Suzy Christianson who had passed away on Thursday August 31st.   16 of 25 starters in the Late Model feature were running at the finish.