11/5/2024
WISSOTA
SABRASKI’S ROOKIE LATE MODEL CAMPAIGN NETS WISSOTA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR HONORS
When the rumors starting floating around during the late months of 2023 that ELEVEN TIME National Champion Shane Sabraski and his West Metro Buick GMC-backed team were looking into getting a WISSOTA Late Model for the 2024 season, everyone knew if the rumors were true, it would just be a matter of time before Shane would be up to speed and winning races in his new division.
Well, the rumors were indeed true, and it took Shane exactly TWO starts in WISSOTA-action to pick up his first career Late Model win and that win catapulted him to a 17-win Late Model season, along with 15 in his Modified and another 21 Super Stock victories, to give him a whopping 53 wins on the year as well as the honor of being the WISSOTA Late Model Rookie of the Year in 2024.
*Disclaimer: Shane raced a Late Model in Arizona to start the 2024 season six times and ran once in unsanctioned action at Cedar Lake before his WISSOTA season started, but either way, to get his first career victory with less than ten starts lifetime in the division is awfully impressive.
As mentioned, Sabraski’s 2024 stats included 53 victories, including 17 Late Model feature wins, 15 in the Modified and 21 in the Super Stocks. At season’s end, not only was Sabraski crowned as the Late Model Rookie of the Year, but he also finished in a tie for second in the final WISSOTA Late Model national point standings, just 16 points behind champion Tyler Peterson. Sabraski also finished third in the final WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series point standings and claimed Rookie of the Year honors with the series as well. On top of that, he finished runner-up in the final WISSOTA Super Stock national points and fourth in the final WISSOTA Modified national points as well, proving that, as always, he was a threat to win in any division he chose to enter all season long.
Sabraski, 46, from Rice, Minnesota ended up with a 155-point margin over Johnny Broking atop the final talented 2024 Rookie Late Model season standings. Along with 53 wins, Shane ended up with 126 top ten finishes and 98 top five finishes amongst the 143 feature races he entered throughout the season.
When asked about his surreal season, Sabraski mentioned ‘it was an unreal year for us in the Late Model and I never imagined winning 17 features in my rookie year, especially the big money shows that we were able to come away with. Honestly, from my first win in May to the biggest paying show for $20,444, each win has been memorable this year, but if I had to pick one that stands out the most, it might have to be winning the WISSOTA 100 in my rookie season.’
Throughout Shane’s 143 feature races that he entered this season, he had to not only deal with preparing, managing and racing three cars often on the same night, but he also suffered a mild heart attack on July 29 th , but thankfully the artery that was 100% blocked was not a major one, so also kept him out of the driver’s seat for a brief period of time. Along with that, he tore a bicep tendon on August 17 th but wasn’t able to have it repaired immediately but couldn’t have surgery because he was on blood tinners for his heart situation, but he says getting that repaired is a ‘winter project’. Shane’s nickname has always been ‘The Ironman’ and after going through everything he endured this season, he more than lived up to the monicker.
Shane’s #7A Race Cars are heavily supported by West Metro Buick GMC, and he is also supported by his wife Katie, his kids Mason and Braelyn, as well as his crew, which consists of Glenn, Jimmy, Troy, Chris, Tony, TJ and Travis. Shane has been racing for a while, with his first several seasons spent in the Short Tracker and then WISSOTA Midwest Modified divisions, before he moved into the WISSOTA Modified class in 2006, then the Super Stock class in 2010, where he has been a driving force ever since and just completed his first season behind the wheel of his WISSOTA Late Model.
Notable wins for Sabraski this season included winning with the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series four times on his way to picking up Rookie of the Year honors in the series final point standings. His series victories came at the ABC Raceway, I-94 emr Speedway, Granite City Speedway and at the Gondik Law Speedway. Other key victories were winning the WISSOTA 100, the Tommy Waseleski Memorial and the Tanner Byholm Memorial XR Northern Storm finale.
Showing his versatility throughout the season, Shane won races at eleven different tracks during the 2024 campaign, including victories in Minnesota and Wisconsin, while also racing in South Dakota and Arizona along the way.
When asked what it means to win the national Rookie of the Year title in his first Late Model season, Shane said ‘when we first got the Late Model, that was the only goal I set; to go for Rookie of the Year and hopefully win a handful of races. We never had expectations of being top 3 in WISSOTA national standings, so it’s been a lot of fun I’m and not sure I’ll ever be able to top this year.’
Shane ends the 2024 season with a whopping 934 career feature wins and after winning a total of 53 throughout 2024, he should be a threat to reach the almost unheard-of milestone of 1,000 victories withing the next season or two.
Congrats to Shane and his team!
The WISSOTA Promoters Association exists to benefit its member tracks to enhance safe, profitable and successful dirt track racing, through unified, cost-effective rules, policies and procedures enacted within a democratic environment.
The WISSOTA Promoters Association was founded in 1981 by eight track promoters in Wisconsin and Minnesota, with an intent to offer uniform rules for the promoters and drivers involved in the Late Model division. Soon, the group decided to do the same for the growing Modified division.
In 1984 a voluntary steering committee was formed to oversee the business aspects that developed and to guide the future of WISSOTA’s racing divisions. That steering committee evolved into a board of directors, and the non-profit racing organization became incorporated in 1986.
Promoters who join the organization become, in essence, part owners of the racing organization and are expected to contribute to its overall success. Each November, the WISSOTA annual meeting is held; the member promoters gather annually in this forum to discuss the future of the organization. Member promoters are given the opportunity to vote on all organizational policies and procedures as well as rules for competition in the various racing divisions. WISSOTA’s member promoters and racing associations have spent approximately 30 years of hard work at the annual meetings crafting unique rules for each of the divisions, which are known as WISSOTA Late Models, WISSOTA Modifieds, WISSOTA Super Stocks, WISSOTA Street Stocks, WISSOTA Mod Fours, WISSOTA Pure Stocks and WISSOTA Hornets.
WISSOTA is proudly sponsored by their official marketing partners: Hoosier Racing Tire, My Race Pass, NAPA Auto Parts, Dirt Race Central, Speedway Motors, Suburban Chevrolet and All The Dirt Racing News, along with their Platinum partners, Raceceiver and Chevrolet Performance, plus their Gold sponsors, which include EngineQuest, QA1, and World Products. WISSOTA is also sponsored by Silver partners Motul, AFCO and Willy’s Carburetor & Dyno Shop, plus Bronze sponsors, including Hanco Corporation and Statk Products. WISSOTA also has a great group of contingency sponsors, including Brodix Cylinder Heads, BuyRaceShirts.com, Manley, Allstar Performance, AMI Graphics, Winning Edge Graphics, Velocita, RaceCals, RaceGear Designs, All Star Trophy & Awards, Minuteman Press, UEM Pistons, Mahle Motorsports, Performance Auto and MD3. WISSOTA’s Late Model Challenge Series is proudly sponsored by Structural Buildings, Momentum Truck Group, Freightliner, Western Star, Minnesota Truck Headquarters, NAPA Auto Parts, Garage Tech X-treme, Raceceiver, AT21 Spoiler Factory, Velocita, BuyRaceShirts.com, Sunoco Race Fuels by Woodie’s Racing, Gorsuch Performance Solutions, Speedwerx, Hiller Auction Inc., Shaw Trucking Inc., Collins Bros Towing of St. Cloud, ServPro, Olsen Custom Farms, Joe Provo Racewear, My Race Pass, Hoosier Racing Tire, Motul, White City Glass, Champ Pans and MD3. WISSOTA’s Official Supporters include: American Heritage Bank, After The Checkers, Bid-2-Buy, Carlson Service Center, Engine Shop, Extreme Tint LLC, Frankman Motor Comp. Inc., FYE Motorsports Promotions, Hanso Paving, Heights Pizza Man, H&S Heating & Cooling, Hilmerson Spots Center, K&A Autobody, Kal’s Motor Group, Kramlich – Deede Meats, Landwehr Construction, Line-X of St. Cloud, Manheim Minnesota, Nyhus Family Sales, Outlaw Graphics, Select Electric, LLC, Sharptruck.com, Specialized Auto Glass, St. Cloud Financial Credit Union, TP Fabricating, Town & Country Excavating, Westwind Logistics, Woodie’s Racing, Woodie’s Manufacturing and Zeuli’s Race Engines.
For more information on WISSOTA, log on to www.WISSOTA.org.
Submitted By: Nikki Cook