Sam Mars Wins Trackside Collectibles 40 at Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, May 15 – Sam Mars, who recently just turned seventeen years old, won his first ever WISSOTA Late Model feature when he won the Trackside Collectibles 40 held on Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. Mars took over the lead on lap fifteen followed a tangle involving then race leader James Giossi who got tied up with a car he was trying to lap and spun, triggering the only yellow flag of the forty lap main event. (Fry Pan Productions)

With Giossi sent to the tail of the field, Mars, who had run second up to that point after starting on the pole position and chasing Giossi, took over the lead and would hold the top spot the last twenty six laps to get the win.

Giossi had used the high side of the track to get the initial lead with Mars and Pat Doar moving in behind him. Giossi was very fast and soon had opened up nearly a full straightaway lead on Sam Mars and the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, Sam's father Jimmy Mars, who has started sixth on the grid, moved in to challenge Doar for third with Jeff Massingill on the move behind him. Jimmy Mars was able to slide under Doar for that spot after a terrific side by side battle with Massingill then moving in to challenge Doar also.

Giossi was comfortably out front and starting to work his way through traffic when he caught the car of Aaron Wilson. While trying to press the issue with the slower car, Giossi got too quick coming off turn two and ran up the back of the slower car as he tried to squeeze under him and spun to a halt, triggering the yellow with fourteen laps complete. Giossi was sent to the tail for triggering the yellow and instead opted to pull off the track.

This left Sam Mars as the lead with his father Jimmy and Doar as the top three cars. On the green, Sam pulled away from his father and set a high speed pace, one that no one could keep up to. With no slower cars to deal win, Sam Mars continued to maintain his pace as Jimmy Mars slipped back by ten or more car lengths.

Sam's only trying moment came with less than ten laps to go when he finally caught traffic and had to try and get past the car of Scott Meeds. After making several attempts but being held up, he finally ducked under Meeds and into the clear and while his father Jimmy closed in, cutting the lead in half, Sam was in control and crossed under the line as the winner, earning two thousand dollars for his first ever win. Jimmy Mars would finish second and congratulate his son in victory lane with Massingill coming home third ahead of Doar and John Kaanta. Eleven of the fifteen starters were still running at the finish.

Heat winners were Buddy Hanestad and Giossi.

The Late Models will make their second appearance of the year at the Rice Lake Speedway on Saturday night, May 29th with the first of two Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series events of the year at Rice Lake. This will be the second leg of the opening weekend for the Challenge Series for 2021 and a large field of Late Models is expected for that event.

WISSOTA Late Model

Trackside Collectables A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 28-Sam Mars[1]; 2. 28M-Jimmy Mars[6]; 3. 6M-Jeffrey Massingill[8]; 4. 11-Pat Doar[3]; 5. 85-John Kaanta[10]; 6. 44-Darrell Nelson[12]; 7. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[5]; 8. 71H-Rick Hanestad[9]; 9. 519-Steve Laursen[7]; 10. 55C-Chad Mahder[11]; 11. 18L-Marcus Simonson[4]; 12. (DNF) 89-Scott Meeds[13]; 13. (DNF) 11G-James Giossi[2]; 14. (DNF) 92-Aaron Wilson[14]; 15. (DNF) T18-TJ Adams[15]; 16. (DNS) 14J-James Kannegiesser

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[2]; 2. 28M-Jimmy Mars[5]; 3. 6M-Jeffrey Massingill[6]; 4. 18L-Marcus Simonson[3]; 5. 71H-Rick Hanestad[8]; 6. 55C-Chad Mahder[7]; 7. 89-Scott Meeds[1]; 8. T18-TJ Adams[4]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 11G-James Giossi[2]; 2. 11-Pat Doar[4]; 3. 28-Sam Mars[1]; 4. 519-Steve Laursen[3]; 5. 85-John Kaanta[7]; 6. 44-Darrell Nelson[8]; 7. 92-Aaron Wilson[6]; 8. (DNF) 14J-James Kannegiesser[5]