ESTEY AND JENSEN WIN TWIN 25'S AT PROCTOR
By Jerry O'Brien 7-31-05 Proctor, MN

A spur of the moment decision put Kelly Estey in Bob Reed's number 41 Late Model and it paid off as he won the first of two 25 lap features at the Proctor Speedway Sunday July 31. The first of two features was part of the AMSOIL Late Model Series and was for AMSOIL Series points. The second feature was inverted by a blind draw. Frisbees were placed on the track with the number of cars to be inverted printed on them. Estey, the winner of the first feature held the fate of perhaps 18 of his peers in his hands. As luck would have it he picked up the one with 18 on it meaning Joey Jensen who finished 17th in the first feature started the second on the front row.

The first 25 lap event which paid $1500 to the winner, saw Harry Hanson and Tim McMann lead the 25 car field to the green flag and it was McMann who stole the early lead. Estey quickly moved from third to second ahead of Hanson with Joel Cryderman and Steve Laursen in the front five. Cryderman was on the move and took fourth as Estey went past McMann to the lead. With three laps completed the caution flag flew for Nick Nelson who was apparently bunted off turn three by Curt Myers who was charged with the incident. At the start it was Estey in the lead with McMann, Laursen, Hanson and Cryderman in the front five. AMSOIL point leader Terry Casey was just behind them in sixth. Jeff Broking, Jeff Hinkemeyer, Lance Matthees and battled for 7th further back. Cryderman stole fourth from Hanson and Casey grabbed fifth. Hanson was in a skirmish for sixth with Broking as up front Estey had about three car lengths on McMann. Laursen went to the up side of the track to battle with McMann for the number two spot but couldn't quite pull off the pass. At the half way point Estey led McMann, Laursen, Cryderman and Hanson while Casey, Broking, Hinkemeyer, Todd Gehl and Pat Doar were sixth through tenth. As Estey began to lap back markers, McMann pulled off with a flat right rear tire leaving Laursen second with Cryderman third, Hanson fourth and Casey fifth. Estey led by a straight away as the white flag flew with Cryderman all over Laursen for second. Estey pulled off the win in a strange car while Laursen held off Cryderman. Hanson and Casey finished in the first five.

The second 25 lap event which also paid $1500 to win inverted the top 18 finishers in the first feature which put rookie Late Model driver Joey Jensen on the pole flanked by 47 year veteran Tom Nesbitt. At the green flag Jensen got the jump on the veteran and Andrew McKay with John Kaanta fifth. Todd Gehl got crossed up in turn one and Jeff Broking, Steve Laursen and Steve Vesel tangled trying to avoid him. Broking's race ended on the hook. Jensen got a good jump at the green and beat McKay to the first turn with Nesbitt third and Darrell Nelson fourth just ahead of Kaanta. Nelson harried McKay for the second spot as Jensen accelerated to a straight away lead. Doar who was running just outside the top five went to the top of the track and began picking 'em off one by one as Jensen began to lap cars at the rear of the field. With 22 laps in the record, Steve Vesel turned around in turn two bringing out the final caution flag setting up a three lap dash to the cash. At this point Laursen pulled off the speedway with mechanical problems. Though this caution put Nelson right on Jensen's bumper. Jensen had clear track in front of him, got a good start and held on for the feature win over Nelson, Doar, Hanson and Jeff Provinzino. Two other divisions were in competition including the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and the Proctor Pure Stocks. Shawn Ziells and Terry Inman led the 20 car field to the green flag but it was quickly three wide for the lead as Nick Lavato vaulted from the inside of the third row to join the battle for the lead. Ziells blinked first and Lavato grabbed the lead but Kangas stayed right with him. Justin Jones worked his way to third and, at the half way mark, Lavato led Kangas, Jones, newcomer Scott Zaradil and Darren Brown. Riley Mathews, Ziells and Greg Chesley battled in a pack just behind the leaders. Lavato won his second feature of the season over Kanf=gas with Chesley winning the battle for third. Jones and Brown finished in the top five. Rob Monahan led the 20 car Pure Stock field to the green and took the lead from front row mate and newcomer Eric Pierzina. Monahan pulled away to a stout lead as Jim McClellan popped out of the scrum to grab second. Tenth starting Tom Cianni was flying through the pack and quickly appeared in third with Dustin Lunde and Skeeter Estey trailing. An incident in turn three brought out the first of two caution flags. At the green flag Cianni tried for the lead and he and Monahan when neck and neck around the speedway in a thrilling battle for the lead while McClellan watched a few car lengths back in third. At the mid point of the event Cianni had edged ahead of Monahan and began to put some distance on the second place man. A problem in turn one brought out the final caution flag when Glen Dammer turned around and couldn't get moving quickly enough. The pack couldn't get going when Pierzina crashed in turn one. The race was shortened and Cianni went on to take his first win at the speedway.

Results: AMSOIL Series 2005 Proctor, MN. (39 Late Models)