LaBarge lives out his racing dream

HIBBING—Tristen LaBarge looks forward to the Labor Day Shootout.

Ever since he was a kid, LaBarge sat in the grandstand hoping that one day, he could win a title at the annual event.

That reality became true, and, LaBarge finally lived out that dream when he captured the Super Stock checkered flag at the Labor Shootout Sunday at the Hibbing Raceway.

LaBarge drew a lot of inspiration from the drivers he was watching, so he hopes he can be that same kind of role model for today’s youth.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to win it,” LaBarge said. “Being up there in the grandstand wishing I was one of these guys out here, just the hype of the whole thing is great.

“It’s everything for those little kids out there to watch because it makes them fall in love with something, and gets them interested in it. I hope that this race tonight did that for them.”

It’s reality that almost didn’t happen.

On Saturday, LaBarge was all set to race, but he had to pull off the track early due to mechanical problems.

He loaded up his car in the trailer and headed home.

“I didn’t get to race at all because of the distributor,” LaBarge said. “I went home and went to bed. I slept all of the way to 2 p.m.”

Fortunately for LaBarge, there was a plan in place to race the next day.

“(Sunday) morning, I told my wife, I said, ‘If you want to win, you have to drive all of the way to Ashland to go get the parts,’” LaBarge said. “That was the deal. We also had Julie and Kieth Nyman who said, ‘We’ll pay for it, but you have to get it.’

“My wife and mother-in-law, Tammi, took off at 7 a.m., and they were back here at 2 p.m. We were putting that distributor in. We were thinking that was the problem. We weren’t even for certain. I was figuring it out. We even pulled in late again.”

LaBarge was able to figure out the problem, and he was on the track again.

“We were fast as heck in the heat race,” LaBarge said. “In the feature race, the car wasn’t that good. I had a game plan in that last last lap. Since there was a green-white-checkered flag, I was better than them on the starts.

“They weren’t going to like it by giving them the door, but that’s racing.”

By them, LaBarge is referring to Austin Blom and Shane Sabraski, who had worked their way to the front of the pack.

“I was actually planning on a second-place finish, then Sabraski got by me,” LaBarge said. “At that point, I was planning on a third. When he was driving by me, I gave him a kiss. I was going to give him a kiss back if I was going to see him again.”

LaBarge did more than see Sabraski.

He flew by him and into first place.

“I doored him,” LaBarge said. “I went into the corner harder. I needed that to get by him.”

Once he crossed the finish line, LaBarge had accomplished something that had eluded him for his many years on the track.

“We didn’t do this in the Pure Stock, so it’s been around 13, 14 or 15 years,” LaBarge said. “It made me strive to do better the next year. I’m not a quitter. I just want to win. Every night in Hibbing, I practice for the Labor Day Shootout.

“I look at it like that. Even though I want to win every night, it’s practice. I’ve been waiting to do that my whole life. I’ve been trying to get my name on a T-shirt forever. My buddy Kenny Huismann and I have wanted this badly.”

Late Models

Cole Searing drove 400 miles from Huron, S.D., to compete at the Labor Day Shootout, and at least he made it worth his while.

On the first night of the event, Searing placed eighth.

On night two, Searing captured his first title at the Labor Day Shootout, edging out Jeff Provinzino at the finish line.

Was it worth the trip?

“The last day was great, but the last few days were kind of rough,” Searing said. “It ended up alright.”

It helped that Searing started on the pole position, but Provinzino wasn’t going to go down easily.

“He led most of the race,” Searing said. “The first race, I got out in front of him. The second race, he kind of jumped around me. He was running a weird line, and the top came in pretty good.

“I was able to get him right there at the end.”

Everything fell into place for Searing as he passed Provinzino with around five laps to go.

“I had to start in the front and be there when the rubber was starting, to build up,” Searing said. “Thankfully, it didn’t rubber. They put a lot of effort into the track, and it showed. We had a couple of good lanes of racing.

“All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good 40-lap feature, but this feels good. We’re chasing Challenge Series points, so this got us a little closer. I’m still in second, so we’ll have to see what the next two weeks bring. Hopefully, we can get it wrapped up.”

Modifieds

Going into the Modified feature, Shane Sabraski had previous wins in 2020 and 2022.

The racer from Rice now has a third Modified titles beating Bob Broking at the Labor Day Shootout.

Sabraski, who also has eight Super Stock titles and one B-Mod title, credited the luck of the draw for this win.

“With the Mod, we were able to start up front,” Sabraski said. “We were able to start in a decent heat, and we had a decent track to race on. I was able to work my way to the front because of the passing points here.

“I was able to start up front after the heat race because we had good passing points in the Modified. I rolled around there and held on to the lead the whole race.”

Not bad for someone who juggles three cars during the night. He also drives a Late Model.

“I’m getting used to it,” Sabraski said. “At first, pulling a Mod and Super (Stock), I was pretty used to that before. When I threw the Late Model in there, It was goofing me up for a little while.

“Now I have a handle on all of them.”

Midwest Modifieds

The best finish Mervin Castle III has had at a Labor Day Shootout was sixth.

Now, Castle III, who is from Grand Rapids, can add a first-place finish to his résumé as he beat out Mikey Blevins for the Midwest Modified title Sunday.

“I’ll probably feel it more Monday, but this feels good,” Castle III said. “There’s been a lot of years of frustration. Last year, we got sixth, which was our best finish to this date. Now we have first.”

How Castle III pulled it off is even more remarkable.

He started 10th.

“You have to have a little bit of luck, and a few cautions when you need them,” Castle III said. “I put the car on the bottom of the race track and picked them off one-by-one, as many as I could.

“I felt like I was getting closer to the front on every lap.”

He didn’t take the lead until the final lap in the 25-lap race.

“I got the lead on lap 24 ½,” Castle III said with a laugh. “I cranked it all of the way to the front, and I was going to send her all of the way. It was either going to be a spin out or a win.

“That’s what I was going for. Mikey ran well, too. It was a good race.”

It was enough to get the win.

“It’s awesome,” Castle III said. “I hope I get another opportunity.”

Hornets

Justin Schelitzche had only been to the Hibbing Raceway once before, but his second trip turned to gold.

Schelitzche won the Hornets title on Saturday, then he made it a clean sweep Sunday by winning for the second time.

“It feels great,” Schelitzche said. “I never expect anything. You never know what’s going to happen during the race or with the car. Obviously, everybody can be just as fast. I had a good starting spot.”

Once again, patience was the key.

“The track was actually better than it was on Saturday,” Schelitzche said. “I was thinking it was going to be just as slick, but it wasn’t that bad. When I started on the outside, it was going pretty good.

“I debated on staying out there after I got the lead, but running the bottom worked, just like Saturday. If somebody got next to me, I could change up what I was doing. It was another good night, a huge night for me.”

The Hornet class has only been around since 2019, but only one other driver has swept the two nights, Justin Barsness in 2023.

“I just go out there and run my race,” Schelitzche said. “I try hitting my marks, and take it lap-by-lap. Winning back-to-back and being a part of something that people don’t always get to do is nice.

“If my math is right, I think I just took over the National points lead, so that’s a big deal.”