Todd Rose | Daily Press Griffin Iverson and Carson Artley of Escanaba duel for the lead in one of two Riverside Auto Group Youth Micro Sprint heat races Friday at the Upper Peninsula International Raceway in Escanaba.

ESCANABA — The word wild would sum up Sayklly’s Veteran’s Night at the Upper Peninsula International Raceway Friday night in Escanaba.

But even wild may fall short of fully capturing it.

After a chaotic street stock feature race, Tyler Winling (Escanaba) stood victorious in the newly painted UPIR Victory Lane.

On a late-race restart, Winling and Neil Aaberg (Escanaba) made contact in turn one and became stuck down the backstretch. At the entrance of turn three, the front two were surrounded by Paul Wagner (Gladstone) and Ron Jenshak (Escanaba) — four wide — with nowhere near enough room for everyone.

Suddenly, the nine-car pack of street stocks blew apart, with every single car in the field involved in one way or another.

“I couldn’t see what was going on behind me, and I didn’t have any control of my car entering the corner,” Winling said. “I was very thankful to come out of the corner in the lead.”

While he stewed inside the cockpit during a red flag for clean-up, Winling was ready to get back going but knew impatience would not be any help.

“I knew I had to be patient and stay calm with trying to hold off Aaberg and the rest of them on the restarts,” he said. “It felt great (to win). It wasn’t an easy victory.”

Eric Mathieson (Escanaba) ended up in the second position and Jenshak in third.

In the very next race — the Bink’s Coca-Cola Sport Modified feature — things stayed high energy.

With three laps to go, Matt Valiquette (Menominee) and Jamie Iverson (Escanaba) dueled for the lead as they battled for lapped traffic.

With cars just about covering every inch of the track, the pair came upon Wally Seppanen (Gladstone) on the inside line.

As Iverson went high, Valiquette got pinned in behind Seppanen. Then, contact.

Valiquette — pressing for the win — sent Seppanen spinning in a cloud of dust. Under caution, Valiquette was sent to the rear of the field by track officials for causing the accident.

Iverson held off Lonnie Dalgord (Escanaba) and Pat Richer (Bark River) for the win.

Matt Maki ( Rapid River) — who has shown a multitude of improvements through great finishes this year — was on his way to second when he spun out of turn four with the checkered flag in sight. Maki said the car just got away from him and that it is another great learning experience.

Another winner Friday night was Kyle Getchell (Escanaba), who won the 600 micro sprint feature ahead of Matt Peterson (Escanaba) and Kyle Mayville (Escanaba).

Getchell — a former track regular — has made sporadic appearances over the last two seasons without missing a beat.

“UPIR has always been home to me,” Getchell said. “I began my racing career 10 years ago on this track, and I have watched it evolve from a small dirt track in the middle of the field to the large banked clay track we have today. We’re out there just trying to have fun and racing whenever we can this year.”

When it comes to battling Matt Peterson — who he has fought for wins and championships against in the past — it is all respect, said Getchell.

“I have always looked up to Matt and have the utmost respect for him,” he said. ” He’s a veteran driver like myself, and he’s always hitting his marks out on the track. He doesn’t make many mistakes which has made for some exciting battles over the years. Matt’s a clean driver who holds his line well and makes it tough to pass him.

“The win feels amazing. This race probably ranks in my top five. The adrenaline was through the roof during those laps battling for the lead with Matt. I hope the fans enjoyed it as much as I did. … I cannot thank the fans enough for continuing to come out and supporting our local race track every weekend. Without the fans, we wouldn’t be here racing today.”

Getchell plans to be back for the Christian Groleau Memorial Race (July 31) and the U.P. State Fair Race (August 22).

In the Riverside Auto Group Youth Micro Sprint feature, Griffin Iverson (Escanaba) rocketed to the lead on the start and never looked back defeating Carson Artley (Escanaba) and Karl Warm (Escanaba).

Drake Degnan (Escanaba) made a power mover in lapped traffic to pass Brett Labre (Escanaba) for the lead with only a few laps remaining to take the win in the Sportsman Micro Sprint feature.

Labre fell to fourth behind second Brennan Swanson (Menominee) and Tyler Demars (Green Bay, Wis.).

Charles Peterson (Rapid River) led Allan Yelle (Sands) across the line in the Vintage Modified feature with Kevin Lustila (Germfask) third, while the Super Vintage Modified feature went the way of Matt Valiquette with Jesse Denome (Escanaba) and Don Peterson (Rapid River) behind.

Super Vintage Modified points leader Scott Degnan (Escanaba) spun from third in the closing laps but held on to finish fourth.

Trever Cronick (Faithorn) survived a race of attrition in the Island Resort Sport Compact feature to take his second win at UPIR this year. Including a win at Norway Speedway on June 25, Cronick has won a race somewhere each of the last three weeks.

Zach Gazda (Vulcan) and Tom Waselesky (Harvey) rounded out the top three.

UPIR hits the track again this Saturday with racing at 6 p.m. EST.