UPIR photo Don Peterson (17) leads Chuck Carmin (23), Logan Fleischman (46) and Jay Potter (33) during a heat race at the Yooper Fall Classic at the Upper Peninsula International Raceway in Escanaba,

ESCANABA — The Upper Peninsula International Raceway concluded its 2021 campaign Saturday night in enthralling fashion with the two-day Yooper Fall Classic in Escanaba.

The event kicked off Friday night with heat races — and a feature for the special guest Sands Speedway Fuel Injected Mustang class — and concluded with features Saturday evening.

Arguably the best race of the weekend — and the whole year — was the Bink’s Coca-Cola Sports Modified 30-lap showdown.

The field featured 18 drivers, with the top 12 drawing for their starting positions by picking flying disc toys in victory lane. Each disc had a starting number on it for each of the 12 spots. After the top twelve was set — with Matt Valiquette and Chuck Carmin picking first and second — the drivers threw the discs into the crowd.

The race itself ran with minimal caution flags as the drivers put on a display of hard, clean, racing throughout the pack.

It was pick and choose for racing lines throughout the 30 laps as the field fanned out two, three and almost four-wide at points.

Taking the win in the race was Chuck Carmin (Seymour, Wis.). Carmin passed Matt Valiquette (Rapid River) for the lead with about 10 laps to go in the race. He then had to hold off Tyler Sobiesczyk (Shawano, Wis.) — who gained nine spots in the race — until the checkered flag.

“It feels great to come back and win,” said Carmin, who was track president at UPIR from 2018-19. “I love the U.P. and hope I was a positive influence on racing here when I had my run at the promotion side of things. There is a ton of racing history for such a small town, and now I have a significant win that is part of that tradition that is on the competition side of the coin.

“Having had to do it against some good talent and equipment and for literally thousands of people over the weekend is what makes it so special. Having family and friends here — old and new — and a bunch up from Wisconsin racing with just made it sweeter. This is a home track to me despite having moved.”

Carmin knew Sobiesczyk and defending Yooper Fall Classic Champion Jarred Vanlaanen (Luxemburg, Wis.) would be on the move but did not panic and stayed patient to let the race come to him.

“I knew (Sobiesczyk) could get up front, and defending winner Jarred VanLaanen would be there if I made a mistake,” he said. “But, I think I would have been a tough pass. I was driving to not make mistakes, and it paid off being patient and waiting for the top to get clean and not abuse the tires.”

Sobiesczyk finished second and Valiquette third. Defending Yooper Fall Classic Champion VanLaanen finished in fifth,

A class that only ran the Yooper Fall Classic was the Sands Speedway Fuel Injected Mustang division.

Started in 2019, the division has grown year-to-year at Sands while putting on close, hard racing.

For Saturday feature winner Zach Yelle (Harvey) — and the rest of the field — it was the first time racing on dirt. Regardless, the goal of the night remained the same as at Sands.

“Dirt was a completely different animal than we are used to,” Zach Yelle said. “Our whole goal was to try to put on a show, running three-wide, very tight races as we do at Sands Speedway. Overall, it was a very good time had by all of our crew and drivers. And we’re hoping that there would be a possibility of us coming back next year.”

To get the Mustangs ready for the dirt, multiple drivers stepped up to help, said Yelle, who was also grateful for just the opportunity to hit the dirt.

“We would like to put a special thanks to UPIR for allowing us to run on their track,” he said. “As well as the Iverson Crew, Jeff Soloman, Sean Falk, and Matt Valiquette for donating tires so every car had a full set so we could all get the full experience.”

Zach Yelle held off Cole Hagwell (Harvey) and Todd Yelle (Sands) to take the win.

Elliot Samppala (Harvey) threw his car to the outside of three Zach Yelle and Hagwell on the final lap in turn three. The gutsy move did not pay off, however, as Samppala spun from an almost sure thing third-place finish.

The 600 Micro Sprints held a doubleheader running once with their wings and once without.

In the winged feature, Tommie Jo Springer (Eagle River, Wis.) showed the same muscle she has through the years at Eagle River Speedway by pulling away from the field to take the win. 2021 UPIR Track Champion Kevin Warm (Escanaba) finished in second and Cole Stella (Minocqua, Wis.) in third.

Logan Getzloff (Wilson) — who started his day on the football field at the Bark River-Harris school playing for the Broncos — had his car hooked up on the outside line in the non-winged feature.

He and Kevin Warm battled sided by side for several laps before Getzloff took the victory.

Behind them in third was Stella.

“It was a very close race between me and Kevin Warm, and it felt good to pull off a win,” Getzloff said. “Wingless is very different from winged cars because there is no downforce, so there is a ton of wheel spin. It really slows down the race and gives you a lot more time to think and make a move.

“Non-winged really makes the race a lot more fun, challenging and really shows driving skills.”

At the back of the pack, as the checkered flag flew, Jeffrey Latsch (Escanaba) gave fans quite the scare as he hooked a rut and tumbled at least five times, flying through the air, before landing upside down.

He climbed from the car shaken and sore but escaped serious injury.

“The wreck felt like it was never gonna end. It just kept going,” Latsch said. “I don’t recall much of the wreck, just the initial hit and the final hit. After the wreck, my head was spinning, and everything from my neck down hurt.”

Latsch lauded his safety equipment as the main thing that helped him climb from the hellacious tumble.

“If it wasn’t for my Simpson (neck brace), I don’t think I would’ve walked away,” he said. “If it weren’t for my upgrades in safety, I think the wreck would’ve been a lot worse for me.”

Earlier in the night, Latsch finished second to winner Carson Artley (Escanaba) in the Sportsman Micro Sprint Feature. Third place was Tyler Demars (Green Bay, Wis.).

In the Street Stock feature, it was Neil Aaberg (Escanaba) across the line first. However, Aaberg’s car failed post-race inspection, awarding the win to Courtney Atkinson (Muskego, Wis.).

Atkinson, Aaberg, and Ford Malvitz (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) battled hard through lapped traffic in a highly entertaining race. Malvitz dropped out of contention for the win with a mechanical issue but returned to the track.

Jason Piron (Escanaba) and Eric Mathieson (Escanaba) finished second and third.

The Island Resort Sport Compact feature also saw the first driver across the line — in this case, Dean Bellmore (Hermansville) — fail post-race inspection. This meant Alex Constantino (Escanaba) was the winner ahead of Elliot Reid (Faithorn) and Trever Cronick (Faithorn).

An abbreviated Riverside Auto Group Youth Micro Sprint feature was won by Griffin Iverson (Escanaba) ahead of Karl Warm (Escanaba) and Tanner Rae (Escanaba).

Other top three finishers for the night by division include: U.P. Vintage Modified — Charles Peterson (Rapid River), Allan Yelle (Sands) and Kevin Lustila (Germfask); Super Vintage Modified — Jesse Denome (Escanaba), Scott Degnan (Escanaba) and Drake Degnan (Escanaba); IMCA A Modified — Josh Lambert (Casco, Wis.), Jay Potter (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.) and Matt Valiquette (Rapid River).

A last chance qualifier B feature for the Sport Modifieds was won by Brent Smith (Bark River) with Mike Richer (Escanaba) to transfer into the main event.