Wi Dirt Racin

By Ed Reichert

Menomonie WI, May 10 – Under sunny skies the Red Cedar Speedway was finally able to open up the fortieth season of racing at the Dunn County oval, and it was a glorious night for the Mahder family. Cousins Chad and Cory both won main events to highlight the racing action Friday. Chad dominated the Late
Model event while Cory won a thrilling last lap decision in the Modifieds while other winners on opening night included Ben Hillman, Shane Halopka, Cody Kummer and Jason Havel.
Cory’s win against a small Late Model field was rather decisive. The event got off to a rocky start when Todd Frank lost control going into turn one on the opening lap and backed his car hard into the wall, nearly climbing out of the ball park. Amazingly, after such a hard contact he was able to restart the event, although he soon dropped out with obvious damage to his racer.
Scott Gilberts took the initial lead on the restart but Mahder quickly moved in and ducked under Scott in turn four to take the lead. Once in front, he quickly stretched his advantage as the battle was for second with Mike Prochnow and Gilberts arguing for the position.
Prochnow eventually took the spot but by then Mahder had a half straightaway lead. Mike was slowly able to cut into Mahder’s lead, and at one point he cut it to about two car lengths. However, at this point Mahder seemed to pick up the pace and in the later stages of the race he began to stretch his lead again. Prochnow gave it his best shot but on this night he had to settle for second behind the high flying Mahder. Gilberts, Rick Hanestad and Mark Rose completed the top five.
Cory Mahder’s Modified win was much more difficult to come by. In fact, it wasn’t decided until Cory made a last lap move to edge past Kevin Adams and claim the victory. Steve Hallquist took the initial lead on lap one but Mahder made a strong move from the outside of row two, and with a low drive in turn four, he took the lead before one lap was completed. Hallquist and Bob Broking were battling for second with Adams, Johnny Broking and Jake Hartung close behind.
As Mahder stretched his lead, the battle for second got even tougher as Brandon Jensen came flying up from deep in the field along with Mike Anderson to make a cluster fighting for second. As Hallquist and Bob Broking fought for second, they slowed for an instant in turn two fighting for traction, and Adams took advantage of the situation to motor by on the outside and gain two positions. However, by this time, Mahder had opened up nearly a straightaway lead on the field as Adams set about cutting into his lead.
However, Mahder’s big lead went by the wayside when Johnny Broking rolled to a halt and the yellow waved with thirteen laps complete. On the green, Adams and Anderson were all over the leader in a great battle for the lead, but only one more lap was completed before a spin slowed the field. On the next try, Adams got a great run on the high side and edged past Mahder to take over the lead when the yellow flew once again as Mark Gerth hammered the fourth turn wall.
Adams had the lead for the restart and he put several car lengths on the field as Mahder, Jensen and Anderson battled right behind him. However, Adams jumped the cushion coming to the white flag, and gave up most of this lead. He was a car length ahead as they headed into turn one but Kevin got just enough off the bottom that Cory was able to get under him. They raced side by side down the back chute but Mahder had the bottom and Adams slid up the track has he tried to stay with Cory in turn three. Mahder powered over the finish line with the smallest of margins for the win in the exciting race while Adams nipped Jensen for second. Anderson and Cory Jorgensen completed the top five as the field was badly diminished near the end.
Andy Grymala and Mike Keller battled for the early lead in the Super Stock main with Keller eventually gaining the spot. Jesse Redetzke and Hillman went to the high side of the track and began to close on the leader. Hillman was able to find an opening and drove past Keller to take over the lead, but once he was in front, Keller and Redetzke stayed in close contact with him.
A yellow for debris set up a four lap finish and while Hillman opened up a slight lead on the green, Keller and Redetzke continued to battle for second with Aaron Wilson also closing in. Hillman continued his strong Red Cedar runs from last year as he motored on for the win. Redetzke nipped Keller for second in a very close finish with Wilson and Grymala completing the top five.
Jared Lindner grabbed the early lead in the Street Stock feature but he was soon challenged by Sam Fankhauser for the point. Unfortunately, Sam lost his grip in turn four and spun, triggering the only yellow of the event. Lindner continued to lead on the restart but Kummer, who started sixth on the grid, was on the move as he got past Ashley Wahlstrom to take over second. Kummer continued to charge and he was able to get under Lindner and take over the lead.
With the race remaining under the green, Kummer continued to stretch his advantage as Adam Soltis was the driver charging, moving from the seventh spot to eventually take over third. However, despite some overheating problems near the end, Kummer was able to drive on for a convincing win over Lindner and Soltis. Mike Knudtson was able to nip Wahlstrom for fourth on the last lap.
The Midwest Modifieds had the largest field of cars and they were the only class to run a nonstop main event. And it turned out to be a cakewalk for Halopka, who started in the front row and drove away from the field. Shane dominated the race from start to finish and won by nearly a straightaway over the field. Rookie Mike Schnider started on the pole and he hung tough for several laps in second before he was overtaken by Travis Anderson for the spot. Josh Smith was also on the move as he drove up to third while engaged in a good battle with Mike Truscott for position. Smith began to challenge Anderson for second as the laps ran down. However, up front Halopka was just cruising as he drove on for the victory. Anderson held of Smith for second with Truscott and Justin Supri completed the top five.
The Pure Stock feature had a wild finish with the official finish being decided after a technical inspection of the cars. Krysta Swearingen was the initial leader of the race and led a number of laps until Jason Havel was able to overtake her for the lead. Havel built up a good sized lead until Jeremy Dahl raced into second and he then began to cut into Havel’s edge.
Dahl caught Havel as the white flag waved and when Havel got trapped behind a lapped car on the final circuit, Dahl got to his inside as they raced down the back chute one last time. With Dahl on the low side, both cars went tearing into the final corner and both slid way up the track with Dahl recovering first to drive across the line for the apparent win.
However, in post race technical inspection, Dahl’s car was found to have an irregularity involving the carburetor and he was disqualified from the event. Havel was awarded the win with the adjusted finish showing Jesse Bryan in second followed by Randy Burton, Dustin Doughty and Swearingen.
Hornets are slated to join the field for racing action next Friday night, with the first green flag to fly at 7 p.m.

SUMMARY

Red Cedar Speedway
Menomonie WI
May 10, 2013

WISSOTA Late Models

15 lap Feature – Chad Mahder(Eau Claire), Mike Prochnow(Menomonie), Scott Gilberts(Menomonie), Rick Hanestad(Boyceville), Mark Rose(Elcho), Todd Frank(Mellen).
8 lap Heat – Prochnow, Frank, Mahder, Gilberts, Rose, Hanestad.

WISSOTA Modifieds

18 lap Feature – Cory Mahder(Elk Mound), Kevin Adams(Cameron), Brandon Jensen(Hammond), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Cory Jorgensen(Hermantown MN), Mark Gerth(Menomonie), Bob Broking(Grand Rapids MN), Jake Hartung(Elmwood), Steve Hallquist(Eau Claire), Johnny Broking(Grand Rapids MN), Cory Williams, Matt Leer, Curt Myers, Kevin Eder, Neil Balduc
8 lap Heat 1 – Gerth, Mahder, Hartung, Myers(Cameron), Balduc(Bessemer MI), Eder, Williams, Jorgensen
Heat 2 – Hallquist, J. Broking, B. Broking, Adams, Anderson, Leer, Jensen

WISSOTA Super Stocks

18 lap Feature – Ben Hillman(Menomonie), Jesse Redetzke(Eau Claire), Mike Keller(Menomonie), Aaron Wilson(Menomonie), Andy Grymala(Superior), Steve Thomas(Menomonie), Gunnar Watkins(Elk Mound), Chad Johnson(Colfax), Brad Johnson(Wilson), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Jim Cimfl, Luke Plank, Eric Olson, Derek Baskin
8 lap Heat 1 – Hillman, Redetzke, Steffen, Grymala, Thomas, Watkins, Rick Hallquist, Baskin
Heat 2 – Keller, Olson(Ladysmith), Wilson, Plank(Eau Claire), B. Johnson, C. Johnson, Cimfl, Mark Polen

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Josh Smith(Eau Claire), Mike Truscott(Chippewa Falls), Justin Supri(Eau Claire), Nick Koehler(Bloomer), Kerry Halopka(Wheeler), Mike Schnider(Rice Lake), Grant Southworth(Bloomer), Jake Smith(Eau Claire), Paul Niznik, Kyle Steffen, Jake Smeltzer, James Wall, Bonnie Jablonski, Jordan Hessler, Paul Suzik
8 lap Heat 1 – S. Halopka, Koehler, Hessler(Beldenville), Steffen(Cottage Grove MN), Wall(Winkler MB), B. Jablonski, Ben Schultz
Heat 2 – Jo. Smith, K. Halopka, Supri, Smeltzer(Menomonie), Niznik(Medford), Suzik, Ron Jablonski
Heat 3 – Truscott, Anderson, Schnider, Ja. Smith, Southworth, Jake Stai

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Cody Kummer(Medford), Jared Lindner(Greenwood), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Mike Knudson((Osseo), Ashley Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Ron Hanestad(Glenwood City), James Wall(Winkler MB), Troy Fransway(Elk Mound), Sam Fankhauser(Rice Lake), Nate Hauge(Loyal), Tyler Lamm
8 lap Heat 1 – Lindner, Wahlstrom, Wall, Knudtson, Hauge
Heat 2 – Soltis, Fankhauser, Kummer, Fransway, Lamm(Spring Valley)

Pure Stocks

10 lap Feature – Jason Havel(Rice Lake), Jesse Bryan(Menomonie), Randy Burton(Menomonie), Dustin Doughty(Ladysmith), Krysta Swearingen(Little Canada MN), Andrew Conklin(Ladysmith), Hunter VanGuilder(Rice Lake).
6 lap Heat – Havel, Swearingen, Jeremy Dahl(Knapp), Bryan, Doughty, Burton, Conklin, VanGuilder, Jake Hanson

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