Diemel Takes Red Cedar Speedway Late Models; Myers Repeats

Menomonie WI, May 23 – A spectacular Friday brought out a big crowd and a good field of race cars to the Red Cedar Speedway on Friday night, and A.J. Diemel took advantage of the opportunity to win his first ever regular season feature win at the track as he dominated the late model main. Four other first time winners at the track included Kevin Adams, Travis Anderson, Sam Fankhauser and George Richards while Curt Myers became the lone repeat winner from last Friday night’s opener.
The nonstop late model headliner saw John Kaanta slip a little high in turn one on the opening lap with Mike Prochnow then taking over the lead. Prochnow maintained the lead for the first few laps as Diemel moved into second and closed on the leader. Diemel tried the high side and then dropped to the low side coming off turn four and as they raced under starter Rick Cook on lap six, Diemel took over the lead. From that point on, A.J. gradually pulled away from the field and eventually stretched his margin to about half a straightaway on Prochnow. The best battle on the track was for third as Kaanta and Rick Hanestad raced many laps side by side, sometimes in very close action, before Rick was able to take the spot away in the late going. Jake Redetzke completed the top five.
After two, first lap spins by contenders Ashley Anderson and Ross Prochnow saw them forced to the tail of the field, Adams inherited the lead on the third attempt and quickly moved away from the pack. Cory Williams, Luke Schilling and Jake Hartung had a good battle for second with Hartung using the high side to eventually take the position.
As the race remained under green, Adams was able to maintain his advantage while Hartung tried to cut into the sizable lead. The best charge was put on by Mike Anderson. He started tenth on the grid and gradually moved to the front of the pack, using the second groove on the track. Late in the race he made a pass on Brent Prochnow that gave him the third spot with Cory Mahder completing the top five.
Myers displayed incredible speed as he won his second straight super stock main event at Red Cedar. He started eighth on the grid but moved to the high side of the track and quickly moved into contention. Driving deep into the corners, he got past Mike Keller for second and then closed on Steve Thomas who was holding the top spot.
Thomas did not fold easily as Myers made several attempts, thwarted by Thomas, until Curt was finally able to get up beside Thomas and drove past him down the back chute. Still, the race remained close as Thomas stayed within a couple of car lengths but couldn’t mount an attempt at a challenge as Myers drove on for the win. Luke Plank moved into third early in the event and solidly stayed there for the whole race while Gunnar Watkins and Bart Steffen had a good battle for position behind him.
Fankhauser was the winner of a confusing and controversial street stock main that saw Sam first across the line, then Cody Kummer awarded the win and interview and later yet, the call was overturned and Fankhauser got the first place check, points and trophy.
The first lap saw a tangle and a yellow flag and on the restart, Fankhauser came roaring around the outside, possibly a bit too early and took the initial lead. Sam pulled away from the pack with Cody Kummer moving into second and trying to chase down the leader. However, Fankhauser had a big lead and he crossed the line with a comfortable margin, or so it seemed.
However, as Fankhauser stopped in the infield, he was informed that he had been docked two spots for jumping the initial restart. Kummer then took the trophy and held the interview as the feature winner. Later, it was determined that Fankhauser should have been penalized the two positions during the race following a lap thirteen yellow for a spin. Since he wasn’t, track officials ruled that the win by Sam should stand and the official finish found him winning ahead of Kummer, Mike Knudtson, Adam Soltis and Kolby Kiehl.
Anderson shook off a spate of bad luck early in the season to take his first Midwest modified main event of the year as he held off a charging Shane Halopka for the win. Luke Shackleton took the early lead as he looked for his first feature win ever and he continued to hold the top spot for the first few laps with Anderson moving into second. However, Shackleton slid high and Anderson drove under him to take over the top spot with Halopka following the line to take over second.
Shackleton was then involved in the most spectacular wreck at the track so far this season when he lost control in turn four, piled nearly head on into the concrete wall and then flipped onto his top. The red flag incident saw Shackleton unhurt but the car was badly damaged. Six laps remained in the race and Anderson held the point as Halopka was all over him for the lead. Shane tried to go high on the last lap but the move didn’t work and Travis held on for the win. Nick Koehler came from deep in the pack for third ahead of Grant Southworth who also came from the back and Kerry Halopka.
Jay Folz, Hunter VanGilder and Jeremy Dahl battled in the early going for the Pure Stock lead before Dahl took the spot. A couple of spins slowed the action and jumbled the field as Richards took advantage of the slow downs to work his way toward the front after having a flat tire in his heat and starting tail back in the main.
The final yellow with two laps to go allowed Richards to get to the rear bumper of Dahl and when Jeremy moved off the bottom in turn two, Richards was right there to drive under him and take over the top spot. Dahl tried a last lap move to regain the position but Richards held him off for the win. Folz came back for third ahead of VanGilder and Jesse Bryan.
Next Friday, May 30th , DKS Construction will present the racing program which again starts at 7 p.m. Adding to the program, the Hornets will make their first appearance of the 2014 racing season and will run weekly the rest of the year.

SUMMARY

Red Cedar Speedway
Menomonie WI
May 23, 2014

WISSOTA Late Models

20 lap Feature – A.J. Diemel(Elk Mound), Mike Prochnow(Menomonie), Rick Hanestad(Boyceville), John Kaanta(Elk Mound), Jake Redetzke(Eau Claire), Scott Gilberts(Menomonie), Chad Mahder(Eau Claire), Todd Green(Eau Claire)
10 lap Heat – Diemel, Kaanta, Hanestad, Redetzke, Prochnow, Mahder, Gilberts, Green

WISSOTA Modifieds

18 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Jake Hartung(Elmwood), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Brent Prochnow(Colfax), Cory Mahder(Eau Claire), Jesse Glenz(Cadott), Ashley Anderson(Elk Mound), Mark Hessler(Menomonie), Luke Schilling(Granton), Ross Prochnow(Boyceville), Cory Williams, Jordan Hessler, Dave Baxter, Mark Hanson, Steve Hallquist, Jay Richardson
10 lap Heat 1 – Adams, Mahder, Schilling, R. Prochnow, Hessler, Hallquist, Richardson, Hessler
Heat 2 – B. Prochnow, A. Anderson, Williams(Spring Valley), Hartung, M. Anderson, Glenz, Baxter, Hanson

WISSOTA Super Stocks

18 lap Feature – Curt Myers(Cameron), Steve Thomas(Menomonie), Luke Plank(Eau Claire), Gunnar Watkins(Elk Mound), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Aaron Wilson(Eau Claire), Mike Keller(Menomonie), Jesse Redetzke(Eau Claire), Tony Falkner(Menomonie), Jim Cimfl(Turtle Lake), Jim Harris, Rick Hallquist
10 lap Heat 1 – Watkins, Steffen, Redetzke, Harris(Menomonie), Falkner, Hallquist
Heat 2 – Myers, Plank, Thomas, Keller, Cimfl, Wilson

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Travis Anderson(Colfax), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Nick Koehler(Bloomer), Grant Southworth(Bloomer), Kerry Halopka(Wheeler), Mike Schnider(Rice Lake), Dylan Goettl(Chippewa Falls), Jake Smeltzer(Menomonie), Ryan Johnson(Eagan MN), Nate Spence(Spring Valley), Luke Shackleton, Josh Wahlstrom
10 lap Heat 1 – S. Halopka, Anderson, Smeltzer, K. Halopka, Johnson, Spence
Heat 2 – Southworth, Koehler, Schnider, Shackleton(Knapp), Goettl, Wahlstrom

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Sam Fankhauser(Rice Lake), Cody Kummer(Medford), Mike Knudtson(Osseo), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Kolby Kiehl(Cameron), Jake Hanson(Downing), Andrea Keeney(Ridgeland), Chris Johnson(Eau Claire), Andy Cimfl(Clayton)
10 lap Heat 1 – Soltis, Knudtson, Kummer, Hanson, Ron Hanestad(Glenwood City)
Heat 2 – Fankhauser, Kiehl, Cimfl, Johnson, Keeney

Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – George Richards(Mondovi), Jeremy Dahl(Knapp), Jay Folz(Rice Lake), Hunter VanGilder(Rice Lake), Jesse Bryan(Menomonie), Don Cook(Barron), Brett Myers(Eau Claire), Randy Burton(Menomonie), Jay Barnier(Chippewa Falls), Cody Tisdale(Eau Claire), Mike Grover, Krysta Swearingen
8 lap Heat 1 – Folz, Burton, Bryan, Grover(Chetek), Myers, Barnier
Heat 2 – Dahl, Swearingen(Little Canada MN), Cook, VanGilder, Tisdale, Richards

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