Wi Dirt Racin

Menomonie WI, August 22 – The Red Cedar Speedway wrapped up their regular season Friday night at the Dunn County Rec Park and benefitting from another driver’s bad luck, John Kaanta drove home a late model feature win to highlight the racing action. Other winners on a hot and muggy August night were Kevin Adams, Ben Hillman, Shane Halopka, Ron Hanestad, Jason Havel and William Voeltz.
The Late Models had one of their better fields of cars of the season as several drivers tuned up for the Punky Manor Challenge of Champions next month at the speedway and first timer Jesse Redetzke took the early lead from the pole. Redetzke led the first few laps until Kaanta and Brent Larson moved in to challenge him. Kaanta pulled in low behind Jesse and tried to get by him on the low side, but Jesse continued to hold the low line and Kaanta was blocked.

Larson spotted this and went to the high side of the track and he blew past Redetzke to take over the lead. Larson quickly put distance on the field as Kaanta continued to work on Redetzke, with John eventually going to the top side also to take over second. However, Larson had built up a considerable lead and while Kaanta tried, he wasn’t able to cut into the lead. Meanwhile, Scott Gilberts, Mike Prochnow and Rick Hanestad were also closing in to challenge Redetzke for third.
Things changed dramatically with five laps to go when Larson suddenly slowed on the back chute, the victim of a flat right rear tire. Larson pulled off and called it a night with Kaanta inheriting the lead. However, things weren’t totally safe for Kaanta as on the green Prochnow drove to his inside and briefly took over the lead but Kaanta reclaimed the top spot down the back chute and then edged away from the field in the last few laps to take his second win of the year at Red Cedar. Hanestad made a late rush to take over second from Prochnow with Gilberts and Redetzke completing the top five.
Adams continued his recent hot streak on area ovals with his second Modified feature win of the year at Red Cedar. The Modifieds went nonstop from green to checkered with Mark Hanson the early leader. Adams was right behind Hanson and took several stabs at getting by him before he was successful in slipping past in turn four. Once in front, Adams started to stretch his advantage as Hanson battled with Matt Leer for second.
As Adams continued to pull away, Leer moved into second with Ross Prochnow and Mike Anderson also moving up when Hanson clobbered the third turn wall.
Adams was able to extend his lead to nearly a straightaway as he drove home unchallenged for the win. Anderson picked up the pace dramatically in the last few laps as he drove under first Prochnow and then Leer to nab second at the finish. Hanson held on for a top five finish.
Riding the cushion as he likes to do, Hillman drove up from the third row to win his fourth Super Stock feature win of the year at Red Cedar. It was a tough battle as Brad Johnson had his best run of the year as he led the opening laps with Mike Keller and Hillman challenging him. While Keller tried the low side, Hillman went to the cushion and drove past Johnson to take over the lead. Keller fought hard as he battled Hillman for several laps but Ben then began to pull away. Eric Olson was on the move as he closed on Keller and then drove past him to take second while bad luck hit Johnson as a flat tire knocked him out of the action.
Hillman continued to run the top side as Olson began to cut into his lead. Eric made a late rush to close to within a couple of car lengths of the leader, but Hillman continued on as he drove home for the win. Keller held on for third with Bart Steffen and Jason Forehand next in line at the finish.
If there was anyone in the pits who’s luck was worse than Larson, it may have been Nick Koehler who was probably already celebrating his Midwest Modified feature win when things took a dramatic change on the final lap and he ended up losing the race to Shane Halopka.
After Kyle Johnson lost power on the start of the Midwest Modified main, veteran Dave Shackleton took the lead. Shackleton was working the high side where he was challenged by Halopka and Koehler. Nick was flying on the low side of the track and he drove under Shackleton to take over the lead.
Koehler then began to pull away from the field and no matter where on the track Halopka tried to race, he couldn’t cut the margin that Koehler was building up. Eventually Nick had the better half of the straightaway on the field. Shackleton was locked in a good battle for third with Jake Smith and Kerry Halopka while Shane Halopka continued to chase Koehler.
As the laps ran down, Koehler continued to extend his lead and he took the white flag as did most of the field. Going down the back chute, he came up on the backmarker of Brent Voeltz who had lost power and was slowing dramatically. The yellow flag came out and the official’s decision was to run the last two laps again.
On the green, Koehler received heavy pressure from Shane Halopka and Shackleton who again went to the cushion. Pushing hard to hold off the field, Koehler inadvertently got his rear tire in some liquid that was on the track from another leaking car, and his car slid out, opening the door to Halopka. The white flag came out and the damage was done, as Koehler couldn’t catch Halopka on the final tour with Shane driving home for his fourth feature win of the year. A chagrined Koehler had to settle for second ahead of Shackleton, Smith and Kerry Halopka.
Another nonstop feature race saw the Street Stocks go without a yellow as Hanestad recorded his second win of the year here. Although Ron started on the pole, he slumped to third in the early going as Adam Soltis drove into the lead with Chris Peterson and Nick Wojcik also applying heavy pressure. Soltis was running the low line with Peterson and Wojcik tucked on his bumper so Hanestad moved to the high side. Slowly he gained ground and after a number of laps, he edged up beside Soltis as they battled for the lead. Slowly but surely, Hanestad eased into the lead as Soltis couldn’t match his speed in the corners.
Once in front, Hanestad started to stretch his margin with Soltis still under the gun. Ron drove home for the win, with Wojcik finding an opening late in the race to slip into second ahead of Soltis, Peterson and Mike Knudtson.
The closest finish of the night saw Havel edge past Jesse Bryan on the final lap to win the Pure Stock feature. Bryan had led from the start but was under heavy pressure from Hunter Van Gilder, Kent Harmon and Havel. With Bryan guarding the low side, Havel edged up to the second groove and had success as he moved up to second and he then began to close on the leader. Using very much the same line as Hanestad would later, Havel got closer and closer to the leader as the laps ran down. Side by side at the white flag, they both drove dangerously hard into the final corners as both were on the edge of control. Havel was able to carry his momentum just a little bit better coming to the checkered and he took the win by a fender length for his first of the year at Red Cedar. Behind Bryan, the order included Harmon, Van Gilder and Brett Myers.
Voeltz got into the lead immediately in the Hornet main event and drove away from the pack, winning by nearly a straightaway in the nonstop main event. He was chased home by Dillon Pronschinske, Brad Hoffman, Jordan Langer and Darrell Komro.
The final racing event of the 2014 racing season will be the 35th annual Punky Manor Challenge of Champions to be held on Friday, September 19th and Saturday, September 20th. The exact format, starting times etc. will be announced in the coming days so race fans should monitor the speedway website and face book page for updates on this event.

SUMMARY

Red Cedar Speedway
Menomonie WI
August 22, 2014

WISSOTA Late Models

20 lap Feature – John Kaanta(Elk Mound), Rick Hanestad(Boyceville), Mike Prochnow(Menomonie), Scott Gilberts(Menomonie), Jesse Redetzke(Eau Claire), Duane Mahder(Eau Claire), Mike Bear(River Falls), T.J. Adams(Hayward), Greg Nippoldt(Roberts), Todd Green(Eau Claire), Brent Larson
8 lap Heat 1 – Kaanta, Gilberts, Nippoldt, Redetzke, Bear, Green
Heat 2 – Prochnow, Hanestad, Larson(Lake Elmo MN), Adams, Mahder

WISSOTA Modifieds

18 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Matt Leer(Bruce), Ross Prochnow(Boyceville), Mark Hanson(Chippewa Falls), Jay Richardson(Spring Valley), Kevin Eder(Ashland), Jordan Hessler(Beldenville), Dave Baxter(Eau Claire), Cory Williams(Spring Valley), Neil Balduc, Steve Hallquist, Jake Miller, Luke Schilling, Ashley Anderson
8 lap Heat 1 – Adams, Hanson, Eder, Schilling(Granton), Richardson, Miller, Balduc, A. Anderson
Heat 2 – M. Anderson, Leer, Baxter, Prochnow, Hallquist, Hessler, Williams

WISSOTA Super Stocks

18 lap Feature – Ben Hillman(Menomonie), Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Mike Keller(Menomonie), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Jason Forehand(Eau Claire), Gunnar Watkins(Elk Mound), Kenny Davis(Eau Claire), Jim Cimfl(Turtle Lake), Chad Gullixson(Hammond), Jesse Redetzke(Eau Claire), Eric Schultz, Derek Baskin, Luke Plank, Karl Dicks, Brad Johnson, Rick Hallquist
8 lap Heat 1 – Watkins, Keller, Steffen, Johnson(Wilson), Hallquist(Eau Claire), Cimfl, Gullixson, Baskin
Heat 2 – Redetzke, Hillman, Forehand, Olson, Davis, Schultz, Dicks, Plank

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Nick Koehler(Bloomer), Dave Shackleton(Knapp), Jake Smith(Eau Claire), Kerry Halopka(Wheeler), Cory Bruggeman(Stillwater MN), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Jake Smeltzer(Menomonie), Ryan Olson(Strum), Austin Ellis(Rice Lake), Justin Supri, Mark Thomas, Robbie Johnson, Nate Spence, Bob Wood, Doug Toepper, Chris Huther, Karl Kolek, Brent Voeltz, Kyle Johnson
8 lap B Feature – Thomas(Menomonie), Wood(Cadott), Toepper(Forest Lake MN), Huther(Medford), Spence(Spring Valley), Jimmy Green, Jim Giossi, Jared Gorka, James Giossi
8 lap Heat 1 – Koehler, Olson, K. Johnson(Eau Claire), Supri(Eau Claire), Smelter, Thomas, Wood, Huther
Heat 2 – K. Halopka, Bruggeman, Kolek(Menomonie), Voeltz(Glenwood City), R. Johnson(Wilson), Green, Jason Richardson, Ji Giossi
Heat 3 – Shackleton, S. Halopka, Smith, Anderson, Ellis, Ja Giossi, Toepper, Spence, Gorka

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Ron Hanestad(Glenwood City), Nick Wojcik(Ladysmith), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Chris Peterson(Amery), Mike Knudtson(Osseo), Bill Skoug(Osseo), Travis Hazelton(Chippewa Falls), Derek Borchardt(Bay City), Jake Hanson(Downing)
8 lap Heat – Wojcik, Peterson, Soltis, Hanestad, Knudtson, Skoug, Hazelton, Borchardt, Hanson

Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – Jason Havel(Rice Lake), Jesse Bryan(Menomonie), Kent Harmon(Arkansas), Hunter Van Gilder(Rice Lake), Brett Myers(Eau Claire), Dustin Doughty(Little Canada MN), Tucker Quinn(Ladysmith), Cody Tisdale(Eau Claire)
8 lap Heat – Van Gilder, Havel, Bryan, Harmon, Myers, Doughty, Tisdale, Quinn

Hornets

10 lap Feature – William Voeltz(Glenwood City), Dillon Pronschinske(Eau Claire), Brad Hoffman(Ridgeland), Jordan Langer(Menomonie), Darrell Komro(Durand), Rick Hoffman (Wheeler), Jeremy Johnson(Elmwood), Mark McQuisten(Elk Mound), Brad York(Colfax)
6 lap Heat 1 – Voeltz, McQuisten, Johnson, York, Langer, Komro
Heat 2 – Dan Prissel(Mondovi), Pronschinske, B. Hoffman, R. Hoffman

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