Mars and Nelson Top Punky Manor Challenge at Red Cedar Speedway
Menomonie WI, Sept. 20 – Jimmy Mars and Darrell Nelson, two of the premier racers in the Upper Midwest, topped the WISSOTA late model and modified features respectively as the thirty fifth annual Punky Manor Challenge of Champions was concluded Saturday night at the Red Cedar Speedway. Other feature winners included Shane Halopka in the Midwest modifieds and Shane Kisling in the super stocks while the street stock main event was cancelled due to the city imposed curfew.
After a forty minutes driving rainstorm seventeen laps into the super stock feature ultimately ended that event, the races resumed two and a half hours later for the modified and late model mains with a track that was considerably different than it had been earlier in the evening. The rain made the track extremely tacky and perhaps even overly fast as the last two events were yellow flag and wreck strewn races with much damage being inflicted. Fortunately, while a lot of cars were torn up, no injuries were reported.
Rick Hanestad was the early story in the late model forty lapper, as he outgunned Harry Hanson to take the initial lead. The tone of the race was set early as a couple of cars got together in turn four, spinning and smacking the outside wall and with much of the field charging down toward them, cars were left to crash and slide into each other, blocking the track and triggering a red flag. Although there were no injuries, five cars failed to restart the event including Pat Doar who’s car suffered significant damage along with Duane Mahder who went hard into the outside wall.
On the restart, again it was Hanestad making the tough move to drive around the outside of Hanson and take the top spot while Mars also worked past Hanestad into second. The next part of the race saw Jimmy continually challenge Hanestad for the lead but Rick was running strong and refused to yield the top spot. Jake Redetzke and Adam Hensel were having a heated battle for second as defending champion Scott Gilberts and Mike Prochnow also moved into a challenging position.
Mars got to the inside of Hanestad on several occasions but just couldn’t make the pass as Hanestad continued to use the middle groove and keep Jimmy pinned to the bottom of the track and Mars didn’t use the opportunity to slide up in front of the leader either.
As they battled, Redetzke and Hensel were swapping the third spot back and forth as the pace continued to be a withering one.
Three more yellows for spins kept the field bunched and Hanestad continued to lead through lap twenty three. Going green following that slowdown, Mars again picked up the pace and got to the low side of Hanestad and finally, three laps later he was able to complete the pass and take over the lead. With the longest period of green flag racing of the event, Jimmy was gradually able to stretch his lead to ten car lengths as Hanestad was now being pressured by Redetzke for second. Jake would continue to put the heat on Hanestad until making the pass and taking over second.
One last yellow was triggered when A.J. Diemel rolled to a halt which set up a four lap sprint to the finish. Mars and Redetzke got away clean in first and second but the battle for third was intense. Gilberts made a great low side move and was able to jump from fifth to third with just a couple of laps left.
Up front, Mars drove home unimpeded for yet another Punky win, his fifth in the late models and seventh overall. Redetzke finished a solid second with Gilberts charging up to third ahead of Prochnow and Hanestad who faded at the end.
The second five consisted of Hensel, John Kaanta, Hanson, Jeff Massingill and Brandon Jensen. Only thirteen cars from the twenty seven car starting field were still running at the end.
Meanwhile, Nelson stopped Mars’ two year winning streak in the modifieds, topping Jimmy in a hard fought contest that was slowed seven times by yellows and again saw barely half the starting field complete the distance due to wrecks and mechanical issues.
Nelson did lead all the way in the thirty lapper although a late race pass by Mars was negated by a yellow flag. In the early going, Nelson got the jump on Dave Cain and while Darrell was able to open a slight lead, Cain and Mars swapped the second spot through five yellow flags in the first seven laps as spins and crashes cut the field down considerably.
Once racing settled in, it was a two car battle for the lead as Mars eased past Cain a final time for second and then closed on Nelson. The two MB cars tore around the track at high speed, with Mars looking to the low side of Nelson and then also testing the top side but Darrell refused to yield the top spot.
Scott Duval and Kevin Eder were locked in a tight battle behind Cain for position with Duval eventually taking the spot and dragging Brent Prochnow behind him.
As the laps started to wind down, Mars increased his pressure and again looked to the low side of the leader. Coming down the back chute, Mars was finally able to get under Nelson for the lead but before the lap could be scored, there was a spinner on the front chute that triggered the seventh and final yellow with eight laps remaining.
Nelson got away clean on the restart and gained his biggest advantage of the race at this point and Mars was not able to over an answer with Darrell driving home for his first ever Punky win. Mars settled for second ahead of Cain, Duval and Prochnow with the second five consisting of Matt Leer, Dave Baxter, Brian Mikkonen, Rick Niemi and Neil Balduc.
Kisling led wire to wire in the super stock main event which was rain shortened to seventeen laps. Shane started on the pole and drove to an early lead with Jesse Redetzke and Mike Keller challenging. Kisling selected the high side of the track and was very fast on the cushion and he started to pull away from the field. Redetzke was running the cushion too, but he was challenged by Keller who tried the low side, Ben Hillman up top and Jason Forehand who moved up from row four to also fight for position.
After a couple of early yellows, the race stayed under the green for a number of laps and Kisling continued to pull away from the field. Redetzke maintained second but it was Forehand who was on the move and after trying the high side, he dropped back low and was able to move past Hillman and Keller into third.
A few raindrops began to fall at this point and as the intensity started to pick up and the track started to shine from the rain, starter Rick Cook showed the yellow flag and the field was soon sent to the pits. The down pour then occurred and after the rain had stopped and track prep was instigated, the super stock drivers voted to call the race complete after seventeen laps.
The top five in the official running order showed Kisling followed by Redetzke, Forehand, Keller and Hillman with the second five including Tim Borgeson, Tom Karis, Bart Steffen, Mike Anderson and Tommy Richards.
Halopka has dominated the Punky like no other driver as Shane won his third straight Punky in the Midwest modifieds and fifth overall in the nine years the class has been a part of this event.
This race was also run before the rains hit and the track was much different, which in part was the reason that only two yellow flags slowed the action. Halopka started on the pole and built up a good sized early lead over Dave Shackleton. In the early going, Halopka was the only driver able to work the low side as the rest of the field was running up against the wall but as he margin started to shink, Shane also moved up the track. It took a number of laps, but eventually Michael Truscott worked his way into second and set off after the leader.
Truscott was able to gradually narrow the margin and as the race fell into its last five laps, Truscott had closed to within a car length of the leader. Meanwhile, the Bloomer duo of Grant Southworth and Nick Koehler were also on the charge as they moved near Shackleton who was running third.
Truscott drew to the rear bumper of Halopka and as the white flag waved, Michael made the only move he could. He tried to dive low in turn one and throw a slide job at Halopka but he didn’t quite have the speed to do so and when he slid back up the track, Halopka and held him off and indeed, had gained several car lengths. Shane then completed the rest of the final lap and drove home for the win. Southworth was able to take the third spot late in the race ahead of Shackleton and Koehler while behind them the finishers were Kerry Halopka, Cory Bruggeman, Carey Lepage, Cole Spacek and Jesse Ogston.
By the time the late model feature was completed, it was past the track curfew and the street stock feature was cancelled with the drivers splitting the pay equally among themselves.
The Punky Manor concluded the 2014 racing season at the Red Cedar Speedway with racing expected to resume next April. For happening during the off season at the speedway, fans are reminded to monitor the speedway’s website at www.redcedarspeedway.com or the speedway’s facebook page.
SUMMARY
Red Cedar Speedway
Menomonie WI
September 20, 2014
WISSOTA Late Models
40 lap Feature – Jimmy Mars(Menomonie), Jake Redetzke(Eau Claire), Scott Gilberts(Menomonie), Mike Prochnow(Menomonie), Rick Hanestad(Boyceville), Adam Hensel(Baldwin), John Kaanta(Elk Mound), Harry Hanson(Eveleth MN), Jeff Massingill(Keewatin MN), Brandon Jensen(Hammond), Doug Blashe, Brett Swedberg, Terry Lillo, Ben Hanke, A.J. Diemel, Mike Bear, Dave Fieber, Travis Budisalovich, Jesse Redetzke, Todd Green, Darrell Nelson, Lance Matthees, Clarence Washburn, Kevin Rogers, Pat Doar, Duane Mahder, Steve Laursen
WISSOTA Modifieds
30 lap Feature – Darrell Nelson(Hermantown MN), Jimmy Mars(Menomonie), Dave Cain(Corcoran MN), Scott Duval(Bloomer), Brent Prochnow(Colfax), Matt Leer(Bruce), Dave Baxter(Eau Claire), Brian Mikkonen(Iron River), Rick Niemi(Eveleth MN), Neil Balduc(Bessemer MI), Paul Niznik, Ross Prochnow, Mark Hanson, Ashley Anderson, Kevin Eder, Steve Hallquist, Jake Hartung, Al Uotinen, Destin Lorimor, Jay Richardson, Mike Anderson
WISSOTA Super Stocks
17 lap Feature – Shane Kisling(Sarona), Jesse Redetzke(Eau Claire), Jason Forehand(Eau Claire), Mike Keller(Menomonie), Ben Hillman(Menomonie), Tim Borgeson(New Richmond), Tom Karis(Menomonie), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Tommy Richards(Mondovi), Rich Bishop, Kenny Davis, Wayne Harris Jr, Jordan Hessler, Steve Thomas, Shawn McFadden, Kevin Eder, Gunnar Watkins, Scott Lawrence, Ben Hanke, Brad Johnson, Luke Plank, Willie Johnsen Jr
12 lap B Feature 1 – Anderson, McFadden, Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Nick Oreskovich(Mason), Aaron Wilson(Eau Claire), Derek Baskin, Wayne Bignell, Rick Hallquist, Dan Nissalke, Curt Hazelton, Chad Johnson
B Feature 2 – Watkins, B. Johnson, Eric Schultz(Downing), Chad Gullixson(Hammond), Darrel Hazelton(Chippewa Falls), Wayne Dean, Mike Siewert, Karl Dicks, Jim Harris, Tony Falkner
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
20 lap Feature – Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Michael Truscott(Chippewa Falls), Grant Southworth(Bloomer), Dave Shackleton(Knapp), Nick Koehler(Bloomer), Kerry Halopka(Wheeler), Cory Bruggeman(Stillwater MN), Carey Lepage(Culver MN), Cole Spacek(Phillips), Jesse Ogston(Duluth MN), Tad Bretting, Travis Anderson, Wayne Stricker, Nathan Thums, Clark Swartz, Mitch Weiss, Austin Ellis, Mark Thomas, Jason Richardson, Tyler Luger, Jake Smeltzer, Tyler Vernon, Karl Kolek, Paul Niznik
12 lap B Feature 1 – Weiss, Swartz, Vernon, Stricker, Chris Bretting(Washburn), Colin Hazelton, William Voeltz, Josh Hessler, Kenny Rogers, Shawn Carlson
B Feature 2 – T. Anderson, Ellis, Spacek, Luger, Josh Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Jeremie Hedrick, Chris Sleep, Robbie Johnson, Jared Gorka
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