Bogdanovic Bedazzles Rice Lake Speedway Foes

Rice Lake WI, June 8 – Kevin Bogdanovic was the number one star of the special Tuesday night racing program at the Rice Lake Speedway honoring the city wide Aquafest celebration. Winning his first feature race anywhere since the second Clinton administration was in office, Bogdanovic held off a stout field of Street Stocks to highlight the racing program. Also winning his first feature race at Rice Lake in quite some time was Mike Knopps in the Pure Stocks while Ryan Viltz, Curt Myers and Kevin Adams, who are all familiar with victory lane at Rice Lake, added to their 2015 feature win totals.
Bogdanovic started on the pole for the Street Stock feature race but his win was anything but an easy task as he was hounded the entire fifteen laps of the main event by a series of competitors. Bogdanovic fought off the early challenges of Jimmy Randall before he settled in as the leader and for most of the early laps, he rode on top with Ron Hanestad nailed to his rear bumper while Randall rode the high side of the track beside Hanestad.
Cody Kummer was working his way into contention as he began to pressure the leaders also as the top six or so ran in tight formation. Hanestad was really picking up the pace and a couple of times he nearly got a nose under Bogdanovic as they battled for the lead.
The first twelve laps of the event went nonstop but then, after a spin that triggered a yellow, two more quick yellows appeared before another lap could be scored. Finally, all out racing continued and Bogdanovic picked up the pace, running three solid laps and not giving Hanestad any opportunity to steal the win. For Bogdanovic, who was out of racing for quite a few years before returning in 2015, it was his first Street Stock win ever at Rice Lake and his first feature win since 1999, when he topped Kevin Adams in a Street Stock battle at the old Monster Hall Raceway near Unity Wisconsin.
Also returning to victory lane after a long absence was Mike Knopps who won the Pure Stock feature. The Pures had a tough time of it on Tuesday, with five yellow flags in the first six laps bogging down the pace and preventing all out racing. Knopps, who started on the pole, withstood early challenges from Nick Traynor before Jason Havel became his chief challenger. Havel was able to work into the second position and he looked both high and low on Knoops, trying to find a way past him between yellow flag slowdowns. Finally, when the drivers were able to put down some consecutive green flag laps, Havel nearly got past on the outside of Knopps before yet another yellow waved.
The two lap sprint to the finish saw Havel again try to drive around Knopps, but Mike was too strong to pass in the short time left, and Knopps drove under the checkered flag with a car length advantage over Havel. C. J. Wagner finished a tight third just ahead of Traynor while Mike Grover had another good run to complete the top five.
The Mid West Modified feature started out slow also, with three yellow flags in the first three laps, after which they settled down and had nonstop racing after that point to the checkered. Tito Viltz and Paul Suzik battled on the opening lap for the lead, with Tito edging into the top spot. Brother Ryan Viltz was shot out of a cannon from the third row and within a lap was battling for the lead. He found an opening on his brother and took over the top spot.
The brothers Viltz then engaged in a spirited battle for the top spot with Tito trying all sorts of maneuvers to get back past his brother. Travis Anderson and Shane Halopka were both also on the move as they raced into third and fourth and looked to pressure the leaders. Back farther in the pack, Cory Crapser was also charging after he started in the fifth row.
Ryan Viltz managed to open a slight lead on his brother while the fastest car on the track was clearly Crapser at this point, as he continued his charge, moving past both Halopka and Anderson and working into third.
However, the top two leaders had opened up a healthy lead by this time, and they continued to race on ahead of the field. Ryan Viltz competed his drive unchallenged and garnered his second Rice Lake win of the 2015 season. He was followed to the checkered by brother Tito, Crapser, Anderson and Halopka.
The Super Stocks followed a familiar pattern as they endured three yellow flags in the first three laps, followed by a nonstop finish of the last seventeen trips around the oval. Nick Oreskovich was the early leader and twice Eric Olson nearly got by him before the yellow flag bit his efforts at making a leading pass.
On the third attempt, it was Jason Forehand who got to the outside of Oreskovich and he flew past him to take over the lead. Forehand was on a rail and he rapidly pulled away from the pack while Oreskovich battled with Olson, Bart Steffen and a charging Curt Myers.
Myers came from the fourth row and he came in a hurry, squeezing past Steffen for third and then duplicating the effort as he moved past Oreskovich to take over the runner up slot. However, by this time Forehand was gone, having opened up a straightaway advantage on the field. Myers pushed as hard as he could, but he was not making up the distance nearly fast enough.
Suddenly, the unthinkable happened to Forehand. With only four laps to got and victory within sight, his car suddenly emitted a tremendous “bang” from under the hood and Jason immediately lost power and he idled his way into the infield. Myers inherited the lead and with a big lead himself now, cruised home for his track leading fifth feature win of the year at Rice Lake. Steffen had a solid run, as he drove past Oreskovich to take over the second spot. Olson and a charging Randy Spacek also moved past Oreskovich to complete the top five.
Adams led all the way for his fourth Modified feature win of the year at Rice Lake. He started on the pole and eased away from Kevin Eder to take the early lead. Soon Eder was passed by first Dave Baxter and then Cory Mahder. They then engaged in perhaps the best side by side battle of the night as they ran many laps around the track with neither giving an inch. Finally, after a long battle for the position, Mahder was able to edge into second.
Just then, the lone yellow of the race flew and bunched the field and Mahder had his shot at the leader. However, Adams got up on the wheel and slowly but surely once again drew away from the field as Mahder tried to stay with him. The driver to watch at this point was Jason Gross, who was carving his way forward in the field after starting eleventh. He cracked the top five and continued to move forward as the laps ran down.
Adams made it exciting at the end as on the last corner of the race he got crossed up and went bouncing into the infield. With dirt flying, Adams bounced back over the marker tires in the corner, found his way back on to the track and still had just enough of a cushion to beat Mahder across the line by a couple car lengths. Baxter finished a strong third, and Gross ended his charge in fourth as he passed Eder at the end.
There will be no racing at the speedway on Saturday, June 13th. The next event at the Speedway will be when racing returns to the track on June 20th. This night will be the AFCO Race of Champions qualifier with the winners in the four WISSOTA divisions that race at the speedway automatically qualified for the AFCO Race of Champions event to be contested in September during the WISSOTA 100 at the Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron. The draw/redraw format for qualifying will be utilized in all divisions that night. The rain date for the qualifier is August 1st.
Other events upcoming at the speedway include Kid’s night on June 27th and the Firecracker special on Thursday, July 2nd.
SUMMARY

Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake WI
June 8, 2015

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Cory Mahder(Eau Claire), Dave Baxter(Eau Claire), Jason Gross(Cushing), Kevin Eder(Ashland), Steve Hallquist(Eau Claire), Dave Cain(Corcoran MN), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Tim McMann(Duluth MN), Will Fisher(Shell Lake), Cody Cimfl, Neil Balduc, Scott Miller, Buddy Mayala, Wayne Poteet, Kerry Halopka, Matt Leer
10 lap Heat 1 – Anderson, Adams, Hallquist, Cimfl(Barron), McMann, Poteet, Leer, Mayala, Halopka
Heat 2 – Cain, Mahder, Baxter, Eder, Fisher, Gross, Miller, Balduc

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20 lap Feature – Curt Myers(Cameron), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Randy Spacek(Phillips), Nick Oreskovich(Mason), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Jim Cimfl(Turtle Lake), Aaron Wilson(Eau Claire), Willie Johnsen Jr(Superior), John Erickson(Rice Lake), Patrick Beeksma, Jeff Klopstein Jr, Jason Forehand, Brad Kisling, Shane Kisling, James Trantina III
10 lap Heat 1 – Trantina III(Sartell MN), Forehand(Eau Claire), Olson, Beeksma(Ironwood MI), Cimfl, Erickson, Klopstein Jr, Anderson
Heat 2 – S. Kisling(Sarona), Myers, Oreskovich, Steffen, Wilson, Spacek, Johnsen Jr, B. Kisling

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Ryan Viltz(Chetek), Tito Viltz(Rice Lake), Cory Crapser(Chippewa Falls), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Paul Suzik(Ironwood MI), Mickey Nosser(Phillips), Tyler Luger(Iron River), Kent Baxter(Colfax), Michael Truscott(Chippewa Falls), Austin Ellis, Tyler Vernon, Karl Kolek, Tim Ekdahl, Brad Seavers, Craig Elliott, John Kallas, Doug Toepper, Jody Bellefeuille, Wayne Braun Jr
10 lap Heat 1 – R. Viltz, Anderson, Suzik, Crapser, Truscott, Vernon, Ellis
Heat 2 – Seavers(Rib Lake), Baxter, Luger, Kallas(Hurley), Bellefeuille(Duluth MN), Elliott, Ekdahl
Heat 3 – Halopka, T. Viltz, Kolek(Menomonie), Nosser, Toepper(Forest Lake MN), Braun Jr

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Kevin Bogdanovic(Wausau), Ron Hanestad(Glenwood City), Cody Kummer(Medford), Sam Fankhauser(Rice Lake), Jimmy Randall(Rice Lake), Jay Kesan(Weyerhaeuser), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Josh Amans(Rice Lake), Chris Peterson(Amery), Mitch Kesan(Medford), Ryan Glembin, Kolby Kiehl, Jordan Kurtti, Hunter VanGilder, Rob Grabon, Scott Clark
10 lap Heat 1 – Kummer, Bogdanovic, Kiehl(Cameron), J. Kesan, VanGilder(Rice Lake), Amans, Soltis, Kurtti, Grabon
Heat 2 – Fankhauser, Hanestad, Clark(Cameron), Randall, M. Kesan, Peterson, Glembin, Jimmy Gullikson

Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – Mike Knopps(Chippewa Falls), Jason Havel(Rice Lake), C.J. Wagner(Rice Lake), Nick Traynor(Barron), Mike Grover(Chetek), Andy Ladd(Cumberland), Zach Beaulieu(Chetek), Dusten Holub(Chetek), Cody Tisdale(Eau Claire), Shawn Amundson(Rice Lake), Dwayne Braun, Bob Thompson, Brent Miller, Mike Miller, Tucker Quinn
8 lap Heat 1 – Traynor, Tim Carlson(Superior), Grover, Thompson(Cameron), Holub, Quinn, Braun, M. Miller, Beaulieu
Heat 2 – Havel, Amundson, Wagner, Knopps, B. Miller(Cameron), Ladd, Tisdale

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