Feature Winners from 3 states!

3 different states had Feature Winners at Eagle River Speedway Friday Night. Wisconsin racers got wins in the WISSOTA Street Stock, Speedway Trucks, Sprint 600’s, and Junior Sprints. Michigan took the win in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified, while Minnesota got the win in the WISSOTA Pure Stock Feature.

While experience carried Marenisco, Michigan’s Duane Dunbar to the Auto Value Victory lane in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified Feature, it was a visitor from Minnesota that swept the ‘home-town’ boys in the WISSOTA Pure Stock Feature. Winning both that feature and a Heat was Oakdale’s Dustin Doughty.
In a class dominated by those in their teens, it was 49 year old Jerry Reif of Deerbrook that won the Sprint 600 Feature. Reif’s son, Jake, took the heat race.
“Jerry (Reif) simply ran away after every re-start. Not many, if any, has been able to run away from our defending class champion, Ty Springer,” commented Track Promoter, Kevin Dawson.
When Phelps Jerry Grasse won the WISSOTA Midwest Modified Heat, and the class champion for the last 5 years, Jesse Aho of the Upper Peninsula, took a 4th in that heat. Aho’s point lead in that class went down to 1 single point! 
This put the focus on the feature between Aho and Grasse. However it was the 20+ year racing veteran, Duane Dunbar of Marenisco, Michigan, that jumped out to an early lead. Dunbar ran a mid to high line throughout the race to hold his lead over those battling for the 2nd spot. 
When asked if Dunbar would have moved to the inside if Aho would have been closer, Dunbar simply replied, “I would have stayed on my line. There was more traction on the top side.”
While Dunbar was maintaining his line and holding the lead, a great battle was taking place between Grasse and Aho. “Especially with the class point lead on the line,” commented Dawson.
As the race was winding down, Aho got by Grasse. Aho’s second place finish gives the 5-time defending class champion a narrow 2 point lead going into one of the biggest races of the year. That is the 4th of July weekend race. Aho has 312 points, Grasse has 310. Marcus Dunbar is close behind at 302, with Duane Dunbar at 298.
While the WISSOTA Street Stock defending class champion, Rhinelander’s ‘Flying’ Ryan Valeria took home another Feature win and continues to hold the point lead, once again he was in a ‘duo’ with Conover’s Dustin White. This has become a weekly battle between the two, where both are bumper to bumper throughout the race.
“I will battle it out with (Ryan) Valeria right to the end of every race. That’s what the fans come to see,” stated White.
Valeria leads White by only 13 points, 313 to 300.
The defending point champion in the 3 other weekly classes will have to make up a lot of ground the rest of the year to hold their crown.
The defending WISSOTA Pure Stock Champion, former Ewen, Michigan, resident, David Blackberg is not running in that class this year. It looked like Eagle River’s Jake Ison was going to lock up the point championship with all his wins. That is until this past Friday Night when Ison broke his right rear axle.
The last 2 year’s class runner-up, Eagle River’s Don Scharf hit the wall exiting the ‘hair-pin’ 3rd turn in the Heat race. Track emergency personal immediately attended to Scharf, who was able to leave the scene with any serious injury. However that knocked Scharf out of the Feature.
This left the crowd thinking that the Feature would come down to a battle between Rhinelander’s Jason Eisel, and Eagle River’s Isabelle Valeria and Bryce Wick. Few thought that a resident of the Twin Cities suburb or Oakdale, Dustin Doughty, could take the Feature even though he did win an earlier Heat race.
Doughty not only won the Feature, he won it with a considerable margin between him and Eisel.
“He (Dustin Doughty) runs at Western Wisconsin tracks and runs strong. I knew he was going to be one of the drivers to beat, I just didn’t think he would win as big as he did,” commented Dawson. “That put a Minnesota driver in the Auto Value Victory lane.”
Just like Ison, Eagle River’s Ty Springer has been the 600 Sprint Feature winner early on in the season. When the 14 year old was competing in a National Downhill Ski Event in Colorado a few weeks ago, that opened the door for another 14 year old, Dylan Larson of Shiocton to get the point lead away from the 2-time defending class champion. Dylan Larson, Jake Reif, and Ty Springer have set their tires in Victory lane this year.
However it was 49 year old Jerry Reif of Deerbrook, Wisconsin, that won the feature. Even after numerous re-starts, Ty Springer’s Honda, was never able to challenge Reif’s Kawasaki. Dylan Larson’s Suzuki holds a 45 point lead over Ty Springer, 253-208.
First year Junior Sprint racer, Cole Stella, has the largest point lead in any class. Stella has racked up 298 points, while Boulder Junction’s, Peyton Towne is at 225. Katherine Towne is at 224. The defending champion, Dustin Kangas of Phelps won both the Feature and the Heat.
Another class that has an exciting point battle is the Speedway Trucks. Recently Summit Lake’s Herb Dettman has been dominating. “In the Heat I had a loose spark plug wire, and I think I have some other issues happening with the truck,” remarked Dettman after the race.
Hazelhurst’s Josh Drivas held Dettman off to win the Feature. Woodboro’s Cory Allen won a Heat as did Harshaw’s Ron Vernick. Dettman holds a narrow 9 point lead over Vernick and 11 points over Allen.
It will be this Friday Night that Auto Value Parts Stores of Eagle River and Rhinelander presents the big Harry’s Fireworks show at the conclusion of the 5 weekly class races. Hot laps begin at 7:00 pm CT with racing to begin at 7:30 pm CT.
 
Eagle River Speedway 6/23/17 Results
WISSOTA Midwest Modified Feature: 1) Duane Dunbar, Marenisco, (MI); 2) Jesse Aho, Toivola (MI); 3) Jerry Grasse, Phelps; 4) Marcus Dunbar, Wakefield, (MI); 5) Darren Dunbar, Marenisco, (MI); 6) Austin Zdroik, Eagle River; 7) Jonathon Miller, Eagle River.
WISSOTA Midwest Modified Heat: 1) Grasse; 2) Duane Dunbar; 3) Marcus Dunbar; 4) Aho; 5) Darren Dunbar; 6) Miller; 7) Zdroik.
WISSOTA Street Stock Feature: 1) Ryan Valeria, Rhinelander; 2) Dustin White, Conover; 3) David Scott, Ewen, (MI); 4) Bruce Stanley, Merrill; 5) Frank Gasperini, Eagle River.
WISSOTA Street Stock Heat: 1) Valeria; 2) White; 3) Scott; 4) Stanley; 5) Gasperini
Sprint 600 Feature: 1) Jerry Reif, Deerbrook; 2) Ty Springer, Eagle River; 3) Jake Reif, Deerbrook; 4) Denver Larson, Shiocton; 5) Dylan Larson, Shiocton; 6) Tommi Jo Springer, Eagle River; 7) Mya Towne, Boulder Junction.
Sprint 600 Heat: 1) Jake Reif; 2) Ty Springer; 3) Denver Larson; 4) Jerry Reif; 5) Dylan Larson; 6) Tommi Jo Springer; 7) Towne.
WISSOTA Pure Stock Feature: 1) Dustin Doughty, Oakdale, (MN); 2) Jason Eisel, Rhinelander; 3) Ethan Holm, Crandon; 4) Isabelle Valeria, Eagle River; 5) Bryce Wick, Eagle River; 6) Tom Lannet, Bruce Crossing, (MI); 7) Spencer Bolte, Eagle River; 8) Jake Ison, Eagle River; 9) Dylan Holquist, Rhinelander; 10) Don Scharf, Eagle River.
WISSOTA Pure Stock Heat 1: 1) Ison; 2) Eisel; 3) Bolte; 4) Lannet; 5) Scharf.
WISSOTA Pure Stock Heat 2: 1) Doughty; 2) Holm; 3) Wick; 4) Valeria; 5) Holquist.
Speedway Trucks Feature: 1) Josh Drivas, Hazelhurst; 2) Herb Dettman, Summit Lake; 3) Ron Vernick, Harshaw; 4) James Koga, Eagle River; 5) Jake Diefenthaler, Harshaw; 6) Cory Allen, Woodboro; 7) Brock Congleton, Rhinelander; 8) Dustin Koga, Land O Lakes.
Speedway Truck Heat 1: 1) Vernick; 2) Congleton; 3) Dettman; 4) James Koga.
Speedway Truck Heat 2: 1) Allen; 2) Drivas; 3) Diefenthaler; 4) Dustin Koga.
Junior Sprint Feature: 1) Dustin Kangas, Phelps; 2) Josie Rae Reif, Deerbrook; 3) Cole Stella, Woodruff; 4) Peyton Towne, Boulder Junction; 5) Katherine Towne, Boulder Junction.
Junior Sprint Heat: 1) Kangas; 2) Peyton Towne; 3) Stella; 4) Katherine Towne; 5) Reif

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