Aho & Kurtti return and win!
Two of Michigan’s top WISSOTA racers missed last week’s races at Eagle River Speedway. However the brief respite from the legendary Tri-Oval showed the fans that once you learn how to win at the challenging track, you can miss a week and still come back and win the feature!
Aho had to get around the current track class point leader, Marcus Dunbar of Wakefield, Michigan. Aho also had a brisk challenge from one of the top racers in WISSOTA’s Midwest Modified National Points standings, Shane Halopka of Greenwood, Wisconsin. It didn’t take the track’s defending class champion for the last 5 years very long to get the lead. Aho passed Dunbar on the 5th lap when the fellow U-P racer went wide on the ‘hair-pin’ third turn, and he held on for the win.
When asked if winning the track championship for 5 straight years ever gets ‘old,’ Aho responded, “Every year is a blessing just to be out here. We’re very fortunate to be able to do what we have done.”
However the quest for an unprecedented 6th Track Championship rests in the hands of the 2nd in the Generation of Dunbar Racing. Marcus, son of longtime WISSOTA racer, Duane, has a 37 point lead over Aho with only 6 races to go.
The racer that looks to follow in the footsteps of Aho is Rhinelander’s ‘Flying’ Ryan Valeria. Valeria ended behind Conover’s Dustin White and Bruce Crossing, Michigan’s, Jordan Kurtti in the WISSOTA Street Stock Feature, but still holds a commanding 70 point lead in the class. Valeria is the defending Street Stock class champion and a former Pure Stock Class Champion.
Kurtti, who has also won the WISSOTA Street Stock class championship in 2013 and 2014, grabbed the lead from the drop of the green flag to when the checkered flew. Mondovi, Wisconsin’s, Danny Richards made his debut at the track, but finished behind Kurtti, White, and Valeria.
After getting his first WISSOTA Pure Stock Feature win in only his 5th race of his life, Bruce Crossing, Michigan’s, Tom Lannet looked to be in control of this highly competitive feature race. Lannet led for the first 13 laps of the 15 lap race. Then in the 13th lap, the ‘ghosts’ of the past 43 years this legendary track has been challenging drivers, brought the back end of Lannet’s car around in both the hairpin 3rd turn and the deceiving 1st turn.
Lannet was able to get control of his car but, that was after the current class point leader, Jake Ison evaded hitting Lannet and took the lead. Ison went on to get the win.
The Feature that had the crowd at the edge of their seat was the 600 Sprint Feature, or otherwise known as the ‘Family Affair’ race. For the first 9 laps, 13 year old Tommi-Jo Springer was holding off her older brother, 15 year old Ty Springer, by a few feet. The two were hitting speeds of over 70 MPH! If one thought that Ty would let his younger sister get her first Feature win, he answered that by passing her in the 10th lap.
The elder Springer’s lead was short lived, as engine problems on the 11th lap took him out of the race and brought out a caution. On the re-start, Shiocton’s Denver Larson blasted out on the drop of the flag to get the lead and hold on for the win.
“One has to wonder who Ty and Tommi-Jo’s Parents were rooting for in the battle between their two talented children. One could ask, but it would be unlikely they would answer,” stated Kevin Dawson, Eagle River Speedway Track Promoter.
After having numerous problems throughout the year, Woodboro’s Cory Allen finally set his tires on the Auto Value Victory Lane with his win in the Speedway Trucks Feature.
“First I had an intake gasket go bad on me, the following week I had a coil go bad, and then the next race I got hit from behind,” commented Allen after his Feature win.
The previous week Feature winner, James Koga took a 2nd, while the current class point leader, Herb Dettman took a 3rd. Ron Vernick won the Heat race. Dettman has a narrow 19 point lead over Koga and 23 point lead over Allen[S1] .
Allen is credited by his fellow competitors in the class, or what he states, ‘his friends’ for building this class. A class that has quickly become a fan favorite.
“Even after I got hit in a previous race, I called up the racer that hit me. Not to complain but to ask how he has his truck set up and I’ll help him set it up so it handles better,” stated Allen.
The defending Junior Sprint class champion, Dustin Kangas swept the Feature and the Heat, while the current point leader, Cole Stella of Minocqua has a 67 point lead over Kangas. Pewaukee’s Sarah Zimmerman gave Kangas a challenge in both the Heat and the Feature to take a 2nd in both races.
Fox Lake, Illionois, Chris Kusek drove his car to the feature win in the Spectator One on One race.
It will be this coming Friday Night that the 1/3rd Mile Tri-Oval will have its annual Junior Fan Autograph night. The fans will have the chance to go on the track and meet the drivers, get autographs and pictures with the racers. It will also be another edition of the ‘Redneck Games,” as it will be the IROC (International Roll Over Championships). The track sets up a concrete ramp which forces the vehicles to roll over.
“It’s whether they can roll completely over and end up back on their tires, that’s the challenge,” concluded Dawson.
Hot laps begin at 7:00 pm Central Time, with racing to begin at 7:30 pm CT. The races are also broadcast in their entirety on WUPM 106.9, WCUP 105.7, and on both radio stations website. The races can be heard all over the world on the Internet.
Eagle River Speedway July 21, 2017 Results
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds Feature: 1) Jesse Aho, Toivola, (MI); 2) Shane Halopka, Greenwood; 3) Marcus Dunbar, Wakefield, (MI); 4) Darren Dunbar, Marenisco, (MI); 5) Jesse Raffaelli, Toivola, (MI); 6) Austin Zdroik, Eagle River; 7) Calvin Iverson, Eleva; 8) Jonathon Miller, Eagle River.
WISSOTA Midwest Modified Heat: 1) Marcus Dunbar; 2) Halopka; 3) Aho; 4) Iverson; 5) Darren Dunbar; 6) Raffaelli; 7) Miller; 8) Zdroik.
WISSOTA Street Stock Feature: 1) Jordan Kurtti, Bruce Crossing, (MI); 2) Dustin White, Conover; 3) Ryan Valeria, Rhinelander; 4) Danny Richards, Mondovi; 5) Bruce Stanley, Merrill.
WISSOTA Street Stock Heat: 1) Valeria; 2) White; 3) Kurtti; 4) Richards; 5) Stanley.
WISSOTA Pure Stock Feature: 1) Jacob Ison, Eagle River; 2) Tom Lannet, Bruce Crossing, (MI); 3) Bryce Wick, Eagle River; 4) Jason Eisel, Rhinelander; 5) Isabelle Valeria, Eagle River; 6) Ethan Holm, Crandon; 7) Don Scharf, Eagle River; 8) Tristan Valeria, Eagle River; 9) Spencer Bolte, Eagle River.
WISSOTA Pure Stock Heat: 1) Ison; 2) Wick; 3) Eisel; 4) Lannet; 5) Bolte; 6) Holm; 7) Isabelle Valeria; 8) Scharf; 9) Tristan Valeria.
Speedway Trucks Feature: 1) Cory Allen, Woodboro; 2) James Koga, Eagle River; 3) Herb Dettman, Summit Lake; 4) Josh Drivas, Hazelhurst; 5) Dustin Koga, Land O Lakes; 6) Dave Hughes, Hazelhurst; 7) Ronald Vernick, Harshaw.
Speedway Trucks Heat: 1) Vernick; 2) Dettman; 3) Allen; 4) James Koga; 5) Drivas; 6) Dustin Koga; 7) Hughes.
Sprint 600 Feature: 1) Denver Larson, Shiocton; 2) Tommi-Jo Springer, Eagle River; 3) Dylan Larson, Shiocton; 4) Matt Peterson, Escanaba, (MI); 5) Ty Springer, Eagle River.
Sprint 600 Heat: 1) Ty Springer; 2) Tommi-Jo Springer; 3) Denver Larson; 4) Dylan Larson; 5) Peterson
Junior Sprint Feature: 1) Dustin Kangas, Phelps; 2) Sarah Zimmerman, Pewaukee; 3) Cole Stella, Minocqua; 4) Jacob Zimmerman, Pewaukee.
Junior Sprint Heat: 1) Kangas; 2) Sarah Zimmerman; 3) Stella; 4) Jacob Zimmerman.
Spectator 1 on 1 Feature Winner: Chris Kusek, Fox Lake, (ILL).
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