UMSS Dropped At Rice Lake Speedway; USRA Late Models Will Double

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, August 15 – During a phone conversation with Upper Midwest Sprint Series (UMSS) head Ron Bernhagen, he and Rice Lake Speedway track owner Kolby Kiehl reached an agreement to drop the UMSS Traditional and Winged Sprint Cars from their committment to race at the speedway on August 31^st and September 1^st as a part of the first ever Dairyland Dash weekend.

Bernhagen could not guarantee a full field of cars for either class so it was decided that rather than run a small field of cars that would not satisfy either party, it would be better to try and find a date in 2025 that would work better to showcase the series.

However, the USRA Late Models will now be the beneficiary of this as they will now be booked for two complete shows. Kiehl also recently spoke to United States Racing Association (USRA) head Todd Staley from Webster City Iowa and has completed the paperwork to make the Dairyland Dash weekend a fully sanctioned event for USRA offering national points. Staley also confirmed that there are no other USRA Late Model races booked for that weekend, thus insuring that a full field of their best drivers will be on hand to compete.

USRA Late Model drivers planning to participate in the Dairyland Dash event are asked to either use the speedway website or go on MyRacePass and register for the event. While this is not mandatory to compete, the speedway would like to gather an idea of just how many drivers will be on hand for this event.

At the heart of the Dairyland Dash event however, are the five WISSOTA sanctioned classes that compete at the track every Saturday night. A full show will be held for all five classes on both Saturday night, August 31^st and Sunday night, September 1^st. A robust purse will be offered for the weekend with exact details expected to be released by this weekend as Kiehl is still working on some sponsorships that would further enlarge the purse. The passing point format will be used for all WISSOTA classes on both nights.

The Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie will be the second partner in this weekend, running the opening round of the Dairyland Dash on Friday night, August 30^th and featuring four of the same classes that will be racing at Rice Lake with a enlarged purse also, thus providing three nights of extra money racing within an hour’s drive of each other.

The Rice Lake Speedway is also building some special, one of a kind trophies that will go to the winners on Labor Day weekend. Much more information will be available on this event very soon and racers and fans should visit the Rice Lake Speedway website or face book page for the latest information.