Blaeser Blazes To Rice Lake Modified Win
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, May 11th – Kaden Blaeser drove by Mike Anderson just one lap past the halfway point and would then hold off all challenges from Kevin Adams as he drove on for the Modified win to highway the Springtime Modified Spectacular Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. In other feature racing action Saturday night, first time winners included Andrew Hanson, Blake Adams and Simon Wahlstrom while Brent Mindock because the first repeat winner as he topped the Pure Stock feature for the second straight night.
The Best Appearing Car award winners were also honored and they included Trenten Holub, Hanson, Kevin Herrman, Mickey Anderson and Joe Chaplin Jr.
Twenty one cars hit the track for the thirty lap Modified feature race and it would be defending point champion Mike Anderson that got the jump on Shaun Kreyer from the outside pole to take the early lead. Blaeser, Coke Spacek and Kevin Adams were quickly a part of the lead pack as they raced hard in the early going. Anderson would pull out to a bit of a lead as Blaeser was showing strength quickly as he drove past Kreyer for second with Adams doing the same soon after.
The first yellow on lap eight for a spinning duo of cars slowed the action but Anderson again squirted out back into the lead with Blaeser and Adams continuing to chase him. Blaeser gradually began to chase down Anderson as the race reached its half way point with Kaden moving to the second groove and making it work. On lap sixteen he swept past Anderson on the outside leaving turn two and then drove into the lead. Once in front, he quickly began to put distance on the field when the yellow waved once again with twenty one laps complete for another spinning pair of cars.
This was the time for Adams to make his move and he drove past Anderson to take over the second spot and then began an attempt to chase down Blaeser who was comfortably in front. However, despite his best efforts, Blaeser was not to be caught. Even a late yellow with just five laps to go when top five runner Joe Chaplin Jr. had mechanical issues and triggered a yellow would not be enough for Adams to catch the sixteen year old from Chippewa Falls.
Blaeser would pull away again on that final restart and put distance between himself and Adams as he continued to charge on for the win. Anderson would settle for third with Spacek and Kreyer completing the top five.
Blaeser would earn twelve hundred dollars for his victory out of the generous Modified purse in the first ever Springtime Modified event. It was Blaeser’s second ever feature win at Rice Lake, having won a main in 2023 also.
While the Modifieds may have had top billing on this night, it might have been the Super Stocks that produced the most exciting feature race. Simon Wahlstrom, who has driven in just about every class the Rice Lake Speedway offers, and has won in them all too, would make a spectacular run from the fourth row and would win a thrilling Super Stock feature win.
Terran Spacek started on the pole and with such a spot for him, he seemed to be the odds on favorite to take the win. And he did lead the first ten laps of the race with Eric Olson and Kyle Copp chasing him. The top group of drivers were running in a pack with considerable back and forth passing as Spacek was not able to get away from this group of drivers.
Wahlstrom was on the move early, cracking the top five in the pack by lap eight when a debris yellow slowed the field. He then quickly made another move, passing Shawn McFadden Jr and Copp to move into third. Also gaining ground at this time was Curt Myers who had started in the row behind Wahlstrom.
At the halfway point and following another yellow for a spinning driver, Wahlstrom would make his move. From the outside, he was able to sweep past both Olson and leader Spacek and power into the lead. Then he drove away from the pack, leading the others to battle for second.
Even a late yellow didn’t slow him down as following the late break, he again just pulled away from the field to earn the win. The battle for second was a dandy however, with Myers edging out Olson to take the second spot. Kori Richter returned from retirement once again and he started right out with a bang as he raced up to fourth at the finish, just ahead of McFadden Jr.
The win was Wahlstrom’s sixth ever in the Super Stocks to go along with feature wins in several other classes at the track as Simon has been one of the most versatile drivers in recent history at the speedway.
The success for young Blake Adams continues on the dirt tracks of this area as he made a Wahlstrom like move in the Midwest Modified feature, sweeping past leader Travis Anderson on the outside late in the contest to earn his first feature win of the year here and the third for the second year driver.
Anderson had taken the lead at the start of the race, an event that was plagued by many yellow flags due to spinning cars and the difficulty at completing a smooth restart after previous yellows. But through all the yellows, Travis had held off Tyler Vernon, Adams and Nick Traynor until lap nine when Adams got to the outside groove and swept past Anderson down the back chute to take over the top spot.
The rest of the race went green to checkers finally, and Adams put distance on the field. Late in the contest, Mike Schnider was able to get past Anderson for second with Vernon charging from the back of the pack to come back for fourth while Kenny Kincaid completed the top five.
The Street Stock feature ran off green to checkers and it was dominated by Andrew Hanson. The Iron River driver started on the pole and quickly pulled away from the field, at one point having nearly a full straightaway over the pack in a division where this rarely happens. But Hanson was very fast on this night and there would be no challenges to his ownership of this win.
Danny Richards did some fine driving through the pack as he moved up from the seventh spot to race up to a runner up finish. A best ever finish saw Caiden Engel come home third and Dylan Baskin did the same as he finished fourth with Zach Beaulieu completing the top five.
The win was Hanson fifth career feature win at Rice Lake in the Streets but first since the 2021 racing season.
Brent Mindock became the first multiple feature winner of the 2024 racing season as he recorded his second straight Pure Stock victory. The opener found him backing into victory lane after a technical violation cost the apparent winner but Saturday he earned it the old fashioned way, leading from start to finish to claim the win.
While he started in the second row, on the green he was off like a flash and managed to get past both Bob Thompson and Charlie Pitcavage before the first lap was completed. From then on, he drove away from the field, withstanding three yellow flags for spins that bunched up the field on each occasion.
Mindock was not to be denied however, as each time he again drove away from the field and had a comfortable lead at the finish. A good battle for second evolved however and it was Devin Fries that would edge out Dusten Holub for that spot with Austin Fencl and Rob Grabon also close behind.
Next Saturday night, May 18th, is McCain Foods USA night at the track. It was always one of the most popular nights as it will be Kids Bike night at the track with a large number of bikes to be given away to the kids. All five classes will again be in racing action with the first green flag to drop at 6 pm.. Then, on May 25th, the WISSOTA Late Models make their first appearance at the track for 2024 on Swant Graber Auto Group night. A large field of drivers in the powerful Late Models are expected with Midwest Mods, Super Stocks, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks the supporting cast. Race time is again 6 pm.
5/11/2024
RICE LAKE SPEEDWAY
Results
21 entries
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[4]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[8]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[2]; 4. 22S-Cole Spacek[3]; 5. 74-Shaun Kreyer[1]; 6. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 7. 20-Austin Ellis[11]; 8. 27H-Steve Hallquist[7]; 9. 78-Brent Prochnow[14]; 10. 37-Travis Anderson[21]; 11. 22JR-Ben Hillman[12]; 12. 27P-Parker Anderson[13]; 13. 05-Jake Hartung[20]; 14. 10-Kyle Helling[15]; 15. 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[16]; 16. 204-David Mayala[18]; 17. (DNF) 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[5]; 18. (DNF) 40JR-Tyler Vernon[9]; 19. (DNF) 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[10]; 20. (DNF) 20C-Denny Cutsforth[19]; 21. (DNF) 38-Zach Gibson[17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22S-Cole Spacek[2]; 2. 74-Shaun Kreyer[7]; 3. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[3]; 4. 20-Austin Ellis[5]; 5. 27P-Parker Anderson[6]; 6. (DNF) 20C-Denny Cutsforth[4]; 7. (DNF) 05-Jake Hartung[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[2]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 3. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[1]; 4. 22JR-Ben Hillman[3]; 5. 10-Kyle Helling[5]; 6. 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[7]; 7. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[1]; 2. 27H-Steve Hallquist[2]; 3. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 4. 40-Kevin Adams[7]; 5. 78-Brent Prochnow[4]; 6. 38-Zach Gibson[3]; 7. 204-David Mayala[5]
21 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[8]; 2. 33-Curt Myers[9]; 3. 1E-Eric Olson[3]; 4. 14-Kori Richter[6]; 5. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[5]; 6. 14X-Leslie Leu[12]; 7. 26-Kyle Copp[4]; 8. 57-Randy Graham[11]; 9. 71X-William Fisher[2]; 10. 42-Myron Basina[10]; 11. 22-Clay Albrecht[15]; 12. 28-Josh Cappo[18]; 13. 22AT-Austin Tilton[17]; 14. (DNF) 22T-Terran Spacek[1]; 15. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[13]; 16. (DNF) 21C-Patrick Beeksma[14]; 17. (DNF) 1M-Alex Myers[19]; 18. (DNF) 2-Don Livingston[7]; 19. (DNF) 01-Michael Anderson[16]; 20. (DNF) 1-Ryan Olson[21]; 21. (DNS) 10-Jeff Eisner Jr
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1E-Eric Olson[2]; 2. 33-Curt Myers[7]; 3. 71X-William Fisher[3]; 4. 42-Myron Basina[1]; 5. 21-Mike Siewert[4]; 6. 01-Michael Anderson[5]; 7. 28-Josh Cappo[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[3]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[7]; 3. 26-Kyle Copp[5]; 4. 57-Randy Graham[2]; 5. 21C-Patrick Beeksma[4]; 6. 22AT-Austin Tilton[6]; 7. (DNF) 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[5]; 2. 2-Don Livingston[7]; 3. 14-Kori Richter[4]; 4. 14X-Leslie Leu[3]; 5. 22-Clay Albrecht[6]; 6. (DNF) 1M-Alex Myers[1]; 7. (DNF) 1-Ryan Olson[2]
16 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[5]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[1]; 4. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[7]; 5. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[4]; 6. 1-Jake Stai[10]; 7. 40-Nick Traynor[3]; 8. 47-Tad Schoonover[9]; 9. 31-Jason Vokovan[11]; 10. 39-Rusty Taber[15]; 11. 101-Michael Grover[16]; 12. 78-Bentley Prochnow[14]; 13. (DNF) 88K-Jason Knutson[12]; 14. (DNF) 91-Paul Suzik[8]; 15. (DNF) 16-Cory Jorgensen[2]; 16. (DNF) 19H-Kevin Herrman[13]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[2]; 2. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[5]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[1]; 4. 91-Paul Suzik[3]; 5. 47-Tad Schoonover[6]; 6. 31-Jason Vokovan[7]; 7. (DNF) 78-Bentley Prochnow[8]; 8. (DNF) 39-Rusty Taber[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[2]; 2. 16-Cory Jorgensen[5]; 3. 40-Nick Traynor[6]; 4. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[7]; 5. 1-Jake Stai[4]; 6. 88K-Jason Knutson[1]; 7. 19H-Kevin Herrman[3]; 8. (DNF) 101-Michael Grover[8]
16 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 20-Andrew Hanson[1]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[7]; 3. 7-Caiden Engel[2]; 4. 10B-Dylan Baskin[3]; 5. 17-Zach Beaulieu[5]; 6. 9-Adam Soltis[6]; 7. 19C-Cody Cimfl[10]; 8. 30-Shawn Amundson[11]; 9. 1R-Cole Richards[14]; 10. T20-Michael Tuma[8]; 11. 20F-Connor Franson[4]; 12. 19H-Nolan Brown[9]; 13. 7D-Derrick Helene[13]; 14. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[15]; 15. (DNF) 19J-Jenna Herrman[12]; 16. (DNS) 17G-Chris Gross
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Adam Soltis[1]; 2. 17-Zach Beaulieu[5]; 3. 7-Caiden Engel[7]; 4. 10B-Dylan Baskin[6]; 5. 19H-Nolan Brown[8]; 6. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 7. (DNF) 7D-Derrick Helene[2]; 8. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 2. 20-Andrew Hanson[6]; 3. 20F-Connor Franson[2]; 4. T20-Michael Tuma[5]; 5. 19C-Cody Cimfl[1]; 6. 19J-Jenna Herrman[8]; 7. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 8. (DNS) 17G-Chris Gross
17 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 57M-Brent Mindock[3]; 2. 95F-Devin Fries[4]; 3. 15H-Dusten Holub[6]; 4. 52W-Austin Fencl[5]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[11]; 6. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[8]; 7. 7D-Trevor Phillips[10]; 8. 70-Bob Thompson[1]; 9. 91-Reginald Felzkowski[13]; 10. 24H-Devon Holub[15]; 11. 18M-Leo Moos[9]; 12. (DNF) 17-Aaron Bernick[7]; 13. (DNF) 69ER-Shane Basina[16]; 14. (DNF) 81-Charlie Pitcavage[2]; 15. (DNF) 04K-Jerame Ristau[12]; 16. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[17]; 17. (DNS) 86J-Jake Smith
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Dusten Holub[3]; 2. 95F-Devin Fries[1]; 3. 17-Aaron Bernick[4]; 4. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[2]; 5. 18M-Leo Moos[8]; 6. 16-Rob Grabon[7]; 7. 91-Reginald Felzkowski[5]; 8. (DNF) 69ER-Shane Basina[9]; 9. (DNS) 4K-Terry Kemp
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 70-Bob Thompson[1]; 2. 57M-Brent Mindock[5]; 3. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[8]; 4. 52W-Austin Fencl[7]; 5. 7D-Trevor Phillips[6]; 6. 04K-Jerame Ristau[4]; 7. 86J-Jake Smith[3]; 8. 24H-Devon Holub[2]
