Burdick Wins Rice Lake Speedway Grand; Amundson Tops Street Stock Thriller
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, July 10 – Kevin Burdick motored down the hill from Proctor Minnesota and topped a hard fought Super Stock feature race to win the second “No Mystery”, one thousand dollar to win event of the season to highlight the racing program Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. Shawn Amundson was the winner in an extremely competitive Street Stock feature that had more three wide racing than double file while Mike Anderson, James Rahn and Cody Carlson also took home wins on Saturday.
While Burdick would be scored the leader of all twenty laps of the Super Stock race, that statistic would be misleading as the win was anything but an easy one for the Minnesota driver locked in a battle for the national point title in the Super Stocks at this juncture of the season.
He would start on the outside pole and take the early lead from Eric Olson and would put some distance on the field early. Olson was under the gun as he was being pressured by Tarran Spacek for second with Dave Flynn close behind. Spacek would look low and high and would finally slip past Olson to take second with Flynn following suit a couple laps later. The chase would then be on as Spacek was really eating up ground and by the halfway point of the race, was locked on Burdick’s rear bumper and testing the waters for an attempted pass on the leader as Flynn also started to reel in the top two.
Spacek nearly got by Burdick on two occasions, getting up to his door but not quite being able to make the pass. Then the race, which had gone sixteen laps nonstop, was slowed by the first yellow of the contest and this changed things up. There would be two more yellows in the next two laps before the race could be completed and on the final green restart, Flynn would get under Spacek to take over second and would then attack the leader, trying to drive under him. However, Spacek fought back and while the battle for second raged, Burdick would slip away and lead the final two circuits to take the win. Flynn would settle for second and Olson would make a big comeback, slipping past Spacek on the last corner to steal third.
For Burdick, it was his first win at Rice Lake since the 2018 racing season and third of his career here. He would also become the sixth different winner in the Super Stock class this season.
The Street Stock features just keep getting more and more intense every week as the drivers begin to tune up for the Little Dream race next month. Saturday night’s feature saw four different drivers lead the event and more three wide racing than the opening lap of the Indy 500. Seventeen drivers would take the green flag for the main event and all seventeen would still be running at the finish with all on the lead lap as the competition in this class is at perhaps an all time high.
Visiting Brandon Hakala would lead the opening lap of the race before he was overtaken by Dustin Doughty who had moved up from the third row quickly to take over the lead as he showed great speed on the outside lane of the track. However, the yellow would wave one lap later when Adam Soltis got turned around, slowing the action.
Doughty would lead again on the green but suddenly he was challenged hard by rookie Cole Richards who got a nose under Dustin and would take over the lead on the following lap. Doughty fought back and they went wheel to wheel when suddenly Amundson, who too was using the outer lane, cam driving up and made it a three wide race. Amundson would thrill the crowd as he drove past his two main competitors on the outside and take over the lead.
But the race was far from over. Following another yellow for a minor spin, the leaders would again go three wide for two full laps as the action was crazy for the lead. Coming out of turn four, Amundson, who held a slight lead at this point, was clipped in the rear end and spun, triggering yet another yellow. Doughty was judged to have caused the incident and he went to the tail of the field.
The last six laps ran off nonstop and Amundson was able to edge out by a car length or so on the field while the battle for second remained tough. Richards was fighting off challenges from Soltis while Travis Loew, who started sixteenth on the grid was showing great speed on the outside as he moved into the top five and was still charging forward. Amundson would drive home for the impressive win and become only the second multiple winner this season with the rookie Richards having his best run ever for second with Soltis a strong third and Loew still charging up to fourth at the line.
Zack Drews looked for all the world like he was in line to win his first Modified feature race of the year until a late race yellow completely changed the course of the event. Drews had trailed Denny Cutsforth for the first three laps of he Modified feature until he made an outside pass down the front chute to take over the top spot. After that, he would lead until that fateful lap fourteen yellow for a spin, the only slowdown of the Modified feature. Sam Fankhauser was fast too and he raced into second and was closing on Drews as the race reached its midpoint while Mike Anderson had worked his way into third.
A spin slowed slowed the action at that point and on the green, things got wild indeed. Anderson, from the low groove, threw a monster slide job at the two leaders and managed to slip up the track in turn one to ease past both Fankhauser and Drews. Fankhauser also got past Drews who slipped high and went from the lead to third in the blink of an eye.
Anderson would then show his speed as he pulled away from the field in the last six laps to earn his third feature win of the season here and tie him for the top spot on the win list. Drews would pick up the pace after his one bad corner and would fight his way back past Fankhauser to settle for second with Sammy coming home in the third position. Strong runs by Pat Hoffman and Wayne Poteet allowed them to garner top five finishes.
A very happy Cody Carlson would claim his first Midwest Modified feature win of the season with a mid race pass on Kenny Kincaid in what was a very quick, nonstop Midwest Modified feature. Kincaid, getting stronger every week as he looks for his first ever win here, led the opening seven laps of the race as Carlson drove past Mike Schnider and Jason Vokovan to move into second. He then reeled in the leader and after checking things out, made a strong outside pass of Kincaid and took over the lead.
Once in front, he started to stretch his advantage as he was wired to the track on this night and there would be no catching him. Entertaining to watch was the battle back in the pack as Kennedy Swan and Austin Ellis forged their way to the front with Swan getting to third but not being able to catch Kincaid while Ellis had to use the entire track as he marched up to a fourth place finish after starting in row four. Carlson would become the sixth different winner in the class so far this year.
The Pure Stock feature would see a new winner emerge as James Rahn put together his strongest and most consistent run of the year to lead all twelve laps and take his first main event of the season. He would get the early jump on Randy Graham to take the lead and would endure through two yellow flag slowdowns to take the win.
While he led all laps, it again was anything but a sure thing as Graham and Bob Wahlsrom were right behind him and battling for all they were worth to try and dislodge Rahn from the lead. Following a slowing car at the mid point of the race, the last six laps would go off nonstop and Wahlstrom would put together a strong effort as he drove past Graham on the outside to take second and was closing on the leader.
On the last lap he nearly caught Rahn on the back chute and went for broke on the last corner and tried for the win. However, he couldn’t hold his car under control as they raced to the line and he got fully out of control, spinning across the track and clipping Graham who spun. As Rahn crossed the line for the win, there was chaos behind him as the pack tried to avoid the spinning Graham as they raced to the line.
Rahn became the fifth different winner in the class this year and earned his second ever win at Rice Lake. Officials sorted out the wild finish with Graham restored to second at the pay window as Wahlstrom was ruled the cause of the last lap incident. Mitch Kesan, making his first appearance of the year at the track, came from eighth to take third with Bryar Zimmerman moving all the way up from fourteenth to finish fourth ahead of Ryan Olson.
Next Saturday night, July 17th, there will be no racing at the speedway as everyone takes a week to catch their breath and enjoy the Barron County Fair. Racing will return on Saturday night, July 24th which will be Hall of Fame night at the track with new inductees Jason Hensel, Rich Bishop, LoreMiller and the late Woody Kurtzhals being honored.
It was also announced on Saturday that the previously rained out on June 26th , “No Mystery” Street Stock one thousand dollar to win race will be held on July 24thalso and has been dubbed the “Prelude to the Little Dream” with many drivers using that night as a tune up for the big race, slated for August 3rd.
Check the speedway face book page for any updates to the schedule or further announcements.
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[5]; 2. 0-Zack Drews[2]; 3. 11-Sam Fankhauser[3]; 4. 308-Pat Hoffman[4]; 5. 18W-Wayne Poteet[9]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[6]; 7. 20-Denny Cutsforth[1]; 8. 34JR-Dan Larson Jr[8]; 9. 204-David Mayala[7]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[5]; 2. 0-Zack Drews[1]; 3. 11-Sam Fankhauser[9]; 4. 20-Denny Cutsforth[3]; 5. 308-Pat Hoffman[7]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[8]; 7. 204-David Mayala[2]; 8. 34JR-Dan Larson Jr[4]; 9. 18W-Wayne Poteet[6]
13 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 30-Kevin Burdick[2]; 2. 29F-Dave Flynn[3]; 3. 1E-Eric Olson[1]; 4. 22T-Terran Spacek[4]; 5. 40-Nick Traynor[6]; 6. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[7]; 7. 46-Simon Wahlstrom[8]; 8. 67-Josh Bach[5]; 9. 77-Josh Saunders[10]; 10. 28-Josh Cappo[11]; 11. 01-Michael Anderson[13]; 12. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[9]; 13. (DNF) 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[12]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[1]; 2. 22T-Terran Spacek[3]; 3. 40-Nick Traynor[4]; 4. 1E-Eric Olson[7]; 5. 21-Mike Siewert[5]; 6. 28-Josh Cappo[2]; 7. 01-Michael Anderson[6]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 30-Kevin Burdick[2]; 2. 29F-Dave Flynn[1]; 3. 46-Simon Wahlstrom[3]; 4. 67-Josh Bach[4]; 5. 77-Josh Saunders[6]; 6. 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[5]
14 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 32III-Cody Carlson[4]; 2. 4-Kenny Kincaid[2]; 3. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 4. 20-Austin Ellis[7]; 5. 40-Mike Schnider[3]; 6. 31-Jason Vokovan[1]; 7. 16-Ryan Savoy[5]; 8. 37-Travis Anderson[8]; 9. 21-Jimmy Latvala[9]; 10. 93-CJ Wagner[11]; 11. 28-Francis Hanson[10]; 12. 2-Tanner Gehl[13]; 13. 19H-Kevin Herrman[12]; 14. (DNF) 38-Simon Wahlstrom[14]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Kennedy Swan[4]; 2. 20-Austin Ellis[5]; 3. 4-Kenny Kincaid[1]; 4. 16-Ryan Savoy[3]; 5. 21-Jimmy Latvala[7]; 6. 93-CJ Wagner[6]; 7. 2-Tanner Gehl[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Travis Anderson[1]; 2. 32III-Cody Carlson[6]; 3. 40-Mike Schnider[4]; 4. 31-Jason Vokovan[3]; 5. 28-Francis Hanson[2]; 6. 19H-Kevin Herrman[7]; 7. (DNF) 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]
19 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[6]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 3. 9-Adam Soltis[8]; 4. 40-Travis Loew[18]; 5. 24-James Clausen[10]; 6. 80-Brandon Hakala[1]; 7. 26T-Ty Agen[9]; 8. D1-Dustin Doughty[5]; 9. 17-Zach Beaulieu[19]; 10. 33-Daniel Boissy[2]; 11. 79-Joseph Ott[4]; 12. 26-Jordan Kurtti[12]; 13. 37-Mike Chaplin[15]; 14. T20-Michael Tuma[11]; 15. 66-Eric Haupt[13]; 16. 4-Matt Bray[14]; 17. 19H-Kevin Herrman[16]; 18. (DNS) 5H-Jason Havel; 19. (DNS) 84-Hunter VanGilder
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1R-Cole Richards[2]; 2. 9-Adam Soltis[7]; 3. 80-Brandon Hakala[3]; 4. 24-James Clausen[1]; 5. 66-Eric Haupt[4]; 6. 19H-Kevin Herrman[6]; 7. (DNF) 17-Zach Beaulieu[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. D1-Dustin Doughty[2]; 2. 84-Hunter VanGilder[3]; 3. 33-Daniel Boissy[5]; 4. T20-Michael Tuma[4]; 5. 4-Matt Bray[6]; 6. (DNF) 5H-Jason Havel[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[6]; 2. 26T-Ty Agen[1]; 3. 79-Joseph Ott[5]; 4. 26-Jordan Kurtti[2]; 5. 37-Mike Chaplin[4]; 6. (DNF) 40-Travis Loew[3]
20 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 23R-James Rahn[2]; 2. 57-Randy Graham[1]; 3. AK-Mitchell Kesan[8]; 4. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[14]; 5. 1-Ryan Olson[7]; 6. 2S-Tristan Scheuermann[10]; 7. 31-Travis Hazelton[9]; 8. 101-Michael Grover[11]; 9. 52F-Austin Fencl[15]; 10. OXSR-Michael Huebner Sr[12]; 11. 72-Cully Butterfield[13]; 12. 52-Zachary Folz[18]; 13. 70-Bob Thompson[6]; 14. 91-Michael Holmstrom[19]; 15. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[3]; 16. (DNF) 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[5]; 17. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[16]; 18. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[20]; 19. (DNF) 95F-Devin Fries[4]; 20. (DNF) 23-Skylar Findley[17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Travis Hazelton[4]; 2. 1-Ryan Olson[5]; 3. 23R-James Rahn[6]; 4. 2S-Tristan Scheuermann[7]; 5. 72-Cully Butterfield[2]; 6. 4K-Terry Kemp[1]; 7. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. AK-Mitchell Kesan[1]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[7]; 3. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[6]; 4. 101-Michael Grover[3]; 5. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[2]; 6. 23-Skylar Findley[4]; 7. 91-Michael Holmstrom[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Randy Graham[6]; 2. 70-Bob Thompson[3]; 3. 95F-Devin Fries[1]; 4. OXSR-Michael Huebner Sr[5]; 5. 52F-Austin Fencl[2]; 6. 52-Zachary Folz[4]
