Cole Richards Wins First Ever Rice Lake Speedway Feature Win
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI – Cole Richards, a High School student from Mondovi Wisconsin and part of a family rich in racing tradition across the entire state of Wisconsin, won his first ever Street Stock feature race to highlight the program on Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. Three other drivers won their first feature races of the season here at Rice Lake while another emerged as a repeat winner as drivers made their last runs here before the holiday doubleheader over the Memorial Day weekend.
It was a rare win for Aric Lindberg that headlined the Midwest Modified main while Kevin Adams and Ryan Olson added to their win totals and Terran Spacek became the first repeat winner at the speedway as he topped the Super Stock main for the second time this season.
A solid field of eighteen Street Stocks would take the green flag for their fifteen lap main event with Best Appearing Car winner James Clausen grabbing the early lead over Dan Boissy and Richards. However, when Clausen slid out of the groove in turn four, Richards was right there to jump at the opportunity as he put his car low on the track and drove into the lead with Boissy moving into second.
The race was slowed early a couple of times for spins, keeping the pack bunched and desiring more uninterupted green flag laps. Shawn Amundson and Hunter VanGilder were on the move as they came from the fifth and fourth rows respectively to move into challenging positions. They would both pass Boissy for position and close in on leader Richards.
With the yellow flags at an end, all out racing would see the last ten laps ran off without interuption and both Amundson and VanGilder were chasing Richards for the lead. But despite having two of Rice Lake’s quickest Street Stocks tailing him, Richards drove an outstanding race, never faltering and never giving in to the pressure. In fact, in the last few laps he strengthened his advantage and gained a few car lengths over his closest competitors. He drove a flawless race and the third year driver would visit victory lane here for the very first time. During the last few laps, VanGilder would close in on Amundson for second and they flashed across the line in close fomation with Amundson holding on by half a car length to second. Zach Beaulieu would make a late move to grab the fourth spot and Boissy would hold on to complete the top five.
Aric Lindberg would start on the pole and lead all fifteen laps to earn his first Midwest Modified feature win of the year. However, it was fortunate for Lindberg that the race wasn’t any longer than fifteen laps as he barely held off a late race challenge from Tony Bahr that resulted in a photo finish to determine the winner.
Lindberg grabbed the early lead over Mike Schnider and C.J. Wagner as this event also had some troubles staying green in the early going with three yellows in the first four laps for spins and tangles. Once everyone settled down though, they were able to complete the last eleven laps without incident.
The long stretch of green flag racing was good for Lindberg as he was able to put some distance between himself and the pack. Clearly though, the driver on the move was Bahr as he was only fifth following the lap four yellow but once green flag conditions prevailed, he really picked up his pace. He drove past Simon Wahlstrom, Wagner and then Schnider to take over second and then set off after the leader.
As the laps clicked off and Lindberg maintained his lead, the margin began to shrink at a rapid rate as Bahr was clearly catching the leader. In the last two laps, Bahr dramatically closed in on Lindberg and coming off the final corner of the race, Lindberg got just a bit high in turn four, opening the door for a Bahr challenge. Both drivers surged for the finish line and Lindberg was able to hold on by a margin of .075 seconds for the razor close win. Wagner was able to get past Schnider for third with Wahlstrom completing the top five.
For Lindberg, known to his friends as “Howdy”, it was his first feature win at Rice Lake since the 2017 racing season about his home built car.
Kevin Adams took a roundabout way to victory lane in the Modified feature, at one point heading the wrong direction in turn one. However, that eary race scrum was put behind him later when he drove to his first win of the season.
Rookie Modified driver Hunter Anderson would lead the opening lap of yet another feature race that took a few laps for everyone to get sorted out and settled in. Spins and stalled cars slowed the action five times in the first eight laps but then after that the race ran green to checkered. Adams would move up from row three to challenge Anderson but only after he and Joe Chaplin went for a spin in turn one after some wild action.
Both would get their spots back but Adams would slip back to third as Wayne Poteet was having a great run and pulled into second. As Anderson maintained the lead, Adams would again challenge, this time driving by Poteet and then on lap six, pulling past Anderson to take over the lead.
Once in front and with no yellows to slow the action, Adams would pull away by a substantial margin, eventually extended his lead to a full straightaway. Meanwhile, the battle for second continued with Anderson and Poteet continuing their positions as Mike Anderson, is a borrowed ride, moved up to fourth.
Adams was long gone up front and would drive on for the win while Anderson and Poteet maintanied their great runs, coming home in second and third. In the late going, Pat Hoffman, who started dead last in the feature after some heat race issues, would make a pass on Anderson for fourth. While it was Adams’ first win of this year, it was his eighty ninth feature win in a Modified at Rice Lake.
Spacek would become the first repeat winner of the season to date with a strong effort as he came from the fourth row to top the Super Stock feature. Leslie Leu would take the early lead and in fact would lead the first first twelve laps of the main event in one of his finest runs to date. Behind him there was quite a battle as Tucker Quinn was holding off a group that consisted of Nick Traynor and Simon Wahlstrom with Spacek and Eric Olson also joining in.
Following the night long pattern, the yellow flew several times in the first half of the race, which kept the field bunched. Spacek started to advance as by the halfway point of the race he had passed Wahlstrom and Traynor and was up to third. He then got past Quinn for second as the last yellow of the event saw Traynor, Wahlstrom and Olson all tangle with only Olson able to continue.
Through all of this, Leu had continued to lead but now Spacek had become his main challenger and following the last yellow of the race on lap twelve, Spacek got a big run on the outside and swept past Leu down the back chute to take over the lead. After that, Spacek would open up his spread over the field, pulling away in the late going for his second win. Leu would maintain second in a great run for him with Olson edging past Quinn to get third. Jeff Eisner Jr would take the fifth spot when Josh Saunders went up in smoke on the last lap.
The Pure Stocks would wrap up the evening with a great four car battle for the win that wasn’t decided until the final lap. Bob Wahlstrom would be the initial leader of the event with Mike Grover and Ryan Olson challenging him. Olson would move into second and then with an outside pass, drive into the lead.
However, shortly after that the leaders, still battling, would tangle in turn two and Olson would go for a spin. The yellow would fly and Olson would get his spot back and racing would continue. Despite maintaining the lead, Olson was under the gun from a couple of other drivers that were making strong charges. George Richards had come from the fourth row using the high side of the track and he moved to second and pulled up beside Olson, leading to a battle for the lead.
Also on the move was last week’s winner Bryar Zimmerman who had worked his way up from the fifth row. In fact, Zimmerman would then pass Richards for second and replace him as the main challenger to Olson. The last half of the race would go nonstop and Zimmerman was up beside Olson, lap after lap as he tried to make the pass. Several times get got oh so close to getting by but couldn’t quite pull it off. Meanwhile, Richards was right behind the leaders and had been joined by Rob Grabon who had come all the way to the front from the seventh row.
The last few laps would see the top four drivers running side by side and nose to tail, trying to gain positions. Despite pushing for all he was worth, Zimmerman just couldn’t quite edge past the defending track champion and Olson would take his first win of 2022 by a car length with Richards edging out Grabon for third while Bob Thompson would complete the top five.
Next weekend will be one of the biggest of the year for the speedway and the first doubleheader show held at the track in quite some time. On Saturday night, May 28th, the program will feature the return of the winged Sprint Cars for the first time to the track since 2013 when the Interstates Racing Association (IRA) will put on a full program of 410 winged Sprint Car racing as the fastest cars on dirt come to the Rice Lake Speedway. Along with the Sprint Cars, a full program of WISSOTA sanctioned Super Stocks, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks will be held.
And then on Sunday, May 29th, a division popular to many race fans from the area will make their first appearance of 2022 as the WISSOTA Late Models will be on hand for the annual Trackside Collectibles 40 featuring a $2,000 to win, $300 to start forty lap main event with all the top drivers from the area expected to be on hand. The Super Stocks, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks will all run another full program on Sunday night also. This should be a blockbuster weekend with the combination of Sprint Cars and Late Models running back to back a rare treat at this track.
For more information on this event, see the speedway face book page or the track website at www.ricelakespeedway.net.
16 entries
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[4]; 2. 4A-Hunter Anderson[1]; 3. 18W-Wayne Poteet[2]; 4. 308-Pat Hoffman[16]; 5. 13-Mike Anderson[5]; 6. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[10]; 7. 10-Kyle Helling[7]; 8. 97-Cole Anderson[8]; 9. 204-David Mayala[3]; 10. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[13]; 11. (DNF) 20-Denny Cutsforth[6]; 12. (DNF) 88-Tyler Luger[9]; 13. (DNF) 11-Sam Fankhauser[11]; 14. (DNF) 55-Taylor Olson[12]; 15. (DNF) 20E-Austin Ellis[15]; 16. (DNS) 19J-Jack Rivord
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 204-David Mayala[2]; 2. 4A-Hunter Anderson[5]; 3. 13-Mike Anderson[4]; 4. 18W-Wayne Poteet[8]; 5. (DNF) 43K-Kaden Blaeser[7]; 6. (DNF) 19J-Jack Rivord[6]; 7. (DNF) 20E-Austin Ellis[3]; 8. (DQ) 308-Pat Hoffman[1]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[3]; 2. 97-Cole Anderson[2]; 3. 20-Denny Cutsforth[1]; 4. 10-Kyle Helling[7]; 5. 88-Tyler Luger[5]; 6. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[6]; 7. 11-Sam Fankhauser[4]; 8. 55-Taylor Olson[8]
13 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[7]; 2. 14X-Leslie Leu[1]; 3. 1E-Eric Olson[9]; 4. 11-Tucker Quinn[6]; 5. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[4]; 6. 21-Mike Siewert[2]; 7. 01-Michael Anderson[11]; 8. 57-Randy Graham[13]; 9. 28-Josh Cappo[10]; 10. 22AT-Austin Tilton[12]; 11. (DNF) 77-Josh Saunders[3]; 12. (DNF) 40-Nick Traynor[8]; 13. (DNF) 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[1]; 2. 14X-Leslie Leu[3]; 3. 11-Tucker Quinn[6]; 4. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[5]; 5. 1E-Eric Olson[4]; 6. 01-Michael Anderson[2]; 7. (DNS) 57-Randy Graham
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 40-Nick Traynor[1]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[4]; 3. 21-Mike Siewert[5]; 4. 77-Josh Saunders[3]; 5. 28-Josh Cappo[2]; 6. 22AT-Austin Tilton[6]
16 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 221-Aric Lindberg[1]; 2. QQ-Tony Bahr[6]; 3. 93-CJ Wagner[3]; 4. 40S-Mike Schnider[2]; 5. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[7]; 6. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[4]; 7. 2G-Tanner Gehl[9]; 8. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[5]; 9. 28H-Francis Hanson[13]; 10. 2B1-Diamond Bressette[15]; 11. 19H-Kevin Herrman[14]; 12. 410-Jesse Young[12]; 13. (DNF) 32III-Cody Carlson[8]; 14. (DNF) 18-Tacoma Randall[16]; 15. (DNF) 17-Jamie Bisonette[11]; 16. (DNF) 7P-Warren Bartelt[10]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 32III-Cody Carlson[5]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[3]; 3. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[7]; 4. 221-Aric Lindberg[2]; 5. 2G-Tanner Gehl[4]; 6. 17-Jamie Bisonette[6]; 7. 28H-Francis Hanson[8]; 8. (DNF) 2B1-Diamond Bressette[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40S-Mike Schnider[1]; 2. QQ-Tony Bahr[4]; 3. 93-CJ Wagner[3]; 4. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[2]; 5. 7P-Warren Bartelt[6]; 6. 410-Jesse Young[7]; 7. 19H-Kevin Herrman[5]; 8. (DNF) 18-Tacoma Randall[8]
18 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson[9]; 3. 84-Hunter VanGilder[7]; 4. 17-Zach Beaulieu[5]; 5. 33-Daniel Boissy[2]; 6. 9-Adam Soltis[11]; 7. 71X-William Fisher[12]; 8. 24-James Clausen[1]; 9. 40-Travis Loew[4]; 10. 66-Eric Haupt[13]; 11. 22-James Taylor[16]; 12. 19H-Jenna Herrman[17]; 13. (DNF) 79-Joseph Ott[10]; 14. (DNF) 37-Mike Chaplin[8]; 15. (DNF) 12-Kammron Rose[14]; 16. (DNF) 1M-Alex Myers[18]; 17. (DNF) 7-Caiden Engel[15]; 18. (DNF) 9K-Kolby Kiehl[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24-James Clausen[6]; 2. 17-Zach Beaulieu[1]; 3. 33-Daniel Boissy[3]; 4. 79-Joseph Ott[2]; 5. 66-Eric Haupt[4]; 6. (DNF) 1M-Alex Myers[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[2]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 3. 37-Mike Chaplin[1]; 4. 9-Adam Soltis[4]; 5. 12-Kammron Rose[5]; 6. 22-James Taylor[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[3]; 2. 40-Travis Loew[5]; 3. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 4. 71X-William Fisher[2]; 5. 7-Caiden Engel[1]; 6. 19H-Jenna Herrman[6]
17 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[6]; 2. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[10]; 3. 5R-George Richards[8]; 4. 29M-Rob Grabon[13]; 5. 70-Bob Thompson[5]; 6. 101-Michael Grover[2]; 7. 26-Kevin Bartelt[1]; 8. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 9. 23R-James Rahn[7]; 10. 63-Ken Larson[15]; 11. 72-Cully Butterfield[11]; 12. 09-Skylar Findley[9]; 13. 4K-Terry Kemp[16]; 14. (DNF) 12-Aaron Holmberg[14]; 15. (DNF) 52F-Austin Fencl[3]; 16. (DNF) 52-Zachary Folz[12]; 17. (DNF) 17-Chris Gross[17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5R-George Richards[6]; 2. 101-Michael Grover[1]; 3. 26-Kevin Bartelt[4]; 4. 52F-Austin Fencl[2]; 5. 09-Skylar Findley[7]; 6. 72-Cully Butterfield[8]; 7. 29M-Rob Grabon[3]; 8. 63-Ken Larson[5]; 9. 4K-Terry Kemp[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[3]; 3. 70-Bob Thompson[4]; 4. 1-Ryan Olson[6]; 5. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[7]; 6. 52-Zachary Folz[5]; 7. 12-Aaron Holmberg[2]; 8. (DNF) 17-Chris Gross[8]
