Doar Tops Late Model Challenges Event at Rice Lake Speedway
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, May 29- Veteran Late Model racer Pat Doar led from start to finish to win the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series event presented by Swant Graber Motors Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway.
Doar, from New Richmond, would draw the lucky Frisbee that would give him the inside pole and he would take advantage of that preferred starting spot, taking the early lead over Jimmy Mars and Darrell Nelson and the rest of the twenty four car starting field. While Doar would move off by several car lengths over the field in the early going, the best battle was for third where Nelson and James Giossi would race hard for that spot, trading the position back and forth as Kevin Eder nipped at their rear tires.
The first yellow would wave with nine laps complete when Dave Mass, racing in the top ten, would lose a wheel and come to a halt in turn one with Aaron Wilson running into the tire as it bounced around the track. Mass would leave on the wrecker with Wilson able to continue.
Doar would continue to show the way with Mars looking to his inside on occasion, hoping for a hole to develop or for Doar to make a mistake. Doar did have to navigate through some lapped traffic and things did get a bit dicey at times, but each time Mars thought he would have a chance, Doar would hold him off and move out by a few car lengths. Giossi got past Nelson for third and the top five would settle in at this point, racing hard and looking for openings to move farther forward.
Three laps past the halfway point, Wilson would spin in turn four, triggering the second and final yellow of the race. On the restart, Doar would again reassert his advantage while Mars would continue to dog his every move. Chad Mahder would get an excellent restart and he would move past Eder to take over the fifth spot in the running order.
From then on, the top five would remain unchanged for the duration of the forty lap feature, which would remain under the green the last seventeen laps. Doar would again come up upon a slower car during the last ten laps but he would masterfully maneuver so that he would not have to try to overtake that car while protecting his lead as Mars had fallen back just a bit and was fighting hard to keep Giossi behind him.
At the checkered, Doar would take the win by about eight car lengths over Mars with Giossi close behind Mars. Nelson and Mahder would complete the top five as nineteen of the starting field were still on the track at the finish with all still on the lead lap. Doar’s win was his second Late Model victory in the last two years, having won the Trackside Collectibles 40 here in 2020.
Heat winners for the twenty six car field would include Steve Laursen, Mahder and Doar. The Late Models will return to the Rice Lake Speedway one more time in 2021. The Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series will return to the track on Saturday night, July 31st as the third night of a three race swing for the series that will feature the Tanner Byholm Memorial on Thursday night at the ABC Raceway, the Twin Ports Twin 25’s at the Gondik Law Speedway in Superior Wisconsin on Friday night and wrap up the weekend at Rice Lake for the Swant Graber 40.
For more information on coming events at the Rice Lake Speedway, check out the speedway face book page or log on to their website at www.ricelakespeedway.net.
WISSOTA LATE MODEL
Structural Buildings A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 11-Pat Doar[1]; 2. 28M-Jimmy Mars[2]; 3. 11G-James Giossi[4]; 4. 44-Darrell Nelson[3]; 5. 55C-Chad Mahder[7]; 6. 22E-Kevin Eder[5]; 7. 519-Steve Laursen[6]; 8. 27-Jake Redetzke[8]; 9. 85-John Kaanta[11]; 10. 11N-Denver Nickeson[10]; 11. 31-Travis Budisalovich[14]; 12. 6M-Jeffrey Massingill[18]; 13. 22P-Nick Panitzke[15]; 14. 28-Sam Mars[20]; 15. 68-Mike Prochnow[21]; 16. 24M-Cody Martin[24]; 17. 92-Aaron Wilson[16]; 18. 95-Shawn Carlson[17]; 19. 89-Scott Meeds[25]; 20. (DNF) 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[12]; 21. (DNF) 1 2-Bryce Sward[22]; 22. (DNF) 58-AJ Diemel[19]; 23. (DNF) 12-Chad Becker[13]; 24. (DNF) 2-Dave Mass[9]; 25. (DNS) 51-Randy Gullixson; 26. (DNS) 22-Sam Motzer
Joe Provo Racewear Heat 1 (12 Laps): 1. 519-Steve Laursen[1]; 2. 28M-Jimmy Mars[5]; 3. 11N-Denver Nickeson[3]; 4. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[4]; 5. 85-John Kaanta[7]; 6. 58-AJ Diemel[6]; 7. 28-Sam Mars[8]; 8. 1 2-Bryce Sward[9]; 9. (DNS) 22-Sam Motzer
Dirt Track Supply Heat 2 (12 Laps): 1. 55C-Chad Mahder[1]; 2. 44-Darrell Nelson[7]; 3. 27-Jake Redetzke[5]; 4. 22E-Kevin Eder[6]; 5. 92-Aaron Wilson[3]; 6. 22P-Nick Panitzke[8]; 7. 95-Shawn Carlson[9]; 8. (DNF) 51-Randy Gullixson[2]; 9. (DNF) 89-Scott Meeds[4]
Best Western Hotel Resorts Heat 3 (12 Laps): 1. 11-Pat Doar[1]; 2. 11G-James Giossi[8]; 3. 2-Dave Mass[2]; 4. 12-Chad Becker[4]; 5. 31-Travis Budisalovich[6]; 6. 6M-Jeffrey Massingill[5]; 7. 68-Mike Prochnow[7]; 8. 24M-Cody Martin[3]
