Five New Winners In Rice Lake Speedway Action
by Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, May 18 – One of the largest crowds in recent history jammed the Rice Lake Speedway on Saturday night for the annual Kid’s Night celebration and on a beautiful night for dirt track racing over one hundred bikes and gift baskets were given out to the kids as donated items came from racers and fans alike.
On the track, ninety three drivers from three states signed in to race and the evening’s action would produce five new winners. Visiting victory lane for the first time in 2024 would be Kevin Adams in the Modifieds, Terran Spacek in the Super Stocks, Tyler Vernon in the Midwest Modifieds, Shawn Amundson in the Street Stocks and Dusten Holub in the Pure Stocks after the apparent winner was found to have some unapproved parts on his race car.
Next Saturday night will find the speedway hosting another big event as the WISSOTA Late Models will take to the track for the first time in 2024 for the Swant Graber 40, an event paying two thousand dollars to the winner of the Late Model feature.
Nineteen drivers would take to the track for the Modified feature race and Joe Chaplin Jr. drove out to the early lead, holding the top spot for the first three laps before Adams, who started fourth, drove past to take over the top spot. Chaplin Jr., however, didn’t go away and proved to be a tough challenge for Adams as they continued to battle for the top spot, although Adams was scored the leader of each lap.
Steve Hallquist ran a close third in his new car as the yellow waved on both laps ten and thirteen for spinning cars.
On each restart, Adams did continue to hold the lead but Chaplin Jr. remained close along with Hallquist. The driver on the move was Mike Anderson, who started ninth but with a steady charge, moving into the top five and then continued charging forward, ducking under Kennedy Swan for a position and then moving on to challenge Hallquist for third.
Adams would move up slightly at the end of the race and then continued to drive on for the win ,with Chaplin Jr. a strong second and Hallquist holding off Anderson for third. For the all time leading feature winner in Rice Lake Speedway history, it was his ninety sixth Modified feature win and one hundred and sixty third overall at the track.
The Super Stock feature turned out to be a family affair with the Olson and Myers families locked up in a battle for bragging honors as dads fought it out with their kids for position on the track, all while chasing eventual winner Terran Spacek. Rookie Super Stock driver Ryan Olson grabbed the initial lead over Mike Siewert with Spacek quickly moving up and taking over the second spot. Those two then put on a show as the rookie hung right with the young, but seasoned veteran as they raced side by side around the track, battling for the lead. Meanwhile, another rookie in Alex Myers had raced up to third with the two dads, Eric Olson and Curt Myers running just behind those two.
The race was red flagged on lap seven when Jackson Larson couldn’t avoid a spinning car on the front chute and Larson’s car suffered the whole right side being peeled off the car before it flipped on to its roof, right in front of the crowd. Fortunately, Larson was not injured but the car suffered heavy damage.
One lap later, Spacek was able to make the winning move as he slid past Ryan Olson to take over the lead and after that he was in control of the rest of the race, despite a pair of yellows that did pack up the field once again. Spacek drove home for the win with the two rookie drivers doing a fantastic job behind as they finished second and third. Then it would be the two dads completing the top five.
A last lap pass decided the Midwest Modified feature as another rookie driver in that class, Nick Traynor, came very close to getting his first win. Traynor started in the second row but went to the outside lane on the opening lap and was able to drive past both Jason Knutson and Cory Jorgensen to move into the lead before one lap was completed. Also on the move was Tyler Vernon from the third row and Mike Schnider from the fifth row and by lap five, both had raced their way into the top three in the running order. Schnider and Vernon then battled it out for second with Schnider taking the spot on lap eight and then setting his sights on leader Traynor.
Three cautions for minor spins kept the field bunched for the last half of the race and a key return pass by Vernon with just three laps to go of Schnider game him a clear shot at the leader. The final green was for a one lap sprint to the finish and Traynor, after driving a beautiful race, slipped just a bit high in turn two and Vernon was right there to grab the top spot away from him and then accelerate his way on for the win.
For Vernon, it was redemption for last Saturday night when things didn’t go well for him in the main event but he more than made up for that with the win on this night while Traynor will have to wait at least one more week to get that first feature victory. Schnider would finish a very close third. It was the first ever Rice Lake win for Vernon.
Cole Richards started on the pole for the Street Stock feature race with the twenty two car field roaring into the first turn. Richards was soon challenged by Shawn Amundson who had started beside him in row one. Two laps later Amundson was able to drive past Richards and assume control of the event. Andrew Hanson, a previous winner already this season, moved into second spot and put the heat on Amundson for the lead as those two maintained the top spots as the race reached its halfway point.
On lap ten, Cody Cimfl, running in the top five, was turned around and the yellow flag waved which bunched up the field once more.
However, Amundson was up to the challenge and he would lead the rest of the way with Hanson close behind him to the checkers. Kyle Genett made a late charge that saw him move up to third at the line. For Amundson, it was his eighth career Street Stock feature win at the track.
The Pure Stock feature brought the closest finish of the night, but that close race to the checkers was changed in post race technical inspection. Aaron Bernick started on the pole and led the first three laps of the contest with Dusten Holub and Charlie Pitcavage challenging him. Holub was the chief challenger and after some turn one contact that saw Bernick shoved out of the way, Holub would then take over the lead.
Dusten then had Bob Wahlstrom pushing him hard for the lead as Pitcavage remained a challenger also. A grinding crash in turn one eliminated four cars and set up a late race battle for the lead. Two time winner Brent Mindock had started eighth and was only up to fourth with the last yellow waved but he ready picked up the pace at that point. Holub led at the white flag but Mindock ducked under Wahlstrom for second and on the last corner, Mindock made a great cross over move and nipped Holub at the finish line by .016 seconds for the win, his third straight of the year here.
However, in post race technical inspection, Mindock was found to have unapproved shocks on his car and the victory was then awarded to Holub, the first of his career at Rice Lake. Officially, Wahlstrom then finished second with Pitcavage third.
Despite the Late Models running a two thousand dollar to win event, regular admission pricing for spectators will remain in effect next Saturday. And along with the Late Models, the Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks will all be running a full program. Race time is 6 pm with additional information on the speedway face book page and website.
5/18/2024
RICE LAKE SPEEDWAY
Results
15 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[6]; 2. 40-Nick Traynor[4]; 3. 7-Mike Schnider[14]; 4. 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 5. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[5]; 6. 16-Cory Jorgensen[1]; 7. 88K-Jason Knutson[2]; 8. 12-Joseph Swearingen[3]; 9. 101-Michael Grover[12]; 10. 09-Skylar Findley[8]; 11. (DNF) 39-Rusty Taber[10]; 12. (DNF) 78-Bently Prochnow[15]; 13. (DNF) 19H-Cody Cimfl[11]; 14. (DNF) 1-Jake Stai[9]; 15. (DNS) 47-Tad Schoonover
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[1]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 3. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[2]; 4. 16-Cory Jorgensen[3]; 5. 1-Jake Stai[6]; 6. 19H-Cody Cimfl[4]; 7. 101-Michael Grover[7]; 8. 78-Bently Prochnow[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Nick Traynor[2]; 2. 12-Joseph Swearingen[1]; 3. 88K-Jason Knutson[4]; 4. 09-Skylar Findley[7]; 5. 39-Rusty Taber[5]; 6. (DNF) 47-Tad Schoonover[6]; 7. (DNF) 7-Mike Schnider[3]
19 entries
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[4]; 2. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[2]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[1]; 4. 57-Mike Anderson[9]; 5. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 6. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[5]; 7. 3JR-Shane Halopka[7]; 8. 11-Justin Weinberger[8]; 9. 7X-Marcus Dunbar[10]; 10. 37-Travis Anderson[13]; 11. 74-Shaun Kreyer[11]; 12. 10-Kyle Helling[18]; 13. 78-Brent Prochnow[19]; 14. 3H-Jake Hiatt[17]; 15. 204-David Mayala[12]; 16. (DNF) 22S-Cole Spacek[16]; 17. (DNF) 20-Austin Ellis[15]; 18. (DNF) 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[14]; 19. (DNF) 21F-Nick Oreskovich[3]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 2. 18S-Kennedy Swan[2]; 3. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[1]; 4. 7X-Marcus Dunbar[5]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 6. 22S-Cole Spacek[7]; 7. 78-Brent Prochnow[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[2]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[4]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[1]; 4. 74-Shaun Kreyer[5]; 5. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[3]; 6. 3H-Jake Hiatt[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Justin Weinberger[1]; 2. 3JR-Shane Halopka[4]; 3. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[3]; 4. 204-David Mayala[2]; 5. 20-Austin Ellis[6]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[5]
17 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 15H-Dusten Holub[6]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 3. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[2]; 4. 16-Rob Grabon[10]; 5. 95F-Devin Fries[7]; 6. 5R-George Richards[14]; 7. 18M-Leo Moos[12]; 8. 12-Aaron Holmberg[11]; 9. 24H-Devon Holub[15]; 10. (DNF) 70-Bob Thompson[3]; 11. (DNF) 17-Aaron Bernick[1]; 12. (DNF) 37-Katlin Pritzl[9]; 13. (DNF) 69ER-Shane Basina[13]; 14. (DNF) 23R-James Rahn[5]; 15. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[17]; 16. (DNS) 52W-Austin Fencl; 17. (DQ) 57M-Brent Mindock[8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[2]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[3]; 3. 17-Aaron Bernick[6]; 4. 70-Bob Thompson[5]; 5. 37-Katlin Pritzl[1]; 6. 12-Aaron Holmberg[4]; 7. 69ER-Shane Basina[9]; 8. 5R-George Richards[8]; 9. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57M-Brent Mindock[2]; 2. 15H-Dusten Holub[3]; 3. 95F-Devin Fries[5]; 4. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[1]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[8]; 6. 18M-Leo Moos[4]; 7. (DNF) 24H-Devon Holub[7]; 8. (DNF) 52W-Austin Fencl[6]
22 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 2. 20-Andrew Hanson[3]; 3. 16X-Kyle Genett[6]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 5. 19C-Cody Cimfl[4]; 6. 84-Hunter VanGilder[21]; 7. 7-Caiden Engel[10]; 8. 12-Cody Kummer[14]; 9. 9-Adam Soltis[5]; 10. 10B-Dylan Baskin[12]; 11. 12K-Jay Kesan[17]; 12. 3R-Danny Richards[9]; 13. 19H-Nolan Brown[13]; 14. T20-Michael Tuma[11]; 15. 79N-Jeff Nowak[8]; 16. 20F-Rich Bishop[16]; 17. 28-Colten Klueckman[15]; 18. 74-Bruce Stanley[22]; 19. 19J-Jenna Herrman[18]; 20. (DNF) 79-Joseph Ott[19]; 21. (DNF) 17-Zach Beaulieu[7]; 22. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[20]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16X-Kyle Genett[2]; 2. 17-Zach Beaulieu[3]; 3. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 4. 7-Caiden Engel[6]; 5. 19H-Nolan Brown[7]; 6. 20F-Rich Bishop[5]; 7. 74-Bruce Stanley[8]; 8. 84-Hunter VanGilder[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 79N-Jeff Nowak[2]; 2. 9-Adam Soltis[4]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 4. T20-Michael Tuma[3]; 5. 12-Cody Kummer[5]; 6. 12K-Jay Kesan[6]; 7. 79-Joseph Ott[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19C-Cody Cimfl[4]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[1]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[5]; 4. 10B-Dylan Baskin[2]; 5. 28-Colten Klueckman[3]; 6. 19J-Jenna Herrman[7]; 7. 17G-Chris Gross[6]
20 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[3]; 2. 1-Ryan Olson[2]; 3. 1M-Alex Myers[4]; 4. 33-Curt Myers[12]; 5. 1E-Eric Olson[8]; 6. 7R-Tommy Richards[6]; 7. 6-Shane Kisling[13]; 8. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[9]; 9. 57-Randy Graham[10]; 10. 21-Mike Siewert[1]; 11. 22-Clay Albrecht[18]; 12. 71X-William Fisher[5]; 13. 01-Michael Anderson[20]; 14. 20*-Andrew Davis[16]; 15. 28-Josh Cappo[15]; 16. (DNF) 22AT-Austin Tilton[19]; 17. (DNF) 02-Travis Anderson[14]; 18. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[17]; 19. (DNF) 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 20. (DNF) XJR-Austin Harris[11]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[2]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[1]; 3. 7R-Tommy Richards[4]; 4. 57-Randy Graham[3]; 5. 6-Shane Kisling[5]; 6. 20*-Andrew Davis[7]; 7. 22AT-Austin Tilton[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14X-Leslie Leu[5]; 2. 21-Mike Siewert[4]; 3. 71X-William Fisher[3]; 4. XJR-Austin Harris[1]; 5. 02-Travis Anderson[7]; 6. 247-Jackson Larson[2]; 7. (DNF) 01-Michael Anderson[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[1]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[4]; 3. 1M-Alex Myers[5]; 4. 33-Curt Myers[3]; 5. 28-Josh Cappo[2]; 6. 22-Clay Albrecht[6]
