Five New Winners Top Big Rice Lake Speedway Program
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, June 29 – Despite blustery March like conditions which included wind and occasional sprinkles, the largest field of drivers of the season assembled Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway on Hall of Fame night and they provided a memorable program.
Five first timers for 2024 at the track were in victory lane at the conclusion of the evening including Tommy Pogones and Alex Myers who won their first ever feature races at the Rice Lake Speedway, Austin Ellis who won his first ever feature in the Modified class, and Brady Larson and Bob Wahlstrom who both won their first features of the season at the track. Four of the five winners were all in their early twenties or younger with only the veteran Wahlstrom breaking the youth cycle of the night.
In a ceremony at the midpoint of the evening, four new members were also added to the Rice Lake Speedway Hall of fame with Tony Bahr, Paul Gilberts, the late Dick Hessler and Tammy Sirek joining others already enshrined in the Hall.
The car count was also at a season high with one hundred and fourteen drivers signing in to race on Saturday night with the Super Stocks topping that list as twenty nine of them would enter the program.
The evening began with a moment of silence for Larry Quinn, a Rice Lake Speedway Hall of Fame member, who passed away recently and his grandson Tucker was among those that honored him in a flag ceremony before the races began.
For both Pogones and Myers, the second generation racers were able to visit victory lane at the speedway for the first times in their careers. Pogones topped a huge twenty eight car Street Stock field for his first win while Myers did even better, beating a twenty nine car field in the Super Stock main event.
Pogones started on the outside pole of the Street main event and after battling on the opening lap with Dylan Baskin, he was able to take the early lead. Baskin then fought for second with Danny Richards as the large field of cars circulated around the smooth and fast track. Richards was able to move into second while both Ty Agen and Sam Fankhauser were moving into contention.
Pogones was able to open a few car lengths on the pack as the race reached its halfway point with Richards trying to close down on the leader. Adam Soltis was battling hard with both Agen and Fankhauser for position behind them. Despite the packed track, the field continued to race under the green with Pogones then starting to catch the back of the field which made his job just a bit harder as he tried to negotiate through some of the slower cars.
Finally, the first yellow flew with just six laps remaining in the race when Cole Richards rolled to a halt on the track and the field was bunched up once again for the race to the finish. Despite pressure from behind on him, Pogones, with very little experience on this track, then would fight off the stiffest challenges that current point leader Danny Richards could throw at him, and continue as the leader. Richards, the master at finding the fastest line on this track, moved up just a bit in the corners but on this night there would be no catching the Princeton Minnesota driver as Pogones drove on for the win. Richards settled for second with Agen, Fankhauser and Baskin completing the top five with twenty four of the original field still racing at the finish. The Street Stock field remains remarkably competetive as Pogones became the sixth different feature winner in six nights of Street Stock racing at the track. And while the win was Pogones’ first ever at Rice Lake, the young driver recorded his seventh win in total at various tracks since joining the Street Stock class.
The Super Stock win was especially sweet for the younger of the Myers racers as Alex was able to beat his father Curt to get the win. Alex started on the outside pole and after a tight first lap race with Leslie Leu, he was able to edge into the lead. One lap later the yellow waved for the hardest crash of the night as Jim Cimfl ran out of racing room with the result being a trip into the first turn wall. The Turtle Lake racer was OK but he was done for the night.
Alex continued to lead on the restart with Leu and Tommy Richards putting the heat on him but Alex continued to run a good line around the track and was able to maintain his edge over the pack of twenty nine drivers that started the race. As the race reached its halfway point, Richards had moved into second and was putting heavy heat on the leader with Leu next in line while Curt Myers, who started eighth, had advanced to the fourth spot and was putting pressure on those right in front of him.
Consecutive spins slowed the action at this point and on lap thirteen, Curt Myers was able to make a big move and he drove up into second and then took off after his son. However, Alex was not about to just pull over for his father and he continued to make fast laps as the race reached its conclusion. Curt was able to get to within a couple car lengths of his son but just couldn’t pull off a serious challenge as he settled for second while Alex drove on for his first ever feature win at Rice Lake. Leu, Richards and Shawn McFadden completed the top five with two dozen cars still racing at the finish.
Brady Larson earned his fifth ever feature win at Rice Lake in the Midwest Modified class as he held off some serious challenges from Mike Schnider to take the win. Brady was the early leader with Jason Vokovan and Schnider putting on the early heat. Also on the charge were David Baxter, Jesse Bryan and Josh Bazey as all three moved into contention.
Minor spins over the course of the first half of the race kept the field bunched but through each slow down, Larson continued to hold the top spot. Schnider and Baxter then engaged in a race for second and Baxter would grab the spot and look to challenge the leader.
Another late race yellow set up a two lap sprint to the finish and while Baxter gave it his best shot, Larson maintained his groove and he drove on for the win. Crossing the line second was Baxter with Schnider a close third. However, when the cars were examined for legality after the race, both the cars of Baxter and Basey had some suspension issues that saw them disqualified so the official final running order behind Larson saw Schnider second and followed by Cody Cimfl, Bryan and Ariel Mueller. Larson became the sixth different winner in six nights of racing in the class.
With his last feature win during the 2021 racing season driving a Midwest Modified, Austin Ellis was more than due to visit victory lane once again and on Saturday he got his first ever feature win in the Modified class as he led from start to finish and provided a dominating performance to do so. He pulled away from Aiden Hoffman early to take the lead and once in front, he was simply dominant as no one had anything to offer in the form of a challenge. Even a late yellow flag with just three laps to go wouldn’t stop his momentum as he pulled away once again to drive on to victory.
Brent Prochnow had a great run of his own as he moved into second at the halfway point of the race nd would continue there to the finish. Nick Oreskovich made a nice charge up to finish thrd wHith Steve Hallquist and Hoffman completing the top five.
The Pure Stock feature race went green to checkers and it was Bob Wahlstrom who scored a win for the more veteran drivers at the track, taking the lead on lap eight and then fighting off a stiff challenge from Dusten Holub to record the win. Eric Crosby led the first seven laps as the rookie driver continues to impress but when he slipped up the track, Wahlstrom was right there to take over the lead after starting in the second row. Holub had a tough battle with Austin Fencl for the second spot but he secured that position near the end and while he tried to catch Wahlstrom, Bob was just a bit too strong for him and he had to settle for second. C.J. Wagner, making his first run of 2024, and Crosby would complete the top five.
It will be a quick turnaround for the drivers with one of the biggest races of the year on tap this coming Wednesday, July 3rd. The Firecracker special is always a memorable night at the track and the new owers promise a spectacular program. And along with the firecworks, there will also be special events on the track. Dennis McCauley’s Fast Lane Super Stock Series event, rained out on June 6th, will be held on Wednesday with thirty or more Super Stock drivers from a three state area expected to be on hand. Along with that, the Midwest Modified drivers, who were going to race for extra money as a part of that program, will see that bonus as a part of the program also with the Modifieds, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks also in racing action. This program will be a draw/redraw program for the drivers.
And as a special bonus, all this is being offered by Rice Lake Speedway LLC at the regular admission prices. Gates will open at 4 pm for the drivers and 5 pm for the fans with the first race at 7 pm.
More information is available on the speedway website and face book page.
6/29/2024
RICE LAKE SPEEDWAY
Results
18 entries
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 20-Austin Ellis[1]; 2. 78-Brent Prochnow[4]; 3. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[6]; 4. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 5. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[2]; 6. 05-Jake Hartung[7]; 7. 48-Marcus Simonson[14]; 8. 74-Shaun Kreyer[12]; 9. 13-Mark Hessler[17]; 10. 10-Kyle Helling[16]; 11. 204-David Mayala[15]; 12. 308-Pat Hoffman[3]; 13. 28-Don Gleason[18]; 14. T40-Danny Thomas[13]; 15. (DNF) WIN1-Karl Leavenworth[11]; 16. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[8]; 17. (DNF) 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[9]; 18. (DNS) 18H-Mark Hanson
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[1]; 2. 37-Travis Anderson[2]; 3. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[4]; 4. 18H-Mark Hanson[3]; 5. T40-Danny Thomas[5]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 308-Pat Hoffman[1]; 2. 05-Jake Hartung[3]; 3. 78-Brent Prochnow[2]; 4. WIN1-Karl Leavenworth[5]; 5. 48-Marcus Simonson[4]; 6. 13-Mark Hessler[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[1]; 2. 20-Austin Ellis[4]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 4. 74-Shaun Kreyer[3]; 5. 204-David Mayala[2]; 6. 28-Don Gleason[6]
29 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1M-Alex Myers[2]; 2. 33-Curt Myers[8]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[1]; 4. 7R-Tommy Richards[3]; 5. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[6]; 6. 1E-Eric Olson[7]; 7. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[4]; 8. 57-Randy Graham[16]; 9. 1-Ryan Olson[15]; 10. 390-Tucker Quinn[11]; 11. 69-John Adams[14]; 12. 00-Jason Hobbs[23]; 13. 71X-William Fisher[19]; 14. 25X-Chad Johnson[18]; 15. 20*-Andrew Davis[25]; 16. 77L-Andy Ladd[21]; 17. 7B-Jason Melton[22]; 18. 28-Josh Cappo[26]; 19. 21-Mike Siewert[28]; 20. 22-Clay Albrecht[13]; 21. 01-Michael Anderson[20]; 22. 26M-Matt Melhouse[27]; 23. 02-Travis Anderson[17]; 24. 22AT-Austin Tilton[24]; 25. (DNF) 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 26. (DNF) 14-Kori Richter[12]; 27. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[29]; 28. (DNF) 207-Jesse Redetzke[9]; 29. (DNF) 245-James Cimfl[10]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Alex Myers[4]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[6]; 3. 207-Jesse Redetzke[2]; 4. 22-Clay Albrecht[5]; 5. 02-Travis Anderson[8]; 6. (DNF) 20*-Andrew Davis[7]; 7. (DNF) 28-Josh Cappo[1]; 8. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[3]; 2. 14X-Leslie Leu[4]; 3. 245-James Cimfl[6]; 4. 69-John Adams[1]; 5. 25X-Chad Johnson[5]; 6. 77L-Andy Ladd[7]; 7. 22AT-Austin Tilton[2]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[1]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[5]; 3. 390-Tucker Quinn[3]; 4. 1-Ryan Olson[6]; 5. 71X-William Fisher[7]; 6. 7B-Jason Melton[2]; 7. (DNF) 26M-Matt Melhouse[4]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[1]; 2. 33-Curt Myers[7]; 3. 14-Kori Richter[3]; 4. 57-Randy Graham[5]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[2]; 6. 00-Jason Hobbs[6]; 7. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[4]
24 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 63JR-Brady Larson[1]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[4]; 3. 19H-Cody Cimfl[11]; 4. 21B-Jesse Bryan[6]; 5. 2-Ariel Mueller[15]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[10]; 7. T25-Mark Thomas[13]; 8. 31-Jason Vokovan[2]; 9. 25-Adam Bohlman[23]; 10. 20-Judd Skubal[12]; 11. 46-Zach Slayton[16]; 12. 11R-Landyn Randt[8]; 13. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 14. 101-Michael Grover[14]; 15. 88K-Donavan Knutson[20]; 16. 5-Rory Taber[17]; 17. (DNF) 3P-David Pixley[7]; 18. (DNF) 78-Bently Prochnow[22]; 19. (DNF) 4W-Joey Wagamon[19]; 20. (DNF) 39-Rusty Taber[18]; 21. (DNF) 4K-Kenny Kincaid[24]; 22. (DNS) 13-Derrick Reed; 23. (DQ) 35B-David Baxter[5]; 24. (DQ) 55-Josh Bazey[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21B-Jesse Bryan[2]; 2. 55-Josh Bazey[6]; 3. 35B-David Baxter[7]; 4. 37-Travis Anderson[3]; 5. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[8]; 6. 2-Ariel Mueller[5]; 7. 39-Rusty Taber[1]; 8. (DQ) 25-Adam Bohlman[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[1]; 2. 1-Jake Stai[2]; 3. 11R-Landyn Randt[6]; 4. 19H-Cody Cimfl[7]; 5. T25-Mark Thomas[3]; 6. 46-Zach Slayton[5]; 7. 4W-Joey Wagamon[4]; 8. (DNF) 13-Derrick Reed[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63JR-Brady Larson[2]; 2. 31-Jason Vokovan[3]; 3. 3P-David Pixley[7]; 4. 20-Judd Skubal[6]; 5. 101-Michael Grover[1]; 6. 5-Rory Taber[4]; 7. 88K-Donavan Knutson[5]; 8. (DNF) 78-Bently Prochnow[8]
28 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 04-Tommy Pogones[2]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 3. 26-Ty Agen[5]; 4. 11-Sam Fankhauser[7]; 5. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]; 6. 30-Shawn Amundson[8]; 7. 12-Cody Kummer[14]; 8. 84-Hunter VanGilder[9]; 9. 11X-Levi Randt[13]; 10. 9-Adam Soltis[3]; 11. 127-Parker Anderson[11]; 12. 19C-Cody Cimfl[17]; 13. 77-Zach Degner[6]; 14. 19H-Nolan Brown[12]; 15. 56-Ethan Hommerding[21]; 16. 20F-Connor Franson[16]; 17. 1R-Cole Richards[10]; 18. 31-Tom Treviranus[22]; 19. 92R-Courtney Rose[26]; 20. 15B-Mike Brown[20]; 21. 17G-Chris Gross[27]; 22. 19J-Jenna Herrman[25]; 23. 74-Bruce Stanley[24]; 24. 77R-Melvin Raska[28]; 25. T20-Michael Tuma[19]; 26. 12R-Kammron Rose[23]; 27. (DNF) 2-Gunnar Watkins[18]; 28. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Adam Soltis[1]; 2. 11-Sam Fankhauser[3]; 3. 84-Hunter VanGilder[4]; 4. 11X-Levi Randt[5]; 5. 19C-Cody Cimfl[6]; 6. 56-Ethan Hommerding[2]; 7. 19J-Jenna Herrman[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Ty Agen[1]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[2]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[4]; 4. 12-Cody Kummer[5]; 5. 2-Gunnar Watkins[3]; 6. 31-Tom Treviranus[7]; 7. 92R-Courtney Rose[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 04-Tommy Pogones[3]; 2. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]; 3. 127-Parker Anderson[2]; 4. 12K-Jay Kesan[5]; 5. T20-Michael Tuma[6]; 6. 12R-Kammron Rose[7]; 7. 17G-Chris Gross[4]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 2. 77-Zach Degner[1]; 3. 19H-Nolan Brown[3]; 4. 20F-Connor Franson[5]; 5. 15B-Mike Brown[4]; 6. 74-Bruce Stanley[6]; 7. (DNF) 77R-Melvin Raska[7]
15 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 2. 15H-Dusten Holub[6]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[3]; 4. 24H-CJ Wagner[8]; 5. 28-Eric Crosby[2]; 6. 57M-Brent Mindock[5]; 7. 70-Bob Thompson[10]; 8. 99-Trevor Schumann[13]; 9. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[12]; 10. 55-Bobby Hommerding[7]; 11. 12-Aaron Holmberg[9]; 12. 47-Anthony Schultz[1]; 13. 4K-Terry Kemp[14]; 14. 17-Brian DeNucci[11]; 15. 69ER-Shane Basina[15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Eric Crosby[2]; 2. 57M-Brent Mindock[8]; 3. 47-Anthony Schultz[1]; 4. 55-Bobby Hommerding[5]; 5. 12-Aaron Holmberg[6]; 6. 17-Brian DeNucci[7]; 7. 99-Trevor Schumann[3]; 8. 69ER-Shane Basina[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[2]; 2. 52W-Austin Fencl[1]; 3. 15H-Dusten Holub[6]; 4. 24H-CJ Wagner[5]; 5. 70-Bob Thompson[7]; 6. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[3]; 7. 4K-Terry Kemp[4]
