Friday Night at the Eagle Valley Speedway
Brad Erickson
Eagle Valley Speedway, May 29, 2020; The Eagle Valley Speedway has temporarily moved to Friday night racing as other local tracks are not able to begin their seasons due to the Covid Pandemic. Racing action included the WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, and EVS Hornets. Winners on the night were Mike Anderson, Curt Myers, Shane Halopka, Braden Brauer, Travis Hazelton, and Jake Halterman.
Matt Leer and Jesse Glenz won their respective heats in the WISSOTA Modifieds as Mike Anderson raced off the outside of row one into the lead of the feature at the start. Anderson led the first five circuits as Jason Richardson moved low on the raceway and overtook the lead. Richardson looked strong down low as Anderson chased. However, Richardson got crossed up in turns three and four and Anderson was there to take advantage. Anderson moved back into the lead relatively comfortably as Richardson recovered for second and Tyler Kaeter raced in third.
Matt Leer came to a stop on the raceway, drawing the first of two cautions at about the halfway point. It was Anderson again under green as Kaeter raced to second and he stayed with the leader. Richardson ran in third as Michael Truscott was in fourth. A second quick caution flag flew and the restart saw Anderson move out to what appeared to be a solid lead. However, eighth starting Jesse Glenz had found something in the ultra-high line on the raceway.
Glenz was pounding the cushion and gaining position after position quickly. He blasted into second and closed on the leader as the laps waned. Anderson continued to lead and although Glenz was fast, he lost some momentum on the high-side each lap down the backstretch as Anderson “mowed the grass” down low. At the white flag, Glenz adjusted his line in an attempt to close the gap, but it was advantage Anderson as he drove under the checkered flag with a several car length advantage. Glenz’s impressive run in the 89-car ended in second as Richardson raced home in third over Truscott and Kaeter, who faded slightly late in the event.
The WISSOTA Super Stocks saw Curt Myers sweep the night, winning both the heat and feature decisively. The feature saw Wayne Dean and Tony Falkner fight for the lead early as they raced two-wide. On lap two, Falkner moved to the front on his own and led until lap five when Myers caught him. Myers moved into the lead on the backstretch one lap later and stretched his advantage. Falkner continued to run second but Dean drove under him for the runner up position on lap 11. The event ran caution free as Myers dominated and Dean looked impressive in second. Falkner was scored in third as Ryan Schaufler and Trent Barnhardt had top five finishes.
Shane Halopka, Josh Smith, and Dylan Goettl each won their heat in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds as Halopka drove from the pole of the feature into the lead. An early caution flew before the first lap was scored and the restart saw Halopka back at the point again. Kylie Kath was very quick as he moved into second position and raced below the leader and into first. Halopka battled back to force the issue two wide and found himself having a slight advantage when a spinner drew the yellow and slowed the pace.
Kath had led the last completed lap and he set the pace for the restart. Kath led the field as Halopka ran in his shadow chasing for the win. Derek Haas worked his way into third and tried to catch the leaders as Kath and Halopka again moved door to door for position. The two raced side by side as Halopka inched to the point. They continued to run nose to tail as Dylan Goettl raced his way into the top three.
As the two front runners caught lapped traffic, Kath was able to make a move and drive to the point. Halopka was going to have none of that and he rebounded and powered back into first. A spectacular race saw Halopka dice through traffic to an advantage over Kath on his way to the win. Kath settled for an impressive second as Goettl drove home in third. Eighth starting Ryan Gierke raced past Haas for fourth at the end of an outstanding race.
It would be amiss to fail to mention the race hard charger was 13-year-old Kennedy Swan from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, as she raced her first ever Midwest Modified race. She started 19th on the field and drove to 12th at the line against stout competition.
Danny Richards and Cody Kummer won their heats in the WISSOTA Street Stocks and the feature saw Michael Tuma take the early lead from the outside of the front row. Fourth starting Adam Soltis powered to the point on the second circuit. A brief caution slowed the pace and the restart saw Danny Richards move into second and then side by side for the lead one lap later. He and Soltis raced door to door for a lap when Soltis suddenly slowed and left the raceway.
Cody Kummer was strong as he had raced from eighth on the grid to second six laps into the contest. Behind him, Zack Elward had raced from 11th into the top three but he slapped the front stretch wall on lap eight, drawing the caution flag.
The restart saw Richards in the lead with Kummer and now Braden Brauer in the second row. As they raced under green, Richards struck a tire on the inside of turn three. It was Kummer going high and Brauer low as the three grappled for the lead. Brauer gained a slight advantage but Richards wasn’t done as he drove low on the speedway and the two raced door to door for the next three laps. Neither car bobbled as they raced cleanly to the white flag. Brauer slipped out front to the lead on his own and Richards found himself in a battle for second with Kummer. It was Brauer at the checkered flag in an exciting race as Richards nipped Kummer for runner up. Ron Hanestad and Tuma rounded out the top five.
The WISSOTA Pure Stock heats were won by George Richards and Travis Hazelton as Hazelton scored a sweep of the night. A first lap caution reset the field, but the race ran green for the remainder upon restarting. Hazelton took the lead from the second row and drove away from the pack. Trenton Holub ran in second early, but Richards was seen dicing through traffic behind him. Richards found his way to second position and tried in vain to close the gap with Hazelton in the lead. Although he gained on the leader, it was Hazelton by a healthy margin at the finish. Richards had a solid lead in second as Nicholas Hazelton raced home in third. Holub and Aaron Burgess rounded out the top five.
Scott Cooper and Jake Halterman won the EVS Hornets heats as Halterman dominated the main event from the pole, winning by a great margin. They event saw Armond Love race home in second with a significant advantage over third finishing Derek Krumrie as rookie Levi Price looked good in fourth and Logan Keyeski finished fifth.
The Eagle Valley Speedway returns, once again on Friday, not Sunday, June 05, 2020, for the 6th Annual Southworth Chevrolet – Tim’s Automotive Machine Midwest Modified Special. The EVS Hornets, WISSOTA Pure Stock, WISSOTA Street Stock, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Super Stock, and the WISSOTA Modifieds will all be in action.
WISSOTA Modifieds Feature (20 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson [2]; 2. 89-Jesse Glenz [8]; 3. R2-Jason Richardson [1]; 4. 22T-Michael Truscott [4]; 5. 5K-Tyler Kaeter [3]; 6. 93-Mike Knopps [6]; 7. 21-Jake Smith [11]; 8. 9-Josh Hessler [12]; 9. 26G-Ryan Gierke [10]; 10. 13-Nick Koehler [5]; 11. 11-Sam Fankhauser [9]; 12. (DNF) 30-Matt Leer [7]; 13. (DNF) 27H-Steve Hallquist [13]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Matt Leer [1]; 2. 22T-Michael Truscott [6]; 3. R2-Jason Richardson [2]; 4. 93-Mike Knopps [7]; 5. 11-Sam Fankhauser [4]; 6. 21-Jake Smith [5]; 7. (DNS) 27H-Steve Hallquist
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Jesse Glenz [1]; 2. 5K-Tyler Kaeter [4]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson [6]; 4. 13-Nick Koehler [2]; 5. 26G-Ryan Gierke [3]; 6. 9-Josh Hessler [5]
WISSOTA Super Stock Feature (20 Laps): 1. 1M-Curt Myers [5]; 2. 17-Wayne Dean [2]; 3. F27-Tony Falkner [3]; 4. 55S-Ryan Schaufler [7]; 5. 19-Trent Barnhardt [1]; 6. 93-CJ Wagner [8]; 7. 10-Joe Miller [4]; 8. 00-Jason Quarders [6]; 9. (DNF) 90-Adam Pratt [9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Curt Myers [5]; 2. F27-Tony Falkner [2]; 3. 17-Wayne Dean [3]; 4. 19-Trent Barnhardt [1]; 5. 10-Joe Miller [6]; 6. 00-Jason Quarders [7]; 7. 55S-Ryan Schaufler [8]; 8. 93-CJ Wagner [4]; 9. 90-Adam Pratt [9]
WISSOTA Midwest Mods Feature (20 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka [1]; 2. 83-Kylie Kath [3]; 3. 24-Dylan Goettl [4]; 4. 26G-Ryan Gierke [8]; 5. 80-Derek Haas [5]; 6. 21J-Josh Smith [6]; 7. 5-David Swearingen [9]; 8. 68-Shadow Kitchner [11]; 9. 20-Austin Ellis [7]; 10. 6S-Steve Haas [16]; 11. 34JR-Dan Larson Jr [2]; 12. 18S-Kennedy Swan [19]; 13. 12-Craig Haas [13]; 14. 1-Jake Stai [10]; 15. 32-Tod Brunner [17]; 16. JLO-Jason Olson [18]; 17. (DNF) 63JR-Brady Larson [12]; 18. (DNF) 31-Jason Vokovan [14]; 19. (DNF) 13M-Cole Mueller [15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka [2]; 2. 20-Austin Ellis [1]; 3. 83-Kylie Kath [3]; 4. 1-Jake Stai [4]; 5. 12-Craig Haas [6]; 6. 6S-Steve Haas [5]; 7. 18S-Kennedy Swan [7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21J-Josh Smith [2]; 2. 80-Derek Haas [4]; 3. 34JR-Dan Larson Jr [1]; 4. 68-Shadow Kitchner [5]; 5. 31-Jason Vokovan [3]; 6. 32-Tod Brunner [6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Dylan Goettl [1]; 2. 26G-Ryan Gierke [2]; 3. 5-David Swearingen [4]; 4. 63JR-Brady Larson [6]; 5. 13M-Cole Mueller [5]; 6. JLO-Jason Olson [3]
WISSOTA Street Stock Feature (15 Laps): 1. 34JR-Braden Brauer [5]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards [7]; 3. 12-Cody Kummer [8]; 4. 71H-Ron Hanestad [3]; 5. T20-Michael Tuma [2]; 6. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl [10]; 7. 1R-Cole Richards [1]; 8. 99%-Rich Robinson [6]; 9. 7-Shane Lindseth [9]; 10. (DNF) 15-Zach Elward [11]; 11. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis [4]; 12. (DNS) 03K-Krysta Doughty
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards [3]; 2. 34JR-Braden Brauer [2]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards [1]; 4. 99%-Rich Robinson [5]; 5. 7-Shane Lindseth [6]; 6. (DNF) 15-Zach Elward [4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer [1]; 2. 9-Adam Soltis [4]; 3. 71H-Ron Hanestad [5]; 4. T20-Michael Tuma [3]; 5. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl [6]; 6. (DNF) 03K-Krysta Doughty [2]
WISSOTA Pure Stock Feature (15 Laps): 1. 31-Travis Hazelton [3]; 2. 5R-George Richards [7]; 3. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton [1]; 4. 15H-Trenten Holub [2]; 5. 73-Aaron Burgess [5]; 6. (DNF) 1-Ryan Olson [4]; 7. (DNF) 27H-Tyler Hallquist [8]; 8. (DNF) 101-Michael Grover [10]; 9. (DNF) 71-Dylan Shackleton [9]; 10. (DNS) 03-Randy Shackleton
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5R-George Richards [4]; 2. 15H-Trenten Holub [2]; 3. 27H-Tyler Hallquist [3]; 4. 03-Randy Shackleton [1]; 5. 71-Dylan Shackleton [5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Travis Hazelton [1]; 2. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton [5]; 3. 1-Ryan Olson [3]; 4. 73-Aaron Burgess [2]; 5. (DNF) 101-Michael Grover [4]
EVS Hornets Feature (12 Laps): 1. 76-Jake Halterman [1]; 2. 29-Armond Love [2]; 3. 33-Derek Krumrie [7]; 4. 21P-Levi Price [8]; 5. 9SR-Scott Cooper [5]; 6. 5-Logan Keyeski [4]; 7. 1037-Dave Clausen [9]; 8. 4-Joslin Carothers [6]; 9. (DNS) 221-Danny Halterman; 10. (DNS) 9JR-Roy Cooper
Heat 1: 1. 9SR-Scott Cooper [5]; 2. 4-Joslin Carothers [2]; 3. 21P-Levi Price [3]; 4. 5-Logan Keyeski [4]; 5. 1037-Dave Clausen [1]
Heat 2: 1. 76-Jake Halterman [4]; 2. 29-Armond Love [5]; 3. 221-Danny Halterman [2]; 4. 33-Derek Krumrie [1]; 5. (DNF) 9JR-Roy Cooper [3]
