Kincaid Tops List of Firecracker Special Winners at Rice Lake Speedway
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, July 2 – The annual Firecracker special was held on Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway and Kenny Kincaid from Shell Lake, winning his first ever Midwest Modified main event, topped the list of winners on a special night of racing in front of a large holiday crowd. It was also “Relay at the Races” night with proceeds going toward cancer awareness programs in Barron County Wisconsin and they provided trophies to the top three finishers in each of the five divisions racing on Saturday. Along with Kincaid, other winners on this special night included Bob Wahlstrom, Shawn Amundson, Terran Spacek and Kevin Adams.
Kincaid, part of a very large family whose roots run deep in the Off Road Racing arena of motorsports in the Crandon area, has turned himself into a fine dirt track racer and the end result of those improvements was reflected in his first visit to victory lane at the speedway on Saturday.
He started on the outside pole for the Midwest Modified main event and jumped into the early lead over Mike Schnider and Brady Larson who had quickly moved up from the third row. Only one lap was completed before Derrick Reed would take a wild slide into the infield, triggering the first and only yellow of the main event.
Kincaid would maintain the lead once racing resumed with Schnider continuing to challenge him. However Larson was now putting his own pressure on Schnider in the battle for second as Kincaid was putting down some strong laps and extending his lead.
Midway through the race, Larson would throw an agressive slider on Schnider in turn one and squeeze by to take over the second spot. He would then try to reel in the lead, but Kincaid by this time had built up a several car length advantage. Kenny continued to lay down some solid laps on the fast track presented to the racers on this night by track co-owner Mitch Hansen and Larson was not able to cut the deficit he faced.
At the finish, Kincaid held a several car length advantage as he drove on for his first ever feature win at Rice Lake. Larson would finish a solid finish with Schnider chasing him across the line as Shadow Kitchner and Reed, from the back, would complete the top five. Kincaid would be the sixth different winner in the class so far this year with no repeat winners to this point of the season.
Mike Grover would lead the first two laps of the Pure Stock feature as he came quickly from the second row to overhaul the front row cars and take the lead spot. However, Bob Wahlstrom was on the move too and on lap three he worked his way up from the third row where he has started and slipped under Grover in turn one to take over the lead. Rob Grabon was also on the move and he would drive past Grover to take over the second spot.
A couple of yellows for spins kept the field bunched with Wahlstrom maintaining the lead as both Grabon and Bryar Zimmerman began to put the heat on the leader. By the halfway point of the race, those three would begin to pull away from the pack with the battle for second allowing Wahlstrom just a bit of breathing room.
However, Zimmerman, who would take over second, continued to press for the lead as the yellow waved again for a spinning car. Grabon would retake the second spot for the four lap dash to the finish but Wahlstrom continued to control the point and while the battle for second raged, Wahlstrom was able to maintain some distance from that race and Bob would take the checkered with several car lengths as a cushion over Grabon and Zimmerman. Ryan Olson would work his way into fourth late with Kevin Bartelt next across the line. For Wahlstrom, it was his first feature win here this year in a career that saw him take his first Pure Stock win at Rice Lake way back in 2010. He was also the fifth different winner in the class so far this year.
A full field of twenty four Street Stocks would take the green for their main event, a race slowed four times by yellow flags for spins and collisions along the way. Cole Richards, who started on the outside pole, would grab the early lead with Shawn Amundson, Simon Wahlstrom, Cody Kummer and Travis Loew chasing him. Richards would run the middle line on the track and found that groove to work well for him as he fought off repeated challenges for the lead. Amundson had worked his way into second using the low line and he would pressure Richards hard, looking to duck inside the Mondovi driver in each corner. Kummer and Wahlstrom were also fighting each other hard for third with Kolby Kiehl driving up into the top five after starting twelfth on the grid.
At the two thirds mark of the race, Amundson picked up the pace even more and two laps in a row he got under Richards in turn four but just couldn’t quite get a big enough run to pass him. As Amundson pushed ever harder, they were even again as they approached the start/finish line. However, there was contact just under the flagstand between the two and Richards slid up and made some contact with the outside wall. He rode the wall briefly, recovered for a brief time but then spun into the infield and off the track as the race remained under the green. Second later, Jenna Herrman would hit the back straightaway wall and the yellow would come out.
The two lap sprint to the finish would see Amundson guard the low line on the track with Kummer now riding his bumper. Cody looked for an opening to make a pass but Amundson had the low line guarded and while Kummer could ride the rear bumper of the leader, it would be Amundson who would come home with the win. Wahlstrom, driving an unfamiliar car, would conclude a fine drive with the third place trophy with Loew and Kiehl trailing.
For Amundson, it would be his third feature win at the track, tops for the division as the current track point leader added to his lead.
Terran Spacek has been the top feature winner at the track so far this year and he added to that total on Saturday as he won his fifth feature in the Super Stock division. Veteran Rich Bishop would go to the cushion on the green and he was able to pass both the front row drivers on the opening lap and take a quick lead. Spacek was also flying to the front as he started eighth but was soon in a challenging position to pressure Bishop for the lead. He dipped low and on lap three he was able to edge past Bishop and take over the top spot. Behind Bishop, a great battle was taking place as Andrew Davis, Kori Richter and Leslie Leu among others fought for position. They were soon joined by Eric Olson who drive up from the fifth row to join that lead group.
Up front, Spacek began to put distance on the field but it was tough on this night to get many consecutive green flag laps accomplished in the Super Stocks as the yellow waved time after time for a variety of spinning cars as the drivers fought the track.
After each yellow, Spacek would power away from Bishop who was now having to fight off challanges from Davis and Olson. One more late yellow set up a four lap sprint to the finish with Spacek once again pulling away. Bishop had Olson now challenging his but there were no changes and that is the way they crossed the finish line. Spacek again visited victory lane with the last year’s Hall of Fame inductee Bishop having a great run to finish ahead of Olson. Davis and Leslie Leu would complete the top five.
The Modifieds were flying on the fast track, turning sub sixteen second laps even at the end of the night so their feature event was a fast one. Kyle Helling, looking for that first feature win ever in the class, took the early lead as he fought off challenges from Denny Cutsforth in the early going. The early going of the race was marked by a good battle between Helling and Cutsforth with the yellow waving several times to break up the action, with the scariest moment being when Joe Chaplin Jr, battling with the leaders following another yellow, spun in turn three but fortunately, everyone was able to avoid him and more serious damage.
Meanwhile, Kevin Adams was motoring to the front of the pack after starting ninth on the grid. After Cutsforth made a pass on Helling to take over the top spot, Adams would also rim ride around Helling to take over second and then close on the leader. Cutsforth was flying but Adams was even faster on the cushion and on lap seven he powered into the lead with a high side move in turn four.
Adams would then pull away while Cutsforth would maintain the second spot while trying to catch the new leader. Behind those two, there was quite a battle for position with several drivers going back and forth, trying to control that action. A late spin by Helling would cost him dearly while setting up a three lap race to the checkered.
Adams would get away cleanly and not be challenged as he raced to his fourth Rice Lake win of 2022 with Cursforth finishing a strong second. Steve Lavasseur, making his first appearance of the year at the track, would drive a consistent race to finish third and earn a trophy. Jack Rivord, the rookie driver with a feature win here earlier, would make another strong drive as he came from eleventh to finish just behind Lavasseur with Shane Halopka completing the top five.
The evening was also highlighted by another spectacular fireworks display after dark and the large crowd on hand enjoyed the action both in the sky and on the track.
Upcoming events for the speedway include another dynamic five class program next Saturday night, July 9th and on July 16th, it will be Hall of Fame night with four new inductees to be presented along with a celebration of the seventieth consecutive year of racing in Rice Lake. The speedway will then be dark on July 23rd as the Barron County Fair will take center stage but then the speedway comes back with a bang, as the WISSOTA Late Models make their second appearance of the year at the track along with Pure Stocks, Midwest Modifieds and Modifieds.
As always, check the speedway face book page for the latest news from the track.
18 entries
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[9]; 2. 20-Denny Cutsforth[2]; 3. 99L-Steve Lavasseur[5]; 4. 19J-Jack Rivord[11]; 5. 3JR-Shane Halopka[4]; 6. WIN1-Jon Frolik[15]; 7. 8S-Tony Schill[10]; 8. 343-JD Ford[18]; 9. 20E-Austin Ellis[17]; 10. 10-Kyle Helling[1]; 11. 204-David Mayala[14]; 12. 11-Sam Fankhauser[13]; 13. (DNF) 308-Pat Hoffman[7]; 14. (DNF) 18W-Wayne Poteet[16]; 15. (DNF) 97-Cole Anderson[12]; 16. (DNF) 1H-Paul Harelstad[8]; 17. (DNF) 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[3]; 18. (DNF) 78R-Ross Prochnow[6]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[2]; 2. 3JR-Shane Halopka[1]; 3. 308-Pat Hoffman[3]; 4. 8S-Tony Schill[6]; 5. 11-Sam Fankhauser[4]; 6. 18W-Wayne Poteet[5]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 1H-Paul Harelstad[2]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[5]; 3. 10-Kyle Helling[3]; 4. 19J-Jack Rivord[4]; 5. 204-David Mayala[6]; 6. 20E-Austin Ellis[1]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 78R-Ross Prochnow[2]; 2. 20-Denny Cutsforth[5]; 3. 99L-Steve Lavasseur[3]; 4. 97-Cole Anderson[4]; 5. WIN1-Jon Frolik[1]; 6. 343-JD Ford[6]
17 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[8]; 2. 10B-Rich Bishop[4]; 3. 1E-Eric Olson[10]; 4. 20*-Andrew Davis[6]; 5. 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 6. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[5]; 7. 2F-Jeffrey Frey[1]; 8. 21-Mike Siewert[2]; 9. 01A-Reid Tiegs[11]; 10. 28-Josh Cappo[14]; 11. (DNF) 40-Nick Traynor[12]; 12. (DNF) 01-Michael Anderson[15]; 13. (DNF) 14-Kori Richter[3]; 14. (DNF) 14L-Dylan Leu[9]; 15. (DNF) 77-Josh Saunders[16]; 16. (DNF) 67-Josh Bach[13]; 17. (DNF) 22AT-Austin Tilton[17]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 20*-Andrew Davis[2]; 2. 10B-Rich Bishop[5]; 3. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[6]; 4. 2F-Jeffrey Frey[7]; 5. 14L-Dylan Leu[1]; 6. 01A-Reid Tiegs[3]; 7. 67-Josh Bach[8]; 8. 01-Michael Anderson[4]; 9. 22AT-Austin Tilton[9]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 14-Kori Richter[1]; 2. 14X-Leslie Leu[4]; 3. 22T-Terran Spacek[6]; 4. 21-Mike Siewert[3]; 5. 1E-Eric Olson[7]; 6. 40-Nick Traynor[8]; 7. 28-Josh Cappo[5]; 8. 77-Josh Saunders[2]
13 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[2]; 2. 63JR-Brady Larson[6]; 3. 40S-Mike Schnider[3]; 4. 68-Shadow Kitchner[4]; 5. 13-Derrick Reed[5]; 6. 93-CJ Wagner[11]; 7. 28H-Francis Hanson[1]; 8. 24P-Dakota Smith[8]; 9. 63L-Mitchell Larson[7]; 10. 19H-Kevin Herrman[10]; 11. 18-Tacoma Randall[13]; 12. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[9]; 13. (DNF) 88K-Donavan Knutson[12]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40S-Mike Schnider[2]; 2. 63JR-Brady Larson[1]; 3. 68-Shadow Kitchner[5]; 4. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[3]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[6]; 6. 93-CJ Wagner[4]; 7. 18-Tacoma Randall[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Derrick Reed[3]; 2. 28H-Francis Hanson[2]; 3. 63L-Mitchell Larson[4]; 4. 24P-Dakota Smith[1]; 5. 19H-Kevin Herrman[5]; 6. 88K-Donavan Knutson[6]
24 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 2. 12-Cody Kummer[5]; 3. 33-Simon Wahlstrom[6]; 4. 40-Travis Loew[3]; 5. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[12]; 6. 26T-Ty Agen[9]; 7. 20-Andrew Hanson[7]; 8. 79-Joseph Ott[10]; 9. 9-Adam Soltis[24]; 10. 17-Zach Beaulieu[17]; 11. 7-Caiden Engel[22]; 12. 55-Thomas Worth[1]; 13. 71X-William Fisher[20]; 14. 10-Derek Baskin[19]; 15. 66-Eric Haupt[13]; 16. (DNF) 19H-Jenna Herrman[18]; 17. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[2]; 18. (DNF) 5H-Jason Havel[8]; 19. (DNF) 84-Hunter VanGilder[23]; 20. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[16]; 21. (DNF) 10B-Dylan Baskin[21]; 22. (DNF) 40T-Nick Traynor[14]; 23. (DNF) 37-Mike Chaplin[15]; 24. (DNF) 24-James Clausen[11]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Travis Loew[1]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson[6]; 3. 5H-Jason Havel[3]; 4. 79-Joseph Ott[4]; 5. 66-Eric Haupt[2]; 6. T20-Michael Tuma[8]; 7. 10-Derek Baskin[5]; 8. (DNF) 84-Hunter VanGilder[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[6]; 2. 55-Thomas Worth[2]; 3. 33-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 4. 24-James Clausen[4]; 5. 40T-Nick Traynor[7]; 6. 17-Zach Beaulieu[3]; 7. 71X-William Fisher[8]; 8. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1R-Cole Richards[2]; 2. 26T-Ty Agen[3]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[4]; 4. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[7]; 5. 37-Mike Chaplin[6]; 6. 19H-Jenna Herrman[8]; 7. (DNF) 7-Caiden Engel[5]; 8. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[1]
16 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[5]; 2. 29M-Rob Grabon[6]; 3. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[7]; 4. 1-Ryan Olson[8]; 5. 26-Kevin Bartelt[12]; 6. 12-Aaron Holmberg[2]; 7. 63-Ken Larson[15]; 8. 21-Ryan Clausen[4]; 9. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[14]; 10. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[9]; 11. (DNF) 101-Michael Grover[3]; 12. (DNF) 09-Skylar Findley[1]; 13. (DNF) 17-Chris Gross[13]; 14. (DNS) 7D-Trevor Phillips; 15. (DNS) 52F-Austin Fencl; 16. (DQ) 23R-James Rahn[10]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Ryan Clausen[2]; 2. 101-Michael Grover[6]; 3. 09-Skylar Findley[5]; 4. 12-Aaron Holmberg[4]; 5. 4K-Terry Kemp[8]; 6. 7D-Trevor Phillips[7]; 7. 17-Chris Gross[3]; 8. (DNF) 52F-Austin Fencl[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[7]; 3. 1-Ryan Olson[8]; 4. 29M-Rob Grabon[5]; 5. 23R-James Rahn[4]; 6. 26-Kevin Bartelt[2]; 7. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[6]; 8. 63-Ken Larson[3]
