Koch Tops Fast Lane Super Special at Rice Lake Speedway
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, July 3 – The Firecracker Special Wednesday night at the Rice Lake Speedway was billed as a pretty big deal and it more than met the expectations placed upon it. One hundred and thirty seven drivers from three states signed in to race including forty nine Super Stocks on hand to contest the Fast Lane Northland Super Stock Series event. The fireworks display held at dusk was spectacular and the crowd on hand to enjoy the event was among the largest ever at the speedway in many years.
Fast Lane winner Dexton Koch started fifth in the main event, gradually worked his way forward and made the winning pass with only four laps left in the race to take the top honors. Other winners in the twenty seven race program included Shane Halopka in the WISSOTA Modifieds, Joey Jensen in the Midwest Modifieds, Cody Kummer in the Street Stocks and Dusten Holub in the Pure Stocks.
The Fast Lane Super Stock Series event was originally scheduled for June 6th but was rained out on that night and rescheduled for Wednesday. Fortunately, most of the drivers that contest the series were able to make the holiday eve event and they provided a great event with five heat races and a pair of B Features setting the twenty six car starting field for the thirty lap affair.
The first lap was a rocky one as D.J. Keeler shot straight off the end of the front chute, went head on into the first turn concrete wall and then flipped over on to his roof. Fortunately the Superior driver was unhurt but his car could not be said to be quite as fit.
The second attempt to get the race going went better with Joey Jensen jumping into the early lead with Tim Johnson, Tommy Richards and Dustin Niemeyer close behind. Only three laps were able to be run before the yellow flew once again for a spinning car on the front chute. The top runners remained closely bunched with Jensen still in charge.
Two of the previous winners here this year were eliminated on a lap six collision that saw Curt Myers and Terran Spacek get together with heavy contact between the two taking both cars out of the race. Jensen would continue to lead with Johnson pressing him all around the track while Dexton Koch, who started fifth, was moving into a challenging position as he quietly edged his way to the front.
There would be one more yellow flag but it had a significant bearing on the outcome of the race. Randy Graham lost a wheel just two laps short of the halfway point, triggering the final yellow of the race. And while the field circled the track under the yellow, leader Jensen suddenly pulled off the track, catching many by surprise as serious issues ended the effort of the Forest Lake Minnesota driver.
Matthew Larson then would inherit the lead with Jensen’s departure with Johnson not again second and Koch third.
Back under green, Koch quickly made a move past Johnson and while the final seventeen laps of the race would go nonstop, it would turn into a two car battle between Larson and Koch. They pulled away from the pack and were left to settle it themselves.
Larson had Koch nailed to his rear bumper and trying both low and high on the track to get past the leader. Larson dove low in the corners and then drifted up the track down the straightaways while Koch continued to look for an opening while trying many different moves in the hopes that one would work. Finally, Koch would be able to get to the outside of Larson, get up beside him and with a swoop, roar past down the front chute with only four laps to go to take over the lead.
Larson cut right back on Koch, riding his rear bumper as he searched for a way to regain the lead but Koch was then able to pull away by a few car lengths and drive on for the win. Larson would be forced to settle for second, a bitter pill to swallow after having led so many laps with Richards fighting his way back up to third. Dylan Nelson made a late charge forward to claim fourth and Niemeyer completed the top five. Sixteen of the starting field of twenty six were still racing at the finish and all were on the lead lap.
For Koch, the current WISSOTA National point leader in the Super Stocks, it was the third ever feature win for the Becker Minnesota driver here, having won a pair of weekly shows a couple of years ago but never any race near as big as this triumph was. It was also a very significant win for Koch in that it was his one hundredth ever feature win and he did it in memorable fashion. Koch became the fifth different Super Stock winner so far this year at the speedway.
Shane Halopka took the lead from Ross Prochnow on lap four and then led the rest of the Modified feature to record his first win here in 2024. Prochnow had gotten the jump on Steve Hallquist to become the initial leader with Halopka quickly moving in to challenge. After looking both high and low, Halopka swept past Prochnow and then pulled away from the field in a race that went green to checkers for twenty laps.
Prochnow and Mark Hanson ended having a great battle for second with Hanson moving into second at the halfway point of the race but then he and Prochnow swapped the position at least two times as they worked through lapped traffic. With just a couple laps left, Hanson got back into the second spot and then held off Prochnow for the runner up honors. Hallquist ran a steady race and finished fourth with Mike Anderson making a charge into the top five near the end.
Halopka’s win was his third ever in the Modified class after setting records for the most feature wins in the Midwest Modified class before he changed divisions and he became the sixth different winner in six nights of Modified racing here this year.
In the Midwest Modified class, the one that Halopka used to dominate, the winner would be Joey Jensen, who later was looking for the double win until problems sent him pit side while leading the Super Stock feature.
Jensen started on the outside pole for the Midwest Modified feature, took the lead on lap one and then led the rest of the way. This race was stopped once with just a single lap completed for a three car spin, but then they raced green to checkers following that.
The only driver that challenged Jensen was Nick Koehler, who was wheeling a brand new car for the first time on Wednesday. He stayed with Jensen for much of the contest, running within a few car lengths until Joey was able to stretch his lead in the late going as he expertly worked through lapped traffic and was able to extend his lead. Jensen’s first ever feature win in the Midwest Modifieds was an impressive one with Koehler running a strong second and Shadow Kitchner racing a steady race to finish third. Extra money was on the line for the Midwest Modifieds on this night and Jensen headed back to Minnesota with a nice six hundred dollars in cash . David Baxter came back from last Saturday night’s disappointment to finish fourth ahead of young Levi Randt. Jensen became the seventh different winner in seven nights of Midwest Modified racing this year.
Just as dominating as the performance of Jensen was that of Cody Kummer who led from start to finish to top a strong field of Street Stocks and get his second win of the year here at the track. He started on the pole, got the jump on Cody Cimfl and then would pull away from the field. The race started a bit rocky when a first lap tangle eliminated Mike Tuma and Sam Fankhauser but then they would put in a number of green flag laps with Kummer pulling away while Cimfl and Danny Richards battled for second with them exchanging that position a couple of times.
The second and final yellow occurred with nine laps complete as Andrew Hanson dumped fluid all over the track as he headed for the pits. Richards had worked his way back into second but he had nothing for Kummer who pulled away in the final six laps to earn his second win of the year here and become the first multiple winner in the division so far in 2024. Cimfl ran a strong third with Shawn Amundson and Landyn Randt completing the top five.
With his third feature win of 2024 at the track, Dusten Holub became the top winner so far in 2024 as he topped the field in the Pure Stock feature. There were three different leaders in this race which saw Brent Mindock take the early lead from the pole. Bob Wahlstrom showed big speed as he quickly moved up from the third row to challenge Mincock for the lead. Bob made a pass down the front chute for the lead but as they were battling still for that top spot, the two leaders came together off turn two and Wahlstrom went spinning into the infield. The ruling was that he had help and Wahlstrom was returned to the lead while Mindock went to the tail of the field.
But Bob would hold the lead for only two more laps as Holub, who started fifth, came storming to the front and Wahlstrom simply couldn’t hold him off with Holub motoring past him and taking over the top spot.
The rest of the race went nonstop and while Wahlstrom could stay close, he could never muster a serious challenge and Holub continued on, driving to the win. Austin Fencl finished a close third with Eric Crosby and Rob Grabon finishing up the top five.
There will be no racing at the speedway on this coming Saturday night, July 6th. The next event will be on Saturday night July 13th as the speedway will celebrate the upcoming Barron County Fair with all five classes in racing action. The track then takes off the following Saturday, July 20th for the Fair. Then two of the biggest races of the year occur, back to back.
On Saturday night, July 27th, the WISSOTA Late Models make their second and final appearance of the season at the speedway with a big field of drivers expected. The Street Stocks and Modifieds have that night off. And then on the following Tuesday, July 30th, the event that the Rice Lake Speedway is most famous for, the annual Street Stock Little Dream race, takes place. This will be the 30th anniversary race and it is being billed as the biggest Little Dream yet with all prize money records hoping to be smashed. More information on these two events and the rest of the racing season will be available shortly and can be found at the speedway face book page.
7/3/2024
RICE LAKE SPEEDWAY
Results
18 entries
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka[3]; 2. 18-Mark Hanson[6]; 3. 78R-Ross Prochnow[1]; 4. 27H-Steve Hallquist[2]; 5. 57-Mike Anderson[7]; 6. 40-Kevin Adams[18]; 7. 18S-Kennedy Swan[9]; 8. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[10]; 9. 78-Brent Prochnow[4]; 10. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[5]; 11. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[8]; 12. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[12]; 13. 20C-Denny Cutsforth[14]; 14. 2-Kyle Kirberger[13]; 15. 204-David Mayala[16]; 16. 28-Don Gleason[17]; 17. (DNF) 10-Kyle Helling[11]; 18. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka[1]; 2. 18S-Kennedy Swan[2]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[3]; 4. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[6]; 5. 2-Kyle Kirberger[4]; 6. 204-David Mayala[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[1]; 2. 78R-Ross Prochnow[2]; 3. 78-Brent Prochnow[5]; 4. 10-Kyle Helling[3]; 5. 20C-Denny Cutsforth[4]; 6. (DNF) 40-Kevin Adams[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[2]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[3]; 3. 18-Mark Hanson[4]; 4. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[1]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[5]; 6. 28-Don Gleason[6]
49 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[5]; 2. 8-Matthew Larson[3]; 3. 7R-Tommy Richards[6]; 4. 25-Dylan Nelson[8]; 5. 33-Austin Niemeyer[1]; 6. 1JR-Tim Johnson[4]; 7. 1M-Alex Myers[11]; 8. 27-Matt Deragon[14]; 9. 22N-Dan Nissalke[21]; 10. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[7]; 11. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[16]; 12. 77-Scott Lawrence[23]; 13. 25X-Chad Johnson[12]; 14. 1-Ryan Olson[19]; 15. L1-Andrew Johnson[9]; 16. 71X-William Fisher[26]; 17. (DNF) 21-Joey Jensen[2]; 18. (DNF) 57-Randy Graham[20]; 19. (DNF) 6K-Shane Kisling[10]; 20. (DNF) 38-Simon Wahlstrom[18]; 21. (DNF) 22T-Terran Spacek[22]; 22. (DNF) 33M-Curt Myers[15]; 23. (DNF) 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[25]; 24. (DNF) 390-Tucker Quinn[17]; 25. (DNF) 1E-Eric Olson[13]; 26. (DNF) 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[24]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 22N-Dan Nissalke[5]; 2. 77-Scott Lawrence[3]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[6]; 4. 71X-William Fisher[2]; 5. 20-Cory Davis[7]; 6. 28-Josh Cappo[4]; 7. 87D-Kenny Davis[1]; 8. 77L-Andy Ladd[9]; 9. 75-Scott Geiger[12]; 10. 6-Dan Peterson[10]; 11. 15-Jonathan Dachel[8]; 12. (DNF) 02-Travis Anderson[15]; 13. (DNF) 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[11]; 14. (DNS) 2XL-Jason Garner; 15. (DNS) 26-Kyle Copp
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[10]; 2. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[14]; 3. 20*-Andrew Davis[3]; 4. 00-Jason Hobbs[1]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[4]; 6. 82-Paul Gucinski[7]; 7. 2-Don Livingston[13]; 8. 22-Clay Albrecht[5]; 9. 00Q-Jason Quarders[6]; 10. 4A-Allan Cleveland[8]; 11. 42-Myron Basina[2]; 12. 22AT-Austin Tilton[9]; 13. (DNS) 207-Jesse Redetzke; 14. (DNS) 57H-Wes Hines
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Joey Jensen[3]; 2. 7R-Tommy Richards[4]; 3. 1M-Alex Myers[1]; 4. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[5]; 5. 87D-Kenny Davis[8]; 6. 20*-Andrew Davis[2]; 7. 22-Clay Albrecht[6]; 8. 82-Paul Gucinski[7]; 9. 77L-Andy Ladd[9]; 10. 6-Dan Peterson[10]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 8-Matthew Larson[8]; 2. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[3]; 3. 25X-Chad Johnson[10]; 4. 390-Tucker Quinn[5]; 5. 00-Jason Hobbs[2]; 6. (DNF) 22T-Terran Spacek[7]; 7. (DNF) 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[6]; 8. (DNF) 207-Jesse Redetzke[9]; 9. (DQ) 2-Don Livingston[1]; 10. (DQ) 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[4]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 1JR-Tim Johnson[2]; 2. 25-Dylan Nelson[8]; 3. 1E-Eric Olson[6]; 4. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[3]; 5. 71X-William Fisher[4]; 6. 28-Josh Cappo[1]; 7. 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 8. (DNF) 75-Scott Geiger[9]; 9. (DQ) 26-Kyle Copp[5]; 10. (DQ) 02-Travis Anderson[10]
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[3]; 2. L1-Andrew Johnson[1]; 3. 27-Matt Deragon[9]; 4. 1-Ryan Olson[8]; 5. 42-Myron Basina[5]; 6. 01-Michael Anderson[7]; 7. 00Q-Jason Quarders[2]; 8. 15-Jonathan Dachel[10]; 9. 22AT-Austin Tilton[6]; 10. (DNF) 2XL-Jason Garner[4]
Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 33-Austin Niemeyer[1]; 2. 6K-Shane Kisling[3]; 3. 33M-Curt Myers[8]; 4. 57-Randy Graham[4]; 5. 77-Scott Lawrence[6]; 6. 22N-Dan Nissalke[2]; 7. 20-Cory Davis[5]; 8. 4A-Allan Cleveland[9]; 9. (DNF) 57H-Wes Hines[7]
27 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[2]; 2. 13X-Nick Koehler[4]; 3. 68-Shadow Kitchner[6]; 4. 35B-David Baxter[7]; 5. 11R-Landyn Randt[3]; 6. 21-Jimmy Latvala[5]; 7. 1-Jake Stai[9]; 8. 40D-Blake Adams[10]; 9. 7-Mike Schnider[16]; 10. 19H-Cody Cimfl[13]; 11. 37-Travis Anderson[12]; 12. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[1]; 13. 13-Derrick Reed[20]; 14. 00-Joseph Swearingen[21]; 15. 40-Nick Traynor[8]; 16. 63L-Mitchell Larson[18]; 17. 101-Michael Grover[19]; 18. 46-Zach Slayton[14]; 19. 13B-Chris Bretting[11]; 20. 19-David Madsen[23]; 21. (DNF) 78-Bently Prochnow[24]; 22. (DNF) 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[17]; 23. (DNF) 31-Jason Vokovan[15]; 24. (DNF) T25-Mark Thomas[22]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 00-Joseph Swearingen[3]; 2. T25-Mark Thomas[2]; 3. 19-David Madsen[7]; 4. 78-Bently Prochnow[6]; 5. 39-Rusty Taber[1]; 6. 5-Rory Taber[5]; 7. (DNF) 88K-Donavan Knutson[4]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Jimmy Latvala[2]; 2. 13X-Nick Koehler[7]; 3. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 4. 19H-Cody Cimfl[5]; 5. 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[4]; 6. 39-Rusty Taber[6]; 7. 88K-Donavan Knutson[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 35B-David Baxter[2]; 2. 40-Nick Traynor[4]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 4. 46-Zach Slayton[1]; 5. 63L-Mitchell Larson[6]; 6. T25-Mark Thomas[3]; 7. 5-Rory Taber[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11R-Landyn Randt[2]; 2. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[3]; 3. 13B-Chris Bretting[1]; 4. 31-Jason Vokovan[6]; 5. 101-Michael Grover[4]; 6. 00-Joseph Swearingen[5]; 7. 78-Bently Prochnow[7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[1]; 2. 68-Shadow Kitchner[6]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[2]; 4. 7-Mike Schnider[5]; 5. (DNF) 13-Derrick Reed[4]; 6. (DNF) 19-David Madsen[3]
27 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[1]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[3]; 3. 19C-Cody Cimfl[2]; 4. 30-Shawn Amundson[6]; 5. 11X-Levi Randt[7]; 6. 26-Ty Agen[4]; 7. 40-Travis Loew[5]; 8. 20F-Connor Franson[10]; 9. 12K-Jay Kesan[20]; 10. 10-Justin Vogel[17]; 11. 7-Caiden Engel[8]; 12. 04-Tommy Pogones[13]; 13. 1R-Cole Richards[21]; 14. 17B-Zach Beaulieu[16]; 15. 9-Adam Soltis[11]; 16. 10B-Dylan Baskin[22]; 17. 60-Andrew Milz[24]; 18. 19H-Nolan Brown[18]; 19. 17G-Chris Gross[19]; 20. 17-jake stowell[23]; 21. 92R-Courtney Rose[15]; 22. (DNF) 20-Andrew Hanson[9]; 23. (DNF) 11-Sam Fankhauser[14]; 24. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[12]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 1R-Cole Richards[6]; 2. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]; 3. 17-jake stowell[4]; 4. 60-Andrew Milz[2]; 5. (DNF) 19J-Jenna Herrman[3]; 6. (DNF) 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[5]; 7. (DQ) 74-Bruce Stanley[7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 2. 26-Ty Agen[1]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[7]; 4. 04-Tommy Pogones[6]; 5. 10-Justin Vogel[5]; 6. 10B-Dylan Baskin[3]; 7. (DQ) 1R-Cole Richards[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[2]; 2. 7-Caiden Engel[3]; 3. 20F-Connor Franson[4]; 4. 11-Sam Fankhauser[1]; 5. 19H-Nolan Brown[5]; 6. 60-Andrew Milz[6]; 7. (DNF) 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11X-Levi Randt[4]; 2. 19C-Cody Cimfl[3]; 3. 9-Adam Soltis[6]; 4. 92R-Courtney Rose[2]; 5. 17G-Chris Gross[5]; 6. 74-Bruce Stanley[7]; 7. 17-jake stowell[1]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards[1]; 2. 40-Travis Loew[4]; 3. T20-Michael Tuma[3]; 4. 17B-Zach Beaulieu[2]; 5. 12K-Jay Kesan[5]; 6. 19J-Jenna Herrman[6]
16 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 15H-Dusten Holub[5]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[6]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[3]; 4. 28-Eric Crosby[2]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[10]; 6. 69ER-Shane Basina[11]; 7. 57M-Brent Mindock[1]; 8. 18M-Leo Moos[12]; 9. 24H-Devon Holub[8]; 10. 12-Aaron Holmberg[9]; 11. 17-Brian DeNucci[13]; 12. 47-Anthony Schultz[14]; 13. (DNF) 14-CJ Wagner[4]; 14. (DNF) 70-Bob Thompson[15]; 15. (DNS) 23R-James Rahn; 16. (DNS) 4K-Terry Kemp
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Eric Crosby[4]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[3]; 3. 24H-Devon Holub[5]; 4. 14-CJ Wagner[2]; 5. 12-Aaron Holmberg[8]; 6. 69ER-Shane Basina[1]; 7. (DNF) 70-Bob Thompson[6]; 8. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Dusten Holub[1]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[2]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[3]; 4. 57M-Brent Mindock[4]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[6]; 6. 18M-Leo Moos[8]; 7. 17-Brian DeNucci[5]; 8. 47-Anthony Schultz[7]
