Koehler Wheels To Rice Lake Speedway Win
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, August 17 – On a night when only one feature winner came from the front row to win their event, Nick Koehler outshown all the other feature winners as he roared up from the fifth row in the Midwest Modified main event and rode the cushion to a thrilling win, overcoming Brady Larson in the late going to earn his first feature win of the season at Rice Lake.
Other winners on Saturday night included Mark Hanson in the Modifieds, Dexton Koch in the Super Stocks, Cody Kummer in the Street Stocks and Rob Grabon in the Pure Stocks. It was also the last night of the 2024 racing season for the drivers to earn track points and all five drivers coming into the Saturday night event managed to hold on and claim track point titles. They included Bob Wahlstrom in the Pure Stocks, Danny Richards in the Street Stocks, Mike Schnider in the Midwest Modifieds, Curt Myers in the Super Stocks and Joe Chaplin Jr in the Modifieds. Both Wahlstrom and Chaplin Jr had bad nights, going out early in their main events but their totals were high enough to hold off the second place finishers in their respective classes.
On a night filled with action packed feature races with more than a few yellow flags in some of them, Koehler made a late race charge that had the crowd energized as he found a fast lane up on the cushion, where few were driving, and rode that groove to the feature win. He started off slowly in the main, mired in the ninth starting position despite winning a heat race with a group of fast cars in front on him.
The event started off on a rocky note, as the front row cars tangled on the opening lap with Larson going for a spin and the race being restarted but Larson returned to his front row spot.
Brady then went on to lead the majority of the race until he was overtaken by Koehler late in the event. Early on, Larson was challenged by a very fast group of drivers including Jake Stai, Cody Cimfl, Mike Schnider and Joey Jensen who ran as a pack right behind Larson and changed positions on seemingly every lap.
The first six laps produced five yellow flags, all for spins as the drivers struggled to settle in on their racing lines. By the halfway point of the race, Cimfl had taken over second and Koehler was starting to move, working his way up to third with Jensen and Stai right behind him.
Then it was “Nick” time, as he moved to the cushion and drove around Cimfl and began to close in on the leader Larson. Brady had separated himself from the pack by this time and it seemed unlikely that Koehler could catch him but Nick put in some impressive laps, reeling in the leader and staying true to that outside line, he blew past Larson with just three laps to go in the race and then pulled away to claim the win.
Larson settled for second with Jensen, Cimfl and Blake Adams next in line when Stai got tangled with a lapped car on the final corner. The balance in the Midwest Modified class has been impressive this year as Koehler became the ninth different winner so far with only one repeat winner so far this year, that being Stai.
The only class more balanced than the Midwest Modifieds has been the other open wheel class run at the track, the Modifieds. This year there has not been a single repeat winner with championship Saturday upcoming next week and the pattern held as Chippewa Falls’ Mark Hanson took his first win of the year at the track. Hanson was the only winner to start on the front row of his main event and he would be in charge from start to finish in this race.
An unfortunate start to the race saw a first lap tangle that eliminated the top two cars in track points, Chaplin Jr and Travis Anderson, from the race almost before it got started but then Hanson took over, leading all laps. Some heavy battling early saw Austin Ellis make up much ground, moving from the fourth row into second spot by lap five when the third and final yellow waved for debris on the track.
As Hanson again pulled away, attention was drawn to that second spot battle as Ellis had his hands full with Kevin Adams, who had started beside Ellis in row four. By the halfway point of the race, Adams, debuting a brand new car on this night, took over the second spot and set off after Hanson.
The last fifteen laps of this race ran off green to checkers and while Adams pushed for all he was worth, “The Mad Dog” Hanson was on fire and there was not stopping him or actually, even getting close to him. He drove across the finish line with a comfortable advantage over Adams with Ellis settling for third. Cory Mahder made his first appearance of the year a good one as he took fourth with Kennedy Swan challenging early before she faded back a bit to settle for fifth.
Hanson became the ninth different feature winner so far this year in the Modified class with no repeat winners heading into the last regular season event.
Dexton Koch only drops in at the Rice Lake Speedway for special events and when his normal central Minnesota tracks are not racing and Saturday night was one of the later. However, Koch usually makes his trips from Becker Minnesota worthwhile and he did again on Saturday. Being the fourth different leader of a highly competitive Super Stock feature, Koch found the lead just past the halfway point and then drove on for his second win here in 2024.
Cory Davis was the early leader, just as he was last Saturday night but he could only hold that top spot for one lap before Randy Graham drove past him to assume the lead position. Graham was having perhaps his best run of the season as he led the next six laps and started to put some distance on the field. However, a yellow flag for debris, the third and final yellow of the event, bunched the field.
Things then went sideways for Graham as not only did he lose the lead, his car then stalled on the track and he was done for the night. D.J. Keeler had passed Graham and the battle was now on with Koch, who had started fifth and worked into second following that final yellow.
Keeler and Koch really went at for the lead, each throwing his best haymaker at his opponent as they circled the track side by side for several laps, with Koch probing for an opening. Finally, on lap eleven, Dexton got to the inside of Keeler and raced into the lead and with the rest of the race going nonstop, there was no catching the current WISSOTA national point leader in the class. The current second place racer in national points, Curt Myers, had started way back in ninth and gradually worked his way to the front, having to pass a lot of traffic. Another good race for position saw Myers and Keeler got at it for second with Curt edging into that spot near the end of the race but he had no time to try and catch the leader.
Keeler would finish in the third spot for the second straight Saturday here as Alex Myers and Eric Olson completed the top five.
The only constant in a wild Street Stock feature was Cody Kummer who managed to avoid much of the wild goings on around him and then use an opportunity to drive into the lead near the midpoint of the race and then go on for his fourth feature win of the year here. While he has now won four times, he is the only driver in the class to have won more than once.
Jay Kesan, looking for that first win of 2024, took the early lead and held the top spot through lap five when a debris yellow slowed the field. On the green, Shawn Amundson made a dive low in turn one as he tried to go from the fourth row into the lead in just a few laps. Contact occured but the field continued to race down the back chute where Kesan than found out that his car had steering damage and a multiple car wreck was then triggered that included Connor Franson, Parker Anderson, Mike Tuma and Kummer. Franson and Kesan were eliminated, Amundson called it a night and Tuma then inherited the lead.
One lap later, Kummer took over the top spot and he led the rest of the contest. However, it was not an easy win as he was challenged by Andrew Hanson and Anderson for that top spot. Hanson was giving Kummer much trouble until an unfortunate miscalculation by Hanson saw him drive too deep into turn three and clip the leader, sending him spinning. Hanson then also called it a night as Kummer was restored to the lead and then led the final three laps to hold off Anderson, Sam Fankhauser, Danny Richards and Cody Cimfl.
The Pure Stock feature was not without its share of controversy also, with the two race leaders managing to take each other out with the beneficiary being Rob Grabon who then drove on for the win. Charlie Pitcavage led the opening lap as he managed to pass both of the front row starters before a lap was scored. But then Austin Fencl charged up to challenge and they then went side by side, trading plenty of paint as they battled for the lead. Fencl was scored the leader of lap three but then continued their battle and things got too aggressive as the final collision between the two gave both flat tires and the yellow flew.
Pitcavage rushed to the work area and replaced his tire while Fencl called it a night and all this hubbub gave Grabon the lead and he took full advantage, leading the final nine laps to take his first feature win of the year and become the sixth different winner in the class.
Bob Thompson ran second for much of the race but Pitcavage worked his way back up through the field and nipped Thompson at the line for that spot. Aaron Holmberg and Brian Denucci completed the top five in the diminshed field.
Next Saturday night will be a big one with Season Championships to be decided in all five classes. Drivers will draw for their heat races as normal but those drivers making the invert positions will then line up by season points earned with the rest of the field falling in behind them. But as we have seen on this night, starting up front doesn’t guarantee victory by any means.
Race time will be 6 pm with pit gates opening at 3 pm and the grandstand an hour later. Check the speedway facebook page for information on the upcoming Dairyland Dash event on Saturday night, August 31st and Sunday night, September 1st that will round out the 2024 racing season at the speedway.
8/17/2024
Rice Lake Speedway
Results
17 entries
WISSOTA Modifieds
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 18-Mark Hanson[1]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[7]; 3. 20-Austin Ellis[8]; 4. 55-Cory Mahder[10]; 5. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[9]; 7. 8S-Tony Schill[15]; 8. 78-Brent Prochnow[16]; 9. 4N-Nick Wojcik[11]; 10. 03F-Jason Fall[14]; 11. (DNF) 48-Marcus Simonson[13]; 12. (DNF) 308-Pat Hoffman[3]; 13. (DNF) 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[4]; 14. (DNF) 74-Shaun Kreyer[2]; 15. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[12]; 16. (DNF) 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[5]; 17. (DNS) 13H-Mark Hessler
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[1]; 2. 18-Mark Hanson[7]; 3. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[4]; 4. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[8]; 5. 10-Kyle Helling[3]; 6. 4N-Nick Wojcik[6]; 7. 48-Marcus Simonson[9]; 8. 8S-Tony Schill[5]; 9. (DNF) 78-Brent Prochnow[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 2. 20-Austin Ellis[5]; 3. 308-Pat Hoffman[1]; 4. 74-Shaun Kreyer[2]; 5. 55-Cory Mahder[7]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[8]; 7. 03F-Jason Fall[3]; 8. (DNS) 13H-Mark Hessler
19 entries
WISSOTA Super Stock
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[5]; 2. 33-Curt Myers[9]; 3. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[6]; 4. 1M-Alex Myers[8]; 5. 1E-Eric Olson[7]; 6. 14X-Leslie Leu[11]; 7. 1-Ryan Olson[13]; 8. 69-John Adams[10]; 9. 20-Cory Davis[2]; 10. 20*-Andrew Davis[14]; 11. 28-Josh Cappo[15]; 12. 77L-Andy Ladd[12]; 13. 247-Jackson Larson[16]; 14. 22-Clay Albrecht[19]; 15. 01-Michael Anderson[17]; 16. 21-Mike Siewert[1]; 17. (DNF) 57-Randy Graham[4]; 18. (DNF) 7R-Tommy Richards[3]; 19. (DNF) 22AT-Austin Tilton[18]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[1]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[3]; 3. 20-Cory Davis[2]; 4. 69-John Adams[5]; 5. 1-Ryan Olson[6]; 6. 247-Jackson Larson[7]; 7. 22-Clay Albrecht[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Curt Myers[2]; 2. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[3]; 3. 1M-Alex Myers[1]; 4. 14X-Leslie Leu[4]; 5. 20*-Andrew Davis[6]; 6. 01-Michael Anderson[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[1]; 2. 57-Randy Graham[4]; 3. 21-Mike Siewert[2]; 4. 77L-Andy Ladd[5]; 5. 28-Josh Cappo[6]; 6. 22AT-Austin Tilton[3]
19 entries
WISSOTA Midwest Mods
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[9]; 2. 63JR-Brady Larson[2]; 3. 30-Joey Jensen[7]; 4. 19H-Cody Cimfl[5]; 5. 40D-Blake Adams[8]; 6. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 7. 7-Mike Schnider[4]; 8. 13R-Derrick Reed[10]; 9. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[15]; 10. 1848-Matthew Findley[13]; 11. 19M-David Madsen[6]; 12. 39-Rusty Taber[17]; 13. 101-Michael Grover[19]; 14. 78-Bently Prochnow[18]; 15. 88K-Donavan Knutson[14]; 16. (DNF) 410-Jesse Young[16]; 17. (DNF) 15-Eric Gadach[12]; 18. (DNF) 5-Rory Taber[11]; 19. (DNF) 4K-Kenny Kincaid[1]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19H-Cody Cimfl[1]; 2. 30-Joey Jensen[4]; 3. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 4. 13R-Derrick Reed[6]; 5. 1848-Matthew Findley[2]; 6. 410-Jesse Young[5]; 7. 78-Bently Prochnow[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[2]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[1]; 3. 19M-David Madsen[6]; 4. 5-Rory Taber[3]; 5. 88K-Donavan Knutson[4]; 6. (DNS) 101-Michael Grover
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63JR-Brady Larson[1]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 3. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[5]; 4. 15-Eric Gadach[2]; 5. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[4]; 6. 39-Rusty Taber[3]
19 entries
WISSOTA Street Stock
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[5]; 2. 127-Parker Anderson[10]; 3. 11-Sam Fankhauser[9]; 4. 3R-Danny Richards[17]; 5. 19H-Cody Cimfl[14]; 6. 12W-Chris Welk Jr[16]; 7. 10B-Dylan Baskin[3]; 8. 19J-Nolan Brown[18]; 9. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[11]; 10. 92R-Courtney Rose[13]; 11. 19C-Jenna Herrman[15]; 12. (DNF) 20-Andrew Hanson[7]; 13. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[12]; 14. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[4]; 15. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[1]; 16. (DNF) 30-Shawn Amundson[8]; 17. (DNF) 20F-Connor Franson[2]; 18. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[6]; 19. (DNS) 74-Bruce Stanley
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[1]; 2. 11-Sam Fankhauser[2]; 3. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 4. 127-Parker Anderson[6]; 5. 9-Adam Soltis[5]; 6. 19H-Cody Cimfl[3]; 7. (DNF) 74-Bruce Stanley[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. T20-Michael Tuma[2]; 2. 12K-Jay Kesan[3]; 3. 20F-Connor Franson[6]; 4. (DNF) 12W-Chris Welk Jr[5]; 5. (DQ) 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 6. (DQ) 19J-Nolan Brown[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Andrew Hanson[5]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 3. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]; 4. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[6]; 5. 92R-Courtney Rose[4]; 6. 19C-Jenna Herrman[2]
10 entries
WISSOTA Pure Stock
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 16-Rob Grabon[5]; 2. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[3]; 3. 70-Bob Thompson[6]; 4. 12-Aaron Holmberg[2]; 5. 17-Brian DeNucci[1]; 6. 55-Caleb Duffie[10]; 7. 4K-Terry Kemp[9]; 8. (DNF) 88-Robert Wahlstrom[8]; 9. (DNF) 15H-Dusten Holub[7]; 10. (DQ) 52W-Austin Fencl[4]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 52W-Austin Fencl[1]; 2. 70-Bob Thompson[5]; 3. 12-Aaron Holmberg[2]; 4. 17-Brian DeNucci[4]; 5. 4K-Terry Kemp[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 15H-Dusten Holub[4]; 3. 16-Rob Grabon[3]; 4. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[2]; 5. 55-Caleb Duffie[5]
