Kummer Tops Little Dream; $30,000 Is The Reward
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, July 30 – Cody Kummer was declared the winner of the 30th annual Street Stock Little Dream Race held on Tuesday night at the Rice Lake Speedway after apparent winner Nick Traynor’s car failed to pass post race inspection. A motor issue was the problem and Kummer, who had chased Traynor the last eight laps of the race in a serious attempt to make the winning pass, was elevated to the winner’s position.
As always, the fans at the track, packed into the speedway on a terribly steamy July night, along with area businesses and an increasing contribution from on line viewers, once again helped to set a new record for this event. With all their generosity, the winner’s share in this event broke the record once again when Kummer took home thirty thousand dollars for his forty lap win in his WISSOTA Street Stock. In the thirtieth year of this unique and one of a kind event, the goal was to get to thirty thousand dollars for the winner and that was accomplished.
Fifty nine drivers from six states and Canada braved the stormy and steamy weather to compete with double heat races plus Last Chance events setting the starting field of thirty drivers for the forty lap event.
From the outside pole position, Hunter VanGilder led the opening lap of the race before Nick Traynor would drive past him on the outside and take the lead. Two yellows for spins in the first four laps kept the field bunched but when racing resumed, young drivers Levi Randt and Ty Agen were both on the move as they drove up to second and third place and kept the heat on leader Traynor.
As Traynor began to pull away, the three car battle for second was sensational as Agen, Randt and VanGilder often went three abreast around the wide racing surface as they fought to try and catch leader Traynor.
As the race reached its half way point, Traynor continued to maintain a two second lead over Randt, Agen and VanGilder as eventual winner Kummer first appeared in the top five, running just behind VanGilder. Kummer had started twelfth and was gradually working his way through the field.
A long green flag period then ensued with Traynor continuing to hold his advantage as he was running a unique line that allowed him to gain great speed coming off the corners of the third mile oval. Agen had taken over the second spot as Kummer continued to climb in the field, moving up to third as Randt faded back just a bit.
The great run for the fourteen year old ended on lap thirty two as Randt rolled to a halt in turn two, his night complete with mechanical issues ending his run. An eight lap sprint to the finish would decide the winner and Traynor again pulled into the lead but this time he was challenged as Kummer shot past Agen on the high side of the track, pulled into second and then began to challenge the leader. Kummer dove low in the corners, hoping to sneak up under the leader but each time Traynor would edge past him on exit.
Kummer continued to try this move, coming close on lap after lap but Traynor refused to falter.
The white flag saw Kummer take one last shot, but he came up short as Traynor continued his flawless run and he crossed under the finish line with a two car length edge over Kummer with Agen close behind.
The victory lane celebration for Traynor was wild as the win would have been his third in this event in the last four years of the race and he would have shot into the lead for overall winnings in the Little Dream with over eighty four thousand dollars in those three wins. However, a post race issue was found with a motor part in the inspection that followed, and his car was disqualified which elevated Kummer to the win, his first in the Little Dream. This is the first disqualification of a race winner in the history of this race.
Kummer has been racing this event since 2010 with second place finishes in 2011 and 2016 being his previous best finishes. Now he will be elevated to the elite status of a Little Dream winner for the first time.
Completing the top five in the adjusted order behind Kummer and Agen were Kyle Genett, Andrew Hanson and VanGilder in the top five with the second five consisting of Justin Vogel, defending champion Keith Tourville, Tim Johnson, Tommy Pogones and Jeff Nowak. Twenty two of the starters were still on the track at the finish and all were on the lead lap.
The speedway will now be closed until Saturday night, August 10th when the new ownership of the speedway will try a new event. Jam The Stands night will be held with adult admission set at just $5. All five WISSOTA sanctioned classes that routinely run at the track will be in action for a full show with race time set for 6 pm. Check out the speedway face book page for any other updates.
7/30/2024
Rice Lake Speedway
Results
59 entries
WISSOTA Street Stock
ServPro Restoration A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[12]; 2. 26-Ty Agen[6]; 3. 16X-Kyle Genett[22]; 4. 20-Andrew Hanson[9]; 5. 84-Hunter VanGilder[2]; 6. 10-Justin Vogel[18]; 7. 111JR-Keith Tourville[26]; 8. 69-Tim Johnson[5]; 9. 04-Tommy Pogones[8]; 10. 79N-Jeff Nowak[23]; 11. 19H-Simon Wahlstrom[20]; 12. 127-Parker Anderson[7]; 13. 19J-Mike Schnider[10]; 14. 8-Kolby Kiehl[27]; 15. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[3]; 16. 10B-Dylan Baskin[29]; 17. 2-Joe Martin[17]; 18. 05-Kyle Howland; 19. 17-Matt Goth[25]; 20. 10R-Rich Bishop[21]; 21. (DNF) 11X-Levi Randt[4]; 22. (DNF) 44X-Zach Manley[16]; 23. (DNF) 30-Shawn Amundson[13]; 24. (DNF) 3R-Danny Richards[28]; 25. (DNF) 40-Travis Loew[14]; 26. (DNF) 26X-Jordan Kurtti[15]; 27. (DNF) 25J-Mike Jans[11]; 28. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[24]; 29. (DQ) 40T-Nick Traynor[1]; 30. (DQ) 177-Kyle Bolt[19]
Extreme Auto and Gas B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 10R-Rich Bishop[3]; 2. 12K-Jay Kesan[4]; 3. 8-Kolby Kiehl[10]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[8]; 5. 77-Zach Degner[5]; 6. 17A-Jacob Aarhus[11]; 7. 79-Joseph Ott[6]; 8. 7-Caiden Engel[13]; 9. 317-Austin Polonoski[7]; 10. 12R-Kammron Rose[1]; 11. (DNF) 15F-Zachary Flickinger[2]; 12. (DNS) 19C-Cody Cimfl; 13. (DNS) 21-Jim Gullikson
Swant Graber Auto Group B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 16X-Kyle Genett[9]; 2. 17-Matt Goth[2]; 3. 3R-Danny Richards[8]; 4. T20-Michael Tuma[10]; 5. 92R-Jimmy Latvala[5]; 6. 05-Kyle Howland[3]; 7. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[6]; 8. 87X-Quentin Busitzky[1]; 9. 12M-Grady Myers[4]; 10. 76S-Dan Svee[11]; 11. 77R-Melvin Raska[7]; 12. (DNS) 2W-Gunnar Watkins; 13. (DNS) 15B-Mike Brown
Shocker Hitch B Feature 3 (12 Laps): 1. 79N-Jeff Nowak[13]; 2. 111JR-Keith Tourville[9]; 3. 10B-Dylan Baskin[3]; 4. 11-Sam Fankhauser[5]; 5. 56-Ethan Hommerding[2]; 6. 22B-Ethan Beckler[6]; 7. 16-Warren Bartelt[7]; 8. 66E-Steve Eggersgluess[4]; 9. 20F-Connor Franson[1]; 10. 28-Greg Jose[10]; 11. (DNS) 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl; 12. (DNS) 22-Alex Minks; 13. (DNS) 9-Adam Soltis
Heat 1 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 2. 10R-Rich Bishop[3]; 3. 44X-Zach Manley[7]; 4. 25J-Mike Jans[5]; 5. 20F-Connor Franson[10]; 6. 66E-Steve Eggersgluess[6]; 7. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[4]; 8. (DNF) 17A-Jacob Aarhus[8]; 9. (DNF) 111JR-Keith Tourville[9]; 10. (DQ) 79N-Jeff Nowak[1]
Heat 2 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 11X-Levi Randt[1]; 2. 40T-Nick Traynor[5]; 3. 19J-Mike Schnider[3]; 4. 26X-Jordan Kurtti[10]; 5. 10B-Dylan Baskin[2]; 6. 05-Kyle Howland[6]; 7. 22B-Ethan Beckler[4]; 8. 77R-Melvin Raska[7]; 9. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[9]; 10. (DNF) 15B-Mike Brown[8]
Heat 3 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 69-Tim Johnson[1]; 2. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[6]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[9]; 4. 87X-Quentin Busitzky[10]; 5. 56-Ethan Hommerding[7]; 6. 79-Joseph Ott[2]; 7. 12M-Grady Myers[3]; 8. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[8]; 9. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[5]; 10. (DNF) 8-Kolby Kiehl[4]
Heat 4 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[4]; 2. 2-Joe Martin[2]; 3. 17-Matt Goth[6]; 4. 127-Parker Anderson[10]; 5. 11-Sam Fankhauser[9]; 6. 12K-Jay Kesan[5]; 7. 92R-Jimmy Latvala[1]; 8. 317-Austin Polonoski[3]; 9. (DNF) 16X-Kyle Genett[8]; 10. (DNF) 22-Alex Minks[7]
Heat 5 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[2]; 2. 10-Justin Vogel[3]; 3. 19C-Cody Cimfl[4]; 4. 26-Ty Agen[6]; 5. 177-Kyle Bolt[8]; 6. 40-Travis Loew[10]; 7. 16-Warren Bartelt[7]; 8. (DNF) 21-Jim Gullikson[9]; 9. (DNF) 2W-Gunnar Watkins[1]; 10. (DNF) 76S-Dan Svee[5]
Heat 6 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards[1]; 2. 04-Tommy Pogones[3]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[2]; 4. 12-Cody Kummer[7]; 5. 12R-Kammron Rose[5]; 6. 19H-Simon Wahlstrom[9]; 7. 77-Zach Degner[6]; 8. (DNF) 28-Greg Jose[4]; 9. (DNF) 7-Caiden Engel[8]
Heat 7 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 40-Travis Loew[1]; 2. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[5]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[8]; 4. 11X-Levi Randt[10]; 5. 12K-Jay Kesan[6]; 6. 30-Shawn Amundson[9]; 7. 77R-Melvin Raska[4]; 8. 17A-Jacob Aarhus[3]; 9. (DNS) 7-Caiden Engel; 10. (DNS) 19C-Cody Cimfl
Heat 8 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 127-Parker Anderson[1]; 2. 12-Cody Kummer[3]; 3. 84-Hunter VanGilder[7]; 4. 05-Kyle Howland[5]; 5. 44X-Zach Manley[4]; 6. 10-Justin Vogel[8]; 7. 79N-Jeff Nowak[10]; 8. (DNS) 21-Jim Gullikson; 9. (DNS) 9-Adam Soltis; 10. (DQ) 3R-Danny Richards[9]
Heat 9 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 40T-Nick Traynor[6]; 2. 8-Kolby Kiehl[7]; 3. 177-Kyle Bolt[3]; 4. 77-Zach Degner[4]; 5. 66E-Steve Eggersgluess[5]; 6. 87X-Quentin Busitzky[1]; 7. 317-Austin Polonoski[8]; 8. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[9]; 9. (DNF) 11-Sam Fankhauser[2]
Heat 10 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 16X-Kyle Genett[3]; 2. 25J-Mike Jans[6]; 3. 12R-Kammron Rose[5]; 4. 26X-Jordan Kurtti[1]; 5. 12M-Grady Myers[8]; 6. 2-Joe Martin[9]; 7. 22B-Ethan Beckler[7]; 8. 16-Warren Bartelt[4]; 9. (DNS) 2W-Gunnar Watkins; 10. (DQ) 1R-Cole Richards[2]
Heat 11 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 26-Ty Agen[5]; 2. T20-Michael Tuma[2]; 3. 19J-Mike Schnider[8]; 4. 28-Greg Jose[6]; 5. 20F-Connor Franson[1]; 6. 92R-Jimmy Latvala[10]; 7. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[7]; 8. 79-Joseph Ott[9]; 9. (DNF) 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[3]; 10. (DNF) 22-Alex Minks[4]
Heat 12 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 111JR-Keith Tourville[2]; 2. 19H-Simon Wahlstrom[1]; 3. 04-Tommy Pogones[7]; 4. 69-Tim Johnson[10]; 5. 56-Ethan Hommerding[4]; 6. 10B-Dylan Baskin[9]; 7. 17-Matt Goth[5]; 8. 10R-Rich Bishop[8]; 9. 76S-Dan Svee[6]; 10. (DNS) 15B-Mike Brown
Dirt Race Central Special 1 Non Qualifyier (15 Laps): 1. 11-Sam Fankhauser[3]; 2. 05-Kyle Howland[8]; 3. 56-Ethan Hommerding[6]; 4. 7-Caiden Engel[13]; 5. 77-Zach Degner[4]; 6. 79-Joseph Ott[10]; 7. 66E-Steve Eggersgluess[15]; 8. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[11]; 9. (DNF) 87X-Quentin Busitzky[14]; 10. (DNF) 22B-Ethan Beckler[9]; 11. (DNF) 17A-Jacob Aarhus[7]; 12. (DNF) 16-Warren Bartelt[12]; 13. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 14. (DNF) 92R-Jimmy Latvala[5]; 15. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[2]