Last Lap Pass Nets Kummer Rice Lake Speedway Win
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, April 27 – After a race long battle, a last lap pass in the Street Stock feature would net Cody Kummer a thrilling victory to highlight the opening night of the seventy second consecutive season of racing at the Rice Lake Speedway. The opening night under the new ownership group of Kolby Kiehl, Dean Kiehl and Dick Kalow would also see Mike Anderson, Curt Myers, Landyn Randt and Brent Mincock visit the Todd’s Ready Mix victory lane.
It was a cold, windy, cloudy and sometimes drizzly Saturday night in northwestern Wisconsin but hardy race fans and teams gathered to put on the opening night show to kick off the 2024 racing season.
Nineteen cars would start the Street Stock feature and it was defending track point champion Danny Richards that would use the outside line to jump into the early lead over Kolton Brauer. Ty Agen would move into a contenting position also while Kummer wasted little time moving up from the third row to become a challenger also.
Kummer pulled into the second spot after a battle with Agen when the first yellow flew for a stalled car in turn one. Back under green, Richards continued to lead but both Kummer and Agen were challenging him, running right on his rear bumper. At the halfway point of the race, Andrew Hanson slowed with a flat front tire which triggered the yellow flag for a second time.
The top three remained the same in the running order with Brauer and Hunter VanGilder next in line. The last half of the race would see the top three contenders continue to run in tight formation but with no change in position as Richards was able to withstand all their pressure.
The white flag waved and it appeared that Richards would be home free for the win when suddenly he shot up the track in turn one which opened the door to his challengers. Kummer blew past on the bottom and Agen was also able to edge past for second. The stunning last lap development would see Kummer then cross the line as the winnner with Agen holding on for second over a disappointed Richrads who settled for third.
For Kummer, it was his nineteenth career Street Stock feature win at Rice Lake but first for him since the 2021 racing season. The Brauer brothers, Kolton and Braden, would complete the official top five finish.
Defending Modified point champion Mike Anderson let it be known that he will be tough to beat again at Rice Lake as he would win the opening night main event. The first three laps of the Modified feature were wild with Anderson getting the jump and leading the opening lap, only to see him passed by Brandon Copp for the top spot. However, Anderson got back on the gas quickly and repassed Copp one lap later to regain the lead.
Kevin Adams, meanwhile, would be on the move after starting sixth on the grid and by lap seven, when the race was stopped for a spinning car, Adams would be up to second. From then on, it would be a classic battle between the top most successful Modified drivers in Rice Lake Speedway history as Anderson and Adams would battle it out for the win. Several times Adams would get to the rear fender of Anderson’s car, but Mike would have just enough to hold Kevin off.
The final yellow would wave with just three laps to go when Austin Ellis, who was having a great eleventh to third run, would slow with mechanical issues. The final laps would see the two front runners go at for the win, with Adams trying both high and low but Anderson fighting off all challenges to lead Adams home by one car length for the win. Copp would run a consistent race and come home third. For Anderson it would be his fifty seventh career Modified feature win at Rice Lake.
Another driver with a shining record at the Rice Lake Speedway over the years would start off 2024 on a solid note as Curt Myers would lead from start to finish to take the Super Stock main event. It would not be an easy win for the Cameron driver however, as he was challenged at least twice by other drivers for the top spot. Early on, Myers was challenged by Shawn McFadden who started in the second row and got by Tucker Quinn to move into second quickly. He was riding Myer’s rear bumper in the early going. By the halfway point of the race, the top two continued to run in the same order but Eric Olson and Simon Wahlstrom had moved into the top five. At this point, it was Wahlstrom that was making the most moves, as he went to the cushion of the track and found it to be to his liking as he then stormed up to the third position as the yellow flew for a stalled car on lap fifteen.
Wahlstrom then gave Myers his most severe challenge of the race as he again went to the top side of the track and drew almost even with the leader when the yellow flew once again for a two car spin.
This would set up a three lap dash to the finish and Myers would then lay down perhaps his best laps of the race as Wahlstrom could follow but would not be able to produce a serious challenge again as Myers would drive home for the win. McFadden would complete the top five while Kyle Copp would engineer a ninth to fourth charge.
For Myers it was his forty ninth career Super Stock feature win at Rice Lake and his three hundred and seventh third overall win on dirt tracks in the upper Midwest.
A tight two car battle for the win in the Midwest Modified feature would see a pair of high schoolers battle it out with Landyn Randt holding off all challenges from Blake Adams for the win. The Midwest Modifieds would go green to checkers in their main event and Randt would sprint to the early lead from the pole with Mike Schnider and David Simpson chasing him. Those two would have a good battle for the second spot as they swapped the position back and forth.
Meanwhile Adams, who started eighth, would be on the move quickly as he raced into the top five and then continued to press as he marched forward. He got by Simpson and then Schnider to move into second and then set out to catch leader Randt.
The last few laps would see Adams push his hardest but Randt was in his groove and refused to be flustered as he maintained his line and despite Adams trying his best, Randt would hold him off by a car length for the win. Simpson would eventually come home third. For Randt it was his second ever Midwest Modified feature win at Rice Lake, having scored his initial one last year.
The Pure Stock feature would also be a two car battle to the finish but this one would not be scored complete until the post race technical inspection brought a change. Bob Wahlstrom would start on the pole and would lead from start to finish in this race. The Pure Stocks would go green to checkers with Jake Smith moving into second until he was passed by Brent Mindock . By this time, Wahlstrom had built up a considerable lead but Mindock would slowly cut into that advantage.
With five laps to go, the advantage was slipping quickly as Mindock continued to cut into the Wahlstrom lead. As the white flag waved, Mindock would catch Wahlstrom and the race would be on. Mindock tried to get outside Bob in the final corner and the race to the line would see Wahlstrom hold on by a half car length over Mindock.
However, after reporting for technical inspection, a braking issue was found on two cars that finished in the top five, including the winner. The adjusted finish would find Mindock the winner with Smith finishing second and Trenten Holub completing the top five. For Mindock, it was the first win ever at Rice Lake for the Prentice veteran.
Racing action continues next Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway on Red Cedar Speedway night at the track. All five classes will be in action once again with the new starting time of 6 pm in effect. The evening will begin with the announcement of the Best Appearing race car in each class which was judged during opening night.
For more information, check the speedway website or face book page. The track phone number is 715-236-2002.
4/27/2024
RICE LAKE SPEEDWAY
Results
15 entries
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[3]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[6]; 3. 22-Brandon Copp[1]; 4. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[2]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 6. 3H-Jake Hiatt[15]; 7. 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[11]; 8. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[8]; 9. 10-Kyle Helling[14]; 10. 20C-Denny Cutsforth[10]; 11. (DNF) 20-Austin Ellis[13]; 12. (DNF) 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[5]; 13. (DNF) 74-Shaun Kreyer[9]; 14. (DNF) 27H-Steve Hallquist[7]; 15. (DNS) 204-David Mayala
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[1]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[3]; 3. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[4]; 4. 22-Brandon Copp[6]; 5. 74-Shaun Kreyer[2]; 6. 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[7]; 7. 20-Austin Ellis[5]; 8. 10-Kyle Helling[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[2]; 2. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[7]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[1]; 4. 27H-Steve Hallquist[6]; 5. 20C-Denny Cutsforth[5]; 6. 204-David Mayala[4]; 7. (DNF) 3H-Jake Hiatt[3]
20 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 33-Curt Myers[1]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[8]; 3. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[3]; 4. 26-Kyle Copp[9]; 5. 1E-Eric Olson[5]; 6. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[7]; 7. 20*-Andrew Davis[11]; 8. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[17]; 9. 1-Ryan Olson[4]; 10. 71X-William Fisher[12]; 11. 1M-Alex Myers[14]; 12. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[20]; 13. (DNF) 28-Josh Cappo[18]; 14. (DNF) 22T-Terran Spacek[15]; 15. (DNF) 57-Randy Graham[6]; 16. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[19]; 17. (DNF) 01-Michael Anderson[13]; 18. (DNF) 390-Tucker Quinn[2]; 19. (DNF) 22-Clay Albrecht[10]; 20. (DNF) 22AT-Austin Tilton[16]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Kyle Copp[2]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[6]; 3. 57-Randy Graham[4]; 4. 22-Clay Albrecht[3]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[1]; 6. 22AT-Austin Tilton[7]; 7. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 390-Tucker Quinn[1]; 2. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[2]; 3. 1-Ryan Olson[3]; 4. 20*-Andrew Davis[6]; 5. 1M-Alex Myers[5]; 6. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[7]; 7. 21-Mike Siewert[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Curt Myers[3]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[6]; 3. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[5]; 4. 71X-William Fisher[1]; 5. 22T-Terran Spacek[2]; 6. 28-Josh Cappo[4]
16 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 11R-Landyn Randt[1]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[8]; 3. 70-David Simpson[4]; 4. 7-Mike Schnider[3]; 5. 1-Jake Stai[10]; 6. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[7]; 7. 40-Nick Traynor[16]; 8. 00AZ-TJ Wyman[6]; 9. 12-Joseph Swearingen[12]; 10. 88K-Jason Knutson[9]; 11. 16-Cory Jorgensen[13]; 12. 19H-Kevin Herrman[5]; 13. 39-Rusty Taber[11]; 14. (DNF) 101-Michael Grover[14]; 15. (DNF) 5G-Patrick McCarthy[2]; 16. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[7]; 2. 00AZ-TJ Wyman[1]; 3. 5G-Patrick McCarthy[4]; 4. 19H-Kevin Herrman[6]; 5. 88K-Jason Knutson[8]; 6. 39-Rusty Taber[5]; 7. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[2]; 8. (DNS) 40-Nick Traynor
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 70-David Simpson[4]; 3. 11R-Landyn Randt[3]; 4. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[6]; 5. 1-Jake Stai[7]; 6. 12-Joseph Swearingen[2]; 7. 16-Cory Jorgensen[5]; 8. 101-Michael Grover[8]
20 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[6]; 2. 26-Ty Agen[4]; 3. 3R-Danny Richards[2]; 4. KOL34-Kolton Brauer[1]; 5. 34JR-Braden Brauer[10]; 6. 19C-Cody Cimfl[5]; 7. 84-Hunter VanGilder[3]; 8. 12K-Jay Kesan[7]; 9. 04-Tommy Pogones[9]; 10. 20F-Connor Franson[16]; 11. 1R-Cole Richards[14]; 12. 10B-Dylan Baskin[17]; 13. 19H-Nolan Brown[19]; 14. 19J-Jenna Herrman[15]; 15. 7D-Derrick Helene[18]; 16. 7-Caiden Engel[12]; 17. (DNF) 20-Andrew Hanson[8]; 18. (DNF) 11X-Levi Randt[13]; 19. (DNS) 11-Sam Fankhauser; 20. (DQ) 30-Shawn Amundson[11]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Andrew Hanson[2]; 2. 26-Ty Agen[4]; 3. KOL34-Kolton Brauer[1]; 4. 34JR-Braden Brauer[6]; 5. 11X-Levi Randt[3]; 6. 20F-Connor Franson[5]; 7. 7D-Derrick Helene[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[2]; 2. 84-Hunter VanGilder[5]; 3. 04-Tommy Pogones[3]; 4. 30-Shawn Amundson[6]; 5. 1R-Cole Richards[4]; 6. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]; 7. 19H-Nolan Brown[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 12K-Jay Kesan[1]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[3]; 3. 19C-Cody Cimfl[5]; 4. 7-Caiden Engel[2]; 5. 19J-Jenna Herrman[6]; 6. (DNF) 11-Sam Fankhauser[4]
10 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 57M-Brent Mindock[4]; 2. 86J-Jake Smith[3]; 3. 15H-Trenten Holub[2]; 4. 09-Skylar Findley[5]; 5. 7D-Trevor Phillips[7]; 6. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[6]; 7. 70-Bob Thompson[9]; 8. (DNS) 17-Brian DeNucci; 9. (DQ) 88-Robert Wahlstrom[1]; 10. (DQ) 52W-Austin Fencl[8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 57M-Brent Mindock[4]; 3. 09-Skylar Findley[2]; 4. 86J-Jake Smith[3]; 5. 15H-Trenten Holub[10]; 6. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[5]; 7. 7D-Trevor Phillips[8]; 8. 70-Bob Thompson[9]; 9. 52W-Austin Fencl[7]; 10. (DNF) 17-Brian DeNucci[6]
