Mahder 55 goes to Mars Again
Brad Erickson
September 23, 2022, Menomonie, Wisconsin, the Red Cedar Speedway was not able to run the Duane Mahder 55 in August due to weather conditions but made an excellent decision to move the event to Thursday night of the Punky Manor Challenge of Champions. It allowed for terrific car counts and a weekend full for outstanding racing action. Winners on the night included Jimmy Mars, who is undefeated in every Mahder 55 that has been run in Menomonie. During Covid, it was run at the Rice Lake Speedway when Kevin Adams topped the night. Additionally, Jake Hartung won the Modified finale as Terran Spacek topped the Super Stocks.
The features were lined up by passing points in the heats as Jimmy Mars and AJ Diemel both won from the fourth position as Darrell Nelson earned his victory from the outside of the front row and Nick Panitzke from the pole. Sam Mars, Dave Flynn, Greg Nippoldt, and Rick Niemi raced into the feature through the first B-Feature and Mike Prochnow, Mark Hessler, Lance Matthees, and Buddy Hanestad earned their way into the feature through B-Feature two.
It was a 55-lap battle for $5500 to the winner but Jake Redetzke unfortunately received the Hard Luck Award when he was parked hard into the turn one wall on the first lap. It was a complete restart in which Jimmy Mars took the initial lead as Diemel, Darrel Nelson, Chad Mahder, and Jeff Massingill all ran in the top five. On lap five Diemel used the highline to move into the lead, but Mars quickly retook the point. Three laps later, Nelson was able to take away the runner up position and remain there for five circuits before Diemel took it back in lapped traffic with 42 laps remaining. Quickly thereafter, Mahder moved into third.
A lap 29 fuel stop eliminated a commanding lead which had been built by Mars. After the restart, Mahder overtook Diemel for second and with 20 laps remaining they were back into lap traffic. Rick Hanestad moved into the top five and on lap 40, Diemel used the high side momentum to overtake second. He began to visually real in Mars as they worked traffic until on lap fifty, he caught the leader and moved side by side on the backstretch. Mars apparently saw Diemel’s nose and proved he had been running on cruise control out front as he picked the pace back up and moved out to a relatively comfortable lead on his way to the checkered flag.
Mars was the dominating winner with Diemel, Mahder, the son of Duane Mahder himself, Nelson, and Hanestad finishing it the top five. Pat Doar, Massingill, Sam Mars, Nick Anvelink, and Nick Panitzke rounded out the top ten.
The invitational season in racing offers nuggets throughout each event. Lap one in the Modifieds was one of those nuggets. Many drivers will run their entire career without a feature win. Although it is just my opinion, I believe it is an accurate statement to say that over half of the drivers on the speedway will never win 10, maybe 20 features in their career. However, just counting five of the top six drivers finishing heat one, Kevin Adams, Shane Halopka, Ashley Anderson, Darrell Nelson, and Mike Anderson, they have amassed over 1300 career feature wins collectively. Adams scored the victory from fifth.
The remaining heats were won by Adam Hensel from the pole, and Jake Hartung and AJ Diemel both from fourth. B Feature one saw Dave Cain, Kyle Helling, Paul Harelstad, and Kaden Blaeser advance to the feature and Mike Anderson, Darrell Nelson, AJ Roschen, and Brad Johnson making the main event through B Feature two.
The Modified main event saw Hartung move from fourth to door to door with Adams for the point in the first two laps. Hartung moved into the lead as Mike Truscott moved to third and Darrel Nelson and Cory Mahder ran in the top five.
Adams looked low as Hartung ran high and Adams gained ground as they reached lapped traffic but a multicar spin on the backstretch drew the caution flag with 11 laps in. The restart provided an opportunity for Adam Hensel to scratch his way into second in the first corners. A quick caution slowed the pace one lap later. They returned to green and with 10 laps remaining, AJ Diemel moved into the top five. One lap later Jason Richardson was tight against the turn two wall and drawing a yellow flag.
The remaining laps ticked off as Hartung stretched his lead to the checkered flag, and Hensel ran low and Adams high with Hensel getting the better of the two at the line. AJ Diemel finished fourth and Ashley Anderson raced from sixteenth on the grid to fifth. Michael Truscott, Daniel Bargender, Shane Halopka, Jody Bellefeuille, and Dave Cain finished in the top ten.
The Super Stock heats saw Jordan Henkemeyer win from the pin as Kyle Copp and Brandon Clemens both won from third. The feature provided Spacek taking the lead from the pole. Quickly, Tommy Richards drove from fifth to second and thereafter a lap nine caution slowed the pace. The restart saw Ben Hillman working the high side in fourth and Andrew Davis having moved from 18th to fifth.
A caution was called with nine laps remaining resetting the field. Under green and running to the checkers, Hillman raced with DJ Keeler as they swapped positions and Spacek stretched his lead over Richards. Richards moved away from Hillman who gained the position over Keeler. A late surge saw Brandon Duellman overtake Davis for fifth. It was Davis, Jordan Henkemeyer, Jesse Redetzke, Kyle Copp, and Eric Olson all being scored in the top ten.
WISSOTA Late Model Feature (55 Laps): 1. 28M-Jimmy Mars[1]; 2. 58-AJ Diemel[2]; 3. 55C-Chad Mahder[7]; 4. 44-Darrell Nelson[3]; 5. 71-Rick Hanestad[11]; 6. 11-Pat Doar[13]; 7. 6M-Jeff Massingill[4]; 8. 28-Sam Mars[17]; 9. 15-Nick Anvelink[15]; 10. 89-Nick Panitzke[5]; 11. 85-John Kaanta[6]; 12. 31-Travis Budisalovich[12]; 13. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[24]; 14. 22E-Kevin Eder[10]; 15. 54-Rick Niemi[23]; 16. 68-Mike Prochnow[18]; 17. 90-Lance Matthees[22]; 18. 7-Harry Hanson[25]; 19. 42-Paul Niznik[16]; 20. 7C-Jim Carlson[26]; 21. (DNF) 28G-James Giossi[14]; 22. (DNF) 13-Mark Hessler[20]; 23. (DNF) 7X-Jesse Glenz[9]; 24. (DNF) 55N-Greg Nippoldt[21]; 25. (DNF) 29F-Dave Flynn[19]; 26. (DNF) 27-Jake Redetzke[8]
B Feature 1: 1. 28-Sam Mars[3]; 2. 29F-Dave Flynn[4]; 3. 55N-Greg Nippoldt[7]; 4. 54-Rick Niemi[1]; 5. 7-Harry Hanson[6]; 6. 173-Andy Jones[10]; 7. 14-Robbie Johnson[8]; 8. 34-Jordan Langer[9]; 9. 92-Aaron Wilson[5]; 10. (DNF) 47-Danny Vang[2]; 11. (DNS) 29-Denny Cutsforth
B Feature 2: 1. 68-Mike Prochnow[2]; 2. 13-Mark Hessler[4]; 3. 90-Lance Matthees[1]; 4. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[9]; 5. 7C-Jim Carlson[3]; 6. 30-Kevin Burdick[6]; 7. 54L-Jayme Lautigar[8]; 8. 96-Ashley Anderson[5]; 9. 50-Gavin Tarras[10]; 10. (DNF) 21-Mike Bellefeuille[7]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 28M-Jimmy Mars[4]; 2. 7X-Jesse Glenz[2]; 3. 55C-Chad Mahder[6]; 4. 15-Nick Anvelink[1]; 5. 68-Mike Prochnow[5]; 6. 28-Sam Mars[8]; 7. 92-Aaron Wilson[9]; 8. 55N-Greg Nippoldt[10]; 9. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[7]; 10. 50-Gavin Tarras[3]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 58-AJ Diemel[4]; 2. 27-Jake Redetzke[1]; 3. 71-Rick Hanestad[3]; 4. 28G-James Giossi[5]; 5. 11-Pat Doar[9]; 6. 29F-Dave Flynn[6]; 7. 7-Harry Hanson[8]; 8. 54L-Jayme Lautigar[7]; 9. (DNS) 29-Denny Cutsforth
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 44-Darrell Nelson[2]; 2. 6M-Jeff Massingill[5]; 3. 31-Travis Budisalovich[3]; 4. 42-Paul Niznik[1]; 5. 90-Lance Matthees[7]; 6. 13-Mark Hessler[6]; 7. 96-Ashley Anderson[9]; 8. 14-Robbie Johnson[4]; 9. 173-Andy Jones[8]
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 89-Nick Panitzke[1]; 2. 85-John Kaanta[3]; 3. 22E-Kevin Eder[5]; 4. 54-Rick Niemi[2]; 5. 47-Danny Vang[7]; 6. 7C-Jim Carlson[8]; 7. 30-Kevin Burdick[6]; 8. 21-Mike Bellefeuille[9]; 9. 34-Jordan Langer[4]
WISSOTA Modified Feature (25 Laps): 1. 05-Jake Hartung[4]; 2. 44-Adam Hensel[7]; 3. 40-Kevin Adams[1]; 4. 89-AJ Diemel[5]; 5. 81-Ashley Anderson[16]; 6. 22T-Michael Truscott[3]; 7. 10-Daniel Bargender[13]; 8. 3JR-Shane Halopka[8]; 9. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[10]; 10. 2C-Dave Cain[17]; 11. 44N-Darrell Nelson[20]; 12. 10H-Kyle Helling[19]; 13. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[23]; 14. 55M-Cory Mahder[2]; 15. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[9]; 16. 14-Brad Johnson[24]; 17. (DNF) R2-Jason Richardson[6]; 18. (DNF) 18-Mark Hanson[11]; 19. (DNF) 57-Mike Anderson[18]; 20. (DNF) 21-Jake Smith[14]; 21. (DNF) 1-Paul Harelstad[21]; 22. (DNF) 4A-Hunter Anderson[12]; 23. (DNF) 343-JD Ford[15]; 24. (DNF) 71-AJ Roschen[22]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 2C-Dave Cain[1]; 2. 10H-Kyle Helling[2]; 3. 1-Paul Harelstad[9]; 4. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[3]; 5. 25-Kerry Hansen[4]; 6. 80-Derek Haas[10]; 7. 78R-Ross Prochnow[11]; 8. 78-Brent Prochnow[5]; 9. W-Cory Williams[8]; 10. 38-Zach Gibson[12]; 11. 55-Taylor Olson[7]; 12. (DNS) 20-Denny Cutsforth
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[2]; 2. 44N-Darrell Nelson[3]; 3. 71-AJ Roschen[5]; 4. 14-Brad Johnson[11]; 5. T40-Danny Thomas[1]; 6. 16C-Cole Varsho[6]; 7. 99-Mark Kangas[9]; 8. 53-Cooper Berlin[8]; 9. M20-Thomas Mittlestadt[10]; 10. 2-Todd Gehl[4]; 11. 27H-Steve Hallquist[7]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[5]; 2. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[1]; 3. 3JR-Shane Halopka[6]; 4. 81-Ashley Anderson[4]; 5. 44N-Darrell Nelson[2]; 6. 57-Mike Anderson[9]; 7. 16C-Cole Varsho[7]; 8. 55-Taylor Olson[3]; 9. 99-Mark Kangas[8]; 10. 14-Brad Johnson[10]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 44-Adam Hensel[1]; 2. 55M-Cory Mahder[8]; 3. 18-Mark Hanson[2]; 4. 10-Daniel Bargender[5]; 5. 2C-Dave Cain[7]; 6. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[9]; 7. 78-Brent Prochnow[3]; 8. 27H-Steve Hallquist[4]; 9. 1-Paul Harelstad[10]; 10. 78R-Ross Prochnow[6]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 05-Jake Hartung[4]; 2. 22T-Michael Truscott[8]; 3. 4A-Hunter Anderson[2]; 4. 21-Jake Smith[1]; 5. 10H-Kyle Helling[6]; 6. T40-Danny Thomas[10]; 7. 71-AJ Roschen[5]; 8. W-Cory Williams[7]; 9. 80-Derek Haas[9]; 10. M20-Thomas Mittlestadt[3]
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 89-AJ Diemel[4]; 2. 11-Jody Bellefeuille[2]; 3. R2-Jason Richardson[9]; 4. 343-JD Ford[1]; 5. 25-Kerry Hansen[3]; 6. 2-Todd Gehl[5]; 7. 20-Denny Cutsforth[6]; 8. 53-Cooper Berlin[8]; 9. (DNS) 38-Zach Gibson
WISSOTA Super Stock Feature (20 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[1]; 2. 7R-Tommy Richards[5]; 3. 22JR-Ben Hillman[10]; 4. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[7]; 5. 0-Brandon Duellman[12]; 6. 20*-Andrew Davis[18]; 7. 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[4]; 8. 207-Jesse Redetzke[6]; 9. 26-Kyle Copp[2]; 10. 1E-Eric Olson[9]; 11. 14X-Leslie Leu[8]; 12. 71-Brandon Clemens[3]; 13. 14L-Dylan Leu[16]; 14. 77-Wayne Bignell[21]; 15. 11-Tucker Quinn[14]; 16. 25-Chad Johnson[13]; 17. 19X-William Fisher[26]; 18. 87-Kenneth Davis[22]; 19. 28-Jason Quarders[23]; 20. 77*-Josh Saunders[17]; 21. 82-Paul Gucinski[25]; 22. (DNF) 15-Jonathan Dachel[24]; 23. (DNF) 17-Lucas Christiansen[20]; 24. (DNF) 1776-Wayne Dean[19]; 25. (DNF) 55-Ron Mahder[11]; 26. (DNF) 40-Nick Traynor[15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[1]; 2. 207-Jesse Redetzke[3]; 3. 1E-Eric Olson[2]; 4. 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 5. 40-Nick Traynor[5]; 6. 77*-Josh Saunders[4]; 7. 77-Wayne Bignell[6]; 8. 87-Kenneth Davis[9]; 9. 19X-William Fisher[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Kyle Copp[3]; 2. 22T-Terran Spacek[8]; 3. 22JR-Ben Hillman[2]; 4. 55-Ron Mahder[5]; 5. 25-Chad Johnson[6]; 6. 20*-Andrew Davis[4]; 7. 1776-Wayne Dean[9]; 8. 28-Jason Quarders[1]; 9. 82-Paul Gucinski[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Brandon Clemens[3]; 2. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[2]; 3. 7R-Tommy Richards[7]; 4. 0-Brandon Duellman[5]; 5. 11-Tucker Quinn[6]; 6. 14L-Dylan Leu[1]; 7. 17-Lucas Christiansen[4]; 8. 15-Jonathan Dachel[8]
