Richards in a Thriller

Eagle Valley Speedway, June 26, 2020; The Eagle Valley Speedway raced on Friday night and had some exciting events. Winners on the evening included Mike Knopps, Tommy Richards twice, Cody Kummer, Mike Schnider, and Danny Halterman.

Mike Knopps picked tonight to step out as he won his first heat at Eagle Valley Speedway and then followed it up with a dominant performance in the feature, leading all 20 laps to the checkered flag.  Jason Richardson won the other modified heat.  It was Knopps off the outside of the front row of the feature as pole sitter, Richardson set chase.  Knopps was on rails as he drove into the night and won with nearly a half lap cushion over the runner up.  Behind him, the track locked down and there was little movement.  Richardson finished second, followed by Nick Koehler, Michael Truscott, and Paul Niznik in fifth.

The WISSOTA Super Stocks saw Tommy Richards sweep the heat and feature with ease.  Tony Falkner led from the pin and it took four laps for Richards to run him down from fourth, but once he dispatched Falkner for the point, he drove the distance unchallenged to the checkered flag.  Bart Steffen overtook Falkner for second and Jim Harris and Jason Quarders rounded out the top five.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds put on the show for the evening although the race was slowed nine times for cautions. Firstly, Austin Ellis, Shane Halopka, and Mike Widermann won their heats.  At feature time, Craig Haas took the lead as Josh Smith raced into second.  After an early caution, Halopka drove into third on the low side after starting the event in ninth.  Another caution reset the field, and Halopka used the break to blast into the lead in turn one on the restart.

As Halopka began to stretch his advantage, the caution flag flew again to keep things close.  Soon, eighth starting Tommy Richards could be seen moving into second.  It was Halopka up high, Richards in the low groove, and Haas, Austin Ellis, and Smith battling for third. A series of yellow flags kept the leaders close and as the race neared completion, Halopka was showing the way over Richards and Ellis.  

Halopka was setting a fast pace, but Richards had found something in a differing line and caught Halopka coming to the white flag.  They moved side by side at the line and raced door to door for the win.  Richards gained a slight advantage down the backstretch and pulled out front going through turns three and four, driving to an exciting win at the checkered flag.  Halopka, who seldom gets passed, especially for the lead, finished an impressive second as Austin Ellis, Josh Smith, and Shadow Kitchner rounded out the top five.

Andrew Hanson and Hunter Anderson won the WISSOTA Street Stock heats and at the start of the feature, it appeared as if the Andersons planned to put on another show up front.  It was Hunter to the lead as Parker raced from sixth to second quickly.  By lap four, they had moved side by side and Parker was able to overtake the point.  Behind them, Cody Kummer raced hard and used the low line to move past Hunter into the runner up position as Danny Richards following him through into third. 

Hunter Anderson got loose and Andrew Hanson dove to the infield to avoid a crash.  The yellow flag flew and Hunter was called with the foul.  On the restart, it was Kummer down low as he raced into the lead in turns one and two. A series of yellow flags flew including rare spins by Hanson and Richards.  A green, white, checkered finish saw Kummer holding strong to the win, followed by Parker Anderson and a hard charging Dalton Hazelton who moved from tenth on the grid into third at the end.  Hunter Anderson and Danny Richards rebounded to round out the top five.

The WISSOTA Pure Stocks saw Mike Schnider and Travis Hazelton win the heats as Schnider went on to sweep the night at feature time.  It took Schnider no time to move to the lead as he set a fast pace.  Hazelton drove to second and although he drove away from the pack and was able to maintain with the leader, he was not able to close the gap on Schneider.  Late in the event, George Richards moved to third over Devin Fries and fifth place finishing Ryan Olson.

Jason Helgeson won the EVS Hornet heat but Danny Halterman left no doubt in the feature and he moved from the outside of the front row to the lead and never looked back as the race ran 12 laps, cover to cover.  Helgeson ran in second as Derek Krumrie closed and moved side by side at the finish but had to settle for third.  Jason Holte finished fourth over fifth place Joslin Carothers.

The Eagle Valley Speedway returns on Sunday, July 05, 2020, for the Fireworks Special.  They will not be racing on Friday night to accommodate several big invitational events in the area for the holiday weekend.  All six classes will be in action with the EVS Hornets, WISSOTA Pure Stock, WISSOTA Street Stock, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Super Stock, and WISSOTA Modifieds.

WISSOTA Modified Feature (20 Laps): 1. 93-Mike Knopps[2]; 2. R2-Jason Richardson[1]; 3. 13-Nick Koehler[3]; 4. 22T-Michael Truscott[6]; 5. 42-Paul Niznik[4]; 6. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 7. 57-Mike Anderson[7]; 8. 11-Sam Fankhauser[9]; 9. 38-Zach Gibson[10]; 10. (DNF) 44-Adam Hensel[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 93-Mike Knopps[2]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[4]; 3. 13-Nick Koehler[1]; 4. 42-Paul Niznik[3]; 5. 11-Sam Fankhauser[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. R2-Jason Richardson[1]; 2. 44-Adam Hensel[3]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[4]; 4. 22T-Michael Truscott[5]; 5. 38-Zach Gibson[2]

WISSOTA Super Stock Feature (20 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[4]; 2. 2-Bart Steffen[2]; 3. F27-Tony Falkner[1]; 4. 8-Jim Harris[3]; 5. 00-Jason Quarders[6]; 6. (DNF) 18B-Dean Butler[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[5]; 2. F27-Tony Falkner[1]; 3. 8-Jim Harris[2]; 4. 2-Bart Steffen[3]; 5. 18B-Dean Butler[6]; 6. (DNF) 00-Jason Quarders[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Modified Feature (20 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[8]; 2. 3JR-Shane Halopka[9]; 3. 20-Austin Ellis[6]; 4. 21J-Josh Smith[3]; 5. 68-Shadow Kitchner[10]; 6. 12-Craig Haas[2]; 7. 19P-Antonio Pintaro[18]; 8. 24-Dylan Goettl[12]; 9. 80-Derek Haas[7]; 10. 6S-Steve Haas[5]; 11. 7W-Dan Larson Jr[15]; 12. 95X-Kent Baxter[1]; 13. 1-Jake Stai[13]; 14. 31-Jason Vokovan[11]; 15. JLO-Jason Olson[14]; 16. 8-Bryan Pretzman[17]; 17. (DNF) 32-Tod Brunner[21]; 18. (DNF) 24P-Lou Puzio[20]; 19. (DNF) 13M-Cole Mueller[16]; 20. (DNF) 89-Tyler Lamm[19]; 21. (DNS) 119-Mike Widmann; 22. (DNS) 410-Jesse Young

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Austin Ellis[2]; 2. 21J-Josh Smith[1]; 3. 7R-Tommy Richards[4]; 4. 68-Shadow Kitchner[6]; 5. 1-Jake Stai[7]; 6. 13M-Cole Mueller[3]; 7. 89-Tyler Lamm[5]; 8. 32-Tod Brunner[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka[4]; 2. 95X-Kent Baxter[2]; 3. 80-Derek Haas[5]; 4. 31-Jason Vokovan[3]; 5. JLO-Jason Olson[1]; 6. 8-Bryan Pretzman[6]; 7. 24P-Lou Puzio[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 119-Mike Widmann[4]; 2. 6S-Steve Haas[5]; 3. 12-Craig Haas[1]; 4. 24-Dylan Goettl[6]; 5. 7W-Dan Larson Jr[7]; 6. 19P-Antonio Pintaro[3]; 7. (DNS) 410-Jesse Young

WISSOTA Street Stock Feature (15 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[3]; 2. 27P-Parker Anderson[6]; 3. 2D-Dalton Hazelton[10]; 4. 27H-Hunter Anderson[2]; 5. 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 6. 71H-Ron Hanestad[1]; 7. 71X-William Fisher[8]; 8. (DNF) 22-Alex Minks[7]; 9. (DNF) 20-Andrew Hanson[5]; 10. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Andrew Hanson[3]; 2. 71X-William Fisher[1]; 3. 22-Alex Minks[4]; 4. 71H-Ron Hanestad[5]; 5. (DNF) 2D-Dalton Hazelton[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27H-Hunter Anderson[1]; 2. 12-Cody Kummer[3]; 3. 3R-Danny Richards[5]; 4. 27P-Parker Anderson[4]; 5. 1R-Cole Richards[2]

WISSOTA Pure Stock Feature (12 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[4]; 2. 31-Travis Hazelton[6]; 3. 5R-George Richards[7]; 4. 95F-Devin Fries[1]; 5. 1-Ryan Olson[5]; 6. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[3]; 7. 57-Brent Mindock[8]; 8. 101-Michael Grover[2]; 9. 15H-Trenten Holub[9]; 10. 6C-Nick Carvelli[10]; 11. 71-Dylan Shackleton[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Travis Hazelton[2]; 2. 1-Ryan Olson[1]; 3. 57-Brent Mindock[4]; 4. 101-Michael Grover[3]; 5. 15H-Trenten Holub[5]; 6. 71-Dylan Shackleton[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[4]; 2. 5R-George Richards[3]; 3. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[1]; 4. 95F-Devin Fries[2]; 5. 6C-Nick Carvelli[5]

Hornets Feature (12 Laps): 1. 221-Danny Halterman[2]; 2. 59H-Jason Helgeson[4]; 3. 33-Derek Krumrie[5]; 4. 67-Jason Holte[1]; 5. 4-Joslin Carothers[6]; 6. 21P-Levi Price[3]; 7. (DNF) 11-Shawn Young[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 59H-Jason Helgeson[5]; 2. 221-Danny Halterman[1]; 3. 33-Derek Krumrie[4]; 4. 21P-Levi Price[2]; 5. 67-Jason Holte[6]; 6. 4-Joslin Carothers[7]; 7. 11-Shawn Young[3]