Season Championships

Brad Erickson

Eagle Valley Speedway, August 28, 2020; the Eagle Valley Speedway presented the Season Championships. The race format was run in traditional style with the heats lined up by points and the features lined straight up by the heat finishes. Winners on the evening included Jake Hartung, Curt Myers, Shane Halopka, Cody Kummer, Ryan Olson, and Derek Krumrie.The WISSOTA Modified heats were won by Mike Anderson and Mike Knopps. The duo started side by side on the front row at feature time and the initial start saw them running door to door for the point. Anderson was scored the leader on the first lap and they were within inches of dead even on lap two. A caution reset the field, and on the restart, it was Mark Hanson blasting off the high side to challenge for the lead from the second row. Once again, a caution flew and this time, Knopps chose the outside of row two. Anderson withstood the challenges and drove out to a relatively comfortable lead. By lap four, fifth starting Jake Hartung was in third and it was clear he was going to be a factor in the race for the win. He overtook second from Knopps on lap eight and began to close the gap Anderson had established. On lap 13, he had caught Anderson and he moved door to door the next circuit. Anderson was not quitting, as the two drove side by side for two laps before Hartung slipped by to the point. It was Hartung leading the remainder of the race to the checkered flag and Season Championship as the track points champion, Anderson settled for runner up. Mike Knopps, Mark Hanson, and Curt Myers rounded out the top five. Shane Halopka, Dylan Goettl, and Dan Larson Jr. were the heat winners in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds. Halopka left no doubts at feature time as he drove from the pin to a dominating win and the championship. Jake Smith was strong early and often as he moved into second position at the start. Goettl closed on Smith and moved beside him to challenge and then took the position. Meanwhile, eighth starting Kent Baxter was very racy as he lurked in their shadows. He moved in on Smith and challenged for third door to door, but a spinning car slowed the pace.On the restart, it was Halopka as they moved three-wide for the runner up position behind him. Baxter worked low as Smith was in the high groove when suddenly Goettl dropped out of the race prematurely. Smith overtook sole possession of second as Baxter chased to the checkered flag. It was Halopka, Smith, Baxter, ninth starting Mike Widmann and tenth starting Chad Selk finishing in the top five.Danny Richards and Kody Kummer won the WISSOTA Street Stock heats and they put on a spectacular battle from the front row of the feature for several laps. It was Richards to the lead as Kummer worked him hard for the position. They moved side by side on lap two with Kummer working up high. Kummer changed his line and tried to overtake the point from the low side. Kummer was able to ease into the lead as Travis Loew caught the two and waited to take advantage of a mistake. On lap eight, Richards was working hard on Kummer and there was contact, which sent Kummer spinning. Richards was called for the caution and was relegated to 11th position on the restart.Kummer led at the green, but Loew began to move beside him to try to take the point. A spinning car slowed the pace and Kummer was still the leader. On the restart, Kummer drove away slightly as Loew had his hands full with Parker Anderson. Kummer drove to the win as Anderson overtook second and Loew was scored in third. Andrew Hanson raced to fourth as Danny Richards recovered from his foul to score a top five.You could see it coming all year long as Ryan Olson capitalized on a Travis Hazelton break down and went on to win the first heat of his career. George Richards, the winningest driver in Eagle Valley Speedway history topped his heat too. What looked to be a great night for Olson only got better as the evening wore on. He moved from the pole position into the lead of the feature as outside front row starter George Richards set chase. I mentioned the fortune Olson had in the heat, not to discount his first heat win as breakdowns happen in racing. I mentioned it because he followed it up with a flawless feature as he was being chased by arguably the most dominant car and driver in local Pure Stock history.On this night, a young teenager, who can’t even drive to the track yet, won his first feature in great style. And he did it by being chased by the likes of Richards, third finishing James Rahn, and the scorching fast Mike Schnider in fourth. Travis Hazelton, who is having the best season of his career, finished in fifth. Tonight, this youngster, who is certainly going to win many more races, showed he can not only rise up when the opportunity appears, he can also outrun the best. Congratulations Ryan.Derek Krumrie swept the EVS Hornets competition on the evening as he scored his sixth victory of 2020 at the Valley. He was chased very closely the entire distance by Jason Helgeson, who was forced to settle for second. In what appeared to be her finest run of the season, Joslin Carothers took home a trophy in third. Danny Halterman and Craig Oas rounded out the top five.The Eagle Valley Speedway takes a break as the fall invitational season begins and they won’t race again until the Jim Town Show Down on Friday and Saturday, September 25 and 26, 2020. All six classes with the EVS Hornets, WISSOTA Pure Stock, WISSOTA Street Stock, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Super Stock, and WISSOTA Modifieds will be in action.
WISSOTA MODIFIED FEATURE: 1—05, Jake Hartung, Elmwood, WI (5); 2—57, Mike Anderson, Jim Falls, WI (1); 3—93, Mike Knopps, Chippewa Falls, WI (2); 3—18, Mark Hanson, Chippewa Falls, WI (3); 5—1M, Curt Myers, Cameron, WI (6); 6—13, Nick Koehler, Bloomer, WI (4); 7—R2, Jason Richardson, Spring Valley, WI (10); 8—24, Chuck Metzger, Saronoa, WI (12); 9—8, Dakota Smith, Chippewa Falls, WI (8); 10—38, Zach Gibson, Chippewa Falls, WI (9); 11—27H, Steve Hallquist, Eau Claire, WI (9); 12—11, Sam Fankhauser, Rice Lake, WI (7)HEAT 1: Anderson, Hanson, Hartung, Fankhauser, Hallquist, GibsonHEAT 2: Knopps, Koehler, Myers, Smith, Richardson, Metzger
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK FEATURE: 1—1M, Curt Myers, Cameron, WI (2); 2—27F, Tony Falkner, Menomonie, WI (3), 3—22T, Terran Spacek, Phillips, WI (1); 4—56, Chad Gullixson, Hammond, WI (5); 5—25, Chad Johnson, Colfax, WI (4); 6—17, Wayne Dean, Eau Claire, WI (7); 7—XJR, Jim Harris, Menomonie, WI (9); 8—75, Scott Geiger, Dorchester, WI (6); 9—00, Jason Quarders, Prairie Farm, WI (8); 10—93, CJ Wagner, Rice Lake, WI (10)HEAT 1: Spacek, Falkner, Gullixson, Dean, HarrisHEAT 2: Myers, Johnson, Geiger, Quarders, Wagner
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODIFIED FEATURE: 1—3jr, Shane Halopka, Greenwood, WI (1); 2—21j, Josh Smith, Fall Creek, WI (4); 3—95x, Kent Baxter, Colfax, WI (8); 4—119, Mike Widmann, Marshfield, WI (9); 5—29, Chad Selk, Marshfield, WI (10); 6—R1, Jay Richardson, Spring Valley, WI (14); 7—18s, Kennedy Swan, Chippewa Falls, WI (6); 8—80, Derek Haas, Thorp, WI (5); 9—12, Craig Haas, Thorp, WI (7); 10—1, Jake Stai, New Auburn, WI (13); 11—34jr, Dan Larson Jr, Eau Claire, WI (3); 12—31, Jordan Hessler, Menomonie, WI (18), 13—26, Taylor Olson, Colby, WI (16); 14—6s, Steve Haas, Elk Mound, WI (12); 15—8, Bryan Pretzman, Cadott, WI (11); 16—24P, Lou Puzio, Chippewa Falls, WI (19); 17—6, Cory Deilke, Eau Claire, WI (17); 18—JLO, Jason Olson, Augusta, WI (20); 19—24, Dylan Goettl, Chippewa Falls, WI (2); 20—89, Matt Klukas, Colfax, WI (21); 21—13M, Cole Mueller, Chippewa Falls, WI (15) HEAT 1: Halopka, Smith, C. Haas, Selk, Stai, T. Olson, PuzioHEAT 2: Goettl, D. Haas, Baxter, Pretzman, Richardson, Deilke, J. OlsonHEAT 3: Larson Jr, Swan, Widmann, S. Haas, Mueller, Hessler, Klukas
WISSOTA STREET STOCK FEATURE: 1—12, Cody Kummer, Medford, WI (2); 2—27P, Parker Anderson, Phillips, WI (3); 3—40, Travis Loew, Barron, WI (5); 4—20, Andrew Hanson, Iron River, WI (7); 5—3R, Danny Richards, Mondovi, WI (1); 6—3J, Jared Linder, Greenwood, WI, (6); 7—1R, Cole Richards, Mondovi, WI (9); 8—71H, Ron Hanestad, Glenwood City, WI (8); 9—9, Adam Soltis, Ladysmith, WI (4); 10—37, Mike Chaplin, Barron, WI (11); 11—26, Ty Agen, Chippewa Falls, WI (10) HEAT 1: D. Richards, Anderson, Hanson, Richards, Chaplin, LoewHEAT 2: Kummer, Soltis, Linder, Hanestad, Agen
WISSOTA PURE STOCK FEATURE: 1—1, Ryan Olson, Ladysmith, WI (1); 2—5R, George Richards, Mondovi, WI (2); 3—23R, James Rahn, Haugen, WI (4); 4—7, Mike Schnider, Cameron, WI (6); 5—31, Travis Hazelton, Chippewa Falls, WI (9); 6—R44, Patrick Smith, Eau Claire, WI (5); 7—101 Michael Grover, Chetek, WI (8); 8—17, Donnie Geiger, Dorchester, WI (10); 9—2, Nate Szymoniak, Eau Claire, WI (12); 10—92, Karles Knopps, Chippewa Falls, WI (3); 11—71, Dylan Shackleton, Chippewa Falls, WI (7); DNS—03, Randy Shackleton, Jim Falls, WI HEAT 1: Olson, Knopps, Smith, D. Shackleton, Hazelton, R. Shackleton HEAT 2: Richards, Rahn, Schnider, Grover, Geiger, Szymoniak
EVS HORNET FEATURE: 1—33, Derek Krumrie, Eau Claire, WI, (1); 2—59H, Jason Helgeson, Strum, WI (2); 3—4, Joslin Carothers, Durand, WI (4); 4—221, Danny Halterman, Stanley, WI (3); 5—82, Craig Oas, Altoona, WI (6); DNF—7w, Randy Wiederholt, Rice Lake, WI HEAT 1: Krumrie, Helgeson, Halterman, Carothers, Wiederholt, Oas