They are Back at Eagle Valley!
Brad Erickson
Eagle Valley Speedway, May 24, 2020; The Eagle Valley Speedway opened the 2020 racing season on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in front of a large crowd. Local racing has been impacted very heavily by the Covid 19 pandemic and drivers and fans alike were eager for racing action. The Eagle Valley Speedway did not disappoint as the racing action was outstanding.
Fresh off of their USMTS runs, which was particularly good for Calvin Iverson as he earned the hard charger award a few nights earlier in the professional series; he and Matt Leer won their respective heats. Tonight’s racing action was unsanctioned as the cars were a mixture of open Modifieds and WISSOTA Modifieds which have much different motor rules and the open cars enjoyed a significant horsepower advantage.
At feature time it was Matt Leer in his open car blasting to the cushion and taking the lead from the pole position as Michael Truscott moved from inside the second row into the runner up position. Behind them, Mike Knopps battled Mike Anderson for third. Leer continued to lead but drove too high in turns one and two and Truscott took advantage, driving below him to the point.
Leer was able to recover as he regained his momentum and drove above the leader back into first. Behind them, Anderson blasted the high side as Knopps ran low and the two circled the track side by side for position. Anderson pulled a crossover move out of turn two and took over third as the charging Calvin Iverson piloted his open machine into fourth past Knopps.
The first and only yellow flag of the event saw a spinning Corey Jones slow the pace. On the restart, Truscott made a move and overtook the lead as Anderson forced the action three wide and moved into second. Leer rebounded in the preferred line up top and edged back past Anderson. Truscott maintained a slight advantage on the high side of the track and with two laps remaining, Leer began to show smoke. Iverson used the highline and pulled even with Anderson as Leer’s night ended with motor issues.
Truscott maintained the lead to the checkered flag as Iverson and Anderson drove door to door for second. On the final lap the two were in lapped traffic and Anderson was caught in a pick behind a slower car. Iverson took the runner up position by a car length as Knopps finished fourth over Alex Williamson.
The WISSOTA Super Stocks saw Terran Spacek and Tommy Richards win their heats and the feature left no doubt from the drop of the green it was going to be Richards winning as he led all 20 laps from the pole. There was terrific racing action behind Richards throughout the race as they went three-wide for second early. It was Spacek taking the position and moving into comfortable control of the second position. Tony Falkner drove the low side as the leaders drove high and moved himself into third.
Doug Koski drove high as Dylan Kromschroeder joined the fray in fifth. They, along with Falkner, began a three-car fight for third as Koski dove low and took the position and Kromschroeder split the cars and come out in fourth. Falkner was relegated to fifth, but he continued the battle to move back up. Kromschroeder was fast as he moved to third and Falkner was able to get back past Koski behind him.
Richards and Spacek were comfortably out front as they sliced through heavy lapped traffic to the finish line. Behind them, Kromschroeder ran in third and Falkner and Koski raced door to door for the final two laps. It was Richards, Spacek, Kromschroeder, and Koski winning the battle over Falkner who rounded out the top five.
Dylan Goettl, Tianna Mithun, and Jake Smith enjoyed heat wins in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds but it was Derek Haas from cover to cover in the feature as he moved from the pole position to the high side of the raceway and dominated the event. Five caution flags did nothing but delay Haas’ visit to victory lane as he simply moved back out to a comfortable lead on each restart.
Behind the leader, fourth starting Goettl overtook the runner up position from second starting Shane Halopka. On the first restart of the event, Halopka drove low and retook the position. Another restart saw Zack Benson had moved from his 12th starting position into fifth as he battled with Jake Smith and overtook fourth.
The fourth caution of the event flew for Halopka as he broke down and was not able to clear the speedway, ending his night. One last caution on the restart did nothing but delay the inevitable, as Haas had the field covered. Kylie Kath powered into the top four as Benson moved under Goettl into second. Goettl used the high line and raced back past Benson for the runner up position with two laps remaining.
It was Haas at the line, the fast Goettl in second, and hard charging Benson finishing third. Jake Smith raced Kath door to door for fourth with Smith winning the battle relegating Kath to fifth.
Shawn Amundson and Zach Elward carried the checkered flag after their heats in the WISSOTA Street Stocks. The feature once again saw a pole sitter dominate the event as Cody Kummer ran the distance relatively unchallenged to the win. Behind him, Parker Anderson ran in second as Bob Wahlstrom drove in third. The race moved into a three-wide battle for third as Danny Richards and Zach Elward joined Wahlstrom in a fight for position. The yellow flag flew as Wahlstrom broke down on the front stretch and couldn’t move down through traffic and into the infield.
It was Kummer leading on the restart all the way to the checkered flag as Amundson and Anderson raced door to door for second. Amundson took over the position and Richards began to work on Anderson for third. Anderson beat Richards for the position and closed on second as he got his nose under Amundson at the checkered flag but settled for third over Richards and Elward.
The WISSOTA Pure Stock heats were won by George Richards and Mike Schnider and the feature action saw a refreshing mix of old and new as the racing was intense. It was Rob Grabon to the lead from the front row as he looked strong and was chased by second starting Travis Hazelton. A quick caution reset the field and Grabon continued to lead the way. Mike Schnider and Hazelton tangled, drawing the yellow as Schnider went to the work area and Hazelton regained his position on the restart.
Under the yellow, unrelated to the caution, Nicholas Hazelton showed flames under his car and the fire was quickly extinguished. His night ended and Schnider was able to restart from the tail of the field. The restart saw close racing as Ryan Olson, son of long-time racer Eric Olson, was in the middle of the action. It was the youngster’s first ever race and he showed he is a force to be reckoned with. He slightly bobbled coming off of turn four, battling for position, and George Richards slipped past.
I mentioned Olson’s bobble not because it was a mistake by a rookie driver. I noted it because it occurred in the heat of action as he was taking the car three-wide for a front running position. He brought the car back under control as if he had been racing for years and he immediately dug back in and fought for to move to the front. Exactly like Cole Richards from a year before, his first win is just a matter of time. It is coming.
A few laps later, the caution flag flew and the restart saw George Richards on Grabon’s tail. He shadowed him under green, drove under the leader, and the two raced side by side for three laps before Richards was able the wrestle away the point. Olson wasn’t done and he drove low into third as Hazelton drove in fourth. As Richards cruised the remaining distance to the win, Olson closed on Grabon, but was not able to catch him before laps ran out. Grabon took a strong second over Olson and Hazleton as a recovering Schnider finished fifth.
The Eagle Valley Speedway returns on Friday, not Sunday, May 29, 2020. The EVS Hornets will join the action, along with the WISSOTA Pure Stock, WISSOTA Street Stock, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Super Stock, and the WISSOTA sanctioned Modifieds.
Unsanctioned Modifieds Feature (20 Laps): 1. 22T-Michael Truscott [3]; 2. 27X-Calvin Iverson [7]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson [5]; 4. 93-Mike Knopps [2]; 5. 15W-Alex Williamson [9]; 6. 11-Sam Fankhauser [17]; 7. 22-Brandon Copp [10]; 8. 5K-Tyler Kaeter [12]; 9. 16C-Cole Varsho [8]; 10. 41-Alex Van Natta [11]; 11. 8S-Tony Schill [6]; 12. 3-Bryan Hessler [14]; 13. 7J-Corey Jones [16]; 14. 8-Chad Johnson [13]; 15. 24E-Tyler English [15]; 16. (DNF) 30-Matt Leer [1]; 17. (DNF) 42-Paul Niznik [4]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Matt Leer[3]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[7]; 3. 22T-Michael Truscott[9]; 4. 8S-Tony Schill[4]; 5. 15W-Alex Williamson[5]; 6. 41-Alex Van Natta[8]; 7. 8-Chad Johnson[6]; 8. 24E-Tyler English[1]; 9. (DNF) 11-Sam Fankhauser[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27X-Calvin Iverson[5]; 2. 16C-Cole Varsho[2]; 3. 93-Mike Knopps[8]; 4. 42-Paul Niznik[1]; 5. 22-Brandon Copp[6]; 6. 5K-Tyler Kaeter[4]; 7. 3-Bryan Hessler[7]; 8. 7J-Corey Jones[3]
WISSOTA Super Stock Feature (20 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards [1]; 2. 22T-Terran Spacek [4]; 3. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder [8]; 4. 20VT-Doug Koski [3]; 5. 27-Tony Falkner [5]; 6. 1-Lukas Koski [2]; 7. 17D-Wayne Dean [6]; 8. 19-Trent Barnhardt [9]; 9. 93-CJ Wagner [10]; 10. 00-Jason Quarders [11]; 11. 94-Kevin Hager [12]; 12. (DNF) 11-Tucker Quinn [7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[2]; 2. 27-Tony Falkner[4]; 3. 11-Tucker Quinn[6]; 4. 1-Lukas Koski[5]; 5. 19-Trent Barnhardt[3]; 6. 00-Jason Quarders[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[3]; 2. 20VT-Doug Koski[1]; 3. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[5]; 4. 17D-Wayne Dean[4]; 5. 93-CJ Wagner[6]; 6. 94-Kevin Hager[2]
WISSOTA Midwest Modified Feature (20 Laps): 1. 80-Derek Haas [1]; 2. 24-Dylan Goettl [4]; 3. 17B-Zach Benson [12]; 4. 21-Jake Smith [5]; 5. 83-Kylie Kath [6]; 6. 119-Mike Widmann [21]; 7. 12-Craig Haas [14]; 8. 34JR-Dan Larson Jr [11]; 9. 31-Jason Vokovan [17]; 10. 61K-Andy Karl [16]; 11. 1-Jake Stai [8]; 12. 75-Joe Neisius [3]; 13. 8D-Dakota Smith [20]; 14. 13M-Cole Mueller [13]; 15. 5K-Bryan Kamish [15]; 16. 32-Tod Brunner [23]; 17. (DNF) 8-Bryan Pretzman [18]; 18. (DNF) 6S-Steve Haas [9]; 19. (DNF) 3JR-Shane Halopka [2]; 20. (DNF) 89-Matt Klukas [10]; 21. (DNF) 15-Paul Neisius [19]; 22. (DNF) 53-Tianna Mithun [7]; 23. (DNS) 5-Ryan Kamish
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Dylan Goettl[4]; 2. 75-Joe Neisius[8]; 3. 6S-Steve Haas[7]; 4. 89-Matt Klukas[3]; 5. 32-Tod Brunner[6]; 6. 5K-Bryan Kamish[5]; 7. (DNF) 8D-Dakota Smith[1]; 8. (DNF) 119-Mike Widmann[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 53-Tianna Mithun[2]; 2. 3JR-Shane Halopka[4]; 3. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 4. 34JR-Dan Larson Jr[5]; 5. 13M-Cole Mueller[7]; 6. 61K-Andy Karl[8]; 7. 8-Bryan Pretzman[6]; 8. (DNS) 5-Ryan Kamish
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[2]; 2. 80-Derek Haas[4]; 3. 83-Kylie Kath[5]; 4. 17B-Zach Benson[6]; 5. 12-Craig Haas[7]; 6. 31-Jason Vokovan[1]; 7. 15-Paul Neisius[3]
WISSOTA Street Stock Feature (15 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer [1]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson [8]; 3. 27P-Parker Anderson [2]; 4. 3R-Danny Richards [4]; 5. 15-Zach Elward [6]; 6. 27H-Hunter Anderson [7]; 7. 34JR-Braden Brauer [12]; 8. 16X-Kyle Genett [10]; 9. 9-Adam Soltis [5]; 10. 71H-Ron Hanestad [14]; 11. 0-Brian Adams [11]; 12. 5-Brittany Smith [15]; 13. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma [9]; 14. (DNF) 88-Robert Wahlstrom [3]; 15. (DNF) 7-Shane Lindseth [13]; 16. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards [16]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[3]; 2. 27P-Parker Anderson[8]; 3. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[6]; 4. 9-Adam Soltis[7]; 5. T20-Michael Tuma[4]; 6. 0-Brian Adams[1]; 7. 7-Shane Lindseth[5]; 8. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Zach Elward[2]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[3]; 3. 12-Cody Kummer[8]; 4. 27H-Hunter Anderson[4]; 5. 16X-Kyle Genett[7]; 6. 34JR-Braden Brauer[5]; 7. 71H-Ron Hanestad[6]; 8. 5-Brittany Smith[1]
WISSOTA Pure Stock Feature (15 Laps): 1. 5R-George Richards [5]; 2. 16-Rob Grabon [1]; 3. 1-Ryan Olson [3]; 4. 31-Travis Hazelton [2]; 5. 7-Mike Schnider [6]; 6. 15H-Trenten Holub [4]; 7. 85-Jeremy Dahl [14]; 8. 40B-Wayne Braun Jr [11]; 9. (DNF) 101-Michael Grover [10]; 10. (DNF) 08-Kyle Kotek [8]; 11. (DNF) 66P-Joey Prusak [7]; 12. (DNF) 0XSR-Michael Huebner Sr [12]; 13. (DNF) 2B-Nicholas Hazelton [9]; 14. (DNF) 95F-Devin Fries [13]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5R-George Richards[6]; 2. 31-Travis Hazelton[1]; 3. 66P-Joey Prusak[3]; 4. 08-Kyle Kotek[7]; 5. (DNF) 0XSR-Michael Huebner Sr[2]; 6. (DNF) 95F-Devin Fries[4]; 7. (DQ) 85-Jeremy Dahl[5]Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[2]; 2. 16-Rob Grabon[4]; 3. 15H-Trenten Holub[1]; 4. 1-Ryan Olson[3]; 5. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[6]; 6. 101-Michael Grover[7]; 7. 40B-Wayne Braun Jr[5]
