Tim Johnson Rice Lake Speedway Little Dream Winner for Record $27,000 Top Prize
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, Aug 3 – In one of the wildest Street Stock Little Dream races ever to be held at the Rice Lake Speedway, Brainerd Minnesota’s Tim Johnson started on the outside pole, fell back as far as eighth in the running order but rallied to retake the lead with only two laps to go to win the twenty seventh annual running of this race and his win netted him a record $27,027 for his thirty five lap triumph.
This unique event, where contributions from the fans on hand as well as from area businesses and on line contributions swell the purse, broke the record once again for this event as the old record, set last year, was topped by well over one thousand dollars. Johnson also became the third driver to win this prestigious event for the third time, joining Jimmy Randall and Eric Olson in that category and Johnson’s three wins in this event have earned him nearly forty three thousand dollars with his other wins coming in 2011 and 2014.
Fifty seven drivers from five states attempted to qualify for this event with a series of double heat races and last chance races setting the field and twenty five drivers would take the green flag for the thirty five lap main event.
Dustin Doughty would take the initial lead of the race after starting on the pole with defending champion Nick Traynor and Johnson running behind him. There would be several early yellows in the event that would keep the field bunched but as Doughty continued to show the way, Traynor would apply heavy pressure and would soon be joined by Parker Anderson and Shawn Amundson. Anderson, the current WISSOTA point leader in the Street Stocks and winner of twenty six feature races already this season, would race up from his fifth starting spot to move into third and challenge the leaders.
Traynor continued to challenge Doughty for the lead and on lap fifteen he took the top spot, only to see Doughy repass him two laps later and at the halfway point of the race, it was Doughty leading Traynor and Anderson.
The top five cars were running in tight formation with Keith Tourville appearing in the top five for the first time and moving forward in the field. On lap twenty six Traynor would again pass Doughty to take over the lead but one lap later, as they were battling again for the top spot, they tangled in turn one with the yellow waving once again. Traynor would be restored to the lead and Doughty would pit rather than going to the tail of the field.
However, the shuffle continued as Tourville had maneuvered his way into contention and he became the third different leader of the race when he passed Traynor on lap twenty seven but one lap later Traynor again grabbed the top spot.
Cody Kummer had worked his way up to the front after starting in the eighth row and he challenged for the lead on the outside of Traynor as Tourville worked the inside line with Anderson and Randall in the top five also.
The last five laps of the race saw even more action and exchanging of positions and was also marked by several more yellow flags as the pace was frenetic with drivers making charges and others being eliminated by accidents.
With only five laps to go, eventual winner Johnson was running in only the seventh position but he then made a charge and was also the benefit of a couple of costly collisions that eliminated some of the cars ahead of him.
A wild crash on the back chute eliminated both Kummer and Tourville and then following the restart, Anderson got into the wall in turn four that eliminate himself and Randall. Then, in another huge development with only three laps to go, leader Traynor developed a flat left front tire and while he attempted to continue racing, on the green he pushed badly up the track, stacking up the field and setting off a wild scramble for position that saw Johnson roar up and take over the lead.
Anderson’s wreck set up a two lap sprint to the finish with Johnson holding off the last lap challenges of Amundson and Dave Mass, who had started eleventh and methodically worked his way to the front. Johnson’s win came by two car lengths over the Rice Lake driver and set off a wild post race celebration on the front chute. Kyle Genett would finish in the fourth spot and Cody Cimfl completed a remarkable charge, finishing in fifth after starting dead last in the twenty five car field. Completing the top ten in the finishing order were Danny Richards, Jordan Kurtti, Mike Jans, Jeff Nowak and Traynor who limped across the line on his flat tire.
All the late race action took its toll on the field with ten cars completing the distance, all on the lead lap. In victory lane Johnson, who has been only running a limited schedule this year, revealed that this was only the fourth time he had driven this car this year as a loaner from its regular driver Bryan Crandall. Johnson, who recently flipped his regular ride in the Super Stock class stated in victory lane he was going to take his winnings and buy himself a new car to replace that destroyed one.
A huge crowd was on hand on a beautiful Tuesday night in northern Wisconsin to witness the twenty seventh annual editon of this race.
The speedway will take this coming Saturday night off. The racing action will return on Saturday night, August 14th with another big night of racing. All five classes that routinely race at the track will be in action for the final point night of the 2021 racing season. It will also be the “No Mystery” $1,000 to win feature event for the Midwest Modifieds. If that were not enough, it is also Kid’s Night at the track with the fans going on the front chute to meet the drivers before the races begin. The many bikes that have been collected with be given away on that night and there will also be bike races at intermisison.
Anyone still wanting to donate a bike should contact Megan Adams through the speedway face book page where all announcements and racing updates will be posted.
Race time on August 14th is 7 pm.
57 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (35 Laps): 1. 69-Tim Johnson[2]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 3. 12X-Dave Mass[11]; 4. 16X-Kyle Genett[14]; 5. 8K-Cody Cimfl[25]; 6. 3R-Danny Richards[19]; 7. 26-Jordan Kurtti[22]; 8. 25-Mike Jans[17]; 9. 79N-Jeff Nowak[20]; 10. 40T-Nick Traynor[6]; 11. (DNF) 873-Kaden Woodie[23]; 12. (DNF) 27P-Parker Anderson[5]; 13. (DNF) 15-Jim Randall[7]; 14. (DNF) 40-Travis Loew[10]; 15. (DNF) 12-Cody Kummer[16]; 16. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[13]; 17. (DNF) 19-Todd Carter[24]; 18. (DNF) 119-Keith Tourville[12]; 19. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[3]; 20. (DNF) 9K-Kolby Kiehl[15]; 21. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[9]; 22. (DNF) 10-Justin Vogel[8]; 23. (DNF) 15E-Zach Elward[21]; 24. (DNF) D1-Dustin Doughty[1]; 25. (DNF) 34JR-Braden Brauer[18]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 25-Mike Jans[3]; 2. 79N-Jeff Nowak[1]; 3. 873-Kaden Woodie[7]; 4. 10P-Joe Potter[4]; 5. 71X-William Fisher[2]; 6. 16-Warren Bartelt[6]; 7. 38-Thomas O’Brien[10]; 8. 314-Tyler Lamb[11]; 9. 166-James Stands III[13]; 10. (DNF) 4-Matt Bray[12]; 11. (DNF) 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[5]; 12. (DNF) 80-Brandon Hakala[9]; 13. (DNF) 17-Zach Beaulieu[8]; 14. (DNS) 20-Andrew Hanson
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 34JR-Braden Brauer[1]; 2. 15E-Zach Elward[2]; 3. 19-Todd Carter[5]; 4. 42K(X)-Mike Knudtson[9]; 5. KOLT34-Kolton Brauer[4]; 6. 77-Zach Degner[3]; 7. 15B-Mike Brown[8]; 8. 66-Randy Graham[7]; 9. 28-Colten Klueckman[6]; 10. 19K-Cole Kannegiesser[10]; 11. 3-Nicholas Green[14]; 12. 19H-Kevin Herrman[13]; 13. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[11]; 14. (DNF) 04-Darrel Hazelton[12]
B Feature 3 (12 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards[2]; 2. 26-Jordan Kurtti[7]; 3. 8K-Cody Cimfl[3]; 4. 24-James Clausen[5]; 5. 79J-Jaden Christ[13]; 6. 79-Joseph Ott[11]; 7. 26T-Ty Agen[8]; 8. 22-Alex Minks[12]; 9. 7-Caiden Engel[9]; 10. (DNF) 79C-Billie Christ[4]; 11. (DNF) 3RR-Tommy Richards[6]; 12. (DNF) 14-Jeremy Castro[1]; 13. (DNF) 20J-Jay Schlotfeldt[10]
Heat 1 (Round 1) (10 Laps): 1. 69-Tim Johnson[8]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson[5]; 3. 27P-Parker Anderson[10]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 5. 42K(X)-Mike Knudtson[4]; 6. 24-James Clausen[6]; 7. 4-Matt Bray[1]; 8. (DNF) 20-Andrew Hanson[9]; 9. (DNF) 26-Jordan Kurtti[7]; 10. (DNF) 79J-Jaden Christ[2]
Heat 2 (Round 1) (10 Laps): 1. D1-Dustin Doughty[2]; 2. 15E-Zach Elward[4]; 3. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[9]; 4. 8K-Cody Cimfl[3]; 5. 3R-Danny Richards[7]; 6. 873-Kaden Woodie[6]; 7. 04-Darrel Hazelton[1]; 8. 20J-Jay Schlotfeldt[5]; 9. 79-Joseph Ott[10]; 10. 3-Nicholas Green[8]
Heat 3 (Round 1) (10 Laps): 1. 40-Travis Loew[4]; 2. 12-Cody Kummer[8]; 3. 79C-Billie Christ[2]; 4. 12X-Dave Mass[5]; 5. 119-Keith Tourville[9]; 6. 77-Zach Degner[10]; 7. 15B-Mike Brown[3]; 8. 22-Alex Minks[6]; 9. 166-James Stands III[7]; 10. 19K-Cole Kannegiesser[1]
Heat 4 (Round 1) (10 Laps): 1. 40T-Nick Traynor[1]; 2. 9-Adam Soltis[3]; 3. 10-Justin Vogel[6]; 4. 16X-Kyle Genett[4]; 5. 10P-Joe Potter[5]; 6. 17-Zach Beaulieu[2]; 7. 7-Caiden Engel[9]; 8. 19H-Kevin Herrman[7]; 9. 16-Warren Bartelt[8]
Heat 5 (Round 1) (10 Laps): 1. 79N-Jeff Nowak[1]; 2. 12K-Jay Kesan[8]; 3. 14-Jeremy Castro[6]; 4. 28-Colten Klueckman[2]; 5. 71X-William Fisher[7]; 6. KOLT34-Kolton Brauer[9]; 7. 66-Randy Graham[3]; 8. 314-Tyler Lamb[5]; 9. (DNF) 3RR-Tommy Richards[4]
Heat 6 (Round 1) (10 Laps): 1. 34JR-Braden Brauer[2]; 2. 15-Jim Randall[4]; 3. 25-Mike Jans[5]; 4. 19-Todd Carter[8]; 5. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[3]; 6. 38-Thomas O’Brien[7]; 7. T20-Michael Tuma[6]; 8. 26T-Ty Agen[9]; 9. 80-Brandon Hakala[1]
Heat 7 (Round 2) (10 Laps): 1. 16-Warren Bartelt[2]; 2. 71X-William Fisher[3]; 3. 77-Zach Degner[1]; 4. 24-James Clausen[5]; 5. 40-Travis Loew[7]; 6. 79N-Jeff Nowak[9]; 7. 17-Zach Beaulieu[8]; 8. 20J-Jay Schlotfeldt[6]; 9. T20-Michael Tuma[4]
Heat 8 (Round 2) (10 Laps): 1. 119-Keith Tourville[2]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson[6]; 3. 40T-Nick Traynor[9]; 4. 14-Jeremy Castro[4]; 5. 25-Mike Jans[5]; 6. 15E-Zach Elward[7]; 7. 15B-Mike Brown[8]; 8. 79-Joseph Ott[1]; 9. 19H-Kevin Herrman[3]
Heat 9 (Round 2) (10 Laps): 1. 27P-Parker Anderson[1]; 2. 10-Justin Vogel[4]; 3. 15-Jim Randall[6]; 4. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[2]; 5. 8K-Cody Cimfl[8]; 6. 12-Cody Kummer[3]; 7. 79C-Billie Christ[9]; 8. 314-Tyler Lamb[5]; 9. 42K(X)-Mike Knudtson[7]
Heat 10 (Round 2) (10 Laps): 1. D1-Dustin Doughty[9]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[8]; 3. 3RR-Tommy Richards[6]; 4. 10P-Joe Potter[5]; 5. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[7]; 6. 26T-Ty Agen[1]; 7. 19K-Cole Kannegiesser[10]; 8. 166-James Stands III[4]; 9. 3-Nicholas Green[3]; 10. (DNS) 20-Andrew Hanson
Heat 11 (Round 2) (10 Laps): 1. 69-Tim Johnson[3]; 2. 16X-Kyle Genett[6]; 3. 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 4. KOLT34-Kolton Brauer[1]; 5. 66-Randy Graham[7]; 6. 34JR-Braden Brauer[8]; 7. 19-Todd Carter[2]; 8. 79J-Jaden Christ[9]; 9. (DNF) 22-Alex Minks[5]; 10. (DNF) 04-Darrel Hazelton[10]
Heat 12 (Round 2) (10 Laps): 1. 12K-Jay Kesan[2]; 2. 12X-Dave Mass[6]; 3. 26-Jordan Kurtti[4]; 4. 9-Adam Soltis[7]; 5. 873-Kaden Woodie[5]; 6. 80-Brandon Hakala[9]; 7. 28-Colten Klueckman[8]; 8. 7-Caiden Engel[1]; 9. 38-Thomas O’Brien[3]; 10. (DNF) 4-Matt Bray[10]
Special 1 Non Qualifier (15 Laps): 1. 10P-Joe Potter[1]; 2. 42K(X)-Mike Knudtson[2]; 3. 71X-William Fisher[4]; 4. KOLT34-Kolton Brauer[5]; 5. 77-Zach Degner[8]; 6. 15B-Mike Brown[11]; 7. 79-Joseph Ott[9]; 8. 24-James Clausen[3]; 9. 314-Tyler Lamb[13]; 10. 38-Thomas O’Brien[10]; 11. (DNF) 26T-Ty Agen[12]; 12. (DNF) 16-Warren Bartelt[7]; 13. (DNF) 22-Alex Minks[15]; 14. (DNF) 79J-Jaden Christ[6]; 15. (DNF) 66-Randy Graham[14]
