Wahlstrom A Double Winner at Rice Lake Speedway
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, May 29 – While Pat Doar won the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series race presented by Swant Graber Motors(see separate story), four of the classes that regularly race at the track were in action also and the highlights of those four divisions included two last corner passes for feature wins and a rare double feature win performance executed by Simon Wahlstrom.
Wahlstrom won both the Midwest Modified and Super Stock features with the Midwest Modified win coming on a last corner pass of Brady Larson while Hunter VanGilder won his second straight main event at the track and Randy Graham made a last lap pass on Tristan Scheuerman to take the Pure Stock feature honors.
It was a great night for Wahlstrom and a great Midwest Modified main event that saw three cars side by side off the final corner as they raced to the checkered flag. Larson had started on the pole and led fourteen of the fifteen laps before Wahlstrom got by him coming off the final corner but previous to that, Larson had been dogged the whole distance by Tony Bahr, who came ever so close to taking over the lead on numerous occasions.
As Larson took the early lead, both Bahr and Austin Ellis, came thundering to the front of the pack after starting in the fourth and third rows respectively as they were on a mission to get to the front. Bahr particularly was fearless as he pounded the high side of the track, driving past Kenny Kincaid and Kaden Blaeser to move into second and then he set his sites on leader Larson.
However, the youngster, seeking his second ever feature win at Rice Lake after winning his first ever last year, remained in the groove and despite Bahr’s repeated efforts to drive by him on the high side, Larson would continue to hold off the Haugen veteran.
Meanwhile, Wahlstrom had made a remarkable charge of his own after starting twelfth on the grid and he soon found himself racing up to third and reeling in the leaders.
A late yellow for a spin set up a five lap dash to the finish and Larson would continue to hold the lead on that final restart with Bahr continuing to drive by him on the high side. As the white flag waved, Bahr pulled up beside the leader while a sliver of an opening appeared on the low side of the track also. Wahlstrom dove hard for that opening and while there appeared to be some minor contact, both he and Larson raced hard for the finish as Bahr rode the top side and they all charged to the line.
At the finish, Wahlstrom as scored the winner by .008 seconds in a spectacular run over Larson with Bahr just inches farther back in third while Blaeser and Ellis would complete the top five. For Simon, it was his second win of the year in the Midwest Modified after an opening night triumph.
Wahlstrom would then jump into his Super Stock to complete the rare double win. In this race, instead of coming from deep in the field, he started on the outside pole and after a first lap spin restarted the action, Simon would lead all twenty laps of this event. He showed great speed as he opened up a sizable lead early in the race and then withstood a late charge by point leader Eric Olson to take the win.
While Wahlstrom was pulling away from the field early, there was a serious race going on for second as Josh Bach, Jim Cimfl and Olson battled for that position. Soon it was Nick Traynor, seeking his third win of the year that joined in that slug fest for position.
Olson and Traynor would eventually gather second and third until a bad restart saw Traynor lose three spots which he would later have to try and retrieve.
A late spin set up a five lap sprint but Wahlstrom was not about to give away the lead and he one again pulled away from the field. Olson tried his hardest but he would have to settle for second. Andy Grymala drove a smooth and steady race, taking the openings when they developed and he raced home with a solid third place finish with Traynor and Cimfl completing the top five.
The Street Stock field was the biggest of the year to date as twenty three cars took the green flag for their main event but no one in the crowded field had anything for Hunter VanGilder who took his second straight Street Stock win of the year and became the first repeat winner.
After polestarter Ty Agen spun on the first lap and sent most of the field in a wild scramble of which all were able to return, it was VanGilder and Andrew Hanson who battled hardest for the lead. Hanson had actually got the jump on the aborted start but on the second try it would be VanGilder who would move into the lead with Hanson challenging him hard along with James Clausen. Clausen would have one of those nights where he was in the wrong place at the wrong time repeatedly and he would slip back in the field after fighting early for the lead.
VanGilder would pull away from the pack while the battle for second was a tough one with Hanson receiving challenges for Shawn Amundson, Dustin Doughty and a charging Braden Brauer who had started ninth on the grid.
A late yellow set up a three lap sprint to the finish and while VanGilder was in control of the lead, the battle would continue for positions behind him. Hanson was strong on this night and he would secure second while Brauer’s strong run continued as he motored up to third at the finish. Doughty would go for broke on the last restart and it would cost him some positions in a failed attempt to drive around the field with Amundson finishing fourth and Jason Havel, making his first start of the year, coming from fourteenth to complete the top five.
Just as Larson would lead the whole race only to lose it on the final lap, the same calamity befell Pure Stock racer Tristan Scheuerman who would lead eleven laps in the Pure Stock feature, only to lose the contest on the final lap. After two first lap spins slowed the action, the Pure Stock feature would then go green to checkered and after Scheuerman got the jump on Mike Grover, he would lead from then on. Nicholas Hazelton would put pressure on the leader while Bob Wahlstrom, Randy Graham and Ryan Olson would come charging up through the field.
Graham was doing an excellent job threading his way through the traffic and he got to the second spot and started to pressure Scheuerman as the laps ran down. Randy tried several moves for the lead but Scheuerman was just fast enough to hold him off. Finally, as the white flag waved, Graham tried one last time and this time, as he ran high into turn one and then cut across the grain, he got a great run and had the speed to get inside Scheuerman down the back chute and drive into the lead. With his momentum high, he blasted through the final corner and pulled away to get his first win here since the 2019 season while Scheuerman had to settle for a close second place finish. Olson, Wahlstrom and Hazelton would complete the top five.
Next Saturday night, June 5th, the Modifieds return to the track as a part of the regular five division program. However, it will be anything but a regular night for one of the racing divisions as next week will bring the first of four, mystery $1,000 to win main events. After the completion of the heat races, a blind draw will determine which class it is that will be racing for a thousand dollars to win their main event. The Pure Stocks know that their race will be Labor Day weekend but the other four classes will all be in the running and until the draw takes place, no one will know just which class it is that will be racing for the larger top prize.
Warm ups are slated for 6:30 pm with the first race to hit the track at 7 pm. Check face book or the speedway website at www.ricelakespeedway.net for any late breaking news.
16 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 46-Simon Wahlstrom[2]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[5]; 3. 24-Andy Grymala[7]; 4. 40-Nick Traynor[6]; 5. 245-James Cimfl[3]; 6. 67-Josh Bach[4]; 7. 20*-Andrew Davis[1]; 8. 77-Josh Saunders[12]; 9. 01-Michael Anderson[10]; 10. 06-Scott Pittman[13]; 11. (DNF) 28-Josh Cappo[14]; 12. (DNF) 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[15]; 13. (DNF) 14X-Leslie Leu[11]; 14. (DNF) XJR-Austin Workman[9]; 15. (DNF) 71-Brandon Clemens[8]; 16. (DNS) 18-Willie Johnsen Jr
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 1E-Eric Olson[4]; 2. 46-Simon Wahlstrom[2]; 3. 71-Brandon Clemens[8]; 4. 20*-Andrew Davis[1]; 5. XJR-Austin Workman[7]; 6. 14X-Leslie Leu[5]; 7. (DNF) 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[3]; 8. (DNF) 18-Willie Johnsen Jr[6]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Andy Grymala[1]; 2. 245-James Cimfl[7]; 3. 40-Nick Traynor[3]; 4. 67-Josh Bach[2]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[4]; 6. 77-Josh Saunders[6]; 7. 06-Scott Pittman[8]; 8. 28-Josh Cappo[5]
17 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[12]; 2. 63JR-Brady Larson[1]; 3. QQ-Tony Bahr[8]; 4. 43-Kaden Blaeser[3]; 5. 20-Austin Ellis[6]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[10]; 7. 68-Shadow Kitchner[7]; 8. 4-Kenny Kincaid[4]; 9. 28-Francis Hanson[2]; 10. 21-Jake Smith[16]; 11. 40-Mike Schnider[15]; 12. 89-Tyler Lamm[5]; 13. 93-CJ Wagner[14]; 14. 6-Cory Deilke[9]; 15. 64-Evan Checkalski[11]; 16. 19H-Kevin Herrman[13]; 17. (DQ) 39-Daniel Roatch[17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 43-Kaden Blaeser[7]; 2. 4-Kenny Kincaid[5]; 3. 28-Francis Hanson[2]; 4. 89-Tyler Lamm[6]; 5. 6-Cory Deilke[4]; 6. 64-Evan Checkalski[3]; 7. 19H-Kevin Herrman[9]; 8. 40-Mike Schnider[8]; 9. (DNS) 39-Daniel Roatch
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. QQ-Tony Bahr[1]; 2. 20-Austin Ellis[2]; 3. 63JR-Brady Larson[3]; 4. 68-Shadow Kitchner[4]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[7]; 6. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[6]; 7. 93-CJ Wagner[5]; 8. 21-Jake Smith[8]
23 entries
WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[3]; 2. 20-Andrew Hanson[2]; 3. 34JR-Braden Brauer[9]; 4. 30-Shawn Amundson[6]; 5. 5H-Jason Havel[14]; 6. D1-Dustin Doughty[7]; 7. 24-James Clausen[4]; 8. 1R-Cole Richards[8]; 9. 71H-Ron Hanestad[12]; 10. 71X-William Fisher[16]; 11. 40-Travis Loew[13]; 12. 17-Zach Beaulieu[19]; 13. KOL34-Kolton Brauer[15]; 14. 33-Daniel Boissy[10]; 15. 79-Joseph Ott[22]; 16. 26T-Ty Agen[1]; 17. 66-Eric Haupt[18]; 18. 4-Matt Bray[21]; 19. 19H-Jenna Herrman[20]; 20. (DNF) 5-Brittany Smith[11]; 21. (DNF) 3R-Danny Richards[5]; 22. (DNF) 38-Thomas O’Brien[17]; 23. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[23]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 34JR-Braden Brauer[3]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 3. 26T-Ty Agen[1]; 4. 33-Daniel Boissy[4]; 5. 40-Travis Loew[7]; 6. 71X-William Fisher[5]; 7. 17-Zach Beaulieu[6]; 8. 4-Matt Bray[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[5]; 2. 24-James Clausen[2]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[4]; 4. 5-Brittany Smith[7]; 5. 5H-Jason Havel[1]; 6. 38-Thomas O’Brien[6]; 7. 19H-Jenna Herrman[8]; 8. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[3]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. D1-Dustin Doughty[5]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[4]; 3. 3R-Danny Richards[2]; 4. 71H-Ron Hanestad[6]; 5. KOL34-Kolton Brauer[3]; 6. 66-Eric Haupt[7]; 7. (DNF) 79-Joseph Ott[1]
19 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 57-Randy Graham[7]; 2. 2S-Tristan Scheuermann[2]; 3. 1-Ryan Olson[9]; 4. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[5]; 5. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[4]; 6. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[3]; 7. 101-Michael Grover[1]; 8. 15H-Dusten Holub[13]; 9. 70-Bob Thompson[14]; 10. 63-Ken Larson[12]; 11. 72-Cully Butterfield[17]; 12. 4K-Terry Kemp[15]; 13. 55-Kevin Meeds[19]; 14. 2H-David Holub[18]; 15. (DNF) 52-Zachary Folz[16]; 16. (DNF) 52F-Austin Fencl[10]; 17. (DNF) 91-Michael Holmstrom[11]; 18. (DNF) 31-Travis Hazelton[6]; 19. (DNS) 23R-James Rahn
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Travis Hazelton[5]; 2. 57-Randy Graham[6]; 3. 101-Michael Grover[2]; 4. 52F-Austin Fencl[3]; 5. 15H-Dusten Holub[7]; 6. 52-Zachary Folz[4]; 7. 55-Kevin Meeds[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[2]; 2. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[3]; 3. 2S-Tristan Scheuermann[6]; 4. 91-Michael Holmstrom[1]; 5. 70-Bob Thompson[5]; 6. 72-Cully Butterfield[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 23R-James Rahn[3]; 2. 1-Ryan Olson[2]; 3. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[6]; 4. 63-Ken Larson[5]; 5. 4K-Terry Kemp[4]; 6. 2H-David Holub[1]
