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  .: 2015 Season Results :.

Randall Rolls to Rice Lake Speedway Win

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (July 14) – It's July, the racing stakes are starting to rise, and that can mean only one thing, Jimmy Randall is starting to get serious again. Randall, who now races only when the mood hits him and he feels like he needs to tune up his game as the special events start to happen, made only his second appearance of the 2015 racing season at the Rice Lake Speedway a winning one as he slipped past Kevin Bogdanovic and then held off a ferocious late challenge by Hunter VanGilder to win the Street Stock feature and highlight the “Saturday on Tuesday” racing program at the speedway.

Also making a splash as the other first time winner was Eric Olson who held off a serious challenge of his own to win the Super Stock feature. Other winners included brothers Mike and Travis Anderson and C.J. Wagner. With the special Tuesday night program completed so as to not conflict with the Barron County Fair, racers and fans now have a nice eleven day break before racing resumes on July 25th.

Bogdanovic took the early lead in the Street Stock feature with Cody Kummer looking to get his second win in a row as he moved into second. Unfortunately, only one lap into the contest, Kummer got into Bogdanovic in turn four, sending him spinning and triggering the lone yellow flag of the race. Bogdanovic went back to the point and Kummer to the rear as racing resumed.

Randall used this opportunity to move into second and he then began to pressure Bogdanovic, trying to sneak under him in every corner. VanGilder was on the move as he drove past Sam Fankhauser to take over third and also closed on the leader.

Randall tried several times before finally being able to get a run inside Bogdanovic down the back chute and slipping into the lead. VanGilder continued his charge as he moved into second and drove to the rear bumper of Randall. VanGilder tried several times to get under Randall for the lead but each time Jimmy would accelerate just fast enough to keep VanGilder behind him.

Hunter took one last shot on the final lap but Randall continued to hold his groove and not make a mistake and Randall drove home for the win with VanGilder locked on his rear bumper. Bogdanovic held on for third as Kummer made the long drive back up through the field to edge Fankhauser for fourth. For “The Blade,” he became the ninth different feature winner in 2015 in the Street Stock class, by far the most winners of any division.

Olson had to hold off one of the hottest drivers in all of WISSOTA in the form of Curt Myers to take his initial Super Stock win at Rice Lake this year. Olson started on the outside pole and after a brief battle with Jim Cimfl, he grabbed the lead. Shane Kisling was on the move early too, and he drove up from the second row to take second and challenge Olson for the lead. Meanwhile, Myers was cutting through the pack, coming from the fourth row to take third and then quickly close on Kisling for second.

They had a brief battle for the position before Myers was able to drive by and take over the runner up slot and then set off after Olson. After an early yellow for a spin, the last sixteen laps of the race ran nonstop and Olson had built up a solid lead before Myers got to second. Curt pushed for all he was worth, several times coming to the rear bumper of Olson but never quite being able to make a serious passing attempt.

As the laps ran down, Myers continued to try every groove on the track but Olson remained firm in his lane and despite an all out charge into the final corner, Olson held on by a car length for the win. Kisling finished a strong third and Cimfl had his best run of the year as he held on for fourth ahead of Jason Forehand.

Mike Anderson had his hands full too, as he had to hold off the heavy challenges of Darrell Nelson and Cory Mahder to win his third Modified feature win of the year at Rice Lake. The event got off to a wild start as Scott Miller and Steve Hallquist went wheel to wheel for the lead on the opening lap. With a bold move down the front chute, second row starter Matt Leer somehow found the room to squeeze between the two front row cars and complete the scintillating move by taking over the lead. However, the glory was short lived as only one lap later, Leer would spin out in front of the entire field in turn one, triggering a four car melee that would end the night for Kevin Adams and inflict body damage to Anderson and Miller.

Miller got the lead back but Anderson wasted no time at all in passing Scott, and Anderson took over the lead. Back in row four, Nelson and Mahder, two of the hottest drivers in the area right now, were both on the move. Nelson was using the high side and Mahder down low, but both were coming to the front of the pack in quick fashion. By the halfway point of the race, Nelson had caught Anderson with Mahder right behind.

However, Mike would not be an easy foil for Nelson as Darrell tried consistently lap after lap to drive around Anderson but he just couldn't complete the pass. Several times he got to Anderson's rear bumper and in fact once was up beside him, but each time Anderson would fight off the challenges. Nelson continued to push for the lead and on the final lap tried to drive high around Anderson but Mike was just quick enough off the corner to hold on by two car lengths for the win with Mahder very closely trailing. Dave Baxter continued his strong runs of late by charging from the fifth row to nip Hallquist for fourth on the final lap.

Travis Anderson matched his brother Mike by winning his third Midwest Modified feature race of the year, as he benefited from some mechanical issues that dropped the leader from the event. Tyler Luger and Jamie Bisonette battled on the opening lap of the race but a quick yellow slowed the action. On the second try, Bisonette would use the high side of the track to take the lead, as from this point the rest of the race would go nonstop. Luger moved into second and he had Austin Ellis riding his bumper so Anderson moved to the outside line and was able to drive past both racers and take over the second spot. Bisonette had opened up a several car length lead and this point and it looked like he might be in line for his first feature win in a number of years.

However, with five laps completed he suddenly slowed on the back chute and made a left turn into the infield, the victim of an oil pressure issue. Anderson then inherited the top spot and put a little distance on the field, as Grant Southworth was also using the top side to drive into second place as Ellis, Tito Viltz and Shane Halopka all battled for position.

Anderson continued his charge and was never seriously challenged the rest of the race as he maintained a several car length lead and drove home for the win. A late battle saw Southworth just able to hold off the challenging Ellis for second while Viltz made a late outside charge to nip Halopka.

The Pure Stock feature was a controversial affair marked by pushing and banging and after one car was sent from the track and another to the rear of the field. Wagner emerged unscathed with his third win of the year.

Brent Miller was the early leader of the race with Bob Thompson giving him plenty of pressure. Miller led the first five laps of the race until he was turned around in turn four and the yellow waved. Miller went back to the point but was soon passed by Jason Havel who had worked his way up from the fourth row.

Havel continued to lead but he was soon challenged by Shawn Amundson, who had himself driven up from the fourth row too. Amundson was all over the leader, trying on each corner to get by and take over the lead as there was plenty of contact as the two went at it. Coming off turn two on lap eleven, more contact occurred and this time Amundson got inside Havel as they raced down the back chute with both cars leaning on each other. With Amundson on the inside, they both pushed far up the track in turn three and Wagner, who was running third at this point, drove under both of them to take over the top spot. With the race continuing, Amundson was shown the black flag by the starter and Havel, who had dropped to second, spun in turn two which triggered a yellow.

When everyone was sorted out, Amundson was sent to the pits for rough driving and Havel was sent to the back of the pack for spinning.

The two lap sprint to the finish saw Wagner control the lead and drive home for the win unchallenged. Miller got his best finish of the year in second with Thompson, Nick Traynor and Havel with a late charge, completing the top five.

When racing resumes on July 25th, a special event will mark the night as the UMSS(Upper Midwest Sprint Series) will make their second appearance of the year at the Rice Lake Speedway. Back in May, both the winged sprints and the traditional sprints put on a great show and both classes will again be in action, backed by the five classes that race at the track every Saturday night. Warmups are slated for 6:30 p.m with racing to follow.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds
20 lap Feature – Mike Anderson(Colfax), Darrell Nelson(Hermantown MN), Cory Mahder(Eau Claire), Dave Baxter(Eau Claire), Steve Hallquist(Eau Claire), Kerry Halopka(Wheeler), Scott Miller(Rice Lake), Aric Lindberg(Dallas), Paul Niznik(Medford), Tim McMann(Duluth MN), Pat Hoffman, Wayne Poteet, Matt Leer, Kevin Adams
10 lap Heat 1 – Adams(Cameron), Mahder, McMann, Miller, Hoffman(Rice Lake), Niznik, Halopka, Poteet
Heat 2 – Nelson, Anderson, Hallquist, Leer(Bruce), Baxter, Lindberg

WISSOTA Super Stocks
20 lap Feature – Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Curt Myers(Cameron), Shane Kisling(Sarona), Jim Cimfl(Turtle Lake), Jason Forehand(Eau Claire), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Cole Spacek(Phillips), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Kevin Burdick(Proctor MN), John Erickson(Rice Lake), Spencer Sorenson, Eric Zitelman, Luke Schultz
10 lap Heat 1 – Myers, Anderson, Forehand, Steffen, Burdick, Zitelman, Sorenson
Heat 2 -Kisling, Spacek, Olson, Cimfl, Erickson, Schultz

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
15 lap Feature – Travis Anderson(Colfax), Grant Southworth(Bloomer), Austin Ellis(Rice Lake), Tito Viltz(Rice Lake), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Tyler Luger(Iron River), Kent Baxter(Colfax), Michael Truscott(Chippewa Falls), Tim Ekdahl(Rice Lake), Craig Elliott((Hillsdale), Reid Tiegs, Rich Bohlman, James Kannegiesser, Matt Roux, Adam Bohlman, Jamie Bisonette
10 lap Heat 1 – Southworth, Truscott, Bisonette(Dallas), Ellis, Ekdahl, Kannegiesser, R. Bohlman, A. Bohlman
Heat 2 – Viltz, Anderson, Luger, Baxter, Halopka, Tiegs, Elliott, Roux

WISSOTA Street Stocks
15 lap Feature – Jimmy Randall(Rice Lake), Hunter VanGilder(Rice Lake), Kevin Bogdanovic(Wausau), Cody Kummer(Medford), Sam Fankhauser(Rice Lake), Troy Chaplin(Barron), Rob Grabon(Bruce), Josh Amans(Rice Lake), Jim Gullikson(Zimmerman MN)
10 lap Heat – Gullikson, Fankhauser, Randall, Kummer, Bogdanovic, VanGilder, Amans, Chaplin, Grabon

Pure Stocks
12 lap Feature – C.J. Wagner(Rice Lake), Brent Miller(Cameron), Bob Thompson(Cameron), Nick Traynor(Barron), Jason Havel(Rice Lake), Casey Ogilvie(Luck), Mike Grover(Chetek), Robert Holmstrom(Rice Lake), Dwayne Braun(Barron)
8 lap Heat 1 – Havel, Grover, Miller, Braun, Holmstrom
Heat 2 – Shawn Amundson(Rice Lake), Thompson, Wagner, Traynor, Ogilvie