Viltz and Leer Gain Close Rice Lake Speedway Wins

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, July 9 – Ryan Viltz and Matt Leer both won tight feature races to highlight the Kid's Night racing program Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. In Viltz's case, he fought his way back in the late going after losing the lead part way through the Midwest Modified main event while Leer fought off a strong last lap challenge that saw the top three racers take the white flag three wide. Dominating performances were put on by Curt Myers and Kevin Bogdanovic to also win main events and Jason Havel made the biggest charge of the racing season to date, coming from fifteenth to win the Pure Stock main event.

The top twenty racers in a big Midwest Modified field were gleaned out to start their main event and after some smooth heat race action, the beginning laps of the Midwest Modified main were trying for everyone. Four yellows in the first two laps kept everyone on edge and several of the top challengers either finding themselves in the back of the pack or in the pits.

Among the casualties was point leader Shane Halopka who got caught up in a first lap crash not of his doing and was forced to the pits, with Viltz's victory later allowing him to take over the track point lead.

After the four early yellows, the field settled down and raced nonstop to the checkered. Viltz took the early lead and after the early shuffling, Joe Chaplin Jr found himself in second after starting seventh. As Viltz rode the high side of the track, Chaplin Jr quickly closed in and took a dive to the inside and took over the lead. Chaplin led for several laps but then Viltz started to mount a campaign of his own to retake the lead.

Coming off turn four, Viltz was able to get to the inside of Chaplin Jr and retake the lead just past the halfway point of the event. After that, Ryan started to gradually pull away and despite Chaplin Jr giving it his all, Viltz got into a groove and stretched his lead to the conclusion of the event. Chaplin Jr. settled for second at the line with Kent Baxter a strong third place. Travis Anderson and Kyle Johnson drove consistent races to complete the top five in a race that saw six of the starting field in the pits by the finish. The win was Viltz's second feature win of the year at Rice Lake

Tim McMann, in a different Modified this week, started on the outside pole and took the early lead in the main event. Leer made some moves quickly as he advanced from the third row to drive into second. McMann continued to lead when he made the decision to switch lanes on the track and he dropped to the low groove. The decision proved to be a faulty one as Leer got on the gas and blew past McMann, who upon deducing the error of his ways, tried to squeeze back up into the top lane but Leer would have none of it and claimed the top spot.

As Leer put distance on the field, Dave Baxter was the next one on the move as he raced into second and started to close on the leader. Meanwhile, Steve Hallquist and Mike Anderson were also advancing in the pack and racing into contention.

Anderson avoided disaster on lap fourteen when Hallquist lost a driveshaft while in the midst of heavy traffic and Anderson spun to avoid the powerless car and very nearly got drilled for his efforts. However, Anderson was OK to restart the race and he now found himself in third.

Leer continued to maintain the lead and while Baxter drove low into the corners to challenge, Leer was able to continue his momentum and hold him off. The leaders saw the white flag but then another spin slowed the action and set up a two lap sprint to the finish.

On the green, Anderson suddenly came alive and he rolled through the middle of the track, splitting Baxter and Leer and making it a three wide battle as they took the white flag. Leer continued to hold the top side while Anderson dove into second and challenged for the lead. Anderson made a strong slide into the final corner but he could only get to Leer's rear bumper as Matt hung on for the win. The late race yellow saw the pack scramble and Mark Hessler raced into fourth at the line ahead of Jake Miller. Leer's win was his second of the year at Rice Lake.

The only thing that kept Myers from running away from the field were the multiple yellows that kept slowing the action in the Super Stock finale. Myers started on the outside pole and after fighting off an early challenge from Nick Traynor, he settled in to lead the pack. However, each time he would start to put distance on the field, a spin would necessitate another yellow and five of them waved in the first half of the race as several of the contenders found themselves relegated to the tail of the field.

The last half of the race went nonstop and Eric Olson, who had moved up from the eighth starting position, was able to keep Myers in sight but was never able to offer any serious challenge.

Myers flashed across the line, happy that the long race was over while recording his fourth Rice Lake feature win of 2016. Olson finished a solid second while Simon Wahlstrom recorded another steady finish as he took the third spot. Bart Steffen raced up from deep in the pack to take fourth ahead of Willie Johnsen Jr.

Mike Knudtson took the early lead in the Street Stock feature as he swept past Cooper Berlin in the early going. However, Knudtson was soon caught by Kevin Bogdanovic and Jimmy Randall. Bogdanovic made an impressive move as he rolled right through the middle of the track and drove past Knudtson to take over the lead. Cody Kummer was also charging as he drove past Randall to take over third and then began to move forward toward the leaders.

Kummer continued to charge and he took over second and was closing on the leader as the race remained under the green. Knudton and Randall were locked in a hard battle for second that got physical with Knudtson spinning and Randall taken to task for the yellow as he went to the rear of the field for the green.

Two more yellows for spins kept the field bunched and the pressure on Bogdanovic as he had to keep the challengers behind him. Kummer, who had made the high side work earlier, opted to try that line again but Hunter VanGilder, who had quietly worked his way up after starting ninth, bolted into second and looked for the top spot. Bogdanovic would have none of it however, and maintained his line as he raced home for his second win of the year here with VanGilder a close second. Kolby Kiehl made a later race charge that saw him find third ahead of Kummer with Knudtson holding on for fifth.

The Pure Stock feature was a wild, scrambled race that saw just as many cars in the pits at the end as those still on the track racing. The tone was set on the first lap when Zach Beaulieu suffered a mechanical failure down the back chute while in heavy traffic and the resulting smash up eliminated four cars and saw Beaulieu treated at the track for an apparent neck injury.

Tucker Quinn took the lead when racing finally resumed with Dustin Doughty chasing him. Havel, who had made a mistake in his heat race and pulled off the track one lap early which resulting in him forced to start in the back of the pack, used the yellows and the cars sent to the rear of the pack to gain many positions early and by the time racing settled in, Havel was in a challenging position.

Following yet another restart at midrace, Havel moved to the outside of Quinn and after a good battle, was able to move into the top spot with Quinn and Doughty continuing to chase him.

One more slow down set up a two lap race to the finish and Doughty nailed his car to Havel's rear bumper, looking for an opening. However, Jason continued to run at a fast pace and Doughty wasn't able to find an opening and had to settle for second.

For Havel, the charge to the front was worth it as he recorded his fifth feature win of the year, a track high so far this season. Quinn finished a strong third while James Clausen came from the back to finish fourth ahead of Joel Hinrichs.

Next Saturday night, July 16th, the speedway will host another five division program with warm ups slated for 6:30 pm following the very intense racing action featured this week. The track will then take off July 23rd for the Barron County Fair.

However, when racing resumes after that, it will be with two of the biggest shows of the year. On Saturday, July 30th, the highly anticipated return of the Late Models will take place as the One Main Financial Challenge Series will be presented, featuring many of the top Late Model racers in all of WISSOTA. Along with the Late Models, a full show in all five classes will also take place in what should be one of the most appealing programs of the year.

And then, just three days late, it will be time for the Street Stocks to take center stage as the nationally acclaimed Little Dream race will take place. How much will the winner earn? It's hard to guess but is $20,000 out of the question? That will be decided on August 2nd. Modifieds will be the under card on that night. More information on both shows will be forthcoming soon.

SUMMARY

Rice Lake Speedway

Rice Lake WI

July 9, 2016

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Matt Leer(Bruce), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Dave Baxter(Eau Claire), Mark Hessler(Menomonie), Jake Miller(Somerset), Tim McMann(Duluth MN), Bryan Hessler(Chetek), Pat Hoffman(Rice Lake), Scott Miller(Rice Lake), Geoff Zdroik(Eagle River), Wayne Poteet, Buddy Mayala, Kevin Adams, Steve Hallquist

8 lap Heat 1 – Baxter, Leer, Anderson, McMann, S. Miller, J. Miller, Zdroik

Heat 2 – Adams(Cameron), M. Hessler, Hoffman, Hallquist(Eau Claire), B. Hessler, Mayala, Poteet

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20 lap Feature – Curt Myers(Cameron), Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Simon Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Willie Johnsen Jr(Superior), John Erickson(Rice Lake), Nick Traynor(Barron), Jim Cimfl(Turtle Lake), Luke Schultz(Cameron), Kyle Helling(Rice Lake), Pat Jungerberg, Adam Soltis, Brandon Duellman, Doug Merrill, Steve Tesch

8 lap Heat 1 – Olson, Erickson, Cimfl, Wahlstrom, Helling, Jungerberg, Tesch, Soltis

Heat 2 – Myers, Traynor, Steffen, Johnsen Jr, Duellman(Winona MN), Schultz, Merrill

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Ryan Viltz(Chetek), Joe Chaplin Jr(Cameron), Kent Baxter(Colfax), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Kyle Johnson(Hixton), David Simpson(Thunder Bay ONT), Austin Ellis(Rice Lake), Josh Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Tim Ekdahl(Cameron), Bryce Johnson(Barron), Cody Borgeson, Justin Claussen, Austin Zdroik, Craig Elliott, Grant Southworth, Tad Schoonover, James Kannegiesser, Kyle Runkle, Shane Halopka, Denny Cutsforth

10 lap B Feature – Ekdahl, Kannegiesser(Hayward), Zdroik(Eagle River), Elliott(Hillsdale), Brad Doyen(Rice Lake), Jason Vokovan, Derek Haas, Karl Kolek, Dan Roatch

8 lap Heat 1 – Baxter, Southworth(Bloomer), Anderson, Wahlstrom, Ekdahl, Zdroik, Doyen

Heat 2 – Simpson, Viltz, Borgeson(New Richmond), Schoonover(Eagle River), Kannegiesser, Roatch, Kolek

Heat 3 – Chaplin Jr, Cutsforth(Rice Lake), B. Johnson, Claussen(Chippewa Falls), Elliott, Vokovan

Heat 4 – K. Johnson, Halopka(Greenwood), Ellis, Runkle(Chetek), Haas(Thorp), Derek Klementsen

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Kevin Bogdanovic(Wausau), Hunter VanGilder(Rice Lake), Kolby Kiehl(Barron), Cody Kummer(Medford), Mike Knudtson(Osseo), Ryan Glembin(Eagle River), C.J. Wagner(Rice Lake), Shawn Amundson(Rice Lake), Kyle Kesan(Medford), Nate Langeberg(Tomahawk), Cooper Berlin, Jimmy Randall

8 lap Heat 1 – Kummer, Randall(Rice Lake), Knudtson, Berlin(Rice Lake), VanGilder, Amundson, Langeberg

Heat 2 – Kiehl, Wagner, Bogdanovic, Glembin, Kesan, Jake Hessler

Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – Jason Havel(Rice Lake), Dustin Doughty(Oakdale MN), Tucker Quinn(Ladysmith), James Clausen(Rice Lake), Joel Hinrichs(Chetek), Bob Thompson(Cameron), Jimmy Holden(Rice Lake), Rob Holmstrom Jr(Cameron), Austin Workman(Barron), Wayne Braun Sr(Haugen), Dusten Holub, Mike Chaplin, Andy Ladd, Matt Roux, Mike Grover, Zach Beaulieu

8 lap Heat 1 – Clausen, Quinn, Holden, Beaulieu(Chetek), Chaplin(Eagan MN), Thompson, Havel, Holmstrom Jr

Heat 2 – Doughty, Hinrichs, Workman, Holub(Cameron), Grover(Chetek), Ladd, Braun Sr, Roux