Travis Anderson Tops Rice Lake Speedway Racers

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, May 21 – Travis Anderson held off a snarling field of Midwest Modified racers through multiple restarts to record his first feature win of the season Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. Other winners Saturday, all of them repeating victories from earlier this season were Hunter VanGilder, George Richards, Curt Myers and Kevin Adams.

Austin Ellis got a fantastic start in the Midwest Modified feature as he found an opening on the low side of the track and came from the third row to battle for the lead down the back chute on the opening lap. Ellis and Scott Meeds raced hard for the lead before Ellis took over the top spot. Several cars were quickly cutting through the field to challenge including Anderson from the third row along with Joe Chaplin Jr. and Shane Halopka from row five.

A couple of quick back to back yellows for spins slowed the field and this allowed Anderson to get right on Ellis' tail. Travis got past the leader once, only to see the yellow come back out but on the next attempt, Anderson once again made the move and took over the top spot.

He was not home free however, as soon Chaplin Jr moved to the top side of the track, took over second and then nearly drove past into the lead before yet another yellow slowed the action. The restarts saw the running order get shuffled often as drivers made moves that sometimes worked and other times saw them fall back. Ellis had dropped all the way back to fourth but he determinedly fought his way back up to second and was now the challenger.

A hard contact on the front chute between Fran Hanson and Brent Miller set up a two lap sprint to the finish and Anderson held his line to race home for his first win of the year here. Ellis finished a solid second with Chaplin Jr, Halopka and Josh Wahlstrom, up from twelfth, completing the top five.

The hottest driver at the track is VanGilder who won his track leading third Street Stock feature of the year on Saturday. He fought his way to a highly competitive victory in a race that saw rookie driver C.J. Wagner very nearly take his first career win.

Wagner started on the outside pole and took the early lead with Kolby Kiehl his toughest early competition. However, quickly moving up through the pack were Chris Peterson, Jay Kesan and Kevin Bogdanovic. The top six or so drivers were running as a tight group and there was much give and take as the drivers switched lines on the track and jockeyed for position. Bogdanovic, Kesan and Peterson all had shots where they came very close to taking over the top spot but Wagner, and in some cases, the yellow flag, kept the running order for the top spot the same.

VanGilder had steadily moved up after starting seventh and he found himself into second and running the low line behind Wagner. Back to back yellows on lap twelve and thirteen put the pressure on the leader and following the last showdown, Wagner, who had been driving a solid race, bobbled entering turn one on the green and lost his momentum.

VanGilder quickly jumped inside him and took over the top spot and other drivers quickly shuffled their way past Wagner. Kesan made a late run on the high side but VanGilder hung on for the win. Bogdanovic came home third with Cody Kummer and Peterson next in line.

Myers made easy work of the Super Stock field to take his second win of the year at Rice Lake. He started in the second row and he shot to the front quickly, passing Jim Cimfl for the lead and running away from the field. At one point, he had a half lap on the pack until one late yellow bunched the action.

Cimfl ran a fine race early with his new car, holding the second spot for a number of laps before he was challenged by Simon Wahlstrom. They had a great battle for second for a number of laps before Wahlstrom took over the position. Nick Traynor, Eric Olson and Adam Soltis were all drivers on the move as they worked their way through the field with the race remaining under the green flag.

It was heartbreak for the rookie Wahlstrom as he was only five laps from his highest finish yet when he stripped out the gears on his car and lost power, triggering the yellow and setting up a sprint to the finish.

Once again, Myers broke free from the pack while another rookie, Soltis, moved into second. Myers drove home for the easy win while Soltis recorded his best finish yet. Olson, who started dead last on the field, continued his charge as he raced up to third and almost caught Soltis for second while Traynor and Bart Steffen rounded out the top five.

Adams won his second Modified feature win of the year but he was pressed by Mark Hessler for the win. They had a tough battle during the first half of the race before Adams was able to edge past for the lead. Hessler had led from the start while Adams and Tim McMann moved into second and third following some early scrambling of the pack. Adams closed in on the leader and while Hessler remained on the top side, Adams worked low and they circled the track side by side for a number of crowd pleasing laps.

Finally, Adams was able to edge into second and McMann, who several times had threatened to pass both the front runners, challenged Hessler for second. They exchanged slide jobs and McMann took over the spot briefly until Pat Hoffman broke with only five laps left, setting up a short sprint to the finish.

While Adams again edged away from the field, this time it was Hessler who reasserted himself into the second spot. Adams put some distance on the field at the end but in a close battle for the rest of the top five, Hessler took second and Mike Anderson stole away third from McMann on the last lap with both running just ahead of Steve Hallquist.

Richards won his second straight Pure Stock feature to make his long drive up from Mondovi pay off. He started in the second row and quickly got past James Clausen to take over the lead. Only one lap was completed before a hard collison between Jim Thur and Jack Bowers slowed the action.

The rest of the race ran nonstop with Mike Knopps and Jason Havel quickly moving into second and third and trying to track down Richards. Knopps was making his first run of the year here and he was flying as he used the high side of the track to slowly track down Richards. As the laps ran down, Knopps continued to close up on the leader with Havel also trying to track down the top two.

Things got wild on the last lap as Richards lost control in turn four and very nearly spun out. Knopps closed up considerably on him and as they crossed the finish line, Knopps was right on the rear bumper of the winner. Havel finished a solid third with Michael Miller and Clausen completing the top five.

Next Saturday night is one of the early season highlight events at the track. Along with a full program in all five of the regular divisions that race at the speedway, the Upper Midwest Sprint Series(UMSS) will be on hand with both of their Sprint Car groups. Both winged and traditional non winged Sprints will be in action with full programs for both classes led by current point leaders Rick Kobs of Deer Park in the traditional and Jerry Richert Jr. from Forest Lake MN in the winged Sprints. This is always one of the biggest drawing events for the spectators of the season and fans are encouraged to arrive early and get their favorite seat. Warm ups are at 6:30 p.m with racing to follow directly. Check out the speedway website at www.ricelakespeedway.net and their facebook page for more information.

SUMMARY

Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake WI
May 21, 2016

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Mark Hessler(Menomonie), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Tim McMann(Duluth MN), Steve Hallquist(Eau Claire), Scott Miller(Rice Lake), Bryan Hessler(Chetek), Wayne Poteet(Spooner), Pat Hoffman(Rice Lake), Buddy Mayala(Barron).
8 lap Heat 1 – Adams, McMann, M. Hessler, Hoffman, Poteet
Heat 2 – Anderson, Hallquist, B. Hessler, Mayala, Miller

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20 lap Feature – Curt Myers(Cameron), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Nick Traynor(Barron), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Aaron Wilson(Eau Claire), Jim Cimfl(Turtle Lake), Eric Zitelman(Osceola), Kyle Helling(Rice Lake), Luke Schultz(Cameron), Simon Wahlstrom, John Erickson, Jim Harris
8 lap Heat 1 – Myers, Traynor, Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Zitelman, Soltis, Erickson, Helling
Heat 2 – Cimfl, Harris(Menomonie), Wilson, Steffen, Schultz, Olson

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Travis Anderson(Colfax), Austin Ellis(Rice Lake), Joe Chaplin Jr(Cameron), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Josh Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Ryan Viltz(Chetek), Cooper Berlin(Rice Lake), Scott Meeds(Shell Lake), Derek Berg(Siren), Brent Miller(Cameron), Fran Hanson, Derek Haas, Kyle Runkle, Karl Kolek, Bryce Johnson, Tim Ekdahl, John Meeds, Denny Cutsforth
8 lap Heat 1 – Viltz, Anderson, Runkle(Chetek), Ekdahl(Cameron), Dan Roatch(Cameron), J. Meeds, Berlin
Heat 2 – Kolak(Menomonie), S. Meeds, Cutsforth(Rice Lake), Johnson(Barron), Haas(Thorp), Miller
Heat 3 – Chaplin Jr, Halopka, Ellis, Wahlstrom, Hanson(Dallas), Berg

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Hunter VanGilder(Rice Lake), Jay Kesan(Weyerhaeuser), Kevin Bogdanovic(Wausau), Cody Kummer(Medford), Chris Peterson(Amery), C.J. Wagner(Rice Lake), Kolby Kiehl(Barron), Bob Wahlstrom(Chetek), Mitch Kesan(Medford), Sam Fankhauser(Rice Lake).
8 lap Heat 1 – Fankhauser, Peterson, J. Kesan, M. Kesan, Kummer
Heat 2 – VanGilder, Bogdanovic, Kiehl, Wagner, Wahlstrom

Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – George Richards(Mondovi), Mike Knopps(Chippewa Falls), Jason Havel(Rice Lake), Michael Miller(Rice Lake), James Clausen(Rice Lake), Tucker Quinn(Ladysmith), Austin Workman(Barron), Mike Grover(Chetek), Andy Ladd(Cumberland), Wayne Braun Jr(Spooner), Rob Holmstrom Jr, Jake Sandman, Jim Thur, Jack Bowers
8 lap Heat 1 – Knopps, Havel, Workman, Quinn, Miller, Bowers, Ladd
Heat 2 – Clausen, Richards, Sandman(Rice Lake), Grover, Braun Jr, Thur, Holmstrom Jr