Season Champions Finally Crowned at Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, Sept. 3 – It took three attempts due to weather issues, but the Rice Lake Speedway was finally able to crown their Season Champions Saturday night with championship events held in all five divisions. With a season high one hundred and twenty three racers from three states and Canada on hand to compete, feature winners included Austin Workman, Eric Olson, Ryan Viltz, Curt Myers and Ashley Anderson. Only one of the five point champions at the track was able to double up as the Season Champion and that was Viltz, while Workman shocked the Pure Stock racers by winning not only his first feature race of the season but his first ever.

The Pure Stock feature was a patience tester with the yellow flag waving a numbing six times for various spins, mostly of a minor nature. Jason Havel, who had dominated the Pure Stock action all year, took the early lead racing off the pole. He was challenged early by Joel Hinrichs and Rob Grabon with Randy Graham and Mike Grover moving in also.

Workman started seventh and was on the move early also as he cracked the top five and kept moving forward. Following a lap five yellow for a spinning car, Havel took off with Grabon close behind. Suddenly, as Havel entered turn three, his car emitted smoke and he slowed suddenly, with Grabon pounding the back of his car hard.

Havel, the six time winner this year, was done for the night and while Grabon suffered some front end damage, he was able to continue. Later that damage would come back to haunt him as overheating problems led to him slowing and eventually dropping out of the race.

Grabon did lead on the restart but he was quickly overhauled by Hinrichs and then Workman who dove to the inside of Hinrichs to take over the lead. The racers then had to endure a series of yellows that kept slowing the field and halting the race momentum.

However, on each restart Workman would fight off the challenges of Hinrichs with the last six laps of the race going nonstop. Hinrichs made a strong challenge on the last corner but Workman fought him off for his first ever career win at the track. Graham finished a close third with Jimmy Holden and Bob Thompson completing the top five. To say that Workman and his fans were thrilled in victory lane would be a large understatement.

The other yellow challenged race was the Midwest Modified feature which topped the Pure Stocks by one in yellow flags waved. Viltz, who started on the pole, had to endure the pressure of the restarts through all those yellows, with Curt Myers challenging on each green flag restart.

Viltz reported in victory lane that he had lost a cylinder early in the race and was running on seven cylinders but he managed to hold the groove and Myers could never get around him for the lead. A couple big crashes marred the action early with a restart pileup ending the night for a couple of drivers.

Through it all, Viltz continued to hold the lead with Myers trying his hardest to drive around Viltz on the corners. Each time that Myers looked like he was going to get a run at Viltz, the yellow would wave and the race would be slowed once again. The four lap sprint to the finish following the final yellow would find Myers once again putting the pressure on but Viltz would fight him off as he recorded feature win number four. Michael Truscott and Travis Anderson were in the lead group for the whole race and they finished third and fourth respectively with Shane Halopka completing the top five.

One of the hottest combos at the end of the year, the Mark Ewert owned and Eric Olson driven #70 Street Stock , hit pay dirt once again as Olson drove past several tough competitors in winning the Street Stock title. Olson started in the second row as Jay Kesan took the early lead after a battle with Kevin Bogdanovic and Cody Kummer. The top group was running three wide while another bunch of cars directly behind them also raced three wide. Kesan had Bogdanovic and Kummer right on his bumper while Olson moved up the track and made a determined drive toward the front, using the long way around the track but finding that his car liked the open track just above his competitors.

Olson battled his way into third and then took Bogdanovic on a restart to move into second place. Olson then closed on the leader and following a lap nine yellow, Olson got a good run on the outside and charged past Kesan to take over the lead.

Once in front, Olson then was able to put a little distance on the field as Bogdanovic also passed Kesan and raced into second. He wasn't able to cut the distance on the leader though, and Olson drove home for his third Street Stock win of the year, all of these recorded during the last month of the season when the #70 car first made an appearance with Olson behind the wheel and of course, Olson's win total includes his fifteen grand win in the “Little Dream.”

Bogdanovic settled for second with Kesan close behind while Sam Fankhauser drove up to fourth ahead of Kummer.

While Myers didn't get the win he desired in the Midwest Modifieds, he did dominate the Super Stocks to take his track leading eighth win of the year. He used the outside pole to race into the early lead with Eric Olson, also looking for win number two of the evening, chasing him. Myers would pull out to a healthy lead while Olson would have to fight off early challenges from Nick Traynor and Jim Cimfl.

Myers would not be pressured in this event, and even though a few yellows bunched the field, each time the green would wave, Myers would again pull away. Olson was also firmly entrenched in second while the battle was for third. Adam Soltis would race up from the ninth position to race into third and then he held on to fight off a charging Tommy Richards, who had moved up from eleventh, for the spot. Cimfl completed the top five.

Ashley Anderson, who has been one of the hottest drivers on the circuit in recent weeks, flexed his muscle as he took his second Modified feature win of the year to complete the program. He used the outside line to roll past Kevin Adams and take the early lead with Adams and Cory Mahder chasing him. Mike Anderson and Jason Gross were also on the move as they raced into the top five.

Ashley continued to hold the top spot with several car lengths on the field until the lone yellow waved on lap fourteen.

Adams went for broke on the green with a big slide into turn one that went under Anderson but when Kevin couldn't hold his line and slid up the track, both Anderson and Mahder ducked under him to grab the top two spots. Adams then tried to chase down Mahder for second again but wasn't successful as he had to settle for the “show” position. Anderson continued to pull away from the field and had no problems as he drove on for the championship win. Mike Anderson and Gross retained the other top five positions to the checkered.

Racing action will continue on Sunday night with the second half of the holiday doubleheader, the rinal racing action of the 2016 racing season at the Rice Lake Speedway.

SUMMARY

Rice Lake Speedway

Rice Lake Wi.

Sept. 3, 2016

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Ashley Anderson(Elk Mound), Cory Mahder(Eau Claire), Kevin Adams(Cameron), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Jason Gross(Cushing), Mark Hanson(Chippewa Falls), Steve Lavasseur(River Falls), Zack Drews(Duluth MN), Dave Baxter(Eau Claire), Gary Baxter(Eau Claire), Pat Hoffman, Kerry Halopka, Aric Lindberg, Dave Mayala, Luke Schilling, Bryan Hessler, Jeff Davis, Mickey Nosser, Cody Cimfl, Sam Fankhauser, Ron Korpi, Neil Balduc, Mark Hessler

8 lap Heat 1 – Adams, M. Hessler(Menomonie), Gross, Hanson, Halopka(Wheeler), Davis, B. Hessler, Steve Hallquist

Heat 2 – A. Anderson, M. Anderson, D. Baxter, Lavasseur, Cimfl(Chetek), G. Baxter, Nosser, Lindberg

Heat 3 – Mahder, Balduc(Bessemer MI), Hoffman(Rice Lake), Drews, Mayala(Barron), Schilling, Fankhauser, Korpi

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20 lap Feature – Curt Myers(Cameron), Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Tommy Richards(Mondovi), Jim Cimfl(Turtle Lake), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Danny Richards(Mondovi), Jeff Brauer(Eyota MN), Nick Traynor(Barron), Shane Kisling(Park Falls), Willie Johnsen Jr, Don Muzzy, Aaron Wilson, Andy Grymala, John Erickson, Jesse Redetzke, Luke Koski, Kyle Helling, Doug Merrill, Steve Davidson, Eric Zitelman, Luke Schultz, Jim Harris, Wayne Harris Jr

8 lap Heat 1 – Olson, Traynor, Steffen, Muzzy(Ironwood MI), Redetzke(Eau Claire), Kisling, Merrill, W. Harris, Wilson

Heat 2 – Myers, Johnsen Jr(Superior), Helling(Rice Lake), T. Richards, Brauer, J. Harris, Erickson, Davidson

Heat 3 – Cimfl, D. Richards, Soltis, Grymala(Superior), Schultz(Cameron), Zitelman, Pat Jungerberg, Koski

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Ryan Viltz(Chetek), Curt Myers(Cameron), Michael Truscott(Chippewa Falls), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Mark Thomas(Menomonie), Kent Baxter(Colfax), Josh Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), James Kannegiesser(Hayward), Brady Caul(Ft. Frances ONT), Craig Elliott, Jason Williamson, Derek Haas, Fran Hanson, Denny Cutsforth, Mike Knopps, Austin Ellis, Paul Suzik, Shane Kisling, Joe Chaplin Jr, Wyatt Boyum, Mitch Booth, Justin Claussen, Alex Smith

12 lap B Feature 1 – Smith(Solon Springs), Caul, Matt Klukas(Colfax), Cy Hoaglan(Ashland), Chris Johnson(Eau Claire), Nick Lindquist, Brady Larson, Brad Doyen, Mike Rukamp, Jason Havel

B Feature 2 – Claussen(Chippewa Falls), Hanson(Dallas), Brent Miller(Cameron), Scott Meeds(Shell Lake), Brandon Distel(Bloomington MN), Josh Hessler, Kyle Runkle, Gary Baxter

8 lap Heat 1 – Viltz, Chaplin Jr(Cameron), Suzik(Ironwood MI), Thomas, Rukamp(Forest Junction), Hanson, Larson, Ross Fuhrman

Heat 2 – Myers, Halopka, Kannegiesser, Booth(Colfax), G. Baxter(Eau Claire), Caul, Runkle, Havel

Heat 3 – Ellis(Rice Lake), K. Baxter, Wahlstrom, Knopps(Chippewa Falls), Smith, Claussen, Lindquist, Hessler

Heat 4 – Anderson, Elliott(Hillsdale), Boyum(International Falls MN), Williamson(Ft. Frances ONT), Meeds, Klukas, Miller, Doyen

Heat 5 – Truscott, Kisling(Park Falls), Haas(Thorp), Cutsforth(Rice Lake), Hoaglan, Distel, Johnson

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Kevin Bogdanovic(Wausau), Jay Kesan(Weyerhaeuser), Sam Fankhauser(Rice Lake), Cody Kummer(Medford), Shawn Amundson(Rice Lake), Danny Richards(Mondovi), Cooper Berlin(Rice Lake), Tyler Wahlstrom(Mondovi), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), C.J. Wagner, Kolby Kiehl, Hunter VanGilder, Andy Cimfl, Ashley Wahlstrom, Jake Hessler

8 lap Heat 1 – Kesan, Kummer, Fankhauser, Kiehl(Barron), A. Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Soltis, Hessler, Cimfl

Heat 2 – Bogdanovic, Olson, Amundson, Richards, VanGilder(Rice Lake), Wagner, Berlin

Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – Austin Workman(Barron), Joel Hinrichs(Chetek), Randy Graham(Trego), Jim Holden(Rice Lake), Bob Thompson(Cameron), Mike Grover(Chetek), Wayne Braun Sr(Haugen), Jack Bowers(Ridgeland), Jon Wigchers(Rice Lake), Lou Fuzio(Chippewa Falls), Ken Larson, Rob Grabon, Michael Miller, Andy Ladd, Josh Beaulieu, Rob Holmstrom Jr, Jay Barnier Jr, Jason Havel, David Holub

8 lap Heat – Havel(Rice Lake), Graham, Workman, Barnier Jr(Chippewa Falls), Fuzio, Holub, Ladd

Heat 2 – Hinrichs, Grover, Holden, Thompson, Braun Sr, Beaulieu

Heat 3 – Grabon(Bruce), Bowers, Holmstrom Jr(Cameron), Larson(Balsam Lake), Wigchers, Miller