Olson's Double, Anderson Wins Modified Thriller at Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, July 29 – After a one week break for the Barron County Fair, the Rice Lake Speedway returned to action on Saturday night for a five division program that included the visiting USRA Late Models. In an action packed night of racing, the Olson family once again took home a pair of wins with both Eric and Ryan topping their respective main events. Mike Anderson won an intense Modified feature and “The Angry Farmer” was once again smiling after Jake Stai topped the Midwest Modified feature event. The USRA Late Model main would see Dylan Kromschroeder repeat his win from earlier in the month at the track.

Eric Olson is on a roll currently as not only was his Super Stock victory his second of the year, the current point leader has now won back to back main events. The first few laps of this event would be crazy with two leaders giving up that valuable lead spot in sudden fashion. First Mike Siewert would push up the track to the wall when he got a flat right front tire and would be done.

Jeff Eisner Jr. would inherit the lead but then he would spin on the following green, right in front of the entire field with the resulting multi car pileup eliminating both Rich Bishop and Jared Bamberger.

By this time, Tucker Quinn had taken over as the race leader but Olson had moved up from the fourth row and on lap three he drove past Quinn to take over the lead. Quinn would then develop his own handling problems, rolling to a half and done for the event.

Finally, with all the yellows out of the way, the last fifteen laps would go off nonstop with Olson leading the rest of the contest. Leslie Leu would stay close to Olson for most of the contest as he tried to track down the leader and grab his first win of the year. However, Olson would gradually pull away and when Leu had his own handling problems, his team mate Warren Bartelt would move into the second spot.

A late race rush however, would see both Leu and Eisner Jr. move back into the second and third places as Bartelt was shuffled back to fourth. Rapidly improving rookie driver Jackson Larson would garner his first top five finish to complete the top running order.

Ryan Olson would make a strong charge of his own, coming from the fourth row to pass early leader Mike Grover just three laps into the Pure Stock feature. After that, it would be a two car battle for the lead as with the last eleven laps ran off nonstop, Olson would have James Rahn following him closely and looking for an opening to make a pass.

However, Olson would make no slip ups as the leaders continued to circle the track in close formation and at the finish, Ryan would have three car lengths on Rahn as he took his third win of the year here and further solidified his points lead in the Pure Stock division. An excellent battle for third would see Austin Fencl hold off the charging George Richards to take that position. Richards, after mechanical problems in his heat, had to start ninth in the main event but he would charge all the way up to challenge for third before being nipped at the finish for that spot. Devin Fries would complete the top five.
The Modified main event would showcase one of the most intense races of the year to date as Mike Anderson and Kevin Adams would go at it for twenty hotly contested laps. On a fast track with both a low side and cushion to work off of, Kyle Helling would take the early lead after an impressive run in his heat race. Helling would hold the top spot for three laps before Adams would storm forward, slide under him in turn four and take over the lead.

Unfortunately for Helling, he would spin out of the second spot just one lap later which would trigger a grinding crash that would eliminate both Denny Cutsforth and Travis Anderson. The would move Mike Anderson into second and the battle would then rage for the lead.

Over the next five laps, the top two drivers would cross over and exchange the lead several times with breathtaking moves that would leave the audience gasping. Finally, just at the halfway point of the race, Anderson would make a move down the front chute that would see him register officially as the race leader for the first time. He would then pull away by several car lengths and it appeared that the race was over.

However, Adams was just backing up for a late race charge and in the final five laps, he made another strong push for the lead. He closed back up on Anderson and poked his nose under him in the corners but just couldn't quite get by. The final lap would see Adams get a great run off turn two and the leaders would race side by side down the back chute. Racing just inches apart, both would throw their cars into the final corner, scratching for traction as they were side by side.

Anderson would get the needed blast of speed with Adams not able to make the inside work and Anderson would drive off the corner and come home the winner. Adams' last corner assault would see his car bog down and slow and Shane Halopka, who had spent the entire race in third watching the lead cars battle, would sneak under Adams and take home the second spot. Pat Hoffman had a miserable heat race but he would recover spectacularly, coming from thirteenth to finish a close fourth with Helling recovering from his earlier spin to complete the top five.

The win was Anderson's fourth of the year here and he now becomes the top overall feature winner at the track so far in 2023.

The Midwest Modified feature would get off to a rocky start with three yellows before the first lap could be scored complete as drivers were spinning in all directions in the early going. Included in that would be a spin by Blake Adams, just as he had garnered the lead after coming quickly from the second row.

After things finally settled down, Jake Stai would find himself in the top spot and he then began to pull away from the field, running smooth laps on a night when few in this class seemed capable of doing so. By the halfway point of the race, Mike Schnider had moved into second with the Larson brothers and Aiden Hoffman also running in the top five.

The last half of the race would see Schnider try to track down Stai for the lead but “The Angry Farmer” from New Auburn would not yield as he drove a smooth and solid event and Schnider was never able to get closer than a few car lengths to Stai.

For Stai, this has been a great comeback year with his win Saturday being his second of the year, and only the second driver in the class to win mulitiple times at the track in 2023. Mitchell Larson would finish third with Shadow Kitchner having another smooth run for fourth and Brady Larson completing the top five.

The USRA Late Models made their second of three appearances at the track in 2023 and it was Dylan Kromschroder from Cambridge Minnesota who would repeat his earlier win here with another feature win. He would draw the pole for the main event and would lead from start to finish and never be seriously challenged. This race would have only one yellow flag for a spin near the halfway point and on the restart he would again pull away to win easily. However, there was a great battle for second between young drivers Micheal Hucovski and and Cade Nelson . Both drivers, still in their early teens, would show great car control as they battled for the second spot with Nelson trying both high and low before he would finally make the pass for second and then take off after the leader but would run out of time to challenge. Tomahawk driver Travis Friske would finish fourth with Patrick Kletschka completing the top five.

All in now in readiness for an imvasion of the Street Stocks on Tuesday night, August 1st for the twenty ninth running of the “Little Dream” race, the one event every Street Stock driver in WISSOTA wants to win. Last year Nick Traynor took home over $29.000 for his second win in this event and a field of drivers that could number sixty or more is expected to battle for a huge top prize. The rain date for this event is Wednesday night, August 2nd.

The speedway will then take Saturday night August 5th off but will return with the second part of the August blockbuster, back to back events when on Saturday night, August 12th, the Late Models make their third and final appearance of the year here when the WISSOTA Structural Buildings Challenge will be presented. New Richmond's Pat Doar is the current point leader of this series and the largest field of Late Models this season is almost a certainty for this race. As a special bonus, all five divisions that race here weekly will also be on hand for this gigantic event with the weekly classes running their second to the last point race of 2023.

Check the speedway website and face book page for more details on each of these races. Race time both nights will be 7 pm.

14 entries
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 2. 3JR-Shane Halopka[8]; 3. 40-Kevin Adams[4]; 4. 308-Pat Hoffman[13]; 5. 10-Kyle Helling[2]; 6. 92-Aaron Wilson[7]; 7. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 8. 204-David Mayala[1]; 9. 3-Bryan Hessler[11]; 10. 28-Don Gleason[12]; 11. (DNF) 20C-Denny Cutsforth[10]; 12. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[3]; 13. (DNF) 27H-Steve Hallquist[9]; 14. (DNS) 18S-Kennedy Swan

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Kyle Helling[2]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[3]; 3. 3JR-Shane Halopka[6]; 4. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[1]; 5. 27H-Steve Hallquist[4]; 6. 3-Bryan Hessler[7]; 7. 308-Pat Hoffman[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[2]; 2. 92-Aaron Wilson[3]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[5]; 4. 204-David Mayala[1]; 5. 20C-Denny Cutsforth[6]; 6. 28-Don Gleason[7]; 7. (DNF) 18S-Kennedy Swan[4]

14 entries
WISSOTA SUPER STOCK

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1E-Eric Olson[8]; 2. 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 3. 10E-Jeff Eisner Jr[3]; 4. 14-Warren Bartelt[5]; 5. 247-Jackson Larson[13]; 6. 22-Clay Albrecht[12]; 7. 28-Josh Cappo[10]; 8. 01-Michael Anderson[1]; 9. 92-Alexander Lessard[14]; 10. (DNF) 11-Tucker Quinn[6]; 11. (DNF) 10B-Rich Bishop[4]; 12. (DNF) 22AT-Austin Tilton[9]; 13. (DNF) 23J-Jared Bamberger[11]; 14. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10E-Jeff Eisner Jr[1]; 2. 21-Mike Siewert[4]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[6]; 4. 01-Michael Anderson[2]; 5. 22AT-Austin Tilton[5]; 6. 23J-Jared Bamberger[3]; 7. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10B-Rich Bishop[2]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[4]; 3. 14-Warren Bartelt[3]; 4. 11-Tucker Quinn[6]; 5. 28-Josh Cappo[5]; 6. 22-Clay Albrecht[1]; 7. (DNF) 92-Alexander Lessard[7]

13 entries
WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[8]; 3. 63L-Mitchell Larson[5]; 4. 68-Shadow Kitchner[7]; 5. 63JR-Brady Larson[9]; 6. 19A-Aiden Hoffman[1]; 7. 12-Mitchell Kesan[13]; 8. 19H-Kevin Herrman[12]; 9. 18-Tacoma Randall[2]; 10. 46-Zach Slayton[10]; 11. (DNF) 19-Josh Wahlstrom[6]; 12. (DNF) 40D-Blake Adams[4]; 13. (DNF) 92-Tom Karis[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[3]; 2. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[2]; 3. 19A-Aiden Hoffman[1]; 4. 68-Shadow Kitchner[4]; 5. 63JR-Brady Larson[6]; 6. 92-Tom Karis[5]; 7. 12-Mitchell Kesan[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[1]; 2. 63L-Mitchell Larson[2]; 3. 1-Jake Stai[6]; 4. 18-Tacoma Randall[3]; 5. 46-Zach Slayton[5]; 6. 19H-Kevin Herrman[4]

13 entries
WISSOTA PURE STOCK

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[8]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[5]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[3]; 4. 5R-George Richards[11]; 5. 95F-Devin Fries[4]; 6. 15H-Trenten Holub[6]; 7. 101-Michael Grover[2]; 8. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[1]; 9. 17-Chris Gross[13]; 10. (DNF) 16-Rob Grabon[7]; 11. (DNF) 18M-Leo Moos[9]; 12. (DNS) 88-Robert Wahlstrom; 13. (DNS) 04K-Jerame Ristau

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[4]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[3]; 3. 101-Michael Grover[1]; 4. 52W-Austin Fencl[7]; 5. 18M-Leo Moos[5]; 6. (DNF) 5R-George Richards[6]; 7. (DNF) 17-Chris Gross[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Trenten Holub[3]; 2. 95F-Devin Fries[5]; 3. 16-Rob Grabon[6]; 4. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[4]; 5. (DNF) 88-Robert Wahlstrom[2]; 6. (DNF) 04K-Jerame Ristau[1]

9 entries
USRA LATE MODELS

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[1]; 2. 44-Cade Nelson[6]; 3. 88-Michael Hucovski[4]; 4. 97-Travis Friske[5]; 5. 42K-Patrick Kletschka[3]; 6. 32-Caylee Kjos[7]; 7. 19-Ashley Wahlstrom[2]; 8. (DNF) 3-Zack Friske[8]; 9. (DNS) 80-Andy Zimmerman

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Ashley Wahlstrom[3]; 2. 97-Travis Friske[1]; 3. 88-Michael Hucovski[5]; 4. 9-Dylan Kromschroeder[7]; 5. 42K-Patrick Kletschka[4]; 6. 44-Cade Nelson[9]; 7. 32-Caylee Kjos[2]; 8. 3-Zack Friske[8]; 9. (DNF) 80-Andy Zimmerman[6]