Parker Anderson Shocks Rice Lake Speedway Street Stock Foes

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, May 19 – Fourteen year old Parker Anderson shocked a veteran group of Street Stock racers when the young second year driver out of Phillips led from start to finish to win his first ever feature race Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. Also winning his first feature race ever at the track was Pure Stock driver Brandon Hakala while Willie Johnsen Jr made a last corner pass to win a thrilling Super Stock main event. Protagonists Dave Cain and Kevin Adams battled it out in the Modified main with Cain taking the win while Adams came back to become the first multi win driver at the track this year when he won his second Midwest Modified feature race.

Anderson started on the pole of the Street Stock feature with all time Street feature win leader Scott Clark beside him at the start. Clark got the early jump on the green but Anderson rolled strong through corner four and led the opening lap. He proceeded to maintain the lead through the only yellow for a minor spin on lap four.

Back on the green, it was Mike Knudtson, Cody Kummer and Jay Kesan who were all on the move and charging toward the front. Knudtson worked his way into second and was snapping at the heels of Anderson, but the young driver continued to throw down smooth, consistent laps and came off the corners strong and while Knudtson could stay close, he simply couldn't muster a passing move.

Kesan looked particularly fast as he moved to the second lane and he pulled up to challenge the two front runners as the laps started to run down and while both the challengers continued to push him, Anderson continued to maintain the top spot.
As the white flag waved, Knudtson gave it an extra effort as he drove hard into turn one. He got a nose under Anderson and actually managed to hook into the left rear of Anderson's car in his final attempt to make the pass. However, with Anderson at his mercy, Knudtson chose to back off slightly and allow Anderson to straighten out his car before continuing his chase. This sportsmanlike move by Knudtson allowed Anderson to take back off and with a good head of steam, he flashed across the finish line first for a very memorable win.

Anderson's win was a very popular one in the pit area as the sociable young driver is known by everyone and a third generation racer of a well respected racing family. Knudtson's racing move did cost him second spot as Kesan got a big run down the back chute and edged him at the line for the runner up honors with Kummer and Kolby Kiehl completing the top five.

Johnsen's win in the Super Stock feature was without a doubt the most exciting main event of the night. The race saw Adam Soltis take the early lead with Matt Deragon, Kummer and Randy Spacek challenging in the early laps. The first part of the event went by slowly as four yellows in the first six laps kept the field bunched and the drivers guessing. Finally, things settled down and some outstanding racing took place.

Deragon was able to drive past Soltis and take over the lead as he looked for his first ever win at Rice Lake also. Terran Spacek and his father Randy swapped some paint down the front chute and Terran was in a hurry to get to the front after starting in the third row. Jeff Brauer was also charging and from farther back in the pack, both Johnsen and Mike Loomis were making some strong moves.

Slowly but surely, Johnsen and Loomis were working their way toward the front as the laps ticked by and soon both found themselves in the top five.

Terran Spacek made a strong run to the inside of Deragon on the last yellow and pulled up beside him down the back chute. Spacek was able to edge ahead in turn three but he couldn't hold his car and spun in front of the entire pack, with the field doing a great job to avoid him. A disappointed Spacek retired to the pits and Deragon resumed as the leader.
From this point on, some really outstanding racing took place as both Johnsen and Loomis caught the leader and we saw some great, three wide battling for the lead. With five laps to go they crossed the line three wide and then both Loomis and Johnsen edged ahead to settle the issue themselves. Loomis on the bottom and Johnsen higher on the track continued to go side by side and as they flashed under the white flag, Loomis led by less than a car length.

Johnsen continued to trail by a foot or so as they raced down the back chute but Willie caught corner four just right, surged off the banking and in the race to the line, he edged out Loomis by about two feet in a great Super Stock main event. Deragon held on for third and paced Brauer and Soltis across the line.

Hakala was another driver to earn his first ever feature win at Rice Lake on Saturday. He became the third different leader of the Pure Stock main and then held off a heavy charge from Andrew Hanson and Tucker Quinn to take home the win. Cory Jorgensen led the opening laps of the main with quite a swarm of cars tight behind him. Zach Beaulieu was on the move and after trying to squeeze by Jorgensen for a number of laps, he was finally able to make the move down the back chute and take over the lead.

The main pack saw about seven cars running in tight formation and then it was Hakala's turn and he made a strong move down the front chute to take over the lead from Beaulieu. Hakala continued to show the way in the fast paced event with both Quinn and Hanson moving in to challenge. They moved into the second and third places and tried to track down Hakala but he was running well and despite their best efforts, the Tomahawk driver made no mistakes and he flashed across the line with the win by a couple of car lengths over a late charging Hanson and Quinn. Beaulieu held on for fourth with last week's winner Kyle Copp rounding out the top five.

The Pure Stocks ran off a nonstop main event with all seventeen starters still on the track at the finish of the event.
The Midwest Modifieds had some issues in the early going as their event was slowed an evening high five times, all in the first five laps for a series of spins and tangles. Once they finally settled in, some serious racing took place that saw three different leaders in charge before Adams finally claimed the win.
Joe Chaplin Jr was the early leader of the race with Adams all over him looking for a route to the lead. While Adams worked the low side, it was Shane Halopka who moved to the cushion and he surprised Adams as he blew right past him, continued his charge and took over the lead.

However, Halopka was unable to build on that advantage as the yellow kept thwarting his momentum. Finally, Adams was able to duck under Chaplin Jr and take over second and again with the yellow, was able to pull to Halopka's rear bumper. Adams got some momentum on the green and slid up in front of Halopka and was able to take over the lead.

Meanwhile, Tony Bahr was on the move after starting eleventh and he drove into the second place and set off after Adams. The two front runners were very fast and they pulled away from the field with Halopka not able to maintain their pace. Bahr pushed for all he was worth but Adams didn't give him any openings and maintained his pace as he drove across the line for his second win in this class at Rice Lake this year, with several car lengths to spare. Bahr completed yet another strong drive with Halopka settling for third. Austin Ellis made his own charge to finish fourth and Michael Truscott overcame a challenging evening to drive from sixteenth to complete the top five.

The Modified feature was also a nonstop main event with Ryan Viltz getting the jump on Neil Balduc to lead his first feature laps of 2018. Viltz had a solid run early as he continued to show the way with Dave Cain moving into second and starting to size him up as Adams drove hard into third place.

Cain looked high and then low and finally got some momentum off the banking and drove under Viltz to take over the top spot. A few laps later Adams was able to slide past him for second and the battle for the lead was on.

However, Cain had good momentum and catching him would not be easy. As the leaders approached lapped traffic, Cain had to alter his line and Adams was able to close to within a car length but Cain then got free of traffic, and adjusted his own line and started to pull away again. Adams pushed hard but he was no match on this night as Cain drove home for the uncontested win. A late charge by Cory Bruggeman saw the Stillwater driver edge Viltz for third with Jeff Spacek completing the top five.

Next Saturday night, the speedway will present its second special event of the 2018 racing season. The Upper Midwest Sprint Series(UMSS) will be on hand and with their unique brand of racing both winged and nonwinged Sprints on the same night, open wheel fans will get a full taste of high speed entertainment. Also on the program will be WISSOTA sanctioned Pure Stocks, Street Stocks and Super Stocks. The Midwest Modifieds and Modifieds will have the night off. Warmups begin at 6:30 pm. Check the speedway facebook page for complete details.

SUMMARY

Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake WI
May 19, 2018

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Dave Cain(Corcoran MN), Kevin Adams(Cameron), Cory Bruggeman(Stillwater MN), Ryan Viltz(Chetek), Jeff Spacek(Phillips), Steve Stuart(Ashland), Neil Balduc(Bessemer MI), Jason Gross(Osceola), Pat Hoffman(Rice Lake), Paul Niznik(Medford), Grant Southworth, Kent Baxter, Sam Fankhauser, Cory Williams, Dave Mayala, Cooper Berlin, Kyle Helling, Justin Schill, Mark Hessler, Justin Oestreich, Mike Anderson, Steve Hallquist

8 lap Heat 1 – Bruggeman, Adams, Oestreich(Elk River MN), Gross, Anderson(Jim Falls), Hallquist, Southworth, Schill
Heat 2 – Stuart, Cain, Spacek, Hoffman, Mayala(Barron), Hessler, Berlin
Heat 3 – Viltz, Balduc, Niznik, Baxter(Colfax), Fankhauser(Rice Lake), Williams, Helling

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20 lap Feature – Willie Johnsen Jr(Superior), Mike Loomis(Columbus MN), Matt Deragon(Ashland), Jeff Brauer(Eyota MN), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Randy Spacek(Phillips), Andy Miskowic(Princeton MN), Tanner Erickson(Princeton MN), Cody Kummer(Medford), Curt Myers(Cameron), Eric Olson, Jim Cimfl, Simon Wahlstrom, Jeff Klopstein Jr, Dan Lonsky, Kevin Hager, Andy Cimfl, Luke Schultz, Eric Zitelman, Scott Pittman, Cory Davis, Morgan Crotteau, Terran Spacek

8 lap Heat 1 – Kummer, Miskowic, Deragon, Johnsen Jr, Klopstein Jr(Tomahawk), Hager, Erickson, Zitelman
Heat 2 – T. Spacek(Phillips), Brauer, Loomis, Schultz(Cameron), Lonsky(Rush City MN), A. Cimfl, Pittman, Crotteau
Heat 3 – Myers, Soltis, R. Spacek, J. Cimfl(Turtle Lake), Olson(Ladysmith), Wahlstrom, Davis

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Tony Bahr(Haugen), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Austin Ellis(Rice Lake), Michael Truscott(Chippewa Falls), Calvin Iverson(Eleva), Joe Chaplin Jr(Cameron), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Aric Lindberg(Dallas), George Truscott(Greenland MI), Ryan Savoy, Grant Hall, George Dalbeck, Brandon Copp, J.D. Ford, Tyler Vernon, Dan Roatch, Zach Benson, Josh Wahlstrom, Craig Elliott
10 lap B Feature – Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Roatch(Cameron), Vernon(Ashland), Savoy(Superior), Shane Howell(Buffalo MN), Gunner Peterson, Fran Hanson, John Meeds, Andrea Keeney, John Breitenfeldt, David Simpson, Patrick Kelley, Jon Marsh, Patrick Howell, Tyler English

8 lap Heat 1 – G. Truscott, Halopka, Iverson, Hall(Brandon MB), Wahlstrom, Simpson, Meeds, P. Howell
Heat 2 – Adams, Ellis, Ford(Somerset), Copp(Brule), Vernon, Peterson, Marsh, Breitenfeldt
Heat 3 – Anderson, Chaplin Jr, Bahr, Elliott(Hillsdale), Roatch, Hanson, Kelley, Keeney
Heat 4 – Dalbeck(Wakefield MI), Benson(Princeton MN), Lindberg, M. Truscott, Savoy, English, S. Howell

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Parker Anderson(Phillips), Jay Kesan(Weyerhaeuser), Mike Knudtson(Osseo), Cody Kummer(Medford), Kolby Kiehl(Barron), Ashley Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Travis Loew(Barron), Braden Brauer(Eyota MN), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Jamey Fisher(Chetek), Kirk Bogdanovic, Gavin Rowland, Rob Grabon, Hunter Anderson, Duane Halverson, Scott Clark, Mike Chaplin

8 lap Heat 1 – Kummer, Kiehl, P. Anderson, Knudtson, Loew, Brauer, Chaplin, H. Anderson, Rowland
Heat 2 – Kesan, Clark(Cameron), Fisher, Wahlstrom, Bogdanovic(Phillips), Grabon, Halverson, Soltis

Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – Brandon Hakala(Tomahawk), Andrew Hanson(Iron River), Tucker Quinn(Ladysmith), Zach Beaulieu(Chetek), Kyle Copp(Brule), Randy Graham(Trego), George Richards(Mondovi), Cory Jorgensen(Hermantown MN), Trenten Holub(Chetek), Bob Thompson(Cameron), Adam Pratt, Dan Boissy, Mike Pratt, Aaron Bernick, Ryan Lindenfelser, Mike Huebner, Mike Holmstrom

8 lap Heat 1 – Hakala, Quinn, Hanson, Graham, M. Pratt(Bloomer), Bernick, A. Pratt, Holmstrom, Austin Fencl, Huebner
Heat 2 – Copp, Richards, Jorgensen, Beaulieu, Holub, Thompson, Boissy, Lindenfelser, Scotty VanGilder