Kingsley Edges Hanson In Rice Lake Speedway Thriller

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, Aug. 17 – Rookie Modified driver Dan Kingsley held off the late race charge of Mark Hanson to edge him out by mere feet and win his first ever Modified main event at the Rice Lake Speedway to highlight the final regular season program of the 2019 racing season. Zach Manley also won his first feature race of the season while Kevin Adams, George Richards and Curt Myers also visited victory lane on a night when the five track point titles were also decided for 2019.

Kingsley lost his bid for his first ever win here several weeks ago when he was passed on the last corner of the main event by Adams but Saturday night he held off the same kind of last corner charge to take home the win. He led every lap of the feature race but the last half of the event saw Hanson become an increasingly insistent challenger until he was right on Kingsley's rear bumper as the race laps wound down.
After a first lap spin, the rest of the Modified feature had gone off without any yellow flag slow downs and after Hanson got past Pat Hoffman for second, he closed in on Kingsley and set the stage for a late race shootout. Adams and Hoffman had a dandy battle for third with Adams eventually elbowing Hoffman out of the way to grab that spot and he then closed in on the top two.

The final laps saw Hanson driving low in the corners and trying to edge past Kingsley on the inside with Adams tight behind the two seeking out an opening. Hanson gave it his best shot on the final corner and they raced to the finish line side by side but Kingsley had just enough momentum to edge past on the high side and hold on for the win. The margin of victory was .118 seconds or less than half a car length. Adams settled for third with Hoffman and Mike Anderson trailing. Adams edged out Hoffman by eighteen points to win the track point title.

While the Modifieds had only one yellow in their feature race, the Street Stock feature was peppered with slow downs with them taking three tries to get just the opening lap in and no stretch where they ran more than four laps without a slowdown. Most were for minor spins except when race lead contention Parker Anderson suffered a major mechanical failure and left fluid over most of the track, resulting in a long track packing delay.

Manley had started on the outside pole and had edged past Hunter Anderson to take the early lead but C.J. Wagner and Ron Hanestad put plenty of pressure on the leader following each slow down when the pack was reformed once again. Kolby Kiehl was on the move and he drove into the second spot as quite a group of drivers continued to jockey for position right behind Manley.

Zach continued to hold the top spot and was able to edge ahead of the pack by a couple car lengths while the battle for second raged. Shawn Amundson was the driver on the move as after starting in the back of the pack following a flat tire incurred in his heat race, he was rapidly working his way to the front. He edged past Hanestad and then tried to work past Kiehl.

The final yellow set up a three lap dash to the finish and while Manley was able to get away from the field, the battle for second saw Kiehl and Amundson get tied up briefly in turn one with Amundson slipping back behind Hanestad who was able to drive home for the third spot with Amundson and Adam Soltis rounding out the top five.

For Manley, it was his first win at Rice Lake since the 2010 racing season, a break out year for him when he earned five feature wins as a Street Stock rookie and then he left to serve in the military, just returning to racing part way through the 2018 racing season. He also became the tenth different winner in the highly competitive Street Stock division at the track this year.

Hunter VanGilder and Andrew Hanson were locked in the closest point race in the Streets and while Hanson edged out VanGilder by one spot in the finishing order, Hunter held on to win his first point title at the track by the slim margin of nine points.

On the other end of the spectrum, Adams was able to make a great late race charge to overcome Shane Halopka and win his ninth Midwest Modified feature of the season, tops for anyone at the track. After a first lap spin slowed the action, Halopka was able to go from sixth to the lead in less than one lap with a bold outside move down the front chute allowing him to drive past Craig Elliott and take over the lead.
As Halopka pulled away, the battle for second soon saw Aric Lindberg and Adams fighting for the spot as the green flag remained out. Adams tried lap after lap to slip under Lindberg but Aric proved tough to pass as he held his line. Meanwhile, the battle for second saw those two drivers begin to cut into Halopka's lead and soon they were within a few car lengths of the leader.

Adams was finally able to slip under Lindberg in turn one and take over second and both closed rapidly in on the leader as his once comfortable margin was cut substantially. Adams closed the lead up to nothing and with a strong move blew past Halopka to take over the top spot, after which he strengthened his lead in the last couple of laps to take yet another win. Lindberg had to settle for third behind Halopka with Denny Cutsforth and Travis Anderson rounding out the top five. Adams also was the point champion in the division.
D.J. Keeler was the early leader in the Super Stock feature as he edge ahead of Jim Cimfl at the start and held the lead for several laps. However, Curt Myers was on the charge after starting eighth and it took him just a short time to move in on Keeler for the top spot. Myers made a couple attempts at Keeler before he was able to slide past in turn one and after that, he pulled away from the pack to build up a big lead.

The battle was for second with Nick Traynor making a strong charge and then finally pulling past Keeler to move into second. However, Myers had a big lead built up and he just cruised the final half of the race, winning his seventh feature at Rice Lake by a substantial distance. Late race mechanical failures by Eric Olson and Willie Johnsen Jr was the running order shook up with Keeler being trailed by Simon Wahlstrom and Cimfl to complete the top five.

Despite blowing his rear end gears on the final lap and idling home for the finish, Johnsen Jr nailed down the point title by eighty seven points for the Super Stock honors.

George Richards is locked in a tight battle for the Pure Stock national point title and a hard fought win over Bob Thompson surely helped his cause on Saturday night. Aaron Bernick was the early leader of the feature but when he pushed up the track, Thompson was right there after starting sixth to take over the lead.

The pack was still tight and battling when Joe Prusak, having moved into a challenging position, spun in turn four and was clobbered by point leader Ryan Clausen with the force to rip a rear wheel right off Prusak's car. Both cars would be eliminated from the event.

Thompson continued to lead on the restart but Richards was systematically working his way through the pack after starting eighth. He drove up into the second spot by passing Bernick and then closed on Thompson. Bob liked the middle groove and Richards dove to the bottom and they raced each other hard but clean for several laps, with Richards' repeated challenges being thwarted until finally George was able to sneak past on the low side in turn four and take over the lead. He then strengthened the advantage in the remaining laps to gain his third victory of the season at Rice Lake. Thompson finished a strong second while the drive of the race was put on by Jay Folz who started dead last in the sixteen car field and with a late charge, was able to pass Bernick and finish a strong third. Bernick and Mike Huebner Sr completed the top five.

Despite an early exit from the feature race after the tough hit with Prusak, Clausen held on to win his first ever point title at the track.
With the regular season now complete, drivers will focus on the two remaining events on the 2019 Rice Lake Speedway racing calendar. With points now completed, next Saturday night, August 24th, drivers will be racing hard in all five classes for the 2019 track championships. The draw/redraw lineup format is expected to be used with big trophies as well as cash on the line for this night of racing.
And then, on Saturday night, August 31st, the racing season will wrap up with the Labor Day weekend special. A full program in all five divisions will again be held with extra cash on the line for this season ending show, with the program being just a one night event in 2019.

For both shows, the pits will open at 4 pm, the grandstands at 5 pm, with cutoff for the drivers at 6:30 pm and warm ups and racing to follow.

For more information, check the speedway website and face book page or call Dave Adams or Mitch Hansen for details.

SUMMARY

Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake WI
August 17, 2019

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Dan Kingsley(Superior), Mark Hanson(Chippewa Falls), Kevin Adams(Cameron), Pat Hoffman(Rice Lake), Mike Anderson(Jim Falls), Sam Fankhauser(Rice Lake), Matt Leer(Bruce), Cole Varsho(Stratford), Kyle Helling(Rice Lake), Dave Mayala(Barron), Steve Hallquist

8 lap Heat 1 – Fankhauser, Kingsley, Hoffman, Hanson, Hallquist(Eau Claire), Helling
Heat 2 – Leer, Anderson, Adams, Varsho, Mayala

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20 lap Feature – Curt Myers(Cameron), Nick Traynor(Barron), D.J. Keeler(Superior), Simon Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Jim Cimfl(Turtle Lake), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Josh Bach(Barron), Willie Johnsen Jr(Superior), Mickey Anderson(Dallas), Wayne Harris Jr(Bloomer), Josh Cappo, Eric Olson

8 lap Heat 1 – Traynor, Wahlstrom, Keeler, Harris Jr, Soltis, Cappo, Bach
Heat 2 – Myers, Olson(Ladysmith), Johnsen Jr, Cimfl, Rob Holmstrom Jr(Cameron), Anderson

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Aric Lindberg(Dallas), Denny Cutsforth(Rice Lake), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Jamie Bisonette(Dallas), Kenny Kincaid(Shell Lake), Craig Elliot(Hillsdale), Fran Hanson(Almena), Jesse Young(Stone Lake)

8 lap Heat 1 – Adams, Anderson, Cutsforth, Bisonette, Hanson
Heat 2 – Halopka, Elliott, Kincaid, Lindberg, Young

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Zach Manley(Chetek), Kolby Kiehl(Barron), Ron Hanestad(Glenwood City), Shawn Amundson(Rice Lake), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Andrew Hanson(Iron River), Hunter VanGilder(Rice Lake), Hunter Anderson(Phillips), Bob Wahlstrom(Chetek), Zach Beaulieu(Chetek), Cody Kummer, C.J. Wagner, Travis Loew, Parker Anderson, Rob Grabon, Will Fisher, Ty Agen

8 lap Heat 1 – Kummer(Medford), Hanson, Wagner(Rice Lake), Wahlstrom, Loew(Barron), Alex Minks
Heat 2 – Manley, P. Anderson(Phillips), Hanestad, VanGilder, Beaulieu, Amundson
Heat 3 – Soltis, H. Anderson, Kiehl, Grabon(Bruce), Fisher(Shell Lake), Agen

WISSOTA Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – George Richards(Mondovi), Bob Thompson(Cameron), Jay Folz(Cameron), Aaron Bernick(Duluth MN), Mike Huebner Sr(Cumberland), Austin Fencl(Bruce), Mike Grover(Chetek), Josh Miller(Spooner), Ken Oftedahl(Cameron), Mike Holmstrom(Rice Lake), Terry Kemp, Devin Fries, Ryan Clausen, Joe Prusak

8 lap Heat 1 – Thompson, Huebner Sr, Bernick, Grover, Holmstrom, Kemp, Folz
Heat 2 – Clausen(Barron), Richards, Prusak(Clayton), Oftedahl, Fries(Phillips), Fencl, Miller