Twenty Fifth Little Dream Comes to Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI – One of the most storied Street Stock races in the entire country comes to the Rice Lake Speedway for its quarter century celebration on Tuesday night, July 30th. For the twenty fifth time, race fans will gather at the third mile oval on Rice Lake's North side to watch a huge field of Street Stocks battle it out for one of the largest purses in the country and bragging rights for winning one of the highest paying, and most unique events of its kind in the entire country.

Way back in 1995, forty three Street Stock drivers from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan gathered at the Rice Lake Speedway on June 13th of that year to race in one of the very few specials at the time for the Street Stocks. Eric Olson, who is expected to be in the field for this year's event and is the only three time winner of this race, won that night and earned a large prize of $780.

In 2018, Danny Richards made a late race pass to win this same race and went home with a race record top prize of $16,088 over a field of sixty drivers representing five states and Canada.

What has changed over the years has been the level of commitment of the race fans and businesses of the area that has helped make this race grow. For this race is funded in a very unique way. After a base purse has been set by the ownership of the speedway, all the extra money that goes into the purse is contributed by fans on hand and by representatives of businesses from the Rice Lake area and beyond. Cash donations have sent the payoff for this race through the roof and there has been no reduction recently in the amount that fans have chipped in.

But it is more than just money contributed to the winner for this race. Donations are accepted for any finishing position and other unique criteria such as the highest finishing Ford, the first car to get a flat tire, the top finishing out of state driver etc. All these and many other stipulations make for a fun filled and action packed night of entertainment for all.

With this being the twenty fifth year of the race, hopes are high that an all time record top prize can be achieved and that the race winner will go home with a thousand dollars for each year that the race has been run. And part of the fun is that until the final cash contributions are added up, no one will know just exactly what the final totals for each finishing position will be. However, Todd Manley of Adams Automotive from Cameron Wisconsin has guaranteed that any feature race starter will receive at least $500 if they pre enter for the event. A non qualifier feature will also guarantee at least five hundred dollars to win and as an added event this year, a dash for all sixteen of the previous winners will be held with all former champions of this event having been invited. Hopes are also high that a record number of entrants will attend this year and there have been hints that some surprise entrants may show on race night.

Street Stocks will be the only division racing on this night so full attention can be paid to this class and time will be available to keep the donations rolling in. The thirty five lap feature race will be the highlight event for the evening and FYE Motorsports Promotions Inc of St. Cloud Minnesota has again been hired to provide officials and administer the running of the event. Drivers that are considering running the race should pre register so they can avail themselves of the guaranteed starting money that is offered.

The pit gates will open on July 30th at 4 pm with the grandstand opening one hour later. Warm ups are slated for 6:30 pm with racing to follow. The Rice Lake Speedway is located one mile North of Rice Lake Wisconsin between state highway 48 and Barron County SS. The track phone number is 715-236-2002. For more information or to answer any questions, please call either Dave Adams at 715-205-2861 or Mitch Hansen at 715-205-1122. The speedway website at www.ricelakespeedway.net and the speedway face book page will also have updated information. The raindate for this event is Wednesday night, July 31st at the same time.