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  .: June 15, 2019 :.

Thompson, Doughty Get First Rice Lake Speedway Wins

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, June 15 – Bob Thompson and Dustin Doughty scored their first feature wins of the 2019 racing season at the Rice Lake Speedway to highlight racing action Saturday night on Kid's Night when several dozen bikes were given away to kids and a deluge of kids and parents descended on to the race track to meet the drivers before the racing program began. Kevin Adams continued to roll as he scored yet another double win, topping both the Modified and Midwest Modified feature and Willie Johnsen Jr won his second Super Stock feature of the season in a bizarre looking race that saw him cross the line second but be awarded the win.

Thompson, the defending point champion at the speedway, started on the pole after several weeks of poor racing luck and mechanical issues and he led all the way to record the win but the victory was a hard fought one despite his favorable starting position.

The biggest field of the night battled it out in the Pure Stock feature and several strong running cars provided challenges to Thompson over the course of the event. Jim Rahn, Cory Jorgensen, Mike Grover and Scott Meeds were among the early race challengers and they were soon joined by Cody Cimfl and George Richards who moved up from the ninth starting spot to eventually provide the strongest challenge.

Track point leader Aaron Bernick was an early victim of a flat tire in tight racing and was the first driver out of the contest. Rahn, Jorgensen and Meeds were right with the leader until Rahn spun at the halfway point of the race, which put him in the back and gave new challengers life.

Richards had been slowly working his way toward the front and following the midrace yellow, he got past Jorgensen for second and closed on the leader before one more yellow set up a four lap dash to the finish.

Richards put heavy pressure on the leader, nearly nosing under him as they took the white flag and then off the final corner again diving for the inside as Thompson slid quite wide on the final lap. The two sprinted to the wire with Thompson holding on by a half car length to record the popular win. Behind Richards, Cimfl got past Jorgensen near the end for third while Jay Folz drove a smooth race to complete the top five.

Doughty was the other first time winner at the speedway and he too started on the pole for the Street Stock main event. However, his route was slightly smoother than Thompson's and while he, like Thompson, led from start to finish, he was able to maintain a wider lead over what was a long, long race.

While Doughty was sailing smoothly up front, the rest of the field was anything but as spins, pushing and shoving and fender banging throughout the field marked the contest as the highly competitive field of cars felt on this night it was more expedient to drive through other cars than around them. The yellow waved seven times during the contest for various spins and other “dust ups” and a couple drivers had to be set back for over aggressive driving. In fact, the race ended under the yellow after a last lap collision sent Bob Wahlstrom hurtling toward the wall with a flat tire in turn one.

The official finish found Doughty on top with Hunter VanGilder, who worked his way up from the eighth starting spot, behind him in second. The rest of the top five saw Sam Fankhauser, in his first Street outing of the year, in third and trailed by Wahlstrom, up from thirteenth and Shawn Amundson to complete the top five.


Adams earned yet another double win as he topped both the Midwest Modified and Modified main events. In the Midwest Modified feature, he started eighth on the grid and made some of the most spectacular moves of the night early on as he threaded his way to the front, moving from bottom to top on the speedy track to find openings to the front. The Midwest Modifieds were running four wide in the early going and everyone sought an advantage to get to the front.

Travis Anderson was the early leader but following a lap four yellow for a spin, the restart saw Adams blow by Anderson on the high side and take over the lead. Once in front, he quickly stretched his advantage with Shane Halopka over driving past Anderson to take over second.

A late yellow set up a four lap sprint to the finish and gave Halopka his chance, but Adams would have none of it as he pulled away again to a comfortable lead which he would maintain as he took his fourth Midwest Modified win in five weeks of racing. At the finish, Austin Ellis would nip Anderson by .008 seconds for third with Jamie Bisonette completing the top five.

The Modified feature was a two car race from start to finish with Adams coming off the top side of the front row to take the early lead while Mike Anderson quickly moved into second and the race was on. The top two pulled away from the field and Anderson did everything he could to try and shorten up the lead between the two.

Anderson tried different lines around the track as he tried to shorten up the margin between them but with the race going nonstop from green to checkered, he got no help and the two appeared to be remarkably even in speed. At the finish, Adams maintained his initial margin and drove on for his third Modified feature win, all in a row. Sam Fankhauser had his best run of the year as he maintained the third position from start to finish in the race with Pat Hoffman and Mark Hanson next in line.

Willie Johnsen Jr earned his second Super Stock feature win of the season in a most unusual looking race that saw Johnsen Jr cross the finish line in second spot but then was awarded the win when apparent winner Simon Wahlstrom was set back two positions for jumping on the final restart.

Austin Workman was the early leader of the race but was soon challenged by Adam Soltis for the lead as Johnsen Jr and Eric Olson both came charging to the front. Johnsen Jr got to the high side of the track and drove by first Soltis and then Workman to take over the lead. Olson was also charging forward and he took over the second spot.

Meanwhile, Wahlstrom was on the move after starting eighth and he got by first Soltis and then Olson to take over second and then set out after the leader. Soltis was also on the move as he got by fellow Ladysmith driver Olson to move into second.

Eleven straight laps of green flag waving saw Wahlstrom really start to pick up the pace and as the race started to wind down, he had moved to within a couple of car lengths of leader Johnsen Jr and appeared the faster of the two cars.

A spin on the back chute set up a four lap sprint to the finish with a single file restart. As the leader Johnsen Jr set the pace for the restart, Wahlstrom tried to anticipate the green and he was nearly up beside Johnsen Jr when the green flag waved and within second he had passed the leader and from then on, he drove away from the field, flashing under the checkered as the apparent winner.

However, immediately upon the completion of the event, track officials called Simon for a jump start on the last restart and he was set back two positions for the infraction, as is standard policy. Therefore, Johnsen Jr was declared the winner with the official top five consisting of Soltis, Wahlstrom, Olson and Luke Schultz, with his first top five of the season, completing the running order.

Next Saturday night, the Rice Lake Speedway hosts another special event and this time the Modifieds will hold center stage. The Advantage RV Modified Tour, based in Watertown South Dakota and the only official traveling series for Modifieds in WISSOTA, will make the Rice Lake Speedway their seventh stop of the 2019 racing season. So far, Shane Sabraski of Rice Minnesota and Dan Ebert from Lakeshore Minnesota have dominated the series with Sabraski winning four times and Ebert twice. Sabraski currently has a twelve point lead over Ebert, who won the event at Rice Lake last year. Other drivers in the top five in points currently include Jeremy Nelson from Alexandria Mn, Johnny Broking from Grand Rapids Mn and Don Eischens from Richmond Mn with drivers from Minnesota, South Dakota and Manitoba Canada currently riding in the top ten in points. Thirty or more Modifieds are expected to be on hand with a forty lap main event paying fifteen hundred dollars to the winner being the top prize.

After a recent decision by track management at the Rice Lake Speedway, the other four classes that regularly race at the Rice Lake Speedway will all be in action for a regular point night so fans of the other classes will get to see them all in action also. Warm ups are slated for 6:30 pm with racing to follow. For more information, check the speedway website at www.ricelakespeedway.net or check the face book page.

SUMMARY

Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake WI
June 15, 2019

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Mike Anderson(Jim Falls), Sam Fankhauser(Rice Lake), Pat Hoffman(Rice Lake), Mark Hanson(Chippewa Falls), Dave Mayala(Barron), Kyle Helling(Rice Lake), Wayne Poteet(Spooner)

8 lap Heat – Anderson, Hoffman, Adams, Fankhauser, Hanson, Mayala, Helling, Poteet

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20 lap Feature – Willie Johnsen Jr(Superior), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Simon Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Luke Schultz(Cameron), Steve Davidson(Richland Center), Marcus Simonson(Luck), Josh Bach(Barron), Jason Quarders(Prairie Farm), Mike Siewert(Cameron), Mickey Anderson, Austin Workman, Tucker Quinn

8 lap Heat 1 – Soltis, Workman(Barron), Simonson, Schultz, Quarders, Siewert, Anderson
Heat 2 – Olson, Wahlstrom, Johnsen Jr, Quinn(Ladysmith), Bach, Davidson

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Austin Ellis(Rice Lake), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Jamie Bisonette(Dallas), Fran Hanson(Almena), Justin Claussen(Eau Claire), Nate Erickson(New Richmond), Craig Elliott(Hillsdale), Duane Halverson(Shell Lake), Jonny Marsh

8 lap Heat 1 – Adams, Halopka, Ellis, Erickson, Claussen, Halverson
Heat 2 – Anderson, Bisonette, Elliott, Hanson, Marsh(Rice Lake)

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Dustin Doughty(Oakdale MN), Hunter VanGilder(Rice Lake), Sam Fankhauser(Rice Lake), Bob Wahlstrom(Chetek), Shawn Amundson(Rice Lake), Kolby Kiehl(Barron), Hunter Anderson(Phillips), Parker Anderson(Phillips), Jason Havel(Rice Lake), C.J. Wagner(Rice Lake), Will Fisher, Russ Chester, Cody Kummer, Andrew Hanson, Alex Minks, Travis Loew, Zach Beaulieu

8 lap Heat 1 – VanGilder, Kiehl, Loew(Barron), Hanson(Iron River), P. Anderson, Wagner, Wahlstrom, Fisher, Havel
Heat 2 – Fankhauser, Amundson, Doughty, Kummer(Medford), Chester(Chetek), H. Anderson, Beaulieu, Minks

WISSOTA Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – Bob Thompson(Cameron), George Richards(Mondovi), Cody Cimfl(Chetek), Cory Jorgensen(Duluth MN), Jay Folz(Cameron), Scott Meeds(Shell Lake), Mike Grover(Chetek), Brent Miller(Cameron), Ryan Clausen(Barron), Ken Oftedahl(Cameron), Devin Fries, Jim Rahn, Mike Huebner Sr, Ryan Lindenfelser, Austin Fencl, Dave Holub, Mike Huebner, Trenten Holub, Mike Holmstrom, Aaron Bernick

8 lap Heat 1 – Richards, Meeds, Grover, Oftedahl, Fencl(Bruce), Huebner, Lindenfelser
Heat 2 – Cimfl, Folz, Bernick(Duluth Mn), Miller, Clausen, Fries, T. Holub
Heat 3 – Jorgensen, Thompson, Rahn(Haugen), Huebner Sr, D. Holub(Rice Lake), Holmstrom