Adams' Last Corner Slider Tops Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, June 29 – Kevin Adams made a last corner slide move under Dan Kingsley work to top the Modified feature and highlight an entertaining night of racing on a steamy Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. Adams' last lap pass also allowed him to become a double winner for the night as he also won a hard fought victory over Shane Halopka to win the Midwest Modified feature also. Other winners on the last June program of the year included Hunter VanGilder, Curt Myers and Bob Thompson.

Adams had his work cut out for him in the Modified main as he started in the seventh position and had to work his way to the front through a group of drivers that were also running hard and fast and each position gained hard to be earned. Kingsley, the Superior driver who is a rookie in the Modified class, started on the outside pole and he quickly got the jump on Bryan Hessler to move into the lead.

Kingsley, looking for his first ever Modified win at Rice Lake , quickly stepped away from the field as he worked the cushion well and was setting a blistering pace.

Adams, meanwhile, was gradually working his way through the field, as he engaged in some spirited battles with Steve Hallquist and Hessler before finally moving into the third spot. Kingsley and young Cole Varsho were still running in the top two spots and were both maintaining a fast pace. Adams attempted to catch them and while he did get to Varsho's rear bumper, Varsho continued to show the speed to hold him off while Kingsley was still comfortably ahead of both of them.
A lap thirteen yellow for a minor spin slowed the action and certainly changed the course of the race. Under green again, Kingsley once again pulled away but Adams got a great break on the restart and was able to slide under Varsho to take over the second spot. He then set off after Kingsley with not a lot of laps to make a move. He caught the leader with about five laps to go and made a couple attempts to dive inside him in turn three but each time Kingsley would fight him off as the two leaders engaged in some great dirt track side by side action.

Time was running out for Adams, but the all time feature win leader at Rice Lake would have one more card up his sleeve. He tucked in behind Kingsley as the white flag waved and then got a great run off turn two. Down the back chute he dropped low and then threw a big slide job to the inside of Kingsley and cleared him as they entered the final corner. Kingsley, however, saw him coming and cut to the inside as Adams slid past his deck. They raced side by side to the checkered with Kingsley on the inside and Adams up against the wall and at Troy Holder's checkered flag, Adams was the winner by half a car length in a thriller.

Varsho finished off a very strong run with a solid third place finish. The late yellow was a benefit to Jason Gross who picked up several spots in the last few laps to edge out another strong run by Pat Hoffman for fourth. The late yellow was not, however, a benefit to Hallquist and Paul Suzik who both lost positions following the last yellow.

Adams was a busy driver on Saturday as he also engaged in a hard fought contest in the Midwest Modified feature before making a late race pass and then holding off the efforts of Shane Halopka to repass him in the last few laps. Both Halopka and Adams started in the fourth row of the Midwest Modified feature so they had some tough work to do to get to the front.
Kenny Kinkaid took the early lead from the outside pole and he set a torrid pace, leading the first half of the race with Craig Elliott, James Kannegiesser and Denny Cutsforth running in a group behind Kinkaid. Halopka was able to get through the pack ahead of Adams and when he got to second, he set in motion his plan to pass Kinkaid for the lead. Just at the halfway point of the race, he was able to drive past Kinkaid and take over the lead with Adams just then moving into third. Adams was also able to get past Kinkaid and the healthy rivalry between the two leaders would be renewed once again. Adams had a two feature win streak in the class stopped by Halopka last Saturday and it seems that these two have been fighting it out for feature wins most of the season here at Rice Lake.

Following a midrace yellow flag for a spin, they once again went at it with Adams challenging Halopka for the top spot. Kevin made a strong move off turn four and was able to edge past Halopka on the high side to take over the lead with five laps to go. Halopka came right back at him and tried a low side move but was barely fended off by Adams. The final couple of laps saw Adams pick up the pace and he drew away slightly from Halopka for the win. It was Adams' fifth win of the year here in the Midwest Modified to go along with four more in the Modified in what has been a successful season so far after a slow start.

Kinkaid had a very strong run as he held on for third over a fast closing Jamie Bisonette for that position. Speaking of charges through the field, Joe Chaplin Jr started fourteenth in the field after missing his heat race and with a late surge, he made the top five at the finish.

A great Street Stock feature saw point leader Hunter VanGilder drive the wheels off his car as he battled past C.J. Wagner for a hard earned Street Stock main triumph, his second of the year at Rice Lake. The race got off to a shaky start as the front row cars of Russ Chester and Ron Hanestad got together in turn two on the crowded first lap with Chester then rebounding off Dave Mass to bring out the yellow with both the front row cars going off on the hook.

That moved Wagner to the pole and he took the early lead with heavy challenges from Parker Anderson and Jay Kesan. Wagner was running the middle groove as he likes to do and his car was responding as he continued to hold off all challenges. Meanwhile, VanGilder, who started eighth, was working his way to the front along with Andrew Hanson as both soon were in the running among the top five.

Both continued to advance as they got past Kesan and Anderson and set off after the leader, Wagner.

VanGilder was able to get to the low side of Wagner and then the great battle ensued as they race side by side around the dirt oval, either giving an inch and neither touching each other as they raced as hard as possible. Finally, with just a few laps to go, Wagner slipped up just the least bit in turn four and VanGilder pounced on that chance by driving into the lead. And Hanson was right there to take advantage also as he slipped into second and began to pressure VanGilder for the lead.
However, Hunter was just a bit too strong and he made no mistakes as he drove on for the win. Hanson continues a very strong rookie season with a fine second place finish and Wagner hung on for third ahead of Anderson and Kesan.

The strongest field of Super Stocks of the season to date was on hand but that didn't bother Curt Myers who still drove on to another win, his fourth at the track so far this year. Don Muzzy, who the last time he was here, wrecked his car forcing him to buy a new one, took the early lead but was soon overtaken by Terran Spacek who was setting a strong pace. However, Myers was on the move too and he pulled to Spacek's rear bumper and then with a power move in turn four, dove under Spacek and took over the top spot. Also to be watched were Kevin Burdick and Dave Mass, who both were on the move and trying to catch the leading duo. Burdick moved into second and he and Spacek had a great battle for that position with Burdick pulling up beside Spacek on several occasions but not being able to make a passing move.

The race was stopped once near the midpoint for a stalled car but the majority of the contest ran under the green flag and there would be no stopping Myers who maintained a strong lead for the rest of the event. The race for second never did lessen, but Spacek was up to the challenge of the hot running Burdick and held him off for the second spot. Mass made a last lap pass of Muzzy to guarantee the fourth finishing position.

Bob Thompson was indeed one hot Pure Stock driver on Saturday night as he drove to his second win of the year and then had to bail out of his car as it sat on the scales to be weighed after the race when it caught fire!

Ryan Lindenfelser led the first lap of the race until he was overtaken by Aaron Bernick who moved up using the high side of the track. He settled into the lead as both Thompson and George Richards moved up from the third and fourth rows respectively. Thompson was making some strong moves in traffic as he cleared himself and raced to the second spot. Catching the high side racing Bernick would not be easy but Bob managed to track him down and using the inside line, edged past the former leader when Bernick got too high in turn four. Richards was also methodically moving to the front and he also over took Bernick to take over second.

Thompson's car started to issue smoke out of the back end of his machine, much as it did toward the end of his winning heat race. But, as hard as Richards pushed, he wasn't able to cut into the lead significantly and Thompson drove home for another win. When he pulled up on the scale, flames burst out from under the car and he scooted out the window to the cheers of the crowd as fire crews put out the flames. Richards finished a strong second with point leader Bernick running third. Cody Cimfl had a strong run for fourth with Ryan Clausen completing the top five.

Drivers and race fans will now focus their attention on this coming Wednesday, July 3rd when the annual Firecracker special will be held at the Rice Lake Speedway. Long known as one of the finest holiday events of the racing season, a full show of racing in all five classes will be held along with the speedway's well known fireworks display that will have both aerial and ground displays as a part of the show. As always, a huge crowd is anticipated for this event so fans should arrive a bit earlier than normal to secure their favorite seats. The rain date for this event is Saturday night, July 6th. However, if the Firecracker is completed as planned on July 3rd, there will be no racing at the track on July 6th. The speedway will then return to racing action on July 13th when the AFCO Race of Champions qualifiers will be held with the feature winners automatically entered in the Race of Champions to be held in September at the WISSOTA 100 at I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls MN.

Fans should check the speedway website and face book page for updates on all racing programs that are upcoming.

SUMMARY

Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake WI
June 29, 2019

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Dan Kingsley(Superior), Cole Varsho(Stratford), Jason Gross(Osceola), Pat Hoffman(Rice Lake), Steve Hallquist(Eau Claire), Jake Miller(Somerset), Paul Suzik(Ironwood MI), Kyle Helling(Rice Lake), Bryan Hessler(Chetek), Dave Mayala, Jake Hanson, Nick Wranek

8 lap Heat 1 – Adams, Hoffman, Hessler, Varsho, Gross, Miller, Wranek, Hanson
Heat 2 – Kingsley, Hallquist, Suzik, Mayala(Barron), Helling, Brandon Wytaske, Chad Dawson

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20 lap Feature – Curt Myers(Cameron), Terran Spacek(Phillips), Kevin Burdick(Proctor MN), Dave Mass(East Bethel MN), Don Muzzy(Ironwood MI), Willie Johnsen Jr(Superior), Kip Myers(Ethan SD), Nick Oreskovich(Mason), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Adam Soltis, Kurt Becken, Josh Bach, Steve Davidson, Matt Roux, Andy Ladd, Mickey Anderson, Tanner Erickson, Rob Holmstrom Jr, Luke Schultz

8 lap Heat 1 – Mass, Spacek, Johnsen Jr, Oreskovich, Erickson(Princeton MN), Steffen, Ladd
Heat 2 – Olson, Burdick, K. Myers, Soltis(Ladysmith), Roux(Rice Lake), Anderson, Becken
Heat 3 – C. Myers, Muzzy, Davidson(Richland Center), Holmstrom Jr(Cameron), Bach(Barron), Schultz

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Kenny Kinkaid(Shell Lake), Jamie Bisonette(Dallas), Joe Chaplin Jr(Cameron), Craig Elliott(Hillsdale), Denny Cutsforth(Rice Lake), Cole Kelley(New Richmond), Nick Axelsen(Star Prairie), Gavin Olson(Osceola), James Kannegiesser, Justin Claussen, Nate Erickson, Tyler Lamm

8 lap Heat 1 – Bisonette, Halopka, Kinkaid, Claussen(Eau Claire), Kelley, Lamm, Axelsen
Heat 2 – Adams, Cutsforth, Elliott, Kannegiesser(Boyceville), Erickson(New Richmond), Olson

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Hunter VanGilder(Rice Lake), Andrew Hanson(Iron River), C.J. Wagner(Rice Lake), Parker Anderson(Phillips), Jay Kesan(Weyerhaeuser), Adam Soltis(Ladysmith), Cody Kummer(Medford), Dave Mass(East Bethel MN), Zach Beaulieu(Chetek), Rob Grabon(Bruce), Ty Agen, Michael Tuma, Alex Minks, Kolby Kiehl, Will Fisher, Russ Chester, Ron Hanestad

8 lap Heat 1 – Mass, VanGilder, Hanson, Anderson, Kiehl(Barron), Soltis, Fisher, Agen
Heat 2 – Hanestad(Glenwood City), Kesan, Wagner, Chester(Chetek), Beaulieu, Grabon, Tuma, Kummer.

WISSOTA Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – Bob Thompson(Cameron), George Richards(Mondovi), Aaron Bernick(Duluth MN), Cody Cimfl(Chetek), Ryan Clausen(Barron), Jay Folz(Cameron), Brent Miller(Cameron), Mike Huebner Sr(Cumberland), Ryan Lindenfelser(Trego), Ken Oftedahl(Cameron), Randy Shackleton, Mike Holmstrom, Terry Kemp, Allen Metz

8 lap Heat 1 – Cimfl, Richards, Folz, Lindenfelser, Oftedahl, Shacklton, Metz
Heat 2 – Thompson, Clausen, Bernick, Miller, Huebner Sr, Holmstrom, Kemp