Outstanding Runs by Hazelton and Hanson Top Rice Lake Speedway Racing

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, June 19 – After a one week break to allow the demolition derby drivers in the area a chance to practice their craft, the dirt track racers returned to the Rice Lake Speedway on Saturday night for a five division program that was highlighted by outstanding runs performed by Travis Hazelton and Andrew Hanson in earning hard fought feature wins. Also visiting victory lane were Simon Wahlstrom, Eric Olson and Jason Gross as two first time winners stood in victory lane. (Fry Pan Productions)

On a gorgeous night to be outside, the fans on hand saw two especially dramatic wins carried out as Hazelton performed a miracle back to front run to win the Pure Stock feature while Hanson won a physical race to grab the Street Stock main event win.

The Pure Stock feature saw four different leaders during this twelve lap main and winner Hazelton didn't take over the front spot until the last two laps of the race. The early part of the race was especially wild with four yellow flags in the first two laps of racing action. Front row rookies Bryar Zimmerman and Max Prusak led the early charge but it was veterans Hazelton and Bob Wahlstrom that triggered the first yellows. Hazelton started in the third row but went around with only one lap completed and was sent to the back of the twenty car field. Shortly after, Wahlstrom also went around and caught a piece of Randy Graham's car which eliminated him from further action.

Zimmerman led through the first two yellows but on the restart Prusak got the jump and took over the lead, only to see the yellow wave again one lap later. However, Prusak was judged to have jumped the previous restart and was set back two positions which gave the new lead to Tristan Scheuermann with Zimmerman now second ahead of Prusak.

However, now on the move was George Richards as the successful Pure Stock racer was making his first start of the 2021 racing season at Rice Lake. He drove past Scheuermann just at the halfway point of the race to take over the lead. Once again the yellow waved and by this time Hazelton had done a masterful job of working his way back up through the field as he ran fourth at this point.

The final five laps would go green to checkered and while Richards held off a closely following Scheuermann and Prusak, Hazelton elected to move up the track and he found immediate success as he drove past both contenders and closed on leader Richards.

Continuing to use the same tactic, he pulled up beside Richards and with a strong move down the back chute drove past the leader as the field reached the two laps to go point. Richards tried to fight back but he was unable to mount a charge and Hazelton drove home for a very impressive win, his third of the year here at Rice Lake. Richards, Prusak, Scheuermann and Zimmerman would complete the top five.

The Street Stock feature was just as hardly fought and in fact the winning margin was be even less than that of Hazelton.

Things started badly for the Street Stocks early when front row starters Will Fisher and Adam Soltis tangled while battling for the lead in turn two on the opening round sending the field scattering. Fisher was judged at fault, sent to the back and the race was restarted with Soltis then leading the opening lap.

Hanson was flying on the outside though and he would drive up to and then past Soltis by lap three to take over the lead. As Hanson gained some distance, a big battle was going on behind him as Soltis, Hunter VanGilder, Travis Loew and Kolby Kiehl were all fighting hard for position.

This race remained under the green after two first lap yellows and when VanGilder finally got past Soltis for second, he really started to close on leader Hanson quickly. Within a few laps he was on Hanson's rear bumper where he looked for a path past the leader. Things got a bit physical at this point with some contact between the two in the corners. VanGilder shouldered his way under Hanson and with two laps to go, VanGilder edged into the lead. However, Hanson refused to give in. Despite the fact he was on the outside, he hung tough and moved back beside VanGilder as the two saw the white flag.

Hanson made a great run through turn one and edged back into the lead as they continued to run side by side down the back chute. They remained side by side as they raced to the line and at the wire, it was Hanson who took the win by .066 seconds in what was an outstanding Street Stock race. It was Hanson's first win of the year as this class remains the most competitive at the track so far with six different winners in seven nights of racing. Soltis finished a strong third with Loew and Kiehl next in line.

Rookie driver Mike Schnider would lead the first six laps of the Midwest Modified feature race after starting on the outside pole. He got away from Aric Lindberg at the start and then started receiving challenges from Simon Wahlstrom, Kennedy Swan and a charging Travis Anderson.

Schnider would begin to feel heavy pressure from Wahlstrom and on lap seven Simon would drive low and slip into the lead.

Once in front, he was able to put some distance on the field as the race remained under the green flag for an extended period of time. Simon would receive no challenges for that front spot as he continued to hold a comfortable lead and would drive home for his third win in the Midwest Modifieds, a high water mark for the division so far this year. Schnider had his best run as he held of Swan for second as she also nipped Anderson with C.J. Wagner completing the top five.

The Super Stock feature went seriously wrong right from the opening lap when the pack tried to go three wide through turn three. A car broke lose on the low side of the track and went shooting straight up towards the wall. Impacted were Josh Saunders who then slammed into Andy Grymala who then took the wall very hard himself while Scott Pittman also slammed the wall while trying to avoid the wreck with Pittman's car then catching fire.

The fire was quickly extinguished and all drivers were unhurt but all three cars were heavily damaged and done for the evening. The restart found Andrew Davis take the early lead with Josh Bach, Simon Wahlstrom and Eric Olson all pulling in to challenge him. Olson was especially quick and he worked his way up to second and then to pressure the leader. Eventually Davis would get too high in turn one and on lap seven, Olson would drive into the lead.

Eric would then put some distance on the field until Nick Traynor was able to get lose from traffic and move into second. He then closed on Olson and the battle was on. The veteran Olson knows how to use the track and lap after lap found Traynor trying to get around Olson but just not quite being able to pull off the pass. Traynor continued his efforts but Olson was solid in his line around the track and made no mistakes.

Traynor would take one last shot on the final lap but he couldn't quite get the run he needed and Olson flashed across the line with a car length advantage for the win. Wahlstrom finished a close third with Cory Davis working his way up to fourth and Leslie Leu completing the top five. It was Olson's second Super Stock win of the year.

Jason Gross would lead all twenty laps to win his first Modified feature race of the year. He got the early jump over Wayne Poteet and then had to withstand challenges from Kyle Helling for the top spot. The race was stopped twice for minor spins and each time Gross would open up a lead over the field.

Behind him the action was close with several cars swapping positions on nearly every lap. The driver that made an impressive advancement was Cole Anderson as he drove past Helling to take over the second spot but Gross was well in front and never challenged.

The win for Jason was his first at Rice lake since the 2018 racing season. Anderson, in his first ever appearance at the track, drove to a solid second and was trailed by Helling, Pat Hoffman and Dave Mayala.

Next Saturday night, June 26th, will be a busy one for the track. The second one thousand dollar to win feature of the season will be on tap with the Street Stocks designated for the extra cash. A solid field of Street Stocks has been on hand every week and that group is expected to grow with more money on hand for the winner next week. It will also be Kid's Night at the track with the drivers meeting with the fans on track before the racing action starts as well as the gigantic bike giveaways with somewhere near one hundred bikes to be given to the young fans. Race time is slated for 7 pm. Max's Family Bar will be presenting the action next Saturday.

And don't forget that it is only two weeks until the Firecracker special on Saturday night, July 3rd when the five division program will be joined by the famous Rice Lake Speedway fireworks show, one of the finest to be found in the area. Rice Lake Tourism is helping the speedway on that night.

Follow the speedway face book page and check the website at wwwricelakespeedway.net for late information.

Media Results

Results formatted for use in newspapers, magazines, and online publications.

11 entries

WISSOTA MODIFIEDS

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 12-Jason Gross[1]; 2. 97-Cole Anderson[6]; 3. 10-Kyle Helling[4]; 4. 308-Pat Hoffman[7]; 5. 204-David Mayala[11]; 6. 33-Cooper Berlin[3]; 7. 57-Mike Anderson[8]; 8. 18W-Wayne Poteet[2]; 9. (DNF) 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 10. (DNF) 48-Cody Brightbill[9]; 11. (DNF) 20-Denny Cutsforth[10]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 27H-Steve Hallquist[2]; 2. 308-Pat Hoffman[3]; 3. 97-Cole Anderson[6]; 4. 12-Jason Gross[5]; 5. (DNF) 48-Cody Brightbill[1]; 6. (DNF) 204-David Mayala[4]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[5]; 2. 33-Cooper Berlin[1]; 3. 10-Kyle Helling[4]; 4. 18W-Wayne Poteet[3]; 5. (DNF) 20-Denny Cutsforth[2]

13 entries

WISSOTA SUPER STOCK

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1E-Eric Olson[7]; 2. 40-Nick Traynor[8]; 3. 46-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 4. 20-Cory Davis[9]; 5. 14X-Leslie Leu[3]; 6. 20*-Andrew Davis[2]; 7. 01-Michael Anderson[10]; 8. 245-Donald Cimfl Jr[11]; 9. (DNF) 67-Josh Bach[4]; 10. (DNF) 77-Josh Saunders[1]; 11. (DNF) 24-Andy Grymala[6]; 12. (DNF) 06-Scott Pittman[12]; 13. (DNS) 21-Mike Siewert

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 40-Nick Traynor[3]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[7]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[1]; 4. 77-Josh Saunders[2]; 5. 20-Cory Davis[5]; 6. 245-Donald Cimfl Jr[6]; 7. 06-Scott Pittman[4]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Andy Grymala[1]; 2. 46-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 3. 20*-Andrew Davis[3]; 4. 67-Josh Bach[4]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[2]; 6. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[6]

13 entries

WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[4]; 2. 40-Mike Schnider[2]; 3. 18S-Kennedy Swan[5]; 4. 37-Travis Anderson[7]; 5. 93-CJ Wagner[3]; 6. 20-Austin Ellis[10]; 7. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[8]; 8. 221-Aric Lindberg[1]; 9. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[6]; 10. 28-Francis Hanson[9]; 11. 24P-Scott Duval[11]; 12. 65-Rusty Taber[12]; 13. 19H-Kevin Herrman[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 93-CJ Wagner[1]; 2. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[3]; 3. 40-Mike Schnider[6]; 4. 221-Aric Lindberg[2]; 5. 28-Francis Hanson[4]; 6. 24P-Scott Duval[5]; 7. 19H-Kevin Herrman[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 3. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[5]; 4. 18S-Kennedy Swan[3]; 5. 20-Austin Ellis[6]; 6. 65-Rusty Taber[2]

19 entries

WISSOTA STREET STOCK

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 20-Andrew Hanson[4]; 2. 84-Hunter VanGilder[7]; 3. 9-Adam Soltis[2]; 4. 40-Travis Loew[6]; 5. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[5]; 6. 12K-Jay Kesan[9]; 7. 24-James Clausen[16]; 8. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 9. 26T-Ty Agen[13]; 10. 5H-Jason Havel[10]; 11. 79-Joseph Ott[12]; 12. 17-Zach Beaulieu[11]; 13. 30-Shawn Amundson[8]; 14. 71X-William Fisher[1]; 15. 37-Mike Chaplin[19]; 16. (DNF) 66-Eric Haupt[14]; 17. (DNF) 4-Matt Bray[17]; 18. (DNF) 19H-Kevin Herrman[18]; 19. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[3]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[2]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[6]; 4. 5H-Jason Havel[4]; 5. 26T-Ty Agen[7]; 6. 24-James Clausen[5]; 7. 37-Mike Chaplin[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12K-Jay Kesan[1]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 3. 9-Adam Soltis[3]; 4. 17-Zach Beaulieu[5]; 5. 66-Eric Haupt[2]; 6. 4-Matt Bray[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 71X-William Fisher[1]; 2. 84-Hunter VanGilder[3]; 3. 40-Travis Loew[4]; 4. 79-Joseph Ott[5]; 5. T20-Michael Tuma[6]; 6. 19H-Kevin Herrman[2]

21 entries

WISSOTA PURE STOCK

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 31-Travis Hazelton[6]; 2. 5R-George Richards[5]; 3. 66P-Max Prusak[2]; 4. 2S-Tristan Scheuermann[4]; 5. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[1]; 6. 23R-James Rahn[7]; 7. 101-Michael Grover[11]; 8. 52F-Austin Fencl[15]; 9. 95F-Devin Fries[21]; 10. 18M-Leo Moos[13]; 11. 52-Zachary Folz[16]; 12. 72-Cully Butterfield[20]; 13. 91-Michael Holmstrom[19]; 14. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[17]; 15. (DNF) 70-Bob Thompson[3]; 16. (DNF) 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[12]; 17. (DNF) 1-Ryan Olson[14]; 18. (DNF) 63-Ken Larson[10]; 19. (DNF) 88-Robert Wahlstrom[8]; 20. (DNF) 57-Randy Graham[9]; 21. (DNS) 2H-Cody Dahle

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 66P-Max Prusak[6]; 2. 2S-Tristan Scheuermann[5]; 3. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[7]; 4. 63-Ken Larson[2]; 5. 18M-Leo Moos[1]; 6. 52-Zachary Folz[3]; 7. (DNF) 95F-Devin Fries[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23R-James Rahn[3]; 2. 57-Randy Graham[2]; 3. 70-Bob Thompson[6]; 4. 101-Michael Grover[1]; 5. 1-Ryan Olson[7]; 6. 4K-Terry Kemp[4]; 7. 91-Michael Holmstrom[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[5]; 2. 31-Travis Hazelton[1]; 3. 5R-George Richards[2]; 4. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[4]; 5. 52F-Austin Fencl[3]; 6. 2H-Cody Dahle[6]; 7. 72-Cully Butterfield[7]