Borgeson Tops Ellis In Rice Lake Speedway Thriller

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, May 22 – Cody Borgeson Topped Austin Ellis in a thrilling finish to get his first ever feature win to top the racing program Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. It was the ROC(Race of Champions by Afco) qualifier events on Saturday and also earning invitations to that big event in September at the I-94 Sure Step Speedway in Fergus Falls Minnesota were Hunter VanGilder, Nick Traynor, Kevin Adams and Cory Jorgensen. (Fry Pan Productions)

The infield was a sea of mud after over four inches of rain hit the speedway in the last few days but the track prep crew did a great job of getting the track ready and it was not only suitable for racing, it was exceptional and provided both a smooth and fast racing surface.

It was a repeat performance for Borgeson and Ellis as the two were the main contenders in last week's Midwest Modified that went right down to the wire and they back at it again on Saturday night. The big difference this time was that Borgeson would hold off all challenges for Ellis to get what had eluded him last Saturday, and that would be his first ever feature win driving a Midwest Modified at any track, not just Rice Lake.

Things would not get off to a smooth start in the race however, as hard driving got the entire field in trouble three times before more than one lap could be completed. Pole starter C.J. Wagner got turned around in the first turn sending the field scrambling and calling for a complete restart. The second attempt only managed to yield one racing lap before Tanner Gehl spun and three cars all collected together with Mike Schnider being eliminated.

The third time would not be the charm either as Paul Suzik and Kennedy Swan, who were in the previous collision but managed to keep racing were both collected on try three when Suzik got squeezed into the back chute wall and Kennedy piled into him with no where to go. Both were done for the night.

After that point, it was all out racing and quickly Borgeson would take the lead with Ellis moving to second and the battle was on. Almost as a mirror to last week, Ellis would then try both high and low but each time Borgeson would have just enough momentum to hold him off. Both, however, were also being chased hard by Cody Carlson, making it a three car race.

Ellis managed to get beside Borgeson twice but each time Cody would fight off Austin as they continued to argue for the spot with a bit of rubbing also going on. With Borgeson guarding the low groove on the final lap, Austin chose the high side and he got a strong run off the final corner. He came up just a car length short however as Borgeson completed his historic run and touched off a wild celebration in the infield at the makeshift victory lane wth the normal one under water. Carlson would finish a strong third trailed by the best run of the year so far by Kenny Kincaid and Wagner.

The Street Stock feature had just as wild a finish with VanGilder and James Clausen fighting it right out through the final corner of the race before the decision would be revealed on who was first across the line. Clausen would start on the pole and lead all laps except the final one as he was challenged in the early going by VanGilder, Shawn Amundson and Adam Soltis.

VanGilder would battle hard with Amundson before finally grabbing second and Soltis nearly drove around all those in front of him in the early going. The yellow would fly only once when Soltis and Josh Beaulieu would get tied up with a slower car and spin, triggering the slow down with five laps complete.

VanGilder would make a strong run at Clausen on the green, but he couldn't complete the pass and instead pushed up the track, yielding his spot to Amundson and Soltis. However, Hunter then fought his way back up to second with a couple of strong moves and in the waning laps, again challenged for the lead.

Clausen had been doing a great job of holding off the pack but as they received the white flag, James got just a bit high in turn one, opening a sliver of room for VanGilder. Hunter dove hard for that opening, the leaders made contact and the battle was on as they hammered on each other down the back chute for the final time. They continued to push on each other through the final turn where a slower car in front of them added to the mad scene. As both scrambled to avoid a collision, they dove for the line with VanGilder finding room low on the track and edging out Clausen by half a car length in a wild finish that would be cause for VanGilder to celebrate his first win of the year and leave a bitter pill for Clausen to swallow. Amundson would finish third with Soltis and Travis Loew completing the top five.

Traynor would get a back to back victory in the Super Stock feature, having won his first here last weekend. He would start on the pole and be the dominant car throughout the main event, pulling away from Kyle Copp in the early going, establishing a comfortable lead and then surviving three last race yellows that bunched the field.

While Traynor would pull away from the pack, the battle for second was a good one as Copp was fighting to hold off Terran Spacek, who had worked his way up from the third row and was putting pressure on Copp for second. Terran would try several times to make the move but just couldn't complete the pass while Traynor motored comfortably along in the lead.

Yellows in lap fifteen, sixteen and eighteen for minor spins all bunched the field but each time Traynor would pull away smoothly and leave no doubt who the winner would be. At the finish, he had several car lengths on the pack but things got even hotter for second when Spacek finally got up beside Copp and drove past him on the final revolution of the track to take the second spot. Eric Olson and Nick Oreskovich would complete the top five.

Adams would appear to be in the groove now with his Modified as he won his second straight feature win in the class with perhaps the most dominant performance of the night. He started seventh on the grid but it took him only three laps to get to the lead as he weaved both high and low through the field, finding openings and charging to the front and once in that position, he cruised home for the win.

Two yellows for spins kept the field close early but the last fourteen laps ran off nonstop and Adams comfortably pulled away from the field in gaining the win. The best race was for second as Pat Hoffman was having a strong contest and after being passed by Adams for the lead, he maintained a solid second place run.

Eventually Mike Anderson would break free from the field and chase down Hoffman for second and their late race battle for the spot was a high light. Anderson came off the final corner up high and nearly stole the position, losing second by the blink of an eye in a photo finish to Hoffman. Cole Spacek, from eighth and Sam Fankhauser would complete the top five.

The Pure Stocks would have a difficult time of it getting their main completed as seven yellows for a series of spins and collisions kept their race at a snail's pace. Both early leaders would not be around at the finish and Cory Jorgensen maintained his cool, took advantage of the opportunities presented, and drove home for his second win of the year after topping the season opener last month.

Chippewa Valley racers Tristan Scheuermann and Travis Hazelton battling in the early going with first Tristan and then Travis taking the top spot. Eventually they would get together as they battled for the lead with Hazelton spinning and Jorgensen getting a solid piece of Hazelton, resulting in some body damage but Jorgensen would be able to continue.

The leaders would continue to battle while the race would go a lap at a time before someone else would spin out as wild driving seemed to be the order of the night. Jorgensen would closely trail Scheuermann as the race continued until leaving turn four, Tristan would get very high, nearly spin and lose several positions as Jorgensen would take over the lead. Scheuermann's night would end with another spin on the same lap and while he kept going, he opted to pull off the track.

It was up to Jorgensen to fend off late challenges from James Rahn, who earlier had went for a wild spin of his own down the back straight on lap five, one of many to be pointed in the wrong direction in this race. Rahn was nailed to the rear bumper of Jorgensen and was letting him know he was there but Jorgensen is a veteran driver and was unfazed as he maintained his line and drove home for his second win of the year here. Randy Graham would drive a smooth race to finish right behind Rahn in third with Ryan Olson and Bob Wahlstrom completing the top five that saw only four drivers not finish the event but many who went to the back at some point for driver error.

Special event action returns to the Rice Lake Speedway next Saturday night, May 29th with a Memorial Day weekend treat as the Late Models will return with their second appearance of the year. While the Trackside Collectibles 40 had a nice field of cars, more are expected next Saturday as it will be round two of the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series, a traveling series for the Late Models that is comprised of twenty events throughout the WISSOTA region with drivers racing for series points at each event. The winner of Saturday night's main event will pocket two thousand dollars with a healthy payoff for the other positions and a top notch field of drivers is expected.
Along with the Late Models, a full program of WISSOTA sanctioned Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks will also be held with track points on the line for those classes. Warm ups are slate for 6:30 pm with racing to begin at 7 pm. More details can be found on the Rice Lake Speedway face book page and the speedway website at www.ricelakespeedway.net.

WISSOTA MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[7]; 2. 308-Pat Hoffman[1]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[4]; 4. 22S-Cole Spacek[8]; 5. 11-Sam Fankhauser[6]; 6. 0-Zack Drews[2]; 7. 3JR-Shane Halopka[9]; 8. (DNF) 10-Kyle Helling[3]; 9. (DNF) 99-Neil Balduc[11]; 10. (DNF) 33-Cooper Berlin[5]; 11. (DNF) 18W-Wayne Poteet[10]; 12. (DNF) 20-Denny Cutsforth[12]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 22S-Cole Spacek[6]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[4]; 3. 33-Cooper Berlin[2]; 4. 11-Sam Fankhauser[5]; 5. (DNF) 99-Neil Balduc[1]; 6. (DNF) 20-Denny Cutsforth[3]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 308-Pat Hoffman[1]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[6]; 3. 0-Zack Drews[2]; 4. 10-Kyle Helling[4]; 5. 3JR-Shane Halopka[5]; 6. 18W-Wayne Poteet[3]

16 entries

WISSOTA SUPER STOCK
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40-Nick Traynor[1]; 2. 22T-Terran Spacek[6]; 3. 26-Kyle Copp[2]; 4. 1E-Eric Olson[5]; 5. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[3]; 6. 11-Tucker Quinn[13]; 7. 18-Willie Johnsen Jr[7]; 8. XJR-Austin Workman[10]; 9. 67-Josh Bach[4]; 10. 245-Andy Cimfl[11]; 11. 77-Josh Saunders[14]; 12. 28-Josh Cappo[12]; 13. 14L-Dylan Leu[16]; 14. (DNF) 01-Michael Anderson[9]; 15. (DNF) 46-Simon Wahlstrom[8]; 16. (DNS) 21-Mike Siewert

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 67-Josh Bach[3]; 2. 46-Simon Wahlstrom[1]; 3. 26-Kyle Copp[8]; 4. 1E-Eric Olson[5]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[2]; 6. 245-Andy Cimfl[6]; 7. 28-Josh Cappo[7]; 8. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[4]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[2]; 2. 40-Nick Traynor[5]; 3. 18-Will
ie Johnsen Jr[6]; 4. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[3]; 5. XJR-Austin Workman[8]; 6. (DNF) 11-Tucker Quinn[7]; 7. (DNF) 77-Josh Saunders[1]; 8. (DNS) 14L-Dylan Leu

16 entries

WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. B37-Cody Borgeson[4]; 2. 20-Austin Ellis[3]; 3. 32III-Cody Carlson[5]; 4. 4-Kenny Kincaid[6]; 5. 93-CJ Wagner[1]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[15]; 7. 28-Francis Hanson[9]; 8. 2-Tanner Gehl[10]; 9. 31-Jason Vokovan[13]; 10. 46-Zach Slayton[14]; 11. 19H-Kevin Herrman[12]; 12. (DNF) 38-Simon Wahlstrom[16]; 13. (DNF) 18S-Kennedy Swan[8]; 14. (DNF) 221-Aric Lindberg[2]; 15. (DNF) 91-Paul Suzik[11]; 16. (DNF) 40-Mike Schnider[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Kennedy Swan[3]; 2. B37-Cody Borgeson[6]; 3. 93-CJ Wagner[1]; 4. 4-Kenny Kincaid[8]; 5. 28-Francis Hanson[5]; 6. 91-Paul Suzik[7]; 7. 31-Jason Vokovan[2]; 8. 46-Zach Slayton[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32III-Cody Carlson[6]; 2. 20-Austin Ellis[4]; 3. 221-Aric Lindberg[3]; 4. 40-Mike Schnider[7]; 5. 2-Tanner Gehl[5]; 6. 19H-Kevin Herrman[8]; 7. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[2]; 8. (DNF) 38-Simon Wahlstrom[1]

14 entries

WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[3]; 2. 24-James Clausen[1]; 3. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 4. 9-Adam Soltis[7]; 5. 40-Travis Loew[13]; 6. 15-Jim Randall[6]; 7. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[8]; 8. 26T-Ty Agen[5]; 9. 71X-William Fisher[9]; 10. 79-Joseph Ott[14]; 11. 54-Scott Davis[12]; 12. 66-Eric Haupt[10]; 13. (DNF) 17-Zach Beaulieu[2]; 14. (DNF) 4-Matt Bray[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Jim Randall[2]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson[1]; 3. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[6]; 4. 9-Adam Soltis[3]; 5. 71X-William Fisher[4]; 6. 4-Matt Bray[7]; 7. (DNF) 40-Travis Loew[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[6]; 2. 26T-Ty Agen[3]; 3. 24-James Clausen[2]; 4. 17-Zach Beaulieu[5]; 5. 66-Eric Haupt[7]; 6. 54-Scott Davis[1]; 7. (DNF) 79-Joseph Ott[4]

21 entries

WISSOTA PURE STOCK
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 16-Cory Jorgensen[3]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[7]; 3. 57-Randy Graham[5]; 4. 1-Ryan Olson[6]; 5. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[8]; 6. 66P-Max Prusak[4]; 7. 70-Bob Thompson[12]; 8. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[9]; 9. 15H-Dusten Holub[10]; 10. 17-Aaron Bernick[11]; 11. 52F-Austin Fencl[14]; 12. 95F-Devin Fries[19]; 13. 101-Michael Grover[15]; 14. OXSR-Michael Huebner Sr[17]; 15. 72-Cully Butterfield[18]; 16. 91-Michael Holmstrom[20]; 17. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[13]; 18. (DNF) 2S-Tristan Scheuermann[1]; 19. (DNF) 52-Zachary Folz[16]; 20. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[21]; 21. (DQ) 31-Travis Hazelton[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 2. 57-Randy Graham[1]; 3. 16-Cory Jorgensen[5]; 4. 15H-Dusten Holub[3]; 5. 4K-Terry Kemp[7]; 6. 52-Zachary Folz[6]; 7. (DNF) 95F-Devin Fries[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23R-James Rahn[7]; 2. 31-Travis Hazelton[4]; 3. 66P-Max Prusak[1]; 4. 17-Aaron Bernick[3]; 5. 52F-Austin Fencl[6]; 6. OXSR-Michael Huebner Sr[2]; 7. (DNF) 91-Michael Holmstrom[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[1]; 2. 2S-Tristan Scheuermann[7]; 3. 2B-Nicholas Hazelton[3]; 4. 70-Bob Thompson[5]; 5. 101-Michael Grover[6]; 6. 72-Cully Butterfield[2]; 7. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[4]