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Adams, Spacek, Vernon, Amundson and Holub hoist the checkers Saturday at Rice Lake

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (May 18) - One of the largest crowds in recent history jammed Rice Lake Speedway on Saturday night for the annual Kids Night celebration. On a beautiful night for dirt track racing, more than 100 bikes and gift baskets were given out to the kids as donated items came from racers and fans alike.

On the track, 93 drivers from three states signed in to race and the evening's WISSOTA Dirt Track Series action produced five new winners. Visiting victory lane for the first time in 2024 were Kevin Adams in the Modifieds, Terran Spacek in the Super Stocks, Tyler Vernon in the Midwest Modifieds, Shawn Amundson in the Street Stocks and Dusten Holub in the Pure Stocks.

Nineteen drivers took to the track for the WISSOTA Modified feature race and Joe Chaplin, Jr. drove out to the early lead. He held the top spot for the first three laps before Adams, who started fourth, drove past to take over the lead.

Chaplin, Jr., however, did not go away and proved to be a tough challenge for Adams as they continued to battle for the top spot, although Adams was scored the leader of each lap. Steve Hallquist ran a close third as the yellow waved on both laps 10 and 13 for spinning cars.

On each restart, Adams continued to hold the lead, but Chaplin, Jr. remained close along with Hallquist. The driver on the move was Mike Anderson, who started ninth but with a steady charge, moved into the top five. He continued forward, and ducked under Kennedy Swan for a position, and then moved on to challenge Hallquist for third.

Adams moved up slightly at the end of the race and then continued to drive on for the win, with Chaplin, Jr. a strong second and Hallquist holding off Anderson for third. Swan completed the top five.

For Adams, the all-time leading feature winner in Rice Lake Speedway history, it was his 96th Modified feature win and 163rd overall at the track.

The WISSOTA Super Stock feature turned out to be a family affair with the Olson and Myers families locked up in a battle for bragging honors, as dads fought it out with their kids for position on the track - and all while chasing eventual winner Terran Spacek. Rookie Super Stock driver Ryan Olson grabbed the initial lead over Mike Siewert, with Spacek quickly moving forward and taking over second. Those two then put on a show as the rookie hung right with the young, but seasoned veteran as they raced side by side around the track and battled for the lead. Meanwhile, rookie Alex Myers raced up to third with the two dads, Eric Olson and Curt Myers, running just behind them.

The race was red flagged on lap seven when Jackson Larson could not avoid a spinning car on the front chute, and Larson's car suffered the whole right side being peeled off the car before it flipped onto its roof right in front of the crowd. Fortunately, Larson was not injured, but the car suffered heavy damage.

One lap later, Spacek made the winning move as he slid past Ryan Olson to take over the lead, and after that he was in control of the rest of the race, despite a pair of yellows that regrouped the field once again. Spacek drove home for the win ahead of Ryan Olson, Alex Myers, Curt Myers and Eric Olson.

A last-lap pass decided the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature as another rookie driver in that class, Nick Traynor, came very close to getting his first win. Traynor started in the second row, but went to the outside lane on the opening lap. He drove past both Jason Knutson and Cory Jorgensen to move into the lead before one lap was completed. Tyler Vernon was also on the move from the third row, and Mike Schnider from the fifth row. By lap five, both had raced their way into the top three in the running order. Schnider and Vernon battled it out for second, before Schnider took the spot on lap eight and set his sights on leader Traynor.

Three cautions for minor spins kept the field bunched for the last half of the race and a key pass by Vernon on Schnider with just three laps to go gave him a clear shot at the leader. The final green was for a one-lap sprint to the finish and Traynor, after driving a beautiful race, slipped just a bit high in turn two. Vernon was right there to grab the top spot away from him and then accelerate his way on for the win. Schnider finished a very close third, Blake Adams was fourth and Kenny Kincaid was fifth.

It was the first-ever Rice Lake win for Vernon.

Cole Richards started on the pole for the WISSOTA Street Stock feature race with the 22-car field roaring into the first turn. Richards was soon challenged by Shawn Amundson, who had started alongside him in row one. Two laps later Amundson drove past Richards and assumed control of the event. Andrew Hanson, a previous winner already this season, moved into second and put the heat on Amundson for the lead, as those two maintained the top spots when the race reached its halfway point.

On lap 10, Cody Cimfl was turned around while running in the top five, and the yellow flag waved and bunched up the field once more.

However, Amundson was up to the challenge and led the rest of the way with Hanson close behind him to the checkers. Kyle Genett made a late charge into third at the line. Richards and Cimfl complete the top five.

For Amundson, it was his eighth-career Street Stock feature win at the track.

The WISSOTA Pure Stock feature brought the closest finish of the night, but the finish was changed in post-race technical inspection. Aaron Bernick started on the pole and led the first three laps of the contest, with Dusten Holub and Charlie Pitcavage challenging. Holub was the chief challenger and took over the lead after some turn one contact that moved Bernick out of the way.

Holub had Bob Wahlstrom pushing him hard for the lead as Pitcavage remained a challenger. A grinding crash in turn one eliminated four cars and set up a late-race battle for the lead. Two-time winner Brent Mindock started eighth and was only up to fourth when the last yellow waved, but he picked up the pace at that point. Holub led at the white flag, but had Mindock ducked under Wahlstrom for second, made a great crossover move in the last corner and nipped Holub at the finish line by .016 seconds for the win, his third straight of the year at the oval.

However, in post-race technical inspection, Mindock was found to have unapproved shocks on his car and the victory was then awarded to Holub, the first of his career at Rice Lake. Officially, Wahlstrom finished second with Pitcavage third.

Next Saturday night the speedway hosts another big event as the WISSOTA Late Models take to the track for the first time in 2024 for the Swant Graber 40, an event paying $2,000 dollars to the winner of the Late Model feature.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[4]; 2. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[2]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[1]; 4. 57-Mike Anderson[9]; 5. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 6. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[5]; 7. 3JR-Shane Halopka[7]; 8. 11-Justin Weinberger[8]; 9. 7X-Marcus Dunbar[10]; 10. 37-Travis Anderson[13]; 11. 74-Shaun Kreyer[11]; 12. 10-Kyle Helling[18]; 13. 78-Brent Prochnow[19]; 14. 3H-Jake Hiatt[17]; 15. 204-David Mayala[12]; 16. (DNF) 22S-Cole Spacek[16]; 17. (DNF) 20-Austin Ellis[15]; 18. (DNF) 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[14]; 19. (DNF) 21F-Nick Oreskovich[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 2. 18S-Kennedy Swan[2]; 3. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[1]; 4. 7X-Marcus Dunbar[5]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 6. 22S-Cole Spacek[7]; 7. 78-Brent Prochnow[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[2]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[4]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[1]; 4. 74-Shaun Kreyer[5]; 5. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[3]; 6. 3H-Jake Hiatt[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Justin Weinberger[1]; 2. 3JR-Shane Halopka[4]; 3. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[3]; 4. 204-David Mayala[2]; 5. 20-Austin Ellis[6]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[5]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[3]; 2. 1-Ryan Olson[2]; 3. 1M-Alex Myers[4]; 4. 33-Curt Myers[12]; 5. 1E-Eric Olson[8]; 6. 7R-Tommy Richards[6]; 7. 6-Shane Kisling[13]; 8. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[9]; 9. 57-Randy Graham[10]; 10. 21-Mike Siewert[1]; 11. 22-Clay Albrecht[18]; 12. 71X-William Fisher[5]; 13. 01-Michael Anderson[20]; 14. 20*-Andrew Davis[16]; 15. 28-Josh Cappo[15]; 16. (DNF) 22AT-Austin Tilton[19]; 17. (DNF) 02-Travis Anderson[14]; 18. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[17]; 19. (DNF) 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 20. (DNF) XJR-Austin Harris[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[2]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[1]; 3. 7R-Tommy Richards[4]; 4. 57-Randy Graham[3]; 5. 6-Shane Kisling[5]; 6. 20*-Andrew Davis[7]; 7. 22AT-Austin Tilton[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14X-Leslie Leu[5]; 2. 21-Mike Siewert[4]; 3. 71X-William Fisher[3]; 4. XJR-Austin Harris[1]; 5. 02-Travis Anderson[7]; 6. 247-Jackson Larson[2]; 7. (DNF) 01-Michael Anderson[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[1]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[4]; 3. 1M-Alex Myers[5]; 4. 33-Curt Myers[3]; 5. 28-Josh Cappo[2]; 6. 22-Clay Albrecht[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[6]; 2. 40-Nick Traynor[4]; 3. 7-Mike Schnider[14]; 4. 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 5. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[5]; 6. 16-Cory Jorgensen[1]; 7. 88K-Jason Knutson[2]; 8. 12-Joseph Swearingen[3]; 9. 101-Michael Grover[12]; 10. 09-Skylar Findley[8]; 11. (DNF) 39-Rusty Taber[10]; 12. (DNF) 78-Bently Prochnow[15]; 13. (DNF) 19H-Cody Cimfl[11]; 14. (DNF) 1-Jake Stai[9]; 15. (DNS) 47-Tad Schoonover

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40JR-Tyler Vernon[1]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 3. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[2]; 4. 16-Cory Jorgensen[3]; 5. 1-Jake Stai[6]; 6. 19H-Cody Cimfl[4]; 7. 101-Michael Grover[7]; 8. 78-Bently Prochnow[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Nick Traynor[2]; 2. 12-Joseph Swearingen[1]; 3. 88K-Jason Knutson[4]; 4. 09-Skylar Findley[7]; 5. 39-Rusty Taber[5]; 6. (DNF) 47-Tad Schoonover[6]; 7. (DNF) 7-Mike Schnider[3]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 2. 20-Andrew Hanson[3]; 3. 16X-Kyle Genett[6]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 5. 19C-Cody Cimfl[4]; 6. 84-Hunter VanGilder[21]; 7. 7-Caiden Engel[10]; 8. 12-Cody Kummer[14]; 9. 9-Adam Soltis[5]; 10. 10B-Dylan Baskin[12]; 11. 12K-Jay Kesan[17]; 12. 3R-Danny Richards[9]; 13. 19H-Nolan Brown[13]; 14. T20-Michael Tuma[11]; 15. 79N-Jeff Nowak[8]; 16. 20F-Rich Bishop[16]; 17. 28-Colten Klueckman[15]; 18. 74-Bruce Stanley[22]; 19. 19J-Jenna Herrman[18]; 20. (DNF) 79-Joseph Ott[19]; 21. (DNF) 17-Zach Beaulieu[7]; 22. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[20]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16X-Kyle Genett[2]; 2. 17-Zach Beaulieu[3]; 3. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 4. 7-Caiden Engel[6]; 5. 19H-Nolan Brown[7]; 6. 20F-Rich Bishop[5]; 7. 74-Bruce Stanley[8]; 8. 84-Hunter VanGilder[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 79N-Jeff Nowak[2]; 2. 9-Adam Soltis[4]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 4. T20-Michael Tuma[3]; 5. 12-Cody Kummer[5]; 6. 12K-Jay Kesan[6]; 7. 79-Joseph Ott[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19C-Cody Cimfl[4]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[1]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[5]; 4. 10B-Dylan Baskin[2]; 5. 28-Colten Klueckman[3]; 6. 19J-Jenna Herrman[7]; 7. 17G-Chris Gross[6]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 15H-Dusten Holub[6]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 3. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[2]; 4. 16-Rob Grabon[10]; 5. 95F-Devin Fries[7]; 6. 5R-George Richards[14]; 7. 18M-Leo Moos[12]; 8. 12-Aaron Holmberg[11]; 9. 24H-Devon Holub[15]; 10. (DNF) 70-Bob Thompson[3]; 11. (DNF) 17-Aaron Bernick[1]; 12. (DNF) 37-Katlin Pritzl[9]; 13. (DNF) 69ER-Shane Basina[13]; 14. (DNF) 23R-James Rahn[5]; 15. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[17]; 16. (DNS) 52W-Austin Fencl; 17. (DQ) 57M-Brent Mindock[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[2]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[3]; 3. 17-Aaron Bernick[6]; 4. 70-Bob Thompson[5]; 5. 37-Katlin Pritzl[1]; 6. 12-Aaron Holmberg[4]; 7. 69ER-Shane Basina[9]; 8. 5R-George Richards[8]; 9. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57M-Brent Mindock[2]; 2. 15H-Dusten Holub[3]; 3. 95F-Devin Fries[5]; 4. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[1]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[8]; 6. 18M-Leo Moos[4]; 7. (DNF) 24H-Devon Holub[7]; 8. (DNF) 52W-Austin Fencl[6]