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Tuma takes first career feature win Saturday at Rice Lake; other chart toppers for the weekend are Oreskovich, Stai and Holub

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (June 1) - Mike Tuma, Nick Oreskovich and Jake Stai all visited victory lane for the first time Saturday night, June 1 at Rice Lake Speedway.

For additional winner Dusten Holub, it was his second win of the 2024 racing season, but he needed a thrilling last-lap pass in order to guarantee the win.

Rain on Friday night that lasted into the morning hours of Saturday made the racing program questionable, but as the skies cleared and temperatures rose, track officials and a whole host of volunteer helpers got the track into racing shape.

For Tuma, it was his first feature win ever. The Weyerhaeuser racer started on the pole for the WISSOTA Street Stock main and led the opening lap, but was passed by Travis Loew after leading just that opening circuit.

A yellow after five laps for a slowing car bunched the field once more as Loew and Tuma were both challenged by a charging Shawn Amundson, who started eighth but was up to third, with the Richards family just behind.

Loew was able to open up a few car lengths as the leader once racing resumed, with Tuma fighting to hold off Amundson. The last nine laps of this race ran off nonstop and gradually Tuma closed the distance to Loew, as Loew struggled just a bit in the corners. Tuma was showing great speed; on lap 11 he dove to the inside of Loew, and made what turned out to be the winning pass in turn four.

Once in front, he pulled away slightly while Loew again pushed up the track and allowed Amundson to slip into second. Tuma drove home for the win with Amundson several car lengths behind in second. Loew settled for third with Cole and Danny Richards trailing.

Tuma announced in a victory lane interview with track announcer Ben Brost that Saturday was his birthday, so it turned out to be an even more memorable night for him. The win for Tuma marked the fifth different winner in five nights of racing so far this season.

Nick Oreskovich has been a winner a number of times at Rice Lake Speedway over the years in the Super Stock class, but Saturday night marked his first-ever victory since moving up to the WISSOTA Modified ranks last year. His win followed a race-long battle with Brady Uotinen for the top spot.

Oreskovich used his front-row starting spot to his advantage, taking the early lead and holding on through two lap-three yellows for spinning cars.

Following those breaks in the action, the rest of the race ran off green to checkers as Uotinen, who started fifth, quickly moved to second, and near the halfway point of the race made a heavy challenge for the lead. Uotinen got a nose under Oreskovich, but just could not complete the pass. After a couple more tries, he slipped back a few car lengths as Oreskovich picked up the pace.

The distance between the two leaders stayed static for the rest of the contest, and with Oreskovich steady in his line, he drove home for victory by three car lengths over Uotinen. Travis Anderson recorded his best finish of the year in third.

No Modified feature winner has repeated so far this year at the track.

Stai’s first win of 2024 at the track in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified division came in the wake of apparent winner Cody Cimfl weighing in too light on the scales.

Cimfl, who has taken over the ride in car owner Kevin Herrman's Midwest Modified in recent weeks, led the race from start to finish as he was chased by Stai throughout the contest. Several times Stai got close, but each time Cimfl fought him off and maintained the lead.

Late in the race, Jimmy Latvala was on the move and right in the middle of a good battle for position with Jesse Polson and Mike Schnider.

Up front, Cimfl continued to fight off challenges by Stai and at the line, was a winner by several car lengths over the New Auburn driver. Latvala continued his charge as he got by Polson for third with Schnider following him.

Cimfl’s car weighed in several pounds too light at the scales, and the win was then awarded to Stai, with Latvala and Schnider next in line. Stai became the fifth different winner in five nights of Midwest Modified feature racing.

The racing ended with a wild finish as Dusten Holub executed a last-lap pass on Rob Grabon to win an exciting WISSOTA Pure Stock feature that had the crowd on their feet.

Grabon took the early lead and led all laps until the final one when Holub was able to slip under him. Holub moved to the second spot early in the race and by the halfway point was closing on the leader. Jake Smith moved into third with Brent Mindock and Aaron Holmberg next in line.

As the laps clicked off, Holub gained some ground on the leader and the last three laps the racing was very tight. Holub got the nose of his car under Grabon, but each time Grabon fought him off down the chutes.

After a failed attempt with two laps to go, Holub tried once again in turn two, and this time was able to pull under the car of Grabon and edge past him down the back chute. Holub gained the edge in the last corner and then just slipped away as they raced to the finish line to take a thrilling win.

The win was his second of the year at Rice Lake, while runner-up Grabon still looks for that first victory. Smith finished a solid third and Trenten Holub made a last-lap charge that allowed him to claim fourth ahead of Mindock.

The Super Stocks return on Thursday night, June 6 for one of their biggest races of the year at the track. This special Thursday night show welcomes the Northland Super Stock Series to Rice Lake for round one of their eight-event series after the planned opener was rained out at ABC Raceway Saturday. The Midwest Modifieds will also see a nice increase in payout, with it $600 to win the feature and $100 to start.

The pit gates will open at 4 p.m. on Thursday with the draw cutoff at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m. sharp. Regular admission prices will again be in effect for this show, despite the fact that it is a special event.

Saturday, June 8 the speedway is off, and returns to action June 15 with a very special night, The Relay at the Races, featuring all five divisions in racing action.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[2]; 2. 9-Brady Uotinen[5]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[3]; 4. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[4]; 5. 78-Brent Prochnow[8]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[6]; 7. 204-David Mayala[7]; 8. (DNF) 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[1]; 9. (DNF) 308-Pat Hoffman[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[2]; 2. 37-Travis Anderson[1]; 3. 9-Brady Uotinen[4]; 4. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[8]; 5. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[5]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[6]; 7. 204-David Mayala[3]; 8. 78-Brent Prochnow[7]; 9. (DNS) 308-Pat Hoffman

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1-Jake Stai[5]; 2. 21-Jimmy Latvala[8]; 3. 7-Mike Schnider[7]; 4. 55-Jesse Polson[6]; 5. 101-Michael Grover[2]; 6. 09-Skylar Findley[3]; 7. 78-Bently Prochnow[9]; 8. (DNS) 5-Rory Taber; 9. (DNS) 39-Rusty Taber; 10. (DQ) 19H-Cody Cimfl[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[1]; 2. 19H-Cody Cimfl[4]; 3. 55-Jesse Polson[2]; 4. 09-Skylar Findley[3]; 5. 78-Bently Prochnow[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Jimmy Latvala[1]; 2. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 3. 5-Rory Taber[5]; 4. 101-Michael Grover[4]; 5. (DNF) 39-Rusty Taber[2]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. T20-Michael Tuma[1]; 2. 30-Shawn Amundson[8]; 3. 40-Travis Loew[2]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[4]; 5. 3R-Danny Richards[7]; 6. 7-Caiden Engel[5]; 7. 19H-Nolan Brown[12]; 8. 10B-Dylan Baskin[16]; 9. 20F-Connor Franson[11]; 10. 79-Joseph Ott[13]; 11. 19J-Jenna Herrman[15]; 12. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[10]; 13. (DNF) 16-Warren Bartelt[14]; 14. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[3]; 15. (DNF) 19C-Cody Cimfl[6]; 16. (DNS) 17-Zach Beaulieu

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Caiden Engel[1]; 2. 40-Travis Loew[6]; 3. 19C-Cody Cimfl[7]; 4. 12K-Jay Kesan[8]; 5. 17-Zach Beaulieu[3]; 6. 20F-Connor Franson[4]; 7. 79-Joseph Ott[5]; 8. (DNF) 10B-Dylan Baskin[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 2. T20-Michael Tuma[1]; 3. 3R-Danny Richards[6]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[5]; 5. 9-Adam Soltis[8]; 6. 19H-Nolan Brown[7]; 7. 16-Warren Bartelt[3]; 8. 19J-Jenna Herrman[4]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 15H-Dusten Holub[5]; 2. 16-Rob Grabon[1]; 3. 86J-Jake Smith[4]; 4. 18M-Trenten Holub[9]; 5. 57M-Brent Mindock[7]; 6. 12-Aaron Holmberg[2]; 7. 28-Eric Crosby[3]; 8. 7D-Trevor Phillips[14]; 9. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[15]; 10. 70-Bob Thompson[13]; 11. 4K-Terry Kemp[16]; 12. 47-Anthony Schultz[17]; 13. (DNF) 02-Nicholas Hazelton[8]; 14. (DNF) 52W-Austin Fencl[10]; 15. (DNF) 31-Travis Hazelton[6]; 16. (DNF) 81-Charlie Pitcavage[12]; 17. (DNS) 95F-Devin Fries

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57M-Brent Mindock[6]; 2. 86J-Jake Smith[2]; 3. 16-Rob Grabon[4]; 4. 15H-Dusten Holub[9]; 5. 18M-Trenten Holub[5]; 6. 95F-Devin Fries[7]; 7. 70-Bob Thompson[3]; 8. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[8]; 9. 47-Anthony Schultz[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Travis Hazelton[2]; 2. 02-Nicholas Hazelton[3]; 3. 12-Aaron Holmberg[1]; 4. 28-Eric Crosby[6]; 5. 52W-Austin Fencl[7]; 6. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[8]; 7. 7D-Trevor Phillips[5]; 8. 4K-Terry Kemp[4]