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Rice Lake racing falls to rain on Saturday afternoon; big Late Model show and Street Stock Little Dream coming soon

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE (July 13) – Rice Lake Speedway suffered its sixth rainout of the 2024 racing season on Saturday night, July 13. An inch of rain during the morning plus the combination of poor drying conditions and high humidity all made it impossible to prepare the track and grounds for racing.

The program was scheduled to be a salute to the Barron County Fair and 4-H programming in the county, with the annual county fair upcoming next weekend. Due to the fair, the speedway will be silent next week with the fair in full swing.

While the speedway will now go through a 21-day break since the last racing action on July 3, the track will be hosting two very large events, back to back, beginning July 27.

On Saturday night, July 27, the WISSOTA Late Models return for their second and final appearance of the 2024 racing season, with a full program topped by a 40-lap feature race paying $2,000 to the winner. A large field of the area's best Late Model drivers are expected to be on hand. Along with the Late Models, the Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds and Pure Stocks will also be in action. The Street Stocks and Modifieds will be off that night.

Then, on the following Tuesday night, July 30, the race that has made Rice Lake Speedway famous – the Street Stock Little Dream race – will take place. This will be the 30th edition of this well-known race and as such, track management is going all out to make this a memorable night of racing.

Last year's winner Keith Tourville went home with more than $29,000 for his efforts, thanks in large part to generous donations to the purse from race fans in attendance, along with area businesses and online donations. The hope is that this year that record will be smashed and the 30th edition of this race will see the winner taking home more than $30,000.

Presented by S & R Towing, this event will feature double heat races and last chance races, leading up to the main event with a $500-to-win non-qualifiers race for those drivers who don't make the main event. Possibly 60 or more drivers from a five state area, plus Canada, are expected to be on hand for this race with many of WISSOTA's top Street Stock drivers in attendance, most of them having yet to crack victory lane at this “bucket list” event.

Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. on July 30, with the spectator gates to open one hour later. The draw cut off and hot laps will be at 6:30 p.m. with racing to follow. The following night, July 31 is reserved for a rain date. No pre-registration is needed. As has been track policy all year for the new owners, despite both these races being special events, regular Saturday night admission prices will be in effect.

Rice Lake Speedway is located one mile north of Rice Lake midway between State Highway 48 and Barron County Highway SS. The track phone number is 715-236-2002. As these race dates approach, more information on both events can be gained by visiting the track website.