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A Saturday night of firsts at Rice Lake Speedway ends with winners Ellis, Myers, Larson, Pogones and Wahlstrom

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (June 29) - Despite blustery March-like conditions, the largest field of drivers of the season assembled Saturday night at Rice Lake Speedway for Hall of Fame night, providing a memorable program.

Five first-timers for 2024 were in victory lane including Tommy Pogones and Alex Myers, who won their first-ever feature races at the speedway, Austin Ellis who won his first-ever feature in the Mods, and Brady Larson and Bob Wahlstrom who both won their first features of the season.

The evening began with a moment of silence for Larry Quinn, a Rice Lake Speedway Hall of Fame member, who passed away recently. His grandson Tucker was among those to honor him in a flag ceremony before the races began.

Pogones started on the outside pole of the WISSOTA Street Stock main event and, after battling Dylan Baskin on the opening lap, took the early lead. Baskin fought for second with Danny Richards before Richards moved into second, while both Ty Agen and Sam Fankhauser moved into contention.

Pogones opened a few car lengths on the pack as the race reached its halfway point, with Richards trying to chase down the leader. Adam Soltis battled hard with both Agen and Fankhauser for position behind them. Despite the packed track, the field continued to race under green, with Pogones entering lapped traffic.

Finally, the first yellow flew with just six laps remaining in the race, when Cole Richards rolled to a halt on the track. Despite pressure from behind, Pogones fended off the stiffest challenges current point leader Danny Richards could throw at him following the restart, and drove on for the win. Richards settled for second with Agen, Fankhauser and Baskin completing the top five.

The WISSOTA Super Stock win was especially sweet for Alex Myers, as he beat his father Curt for the win. Alex started on the outside pole and after a tight first-lap race with Leslie Leu, he edged into the lead. One lap later the yellow waved for the hardest crash of the night, as Jim Cimfl ended his night in the first turn wall. The Turtle Lake racer was okay.

Alex continued to lead on the restart with Leu and Tommy Richards putting the heat on him. He ran a good line around the track and maintained his edge over the pack of 29 drivers who started the race. As the race reached its halfway point, Richards moved into second and was putting heavy heat on the leader, with Leu next in line. Curt Myers, who started eighth, advanced to fourth and was putting pressure on those right in front of him.

Consecutive spins slowed the action at this point and on lap 13, Curt Myers made a big move and drove up into second. Out front, Alex continued to make fast laps as the race reached its conclusion. Curt closed to within a couple car lengths of his son, but just could not pull off a serious challenge. He settled for second while Alex drove on for his first-ever feature win at Rice Lake. Leu, Richards and Shawn McFadden completed the top five.

Brady Larson held off serious challenges from Mike Schnider to take the win in the WISSOTA Midwest Mods. Larson was the early leader with Jason Vokovan and Schnider putting on the early heat. Also on the charge were David Baxter, Jesse Bryan and Josh Bazey, as all three moved into contention.

Minor spins over the course of the first half of the race kept the field bunched, but through each slow down, Larson continued to hold the top spot. Schnider and Baxter then engaged in a race for second and Baxter grabbed the spot.

Another late-race yellow set up a two-lap sprint to the finish, and while Baxter gave it his best shot, Larson maintained his groove and drove on for the win. Crossing the line second was Baxter, with Schnider a close third. However, in post-race tech, Baxter and Bazey were DQ’d for suspension issues. Officially, Schnider was second and was followed by Cody Cimfl, Bryan and Ariel Mueller in the top five.

Austin Ellis’ last feature win was in 2021 in a Midwest Mod, so he was more than due for a victory lane visit once again Saturday. His win was his first-ever in a WISSOTA Modified, as he led from start to finish in a dominating performance. He pulled away from Aiden Hoffman early to take the lead and once in front, no one had anything to offer in the form of a challenge.

Brent Prochnow had a great run of his own as he moved into second at the halfway point of the race and held steady to the finish. Nick Oreskovich made a nice charge up to finish third, with Steve Hallquist and Hoffman completing the top five.

The WISSOTA Pure Stock feature race went green to checkers, with Bob Wahlstrom scoring a win for the veteran drivers at the track. He took the lead on lap eight and then fought off a stiff challenge from Dusten Holub to record the win. Eric Crosby led the first seven laps as the rookie driver continued to impress, but when he slipped up the track, Wahlstrom was right there to take over the lead after starting in the second row. Holub had a tough battle with Austin Fencl for the second spot, but he secured that position near the end. While he tried to catch Wahlstrom, Bob was just a bit too strong for him and he had to settle for second. C.J. Wagner, making his first run of 2024, and Crosby completed the top five.

In a ceremony at the midpoint of the evening, four new members were also added to the Rice Lake Speedway Hall of fame with Tony Bahr, Paul Gilberts, the late Dick Hessler, and Tammy Sirek joining others already enshrined.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 20-Austin Ellis[1]; 2. 78-Brent Prochnow[4]; 3. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[6]; 4. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 5. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[2]; 6. 05-Jake Hartung[7]; 7. 48-Marcus Simonson[14]; 8. 74-Shaun Kreyer[12]; 9. 13-Mark Hessler[17]; 10. 10-Kyle Helling[16]; 11. 204-David Mayala[15]; 12. 308-Pat Hoffman[3]; 13. 28-Don Gleason[18]; 14. T40-Danny Thomas[13]; 15. (DNF) WIN1-Karl Leavenworth[11]; 16. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[8]; 17. (DNF) 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[9]; 18. (DNS) 18H-Mark Hanson

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[1]; 2. 37-Travis Anderson[2]; 3. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[4]; 4. 18H-Mark Hanson[3]; 5. T40-Danny Thomas[5]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 308-Pat Hoffman[1]; 2. 05-Jake Hartung[3]; 3. 78-Brent Prochnow[2]; 4. WIN1-Karl Leavenworth[5]; 5. 48-Marcus Simonson[4]; 6. 13-Mark Hessler[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[1]; 2. 20-Austin Ellis[4]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 4. 74-Shaun Kreyer[3]; 5. 204-David Mayala[2]; 6. 28-Don Gleason[6]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1M-Alex Myers[2]; 2. 33-Curt Myers[8]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[1]; 4. 7R-Tommy Richards[3]; 5. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[6]; 6. 1E-Eric Olson[7]; 7. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[4]; 8. 57-Randy Graham[16]; 9. 1-Ryan Olson[15]; 10. 390-Tucker Quinn[11]; 11. 69-John Adams[14]; 12. 00-Jason Hobbs[23]; 13. 71X-William Fisher[19]; 14. 25X-Chad Johnson[18]; 15. 20*-Andrew Davis[25]; 16. 77L-Andy Ladd[21]; 17. 7B-Jason Melton[22]; 18. 28-Josh Cappo[26]; 19. 21-Mike Siewert[28]; 20. 22-Clay Albrecht[13]; 21. 01-Michael Anderson[20]; 22. 26M-Matt Melhouse[27]; 23. 02-Travis Anderson[17]; 24. 22AT-Austin Tilton[24]; 25. (DNF) 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 26. (DNF) 14-Kori Richter[12]; 27. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[29]; 28. (DNF) 207-Jesse Redetzke[9]; 29. (DNF) 245-James Cimfl[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Alex Myers[4]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[6]; 3. 207-Jesse Redetzke[2]; 4. 22-Clay Albrecht[5]; 5. 02-Travis Anderson[8]; 6. (DNF) 20*-Andrew Davis[7]; 7. (DNF) 28-Josh Cappo[1]; 8. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[3]; 2. 14X-Leslie Leu[4]; 3. 245-James Cimfl[6]; 4. 69-John Adams[1]; 5. 25X-Chad Johnson[5]; 6. 77L-Andy Ladd[7]; 7. 22AT-Austin Tilton[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[1]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[5]; 3. 390-Tucker Quinn[3]; 4. 1-Ryan Olson[6]; 5. 71X-William Fisher[7]; 6. 7B-Jason Melton[2]; 7. (DNF) 26M-Matt Melhouse[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[1]; 2. 33-Curt Myers[7]; 3. 14-Kori Richter[3]; 4. 57-Randy Graham[5]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[2]; 6. 00-Jason Hobbs[6]; 7. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[4]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 63JR-Brady Larson[1]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[4]; 3. 19H-Cody Cimfl[11]; 4. 21B-Jesse Bryan[6]; 5. 2-Ariel Mueller[15]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[10]; 7. T25-Mark Thomas[13]; 8. 31-Jason Vokovan[2]; 9. 25-Adam Bohlman[23]; 10. 20-Judd Skubal[12]; 11. 46-Zach Slayton[16]; 12. 11R-Landyn Randt[8]; 13. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 14. 101-Michael Grover[14]; 15. 88K-Donavan Knutson[20]; 16. 5-Rory Taber[17]; 17. (DNF) 3P-David Pixley[7]; 18. (DNF) 78-Bently Prochnow[22]; 19. (DNF) 4W-Joey Wagamon[19]; 20. (DNF) 39-Rusty Taber[18]; 21. (DNF) 4K-Kenny Kincaid[24]; 22. (DNS) 13-Derrick Reed; 23. (DQ) 35B-David Baxter[5]; 24. (DQ) 55-Josh Bazey[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21B-Jesse Bryan[2]; 2. 55-Josh Bazey[6]; 3. 35B-David Baxter[7]; 4. 37-Travis Anderson[3]; 5. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[8]; 6. 2-Ariel Mueller[5]; 7. 39-Rusty Taber[1]; 8. (DQ) 25-Adam Bohlman[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[1]; 2. 1-Jake Stai[2]; 3. 11R-Landyn Randt[6]; 4. 19H-Cody Cimfl[7]; 5. T25-Mark Thomas[3]; 6. 46-Zach Slayton[5]; 7. 4W-Joey Wagamon[4]; 8. (DNF) 13-Derrick Reed[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63JR-Brady Larson[2]; 2. 31-Jason Vokovan[3]; 3. 3P-David Pixley[7]; 4. 20-Judd Skubal[6]; 5. 101-Michael Grover[1]; 6. 5-Rory Taber[4]; 7. 88K-Donavan Knutson[5]; 8. (DNF) 78-Bently Prochnow[8]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 04-Tommy Pogones[2]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 3. 26-Ty Agen[5]; 4. 11-Sam Fankhauser[7]; 5. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]; 6. 30-Shawn Amundson[8]; 7. 12-Cody Kummer[14]; 8. 84-Hunter VanGilder[9]; 9. 11X-Levi Randt[13]; 10. 9-Adam Soltis[3]; 11. 127-Parker Anderson[11]; 12. 19C-Cody Cimfl[17]; 13. 77-Zach Degner[6]; 14. 19H-Nolan Brown[12]; 15. 56-Ethan Hommerding[21]; 16. 20F-Connor Franson[16]; 17. 1R-Cole Richards[10]; 18. 31-Tom Treviranus[22]; 19. 92R-Courtney Rose[26]; 20. 15B-Mike Brown[20]; 21. 17G-Chris Gross[27]; 22. 19J-Jenna Herrman[25]; 23. 74-Bruce Stanley[24]; 24. 77R-Melvin Raska[28]; 25. T20-Michael Tuma[19]; 26. 12R-Kammron Rose[23]; 27. (DNF) 2-Gunnar Watkins[18]; 28. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Adam Soltis[1]; 2. 11-Sam Fankhauser[3]; 3. 84-Hunter VanGilder[4]; 4. 11X-Levi Randt[5]; 5. 19C-Cody Cimfl[6]; 6. 56-Ethan Hommerding[2]; 7. 19J-Jenna Herrman[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Ty Agen[1]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[2]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[4]; 4. 12-Cody Kummer[5]; 5. 2-Gunnar Watkins[3]; 6. 31-Tom Treviranus[7]; 7. 92R-Courtney Rose[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 04-Tommy Pogones[3]; 2. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]; 3. 127-Parker Anderson[2]; 4. 12K-Jay Kesan[5]; 5. T20-Michael Tuma[6]; 6. 12R-Kammron Rose[7]; 7. 17G-Chris Gross[4]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 2. 77-Zach Degner[1]; 3. 19H-Nolan Brown[3]; 4. 20F-Connor Franson[5]; 5. 15B-Mike Brown[4]; 6. 74-Bruce Stanley[6]; 7. (DNF) 77R-Melvin Raska[7]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 2. 15H-Dusten Holub[6]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[3]; 4. 24H-CJ Wagner[8]; 5. 28-Eric Crosby[2]; 6. 57M-Brent Mindock[5]; 7. 70-Bob Thompson[10]; 8. 99-Trevor Schumann[13]; 9. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[12]; 10. 55-Bobby Hommerding[7]; 11. 12-Aaron Holmberg[9]; 12. 47-Anthony Schultz[1]; 13. 4K-Terry Kemp[14]; 14. 17-Brian DeNucci[11]; 15. 69ER-Shane Basina[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Eric Crosby[2]; 2. 57M-Brent Mindock[8]; 3. 47-Anthony Schultz[1]; 4. 55-Bobby Hommerding[5]; 5. 12-Aaron Holmberg[6]; 6. 17-Brian DeNucci[7]; 7. 99-Trevor Schumann[3]; 8. 69ER-Shane Basina[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[2]; 2. 52W-Austin Fencl[1]; 3. 15H-Dusten Holub[6]; 4. 24H-CJ Wagner[5]; 5. 70-Bob Thompson[7]; 6. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[3]; 7. 4K-Terry Kemp[4]