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Fireworks and Fast Lane Series bring big crowd to Rice Lake July 3; fans of Halopka, Koch, Jensen, Kummer and Holub happy at the end

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (July 3) - The Firecracker Special Wednesday night at Rice Lake Speedway is always billed as a pretty big deal and it more than met the expectations placed upon it.

One hundred thirty-seven drivers from three states signed in to race, including 49 Super Stocks on hand to contest the Fast Lane Northland Super Stock Series makeup event. The fireworks display held at dusk was spectacular and the crowd on hand to enjoy the event was among the largest at the speedway in many years.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Dexton Koch in the Super Stocks, Shane Halopka in the Modifieds, Joey Jensen in the Midwest Modifieds, Cody Kummer in the Street Stocks and Dusten Holub in the Pure Stocks.

The Fastlane Super Stock Series event was originally scheduled for June 6, but was rained out and rescheduled for Wednesday’s program. Fortunately, most of the drivers who contested the series were able to make the holiday eve event.

The first lap was a rocky one as D.J. Keeler shot straight off the end of the front chute, went head on into the first turn concrete wall and then flipped over onto his roof. Fortunately the Superior driver was unhurt but his car was not quite as fit.

The second attempt to get the race going went better, as Joey Jensen jumped into the early lead with Tim Johnson, Tommy Richards and Austin Niemeyer close behind. Only three laps were complete before the yellow flew once again for a spinning car on the front chute. The top runners remained closely bunched, with Jensen still in charge.

Two of the previous winners at the oval this season were eliminated on a lap-six collision; Curt Myers and Terran Spacek got together with heavy contact between the two, and both cars were out of the race.

Jensen continued to lead, with Johnson pressing him all around the track. Meanwhile, fifth-starter Dexton Koch moved into a challenging position as he quietly edged his way to the front.

Randy Graham lost a wheel just two laps short of the halfway point, triggering the final yellow of the race. And while the field circled the track under the yellow, leader Jensen suddenly pulled off the track, as serious issues ended his effort.

Matthew Larson then inherited the lead, with Johnson second and Koch third.

Back under green, Koch quickly made a move past Johnson. The final 17 laps of the race went nonstop, and it was a two-car battle between Larson and Koch. They pulled away from the pack and were left to settle it themselves.

Larson had Koch nailed to his rear bumper, and Koch tried both low and high on the track to get past the leader. Larson dove low in the corners and then drifted up the track down the straightaways, while Koch continued to look for an opening. Finally, Koch was able to get to the outside of Larson, and with a swoop and roar past down the front chute with only four laps to go to take over the lead.

Larson cut right back on Koch, riding his rear bumper as he searched for a way to regain the lead, but Koch pulled away by a few car lengths and drove on for the win. Larson was forced to settle for second, with Richards fighting his way back up to third. Dylan Nelson made a late charge forward to claim fourth and Niemeyer completed the top five.

For Koch, the current WISSOTA national points leader in the Super Stocks, it was the third-ever feature win in Rice Lake. It was also Koch’s 100th feature win of his career. Koch became the fifth different Super Stock winner so far this year at the speedway.

In the WISSOTA Modifieds, Ross Prochnow got the jump on Steve Hallquist to become the initial leader with Halopka quickly moving in to challenge. After looking both high and low, Halopka swept past Prochnow and then pulled away from the field in a race that went green to checkers for 20 laps.

Prochnow and Mark Hanson had a great battle for second, with Hanson moving into the spot at the halfway point of the race. Then he and Prochnow swapped the position at least two times as they worked through lapped traffic. With just a couple laps left, Hanson got back into second and held off Prochnow for the runner-up honors. Hallquist ran a steady race and finished fourth with Mike Anderson making a charge into the top five near the end.

Halopka's win was his third-ever in the Modified class at the oval, after setting records for the most feature wins in the Midwest Modified division. He became the sixth different winner in six nights of Mod racing here this year.

Joey Jensen started on the outside pole for the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature, took the lead on lap one and then led the rest of the way. This race was stopped once with just a single lap completed for a three-car spin, but then they raced green to checkers following that.

The only driver who challenged Jensen was Nick Koehler, who wheeled a brand-new car for the first time on Wednesday. He stayed with Jensen for much of the contest, running within a few car lengths until Jensen stretched his lead in the late going. He expertly worked through lapped traffic and was able to extend his lead in the latter stages. Jensen's first-ever feature win in the Midwest Modifieds at the speedway was an impressive one with Koehler running a strong second and Shadow Kitchner racing a steady race to third. Extra money was on the line and Jensen headed back to Minnesota with $600. David Baxter came back from last Saturday night's disappointment to finish fourth ahead of young Landyn Randt. Jensen became the seventh different winner in seven nights of Midwest Modified racing this year.

Just as dominating as the performance of Jensen was that of Cody Kummer, who led from start to finish to top a strong field of WISSOTA Street Stocks - his second win of the year at the track. He started on the pole, got the jump on Cody Cimfl and then pulled away from the field. The race started a bit rocky when a first lap tangle eliminated Mike Tuma and Sam Fankhauser, but then they put in a number of green flag laps with Kummer pulling away. Cimfl and Danny Richards battled for second, with them exchanging that position a couple of times.

The second and final yellow occurred with nine laps complete as Andrew Hanson dumped fluid all over the track as he headed for the pits. Richards had worked his way back into second, but he had nothing for Kummer who pulled away in the final six laps to earn his second win of the year here and become the first multiple winner in the division so far in 2024. Cimfl ran a strong third with Shawn Amundson and Levi Randt completing the top five.

With his third feature win of 2024 at the track, Dusten Holub became the winningest driver so far in 2024, as he topped the field in the WISSOTA Pure Stock feature. There were three different leaders in this race, with Brent Mindock taking the early lead from the pole. Bob Wahlstrom showed big speed as he quickly moved up from the third row to challenge Mincock for the lead. Bob made a pass down the front chute for the lead, but as they were battling for that top spot, the two leaders came together off turn two and Wahlstrom went spinning into the infield. The ruling was that he had help and Wahlstrom was returned to the lead while Mindock went to the tail of the field.

But Wahlstrom held the lead for only two more laps as Holub, who started fifth, came storming to the front and Wahlstrom simply could not hold him off. Holub motored past him and took over the top spot.

The rest of the race went nonstop and while Wahlstrom could stay close, he could never muster a serious challenge and Holub continued on, driving to the win. Austin Fencl finished a close third with Eric Crosby and Rob Grabon finishing up the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka[3]; 2. 18-Mark Hanson[6]; 3. 78R-Ross Prochnow[1]; 4. 27H-Steve Hallquist[2]; 5. 57-Mike Anderson[7]; 6. 40-Kevin Adams[18]; 7. 18S-Kennedy Swan[9]; 8. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[10]; 9. 78-Brent Prochnow[4]; 10. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[5]; 11. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[8]; 12. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[12]; 13. 20C-Denny Cutsforth[14]; 14. 2-Kyle Kirberger[13]; 15. 204-David Mayala[16]; 16. 28-Don Gleason[17]; 17. (DNF) 10-Kyle Helling[11]; 18. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka[1]; 2. 18S-Kennedy Swan[2]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[3]; 4. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[6]; 5. 2-Kyle Kirberger[4]; 6. 204-David Mayala[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[1]; 2. 78R-Ross Prochnow[2]; 3. 78-Brent Prochnow[5]; 4. 10-Kyle Helling[3]; 5. 20C-Denny Cutsforth[4]; 6. (DNF) 40-Kevin Adams[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[2]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[3]; 3. 18-Mark Hanson[4]; 4. US-Jonathan Olmscheid[1]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[5]; 6. 28-Don Gleason[6]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[5]; 2. 8-Matthew Larson[3]; 3. 7R-Tommy Richards[6]; 4. 25-Dylan Nelson[8]; 5. 33-Austin Niemeyer[1]; 6. 1JR-Tim Johnson[4]; 7. 1M-Alex Myers[11]; 8. 27-Matt Deragon[14]; 9. 22N-Dan Nissalke[21]; 10. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[7]; 11. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[16]; 12. 77-Scott Lawrence[23]; 13. 25X-Chad Johnson[12]; 14. 1-Ryan Olson[19]; 15. L1-Andrew Johnson[9]; 16. 71X-William Fisher[26]; 17. (DNF) 21-Joey Jensen[2]; 18. (DNF) 57-Randy Graham[20]; 19. (DNF) 6K-Shane Kisling[10]; 20. (DNF) 38-Simon Wahlstrom[18]; 21. (DNF) 22T-Terran Spacek[22]; 22. (DNF) 33M-Curt Myers[15]; 23. (DNF) 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[25]; 24. (DNF) 390-Tucker Quinn[17]; 25. (DNF) 1E-Eric Olson[13]; 26. (DNF) 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[24]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Joey Jensen[3]; 2. 7R-Tommy Richards[4]; 3. 1M-Alex Myers[1]; 4. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[5]; 5. 87D-Kenny Davis[8]; 6. 20*-Andrew Davis[2]; 7. 22-Clay Albrecht[6]; 8. 82-Paul Gucinski[7]; 9. 77L-Andy Ladd[9]; 10. 6-Dan Peterson[10]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 8-Matthew Larson[8]; 2. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[3]; 3. 25X-Chad Johnson[10]; 4. 390-Tucker Quinn[5]; 5. 00-Jason Hobbs[2]; 6. (DNF) 22T-Terran Spacek[7]; 7. (DNF) 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[6]; 8. (DNF) 207-Jesse Redetzke[9]; 9. (DQ) 2-Don Livingston[1]; 10. (DQ) 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[4]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 1JR-Tim Johnson[2]; 2. 25-Dylan Nelson[8]; 3. 1E-Eric Olson[6]; 4. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[3]; 5. 71X-William Fisher[4]; 6. 28-Josh Cappo[1]; 7. 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 8. (DNF) 75-Scott Geiger[9]; 9. (DQ) 26-Kyle Copp[5]; 10. (DQ) 02-Travis Anderson[10]

Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[3]; 2. L1-Andrew Johnson[1]; 3. 27-Matt Deragon[9]; 4. 1-Ryan Olson[8]; 5. 42-Myron Basina[5]; 6. 01-Michael Anderson[7]; 7. 00Q-Jason Quarders[2]; 8. 15-Jonathan Dachel[10]; 9. 22AT-Austin Tilton[6]; 10. (DNF) 2XL-Jason Garner[4]

Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 33-Austin Niemeyer[1]; 2. 6K-Shane Kisling[3]; 3. 33M-Curt Myers[8]; 4. 57-Randy Graham[4]; 5. 77-Scott Lawrence[6]; 6. 22N-Dan Nissalke[2]; 7. 20-Cory Davis[5]; 8. 4A-Allan Cleveland[9]; 9. (DNF) 57H-Wes Hines[7]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 22N-Dan Nissalke[5]; 2. 77-Scott Lawrence[3]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[6]; 4. 71X-William Fisher[2]; 5. 20-Cory Davis[7]; 6. 28-Josh Cappo[4]; 7. 87D-Kenny Davis[1]; 8. 77L-Andy Ladd[9]; 9. 75-Scott Geiger[12]; 10. 6-Dan Peterson[10]; 11. 15-Jonathan Dachel[8]; 12. (DNF) 02-Travis Anderson[15]; 13. (DNF) 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer[11]; 14. (DNS) 2XL-Jason Garner; 15. (DNS) 26-Kyle Copp

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[10]; 2. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[14]; 3. 20*-Andrew Davis[3]; 4. 00-Jason Hobbs[1]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[4]; 6. 82-Paul Gucinski[7]; 7. 2-Don Livingston[13]; 8. 22-Clay Albrecht[5]; 9. 00Q-Jason Quarders[6]; 10. 4A-Allan Cleveland[8]; 11. 42-Myron Basina[2]; 12. 22AT-Austin Tilton[9]; 13. (DNS) 207-Jesse Redetzke; 14. (DNS) 57H-Wes Hines

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[2]; 2. 13X-Nick Koehler[4]; 3. 68-Shadow Kitchner[6]; 4. 35B-David Baxter[7]; 5. 11R-Landyn Randt[3]; 6. 21-Jimmy Latvala[5]; 7. 1-Jake Stai[9]; 8. 40D-Blake Adams[10]; 9. 7-Mike Schnider[16]; 10. 19H-Cody Cimfl[13]; 11. 37-Travis Anderson[12]; 12. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[1]; 13. 13-Derrick Reed[20]; 14. 00-Joseph Swearingen[21]; 15. 40-Nick Traynor[8]; 16. 63L-Mitchell Larson[18]; 17. 101-Michael Grover[19]; 18. 46-Zach Slayton[14]; 19. 13B-Chris Bretting[11]; 20. 19-David Madsen[23]; 21. (DNF) 78-Bently Prochnow[24]; 22. (DNF) 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[17]; 23. (DNF) 31-Jason Vokovan[15]; 24. (DNF) T25-Mark Thomas[22]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Jimmy Latvala[2]; 2. 13X-Nick Koehler[7]; 3. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 4. 19H-Cody Cimfl[5]; 5. 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[4]; 6. 39-Rusty Taber[6]; 7. 88K-Donavan Knutson[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 35B-David Baxter[2]; 2. 40-Nick Traynor[4]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 4. 46-Zach Slayton[1]; 5. 63L-Mitchell Larson[6]; 6. T25-Mark Thomas[3]; 7. 5-Rory Taber[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11R-Landyn Randt[2]; 2. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[3]; 3. 13B-Chris Bretting[1]; 4. 31-Jason Vokovan[6]; 5. 101-Michael Grover[4]; 6. 00-Joseph Swearingen[5]; 7. 78-Bently Prochnow[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[1]; 2. 68-Shadow Kitchner[6]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[2]; 4. 7-Mike Schnider[5]; 5. (DNF) 13-Derrick Reed[4]; 6. (DNF) 19-David Madsen[3]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 00-Joseph Swearingen[3]; 2. T25-Mark Thomas[2]; 3. 19-David Madsen[7]; 4. 78-Bently Prochnow[6]; 5. 39-Rusty Taber[1]; 6. 5-Rory Taber[5]; 7. (DNF) 88K-Donavan Knutson[4]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[1]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[3]; 3. 19C-Cody Cimfl[2]; 4. 30-Shawn Amundson[6]; 5. 11X-Levi Randt[7]; 6. 26-Ty Agen[4]; 7. 40-Travis Loew[5]; 8. 20F-Connor Franson[10]; 9. 12K-Jay Kesan[20]; 10. 10-Justin Vogel[17]; 11. 7-Caiden Engel[8]; 12. 04-Tommy Pogones[13]; 13. 1R-Cole Richards[21]; 14. 17B-Zach Beaulieu[16]; 15. 9-Adam Soltis[11]; 16. 10B-Dylan Baskin[22]; 17. 60-Andrew Milz[24]; 18. 19H-Nolan Brown[18]; 19. 17G-Chris Gross[19]; 20. 17-jake stowell[23]; 21. 92R-Courtney Rose[15]; 22. (DNF) 20-Andrew Hanson[9]; 23. (DNF) 11-Sam Fankhauser[14]; 24. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 2. 26-Ty Agen[1]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[7]; 4. 04-Tommy Pogones[6]; 5. 10-Justin Vogel[5]; 6. 10B-Dylan Baskin[3]; 7. (DQ) 1R-Cole Richards[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[2]; 2. 7-Caiden Engel[3]; 3. 20F-Connor Franson[4]; 4. 11-Sam Fankhauser[1]; 5. 19H-Nolan Brown[5]; 6. 60-Andrew Milz[6]; 7. (DNF) 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11X-Levi Randt[4]; 2. 19C-Cody Cimfl[3]; 3. 9-Adam Soltis[6]; 4. 92R-Courtney Rose[2]; 5. 17G-Chris Gross[5]; 6. 74-Bruce Stanley[7]; 7. 17-jake stowell[1]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards[1]; 2. 40-Travis Loew[4]; 3. T20-Michael Tuma[3]; 4. 17B-Zach Beaulieu[2]; 5. 12K-Jay Kesan[5]; 6. 19J-Jenna Herrman[6]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 1R-Cole Richards[6]; 2. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]; 3. 17-jake stowell[4]; 4. 60-Andrew Milz[2]; 5. (DNF) 19J-Jenna Herrman[3]; 6. (DNF) 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[5]; 7. (DQ) 74-Bruce Stanley[7]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 15H-Dusten Holub[5]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[6]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[3]; 4. 28-Eric Crosby[2]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[10]; 6. 69ER-Shane Basina[11]; 7. 57M-Brent Mindock[1]; 8. 18M-Leo Moos[12]; 9. 24H-Devon Holub[8]; 10. 12-Aaron Holmberg[9]; 11. 17-Brian DeNucci[13]; 12. 47-Anthony Schultz[14]; 13. (DNF) 14-CJ Wagner[4]; 14. (DNF) 70-Bob Thompson[15]; 15. (DNS) 23R-James Rahn; 16. (DNS) 4K-Terry Kemp

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Eric Crosby[4]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[3]; 3. 24H-Devon Holub[5]; 4. 14-CJ Wagner[2]; 5. 12-Aaron Holmberg[8]; 6. 69ER-Shane Basina[1]; 7. (DNF) 70-Bob Thompson[6]; 8. (DNF) 4K-Terry Kemp[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Dusten Holub[1]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[2]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[3]; 4. 57M-Brent Mindock[4]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[6]; 6. 18M-Leo Moos[8]; 7. 17-Brian DeNucci[5]; 8. 47-Anthony Schultz[7]