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On a sizzling-hot championship night at Rice Lake Speedway, feature foes end up envious of Adams, Myers, Schnider, Kummer and Wahlstrom

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (August 24) - The final regular Saturday night event of the 2024 racing season was held at Rice Lake Speedway on a hot night, with the 2024 Season Championship races.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners - and season champions - included Bob Wahlstrom, Cody Kummer, Mike Schnider, Curt Myers and Kevin Adams.

Wahlstrom waited until he was 60 years old to claim his first-ever title, but he made it a memorable finish to the regular season in the WISSOTA Pure Stocks as he led from start to finish to win the season championship. After starting on the pole, he pulled away from the field, endured a quick yellow after three laps, and then pulled away and maintained a comfortable edge the rest of the event.

Charlie Pitcavage quickly moved into second, with Bob Thompson and Brent Mindock battling for third. Their individual fight for position got a bit aggressive when they banged together and spun in turn one, triggering the lone yellow flag of the event. Thompson got his spot back while Mindock elected to call it a night.

While Wahlstrom continued to control the lead, the battle for second was a good one; Thompson got past Pitcavage for the position just past the midpoint of the race. This battle for second went right down to the wire, with Thompson edging out Pitcavage for second at the finish. Out front, it was Wahlstrom’s second feature win of the year at the track, complementing his point and season championship titles.

Track point champion Danny Richards grabbed the early lead in the WISSOTA Street Stock feature with rookie driver Nolan Brown moving into second. Cody Kummer, who has had an exceptional year at the track, quickly moved up after starting fifth on the grid, cracking the top three when the first yellow flew for a spinning Bryar Zimmerman.

Kummer, who excels along the high line, then swept past Brown on the restart and closed on leader Richards; just one lap later Kummer swept past Richards in turn four and drove into the lead.

Richards tried to respond, but it didn't go well for the point champion, as he pushed very hard into turn three and broke loose. The former Little Dream winner spun out in front of the field, with everyone able to avoid contact.

Kummer retained the lead while Richards went to the tail of the field. The last 10 laps of this race ran off green to checkers, with Kummer in the lead. Hunter VanGilder, who started sixth, moved into second and was close behind the leader and trying to gain as the race moved into its second half.

Parker Anderson, who started eighth, moved to the outside lane also and had immediate success as he moved into third and started to gain on VanGilder.

The top three pulled away from the field as the race neared its conclusion. Anderson continued to gain on VanGilder as he tried to make a pass for second. Up front, however, it was all Kummer. He won by several car lengths over VanGilder. Anderson finished a very close third.

For Kummer, the regular season wrapped up the same way much of his season has here, in victory lane. Not only did he win the biggest Street Stock race in the country, he won five feature races at the track this year, topping all competitors. He was also the only driver in the Street Stocks to win more than one feature race this year at the speedway.

Though he hadn’t visited victory lane yet this year, Schnider was the WISSOTA Midwest Modified track point champion coming into season championship night. Schnider took the lead at the drop of the green flag and then led from start to finish to grab that elusive first feature of 2024, while also pulling off the double championship score.

Early on, he battled wheel to wheel with Jake Stai, the only driver to have won more than one main event here this year, and Cody Cimfl for the lead. An early yellow for a spin bunched the field; Cimfl edged into second as the driver on the move was seventh-starter Joey Jensen. He moved to second by the halfway point of the race before the yellow flew for the second time. Stai and Brady Larson got into their own private war, with Stai ending up pointed the wrong direction in turn four.

Schnider had to be at his best the second half of the race as Jensen had a clear shot at him and was pushing his hardest along the high side. Mike was dialed in Saturday and never made a single slip, crossing the line with Jensen a scant car length behind. Cimfl completed the top three. In the ultra competitive class, Schnider became the tenth different feature winner at the track this year, with Stai the only driver to win more than once.

Curt Myers became the third driver to win the season championship following his point title last week, as he led from start to finish to win the WISSOTA Super Stock feature race - despite a constant challenge from Eric Olson.

Alex Myers moved into third by the halfway point of the race with Leslie Leu and Randy Graham trailing. Frequent yellows allowed the field to bunch, but Myers pulled away on every green flag to maintain a solid lead over Olson.

With only two laps to go, third running Alex Myers suffered mechanical issues and triggered the yellow, setting up a two-lap sprint to the finish.

Curt Myers was up to the task, however, and led Olson across the finish line for the win. Leu was third at the finish with Patrick Beeksma, who had to go to the back early for a tangle, in fourth at the finish.

It was Myers fourth Super Stock win of the season at Rice Lake and 52nd of his career; he continues his chase of Don Drew, who holds the all-time record for wins in the class.

WISSOTA Modified point champion Joe Chaplin, Jr. started on the pole for the feature race and led the first seven laps, as he and Brent Prochnow had a good battle for the top spot. Kevin Adams started third and slipped behind Pat Hoffman, before he moved to the outside of the track and started to make time. He drove back by Hoffman and Prochnow, and then moved in on the leader.

Adams slowly gained on Chaplin, and then with a burst down the backstretch, pulled past Chaplin on lap seven to take over the lead. Sixth-starter Mike Anderson was also on the move. He began to pick up the pace and by the halfway point of the race, passed Chaplin into second.

The two all-time leaders in feature wins in the Modifieds then began one of their classic battles. Adams continued running the top side of the track while Anderson was low; Anderson continually showed a nose under the leader, but Adams powered off the corners and held him off. Several yellows with just three laps to go bunched the field and produced a shootout on each green.

Adams adjusted his line slightly as Anderson was strong off the bottom in turn four. During those three final laps, Anderson continued to get close, but at the finish it was Adams by a car length for the win, with point champion Chaplin a close third.

It was Adams’ second win of the year at the track, making him the first driver to collect more than one during 2024. For Adams, it was his 96th Modified feature win at Rice Lake, and between he and Anderson, they have won a total of 153 feature wins at Rice Lake, the top two in all-time track history.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[3]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 3. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[1]; 4. 22S-Cole Spacek[8]; 5. 308-Pat Hoffman[4]; 6. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 7. 20-Austin Ellis[11]; 8. 78-Brent Prochnow[2]; 9. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[9]; 10. 37-Travis Anderson[13]; 11. 204-David Mayala[14]; 12. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[12]; 13. 10-Kyle Helling[10]; 14. 28-Don Gleason[15]; 15. (DNF) 4N-Nick Wojcik[16]; 16. (DNF) 18S-Kennedy Swan[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 2. 78-Brent Prochnow[1]; 3. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[3]; 4. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 5. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[7]; 6. 20-Austin Ellis[2]; 7. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 8. 28-Don Gleason[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[2]; 2. 22S-Cole Spacek[1]; 3. 18S-Kennedy Swan[4]; 4. 308-Pat Hoffman[6]; 5. 10-Kyle Helling[3]; 6. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 7. 204-David Mayala[8]; 8. 4N-Nick Wojcik[7]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 33-Curt Myers[1]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[2]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 4. 21C-Patrick Beeksma[8]; 5. 1-Ryan Olson[4]; 6. 20-Cory Davis[14]; 7. 57-Randy Graham[5]; 8. 01-Michael Anderson[15]; 9. 245-James Cimfl[10]; 10. 28-Josh Cappo[11]; 11. (DNF) 1M-Alex Myers[3]; 12. (DNF) 62-Dalton Truchon[12]; 13. (DNF) 22-Clay Albrecht[16]; 14. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[13]; 15. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[6]; 16. (DNS) 1776-Wayne Dean

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[4]; 2. 57-Randy Graham[2]; 3. 21C-Patrick Beeksma[6]; 4. 1M-Alex Myers[5]; 5. 1776-Wayne Dean[7]; 6. 28-Josh Cappo[1]; 7. 247-Jackson Larson[8]; 8. 01-Michael Anderson[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1E-Eric Olson[3]; 2. 33-Curt Myers[5]; 3. 21-Mike Siewert[2]; 4. 14X-Leslie Leu[8]; 5. 245-James Cimfl[7]; 6. 62-Dalton Truchon[1]; 7. 20-Cory Davis[4]; 8. (DNF) 22-Clay Albrecht[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 7-Mike Schnider[1]; 2. 30-Joey Jensen[7]; 3. 19H-Cody Cimfl[3]; 4. 63JR-Brady Larson[9]; 5. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 7. 28-Paul Ripley[8]; 8. 00-Joseph Swearingen[16]; 9. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[12]; 10. 1-Jake Stai[2]; 11. 410-Jesse Young[11]; 12. 101-Michael Grover[13]; 13. 5-Rory Taber[14]; 14. 78-Bently Prochnow[10]; 15. 88K-Donavan Knutson[5]; 16. (DNS) 39-Rusty Taber

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[2]; 2. 19H-Cody Cimfl[3]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 4. 7-Mike Schnider[6]; 5. 63JR-Brady Larson[5]; 6. 410-Jesse Young[1]; 7. 101-Michael Grover[8]; 8. 5-Rory Taber[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Paul Ripley[3]; 2. 30-Joey Jensen[4]; 3. 1-Jake Stai[6]; 4. 88K-Donavan Knutson[5]; 5. 78-Bently Prochnow[8]; 6. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[7]; 7. (DNF) 39-Rusty Taber[1]; 8. (DQ) 00-Joseph Swearingen[2]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[5]; 2. 84-Hunter VanGilder[6]; 3. 127-Parker Anderson[8]; 4. 19H-Nolan Brown[2]; 5. 12K-Jay Kesan[4]; 6. 9-Adam Soltis[9]; 7. 7-Caiden Engel[7]; 8. 3R-Danny Richards[1]; 9. 20F-Connor Franson[3]; 10. 92R-Courtney Rose[10]; 11. 19J-Jenna Herrman[13]; 12. 74-Bruce Stanley[12]; 13. (DNF) 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[11]; 14. (DNS) 79-Joseph Ott

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 127-Parker Anderson[1]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[2]; 3. 12K-Jay Kesan; 4. 20F-Connor Franson; 5. 9-Adam Soltis; 6. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman; 7. 19J-Jenna Herrman

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[4]; 2. 7-Caiden Engel[1]; 3. 84-Hunter VanGilder[2]; 4. 19H-Nolan Brown[5]; 5. 92R-Courtney Rose[3]; 6. 74-Bruce Stanley[6]; 7. (DNF) 79-Joseph Ott[7]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 70-Bob Thompson[3]; 3. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[2]; 4. 7D-Trevor Phillips[5]; 5. (DNF) 17-Brian DeNucci[6]; 6. (DNF) 57M-Brent Mindock[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 70-Bob Thompson[1]; 2. 57M-Brent Mindock[5]; 3. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 4. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[3]; 5. 7D-Trevor Phillips[6]; 6. 17-Brian DeNucci[2]