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Kummer declared winner of the 30th annual Street Stock Little Dream Race at Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (July 30) - Cody Kummer was declared the winner of the 30th annual Street Stock Little Dream Race at Rice Lake Speedway Tuesday, July 30, after apparent winner Nick Traynor's car failed to pass post-race inspection. A motor issue was the problem and Kummer, who chased Traynor the last eight laps of the race in a serious attempt to make the winning pass, was elevated to the winner's position.

Due to the generosity of fans in the stands and at home, as well as supporting businesses, the winner's share in this event broke the record once again. In the 30th year of this unique event, the goal was to get to $30,000 for the winner’s share and that was accomplished.

Fifty-nine drivers from six states and Canada braved the stormy and steamy weather to compete. Double heat races, plus last-chance events, set the starting field of 30 drivers for the 40-lap event.

From the outside pole position, Hunter VanGilder led the opening lap of the race before Nick Traynor drove past him on the outside and took the lead. Two yellows for spins in the first four laps kept the field bunched, but when racing resumed Levi Randt and Ty Agen were both on the move. The young drivers moved to second and third place and kept the heat on leader Traynor.

As Traynor began to pull away, the three-car battle for second was sensational as Agen, Randt and VanGilder often went three wide around the wide racing surface, fighting one another for position and trying to catch Traynor simultaneously.

As the race reached its halfway point, Traynor continued to maintain a two-second lead over Randt, Agen and VanGilder, as eventual winner Kummer first appeared in the top five. Running just behind VanGilder, Kummer started the race in 12th and was gradually working his way through the field.

A long green flag period then ensued with Traynor continuing to hold his advantage. He was running a unique line that allowed him to gain great speed coming off the corners of the third-mile oval. Agen took over second, as Kummer continued to climb in the field, moving up to third as Randt faded back just a bit.

The great run for Randt ended on lap 32, as he rolled to a halt in turn two, his night complete with mechanical issues ending his run.

An eight-lap sprint to the finish decided the winner and Traynor again pulled into the lead. However, this time he was challenged as Kummer shot past Agen on the high side of the track, pulled into second, and then began to track down the leader. Kummer dove low in the corners, hoping to sneak up under Traynor, but each time Traynor edged past him on exit.

Kummer continued to try this move, coming close on lap after lap, but Traynor did not falter.

Kummer took one last shot on the white flag lap, but he came up short as Traynor continued his flawless run and crossed under the finish line with a two-car-length edge over Kummer, with Agen close behind.

A post-race issue was found with an engine part in Traynor’s #40 and he was disqualified - the first time this has happened in Little Dream history. That elevated Kummer to the win, his first in the prestigious event.

Kummer has been racing this event since 2010, with second-place finishes in 2011 and 2016 his previous best. Now he is elevated to the elite status of Little Dream winner for the first time.

Completing the top five in the adjusted order behind Kummer and Agen were Kyle Genett, Andrew Hanson and VanGilder. Justin Vogel, defending champion Keith Tourville, Tim Johnson, Tommy Pogones and Jeff Nowak completed the top 10. Twenty-two of the starters were still on the track at the finish and all were on the lead lap.

The speedway will now be closed until Saturday, August 10, when Jam The Stands night will be held. Adult admission is set at just $5. The track’s five WISSOTA sanctioned classes will be in action for a full show, with race time set for 6 p.m.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[12]; 2. 26-Ty Agen[6]; 3. 16X-Kyle Genett[22]; 4. 20-Andrew Hanson[9]; 5. 84-Hunter VanGilder[2]; 6. 10-Justin Vogel[18]; 7. 111JR-Keith Tourville[26]; 8. 69-Tim Johnson[5]; 9. 04-Tommy Pogones[8]; 10. 79N-Jeff Nowak[23]; 11. 19H-Simon Wahlstrom[20]; 12. 127-Parker Anderson[7]; 13. 19J-Mike Schnider[10]; 14. 8-Kolby Kiehl[27]; 15. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[3]; 16. 10B-Dylan Baskin[29]; 17. 2-Joe Martin[17]; 18. 05-Kyle Howland; 19. 17-Matt Goth[25]; 20. 10R-Rich Bishop[21]; 21. (DNF) 11X-Levi Randt[4]; 22. (DNF) 44X-Zach Manley[16]; 23. (DNF) 30-Shawn Amundson[13]; 24. (DNF) 3R-Danny Richards[28]; 25. (DNF) 40-Travis Loew[14]; 26. (DNF) 26X-Jordan Kurtti[15]; 27. (DNF) 25J-Mike Jans[11]; 28. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[24]; 29. (DQ) 40T-Nick Traynor[1]; 30. (DQ) 177-Kyle Bolt[19]

Heat 1 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 30-Shawn Amundson[2]; 2. 10R-Rich Bishop[3]; 3. 44X-Zach Manley[7]; 4. 25J-Mike Jans[5]; 5. 20F-Connor Franson[10]; 6. 66E-Steve Eggersgluess[6]; 7. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[4]; 8. (DNF) 17A-Jacob Aarhus[8]; 9. (DNF) 111JR-Keith Tourville[9]; 10. (DQ) 79N-Jeff Nowak[1]

Heat 2 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 11X-Levi Randt[1]; 2. 40T-Nick Traynor[5]; 3. 19J-Mike Schnider[3]; 4. 26X-Jordan Kurtti[10]; 5. 10B-Dylan Baskin[2]; 6. 05-Kyle Howland[6]; 7. 22B-Ethan Beckler[4]; 8. 77R-Melvin Raska[7]; 9. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[9]; 10. (DNF) 15B-Mike Brown[8]

Heat 3 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 69-Tim Johnson[1]; 2. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[6]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[9]; 4. 87X-Quentin Busitzky[10]; 5. 56-Ethan Hommerding[7]; 6. 79-Joseph Ott[2]; 7. 12M-Grady Myers[3]; 8. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[8]; 9. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[5]; 10. (DNF) 8-Kolby Kiehl[4]

Heat 4 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[4]; 2. 2-Joe Martin[2]; 3. 17-Matt Goth[6]; 4. 127-Parker Anderson[10]; 5. 11-Sam Fankhauser[9]; 6. 12K-Jay Kesan[5]; 7. 92R-Jimmy Latvala[1]; 8. 317-Austin Polonoski[3]; 9. (DNF) 16X-Kyle Genett[8]; 10. (DNF) 22-Alex Minks[7]

Heat 5 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[2]; 2. 10-Justin Vogel[3]; 3. 19C-Cody Cimfl[4]; 4. 26-Ty Agen[6]; 5. 177-Kyle Bolt[8]; 6. 40-Travis Loew[10]; 7. 16-Warren Bartelt[7]; 8. (DNF) 21-Jim Gullikson[9]; 9. (DNF) 2W-Gunnar Watkins[1]; 10. (DNF) 76S-Dan Svee[5]

Heat 6 (Round 1) (8 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards[1]; 2. 04-Tommy Pogones[3]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[2]; 4. 12-Cody Kummer[7]; 5. 12R-Kammron Rose[5]; 6. 19H-Simon Wahlstrom[9]; 7. 77-Zach Degner[6]; 8. (DNF) 28-Greg Jose[4]; 9. (DNF) 7-Caiden Engel[8]

Heat 7 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 40-Travis Loew[1]; 2. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[5]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[8]; 4. 11X-Levi Randt[10]; 5. 12K-Jay Kesan[6]; 6. 30-Shawn Amundson[9]; 7. 77R-Melvin Raska[4]; 8. 17A-Jacob Aarhus[3]; 9. (DNS) 7-Caiden Engel; 10. (DNS) 19C-Cody Cimfl

Heat 8 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 127-Parker Anderson[1]; 2. 12-Cody Kummer[3]; 3. 84-Hunter VanGilder[7]; 4. 05-Kyle Howland[5]; 5. 44X-Zach Manley[4]; 6. 10-Justin Vogel[8]; 7. 79N-Jeff Nowak[10]; 8. (DNS) 21-Jim Gullikson; 9. (DNS) 9-Adam Soltis; 10. (DQ) 3R-Danny Richards[9]

Heat 9 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 40T-Nick Traynor[6]; 2. 8-Kolby Kiehl[7]; 3. 177-Kyle Bolt[3]; 4. 77-Zach Degner[4]; 5. 66E-Steve Eggersgluess[5]; 6. 87X-Quentin Busitzky[1]; 7. 317-Austin Polonoski[8]; 8. 15F-Zachary Flickinger[9]; 9. (DNF) 11-Sam Fankhauser[2]

Heat 10 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 16X-Kyle Genett[3]; 2. 25J-Mike Jans[6]; 3. 12R-Kammron Rose[5]; 4. 26X-Jordan Kurtti[1]; 5. 12M-Grady Myers[8]; 6. 2-Joe Martin[9]; 7. 22B-Ethan Beckler[7]; 8. 16-Warren Bartelt[4]; 9. (DNS) 2W-Gunnar Watkins; 10. (DQ) 1R-Cole Richards[2]

Heat 11 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 26-Ty Agen[5]; 2. T20-Michael Tuma[2]; 3. 19J-Mike Schnider[8]; 4. 28-Greg Jose[6]; 5. 20F-Connor Franson[1]; 6. 92R-Jimmy Latvala[10]; 7. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[7]; 8. 79-Joseph Ott[9]; 9. (DNF) 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[3]; 10. (DNF) 22-Alex Minks[4]

Heat 12 (Round 2) (8 Laps): 1. 111JR-Keith Tourville[2]; 2. 19H-Simon Wahlstrom[1]; 3. 04-Tommy Pogones[7]; 4. 69-Tim Johnson[10]; 5. 56-Ethan Hommerding[4]; 6. 10B-Dylan Baskin[9]; 7. 17-Matt Goth[5]; 8. 10R-Rich Bishop[8]; 9. 76S-Dan Svee[6]; 10. (DNS) 15B-Mike Brown

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 10R-Rich Bishop[3]; 2. 12K-Jay Kesan[4]; 3. 8-Kolby Kiehl[10]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[8]; 5. 77-Zach Degner[5]; 6. 17A-Jacob Aarhus[11]; 7. 79-Joseph Ott[6]; 8. 7-Caiden Engel[13]; 9. 317-Austin Polonoski[7]; 10. 12R-Kammron Rose[1]; 11. (DNF) 15F-Zachary Flickinger[2]; 12. (DNS) 19C-Cody Cimfl; 13. (DNS) 21-Jim Gullikson

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 16X-Kyle Genett[9]; 2. 17-Matt Goth[2]; 3. 3R-Danny Richards[8]; 4. T20-Michael Tuma[10]; 5. 92R-Jimmy Latvala[5]; 6. 05-Kyle Howland[3]; 7. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[6]; 8. 87X-Quentin Busitzky[1]; 9. 12M-Grady Myers[4]; 10. 76S-Dan Svee[11]; 11. 77R-Melvin Raska[7]; 12. (DNS) 2W-Gunnar Watkins; 13. (DNS) 15B-Mike Brown

B Feature 3 (12 Laps): 1. 79N-Jeff Nowak[13]; 2. 111JR-Keith Tourville[9]; 3. 10B-Dylan Baskin[3]; 4. 11-Sam Fankhauser[5]; 5. 56-Ethan Hommerding[2]; 6. 22B-Ethan Beckler[6]; 7. 16-Warren Bartelt[7]; 8. 66E-Steve Eggersgluess[4]; 9. 20F-Connor Franson[1]; 10. 28-Greg Jose[10]; 11. (DNS) 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl; 12. (DNS) 22-Alex Minks; 13. (DNS) 9-Adam Soltis

Non Qualifyier (15 Laps): 1. 11-Sam Fankhauser[3]; 2. 05-Kyle Howland[8]; 3. 56-Ethan Hommerding[6]; 4. 7-Caiden Engel[13]; 5. 77-Zach Degner[4]; 6. 79-Joseph Ott[10]; 7. 66E-Steve Eggersgluess[15]; 8. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[11]; 9. (DNF) 87X-Quentin Busitzky[14]; 10. (DNF) 22B-Ethan Beckler[9]; 11. (DNF) 17A-Jacob Aarhus[7]; 12. (DNF) 16-Warren Bartelt[12]; 13. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 14. (DNF) 92R-Jimmy Latvala[5]; 15. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[2]