9-24 Page 7 | ATD Racing News

Mahder, Diemel, Spacek, Haas and Hanson hoist checkers after Saturday night Punky finale at Red Cedar Speedway

By Brent Creaser

MENOMONIE, WI (September 20-21) - The 44th Annual Punky Manor Challenge of Champions was held this past Friday and Saturday at Menomonie’s historic Red Cedar Speedway.

When the final checkered flags fell, WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Chad Mahder, AJ Diemel, Terran Spacek, Derek Haas, and Andrew Hanson.

After winning the White City Glass pole dash Friday evening, Chad Mahder led the field to the green flag in the Late Model main event and immediately jumped to the lead. Just behind him, Jake Redetzke and Dave Flynn battled early for second place. After a few laps Flynn settled into second and tried to track down Mahder for the lead.

Flynn and Redetzke pounded the outside of the speedway and closed ever so slightly on Mahder, while Sammy Mars moved into fourth. None of them could get close enough to pressure Mahder, as the field headed toward a few laps remaining.

As the white flag was about to fall the caution flag flew when Lance Hofer slowed.

On the restart Mahder jumped back out front and Jake Redetzke and Flynn battled again. Flynn cleared Redetzke, as Ashley Anderson made a strong run into the top three and displaced Redetzke. Mahder drove off to the win followed by Flynn, Anderson, Redetzke and Jesse Glenz in the top five.

AJ Diemel was the early leader in the WISSOTA Modified division but was immediately pressured by Shane Halopka. Halopka and Diemel dueled for many laps, exchanging the lead, but Halopka just couldn’t secure it.

A bit farther back, Jack Rivord and Kevin Adams started to charge forward, riding the cushion. A slight slip by Rivord caused him to spin in front of Adams and Ben Hillman, and the three piled up together in turn four; Rivord was charged with the caution.

On the restart the battle up front continued, as Adams pressured Halopka and slid up in front of him going into the corner. Adams set his sights on Diemel and started to close as an another caution fell.

On the restart Adams dived to the inside of Diemel and took the lead out of turn two. As they went into turn three, Diemel shot to the inside himself, but Adams stayed in the gas and regained the lead as the caution flew again before the lap Adams led was complete.

On the restart Adams looked for the lead again, but this time mechanical failure hampered his bid for another Punky Manor win.

Diemel led the restart, now with Darrell Nelson and Michael Truscott in tow. Nelson drove by Truscott and set his sights on Diemel. Nelson’s line was much different than Diemel, showing himself several times, but it just wasn’t enough. Diemel won followed by Nelson, Truscott, Halopka and Mark Hanson in the top five.

Terran Spacek on the front row of any event can be scary for the field, and he proved that to be true on Saturday night. Spacek set the pace early and looked to drive away. Ron Mahder followed closely behind, but never had enough to challenge Spacek and retired with about five laps remaining with mechanical issues.

Tommy Richards held strong in the top three throughout the race, while Alex Myers picked his way forward to secure a top-three spot, hoping for a slip-up from Spacek.

Things started to get interesting as Spacek got into lapped traffic, which allowed Richards and Myers to close. Myers moved to the outside and tried to use the momentum, driving past Richards. He came up short in his effort to catch Spacek, however, with Spacek getting the win followed by Myers, Richards, Tom Karis and Andrew Davis.

Defending champion Jay Richardson was the early leader in the Midwest Modified division. Richardson looked extremely strong early on the bottom side of the speedway. Brandon Jensen rolled into second and look for a way to get past Richardson. He worked high, but just couldn’t find enough momentum. Derek Haas moved into third and started to work on Jensen. He got by Jensen and then drove below Richardson to take the lead.

Jensen eventually worked past Richardson and start to work toward Haas. Jensen began to close and got to the rear bumper of Haas with only a few laps ago. When Jensen went to make his move on Haas, a lapped car broke his momentum. Haas went on to garner the victory, followed by Jensen, Richardson, David Baxter and Cody Borgeson in the top five.

Hunter VanGilder was the early leader of the WISSOTA Street Stock division, with Andrew Hanson following closely in second. Hansen looked for the lead and closed to the back bumper of VanGilder, but never had enough to get past him. Everything changed with a few laps to go, when VanGilder lost the entire rear quarter panel of his race car on the speedway. VanGilder was charged with the caution for losing a part on the speedway without contact.

On the restart Hanson assumed the lead, as he looked to be back-to-back champion of the race. Kolby Kiehl tried his best to challenge Hanson, but he didn’t have enough as Hanson took the win followed by Kiehl, Gunnar Watkins, Connor Franson and Zach Manley in the top five.

Red Cedar Speedway officials thank everyone from the racers to the fans, and the track marketing partners for a fantastic 2024 season at the speedway. They look forward to see everyone again in 2025 starting with the annual race car show and expo in late March. Stay up to date with all things Red Cedar Speedway on our website and social media.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 55C-Chad Mahder[1]; 2. 29F-Dave Flynn[3]; 3. 81A-Ashley Anderson[8]; 4. 27-Jake Redetzke[2]; 5. 7X-Jesse Glenz[5]; 6. 28-Sam Mars[6]; 7. 44-Darrell Nelson[14]; 8. 58-AJ Diemel[12]; 9. 55N-Greg Nippoldt[4]; 10. 10-Daniel Bargender[10]; 11. 85-John Kaanta[7]; 12. 68-Mike Prochnow[9]; 13. 81-Troy Springborn[17]; 14. 22-Brett Shafer[15]; 15. 13-Mark Hessler[13]; 16. 71-Rick Hanestad[22]; 17. (DNF) 11X-Lance Hofer[19]; 18. (DNF) 57-Nick Panitzke[20]; 19. (DNF) 34-Jordan Langer[24]; 20. (DNF) 19-Steve Laursen[18]; 21. (DNF) 11-James Giossi[11]; 22. (DNF) 50-Gavin Tarras[21]; 23. (DNF) 22E-Kevin Eder[23]; 24. (DNF) 92W-Aaron Wilson[16]

Dash 1: 1. 55C-Chad Mahder[1]; 2. 27-Jake Redetzke[4]; 3. 29F-Dave Flynn[3]; 4. 55N-Greg Nippoldt[2]; 5. 7X-Jesse Glenz[5]; 6. 28-Sam Mars[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 85-John Kaanta[1]; 2. 81A-Ashley Anderson[2]; 3. 10-Daniel Bargender[3]; 4. 44-Darrell Nelson[6]; 5. 22E-Kevin Eder[4]; 6. 50-Gavin Tarras[5]; 7. 32-Jordan Tollakson[7]; 8. 23-Steve Vizer[9]; 9. (DNF) 73-Brandon Englund[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Sam Mars[1]; 2. 27-Jake Redetzke[4]; 3. 58-AJ Diemel[2]; 4. 22-Brett Shafer[3]; 5. 19-Steve Laursen[6]; 6. 34-Jordan Langer[8]; 7. 57-Nick Panitzke[7]; 8. (DNS) 90-Lance Matthees

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 55C-Chad Mahder[3]; 2. 29F-Dave Flynn[5]; 3. 68-Mike Prochnow[4]; 4. 13-Mark Hessler[6]; 5. 14-Robbie Johnson[1]; 6. 71-Rick Hanestad[2]; 7. 92-Richard Chasteen[7]; 8. (DNS) 7C-Jim Carlson

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 55N-Greg Nippoldt[2]; 2. 7X-Jesse Glenz[4]; 3. 11-James Giossi[3]; 4. 92W-Aaron Wilson[1]; 5. 81-Troy Springborn[5]; 6. 11X-Lance Hofer[7]; 7. 212-Mike Klippenstein[6]; 8. (DNF) 54L-Jayme Lautigar[8]

B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 81-Troy Springborn[3]; 2. 19-Steve Laursen[1]; 3. 11X-Lance Hofer[6]; 4. 57-Nick Panitzke[9]; 5. 50-Gavin Tarras[7]; 6. 71-Rick Hanestad[8]; 7. 22E-Kevin Eder[2]; 8. 34-Jordan Langer[5]; 9. 54L-Jayme Lautigar[14]; 10. 23-Steve Vizer[13]; 11. 212-Mike Klippenstein[11]; 12. 73-Brandon Englund[15]; 13. 92-Richard Chasteen[10]; 14. (DNF) 14-Robbie Johnson[4]; 15. (DNS) 32-Jordan Tollakson; 16. (DNS) 90-Lance Matthees; 17. (DNS) 7C-Jim Carlson

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 89-AJ Diemel[1]; 2. 44N-Darrell Nelson[18]; 3. 22T-Michael Truscott[2]; 4. 3JR-Shane Halopka[4]; 5. 18-Mark Hanson[9]; 6. 57-Mike Anderson[19]; 7. 18S-Kennedy Swan[3]; 8. 2-Tanner Gehl[15]; 9. 22JR-Ben Hillman[10]; 10. 10-Kyle Helling[14]; 11. 34JR-Dan Larson Jr[23]; 12. (DNF) 40-Kevin Adams[7]; 13. (DNF) 78R-Ross Prochnow[22]; 14. (DNF) 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 15. (DNF) 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[16]; 16. (DNF) 44-Adam Hensel[13]; 17. (DNF) 5-Kaden Blaeser[12]; 18. (DNF) 28-Shadow Kitchner[20]; 19. (DNF) 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[24]; 20. (DNF) R2-Jason Richardson[17]; 21. (DNF) 19J-Jack Rivord[8]; 22. (DNF) 55-Cory Mahder[11]; 23. (DNF) 71-AJ Roschen[6]; 24. (DNF) 05-Jake Hartung[21]

Dash 1: 1. 89-AJ Diemel[1]; 2. 22T-Michael Truscott[2]; 3. 18S-Kennedy Swan[5]; 4. 3JR-Shane Halopka[3]; 5. 27H-Steve Hallquist[4]; 6. 71-AJ Roschen[6]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 22T-Michael Truscott[3]; 2. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 3. 18-Mark Hanson[2]; 4. 55-Cory Mahder[6]; 5. 44-Adam Hensel[8]; 6. R2-Jason Richardson[7]; 7. 44N-Darrell Nelson[9]; 8. 34JR-Dan Larson Jr[4]; 9. 44X-Mitch Anderson[10]; 10. (DNF) 57-Mike Anderson[1]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 71-AJ Roschen[1]; 2. 89-AJ Diemel[8]; 3. 22JR-Ben Hillman[3]; 4. 19J-Jack Rivord[7]; 5. 5-Kaden Blaeser[9]; 6. 1L-Donnie Lofdahl[10]; 7. 78R-Ross Prochnow[4]; 8. 37-Travis Anderson[5]; 9. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[6]; 10. (DNS) 11-Justin Weinberger

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka[2]; 2. 18S-Kennedy Swan[5]; 3. 40-Kevin Adams[6]; 4. 2-Tanner Gehl[3]; 5. 10-Kyle Helling[8]; 6. 78-Brent Prochnow[7]; 7. 04N-Nick Ayotte[4]; 8. 28-Shadow Kitchner[9]; 9. (DNF) 80-Kerry Hansen[1]; 10. (DNS) 05-Jake Hartung

B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. R2-Jason Richardson[1]; 2. 44N-Darrell Nelson[3]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[12]; 4. 28-Shadow Kitchner[6]; 5. 05-Jake Hartung[14]; 6. 78R-Ross Prochnow[4]; 7. 34JR-Dan Larson Jr[7]; 8. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[10]; 9. 44X-Mitch Anderson[9]; 10. 37-Travis Anderson[8]; 11. (DNF) 78-Brent Prochnow[2]; 12. (DNS) 04N-Nick Ayotte; 13. (DNS) 80-Kerry Hansen; 14. (DNS) 11-Justin Weinberger

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[1]; 2. 1M-Alex Myers[17]; 3. 7R-Tommy Richards[3]; 4. 92-Tom Karis[8]; 5. 20*-Andrew Davis[7]; 6. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[10]; 7. 25-Chad Johnson[9]; 8. 62-Dalton Truchon[13]; 9. 87-Kenny Davis[11]; 10. 69-John Adams[20]; 11. 15-Jonathan Dachel[19]; 12. 00-Jason Quarders[18]; 13. 1776-Wayne Dean[14]; 14. 74-Noah Shackleton[22]; 15. 05-Chris West[24]; 16. (DNF) 55-Ron Mahder[2]; 17. (DNF) 9K-Kolby Kiehl[4]; 18. (DNF) 1-Ryan Olson[21]; 19. (DNF) 6-Shane Kisling[6]; 20. (DNF) 71-Brandon Clemens[5]; 21. (DNF) 81-Avery Anderson[16]; 22. (DNF) 14X-Leslie Leu[15]; 23. (DNF) 26-Matt Melhouse[23]; 24. (DNF) 1E-Eric Olson[12]; 25. (DNF) 18B-Dean Butler[25]; 26. (DNS) 207-Jesse Redetzke

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22T-Terran Spacek[3]; 2. 55-Ron Mahder[6]; 3. 25-Chad Johnson[1]; 4. 87-Kenny Davis[5]; 5. 1E-Eric Olson[8]; 6. 81-Avery Anderson[9]; 7. 69-John Adams[7]; 8. 26-Matt Melhouse[2]; 9. (DNF) 207-Jesse Redetzke[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[2]; 2. 71-Brandon Clemens[4]; 3. 6-Shane Kisling[6]; 4. 62-Dalton Truchon[3]; 5. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[9]; 6. 1M-Alex Myers[5]; 7. 1-Ryan Olson[7]; 8. 74-Noah Shackleton[1]; 9. 18B-Dean Butler[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[2]; 2. 20*-Andrew Davis[1]; 3. 92-Tom Karis[4]; 4. 1776-Wayne Dean[3]; 5. 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 6. 00-Jason Quarders[5]; 7. 15-Jonathan Dachel[6]; 8. 05-Chris West[8]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 80-Derek Haas[5]; 2. 121B-Brandon Jensen[3]; 3. R1-Jay Richardson[1]; 4. 35B-David Baxter[4]; 5. B37-Cody Borgeson[2]; 6. 71-Nate Reinke[7]; 7. 25-Justen Seipel[6]; 8. 68-Shadow Kitchner[15]; 9. 63JR-Brady Larson[13]; 10. 21-Reese Schlosser[9]; 11. 1-Jake Stai[10]; 12. 37-Travis Anderson[12]; 13. 89-Matt Klukas[8]; 14. 6H-Steve Haas[16]; 15. 31-Jason Vokovan[14]; 16. 2-Scott Splittstoesser[26]; 17. 10B-Dylan Baskin[24]; 18. 3B-Ryan Bauer[22]; 19. 61-Andrea Keeney[23]; 20. 12-Kenny Rogers[19]; 21. (DNF) 71B-Barry Johnson[11]; 22. (DNF) T17-Steve Thomas[25]; 23. (DNF) 78-Brent Prochnow[17]; 24. (DNF) 21L-Jimmy Latvala[21]; 25. (DNF) 20-Carson Madsen[20]; 26. (DNS) T25-Mark Thomas

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. B37-Cody Borgeson[2]; 2. 121B-Brandon Jensen[5]; 3. 21-Reese Schlosser[3]; 4. 31-Jason Vokovan[4]; 5. 63JR-Brady Larson[8]; 6. T25-Mark Thomas[6]; 7. 12-Kenny Rogers[1]; 8. 3B-Ryan Bauer[9]; 9. T17-Steve Thomas[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. R1-Jay Richardson[5]; 2. 80-Derek Haas[2]; 3. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 4. 71-Nate Reinke[8]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[9]; 6. 6H-Steve Haas[7]; 7. 20-Carson Madsen[1]; 8. 10B-Dylan Baskin[6]; 9. (DNS) 2-Scott Splittstoesser

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 35B-David Baxter[1]; 2. 25-Justen Seipel[2]; 3. 71B-Barry Johnson[3]; 4. 89-Matt Klukas[8]; 5. 68-Shadow Kitchner[7]; 6. 78-Brent Prochnow[4]; 7. 21L-Jimmy Latvala[6]; 8. 61-Andrea Keeney[5]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 20-Andrew Hanson[3]; 2. 8-Kolby Kiehl[7]; 3. 2-Gunnar Watkins[5]; 4. 20F-Connor Franson[8]; 5. 44-Zach Manley[13]; 6. 18T-Ryan Howe[10]; 7. 40L-Travis Loew[11]; 8. 10-Rich Bishop[6]; 9. 15-Mike Knudtson[14]; 10. 7-Caiden Engel[12]; 11. 10B-Dylan Baskin[15]; 12. (DNF) 84-Hunter VanGilder[2]; 13. (DNF) 3R-Danny Richards[1]; 14. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[16]; 15. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[9]; 16. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 2. T20-Michael Tuma[2]; 3. 2-Gunnar Watkins[5]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 5. 18T-Ryan Howe[7]; 6. 7-Caiden Engel[6]; 7. 44-Zach Manley[8]; 8. (DNF) 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[4]; 2. 20-Andrew Hanson[6]; 3. 10-Rich Bishop[1]; 4. 20F-Connor Franson[2]; 5. 8-Kolby Kiehl[8]; 6. 40L-Travis Loew[5]; 7. 15-Mike Knudtson[7]; 8. (DNS) 9-Adam Soltis