The 2016 PolyDome Dirt Track Series Kicked Off Friday Night At

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COVERING EVERY WISSOTA DRIVER & EVERY WISSOTA TRACK
APRIL 19, 2016 • VOLUME 23, ISSUE 4 • 32 PAGES
Contributed Photo
Red Cedar Opens
WISSOTA Season
The 2016 PolyDome Dirt Track Series
Kicked Off Friday Night At
Red Cedar Speedway In Wisconsin.
Brad Seng (12) & Darrell Nelson Raced Hard
For The Season’s First Late Model Win.
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APRIL 19, 2016 • PAGE 3
Aho & Langeberg take the top honors to close out 2015 Eagle River Speedway season
By Skip Schulz
EAGLE RIVER, WI - With
snow on the challenging thirdmile Tri-Oval at Eagle River
Speedway, racers gathered for
the awards banquet recently.
Drivers were awarded their 2015
class champion awards and cash
awards worth $5700 were delivered to them as well.
Jesse Aho took home his
fourth consecutive WISSOTA
Midwest Modified track championship. Aho, from Toivola,
MI, was also given the Mark
Glembin “Car of the Year”
award, which was voted on by
fellow racers. Glembin, a past
owner and racer at the track,
passed away last year. Glembin
received the first Bobby-0 Spirit
award last year, which was voted
on by racers and fans.
Eagle
River’s
Tadd
Schoonover took second in the
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds,
with Hurley’s John Kallas in
third place.
Tomahawk’s Nate Langeberg
held off Eagle River racers Ryan
Glembin and Ryan Valeria by
only 21 and 22 points, respectively, to win the WISSOTA
Street Stock track championship.
The Tomahawk area put another racer in the track championship winners’ circle. CJ
Hedges won the Pure Stock
track championship, and for the
second year in a row, Eagle
River’s Don Scharf took second.
David Blackberg, originally
from Ewen, MI, now from
Eagle River, took third in the
points.
Eagle River bother-sister
tandem of Ty and Tommi Jo
Springer both took home track
championships as well this year.
Ty won the Micro Sprint 600
points championship, while his
younger sister Tommi-Jo captured the Junior Sprint points
championship.
Brothers Denver and Dylan
Larson took second and third in
the Micro Sprints, while Hunter
Tingley and Dayton Rein
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
WISSOTA Midwest Modified Track Champion
Jesse Aho won his fourth consecutive title at
Eagle River Speedway.
rounded out the top three in the
Junior Sprints.
The track will continue a 42year tradition of focusing on
family entertainment and racing.
The 2016 schedule starts off
with the May 13 practice day.
The first race of the season will
be May 20. The Friday night
races include many special fea-
tures, including a four-race
Micro Sprint 600 series. Also
on the upcoming summer schedule at the popular northern Wisconsin dirt track are the
Redneck Games, Spectator Racing, and two Off-Road Vehicle
Side-By-Side Xtreme Challenge
races.
CJ Hedges and his family
Nate Langeberg held off Eagle River racers Ryan
Glembin and Ryan Valeria to win the Eagle River
Speedway WISSOTA Street Stock championship.
organize the Tori Stevens Memorial Race every year, and this
year the special race is planned
for June 10. The race is a
fundraiser to find the cure for
Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
Once again this year ERS is
going to have special nights for
the fans as well. This includes
Harry’s Fireworks night on July
1 and Junior Fan Autograph
Night on August 5.
In 2016 the weekly race program will include the WISSOTA-sanctioned
Midwest
Modifieds and Street Stocks, the
Micro Sprint 600s, Junior
Sprints, and track Pure Stocks.
For more information, visit
www.eagleriverspeedway.com.
St. Croix Speedway shifts race nights to Sunday & adds additional WISSOTA classes
ST. CROIX FALLS, WI Racing action is alive and well
in the St. Croix Valley area of
western Wisconsin. St. Croix
Speedway, formerly known as
St. Croix Valley Raceway, has
been in operation since 1980.
Located just outside of the
quaint river town of St. Croix
Falls, the track has been under
the ownership of Rick Mastell,
Ron Bernhagen and Kurt Becken
since they purchased the facility
in 2011. The trio breathed new
life into the quarter-mile oval
over the first five seasons under
their ownership, but have decided 2016 was the time for
change.
The number one change
made over the off-season is the
night of operation. St. Croix
Speedway will host racing action
on Sunday nights throughout the
majority of the summer, a
switch from Friday night action
that the track hosted for the past
24 seasons. The switch to Sunday nights was a Mastell family
decision. The Mastells own a
business – Mastell Brothers
Trailer Sales – which made it
difficult to dedicate the appropriate amount of time to the
track on Fridays. Racing on
Sundays will allow the family to
give maximum effort to both the
business and the track. Sunday
nights also provide less direct
competition from other area
race tracks, so the move will
hopefully increase car counts as
well. The track last operated on
Sundays back in 1991 and it was
the first season under the WISSOTA Promoter’s Association
banner.
Fans and racers will also no-
tice a name and logo change
heading into the 2016 season.
St. Croix Speedway will now be
the official name of the track; it
was known as St. Croix Valley
Raceway for the past five seasons, and Kopellah Speedway
for the 12 seasons prior to that.
The track was known as St.
Croix Speedway during the 1991
through 1998 seasons and the
Mastell family decided that 2016
was the perfect time to rebrand
the facility with a new name,
new night and new logo.
The tight quarter-mile bull-
ring will feature WISSOTAsanctioned Modifieds, Super
Stocks, Midwest Modifieds,
Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and
Hornets weekly with special
events including Late Models,
Sprint Cars and others dotting
the schedule. Modifieds, Midwest Modifieds, Pure Stocks and
Hornets competed at the track in
2015, but the Super Stocks and
Street Stocks last competed
weekly in 2009. The 2016 season will also mark the first year
that the Pure Stocks and Hornets
will be sanctioned by WISSOTA
at the facility.
A 21-event schedule is set
for 2016, with the season opener
slated for April 24. Weekly Sunday racing will take place
throughout the months of May,
June, July and August, with a
pair of events on the schedule
for September to wrap up the
season.
For more information regarding St. Croix Speedway,
fans
should
www.SCVRaceway.com or contact the Mastell family at [email protected].
PAGE 4 • APRIL 19, 2016
NEXT ISSUE DATE:
TUESDAY, APRIL 26
This Week In WISSOTA Racing History
4 Years Ago
© 2015 All The Dirt! Racing News, Inc.
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ATD Staff:
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Publisher, Business & Circulation Manager [email protected]
Scott Hughes
Publisher, Advertising Manager ..................................................scott@allthedirt.com
Meghan Diemel
Editor............................................................................................meg@allthedirt.com
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Copy Editor ..............................................................................lindsey@allthedirt.com
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Copy Editor ..........................................................................m.spieker20@gmail.com
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Copy Editor ............................................................................tonysteuck@gmail.com
Contributing Photographers:
Nick Anderson ......................................nickandersonphoto@outlook.com
Vance Birno ..............................................vance@frypanproductions.com
Jason Durst................................................................dirtfan21@msn.com
Alan Herrig ................................................................alan@alanherrig.com
J.R. Hughes ......................................................hughes993@hotmail.com
Skip Hunter............................................................skiphunter@charter.net
Char Hurd....................................................................hurdc@bresnan.net
Tom Krob....................................................................tkrob77@gmail.com
Jamie Laine ..............................................................hoefert1@gmail.com
Kayla Lemieux ........................................................46lemieux@gmail.com
Brad Letcher ..........................................................info@chaosclicker.com
Stephanie Matti ................................................steph_matti@hotmail.com
Dan McCreight ............................................mccreightfactory@gmail.com
Stan Meissner ..........................................................mndirt@hotmail.com
Buck Monson ............................................buck@buckmonsonphoto.com
Layn Mudder......................................................lmphotographer@aol.com
Cody Papke ............................................................crpphotos@gmail.com
Dennis Peterson ..............................................dennancy@paulbunyan.net
Vince Peterson ..................................................vince008@centurytel.net
Tony Radzwon ................................................tony@speedshopnorth.com
Rick Rea ........................................................................rick@rickrea.com
Christel Samuelson [email protected]
Chad Spieker ................................................photosbychad@hotmail.com
Mike Spieker ..................................................speedwayshots@gmail.com
Shawn Swanstrom [email protected]
Scott Swenson ......................................................scottswenson@q.com
Bill Young ..........................................................billyoung@rushmore.com
Jonelle Zika ..................................................................jonlm@yahoo.com
Doug Zimmer ........................................................rcflyer40@hotmail.com
Contributing Columnists & News Writers:
Ed Reichert • Todd Narveson • J.R. Hughes • Ryan Schmitz
Jerry O’Brien • Tony Steuck • Carly Tofte
Mike Savaloja • Bill Nelson • Nick Gima • Greg Anderson • Ron Krog
Tami Jo Kuehn • Dennis Peterson • Brad Erickson
Keith Cumming • Butch Knouse • Chad Adamson • Rebecca Rattei
Mike Spieker • Steven Bradley • Nikki Nichole • Mike Carroll
Skip Schulz • Corey Litton
Advertising Deadline:
Friday 5:00 p.m. Before Issue Date
Editorial & Photo Deadlines:
Friday 5:00 p.m. For Tues., Wed., Thurs. Races
Saturday 5:00 p.m. For Friday Races
Sunday 5:00 p.m. For Saturday Races
Monday 10:00 a.m. For Sunday Races
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■ The historic 60th consecutive season of dirt track racing
at Rice Lake Speedway began in
record-breaking fashion Saturday
night. With one of the largest
crowds in recent years on hand
for the opener, the track broke
another record with its earliest
opening night of racing in the 60
years of its operation.
One hundred and two cars
from three states signed in for
the opener, and when the final
checkered flag had been waved,
opening night winners included
Kevin Adams, Ben Hillman,
Tito Viltz, Eric Olson and Joel
Hinrichs.
In the Modifieds, Mike Anderson sat on the pole for the
WISSOTA Mod feature race, but
it was Tim McMann who edged
in front of Anderson to take the
early lead. However, Anderson
fought back and they were running nearly side by side for the
lead as Curt Myers and Rich
Lofthus battled right behind
them. Things went badly for Anderson when he clipped a corner
tire in turn two and spun; this
ended his evening and triggered
the first yellow flag of the event.
On the restart, McMann continued to hold the lead but Kevin
Adams quickly moved up from
the third row. After he swept
past Myers on the high side on
the restart, Adams matched that
move within two laps to drive
past McMann and take over the
lead.
Once in front, he started to
stretch his advantage while
Lofthus battled with McMann,
and Paul Brust moved up
quickly from the fifth row.
Adams continued to run unchallenged up front until a laterace yellow set up a three-lap
sprint to the finish. Adams
pulled away again while McMann had his hands full with
both Brust and Lofthus. Adams
continued on for the win. McMann was able to fight off Brust
and Lofthus while Kevin Eder’s
late charge ended in the top five.
■ The 2012 WISSOTA race
season started for columnist Ed
Reichert on Saturday, April 7 at
Deer Creek Speedway. After a
long stretch of spectacularly
beautiful weather, no one was
surprised when race day dawned
cloudy and cool. Then it started
to drizzle on and off for three
hours at least. Fortunately, the
rain was very light and the folks
at Deer Creek told Reichert
when it would stop and the skies
would quickly clear, and that’s
exactly what happened. By late
afternoon things were looking
considerably better and it was
clear that racing would indeed
happen.
The Late Model field was
solid with 19 cars on hand, most
of which will run Deer Creek
every Saturday. However, it was
the Badger, or rather, the Packer,
Jake Redetzke who led from
start to finish for the win. Redetzke, wearing his new Green Bay
Packers look-alike helmet, will
surely stir some controversy
when he starts winning features
to the west. Redetzke caught a
huge break when he nearly spun
out in front of the pack on the
opening lap. He lost several
spots only to have the start
called back because a couple of
the other cars looped.
8 Years Ago
■ With a stiff breeze and
cold chill in the air, but absolutely no rain in sight, race car
drivers and fans descended on
Princeton Speedway Friday night
for the 2008 season opener on
April 18.
When all was said and done
on the first WISSOTA AMSOIL
Dirt Track Series event of the
season - and the only one
throughout the region that didn’t
fall to rain - Dale Mathison,
Curt Myers, Andy Jones and
Allen Gessell, Jr. each had his
first feature win of the 2008
campaign.
The night of features kicked
off with the WISSOTA Street
Stocks. With the lineup set
straight up from the heat races,
heat winners Gessell, Jr. and
Ronald Johnson were side by
side on the front row when the
green flag dropped. Gessell, Jr.’s
quick start was negated by a caution, but the 2007 WISSOTA 100
champion reassumed the point
after the restart with Johnson
and Devin Neske right behind
him.
After another caution a few
laps later, Johnson challenged
Gessell, Jr. for the lead but Gessell, Jr. held him back. Ben
Rothstein moved up on Neske
for third but Neske didn’t let
him by. Johnson then lost control
for a moment and Neske used
the opportunity to take over the
runner-up spot while third heat
race winner Mike Jans slid in
right behind Johnson for third.
Jans and Johnson were battling
for third when Gessell, Jr. began
lapping slower cars.
Jans and Johnson made some
contact, but both recovered and
kept going. Cory Rosen then
kicked it into high gear and took
fourth from Jans. Rosen challenged Johnson for third, took
the spot and then began to hassle
Neske in second. Gessell, Jr.
had a comfortable lead when
Rosen and Neske got together in
turn three, Neske’s #67E went
around and Rosen was subsequently sent to the back for the
ensuing restart.
After another quick yellow
for debris on the track, Gessell,
Jr. held off his competitors and
took the first feature win of the
season at the speedway.
The WISSOTA Midwest
Modifieds came out next with
heat winners Jim White and
Lonny Loeschke on the front
row ahead of Jones and Bud
Martini. After a quick caution
where White was tagged for
jumping the start, Jones moved
up on the outside of Loeschke’s
#66 for the redo. Jones snatched
the lead when the green flag
waved and White slipped into
second while Martini, Loeschke
and Steve Alsacker battled
three-wide for third until Alsacker got sideways; the resulting multi-car tangle brought out
the second yellow.
Jones resumed control after
the restart while White tried to
hold off Martini for second.
After another caution forced officials to go to a single-file
restart, Jones retained the lead
while Martini took over second
and Justin Jones slipped by
Loeschke for third. Shane
Sabraski then took fourth from
Loeschke and moved in on
Justin Jones.
Andy Jones put some distance between himself and Martini and was dealing with lapped
traffic when Martini reeled him
in. A caution for Ryan Studanski’s spin forced another restart,
during which Martini made his
move. Martini found the going a
little rough in the turns during
his challenge for the lead, however, and he lost control just
long enough for Andy Jones to
gain some separation. Jones held
on from there for the win ahead
of Martini, Justin Jones,
Sabraski and Denis Czech.
12 Years Ago
■ After an off-season that
produced management changes,
and then a week’s delay,
Shawano Speedway opened its
gates for business last Saturday.
The day started off with a practice session. There were 18
WISSOTA Late Models on hand
for the practice session and the
drivers wanted to shake down
their cars and make sure everything was working properly.
Even though the track got a little
rough during the practice, the
extra session was beneficial for
several of the drivers, who were
able to fix things that were not
working properly.
After the practice session,
the whole track was graded and
packed back in. There was skepticism that the track would hold
up for the entire night of racing,
because it looked like there were
spots where it would get rough.
But, it got a little dry and dusty,
and the track stayed smooth. You
never know what a dirt track will
be like during the first few
weeks of the season, but those
preparing the track Saturday
night deserve a lot of credit for
making a nice racing surface.
There were 22 WISSOTA
Late Models on hand for the
opening night of racing. Those
in attendance included Nick Anvelink, Doug Blashe, Mark
Mitchell, Randy Markwardt,
Tom Naeyaert, Greg Dhein,
Gordie Seegert, M.J. Hintz,
Tim Buhler, Ron Berna, Troy
Springborn, Luke Roffers,
Gary Nelson, Mark Weisnicht,
A.J. Diemel, M.J. McBride,
Terry Casey, Lonnie Hoeft,
Terry Anvelink, Todd Frank,
Jamie Schmidt and Tim Lemirande.
Schmidt and Lemirande are
rookies in the division and they
both raced Modifieds the last
few years. Ryan Huettl, another
rookie, was at the track during
the practice session but experienced some front-end problems
so did not participate in the racing program. He plans on racing
at Seymour on a weekly basis.
There should be a few more
drivers coming out over the next
couple weeks, so there should be
a solid field of 20 to 25 cars on
a weekly basis at Shawano.
The heat races ran very
smoothly, with no cautions in
the three races.
In the feature, Springborn
started fourth and found himself
in the lead on just the second
lap. A couple of cautions slowed
the race, but it was all Springborn and he cruised to the victory. If this opener was any
indication, Springborn will be
tough to beat this season at
Shawano.
16 Years Ago
■ The opening night of the
2000 racing season at Red
Cedar Speedway occurred on
April 21. A very rough track,
due to normal early spring
weather conditions, made things
interesting.
The highline seemed to be
the best route around the speedway; Paul Harelstad used the
outside to get the jump in the
WISSOTA Mod main. The yellow blinked on before a lap
could be competed, though, as
Tony Bahr rolled to a halt.
On the restart, Harelstad
again secured the top spot with
Don and Craig Brightbill right
behind. Ron Schreiner was on
the move immediately as he
looked to the bottom and edged
into second. The action was
halted with a red flag when
Steve Arpin ended up on his
hood in the second turn.
With an extended period
needed to clean up the accident,
the time limit ran out and the
race went green, white, checkered. Schreiner went to the inside on the restart, but Harelstad
guessed right and blocked his
move by going to the bottom
himself. Schreiner pressured to
the finish, but Harelstad had the
line and he drove on to the win.
The Brightbills ran next, while
Pat Doar rounded out the top
five.
APRIL 19, 2016 • PAGE 5
MIKE SPIEKER PHOTO
The 2015 John Seitz Memorial winner was Chad Mahder. Late Model drivers
will again be racing for a $9,200 pay check in honor of Seitz this September.
MIKE SPIEKER PHOTO
Pat Doar, of New Richmond, Wisconsin, was the 2015 “Go Hard or Go Home” Dash
winner, so named for Seitz’s driving style and outlook on racing.
The 10th John Seitz Memorial is being billed as the biggest and best in event history
GRAND FORKS, ND The 10th anniversary running
of the John Seitz Memorial
Late Model Invitational at the
highly competitive River
Cities Speedway in Grand
Forks, ND, is set to be the
biggest and best Seitz Memorial in history.
The event will kick off
again this year on Thursday,
September 8. Known as the
“Prelude to the Johnny,” Late
Models will compete in a
$1,192-to-win
program,
which will begin at 7 p.m. As
the final point night for the
’16 NLRA season, this allows
the tour champion to be
crowned at River Cities, just
as they have been the last five
seasons. Defending NLRA
champion Dustin Strand will
be looking for his second
straight and third overall
NLRA championship entering
the season finale.
The Late Models will be
complemented by the first of
three consecutive nights for
the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds. In addition, it will be
the first of two nights for the
WISSOTA Street Stocks. The
NOSA Outlaw 410 Sprint Cars
will join the festivities for
their first of two nights on
Thursday night as well.
The second night of the
memorial weekend begins on
Friday, September 9 with action for the WISSOTA Late
Models, NOSA Sprint Cars,
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and WISSOTA Modifieds. Friday’s program will
feature heat races and the
$920-to-win “Go Hard or Go
Home” pole dash for the Late
Models. The revenge draw
will be back for the second
year in a row for the Late
Models, while the Midwest
Modifieds, Modifieds and
Sprint Cars will run a full
program.
The program on Saturday,
September 10 will include the
B-features, a last-chance race
and the 92-lap, $9,200-to-win
feature event for the Late
Models. In addition, there
will be a complete program
for the Midwest Modifieds
and Street Stocks. But the excitement doesn’t end there –
for the first time ever, the
WISSOTA Modifieds will run
a second, consecutive night.
All three support divisions
will race for a $920 paycheck
on Saturday night!
More than 50 of the Midwest’s best Late Model competitors from several states
and
several
Canadian
provinces, including previous
champions Pat Doar, Cody
Dodge County re-opening with WISSOTA
KASSON, MN (March
29) - The WISSOTA Promoters Association is pleased to
announce the addition of another track that will host
events under the WISSOTA
banner during the 2016 racing
season.
Dodge County Speedway
in Kasson, MN will re-open
in 2016 and will host WISSOTA-sanctioned
Super
Stocks, Midwest Modifieds
and Street Stocks during 11
events, beginning on Sunday,
April 17 and wrapping up
with a two-day event on October 1 and 2.
Fans and racers can check
for updates at www.RaceKasson.com.
Welcome back to WISSOTA, Dodge County Speedway!
Saturday, April 30
Iverson’s Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram Of Huron
Season Opener • All Classes In Action
Saturday, May 7
Dakotaland Federal Credit Union Night
All Classes In Action
UPCOMING EVENTS:
May 14....................................................................Corner Pantry Night
May 21 ......................Slumberland Furniture of Huron & Mitchell Night
June 2 ..................Iverson’s Dakota Challenge Series - $5,000 To Win
WISSOTA Late Models • WISSOTA Modifieds
WISSOTA Super Stocks • WISSOTA Midwest Mods
WISSOTA Street Stocks
In The Heart Of
WISSOTA Country
Host Track Of The
2016 WISSOTA 100!
Orville Chenoweth, Promoter
605.352.4848
[email protected]
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE FAIRGROUNDS, HURON, SD
Skytland, AJ Diemel, defending race winner Chad
Mahder, and the event’s only
two-time winner, Brad Seng,
are expected to be in attendance to compete for this
giant purse and the prestige of
winning the John Seitz Memorial! Locals Dustin Strand,
Mike Balcaen, Joey Pederson
and a host of other area competitors will look to defend
their home turf from the travelers to keep the $9,200 in the
Grand Forks area.
Thursday and Friday’s action will begin at 7 p.m.,
while Saturday’s show will
start at 6 p.m. This event has
been ultra-successful over the
first nine seasons and fans
will want to make sure to be
in Grand Forks for the 10th
running of the event on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sep-
MIKE SPIEKER PHOTO
2015 “Prelude to the Johnny” winner AJ Diemel
tember 8-10.
Tons of contingency awards
will be provided in all divisions throughout the course of
the weekend by some great
sponsors.
Payouts, entry fees and
other details will be an-
nounced at a later date. For
ticket prices and more information please log onto
www.rivercitiesspeedway.com
or www.fyemotorsports.com
for more event information.
Or, call Chris at (715) 4978916.
PAGE 6 • APRIL 19, 2016
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Ashley Anderson is celebrating his 25th year of racing in 2016, and he started off
the season-long tour with two wins: one at Red Cedar Friday, and one at Rice Lake.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Kevin Eder was all smiles after his WISSOTA Super Stock victory Saturday night. He
drove Greg Kuklinski’s Super Stock to the win.
Anderson & Eder join forces to wow the fans Saturday night at Rice Lake Speedway
By Ed Reichert
RICE LAKE, WI (April
16) - Ashley Anderson and
Kevin Eder shared the spotlight during the 2016 WISSOTA PolyDome Dirt Track
Series opener Saturday night at
Rice Lake Speedway. Eder
won his first-ever Super Stock
feature at the track and was on
his way to a huge double win,
only to be edged at the line by
less than a car length after
Ashley Anderson nipped him
in the Modified feature race.
Other winners on the 64th
consecutive opening night at
the speedway included Curt
Myers, Tim Johnson and Jason
Havel. A nice field of 92 racers from three states signed in
to race on opening night in
front of a large crowd on what
was a summer-like night in
northern Wisconsin.
Eder led most of the WISSOTA Modified feature after
taking the lead from the outside pole at the drop of the
green. He was chased for most
of the race by Kevin Adams,
who continually tried to slide
under him coming out of each
corner, but was never able to
make the move stick. Matt
Leer was a challenger for quite
some time as well until he
spun in turn one and triggered
the second yellow of the race
with 12 laps completed.
Adams continued to challenge for the lead while Eder
still held the top spot, but Anderson and Mike Anderson
had both worked their way into
contending positions also. Anderson looked to the inside of
Adams for second and got beside him on occasion, but each
time Adams was able to fight
him off.
One final yellow slowed the
action with 13 laps completed
and Adams made an all-out effort on the green; he slid under
Eder and they raced for the
lead in turn one. Adams could
not complete the pass, however, and as Eder held on to
the lead, Adams lost momentum and Anderson moved into
second and dropped under
Eder. They raced side by side
for the lead for several laps
with neither driver able to pull
away. The two drivers were
still side by side when they
took the white flag.
In the final corner, Eder
slid just a bit high and that was
Anderson's opportunity to
surge ahead where he pulled
out the win by less than a car
length. Mike Anderson came
on strong at the end and pulled
past the fading Adams for third
with Neil Balduc completing
the top five. Anderson’s win
was his first Modified win at
Rice Lake since the 2012 racing season.
While Eder could not pull
off the Modified win, he settled for the next best thing as
he won his first-ever WISSOTA Super Stock feature at
Rice Lake after he nipped a
fellow ABC Speedway regular
in Nick Oreskovich by a car
length at the line. Ashland regulars dominated the race while
Randy Spacek and Oreskovich
battled for the lead for the first
half of the race with Eder and
another ABC regular, Cory
Casari, right behind.
Oreskovich had used the
high side to come from the
second row right at the start
and pulled ahead of Spacek
into the lead. However, Randy
fought back and they went
wheel to wheel for a number
of laps with Eder always close
behind.
Oreskovich continued to
hold off Spacek, but Eder
closed on both of them before
the yellow flew for debris on
the track with 13 laps complete. Eder got a great restart
and was able to drive past
Spacek into second and then
he maneuvered to the low side
and
pulled
up
beside
Oreskovich. They ran wheel to
wheel as they fought for the
top spot before Eder eventually
pulled out to a small advantage. Oreskovich maintained
the pressure and went to the
high side one last time to try
to gain some extra momentum,
but Eder held him off by a car
length for the win. Spacek finished a close third and Curt
Myers made a late charge to
edge past Scott Lawrence into
fourth. Eder's win was accomplished driving the #80 Super
Stock owned by Greg Kuklinski.
The WISSOTA Midwest
Modified feature was a close
affair for the first half of the
event as five drivers battled
hard for the lead. Shane
Halopka and Joe Chaplin, Jr.
fought tooth and nail in the
early going for the lead while
Ryan Viltz also provided
plenty of pressure. Near the
midpoint of the race, Myers
picked up the pace and he was
able to drive around the leaders and take over the top spot.
Once in front, he stretched his
lead while the race stayed
under the green for the last 11
laps.
Myers continued to pull
away from the field and lengthened his lead over Halopka,
who was not able to cut into
the Myers advantage. Travis
Anderson started to move up
after dropping back initially;
he got past Viltz to take over
the third spot. Austin Ellis also
made a nice charge and got
past Chaplin, Jr. in the late
going to crack the top five.
The win for Myers was his
first-ever at Rice Lake in the
Midwest Modifieds, as Myers
has focused his efforts at the
track in recent years on his
Super Stock.
Drama prevailed in the
WISSOTA Street Stock feature
after the leaders got together
and a spin resulted which
changed the course of the
event. In the early going, Ashley Wahlstrom had one of her
best runs at Rice Lake and she
raced wheel to wheel with
Cooper Berlin for the lead.
They traded the lead back and
forth while Sam Fankhauser
and Kevin Bogdanovic both
challenged. Cody Kummer
picked up the pace, moved up
the track and really started to
gain positions.
Kummer continued his
charge and was able to drive
into the lead, but also on the
move was Tim Johnson, who
had started in the fourth row.
Johnson pressed the high side
too and he followed Kummer
into
second.
Johnson
xxxContinued on Page 7
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Saturday, May 7
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All Classes In Action
Saturday, May 14
USMTS Modified Special
Plus WISSOTA Midwest Mods,
WISSOTA Street Stocks & Pure Stocks
Upcoming Events:
May 21 ......................................WISSOTA Race Night
May 27-29 ............12th Annual MN Modified Nationals
May 30 ..........................MN Mod Nationals Rain Date
June 4 ........WISSOTA Race Night plus ROC Qualifier
APRIL 19, 2016 • PAGE 7
Johnson & Myers are back to winning ways
Continued from Page 6
continued to charge, got up beside Kummer and edged into
the lead. However, as they battled for the top spot, both
wanted the same piece of territory in turn one. Johnson got
clipped and went for a spin in
front of the pack. After everyone was able to miss him,
Johnson was restored to his
position and Kummer headed
for the tail.
Johnson then began to pull
away following another spin;
this one cost Bogdanovic the
second spot. One more yellow
set up a two-lap sprint to the
finish. After the race resumed,
Johnson easily pulled away
from the pack. Several drivers
who had faded back somewhat
late
charges
as
made
Fankhauser raced back up to
second and Scott Clark,
Wahlstrom and Kolby Kiehl
were all able to get back in the
top five.
Jason Havel picked up right
where he left off in 2015 and
the defending track champion
raced to the win in the Pure
Stock feature. George Richards
gave it everything he had in the
late stages, but Havel maintained his line and Richards settled for second.
Another five division program is scheduled for this coming Saturday night, April 23rd.
Along with racing in five divisions, the winners of the best
appearing car awards are scheduled to be announced also.
Warm ups begin at 6:30 p.m.
DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
Tim Johnson grabbed his first win of the season at Rice
Lake Speedway Saturday night in the Street Stocks.
SUMMARY
WISSOTA Modifieds:
Feature - Ashley Anderson, Kevin
Eder, Mike Anderson, Kevin Adams,
Neil Balduc, Pat Hoffman, Tim Johnson, Matt Leer, Rick Rivord, Tim McMann, Will Fisher, Wayne Poteet
Heat 1 - Leer, M. Anderson, Balduc, Hoffman, McMann, Poteet
Heat 2 - A. Anderson, Eder,
Adams, Johnson, Rivord, Fisher
WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature - Kevin Eder, Nick
Oreskovich, Randy Spacek, Curt
Myers, Scott Lawrence, Cory Casari,
Eric Olson, Dan Nissalke, Aaron Wilson, Tim Johnson, Willie Johnsen, Jr.,
Simon Wahlstrom, Terran Spacek,
Nick Traynor, Jeff Klopstein, Jr., Jim
Cimfl, Kyle Helling, Adam Soltis, Mark
Stender, Luke Schultz, Keith Corcilius,
John Erickson, Eric Zitelman, Tony
Falkner, Mike Troumbly
Heat 1 - Johnson, Casari,
Wahlstrom, Lawrence, Falkner, Stender, Troumbly, Corcilius, Soltis
Heat 2 - Myers, Eder, T. Spacek,
Cimfl, Wilson, Traynor, Erickson, Klopstein, Jr.
Heat 3 - Oreskovich, Olson, R.
Spacek, Zitelman, Nissalke, Helling,
Johnsen, Jr., Schultz
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
Feature - Curt Myers, Shane
Halopka, Travis Anderson, Ryan Viltz,
Austin Ellis, Joe Chaplin, Jr., Michael
Truscott, Tyler Kintner, Tyler Vernon,
Paul Suzik, Nick Koehler, Joe Prusak,
Wayne Stricker, Brady Jokinen, Karl
Kolek, Tim Ekdahl, Bill Yonke, Denny
Cutsforth
Heat 1 - Ellis, Myers, Kintner, Jokinen, Vernon, Dunbar, Miller
Heat 2 - Chaplin Jr., Prusak, Dan
Kingsley, Yonke, Elliott, Runkle, Fran
Hanson, J. Stricker
Heat 3 - Halopka, Viltz, W.
Stricker, Truscott, Koehler, Hudack,
Curt Myers scored a feature win Saturday at Rice Lake in the WISSOTA Midwest
Mods after winning in the Supers at Red Cedar on Friday.
Doyen, Kolek
Heat 4 - Grant Southworth, Anderson, Suzik, Cutsforth, Ekdahl, Lofgren,
Dan Roatch
B Feature - Vernon, Koehler, Ekdahl, Kolek, Marcus Dunbar, Craig Elliott, Tyler Hudack, Kyle Runkle,
Trevor Miller, Scott Meeds, Brandon
Lofgren, Brad Doyen, Jared Stricker
WISSOTA Street Stocks:
Feature - Tim Johnson, Sam
Fankhauser, Scott Clark, Ashley
Wahlstrom, Kolby Kiehl, Cody Kummer, C.J. Wagner, Bob Wahlstrom,
Andy Cimfl, Kevin Bogdanovic,
Cooper Berlin, Mike Knudtson, Dustin
White
Heat 1 - Kummer, Fankhauser,
Bogdanovic, A. Wahlstrom, Wagner,
Kiehl
Heat 2 - Johnson, Knudtson,
Clark, Berlin, B. Wahlstrom, Cimfl,
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DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
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Feature - Jason Havel, George
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James Clausen, Michael Miller, Kyle
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Heat 1 - Havel, Clausen, Workman, Copp, Holmstrom, Jr.
Heat 2 - Richards, Quinn, Hinrichs, M. Miller, B. Miller
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PAGE 8 • APRIL 19, 2016
Red Cedar Speedway honors its 2015
champions during March car show event
VANCE BIRNO PHOTO
The WISSOTA Modified class was represented by (L to R): Champion Mike
Anderson; 2nd place Ashley Anderson; 3rd place Kerry Halopka; and 4th
place Steve Hallquist. (5th place finisher Kevin Adams not pictured.)
VANCE BIRNO PHOTO
WISSOTA Late Model honorees included (L to R): Champion Mike Prochnow;
2nd place Rick Hanestad; and 4th place Buddy Hanestad. (3rd and 5th place
finishers AJ Diemel and Jake Redetzke not pictured.)
VANCE BIRNO PHOTO
The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were represented by (L to R): Shane
Halopka, Champion; 2nd place Jake Smith; 3rd place Travis Anderson; and
4th place Dave Shackleton. (5th place finisher Nick Koehler not pictured.)
VANCE BIRNO PHOTO
WISSOTA Super Stock honorees included (L to R): Champion Jason Forehand;
2nd place Jesse Redetzke; 3rd place Mike Anderson; 4th place Gunnar
Watkins. (5th place finisher Rick Hallquist not pictured.)
VANCE BIRNO PHOTO
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Thursday, April 28
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May 5 ........................River Country Co-op Night
May 12 ....Miller Lite Country Jam Promo Night
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Among the top five in WISSOTA Street Stocks points at Red Cedar were (L
to R): Champion Sam Fankhauser, and 2nd place Hunter VanGilder. (3rdthrough 5th-place finishers Adam Soltis, Cody Kummer and Michael Knudtson not pictured.)
APRIL 19, 2016 • PAGE 9
Rice Lake Speedway
2016 Car Show
Cedar Mall • April 1-3, 2016 • Rice Lake, Wisconsin
DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
#20 WISSOTA Midwest Mod of Austin Ellis
DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
#38 WISSOTA Super Stock of Simon Wahlstrom
DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
#93 WISSOTA Street Stock of CJ Wagner
DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
#245 WISSOTA Super Stock of Jim Cimfl
DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
#20 WISSOTA Midwest Mod of Dennis Cutsforth
A GRIPPING
FINISH.
With its low gas pressure capabilities, the
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DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
#145 WISSOTA Super Stock of John Erickson
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#3 WISSOTA Midwest Mod of Ryan Viltz
DOUG ZIMMER PHOTO
PAGE 10 • APRIL 19, 2016
In Rice Lake, Wisconsin, dirt track racing and one restaurant have a lot in common
A story in the Rice Lake
Chronotype on March 16 detailed the long and successful
history of Maxine’s Family
Restaurant on Rice Lake’s south
side. Opened in 1987 by Maxine and Don Smith, the restaurant is now run by three
generations of the Smith family,
including Maxine’s daughter,
Debbie Bissonette, and Debbie’s son, Bryan.
Many are also aware how
deeply the ownership and operation of Maxine’s are woven together with the recent history of
Rice Lake Speedway. When the
Indianhead Stock Car Racing
Association was ready to dissolve, it was the Smith and Bissonette families who bought the
race track and ran it until selling it to the current owners,
Mitch Hansen and Dave
Adams.
Along with running the
restaurant, Maxine and Debbie
also ran the restaurant at the
race track in a fine new building that their ownership group
built on the speedway grounds.
Bryan, who recently became a
partner at Maxine’s, also helped
in the track restaurant; he also
raced a Midwest Modified.
Brother Jamie, as well as the
boys’ father Dale, was also
heavily involved in the operation of the track and Don Smith
was in charge of all the upkeep
and maintenance work at the
track.
Don Smith was a 2014 inductee into the Rice Lake
Speedway Hall of Fame, while
Jamie came back after a number of years away from racing
to start up again in the Midwest
Mods in 2015. Maxine’s Family
Restaurant remains a big sponsor of many of the race cars that
come out of the Dallas, WI
area.
Jeff Massingill recently ran
well in an open motor Late
Model show held at LaSalle
Speedway in central Illinois. He
leased a 430-cubic-inch Vic Hill
powerplant from J.R. Haley,
and made the show in a
$15,000-to-win Late Model
event against a stout field of
cars. Massingill drove the same
Club 29 car he ran last year in
WISSOTA action, and expects
to use the same car once again
this coming year. He plans on
running the entire OneMain Financial Challenge Series schedule in 2016. My sense is that
with a schedule that has more
races on the eastern side of
WISSOTA, there is more excitement about the series by
drivers on this side of the organization.
Haley told me that he is putting together a new car to race
the Challenge Series as well,
but he has not yet decided on
By Ed Reichert
who the driver will be. He has
had some preliminary talks with
a top Modified driver from
Minnesota, and if things come
to fruition, this pairing will create a lot of talk for sure!
When it comes to big shows
in the Midwest early in the season, all roads lead to the unlikely place of southeast
Kansas, and to the little town of
Humboldt, where two of the
biggest races for open-wheel
cars are held each March.
Under the direction of the
Whitworth family, the Humboldt Speedway continued to
crank out big races that are very
attractive to WISSOTA-based
teams.
Early in the month it was
the B-Mod special had more
than 120 cars on hand and
Kelly
Lake,
Minnesota’s
Skeeter Estey took home the
big money.
During the first weekend in
April it was the open Modifieds’ turn, and nearly 110 of
them were on hand to race for
a top prize of $12,000 on Saturday night. Not surprisingly, a
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considerable number of WISSOTA racers were on hand to
take on many of the best in the
business, fighting to qualify for
the 28-car starting field. The
list of names is a long one but
included Arne Anderson,
Casey and Austin Arneson,
Mike Stearns, Brady Gerdes,
Kent Arment, Billy Vogel,
Ward Imrie, Trevor Anderson, Phil Braun, Jerome
Guyot, Aaron Olson, Jason
Thoennes, Ryan Mikkelson,
Scott Bintz, Travis Saurer,
Randy Klein, Clayton Wagamon, Paul Niznik, Matt Leer,
Adam Ayotte, Keith Tourville,
Don Eischens, Casey Skyberg
and Tyler Peterson.
Drivers participated in a series of four mini features the
first two nights; this allowed
them to earn points and set the
fields for Saturday night’s finale. Gerdes and Saurer earned
enough points to automatically
make the show, and Niznik
raced his way in through a B
feature. Gerdes was just riding
along in around sixth or seventh
in the main, biding his time,
when a flat tire knocked him
out of the race. He was scored
22nd. Niznik had a great weekend; he ran better than he has
in years and it’s apparent his
new Rocket chassis fits his
style. Niznik finished 13th.
Saurer was again in Scott
Bintz’s MB Customs car and he
finished 18th. Among those
who didn’t make the show, the
toughest break probably went to
Tourville. He was in line to
make the feature when he got in
the midst of a big crash that
tore up his car badly.
B-Mods also ran three full
programs a number of WISSOTA drivers also entered in
this class. They included Bintz,
Saurer, Klein and Niznik — all
with cars in both classes —
along with Mike Rohrwedder,
McKenzie Gerdes, Mike
Nichols, John Feirn, Dan
Wheeler and Tim Waba.
On Thursday night, Klein
recorded a sixth place, with
Saurer right behind him. Niznik
was 12th, Wheeler was 15th,
and Nichols was 21st. Feirn was
a frustrated competitor when he
and the tech man couldn’t agree
on some specifics of John’s car,
and he ended up driving back
home to Wisconsin without getting to turn a lap.
Friday night Klein again led
the delegation when he finished
ninth. Nichols was 13th and
Wheeler, in 17th, also made the
show. Bintz qualified for the
main, but didn’t take the green.
Niznik was another perplexed
driver when he won a heat and
then was DQd for a short wheel
base, something he disagreed
with. He then parked his BMod and concentrated on the
Mod the rest of the weekend.
On the final night of the
show, Bintz finally got a good
draw and he responded by finishing a solid second in the BMod feature. Sauer was ninth,
Wheeler was 17th and Klein
was 19th. Wheeler has struggled with his car for weeks
down here. Forced under these
rules to run a two-barrel carb,
he has been having power issues
that have caused him to change
virtually everything on the car,
to no avail. However, he had an
apparent epiphany while sleeping on Friday night and he
came to the track and made a
change in the carburetor and
seemingly found the problem.
The bad news was that by the
time he discovered the issue,
sub-par performances may have
cost him some serious money.
Now he will be switching back
to the four-barrel with local racing on horizon.
I-94 promoter and WISSOTA board member Corey
Eggen was on hand to watch
the action and meet with some
of the drivers who will be invading his facility this coming
June. He reports that everything
is good to go at Fergus and they
are ready for the new racing
season.
Another WISSOTA board
member, Chris Stepan, helped
call the action this weekend;
Rueben Meyer also made the
rounds, representing the Advantage RVs Mod Tour and OutPace.
Mike Balcaen was in the
crowd and visiting the pits one
night of the show. Balcaen has
had a busy off-season; I have
now spotted him in Arizona,
Florida and Kansas, and oddly
enough, all three times without
a race car.
The Kevin Adams Late
Model experiment was a short
one. Buzzy informs me that he
has sold that Rocket to northern
Minnesota’s Roger Paolo, and
he will again focus on his Modified. He reported that a shortage of pit crew help was an
issue, but I have to believe that
the changing of some race
schedules by local tracks, which
will now allow him to run four
nights a week if desired —
without lengthy travel — makes
the appeal of running for another national title very tempting. I would guess that Curt
Myers is also licking his chops
at the prospect, too, along with
others.
Ryan Viltz delivered the
surprising news that he will
have a new Shaw Midwest Mod
for 2016. The old car went
north where it will make a great
first ride for Solon Springs’
Alex Smith, who will be moving up to the Midwest Mods
from the Pure Stocks at some
point this summer.
Rice Lake Speedway’s car
show at the Cedar Mall had a
fine turnout, with 21 sharplooking cars on display. Class
winners, as picked by the mall
staff, included Trenton Holub,
Kolby Kiehl, Tim Ekdahl,
Nick Traynor and Tim McMann The Best of Show went
to Viltz. This event is a win-win
for both the speedway and the
mall; plenty of interest for the
track is generated while the
mall has a big increase in foot
traffic during the event’s duration. There is lots of enthusiasm
for the new season. New drivers
or drivers returning after time
off included Rob Holmstrom
Jr., Jamey Fisher, Dennis
Cutsforth and Joel Hinrichs;
all had cars there. Traynor, C.J.
Wagner and Simon Wahlstrom
had cars on display and all have
moved up a class for 2016.
The second weekend of
April I attended the open motor
Late Model doubleheader at
Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland Missouri; LOS is surely
one of the top five dirt tracks in
all the county. Nearly 50 Late
Models were on hand, and two
WISSOTA drivers were among
those racing.
Not surprisingly, one was
Menomonie,
Wisconsin’s
Jimmy Mars, who has had
some outstanding runs at this
track. The weekend was a combination of peaks and valleys for
Mars. On Friday night, he finished a strong second in the
main event. Just to document
the strength of the field, however, he drew a bad number in
a very strong heat on Saturday,
failed to advance, and then didn’t pass enough cars to make
the main. Thus, he went from
runner-up to watching the main
from the sidelines in less than
24 hours.
In talking to Mars before the
show on Friday, he did tip one
interesting item concerning
WISSOTA Late Model racing.
Mike Wedelstadt, a Modified
driver from eastern Wisconsin
who runs very well, has purchased a couple of Late Models
for Arizona driver R.C.
Whitwell. Whitwell, who races
for a living and drives both
Mods and Late Models, will
have one open motor car and
one with a WISSOTA powerplant. Whitwell is expected to
make some appearances on the
western side of the state and at
special events.
Continued on Page 11
APRIL 19, 2016 • PAGE 11
Red Cedar Speedway starts the WISSOTA season with Randy Buss Icebreaker Classic
Continued from Page 10
The other Late Model driver
on hand at Wheatland made the
long pull from Rapid City, SD.
Mike Stadel and his father
“Full Throttle” Les made the
long drive in hopes of getting
some laps on their open motor.
Mike informs that he will run a
combination of open and WISSOTA Late Model events, especially hoping to hit the
Challenge Series races in South
Dakota. It was a tough weekend
for Mike; he failed to make the
main on either night.
Rice Lake Speedway held a
practice session on Thursday,
April 14 in preparation for their
opener scheduled for April 17.
As I turned the corner off the
highway to pull into the valley
where the track is located, it
looked more like opening night
than a practice session. Of
course, the weather for the practice night was sensational; I'm
sure that had something to do
with the large turnout, both in
the pits and in the grandstands.
But hopefully, part of it is also
an increased enthusiasm by people of the area for the start of
the new racing season.
Sixty-five cars were on hand
for practice, which was also
surely one of the largest
turnouts in many years. Again,
the nice weather certainly had
something to do with that, along
with the fact that it was the only
practice scheduled for the track
this year.
There was plenty of dust in
the air Thursday, but that was
just a temporary situation. Track
prep artists Mitch Hansen and
Duane Bisonette purposely ran
the track dry so that it would remain firm and smooth as they
prepared it for opening night. A
strong southeast wind also
fanned the dust around more
than usual.
There were drivers on hand
from all five classes that normally run at the speedway, along
with a Late Model and even
three of the Six Cylinder cars
that run at ABC Raceway in
Ashland. Since I was a late arrival and drivers and their crews
were working hard, I spent most
of the night in more of an observation mode.
Steve Laursen was present
with his Late Model, and my
assumption was that he was trying to get some laps in as preparation for the Challenge Series
race coming up at the track this
year. Despite the fact that the
track will probably be somewhat
different that night, after a number of sessions Laursen looked
like he was really getting his car
around the track well.
Number changes were
quickly noticed on three of the
Modifieds practicing. I spoke
briefly with the “Big Moose,”
Wayne Poteet, who is now
driving a green number #18 as
opposed to his old blue #42W.
Poteet’s reasoning for the
change involved his wife, who
worked for Interstate Batteries
for 20 years. Despite not being
sponsored by that company, the
Poteets always liked the look of
the #18 car on the NASCAR
tracks and his wife always found
it easy to find that car on the
track. So for 2016, his car is
now “Interstate” green with
bright red numbers. Poteet said
that he and Cory Mahder, who
did the graphics, struggled to
get the color correct as green is
apparently hard to work with.
The trailer, however, will remain blue; that was just too
much of a job to consider
changing. For 2016, Poteet will
be driving a Hughes chassis that
has been completely redone by
Jason Hughes in Oklahoma and
with a rebuilt motor guaranteed
to put out more power for “Big
Moose Motorsports.”
While
Mahder
wasn't
around on Thursday, I did learn
from Poteet that Mahder will be
wheeling a new MB Customs
Modified this season.
Pat Hoffman is driving a
bright white and orange Modified this year with the #.308.
Now, that number may be confusing until you notice his sponsor is Henry, the proud
manufacturer of fine firearms
right in Rice Lake. Then it
makes perfect sense.
Ashley Anderson is driving
the yellow, silver and gray #1
ww w. og ilv ier ace wa y.c om
By Ed Reichert
this year as he celebrates 25
years of racing. That hardly
seems possible because I can remember vividly when he, his father John and his late brother all
started racing Mini Stocks at
Rice Lake Speedway, driving
Ford Mustangs. In fact, in looking back at my records, Ashley's first recorded win at Rice
Lake in the Mini Stocks included three wins in 1993 and
two more in 1994, all driving a
yellow car #1. Anderson’s car is
very sharp looking this year and
he may very well win some Best
Appearing Car awards, in addition to feature races; his Taylor
chassis appeared very fast on
Thursday night.
Curt Myers was getting extensive laps in on both his new
Super Stock, along with the new
Midwest Mod he plans to drive
on occasion.
Among other drivers breaking in new Midwest Mods were
Austin Ellis, Scott Meeds and
Joe Chaplin Jr. Fran Hanson
from Dallas was testing out a
new Midwest Mod. Hanson last
raced during the 2009 season
when he shared a ride with Aric
Lindberg.
Wayne Stricker from Highbridge was on hand with two
Midwest Mods, one for himself
and one for his son Jared, who
is a rookie this year. Folks
might want to keep an eye on
the #12Jr as Jared is one of the
youngest drivers on the circuit
right now. He is a 12-year-old
seventh grader! Shawn and
Rick Rivord from Superior
were also on hand with two
cars; both made laps on their
open wheel cars.
Shane Halopka, last year’s
national point runner-up, drove
the same potent combination as
last year; he’s utilizing a concept motor once again.
In the Super Stocks,
Now Under The
Ownership Of The
Wagamon Family!
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WISSOTA
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MODIFIEDS
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MOD FOURS
HORNETS
Mason's Nick Oreskovich was
breaking in a new TRC and now
he, second-year driver Luke
Schultz and Myers all share a
common trait: all three sport the
ugliest sail panels in all of WISSOTA!
Three rookie Super Stock
drivers in Nick Traynor, Simon
Wahlstrom and Adam Soltis all
laid down some solid practice
laps in their new rides. It was
good to see that Eric Zitelman
has returned for another year of
racing. It will be tough for him
to be at the track and not have
his father pitted right next to
him like last year during his
rookie year. Jim Harris is
working with Zitelman to help
tune his car in during the early
season until Harris pulls his car
out at some point and starts running again.
Speaking of losses, Super
Stock driver Willie Johnsen,
Jr. sadly reported that he lost
his father last week due to a
heart attack at the young age of
57. Willie, alone on this trip,
was feeling very down as his father is usually his pit crew when
he travels down the road. Folks,
when you see Willlie, he could
definitely use some cheering up
and words of comfort.
Unbelievably, the craziness
started early when track officials had to escort two Pure
Stock drivers off the grounds. It
seems they wanted a piece of a
Street Stock driver, who accidentally collided with one of
their cars after the car lost
power. With their crotch belts
apparently just a little too tight,
there must have been restricted
blood flow to their brains to get
so worked up over a racing accident on a practice night. Let's
hope that this isn't a foreshadowing of the coming season.
The 2016 WISSOTA Auto
Racing season opened on Friday
night, April 15 at Red Cedar
Speedway. The inaugural Randy
Buss Icebreaker Classic, a new
event for Red Cedar, was the
opening-night attraction. This
event honored the memory of
Randy Buss, a former Red
Cedar Racing Association president and board member, as well
as a former WISSOTA board
member and tech inspector.
Buss worked long and hard for
Red Cedar Speedway and this
event was a fitting memorial for
Randy, who passed away in October of 2015.
WISSOTA-sanctioned Late
Models, Modifieds, Super
Stocks and Midwest Modifieds
were on the card Friday; the
other three classes that run at
Red Cedar weekly will be added
to the program starting next Friday. It was a wise choice to limit
the classes racing on opening
weekend; with the extra-distance races on Friday, they
could have faced an issue with
the city curfew if they tried to
race too many classes.
The weather was absolutely
fantastic on Friday night. For
any night of the racing season it
would have been a most pleasant
night, but to have this kind of
weather for an opener in mid
April in west central Wisconsin
was almost more than one could
have hoped for. The fans responded with a nice-sized crowd
in the stands to watch.
Car counts were okay, with
20 Midwest Mods on hand, a
dozen Super Stocks, 15 Modifieds and 10 Late Models. It was
hoped that more Late Models
would be in attendance; a number of feelers were put out to
drivers, but the results didn't
seem to attract many cars that
wouldn't have been there otherwise. Being very early in the
season and with many drivers
still not done with their cars, it's
hard to gauge just what the season will bring.
Track officials were “johnny
on the spot” and had a nice program ready to go for the opener.
It contained a very nice tribute
to Buss, and it contained the
track schedule and a long list of
area contributors to the Red
Cedar Speedway race program.
While I promise not to talk
too much about track conditions
at the various tracks as they
open up their seasons, knowing
just how difficult it is to whip a
dirt track into good racing condition for an opener, given the
harshness of the winters in our
part of the world, you should
know that Red Cedar was in
good shape for its racing
opener. The track stayed smooth
and while it started out quite
tacky and fast, it dried out and
slowed down as the evening progressed. If fact, by feature time
it was pretty slippery and I think
the quick change of the surface
may have caught a few drivers
by surprise.
Continued on Page 12
JIMMY & CHRIS MARS • AJ DIEMEL
Mars Brothers
Dirt Late Models & Modifieds
LATE MODELS
MODIFIEDS
Upcoming Events:
May 7 ....................Saturday Night Shootout
Mother’s Day Special
May 12 ....................USMTS/B Mod Special
May 14 ..................Saturday Night Shootout
May 21 ..................Saturday Night Shootout
PIT GATE OPEN AT 4:00
DRAW CUTOFF 5:45
RACE TIME IS 6:30 P.M.
TRACK IS LOCATED ON HWY 23
JUST EAST OF OGILVIE, MN
Information: Nate Fischer
Phone 763-267-4572
Email [email protected]
High Banked 3/8 Mile Track
Full Concessions
Racer, Fan & Family Friendly!
Winning Cars Come From
N5471 648th St. • Menomonie, WI 54751
Phone (715) 235-4950
ye