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Blaeser bests Mod field for $1200 payoff while Myers, Larson and Richards roll in other Rice Lake classes

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, MN (May 9) -The third event of Rice Lake Speedway’s season was highlighted by the second annual Henry Repeating Arms Springtime Modified Spectacular. Kaden Blaeser led 24 of 25 laps to take the victory in that race, while Simon Wahlstrom became the sole driver to remain unbeaten as he won his third straight Pure Stock feature.

Other WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Alex Myers, Brady Larson, and Cole Richards.

Nineteen drivers took the green flag from Tom Clausen for the start of the Modified special and Nick Koehler raced to the initial lead. Koehler, subbing in Cory Crapser’s Modified, held the top spot for the opening lap before fourth-starter Blaeser moved to the cushion and drove by to take over the lead. Koehler fought back, however, and stayed close to Blaeser during the first few laps. Matt Leer, Blake Adams and Brady Uotinen were all tucked in behind those two in the early going.

Aiden Hoffman slowed with 10 laps complete, ending his good run and triggering the first yellow of the race. Koehler then slowed and pulled into the infield, dropping out of the contest while holding second.

The green flag dropped but it proved to be disasterous for two straight attempts. First Adams and then Leer spun out on the top side of the track as they challenged Blaeser for the top spot. Both drivers elected to call it a night.

Now it was Uotinen’s turn; he looked to the inside of Blaeser and nearly pulled off the pass for the lead, getting up beside the leader but not able to get past. Blaeser then adjusted his line and that helped his solidify the lead.

Jack Rivord was on the move, too, and by the halfway point of the race he drove past Justin Weinberger to take over third.

By this point, Blaeser had found his “sweet spot” on the track and he slowly began to pull away from Uotinen, despite Uotinen’s attempts to work different lines on the track to increase his speed.

After the three stoppages on lap 10, the final 15 laps of the race went green to checkered and Blaeser built up a comfortable lead by the time he made his way to victory lane.

Uotinen, in his first outing of 2026, ran a solid race to get second with Rivord also strong to complete the top three. Weinberger and 14th-starter Shane Halopka finished up the top five. Blaeser collected $1,200 for his win plus a “one of one” special rifle from Henry as his winner’s trophy.

In the Super Stocks Myers started on the second row of the feature but with a strong opening lap, pulled into the early lead. The Super Stocks had a tough time getting their race going, with two yellow flags before they completed their opening lap. Once under way, however, it was nonstop racing for a number of laps.

Stuart started fourth and moved into the runner-up slot, trying to pressure Myers for the lead. The driver on the move was Jeff Eisner, Jr., who started right behind Stuart and moved in to challenge him for second.

The running order remained the same through the halfway point of the race until a slowing car slowed the action with 14 laps complete. Eisner, Jr. was strong on the restart and drove past Stuart on the inside; he looked to be making a run for the lead when the yellow flew once again, breaking up his great run.

On the following green, Stuart again drove back into second and then pushed Myers for the lead, drawing to within a car length when the yellow again blinked on.

To his credit, Myer had maintained the lead through all the slowdowns and he pulled away slightly during the last four-lap dash to the finish. He drove on for his first win of 2026. Stuart finished a strong second and Eisner Jr. was also impressive in third. Leslie Leu ran a consistent race to finish fourth, while Ryan Olson squeezed into fifth on the final lap.

The Midwest Modified division had its third different winner in three weeks Saturday, as Brady Larson led from start to finish to get the win.

Larson took an early lead ahead of Cody Cimfl and Marcus Dunbar, with both Blake Adams and Nick Koehler hurrying their way to the front. As in the Super Stocks, it took a few tries to get everyone settled down, with the yellow waving five times in the first four laps. The final 16 laps ran without a stoppage.

Cimfl and Dunbar tangled to cause one of the yellows, with Dunbar calling it a night. Adams found a hole on a restart and moved to second but then Cimfl and Koehler returned the favor, with Koehler driving to second and Adams getting back around Cimfl.

The top three chased each other around the track for the final majority of the race and they were so evenly matched that unless one were to bobble, gaining a position was going to be hard.

Leader Larson never misstepped once and he drove across the finish line to take the win ahead of Koehler and Adams. Cimfl and Travis Anderson completed the top five.

Cole Richards led all laps to win the Street Stock feature, his first win of the year. Richards had to fight off an early challenge from Layla Chaplin for the lead, and then Chaplin and Danny Richards had quite the battle for second before Richards prevailed.

Amundson showed the same speed he has shown all season to date as he moved up from the third row, driving by Danny Richards and Chaplin to take over second and then set off in search of Cole Richards for the lead.

Unlike some of the other races during the night, this main event went green to checkered following just a first lap spin. Despite Amundson's efforts, Cole Richards was in a groove and was not caught.

At the finish, despite Amundson's late rush, Richards maintained the lead and took the win. Danny Richards, Connor Franson from the back and Caiden Engel wrapped up the top five.

The only driver to keep his perfect streak going was Simon Wahlstrom, who won his third-straight Pure Stock feature after coming from the seventh to do so.

James Rahn edged past C.J. Wagner to take the early lead but both Tyler and Simon Wahlstrom were on their way to the front quickly. As Rahn continued to lead, they moved into second and third but the first yellow was triggered with six laps complete as they tangled with a slower car down the back chute, sending all three sliding into the infield.

Order was restored but the two Wahlstroms were not done with their battle quite yet, as they tangled in turn three on the restart and the yellow came back out. This time Tyler went to the tail and the race resumed.

With the green back out, Simon Wahlstrom began to put the pressure on Rahn for the lead and when Rahn slid out in turn four just at the halfway point, both Simon and Wagner slipped under him to take over the top two spots.

After that point, with green-flag racing the last half of the race, Simon pulled away from the pack, opening up a healthy lead. Austin Fencl had a strong second half of the race. After running in the fourth spot at the halfway point, he passed both Rahn and Wagner and drove into second, though considerably behind Wahlstrom at the finish. Tom Treviranus completed the top five.

Next week the Pure Stock drivers get the chance to be in the spotlight. The second annual “Bomber Bash” will give that class the chance to run for some extra cash. Started last year on a whim with fans and businesses contributing, much like the Little Dream for the Street Stocks, 2025 winner Austin Fencl went home with somewhere near $2,000 for his win. With the Pure Stocks averaging more than 20 per week so far this year and providing some wild action, the expectation is for another memorable contest.

Along with the Pure Stock special, the other four WISSOTA classes that race weekly will be on hand to race a full program as well.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[4]; 2. 9-Brady Uotinen[5]; 3. 19J-Jack Rivord[6]; 4. 11-Justin Weinberger[9]; 5. 3JR-Shane Halopka[14]; 6. 57-Mike Anderson[17]; 7. 18S-Kennedy Swan[12]; 8. 7X-Marcus Dunbar[19]; 9. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[15]; 10. 20-Austin Ellis[10]; 11. 32III-Cody Carlson[13]; 12. 204-David Mayala[20]; 13. (DNF) 22T-Michael Truscott[8]; 14. (DNF) 30-Matt Leer[2]; 15. (DNF) 12-Jason Gross[11]; 16. (DNF) 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 17. (DNF) 07-Nick Koehler[1]; 18. (DNF) 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[3]; 19. (DNF) 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[18]; 20. (DNS) 27H-Steve Hallquist

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 07-Nick Koehler[1]; 2. 22T-Michael Truscott[2]; 3. 11-Justin Weinberger[4]; 4. 20-Austin Ellis[3]; 5. 32III-Cody Carlson[5]; 6. 27H-Steve Hallquist[6]; 7. 7X-Marcus Dunbar[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[1]; 2. 9-Brady Uotinen[2]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 4. 12-Jason Gross[3]; 5. 3JR-Shane Halopka[7]; 6. 57-Mike Anderson[5]; 7. 204-David Mayala[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Matt Leer[1]; 2. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[4]; 3. 19J-Jack Rivord[2]; 4. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 5. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[5]; 6. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[3]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 2M-Alex Myers[3]; 2. 80-Steve Stuart[4]; 3. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[6]; 4. 14X-Leslie Leu[8]; 5. 1-Ryan Olson[5]; 6. 3B-Austin Blom[2]; 7. 44-Trenton Bond[14]; 8. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[11]; 9. 20-Andrew Davis[12]; 10. 21-Mike Siewert[15]; 11. 02-Travis Anderson[10]; 12. 28-Josh Cappo[13]; 13. 38-Trevor Koslowski[17]; 14. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[1]; 15. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[16]; 16. (DNF) 22-Robert Holmstrom[18]; 17. (DNF) 01-Michael Anderson[7]; 18. (DNF) 51JR-Shawn McFadden[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[1]; 2. 247-Jackson Larson[2]; 3. 01-Michael Anderson[5]; 4. 02-Travis Anderson[3]; 5. 28-Josh Cappo[4]; 6. (DNF) 22-Robert Holmstrom[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2M-Alex Myers[2]; 2. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[4]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[5]; 4. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[6]; 5. 44-Trenton Bond[3]; 6. 17G-Chris Gross[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 80-Steve Stuart[3]; 2. 1-Ryan Olson[2]; 3. 3B-Austin Blom[4]; 4. 20-Andrew Davis[1]; 5. 21-Mike Siewert[5]; 6. 38-Trevor Koslowski[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 63JR-Brady Larson[1]; 2. 13-Nick Koehler[6]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 4. 19C-Cody Cimfl[3]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 6. 00-Joe Swearingen[8]; 7. 31-Jason Vokovan[13]; 8. 28-Paul Ripley[10]; 9. 10Z-Cade Johnson[11]; 10. 44-David Dishaw[7]; 11. 1-Jake Stai[9]; 12. 317-Austin Polonoski[15]; 13. 18K-Braedyn Kirtland[17]; 14. 101-Michael Grover[16]; 15. 401K-Mitch Patrick[18]; 16. (DNF) 62K-Ryan Kough[12]; 17. (DNF) 7X-Marcus Dunbar[2]; 18. (DNF) 11K-Chase Brown[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19C-Cody Cimfl[1]; 2. 7X-Marcus Dunbar[6]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[3]; 4. 28-Paul Ripley[5]; 5. 31-Jason Vokovan[2]; 6. (DNF) 18K-Braedyn Kirtland[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Jake Stai[4]; 2. 63JR-Brady Larson[3]; 3. 00-Joe Swearingen[6]; 4. 10Z-Cade Johnson[2]; 5. 11K-Chase Brown[5]; 6. 101-Michael Grover[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[2]; 2. 13-Nick Koehler[5]; 3. 44-David Dishaw[1]; 4. 62K-Ryan Kough[3]; 5. 317-Austin Polonoski[4]; 6. 401K-Mitch Patrick[6]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 2. 19A-Shawn Amundson[5]; 3. 3R-Danny Richards[3]; 4. 20F-Connor Franson[4]; 5. 7-Caiden Engel[6]; 6. 86-Layla Chaplin[2]; 7. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[7]; 8. (DNF) 31-Tom Treviranus[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19A-Shawn Amundson[1]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[6]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[7]; 4. 86-Layla Chaplin[2]; 5. 20F-Connor Franson[4]; 6. 7-Caiden Engel[8]; 7. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[3]; 8. 31-Tom Treviranus[5]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

Lakes Gas A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[7]; 2. 52W-Austin Fencl[8]; 3. 93-CJ Wagner[2]; 4. 23R-James Rahn[1]; 5. 31T-Tom Treviranus[4]; 6. 55-Caleb Duffie[9]; 7. 1-Carsyn Olson[3]; 8. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[6]; 9. 10-Anthony Ravina[5]; 10. 04K-Jerame Ristau[11]; 11. 24-Dylan Helget[16]; 12. 67B-Mark Barta[22]; 13. 89A-Alyson Karshbaum[10]; 14. 925-Dnae Rose[19]; 15. 9M-Marlene Lannet[12]; 16. 3D-Sean Duffy[15]; 17. 67-Alex Larson[14]; 18. (DNF) 231-Trevor Treviranus[20]; 19. (DNS) 33S-Jason Simonson; 20. (DNS) 131-Jessie Treviranus; 21. (DNS) 88-Robert Wahlstrom; 22. (DNS) 67P-Dale Peterson

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[2]; 2. 31T-Tom Treviranus[7]; 3. 10-Anthony Ravina[1]; 4. 89A-Alyson Karshbaum[8]; 5. 9M-Marlene Lannet[3]; 6. (DNF) 24-Dylan Helget[4]; 7. (DNF) 88-Robert Wahlstrom[6]; 8. (DNF) 231-Trevor Treviranus[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 52W-Austin Fencl[6]; 3. 55-Caleb Duffie[5]; 4. (DNF) 67-Alex Larson[7]; 5. (DNF) 3D-Sean Duffy[2]; 6. (DNF) 131-Jessie Treviranus[4]; 7. (DNF) 925-Dnae Rose[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 23R-James Rahn[3]; 2. 93-CJ Wagner[4]; 3. 1-Carsyn Olson[2]; 4. 04K-Jerame Ristau[5]; 5. 33S-Jason Simonson[7]; 6. (DNS) 67P-Dale Peterson; 7. (DQ) 67B-Mark Barta[6]