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Blake Adams (40D) and Nick Koehler (13). (Chris Burback Photo)

Stuart, Adams, Amundsen & Wahlstrom back up opening night wins at Rice Lake Speedway and score again

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (May 2) - Despite there being nearly 100 racers in the pits on Saturday at Rice Lake Speedway, four of the five opening night winners took repeated trips to victory lane.

Those aforementioned repeat WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Simon Wahlstrom, Shawn Amundson, Steve Stuart and Blake Adams. Adams also took the win in the Midwest Mods and became the first driver to double up in competition for the season.

After the first attempt to start the Midwest Mod feature was negated due to a spin, outside front-row starter Adams grabbed the early lead ahead of Dave Dishow and Cody Cimfl.

Fifth-starter Nick Koehler was soon on a charge of his own; by the halfway point of the race, he was up to second, as Cimfl and George Dalbeck fell in line behind him. Koehler slowly but surely began to cut into the lead, as Adams navigated lapped traffic.

A lap-11 yellow for another spin bunched the field and set up a chase to the finish. Several times Koehler got to within a car length or two of the leader and tried to maneuver under Adams. Adams had the fast groove, however, and was not about to yield.

Koehler tried one last time on the final lap, driving deep into turn three but Adams held on by about two car lengths for the win. Brady Larson and Joe Swearingen made late charges to get up to third and fourth; Dalbeck completed the top five.

Hunter VanGilder nearly pulled the upset of the night as he took the early lead in the Street Stock feature in a car brand-new to him. He led the opening four laps before Shawn Amundson tracked him down and made what turned out to be the winning pass.

Amundson started seventh on the grid but came to the front very quickly, as he drove past Sam Fankhauser and Cole Richards to claim the runner-up spot. He then did the same to VanGilder, driving past him down the front chute to take over the lead.

A couple of yellow flags in the second half of the race kept the field bunched but it was no bother to Amundson; he pulled away each time the pack was reformed. VanGilder remained rock solid in second, though there was plenty of shuffling behind him. Richards held on for third ahead of Fankhauser and Connor Franson, who drove up through the field after an early spin.

Adams is on a roll with his Modified, repeating his opening-night victory from the eighth-starting spot.

Matt Leer took the initial lead after a battle with Austin Ellis. Ellis then had contact with another driver on the back chute the following lap and further contact with the concrete wall caused him to slow, triggering the first yellow of the race.

Adams was up to fifth when the yellow flew, and then made a great charge to the front quickly, slicing between Nick Oreskovich and David Simpson to take over third. He then passed another Canadian, Cole Chernosky, to move into second.

After experimenting with the middle lane, he caught Leer, powered underneath him, and drove into the lead. The last 18 laps of the race ran nonstop and Adams built up a comfortable advantage.

Late in the contest, Leer started to pull back in toward Adams and he made it a fairly close finish. Adams held on for the victory, however, ahead of Leer, Chernosky, Oreskovich and Simpson in the top five.

Steve Stuart continues to put together a string of victories early in the season and he continued that on Saturday, winning his second straight Super Stock feature.

He was chased by the Canadian duo of Rick Simpson and Chernosky, who swapped second several times. Shawn McFadden also made a charge after he started in the fourth row and gradually worked his way forward.

This race was stopped five times for a variety of spins and tangles and was a test of patience for the drivers, some of whom failed the test.

One last yellow set up a three-lap dash to the finish. McFadden had worked his way into third and went for broke on the restart, but was just a bit high and forfeited a couple of the positions he fought so hard to gain.

Stuart, meanwhile, was on autopilot as he again pulled away from the field and took the win. Simpson fought off Chernosky for second. Alex Myers also made a nice drive through the field to finish fourth ahead of McFadden.

The Pure Stock concluded the night's racing action in a wild manner, with a somewhat controversial conclusion to their 15-lap feature.

Tom Treviranus took the early lead with James Rahn and Jake Smith close behind. Fireworks started early in this race when defending track champion Rob Grabon lost a wheel on the third lap and George Richards nearly went over after he made contact with Grabon.

The top six soon separated themselves from the big pack and their battles grew increasingly intense. Rahn spun, triggering a yellow. During the infighting, both Mark Barta and Smith were eliminated with flat tires.

Treviranus continued to lead through the early action, with Bob Wahlstrom holding onto second. Ninth-starter Simon Wahlstrom, last week's winner, joined the leaders after he worked his way forward through the field. The Wahlstroms battled hard for second, as they closed in on Treviranus for the lead.

Bob nearly got under Treviranus two straight laps before one final yellow set up a two-lap dash to the finish. The feeling that a wild finish was upcoming was confirmed when after the green flag dropped, the leaders were nearly three wide as they battled. Coming down the front chute for the white flag, they were three wide and as they tried to get to corner one, Treviranus spun and the yellow waved.

The penalty was assessed to Treviranus, and a one-lap dash to the finish was led to green by Bob.

Bob pushed up the track back under the green, and Simon drove under him to take the lead and win his second-straight feature at the track. Bob hung on for second over Austin Fencl, Trevor Treviranus and Rahn—who came from the back of the pack.

The USRA Late Models were a special addition to Saturday night's program and in their feature race, Cooper Sundby made a late race pass to claim the win in that main event. Jess Seim, Jason McFadden, Josh Wahlstrom and Matt Kelley were top-five finishers.

Off the track the Best Appearing Car awards were announced. The winners were Sean Duffy in the Pure Stocks, Cole Richards in the Street Stocks, Travis Anderson (Colfax) in the Midwest Modifieds, Travis Anderson (Dallas) in the Super Stocks and Joe Chaplin, Jr. in the Modifieds.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[8]; 2. 30-Matt Leer[2]; 3. 33C-Cole Chernosky[4]; 4. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[6]; 5. 70-David Simpson[3]; 6. 22S-Cole Spacek[5]; 7. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[10]; 8. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[9]; 9. 22T-Michael Truscott[11]; 10. 24-Dylan Goettl[14]; 11. 57-Mike Anderson[15]; 12. 204-David Mayala[12]; 13. (DNF) 27H-Steve Hallquist[7]; 14. (DNF) 10-Kyle Helling[13]; 15. (DNF) 20-Austin Ellis[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Matt Leer[7]; 2. 70-David Simpson[2]; 3. 33C-Cole Chernosky[3]; 4. 20-Austin Ellis[5]; 5. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[1]; 6. 22T-Michael Truscott[8]; 7. 204-David Mayala[4]; 8. 10-Kyle Helling[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 2. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[1]; 3. 22S-Cole Spacek[7]; 4. 27H-Steve Hallquist[2]; 5. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[5]; 6. (DNF) 24-Dylan Goettl[3]; 7. (DNF) 57-Mike Anderson[4]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 80-Steve Stuart[1]; 2. 77K-Rick Simpson[3]; 3. 33C-Cole Chernosky[2]; 4. 2M-Alex Myers[10]; 5. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[8]; 6. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[4]; 7. 1-Ryan Olson[18]; 8. 14X-Leslie Leu[6]; 9. 01-Michael Anderson[9]; 10. 34-Joe Miller[15]; 11. 20-Andrew Davis[11]; 12. 22AT-Austin Tilton[17]; 13. 21-Mike Siewert[20]; 14. 28-Josh Cappo[21]; 15. (DNF) 9-Jakob Bond[12]; 16. (DNF) 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[14]; 17. (DNF) 90-Adam Pratt[7]; 18. (DNF) 75-Scott Geiger[5]; 19. (DNF) 62-Dalton Truchon[16]; 20. (DNF) 22T-Terran Spacek[13]; 21. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[19]; 22. (DNF) 02-Travis Anderson[22]; 23. (DNS) 44-Trenton Bond

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[2]; 2. 80-Steve Stuart[6]; 3. 75-Scott Geiger[1]; 4. 2M-Alex Myers[8]; 5. 22T-Terran Spacek[3]; 6. 62-Dalton Truchon[4]; 7. 1-Ryan Olson[7]; 8. 21-Mike Siewert[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[6]; 2. 14X-Leslie Leu[1]; 3. 01-Michael Anderson[2]; 4. 20-Andrew Davis[3]; 5. 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[8]; 6. 22AT-Austin Tilton[5]; 7. 17G-Chris Gross[4]; 8. (DNF) 02-Travis Anderson[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[6]; 2. 77K-Rick Simpson[4]; 3. 90-Adam Pratt[1]; 4. 9-Jakob Bond[5]; 5. 34-Joe Miller[2]; 6. (DNF) 28-Josh Cappo[3]; 7. (DNS) 44-Trenton Bond

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[2]; 2. 13-Nick Koehler[5]; 3. 63JR-Brady Larson[6]; 4. 00-Joseph Swearingen[8]; 5. 23DD-George Dalbeck[4]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[11]; 7. 7-Mike Schnider[9]; 8. 10Z-Cade Johnson[10]; 9. 44-David Dishaw[1]; 10. 18-Hunter Brink[14]; 11. 18K-Braedyn Kirtland[12]; 12. 88K-Donavan Knutson[15]; 13. 401K-Mitch Patrick[16]; 14. R1-Robert Crust[17]; 15. (DNF) 19C-Cody Cimfl[3]; 16. (DNF) 317-Austin Polonoski[13]; 17. (DNF) 1-Jake Stai[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[2]; 2. 1-Jake Stai[1]; 3. 13-Nick Koehler[4]; 4. 63JR-Brady Larson[5]; 5. 7-Mike Schnider[3]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[8]; 7. 317-Austin Polonoski[7]; 8. 88K-Donavan Knutson[9]; 9. R1-Robert Crust[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23DD-George Dalbeck[1]; 2. 19C-Cody Cimfl[4]; 3. 00-Joseph Swearingen[6]; 4. 44-David Dishaw[5]; 5. 10Z-Cade Johnson[3]; 6. 18K-Braedyn Kirtland[2]; 7. 18-Hunter Brink[7]; 8. 401K-Mitch Patrick[8]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 19A-Shawn Amundson[7]; 2. 92R-Hunter VanGilder[1]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[2]; 4. 11-Sam Fankhauser[4]; 5. 20F-Connor Franson[6]; 6. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[9]; 7. 24-Andrew Piilo[8]; 8. 86-Layla Chaplin[10]; 9. 3R-Danny Richards[5]; 10. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[3]; 11. 17-Zach Beaulieu[12]; 12. (DNF) 5-Alaina Chaplin[11]; 13. (DNS) 31-Tom Treviranus

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Sam Fankhauser[1]; 2. 20F-Connor Franson[2]; 3. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[5]; 4. 24-Andrew Piilo[4]; 5. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[6]; 6. 5-Alaina Chaplin[7]; 7. (DNS) 31-Tom Treviranus

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 2. 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 3. 92R-Hunter VanGilder[5]; 4. 19A-Shawn Amundson[6]; 5. 86-Layla Chaplin[2]; 6. 17-Zach Beaulieu[3]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[9]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[8]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[7]; 4. 231-Trevor Treviranus[10]; 5. 23R-James Rahn[4]; 6. 1-Carsyn Olson[15]; 7. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[12]; 8. 9M-Marlene Lannet[16]; 9. 70-Bob Thompson[14]; 10. 89A-Alyson Karshbaum[23]; 11. 31T-Tom Treviranus[2]; 12. 3D-Sean Duffy[17]; 13. 67-Alex Larson[19]; 14. 67P-Dale Peterson[20]; 15. (DNF) 24-Dylan Helget[11]; 16. (DNF) 86J-Jake Smith[3]; 17. (DNF) 93-CJ Wagner[13]; 18. (DNF) 78-Mark Barta[6]; 19. (DNF) 5R-George Richards[1]; 20. (DNF) 07-Thomas LaPage[21]; 21. (DNF) 16-Rob Grabon[5]; 22. (DNS) 131-Jessie Treviranus; 23. (DNS) 89-Steve Karshbaum

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 86J-Jake Smith[2]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[3]; 3. 16-Rob Grabon[6]; 4. 231-Trevor Treviranus[4]; 5. 93-CJ Wagner[7]; 6. 9M-Marlene Lannet[1]; 7. 131-Jessie Treviranus[8]; 8. (DNF) 07-Thomas LaPage[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5R-George Richards[7]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[5]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[2]; 4. 24-Dylan Helget[6]; 5. 70-Bob Thompson[1]; 6. 89A-Alyson Karshbaum[8]; 7. 67-Alex Larson[3]; 8. (DNF) 89-Steve Karshbaum[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[3]; 2. 31T-Tom Treviranus[1]; 3. 78-Mark Barta[2]; 4. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[6]; 5. 1-Carsyn Olson[4]; 6. 3D-Sean Duffy[7]; 7. 67P-Dale Peterson[5]

USRA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 20S-Cooper Sundby[2]; 2. 007-Jess Seim[1]; 3. 52-Jason McFadden[4]; 4. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[5]; 5. 63K-Matt Kelley[3]; 6. 55-Clayton Hofteig[7]; 7. 26D-Chad Dawson[8]; 8. (DNF) 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20S-Cooper Sundby[2]; 2. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[6]; 3. 63K-Matt Kelley[1]; 4. 52-Jason McFadden[4]; 5. 007-Jess Seim[3]; 6. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[8]; 7. 55-Clayton Hofteig[7]; 8. 26D-Chad Dawson[5]