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Red Cedar racers Blaeser, Adams, Stuart & Richards roll to opening night wins at Menomonie, WI track

MENOMONIE, WI (May 1) - Red Cedar Speedway opened action for the 2026 season Friday night in chilly conditions. Hearty fans filled the stands and witnessed WISSOTA Dirt Track Series wins from Cole Richards, Steve Stuart, Kaden Blaeser, and Blake Adams.

Richards was the early leader in the WISSOTA Street Stock feature, followed by Andrew Piilo, Levi Randt, Sam Fankhauser and Layla Chaplin in the top five. As Richards held command out front, Piilo was pressured by Randt for second, with Fankhauser close behind.

With four laps in the books Randt moved to the inside of Piilo, but Piilo continued to hold the spot. The next time around, Randt rubbed Piilo in turn four; and as they fought for the spot coming out of the turn, Fankhauser shot to the inside into second, while Randt settled into third and Piilo slipped back to fourth. Layla Chaplin held fifth.

Richards began to feel the heat from Fankhauser with five laps to go, with Randt close behind. Fankhauser pulled even with Richards in the turns a few times, but Richards was able to get away down the backstretch. Two laps later Fankhauser got loose in turns three and four and that allowed Randt to grab second.

Out front, Richards drove to the victory ahead of Randt, Fankhauser, Piilo and Layla Chaplin in the top five.

Paul Ripley and Justen Seipel led the field of WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds to the green flag, with Ripley moving to the advantage ahead of Travis Anderson, Seipel, Derek Haas and Matt Drier in the top five. The caution then fell for Chase Brown, who sat spun in turn four.

Ripley led the field back to green, with Anderson holding second. Haas was third, Seipel was fourth and Blake Adams moved into the top five.

Two laps later Adams shot by Seipel and Haas into third. With seven laps to go, Adams closed to the back bumper of Anderson, as Ripley began to work his way through the back of the field out front. Three laps later Ripley worked the inside line below a row of lapped traffic higher on the track, with Anderson and Adams hot on his heels. Anderson slipped up the race track in turn one, allowing Adams to squeak by on the bottom into second.

As the white flag flew, Ripley was bottled up behind a lapped car in his preferred lower line, and Adams drove to the top and around the pair to grab the lead and take the win in an exciting finish. Ripley settled for second, Anderson was third, Haas finished fourth and Nick Koehler improved 12 spots to finish fifth.

With time becoming a factor, the Super Stocks were led to the green flag by Dan Nissalke and Steve Stuart. Stuart, fresh off his win last weekend in Rice Lake, had a strong advantage following lap one. A caution for a spun Tate Anderson regrouped the field under yellow.

Back under green Stuart led the field once again, but another spin and then rollover of Sean Geiger’s No. 75 ground the field to a halt under red.

With just two laps complete the field was back under green but yet another rollover, this time for Cole Chernosky in turn four, brought the red back out again. With curfew looming and Modifieds and Hornets still left to race, the Super Stock feature was called as completed and Stuart was declared the winner. Nissalke, Alex Myers, Leslie Leu and Kolby Kiehl were top-five finishers.

The WISSOTA Modifieds were led early on by polesitter Kaden Blaeser, with Jack Rivord and Ben Hillman fighting for second. Rivord took the spot, as Hillman then came under fire from Matt Leer. David Simpson held fifth. Two turns later Leer cleared Hillman for third. A caution for a multi-car pileup in turn two brought the field back together under yellow.

Blaeser led the field back to green, with Leer driving by Rivord to second, Calvin Iverson driving into fourth and Simpson in fifth. One lap later Iverson moved to the bumper of Rivord and began to pressure him for third, but Rivord was able to escape.

Farther back Hillman got back by Simpson for fifth.

Leer began to cut into Blaeser’s lead out front with 11 laps to go, with Rivord third, Iverson fourth and Hillman under pressure from 16th-starter AJ Diemel for fifth. Two laps later Rivord spun in turn two and the field was back under yellow.

With the green back out over the field Blaeser continued lead, as Leer inherited second and Iverson was third. Iverson took second the next time by; Diemel moved into fourth and Simpson rejoined the top five. The field was given two to go, just before the caution fell once again for a Cory Crapser and Nick Oreskovich dustup.

Blaeser led the field back to the green for their two-lap dash to the finish. Iverson and Leer battled briefly for second, before Iverson settled in the spot.

No one had anything for Blaeser, however, as he took the checkered flag ahead of Iverson, Leer, Diemel and Simpson in the top five.

In other action at the track, the USRA Late Models were led early on by Lucas Peterson following a first-lap caution. Ryan Howe was second, Larry Fitzsimmons third, Tom Karis was shuffled back to fourth and Cam Panitzke completed the early top five. With six laps complete Peterson began to work his way through lapped traffic, with the top five remaining the same. With nine laps to go, Karis lost the handle coming off of turn four, and down the frontstretch in his No. 92, and the caution again regrouped the field.

Back under green, Peterson’s ride did not fire and the field stacked up behind him. After a lengthy delay to try and peel cars apart, the race was given a green, white, and checkered finish. Seemingly out of nowhere, Caden Steffen-Ludwig shot by Howe on the final lap following the restart and drove to the checkered flag. Howe held on for second ahead of Fitzsimmons, Panitzke and Triton Krause in the top five.

The Hornet feature was postponed due to curfew and will be run at a later date.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[1]; 2. 27X-Calvin Iverson[7]; 3. 30-Matt Leer[4]; 4. 89-AJ Diemel[16]; 5. 70-David Simpson[5]; 6. 3JR-Shane Halopka[20]; 7. 21-Jake Smith[9]; 8. 57-Mike Anderson[12]; 9. 22T-Michael Truscott[10]; 10. 22JR-Ben Hillman[2]; 11. 07-Cory Crapser[27]; 12. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[14]; 13. 04N-Nick Ayotte[11]; 14. 55-Taylor Olson[23]; 15. (DNF) 7-Travis Hallquist[25]; 16. (DNF) 11-Justin Weinberger[6]; 17. (DNF) 19J-Jack Rivord[3]; 18. (DNF) 18S-Kennedy Swan[8]; 19. (DNF) 26G-Ryan Gierke[15]; 20. (DNF) 22S-Cole Spacek[24]; 21. (DNF) 22-Brandon Copp[17]; 22. (DNF) 40-Tanner Henderson[13]; 23. (DNF) 73-Jeff Helget[22]; 24. (DNF) 13-Mark Hessler[19]; 25. (DNS) 27H-Steve Hallquist; 26. (DNS) 33C-Cole Chernosky; 27. (DNS) 9MM-Aiden Hoffman; 28. (DNS) 40D-Blake Adams

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 27X-Calvin Iverson[2]; 2. 19J-Jack Rivord[5]; 3. 21-Jake Smith[4]; 4. 40-Tanner Henderson[1]; 5. 22-Brandon Copp[7]; 6. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[6]; 7. 7-Travis Hallquist[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Matt Leer[4]; 2. 11-Justin Weinberger[1]; 3. 22T-Michael Truscott[7]; 4. 21F-Nick Oreskovich[6]; 5. 27H-Steve Hallquist[2]; 6. 73-Jeff Helget[3]; 7. (DNF) 07-Cory Crapser[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Kennedy Swan[2]; 2. 43K-Kaden Blaeser[6]; 3. 04N-Nick Ayotte[3]; 4. 26G-Ryan Gierke[5]; 5. 13-Mark Hessler[1]; 6. 55-Taylor Olson[4]; 7. (DNS) 40D-Blake Adams

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 22JR-Ben Hillman[1]; 2. 70-David Simpson[2]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[5]; 4. 89-AJ Diemel[7]; 5. 3JR-Shane Halopka[3]; 6. 22S-Cole Spacek[4]; 7. 33C-Cole Chernosky[6]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 80-Steve Stuart[2]; 2. 22-Dan Nissalke[1]; 3. 2M-Alex Myers[3]; 4. 14X-Leslie Leu[4]; 5. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[6]; 6. 22T-Terran Spacek[8]; 7. 207-Jesse Redetzke[10]; 8. 81-Avery Anderson[11]; 9. 77-Wayne Bignell[12]; 10. 75-Scott Geiger[7]; 11. 22TA-Tate Anderson[15]; 12. 3-Alexander Lessard[13]; 13. 90-Adam Pratt[16]; 14. (DNF) 33C-Cole Chernosky[5]; 15. (DNF) 2-Bart Steffen[9]; 16. (DNF) 75JR-Sean Geiger[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[2]; 2. 22-Dan Nissalke[3]; 3. 33C-Cole Chernosky[8]; 4. 22T-Terran Spacek[5]; 5. 2-Bart Steffen[1]; 6. 81-Avery Anderson[6]; 7. 3-Alexander Lessard[7]; 8. (DNF) 90-Adam Pratt[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 80-Steve Stuart[2]; 2. 2M-Alex Myers[3]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[5]; 4. 75-Scott Geiger[4]; 5. 207-Jesse Redetzke[8]; 6. 77-Wayne Bignell[7]; 7. 75JR-Sean Geiger[6]; 8. 22TA-Tate Anderson[1]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[13]; 2. 28-Paul Ripley[1]; 3. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 4. 80-Derek Haas[6]; 5. 13-Nick Koehler[17]; 6. 25-Justen Seipel[2]; 7. 121B-Brandon Jensen[8]; 8. 21B-Jesse Bryan[5]; 9. 1-Jake Stai[10]; 10. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[9]; 11. 16-Matt Drier[3]; 12. 68-Shadow Kitchner[11]; 13. 99X-Sydney Knopps[16]; 14. 00-Joseph Swearingen[15]; 15. 89-Matt Klukas[14]; 16. 6H-Steve Haas[12]; 17. 12-Craig Haas[21]; 18. 57JR-Robert Squitti[19]; 19. 17-Calin Haas[25]; 20. 317-Austin Polonoski[20]; 21. 18-Hunter Brink[27]; 22. 26-Matt Joslin[22]; 23. 03F-Connor Fall[18]; 24. 8D-Deagan Guntner[23]; 25. 78-Bently Prochnow[26]; 26. (DNF) 11R-Landyn Randt[7]; 27. (DNF) 11K-Chase Brown[24]; 28. (DNS) 15-Eric Gadach; 29. (DNS) 63JR-Brady Larson

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11R-Landyn Randt[1]; 2. 28-Paul Ripley[4]; 3. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[2]; 4. 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 5. 13-Nick Koehler[5]; 6. 12-Craig Haas[3]; 7. 17-Calin Haas[8]; 8. 18-Hunter Brink[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Justen Seipel[2]; 2. 21B-Jesse Bryan[4]; 3. 1-Jake Stai[7]; 4. 89-Matt Klukas[3]; 5. 03F-Connor Fall[1]; 6. 26-Matt Joslin[6]; 7. (DNS) 15-Eric Gadach

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Matt Drier[1]; 2. 37-Travis Anderson[3]; 3. 68-Shadow Kitchner[6]; 4. 00-Joseph Swearingen[5]; 5. 57JR-Robert Squitti[2]; 6. 8D-Deagan Guntner[7]; 7. (DNS) 63JR-Brady Larson

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 80-Derek Haas[1]; 2. 121B-Brandon Jensen[5]; 3. 6H-Steve Haas[2]; 4. 99X-Sydney Knopps[6]; 5. 317-Austin Polonoski[4]; 6. 11K-Chase Brown[3]; 7. 78-Bently Prochnow[7]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 2. 11-Levi Randt[7]; 3. 11F-Sam Fankhauser[8]; 4. 24-Andrew Piilo[2]; 5. 86-Layla Chaplin[6]; 6. 5-Alaina Chaplin[3]; 7. 73-Max Shoemaker[10]; 8. 2-Fred Prudoehl[9]; 9. (DNS) 10-Dylan Baskin; 10. (DNS) 17-Jake Stowell

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Levi Randt[2]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 3. 10-Dylan Baskin[4]; 4. 5-Alaina Chaplin[5]; 5. 2-Fred Prudoehl[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11F-Sam Fankhauser[1]; 2. 86-Layla Chaplin[2]; 3. 24-Andrew Piilo[4]; 4. 17-Jake Stowell[3]; 5. 73-Max Shoemaker[5]

USRA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 87-Caden Steffen Ludwig[11]; 2. 77-Ryan Howe[4]; 3. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[3]; 4. 22-Cam Panitzke[5]; 5. 34-Triton Krause[7]; 6. 52-Jason McFadden[6]; 7. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[15]; 8. 20S-Cooper Sundby[8]; 9. 8F-Douglas Ferguson[16]; 10. 17-Chase Swerman[18]; 11. 92-Tom Karis[1]; 12. 26D-Chad Dawson[10]; 13. (DNF) 19-Josh Wahlstrom[9]; 14. (DNF) 55-Clayton Hofteig[12]; 15. (DNF) 65-Lucas Peterson[2]; 16. (DNF) 62-Todd Green[14]; 17. (DNF) 8-Brody Kohnke[13]; 18. (DNS) 007-Jess Seim

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Cam Panitzke[1]; 2. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[3]; 3. 20S-Cooper Sundby[2]; 4. 52-Jason McFadden[4]; 5. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[9]; 6. 87-Caden Steffen Ludwig[8]; 7. 8-Brody Kohnke[6]; 8. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[5]; 9. (DNF) 007-Jess Seim[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 92-Tom Karis[2]; 2. 65-Lucas Peterson[6]; 3. 77-Ryan Howe[7]; 4. 34-Triton Krause[8]; 5. 26D-Chad Dawson[1]; 6. 55-Clayton Hofteig[5]; 7. 62-Todd Green[3]; 8. 8F-Douglas Ferguson[9]; 9. (DNF) 17-Chase Swerman[4]

Hornets:

Feature - Postponed due to curfew.

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 30-Jeff Schmitt[2]; 2. 7-Abby Lingen[1]; 3. 29-Jaylen Richardson[3]; 4. 54-Jon Parish[6]; 5. 444-Riley Sopiarz[5]; 6. 15-Kyle Nogle[4]; 7. 824-Korey Hagenson[7]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 15C-Preston Coombs[2]; 2. 3-Jon Schutts[4]; 3. 29R-Jordan Richardson[3]; 4. 15T-Tyler Loucks[5]; 5. 42-Vanessa Seipel[1]; 6. 31-Sam McWithey[6]