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It was good to see him have quick success after making the move up, which I thought was going to be tough to match after the great success he’s had in the Mod Fours.

Jake Smith was flying in the Mid Mods and he won by a considerable margin over Blake Adams. Smith has been fighting a frustrating miss in their motor. While I'm not sure that it has been solved yet, Smith was able to floor it to the victory.

Blake Adams continues to impress in the Modified class, earning his second feature win of the weekend and third of the season — and still less than 10 total starts in the class. Granted, he used the pole to his benefit, but anyone who can fight off Shane Sabraski for 15 laps more than deserves the win. Sabraski pushed him hard in several attempts, then seemed to settle in and wait to see if a mistake would open the door for him. Adams made none, however, as he drove on for the win.

There was a bad crash in the race when Seth Brede spun and Kennedy Swan couldn't avoid his spinning car and heavy contact was made. Swan was shook up after the hit and stepped into the ambulance briefly before riding a four-wheeler back to the pits. According to her father Jason, she will be okay. And she is a tough one, which playing high school sports will do for a teenager. Twice so far this year I've seen her on TV from an Eau Claire, Wisconsin station, hitting home runs and driving in runs.

It was a big night for Rowan Tramm, as he won his first-ever Mod Four feature race after a big battle for the win. It was also heartbreak for veteran Dean Larson, who earned the pole but then couldn't keep his car running once they were ready to begin. Along with Tramm, Dustin Holtquist also had a fine run, coming from 13th to finish a close second.

Anthony Jenson has been very fast early this season in the Hornets, but Bobie Arnes showed lots of speed himself Sunday. He drove past Jenson and then disappeared into the night, winning the Hornet feature by a considerable margin over Jenson, who battled for second with Chase Pourrier.

It was a good opening night for Granite City and they got done early, which is important for a Sunday track, as I wrote earlier. It keeps drivers and families coming back throughout the season. I think it was around 9:30 p.m. when they were done.

Saturday, May 3

The second week of the season at Rice Lake Speedway got underway Saturday, May 3. All five classes were again in action, with the bonus appearance of the USRA Late Models. A nice field of drivers showed in all six classes. More drivers are getting their cars completed and more seem inclined to get out and test the waters at other tracks, with their home tracks still closed due to weather.

Saturday night marked the first night where the new rules on lineups actually went into effect — openers have always been draw/redraw. Of the feature winners on Saturday, two started on the pole, one started third and two started in fifth. It’s way too early to draw any conclusions from one night of racing, especially with track conditions and depth of fields to be considered, but it’s something to watch as the season progresses.

Finally the weather was decent on Saturday, though it followed another week of rain and cool temperatures. I’m beginning to think this wasn’t the year to turn over a foot and a half of clay and then deal with a wet and unseasonably cool spring. Work is done on the track all week, which is then ruined by days of rain and cool, cloudy conditions.

While the track hasn't been awful, it’s still not anywhere near what Kolby Kiehl and the rest of the Rice Lake team want and they are getting frustrated. We are scheduled for a week of sunshine and warm temps finally this week, so we will see if that will make the difference they are hoping for. The Mod Spectacular is coming this week and it will be important to give them a good track to race on. Fingers crossed.

The biggest story of the night at the track had to be Simon Wahlstrom. It didn't take Wahlstrom long to get his first Modified feature win. Driving the former MB Customs of Jack Rivord, Wahlstrom did start on the pole but was under the gun from Brandon Copp for most of the race. One miscue and he would have been passed. But he held his line and drove a strong race to get the win.

The win was important for other reasons as well — it was yet another class he’s won in at Rice Lake and he becomes only the second driver in the 73-year history of the track to have won feature races in five different divisions. The only other driver to have accomplished that feat is Kevin Adams.

Wahlstrom won three Pure Stock features between the years of 2007-’09, four Street Stock features between the years of 2009-’11, six Midwest Mod features between 2021-’22, seven Super Stock features between 2018-’24, and his first win came in the Mods on Saturday. Congratulations to him on this noteworthy accomplishment! Though he left the Mid Mod home on Saturday, he still plans on racing in two classes this year.

The rumors that Jackson Larson was fired from his Super Stock ride were unfounded. Father Tracy told me that Jackson made the wise choice to be a kid for the opener last week and instead of racing, he went to his school prom. He can race forever, but he can only be a high school kid once. Enjoy! They also learned that they have a good piece for 2025.

It was good to see that the two cars seemingly most damaged last week in wrecks both returned — Randy Graham and Josh Cappo both had their Super Stocks back on track Saturday. Unfortunately Cappo ran into another wreck in the main and I think broke another radiator along with other damage.

It's always bad to see when a driver debuts a car lovingly built all winter in the shop and stickered up nicely, but then has things go sideways so early in the season. That happened to Jeff Eisner, Jr., on Saturday when he debuted a fresh Super Stock. The green flag for the heat dropped and his car took a right turn directly into the wall. He was then creamed by a couple of other drivers when he rebounded back into traffic. It makes it even worse when he pulls all the way over from Merrill, where there is no racing of this kind at all.

I was glad to see Charlie Pitcavage moving up to a Street Stock this year. He has been a solid runner in the Pure Stocks for several years and I'm glad to see drivers use the Pure Stock class for what it was designed — to learn about racing and then advance to other classes. I do understand for some they can't afford to go any higher, or don't wish to invest more money in a different class. But we need to keep the Pure Stock career drivers to a minimum if possible. Same thing with Hornets, for that matter.

Mark Barta looks like he will be a strong addition to the Pure Stock class as a rookie driver. He was battling for a top three Saturday when a late-race tangle took him out. For just his second night behind the wheel, he has been looking very smooth. His experience is in racing both karts and on the ice in winter.

Highly touted Midwest Mod rookie Jacob Anderson made his debut on Saturday. The young Superior driver, whose exploits in Micro Sprints have turned many heads, had problems early and dropped out of the feature, but he will be one to watch in the coming years.

The Street Stock feature produced some really bad luck for Cody Cimfl. He was the runaway leader for much of the race with Nick Traynor unable to flag him down. But on the last lap, he cut the first turn too tight, clipped a big ute tire and broke his front end. He spun into the infield and out of the contest. Traynor must have been shocked when he passed the accident scene and realized he was the new leader. Talk about falling into a win. Cimfl will be a strong runner in two classes at the track, as he also has the Herrman Mid Mod to drive. I predict that he will get wins in both before the curtain is drawn on 2025.

I was glad to see Darrell Nelson back at the track and racing. Not only was he on hand to help out son Cade with his Late Model, Darrell brought his Mod along and ran a strong third in the feature. I suspect that he had the speed to contend for a higher finish but the track just didn't have a suitable outside line for the main. He tried it a few times but just couldn't get any traction. Hopefully next week will be better.

Talk about a near miss. Tyler Vernon was running away with the Mid Mod feature when, as he was approaching to lap a car, that vehicle spun, came back across the track at him, and made contact with Vernon's car, knocking him into the infield where he came to rest. Fortunately for Vernon, while there was some body damage, he didn't get any flat tires and the trip into the infield didn't damage the car. He was able to return and then drove on to victory. Kenny Kincaid put on a strong run to finish in the runner-up spot, too.