6-23 Page 26 | ATD Racing News

Adams, Olson, Koehler, VanGilder and Kesan claim main events Saturday night at Rice Lake

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (June 20) - One of the most frequent visitors to victory lane at Rice Lake Speedway, Eric Olson, was back at it again on Saturday night. He won his first Super Stock feature race of 2026 to highlight the racing program.

Other WISSOTA-sanctioned winners included Mitch Kesan and Hunter VanGilder, both also winning for the first time this year. Frequent winners Nick Koehler and Blake Adams both won for their fourth time this year at the track.

Olson has been reinvigorated in recent weeks with some solid performances in the WISSOTA Super Stocks, and he topped things off Saturday night with a strong run and first victory since 2025.

For Andrew Davis it was a bitter pill to swallow, as he had taken the initial lead and led the first eight laps of the Super Stock feature. Davis took the lead from the outside pole and had built up some distance over the field as Eric Olson slipped into second. Ironically, the lone yellow of the race, which helped Olson, was triggered when his son Ryan, who was in third and charging on the outside lane of the track, lost control and spun in turn two.

This packed up the field and Eric Olson got a great jump on the restart after he picked the outside line on the track, a lane he seldom uses. It worked Saturday as he moved up alongside Davis as they raced into turn one and came out down the back chute the clear leader.

After that the race went nonstop and Eric Olson pulled away from the field.

Davis and Jeff Eisner, Jr. tangled while battling for second and while both were able to continue without causing a yellow, this helped Olson stretch his lead even further. Olson continued his charge as he drove on for the win. Davis finished second while 10th-starter Leslie Leu made great progress to third at the finish. Alex Myers and Eisner completed the top five.

The win for Olson just added another bullet point on a remarkable racing career at the speedway, as the 81st time he’s made the trip to victory lane.

Mitch Kesan was a first-time winner at the track as he led all 15 laps to win the WISSOTA Pure Stock feature race. He started on the outside pole and led a charging field that raced in a tight pack for most of the race. James Rahn moved into second early with quite a large pack of drivers dicing for position behind them.

The first yellow was triggered when Mark Barta blew a tire while in third and hit the turn-three wall. At this point, Austin Fencl had moved into third place with Tyler and Bob Wahlstrom close behind. Two more yellows for minor spins slowed the action in the next few laps but on each restart, Kesan pulled away by a few car lengths.

By the halfway point, Simon Wahlstrom had passed his relatives and moved into fourth; he was the driver to make the most movement in the final few laps. As Kesan continued in control, Wahlstrom got past Fencl for third and on the final lap passed Rahn to finish second.

No one was touching Kesan, however, as he drove on for the win. It was the second career Pure Stock win for Mitch, with his last coming in 2021. In victory lane he announced he was turning over the driving duties to his son, marking the third generation of the Kesan family to race at the track.

Jay Kesan, father of Pure Stock winner Mitch, was the early leader in the WISSOTA Street Stocks and in fact, led 13 of the 15 laps of the main. Early on he was chased by Rusk County neighbors Connor Franson and Caiden Engel. VanGilder started sixth and by the halfway point of the race had only gained one spot. However, after that he really started to pick up speed and began clipping off drivers on the high side of the track.

He worked his way forward and was threatening Kesan for the lead when the only yellow of the race happened with just two laps to go.

Kesan tried his best to hold back VanGilder after the restart, but he was just too quick and drove around Kesan to take over the lead and net the win. A late-charging Cole Richards was third, gaining two spots over the final two laps. Franson and Engel rounded out the top five.

In the WISSOTA Midwest Mod feature, Les Duellman, continuing to tune on the Runkle tribute car, led the opening lap of the race. Steve Haas, in his first appearance at the track this year, slipped under Duellman and took over the lead. Meanwhile, Nick Koehler and Brady Larson were both on the move and challenging for the top spot. Koehler tried both high and low on Haas, but Haas managed to fight off several challenges.

Koehler was relentless, though, and on lap eight he got past Haas to take over the top spot.

Just two laps later the race was slowed by its only yellow. During that slowdown, third running Larson pitted with a flat tire, ending his night. This moved Duellman up to third ahead of Calin Haas and Shadow Kitchner.

Back at racing, Koehler began to pull away from the field while the battle for position behind him was intense. Out of nowhere, 12th-starter Blake Adams suddenly became a factor. He caught the pack battling for second and with a great move off turn two, split two of the other drivers and moved himself up to second.

He tried to catch Koehler, but with an open track and no yellows to help, he came up short. Koehler captured his fourth feature win so far this year, tying him with Simon Wahlstrom and Adams, once the Modified feature was over. Kitchner also made a good late run, moving up to third ahead of Duellman and Steve Haas.

Adams then jumped out of his Midwest Modified and into his WISSOTA Modified, where he won his fourth feature of the year to tie him for that spot.

The first three laps of the Modified main event were wild as the leaders came three wide down the front chute with Aiden Hoffman, in his first run back after his wild crash that totaled his old car, inches ahead of Matt Leer and Dylan Goettl. Leer then edged ahead to lead lap two, but Adams, who was right behind those three, moved into action.

He found a hole in the middle lane and drove quickly to second. Heading into turn one, he edged past Leer to take over the lead.

And once in front, he gradually pulled away in what would be a nonstop Modified feature race. By the halfway point, he was comfortably in front and would not be stopped as he drove on for the win. Leer finished a solid second while Goettl had his best run of the year in third. Hoffman and Kennedy Swan were fourth and fifth, respectively.

The USRA Late Models brought a nice field of drivers to the track Saturday as they visited for the second time this year.

When they raced at the track in 2025, Steve O’Brien was leading a feature race when his car just quit on him, costing him a likely victory. Fast forward to 2026 and O'Brien was in the same position but this time, he led from start to finish to take his first win ever at the speedway. Tenth-starter Lucas Peterson, Jason McFadden, Josh Wahlstrom and 11th-starter Mitch Fenske completed the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[3]; 2. 30-Matt Leer[4]; 3. 24-Dylan Goettl[1]; 4. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[2]; 5. 18S-Kennedy Swan[7]; 6. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 7. 13-Mark Hessler[5]; 8. 3-Bryan Hessler[8]; 9. 204-David Mayala[10]; 10. (DNF) 20-Austin Ellis[9]; 11. (DNS) 27H-Steve Hallquist

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Matt Leer[1]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[4]; 3. 13-Mark Hessler[2]; 4. 24-Dylan Goettl[5]; 5. 3-Bryan Hessler[6]; 6. (DNF) 27H-Steve Hallquist[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Kennedy Swan[1]; 2. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[4]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[3]; 4. (DNF) 20-Austin Ellis[2]; 5. (DNF) 204-David Mayala[5]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1E-Eric Olson[3]; 2. 20*-Andrew Davis[2]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[10]; 4. 2M-Alex Myers[8]; 5. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[6]; 6. 1-Ryan Olson[5]; 7. 01-Michael Anderson[1]; 8. 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[7]; 9. 21-Mike Siewert[4]; 10. 37-Joey Fitzsimmons[11]; 11. 22AT-Austin Tilton[14]; 12. 28-Josh Cappo[9]; 13. 02-Travis Anderson[12]; 14. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[15]; 15. (DNF) 38-Trevor Koslowski[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[2]; 2. 20*-Andrew Davis[5]; 3. 01-Michael Anderson[1]; 4. 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[6]; 5. 28-Josh Cappo[7]; 6. 37-Joey Fitzsimmons[3]; 7. 38-Trevor Koslowski[4]; 8. 17G-Chris Gross[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2M-Alex Myers[1]; 2. 10-Jeff Eisner Jr[3]; 3. 1E-Eric Olson[6]; 4. 21-Mike Siewert[2]; 5. 14X-Leslie Leu[4]; 6. 02-Travis Anderson[5]; 7. 22AT-Austin Tilton[7]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[3]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[12]; 3. 68-Shadow Kitchner[6]; 4. 23KR-Les Duellman[2]; 5. 6-Steve Haas[1]; 6. 00-Joe Swearingen[14]; 7. 19C-Cody Cimfl[10]; 8. 17-Calin Haas[5]; 9. 31-Jason Vokovan[15]; 10. 19P-Antonio Pintaro[13]; 11. 20-Jaxon Helland[8]; 12. 33-Cooper Berlin[9]; 13. 101-Michael Grover[11]; 14. 3B-Ryan Bauer[16]; 15. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[7]; 16. (DNF) 63JR-Brady Larson[4]; 17. (DNF) 29-Tommie Tesch[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[1]; 2. 68-Shadow Kitchner[2]; 3. 6-Steve Haas[3]; 4. 17-Calin Haas[8]; 5. 33-Cooper Berlin[6]; 6. 101-Michael Grover[4]; 7. 19P-Antonio Pintaro[9]; 8. 31-Jason Vokovan[7]; 9. (DNF) 29-Tommie Tesch[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 63JR-Brady Larson[1]; 2. 37-Travis Anderson[4]; 3. 20-Jaxon Helland[3]; 4. 23KR-Les Duellman[6]; 5. 19C-Cody Cimfl[8]; 6. 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 7. 00-Joe Swearingen[2]; 8. 3B-Ryan Bauer[5]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[6]; 2. 12K-Jay Kesan[1]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[5]; 4. 20F-Connor Franson[2]; 5. 7-Caiden Engel[3]; 6. 5-Alaina Chaplin[10]; 7. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[9]; 8. 19C-Cody Cimfl[7]; 9. 86-Layla Chaplin[8]; 10. (DNF) 19A-Shawn Amundson[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 86-Layla Chaplin[2]; 2. 19C-Cody Cimfl[5]; 3. 12K-Jay Kesan[4]; 4. 20F-Connor Franson[1]; 5. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Caiden Engel[1]; 2. 84-Hunter VanGilder[4]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[2]; 4. 19A-Shawn Amundson[3]; 5. 5-Alaina Chaplin[5]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. AK-Mitch Kesan[2]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[9]; 3. 23R-James Rahn[1]; 4. 52W-Austin Fencl[5]; 5. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[6]; 6. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 7. 93-CJ Wagner[8]; 8. 55-Caleb Duffie[7]; 9. 16-Rob Grabon[13]; 10. 31-Tom Treviranus[10]; 11. 10-Anthony Ravina[12]; 12. 1-Carsyn Olson[11]; 13. 925-Dnae Rose[14]; 14. 3D-Sean Duffy[16]; 15. 67P-Dale Peterson[18]; 16. 89A-Alyson Karshbaum[15]; 17. (DNF) 34H-Ryker Holland[17]; 18. (DNF) 78-Mark Barta[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 93-CJ Wagner[1]; 2. 52W-Austin Fencl[3]; 3. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 4. 31-Tom Treviranus[5]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[2]; 6. (DNF) 67P-Dale Peterson[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[2]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[4]; 3. 78-Mark Barta[6]; 4. 1-Carsyn Olson[1]; 5. 925-Dnae Rose[3]; 6. 3D-Sean Duffy[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. AK-Mitch Kesan[5]; 2. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[1]; 3. 55-Caleb Duffie[3]; 4. 10-Anthony Ravina[6]; 5. 89A-Alyson Karshbaum[2]; 6. 34H-Ryker Holland[4]

USRA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[1]; 2. LXV-Lucas Peterson[10]; 3. 52-Jason McFadden[2]; 4. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[3]; 5. 99F-Mitchell Fenske[11]; 6. 55-Clayton Hofteig[9]; 7. 007-Jess Seim[8]; 8. 71-Ron Hanestad[6]; 9. 18-TJ Adams[14]; 10. 63-Patrick Kelley[13]; 11. 17J-Jared Bamberger[12]; 12. 87-Caden Steffen Ludwig[5]; 13. 511JR-Maison Poston[16]; 14. (DNF) 90-Hoyt Cournoyer[15]; 15. (DNF) 1-Kody Koski[4]; 16. (DNF) 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[4]; 2. 007-Jess Seim[2]; 3. 52-Jason McFadden[6]; 4. 71-Ron Hanestad[1]; 5. 55-Clayton Hofteig[8]; 6. 99F-Mitchell Fenske[3]; 7. 63-Patrick Kelley[7]; 8. 18-TJ Adams[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[1]; 2. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[5]; 3. 87-Caden Steffen Ludwig[6]; 4. 1-Kody Koski[2]; 5. LXV-Lucas Peterson[7]; 6. 17J-Jared Bamberger[3]; 7. 511JR-Maison Poston[8]; 8. (DNF) 90-Hoyt Cournoyer[4]