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Ekdahl earns Street Stock Tour win at Red Cedar, along with Friday victors Halopka and Prochnow

MENOMONIE, WI (July 10) - The DRC Street Stock Tour was in town Friday night at Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, Wisconsin. A healthy field of 20 Street Stocks were on hand for the special headliner, topped by Jeff Ekdahl.

Other WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners Friday included Shane Halopka and Mike Prochnow.

The WISSOTA Modifieds were led early on by polesitter Kennedy Swan. The following lap Matt Leer and Mike Anderson were side by side for second, with Anderson taking the spot and setting off after Swan. Leer was third, as Adams and Halopka were side by side for fourth. With five laps completed, Anderson stole the lead at the start-finish line, but Swan regrouped the following lap and regained the top spot.

The caution then fell for a stalled racer along the high side of turn four.

Swan led the field back to green, under heavy pressure from Anderson into and out of turn two, with Leer and seventh-starter Halopka right on their bumpers. With Swan up high and Anderson to the low side, Swan was able to pull away briefly as Anderson slipped up the track out of turn four. Headed down the backstretch the following lap, Halopka eased to the inside of Anderson and took second.

Swan remained glued to the high side, and about two laps later Halopka used the low side to close to her bumper. With nine laps to go he scooted past Swan along the bottom and moved to the lead.

From there, Halopka danced away with a near 3-second lead at the checkered flag. Swan, Anderson, Leer and Adams rounded out the top five.

Jeff Ekdahl (left), Justin Vogel (center) and Shawn Amundson (Track Photo)

Cody Kummer had the early advantage in the WISSOTA Street Stock feature, with Ekdahl, Nick Traynor, Justin Vogel and Cole Richards in the top five at the close of lap three.

Kummer and Ekdahl were side by side for the lead, as Vogel slipped past Traynor for third. One lap later Ekdahl moved to the outside of Kummer, but a spin by Vogel in turns three and four brought the yellow out and reset the field.

Back under green, Kummer was under immediate pressure from Ekdahl, who took the lead down the backstretch; Traynor moved into second, Kummer was third, Richards was fourth and Shawn Amundson cracked the top five.

A caution for Jeff Nowak brought the yellow flag out once more.

Following a botched restart, Ekdahl drove away down the backstretch, as Traynor secured second. Kummer and Amundson were side by side for third, with Sam Fankhauser appearing in the top five. Vogel then reappeared in the top five as he made his way back through the field from his earlier spin. Another caution, this time for Charlie Pitcavage, regrouped the field.

With eight laps to go, Ekdahl and Traynor were side by side back under green for the lead, before Traynor had issues heading into turn four and slowed, bringing out the caution again.

Ekdahl led once again under green, as Vogel and Anderson were side by side for second. Vogel took second, as Amundson then pressured Anderson for third. Kummer was fifth.

With two to go, Anderson slowed dramatically and Kummer had nowhere to go, piling into Anderson; Kummer cut a tire and the caution returned.

Ekdahl remained in control for the two-lap dash to the finish to garner the victory and the DRC Street Stock Series hardware. Vogel completed his charge from the back in second, Amundson was third, Fankhauser was fourth and Richards was fifth.

Prochnow was the early leader in the WISSOTA Late Model feature, before Lance Hofer took the spot with two laps completed. Brett Shafer was third, Ashley Anderson was fourth, and A.J. Diemel was fifth with five laps in the books.

As Hofer continued to lead out front, Prochnow was solidly in second ahead of a battle for third between Shafer and Diemel. The caution then fell for Aaron Wilson, who was up against the wall in turn two.

Back under green, Prochnow regained the lead from Hofer, as Shafer, Anderson and Hofer were nearly three wide coming out of turn four and continued the battle in turn one and down the backstretch. Shafer held second and Anderson was third as Hofer came off of turn four and contact was made among Hofer, Diemel, and then Kaanta along the frontstretch.

Prochnow was under heavy pressure from Anderson for the lead back under green, with Shafer third, Kaanta fourth and Diemel fifth.

With five to go, Prochnow’s lead was 1.3 seconds as he began to navigate the back of the field. Anderson was second, Diemel had moved into third, Shafer was fourth and Chad Mahder appeared in the top five.

Prochow took the win, his first of the year, ahead of Anderson, Diemel, Mahder and Shafer in the top five.

Steven O’Brien took the lead about the mid point of the USRA Late Model feature and drove on to victory lane Friday. Josh Wahlstrom, Lucas Peterson, Taylor Mars and Tom Karis completed the top five.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 68-Mike Prochnow[3]; 2. 81-Ashley Anderson[7]; 3. 89-AJ Diemel[6]; 4. 55C-Chad Mahder[10]; 5. 22-Brett Shafer[4]; 6. 85-John Kaanta[9]; 7. 07-Cory Crapser[5]; 8. 27-Jake Redetzke[18]; 9. 28-Sam Mars[12]; 10. 50-Gavin Tarras[11]; 11. 4-Cory Bruggeman[15]; 12. 05-Jake Hartung[19]; 13. 7C-Jim Carlson[17]; 14. 23-Steve Vizer[20]; 15. (DNF) 11H-Lance Hofer[1]; 16. (DNF) 25-Kerry Hansen[16]; 17. (DNF) 55N-Greg Nippoldt[8]; 18. (DNF) 14-Robbie Johnson[14]; 19. (DNF) 92-Aaron Wilson[2]; 20. (DNF) 13-Mark Hessler[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 68-Mike Prochnow[2]; 2. 85-John Kaanta[1]; 3. 89-AJ Diemel[5]; 4. 55C-Chad Mahder[3]; 5. 13-Mark Hessler[4]; 6. 25-Kerry Hansen[7]; 7. 05-Jake Hartung[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Brett Shafer[1]; 2. 92-Aaron Wilson[2]; 3. 07-Cory Crapser[6]; 4. 50-Gavin Tarras[4]; 5. 14-Robbie Johnson[7]; 6. 7C-Jim Carlson[5]; 7. 23-Steve Vizer[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 81-Ashley Anderson[2]; 2. 55N-Greg Nippoldt[3]; 3. 11H-Lance Hofer[1]; 4. 28-Sam Mars[4]; 5. 4-Cory Bruggeman[5]; 6. 27-Jake Redetzke[6]

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka[7]; 2. 18S-Kennedy Swan[1]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[5]; 4. 40D-Blake Adams[3]; 5. 30-Matt Leer[4]; 6. 05-Jake Hartung[9]; 7. 22JR-Ben Hillman[8]; 8. 44X-Mitch Anderson[2]; 9. (DNF) 27H-Steve Hallquist[6]; 10. (DNF) 7-Travis Hallquist[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22JR-Ben Hillman[1]; 2. 3JR-Shane Halopka[4]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[2]; 4. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 5. 05-Jake Hartung[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Kennedy Swan[1]; 2. 30-Matt Leer[4]; 3. 44X-Mitch Anderson[2]; 4. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 5. (DNF) 7-Travis Hallquist[3]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[4]; 2. 10V-Justin Vogel[7]; 3. 19A-Shawn Amundson[11]; 4. 11-Sam Fankhauser[8]; 5. 1R-Cole Richards[2]; 6. 84-Hunter VanGilder[14]; 7. 10T-Darek Turner[15]; 8. 34J-Kolton Brauer[12]; 9. 12-Kammron Rose[5]; 10. 60-Mike Pratt[17]; 11. 2-Fred Prudoehl[18]; 12. (DNF) 12K-Cody Kummer[1]; 13. (DNF) 27P-Parker Anderson[6]; 14. (DNF) 17-Jake Stowell[20]; 15. (DNF) 19J-Nick Traynor[3]; 16. (DNF) 81-Charlie Pitcavage[10]; 17. (DNF) 79-Jeff Nowak[13]; 18. (DNF) 04-Tommy Pogones[9]; 19. (DNF) 10-Dylan Baskin[19]; 20. (DNF) 42K-Mike Knudtson[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10V-Justin Vogel[7]; 2. 04-Tommy Pogones[2]; 3. 19J-Nick Traynor[6]; 4. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[4]; 5. 79-Jeff Nowak[3]; 6. 42K-Mike Knudtson[5]; 7. 10-Dylan Baskin[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27P-Parker Anderson[4]; 2. 11-Sam Fankhauser[2]; 3. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 4. 19A-Shawn Amundson[7]; 5. 84-Hunter VanGilder[1]; 6. 60-Mike Pratt[6]; 7. 17-Jake Stowell[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[2]; 2. 12K-Cody Kummer[6]; 3. 12-Kammron Rose[4]; 4. 34J-Kolton Brauer[3]; 5. 10T-Darek Turner[5]; 6. 2-Fred Prudoehl[1]

USRA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[1]; 2. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[3]; 3. 65-Lucas Peterson[6]; 4. 428-Taylor Mars[5]; 5. 92-Tom Karis[2]; 6. 77-Ryan Howe[7]; 7. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[8]; 8. 87-Caden Steffen Ludwig[10]; 9. 52-Jason McFadden[13]; 10. 17-Chase Swerman[4]; 11. 63-Patrick Kelley[9]; 12. 90-Hoyt Cournoyer[11]; 13. 71-Ron Hanestad[12]; 14. 8-Douglas Ferguson[14]; 15. (DNF) 511JR-Maison Poston[16]; 16. (DNS) 17X-Matt LaDuke

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[3]; 2. 92-Tom Karis[1]; 3. 428-Taylor Mars[4]; 4. 17-Chase Swerman[5]; 5. 63-Patrick Kelley[6]; 6. 90-Hoyt Cournoyer[7]; 7. 52-Jason McFadden[8]; 8. 8-Douglas Ferguson[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Ryan Howe[1]; 2. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[2]; 3. 65-Lucas Peterson[4]; 4. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[5]; 5. 87-Caden Steffen Ludwig[7]; 6. 71-Ron Hanestad[3]; 7. 511JR-Maison Poston[8]; 8. (DNF) 17X-Matt LaDuke[6]