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Saturday night was steamy but dreamy for Adams, Myers, Koehler and Wahstrom at Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (July 26) - It was an incredibly hot and steamy Saturday night at Rice Lake Speedway, and also a memorable one. Two drivers earned their first-ever feature wins at the track, with one also winning for the first time ever. And, in one of the closest feature races of the year, a father-and-son duo battled it out for the win.

WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners included Blake Adams, Tyler Wahlstrom, Nick Koehler, and Alex Myers.

Curt Myers, in search of the win to break the tie with Don Drew for victories, was the early leader in the WISSOTA Super Stocks. He rode the cushion, as his son, Alex, quickly moved into second and slowly but gradually began to reel in his father. Each lap he gained a bit and by lap eight, he drove underneath Curt to take the lead.

As the race reached its halfway point, Alex was firmly in charge as the leader, while Curt continued to work the top side. Another family was also fighting for third, as Leslie Leu and Dylan Leu traded that spot several times.

Things took a dramatic turn after the lone yellow of the race flew with just five laps to go when Andrew Davis and Dylan Leu got together while engaged in a wild slide job battle for position.

Alex took off again as the leader while Curt continued to pound the cushion and it began working better for him. He pulled up alongside his son and they ran side by side, inches apart as they circled the track. They took the white flag still side by side and they came out of the final corner as one - at the line Alex took the win by .103 seconds, or about a foot. It was Alex's third feature win of the year at Rice Lake, tying him with Curt for the division lead. Leslie edged out Dylan Leu for third, with Davis racing back up through the field to complete the top five.

In the WISSOTA Pure Stocks, George Richards led for most of the feature after he started on the outside of the front row. Richards was running a smooth race and looked to be in control, as Tyler Wahlstrom moved into second with his father Bob racing right behind him. By the halfway point of the race, Bob drove past his son to take over second and while he was pushing hard, Richards still seemed to be in control.

That all changed though, when a late yellow for a spin bunched the field for a two lap sprint to the finish. On the green, Richards, who had been showing heavy smoke from the rear end of his car, got sideways in turn one. Bob Wahlstrom got into the back of his car and Richards spun, triggering the yellow once again. Bob was tagged for the yellow and went to the tail of the field, while Richards’ car refused to re-fire and he was pushed to the pits.

Tyler Wahlstrom inherited the lead and he hung on for one final lap to take the win. Tyler, who has not raced for several years, was making only his second start of the season. Jake Smith used the last-lap scramble to drive into second, with Rob Grabon, Mark Barta and Steve Karshbaum trailing in the top five.

The Pure Stock class continues to be the most competitive so far, with Wahlstrom’s win marking the seventh different driver in the class to visit victory lane.

Nick Koehler continued what has been a winning weekend for himself by claiming his sixth Midwest Modified feature race at the track this year. Koehler moved quickly out to the cushion, where he has been dominant all year, and pulled away. Behind him was a great battle for second between Kenny Kincaid and Jake Stai; they raced hard for that spot, trading lines on the track and producing some exciting slide jobs as they battled back and forth.

As Koehler continued to dominate, the battle for second ended when Stai got a flat tire and dove into the infield. Blake Adams had been mired back in the pack for much of the contest, but suddenly caught fire near the end of the race and was able to move up to third behind Kincaid, who marched on for second. Cody Cimfl and Travis Anderson completed the top five.

Adams avenged his Midwest Mod performance by leading from start to finish to take his fifth WISSOTA Modified feature win here so far in 2025. He got away from the pack early and dominated from start to finish.

The battle for second was a good one, as Steve Hallquist held that spot for many laps, despite constant pressure from Darrell Nelson. Soon the second through sixth place cars were running nose to bumper for position. Jack Rivord was having a fine run when he got a flat tire and triggered the lone yellow with 12 laps completed.

Finally, on the restart, Nelson was able to slide past Hallquist and take over second, but he could not catch Adams, who drove on for the win. Simon Wahlstrom held off Aiden Hoffman in a great battle for fourth.

In an emotional USRA Late Model feature, Cooper Sundby used a caution with four to go to jump to the high side, pressure race leader Josh Wahlstrom for the top spot, and clear him during the white flag lap for the victory, his first-ever outside of karts. Sundby's mother has been battling cancer, but was able to join Cooper in victory lane. Taylor Mars, in just his second-ever race in a Late Model, made his own great move on the final lap as he followed Sundby's lead, edging out Cade Nelson for third. Lucas Peterson was fifth.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[2]; 2. 44N-Darrell Nelson[3]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[1]; 4. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[8]; 5. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[9]; 6. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[6]; 7. 308-Pat Hoffman[11]; 8. 3-Bryan Hessler[5]; 9. 204-David Mayala[10]; 10. (DNF) 19J-Jack Rivord[4]; 11. (DNF) 20-Austin Ellis[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 44N-Darrell Nelson[2]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[3]; 4. 19J-Jack Rivord[6]; 5. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[4]; 6. 308-Pat Hoffman[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 2. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[4]; 3. 3-Bryan Hessler[3]; 4. 20-Austin Ellis[2]; 5. 204-David Mayala[1]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 21M-Alex Myers[5]; 2. 1M-Curt Myers[4]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[6]; 4. 14L-Dylan Leu[2]; 5. 20*-Andrew Davis[7]; 6. XJR-Austin Harris[8]; 7. 01-Michael Anderson[10]; 8. 22AT-Austin Tilton[1]; 9. (DNF) 28-Josh Cappo[9]; 10. (DNF) 1-Ryan Olson[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Curt Myers[3]; 2. 20*-Andrew Davis[1]; 3. 14L-Dylan Leu[2]; 4. 22AT-Austin Tilton[5]; 5. 28-Josh Cappo[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14X-Leslie Leu[1]; 2. 21M-Alex Myers[5]; 3. XJR-Austin Harris[2]; 4. 1-Ryan Olson[4]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[3]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[2]; 2. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[4]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[8]; 4. 19H-Cody Cimfl[6]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[7]; 6. 00-Joseph Swearingen[3]; 7. 7-Mike Schnider[12]; 8. 25-Justen Seipel[9]; 9. 88-Jacob Toepper[11]; 10. 24-Liz Toepper[10]; 11. 4L-Carey LePage[15]; 12. 88K-Donavan Knutson[14]; 13. (DNF) 1-Jake Stai[1]; 14. (DNF) 101-Michael Grover[13]; 15. (DNF) 410-Jesse Young[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Travis Anderson[1]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[8]; 3. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[3]; 4. 19H-Cody Cimfl[4]; 5. 25-Justen Seipel[2]; 6. 88-Jacob Toepper[6]; 7. 7-Mike Schnider[5]; 8. 101-Michael Grover[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[4]; 2. 1-Jake Stai[7]; 3. 00-Joseph Swearingen[2]; 4. 410-Jesse Young[3]; 5. 24-Liz Toepper[6]; 6. (DNF) 88K-Donavan Knutson[1]; 7. (DNF) 4L-Carey LePage[5]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[3]; 2. 86J-Jake Smith[7]; 3. 16-Rob Grabon[10]; 4. 78-Mark Barta[4]; 5. 89-Steve Karshbaum[9]; 6. 7D-Trevor Phillips[1]; 7. 925-Dnae Rose[11]; 8. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[5]; 9. 9M-Marlene Lannet[13]; 10. 3D-Sean Duffy[12]; 11. (DNF) 5R-George Richards[2]; 12. (DNF) 1-Carsyn Olson[8]; 13. (DNF) 93-CJ Wagner[6]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 93-CJ Wagner[1]; 2. 78-Mark Barta[4]; 3. 7D-Trevor Phillips[2]; 4. 5R-George Richards[5]; 5. 89-Steve Karshbaum[6]; 6. 925-Dnae Rose[3]; 7. 9M-Marlene Lannet[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 86J-Jake Smith[3]; 2. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[2]; 3. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[4]; 4. 1-Carsyn Olson[1]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[5]; 6. 3D-Sean Duffy[6]

USRA Late Models:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 20S-Cooper Sundby[6]; 2. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[3]; 3. 428-Taylor Mars[7]; 4. 44-Cade Nelson[5]; 5. LXV-Lucas Peterson[9]; 6. 52-Jason McFadden[8]; 7. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[10]; 8. 77-Ryan Howe[11]; 9. 42K-Patrick Kletschka[16]; 10. 90-Hoyt Cournoyer[4]; 11. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[12]; 12. 99F-Mitchell Fenske[2]; 13. 55-Clayton Hofteig[1]; 14. 3-Tyler Stargardt[14]; 15. 62-Todd Green[19]; 16. 11-Reginald Felzkowski[17]; 17. (DNF) 26D-Chad Dawson[15]; 18. (DNF) 63-Patrick Kelley[13]; 19. (DNF) 511JR-Maison Poston[20]; 20. (DNF) 17J-Jared Bamberger[18]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 90-Hoyt Cournoyer[1]; 2. 99F-Mitchell Fenske[2]; 3. 55-Clayton Hofteig[5]; 4. 14-Steven O'Brien Jr[4]; 5. 63-Patrick Kelley[6]; 6. 42K-Patrick Kletschka[7]; 7. 17J-Jared Bamberger[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20S-Cooper Sundby[1]; 2. LXV-Lucas Peterson[2]; 3. 44-Cade Nelson[3]; 4. 77-Ryan Howe[4]; 5. 3-Tyler Stargardt[6]; 6. 11-Reginald Felzkowski[5]; 7. (DNF) 511JR-Maison Poston[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 52-Jason McFadden[2]; 3. 428-Taylor Mars[3]; 4. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[6]; 5. 26D-Chad Dawson[4]; 6. (DNF) 62-Todd Green[5]