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Hanson leads list of WISSOTA winners Friday at Rice Lake Speedway, along with Koch, Koehler, Kummer and Grabon

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (August 17) - It was the last night of track points for the 2024 racing season, with WISSOTA Dirt Track Series winners including Nick Koehler, Mark Hanson, Dexton Koch, Cody Kummer and Rob Grabon.

On a night filled with action-packed feature races with more than a few yellow flags in some of them, Koehler made a late-race charge that had the crowd energized as he found a fast lane up on the cushion, where few were driving, and rode that groove to the feature win.

He started off slowly in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified main, mired in ninth, and the event started off on a rocky note. The front row cars tangled on the opening lap, with Brady Larson going for a spin. The race was restarted and Larson returned to his front row spot.

Early on, Larson was challenged by a very fast group of drivers including Jake Stai, Cody Cimfl, Mike Schnider and Joey Jensen, who ran as a pack right behind Larson and changed positions on seemingly every lap.

The first six laps produced five yellow flags, all for spins as the drivers struggled to settle in line. By the halfway point of the race, Cimfl had taken over second and Koehler was starting to move, working his way up to third with Jensen and Stai right behind him.

Koehler moved to the cushion, drove around Cimfl and began to close in on Larson in the lead. Larson had separated himself from the pack by this time and it seemed unlikely that Koehler could catch him, but Koehler put in some impressive laps and reeled in the leader. He blew past Larson with just three laps to go in the race and then pulled away to claim the win.

Larson settled for second with Jensen, Cimfl and Blake Adams next in line after Stai tangled with a lapped car on the final corner.

Koehler became the ninth different winner so far with only one repeat winner this year: Stai.

Mark Hanson (Contributed Photo)

In the WISSOTA Modifieds, Chippewa Falls' Mark Hanson took his first win of the year at the track. Hanson was the only winner to start on the front row of his main event and he was in charge from start to finish in this race.

An unfortunate start to the race included a first-lap tangle that eliminated the top two cars in track points, Joe Chaplin, Jr. and Travis Anderson. Austin Ellis made up a lot of ground early on, moving from the fourth row into second by lap five when the third and final yellow waved for debris on the track.

As Hanson again pulled away, Ellis had his hands full with Kevin Adams, who started alongside Ellis in row four. By the halfway point of the race, Adams, debuting a brand-new car, took over second and set off after Hanson.

The last 15 laps of this race ran off green to checkers and while Adams pushed for all he was worth, “The Mad Dog” Hanson was on fire. He drove across the finish line with a comfortable advantage over Adams, with Ellis settling for third. Cory Mahder took fourth in his first appearance with Kennedy Swan fifth.

Hanson became the ninth different feature winner so far this year in the Modified class, with no repeat winners.

Dexton Koch made his trip from Becker, Minnesota Saturday, finding the lead just past the halfway point of the WISSOTA Super Stock feature and driving on for his second win here in 2024.

Cory Davis was the early leader, sticking out front for one lap before Randy Graham drove past him into the lead. Graham was having perhaps his best run of the season as he led the next six laps and started to put some distance on the field. However, a yellow flag for debris, the third and final yellow of the event, bunched the field.

Things then went sideways for Graham as not only did he lose the lead, his car then stalled on the track and he was done for the night. D.J. Keeler had passed Graham and the battle was now on with Koch, who had started fifth and worked into second following that final yellow.

Keeler and Koch really went at it for the lead, each throwing his best haymaker at his opponent as they circled the track side by side for several laps. Finally, on lap 11, Koch got to the inside of Keeler and raced into the lead. There was no catching Koch, as he drove on to the win. Ninth-starter Curt Myers argued over second with Keeler, with Myers edging into that spot near the end of the race. Keeler was third, as Alex Myers and Eric Olson completed the top five.

The only constant in a wild WISSOTA Street Stock feature was Cody Kummer, who managed to avoid much of the wild activity around him. While he has now won four times, he is the only driver in the class to have won more than once.

Jay Kesan, looking for that first win of 2024, took the early lead and held the top spot through lap five when a debris yellow slowed the field. On the green, Shawn Amundson made a dive low in turn one as he tried to go from the fourth row into the lead in just a few laps. Contact occurred, but the field continued to race down the back chute. Kesan’s car had steering damage and a multiple-car wreck was then triggered, including Connor Franson, Parker Anderson, Mike Tuma and Kummer. Franson and Kesan were eliminated, Amundson called it a night and Tuma then inherited the lead.

One lap later, Kummer took over the top spot, and was then challenged by Andrew Hanson and Anderson for the lead. Hanson gave Kummer a lot of trouble until Hanson drove too deep into turn three and clipped the leader, sending him spinning. Hanson then also called it a night as Kummer was restored to the lead. He led the final three laps to hold off Anderson, Sam Fankhauser, Danny Richards and Cody Cimfl.

The WISSOTA Pure Stock feature was not without its share of controversy also, with the two race leaders managing to take each other out. Charlie Pitcavage led the opening lap as he managed to pass both of the front-row starters before a lap was scored. But then Austin Fencl charged up to challenge and they went side by side, trading plenty of paint as they battled for the lead. Fencl was scored the leader of lap three, but they continued their battle and things got too aggressive. The final collision between the two gave both flat tires and the yellow flew.

Pitcavage rushed to the work area and replaced his tire while Fencl called it a night. Grabon inherited the lead and he took full advantage, leading the final nine laps to take his first feature win of the year. He was the sixth different winner in the class.

Bob Thompson ran second for much of the race, but Pitcavage worked his way back up through the field and nipped Thompson at the line for that spot. Aaron Holmberg and Brian Denucci completed the top five in the diminished field to round out action for the night.

Track point champions included Bob Wahlstrom in the Pure Stocks, Danny Richards in the Street Stocks, Mike Schnider in the Midwest Modifieds, Curt Myers in the Super Stocks and Joe Chaplin, Jr. in the Modifieds.

Next Saturday night will be a big one with season championships to be decided in all five classes. Drivers will draw for their heat races as normal, but those drivers making the invert positions will then line up by season points earned with the rest of the field falling in behind them. Race time will be 6 p.m. with pit gates opening at 3 p.m. and the grandstand an hour later. Don’t miss the upcoming Dairyland Dash event on Saturday night, August 31 and Sunday night, September 1, which will round out the 2024 racing season at the speedway.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 18-Mark Hanson[1]; 2. 40-Kevin Adams[7]; 3. 20-Austin Ellis[8]; 4. 55-Cory Mahder[10]; 5. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[9]; 7. 8S-Tony Schill[15]; 8. 78-Brent Prochnow[16]; 9. 4N-Nick Wojcik[11]; 10. 03F-Jason Fall[14]; 11. (DNF) 48-Marcus Simonson[13]; 12. (DNF) 308-Pat Hoffman[3]; 13. (DNF) 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[4]; 14. (DNF) 74-Shaun Kreyer[2]; 15. (DNF) 37-Travis Anderson[12]; 16. (DNF) 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[5]; 17. (DNS) 13H-Mark Hessler

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Kevin Adams[1]; 2. 18-Mark Hanson[7]; 3. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[4]; 4. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[8]; 5. 10-Kyle Helling[3]; 6. 4N-Nick Wojcik[6]; 7. 48-Marcus Simonson[9]; 8. 8S-Tony Schill[5]; 9. (DNF) 78-Brent Prochnow[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 2. 20-Austin Ellis[5]; 3. 308-Pat Hoffman[1]; 4. 74-Shaun Kreyer[2]; 5. 55-Cory Mahder[7]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[8]; 7. 03F-Jason Fall[3]; 8. (DNS) 13H-Mark Hessler

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[5]; 2. 33-Curt Myers[9]; 3. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[6]; 4. 1M-Alex Myers[8]; 5. 1E-Eric Olson[7]; 6. 14X-Leslie Leu[11]; 7. 1-Ryan Olson[13]; 8. 69-John Adams[10]; 9. 20-Cory Davis[2]; 10. 20*-Andrew Davis[14]; 11. 28-Josh Cappo[15]; 12. 77L-Andy Ladd[12]; 13. 247-Jackson Larson[16]; 14. 22-Clay Albrecht[19]; 15. 01-Michael Anderson[17]; 16. 21-Mike Siewert[1]; 17. (DNF) 57-Randy Graham[4]; 18. (DNF) 7R-Tommy Richards[3]; 19. (DNF) 22AT-Austin Tilton[18]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[1]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[3]; 3. 20-Cory Davis[2]; 4. 69-John Adams[5]; 5. 1-Ryan Olson[6]; 6. 247-Jackson Larson[7]; 7. 22-Clay Albrecht[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Curt Myers[2]; 2. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[3]; 3. 1M-Alex Myers[1]; 4. 14X-Leslie Leu[4]; 5. 20*-Andrew Davis[6]; 6. 01-Michael Anderson[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch[1]; 2. 57-Randy Graham[4]; 3. 21-Mike Siewert[2]; 4. 77L-Andy Ladd[5]; 5. 28-Josh Cappo[6]; 6. 22AT-Austin Tilton[3]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[9]; 2. 63JR-Brady Larson[2]; 3. 30-Joey Jensen[7]; 4. 19H-Cody Cimfl[5]; 5. 40D-Blake Adams[8]; 6. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 7. 7-Mike Schnider[4]; 8. 13R-Derrick Reed[10]; 9. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[15]; 10. 1848-Matthew Findley[13]; 11. 19M-David Madsen[6]; 12. 39-Rusty Taber[17]; 13. 101-Michael Grover[19]; 14. 78-Bently Prochnow[18]; 15. 88K-Donavan Knutson[14]; 16. (DNF) 410-Jesse Young[16]; 17. (DNF) 15-Eric Gadach[12]; 18. (DNF) 5-Rory Taber[11]; 19. (DNF) 4K-Kenny Kincaid[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19H-Cody Cimfl[1]; 2. 30-Joey Jensen[4]; 3. 1-Jake Stai[3]; 4. 13R-Derrick Reed[6]; 5. 1848-Matthew Findley[2]; 6. 410-Jesse Young[5]; 7. 78-Bently Prochnow[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[2]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[1]; 3. 19M-David Madsen[6]; 4. 5-Rory Taber[3]; 5. 88K-Donavan Knutson[4]; 6. (DNS) 101-Michael Grover

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 63JR-Brady Larson[1]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 3. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[5]; 4. 15-Eric Gadach[2]; 5. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[4]; 6. 39-Rusty Taber[3]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[5]; 2. 127-Parker Anderson[10]; 3. 11-Sam Fankhauser[9]; 4. 3R-Danny Richards[17]; 5. 19H-Cody Cimfl[14]; 6. 12W-Chris Welk Jr[16]; 7. 10B-Dylan Baskin[3]; 8. 19J-Nolan Brown[18]; 9. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[11]; 10. 92R-Courtney Rose[13]; 11. 19C-Jenna Herrman[15]; 12. (DNF) 20-Andrew Hanson[7]; 13. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[12]; 14. (DNF) T20-Michael Tuma[4]; 15. (DNF) 12K-Jay Kesan[1]; 16. (DNF) 30-Shawn Amundson[8]; 17. (DNF) 20F-Connor Franson[2]; 18. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[6]; 19. (DNS) 74-Bruce Stanley

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Cody Kummer[1]; 2. 11-Sam Fankhauser[2]; 3. 30-Shawn Amundson[4]; 4. 127-Parker Anderson[6]; 5. 9-Adam Soltis[5]; 6. 19H-Cody Cimfl[3]; 7. (DNF) 74-Bruce Stanley[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. T20-Michael Tuma[2]; 2. 12K-Jay Kesan[3]; 3. 20F-Connor Franson[6]; 4. (DNF) 12W-Chris Welk Jr[5]; 5. (DQ) 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 6. (DQ) 19J-Nolan Brown[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Andrew Hanson[5]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 3. 10B-Dylan Baskin[1]; 4. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[6]; 5. 92R-Courtney Rose[4]; 6. 19C-Jenna Herrman[2]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 16-Rob Grabon[5]; 2. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[3]; 3. 70-Bob Thompson[6]; 4. 12-Aaron Holmberg[2]; 5. 17-Brian DeNucci[1]; 6. 55-Caleb Duffie[10]; 7. 4K-Terry Kemp[9]; 8. (DNF) 88-Robert Wahlstrom[8]; 9. (DNF) 15H-Dusten Holub[7]; 10. (DQ) 52W-Austin Fencl[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 52W-Austin Fencl[1]; 2. 70-Bob Thompson[5]; 3. 12-Aaron Holmberg[2]; 4. 17-Brian DeNucci[4]; 5. 4K-Terry Kemp[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 15H-Dusten Holub[4]; 3. 16-Rob Grabon[3]; 4. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[2]; 5. 55-Caleb Duffie[5]