8-25 Page 6 | ATD Racing News

Hartung & Chernosky get on the board at Rice Lake while Jensen & VanGilder grab second wins at Rice Lake

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (August 22) - Jake Hartung and Cole Chernosky each visited victory lane for the first time during the 2026 racing season to highlight the last points night for Rice Lake Speedway. Two other drivers, Joey Jensen and Hunter VanGilder, won for the second time this year and the track's winningest driver - Simon Wahlstrom - added another feature to his stash as well.

Point titles were settled in all five divisions Saturday. Champions include: Blake Adams in the Midwest Modifieds, Ryan Olson in the Super Stocks and Austin Fencl in the Pure Stocks. Blake Adams edged out Matt Leer for the Modified title, while Cole Richards held off Shawn Amundson to claim the Street Stock title.

Both of the open wheel classes on Saturday presented highly competitive racing action. Despite the fact that Hartung led all laps of the WISSOTA Modified feature, he was under the gun for much of the race and his winning margin at the checkered flag was less than a car length ahead of the charging Adams.

Hartung grabbed the early lead ahead of Steve Hallquist and Kennedy Swan when the only yellow of the race flew with two laps completed for a spinning driver.

Following the restart, Hartung continued to lead but Swan moved into second and began to pressure the leader, getting alongside Hartung on several occasions but not quite able to make a pass for the lead.

Swan was soon joined by Blake Adams and Mike Anderson, as the top four separated themselves from the pack. Adams had moved to third by the halfway point after a tough fight with Anderson, and while Hartung continued to lead, both Swan and Adams closed up on him.

Adams was especially quick at this point as he drove past Swan for second and in the last five laps made a determined bid on Hartung. The margin got closer and closer during each lap and on the final tour of the track, Adams moved to the outside and had a big run off the final corner. However, Hartung was just quick enough on the inside to hold off the final charge, winning by less than a car length ahead of the surging Adams. Swan held off Anderson for third and Dylan Goettl completed the top five.

Adams' frustration was compounded on the night after he led most of the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature, only to lose the lead as the field was coming to the white flag, opening the door for a Joey Jensen route to victory.

Joe Swearingen started off with his best run of the year after starting on the outside pole. He got the jump on Adams to lead the opening lap and was fighting off all challenges from Adams and Nick Koehler through the first half dozen laps of the race.

A yellow flag for a spinning driver then bunched the field and the restart proved problematic, with a big stackup in turn one that involved several of the leaders. While only Cole Chernosky was eliminated from the race, several others had damage and Swearingen was charged for the yellow and had to go to the tail.

This gave Adams the lead and some great racing then took place as both Koehler and Jensen continued to challenge him. Koehler rode the cushion right behind Adams while Jensen worked the low side of the track and the three ran as a group for much of the race. Adams was scored the leader of each lap but his lead was minimal, especially when he jumped the cushion in turn one and barely beat the other two back to the start/finish line.

One final yellow bunched up the field one last time and set up a three-lap sprint to the finish. Adams led the first lap when racing resumed but on lap 19 of 20, he raced too high in turn one and went all the way up to the wall, losing at least two spots. Jensen and Koehler both got by him and as Adams tried to fight his way back into contention, he had more issues with his car, appearing to have steering problems. He dove into the infield near the starting line, out of the race. This set up a scramble for position behind him.

Koehler tried his hardest on the last lap, but Jensen continued to use the inside line as he drove on for the victory with Koehler a close second. For Jensen, it was his second win of the year at Rice Lake, backing up a big win at the Firecracker special. Jason Vokovan had his best run of the year as he used the last race shuffle to drive up to third spot with Travis Anderson and Cody Cimfl next in line.

Chernosky won for the first time in the WISSOTA Super Stocks as he fought off several challengers over the course of the 20-lap feature race. He took the early lead over the battling duo of Shane Kisling and Tommy Richards, who swapped spots back and forth on the track. Three laps into the race, the yellow flew for a spin and the bunched up pack was led by Chernosky, with Kisling his main challenger. Kisling rode the cushion and then pulled up beside Chernosky.

However, a duo of other drivers began to flex their muscle as Alex Myers and Jensen both drove into the top five as the lead pack got even bigger.

Richards began to pick up the pace, also moving to the cushion as he sought to take over the lead and the challengers seemed to differ on each lap. Through this all, Chernosky continued to hold off all challenges, making the low side work for him.

Drivers were charging and then falling back as it seemed like the top five continued to rotate, except for Chernosky who continued to lead. At the finish, the Canadian driver proved too tough to catch on this night as he drove on for the win. Richards made a late drive for second ahead of Jensen, Myers and Kisling.

For Chernosky, it was his first ever career Super Stock win at Rice Lake to go along with a 2024 Modified feature win. Chernosky became the 11th different feature winner in the Super Stock class in 2026, as this division continues to be the most competitive at the speedway.

Hunter VanGilder shook off much of the bad luck that has plagued him during the 2026 racing season to win his second WISSOTA Street Stock feature at Rice Lake on Saturday. He used a good starting position to get the jump on Andrew Hanson and then led all laps to win the contest. He had plenty of pressure as both Hanson and Shawn Amundson tried to track him down. Hanson was the most constant challenger, racing off his rear quarter panel for much of the race as Hanson made his first start of the season.

Amundson couldn't quite stay with Hanson, and then had to fight off a late challenge from Caiden Engel to hold onto third.

Up front, VanGilder handled all the pressure that Hanson could apply, held his line and drove on for the win. Hanson's success in his initial race of the year was impressive. Amundson and Engel were third and fourth, while Cole Richards completed the top five and locked down the point title at the same time.

The WISSOTA Pure Stock feature was relatively calm for most of the race, but then things got a bit crazy in the final few laps. Simon Wahlstrom started on the pole and took the early lead, which he maintained over Mark Barta. Barta was able to stay close to Wahlstrom, but not able to mount a serious challenge. C.J. Wagner, Tyler Wahlstrom and George Richards slipped into position behind the top two as the race reached its halfway point.

Barta continued to close up on Wahlstrom and the lead shrunk as the race moved into its final laps. Wahlstrom came up on a slower moving driver, and as he tried to lap that car, the leaders got clogged up between themselves and the slower car with contact made and all three spinning out of control. The yellow was thrown and the race restarted, but it was bad luck for Barta, who had suffered a flat tire in the incident and his night was done.

This put Tyler Wahlstrom into second, but on the restart Wagner got into Tyler in his bid to take over second and he spun, triggering yet another yellow. This time Wagner went to the back and the Wahlstrom brothers ran first and second for the restart.

But Richards, who was only in fifth spot at the halfway point of the race, got a great restart with only three laps to go. He shot past both Wahlstroms and into the lead in a stunning move. Simon drove back hard to try and regain the lead and there was a lot of rubbing between the two as they raced through turn three. Simon edged ahead at the line as the two started the final lap.

The two were side by side through the final lap with paint swapped between the two. They came out of the final corner still rubbing on each other and at the line Wahlstrom was the winner by .072 seconds ahead of Richards. Tyler Wahlstrom got third with Austin Fencl and Carsyn Olson also in the top five.

For Wahlstrom, it was his ninth feature win of the year at the track, moving him within sight of a double-digit feature win season, something that has been accomplished very few times.

The Bat Wing Mini Mod class made its first ever appearance at the speedway on Saturday night and the winner of that feature race was former Modified driver Ben Mattick.

With the track point season now complete, drivers will have one more shot at glory for the regular season as the track championships will be contested on Saturday night, August 29th. All drivers will be eligible to race for the track titles and a number of drivers are expected to use the night as a test session for the Dairyland Dash weekend upcoming on September 5-6.

All five divisions will be in racing action with the first green flag to fly at 6 p.m. A mechanics race will also be held at the conclusion of the evening.

For more information on upcoming events including the track championship night and the Dairyland Dash, check the speedway website at www.ricelakespeedway.net.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 05-Jake Hartung[2]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 3. 18S-Kennedy Swan[4]; 4. 57-Mike Anderson[5]; 5. 24-Dylan Goettl[3]; 6. 30-Matt Leer[8]; 7. 4A-Hunter Anderson[10]; 8. 27H-Steve Hallquist[1]; 9. 12-Jason Gross[7]; 10. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[12]; 11. 12G-Mike Goodremote[14]; 12. 20-Austin Ellis[16]; 13. 22JR-Ben Hillman[13]; 14. 3D-Doug Wojcik[15]; 15. 204-David Mayala[18]; 16. 09-Skylar Findley[17]; 17. (DNF) 78-Brent Prochnow[9]; 18. (DNF) 33C-Cole Chernosky[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Dylan Goettl[1]; 2. 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]; 3. 78-Brent Prochnow[3]; 4. 4A-Hunter Anderson[4]; 5. 22JR-Ben Hillman[6]; 6. (DNS) 204-David Mayala

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18S-Kennedy Swan[1]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[4]; 3. 57-Mike Anderson[6]; 4. 33C-Cole Chernosky[2]; 5. 12G-Mike Goodremote[3]; 6. 20-Austin Ellis[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Jason Gross[2]; 2. 30-Matt Leer[4]; 3. 05-Jake Hartung[1]; 4. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[3]; 5. 3D-Doug Wojcik[6]; 6. 09-Skylar Findley[5]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[1]; 2. 7R-Tommy Richards[2]; 3. 21J-Joey Jensen[4]; 4. 2M-Alex Myers[6]; 5. 6-Shane Kisling[3]; 6. 1E-Eric Olson[7]; 7. 1-Ryan Olson[9]; 8. 20*-Andrew Davis[11]; 9. 14X-Leslie Leu[5]; 10. 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[15]; 11. 22AT-Austin Tilton[10]; 12. 28-Elizabeth Nord[8]; 13. 21-Mike Siewert[18]; 14. 02-Travis Anderson[17]; 15. (DNF) 245-James Cimfl[12]; 16. (DNF) 01-Michael Anderson[14]; 17. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[16]; 18. (DNF) 29-Jaylen Richardson[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2M-Alex Myers[4]; 2. 6-Shane Kisling[6]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[2]; 4. 22AT-Austin Tilton[5]; 5. 29-Jaylen Richardson[3]; 6. (DQ) 21-Mike Siewert[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[2]; 2. 33C-Cole Chernosky[4]; 3. 21J-Joey Jensen[6]; 4. 20*-Andrew Davis[5]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[3]; 6. (DNF) 02-Travis Anderson[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[2]; 2. 1E-Eric Olson[4]; 3. 28-Elizabeth Nord[1]; 4. 245-James Cimfl[5]; 5. 22-Robert Holmstrom Jr[3]; 6. 17G-Chris Gross[6]

WISSOTA Midwest Mods:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[4]; 2. 13-Nick Koehler[5]; 3. 31-Jason Vokovan[8]; 4. 37-Travis Anderson[6]; 5. 19C-Cody Cimfl[7]; 6. 8X-Michael Shalley[9]; 7. 88-Jacob Toepper[3]; 8. 17-Zach Beaulieu[12]; 9. 20-Jaxon Helland[11]; 10. 00-Joe Swearingen[2]; 11. 1-Jake Stai[10]; 12. 11K-Chase Brown[15]; 13. 101-Michael Grover[13]; 14. 24-Liz Toepper[18]; 15. 401K-Mitch Patrick[17]; 16. (DNF) 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 17. (DNF) 78-Bently Prochnow[14]; 18. (DNF) 88K-Donavan Knutson[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Travis Anderson[1]; 2. 8X-Michael Shalley[3]; 3. 31-Jason Vokovan[2]; 4. 1-Jake Stai[6]; 5. 101-Michael Grover[4]; 6. 88K-Donavan Knutson[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Joey Jensen[4]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 3. 88-Jacob Toepper[3]; 4. 20-Jaxon Helland[6]; 5. 78-Bently Prochnow[2]; 6. 401K-Mitch Patrick[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[6]; 2. 19C-Cody Cimfl[1]; 3. 00-Joe Swearingen[4]; 4. 17-Zach Beaulieu[5]; 5. 11K-Chase Brown[3]; 6. (DNF) 24-Liz Toepper[2]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[2]; 2. 20-Andrew Hanson[1]; 3. 19A-Shawn Amundson[5]; 4. 7-Caiden Engel[6]; 5. 1R-Cole Richards[8]; 6. 13-Danny Richards[7]; 7. 12-Kammron Rose[11]; 8. 86-Layla Chaplin[12]; 9. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[10]; 10. (DNF) 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[3]; 11. (DNF) 19J-Cody Cimfl[9]; 12. (DNF) 20F-Connor Franson[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Danny Richards[1]; 2. 19A-Shawn Amundson[6]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[2]; 4. 84-Hunter VanGilder[4]; 5. 19J-Cody Cimfl[5]; 6. 12-Kammron Rose[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 2. 7-Caiden Engel[6]; 3. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[1]; 4. 20F-Connor Franson[5]; 5. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[4]; 6. (DNF) 86-Layla Chaplin[2]

WISSOTA Pure Stocks:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 5R-George Richards[5]; 3. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[7]; 4. 52W-Austin Fencl[9]; 5. 1-Carsyn Olson[3]; 6. 93-CJ Wagner[2]; 7. 23R-James Rahn[6]; 8. 89A-Alyson Karshbaum[10]; 9. 3D-Sean Duffy[8]; 10. 67-Dale Peterson[11]; 11. (DNF) 78-Mark Barta[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 2. 23R-James Rahn[4]; 3. 93-CJ Wagner[2]; 4. 78-Mark Barta[3]; 5. 52W-Austin Fencl[6]; 6. 89A-Alyson Karshbaum[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5R-George Richards[4]; 2. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[5]; 3. 1-Carsyn Olson[3]; 4. 3D-Sean Duffy[1]; 5. (DNF) 67-Dale Peterson[2]

Outlaw Mini Mods:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 4-Ben Mattick[1]; 2. 13B-Brextin Platts[5]; 3. 15-Nathan Kilwine[6]; 4. 9-Ben Kraus[9]; 5. 31K-Brantley Kalvig[3]; 6. 3JR-Joey Robel[7]; 7. 1-Ryan Hensel[10]; 8. 28-Cole Sheely[4]; 9. 16P-Hunter Peterson[2]; 10. 16D-Don Kirchoff[12]; 11. (DNF) 111-Matt Grobe[8]; 12. (DNF) 44-Greg Mattick[11]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 4-Ben Mattick[1]; 2. 13B-Brextin Platts[4]; 3. 9-Ben Kraus[6]; 4. 3JR-Joey Robel[5]; 5. 31K-Brantley Kalvig[2]; 6. 44-Greg Mattick[3]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 15-Nathan Kilwine[4]; 2. 111-Matt Grobe[5]; 3. 28-Cole Sheely[3]; 4. 1-Ryan Hensel[6]; 5. 16P-Hunter Peterson[1]; 6. 16D-Don Kirchoff[2]