Grymala, Kummer Top List of First Time Winners at Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (July 16) - Andy Grymala and Cody Kummer topped the list of first time winners Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway. With a spate of new winners, Grymala and Kummer both earned their first ever feature wins at Rice Lake while Josh Smith and John Erickson were both first time winners in 2011 while having earned feature wins here in previous years. The track dominator, Kevin Adams, won yet another feature race to round out the racing action.

Grymala won a rather strange Super Stock main event that was slowed on several occasions for yellow flags and saw two different race leaders drop out of the event, both with flat tires.

Tad Schoonover and Jay Quilling sat on the front row for the Super Stock main and they battled wheel to wheel in the opening laps, nearly wrecking each other in the process on at least one occasion. Grymala, who started in the second row, quickly moved in to challenge along with Aaron Wilson and Shane Kisling.  Quilling would eventually edge into the lead, with Wilson the first to challenge him for the top spot. Aaron would actually edge into the lead, only to have the yellow flag reward Quilling with the front spot again.

Back on green, Quilling continued to lead but Wilson was pressuring and just as Aaron once again made the pass for the top spot, Quilling hammered the front stretch wall, ending his night as he limped back to the pits. Wilson then felt the heat of Kisling who had taken second with Grymala also in the hunt.

A yellow for a spin slowed the field again, and under slow speed, Wilson’s car suffered a flat left rear tire and he headed for the pits, handing the lead over to Kisling. They raced two more laps before another spin slowed the field.

Taking the green flag, Kisling’s car went straight up the banking in turn four and Grymala ducked under him for the lead. Kisling was a victim of a flat tire himself and he limped to the infield to watch the rest of the event. Grymala had to fight off the charges of Jason Forehand the rest of the way, and while Forehand applied plenty of pressure, Grymala hung tough to record the initial feature win for him at Rice Lake. Ben Hillman finished a strong third with Mark Stender and Eric Olson completing the top five.

The other first time winner ever, Kummer, drove a dandy race as he moved to the high side of the track and drove past Jay Kesan to take the win. Mike Knudtson showed as the early leader but Kesan then moved past him to maintain the point. Kummer was feeling confident moving up the track after having success using that line in a heat race.

Cody drove up to the second lane and powered past Kesan coming off turn two to take over the lead. Kesan would not give up however, and remained within a couple car lengths as he tried to retake the lead. Doug Wojcik moved into third and also closed in. A late yellow for a spin bunched the field, but Kummer would not be denied as he took off strong and maintained his advantage to take the special win. Kesan had bad luck as he blew the motor on his car racing down the back chute one last time, but he managed to get out of the way so the race could continue with Wojcik then inheriting the second spot. Sam Fankhauser drove a strong race for third, ahead of Danny Hanson and Simon Wahlstrom.

Smith held off a strong field of Midwest Modifieds to record his first feature win of the year and second ever at the track with the other win coming during the 2008 racing season, his rookie year behind the wheel.

The Midwest Mod feature went nonstop and Smith got the jump from the outside pole to take the early lead from Dusty Brown. Tito Viltz came storming up to take the second spot and he began applying heavy pressure to Smith. Josh was up to the task, and fought off all challenges from Tito to maintain the lead. Then Shane Halopka turned up the wik, and he closed in and then dove under Viltz to take over second.

Shane then closed on Smith, who was again in a battle for the lead. Meanwhile , the trio of Matt Leer, Cory Crapser and Ryan Viltz were all on the charge as they moved to the front also.

The race went quickly under the green, and while Halopka continued to pressure Smith, Josh refused to make a mistake and he maintained his slight lead all the way for the win. Tito was ganged up on at the end, with Leer , Crapser and brother Ryan all speeding past him on the final laps.

Erickson has been struggling with mechanical issues all year but Saturday he put it all together to win his first Pure Stock feature of 2011. Gunnar Watkins and Darwin Brown battled for the lead early, with Brown taking the top spot. Erickson moved up from the second row, and drove around Brown to take over the lead. Bob Thompson was challenging for a top spot while Jeremy Dahl was also on the move. After a single, midrace yellow for a spin, the rest of the contest went nonstop. Erickson had built up a slight cushion, but Dahl was on the move driving both Thompson and Brown out of the way to take the second spot and then charging after Erickson.

On the last lap, Erickson slid up the track, opening the door for Dahl who dove to the inside. The leaders came across the line, rubbing doors as they fought for position with Erickson holding on by half a car length for the win, his first of the year and matching the win he earned last year in his rookie year of racing.

The cars of Brown and Jason Havel failed technical inspection after the event, which jumbled the finishing order. Behind Erickson and Dahl, the top five then included Thompson, Nick Traynor and Dustin Doughty.

Adams won his eighth Modified feature in eleven tries as he continues to dominate the division. Kevin started in the fourth row, but quickly moved into contention as he charged through the pack. Two early cautions slowed the action but once the long term racing began, Adams wasted little time getting to the high side of the track and driving past Pat Hoffman for the lead.  Once in front, he gradually pulled away from the field, only having lapped traffic as a concern near the end of the race. Hoffman had his best run of the year as he finished a solid second with Scott Miller holding off Tim McMann the last half of the race for third. Mike Anderson completed the top five.

Next Saturday, July 23, Swant Graber Auto Group will be the presenting sponsor for the racing activity. All five classes will again be in racing action with a 6:30 p.m. start time.

A reminder that the Street Stock “Little Dream” race is coming up on August 2. Late Models and Midwest Modifieds will also be on the card that night presented by Buzz Signs & Joe Provo Race Wear.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds
20 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Pat Hoffman(Rice Lake), Scott Miller(Rice Lake), Tim McMann(Duluth MN), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Paul Brust(Rice Lake), Shaun Kreyer(Hayward), Aric Lindberg(Dallas), Destin Lorimor(Superior), Bryan Hessler(Chetek), Buddy Mayala, Dave Mayala, Cory Williams, Steve Hallquist
10 lap Heat 1 – Anderson, Brust, McMann, Miller, Williams(Spring Valley), Hessler, Lindberg
Heat 2 – Adams, Hoffman, D. Mayala, Kreyer, Lorimor, B. Mayala

WISSOTA Super Stocks
20 lap Feature – Andy Grymala(Superior), Jason Forehand(Eau Claire), Ben Hillman(Menomonie), Mark Stender(Holcombe), Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Tim Shackleton(Barron), Cory Karshbaum(Chetek), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Donnie Talmage(Amery), Tad Schoonover(Eagle River), C.J. Polacek, Ben Hanke, David Pospyhalla, Shane Kisling, Aaron Wilson, Jay Quilling
10 lap Heat 1 – Grymala, Schoonover, Hillman, Quilling(Menomonie), Steffen, Karshbaum, Polacek, Pospyhalla, Russ Chester
Heat 2 – Kisling(Sarona), Forehand, Wilson(Menomonie), Olson, Stender, Shackleton, Talmage, Hanke

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
15 lap Feature – Josh Smith(Rice Lake), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Matt Leer(Bruce), Cory Crapser(Chippewa Falls), Ryan Viltz(Chetek), Tito Viltz(Rice Lake), Kerry Halopka(Wheeler), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Zach Manley(Cameron), Joe Chaplin Jr(Cameron), Sam Fankhauser, Darren LaBlonde, Will Fisher, Dusty Brown, Joe Ecklund.
10 lap Heat 1 – Leer, T. Viltz, Fankhauser(Cameron), Brown(Rice Lake), LaBlonde(Baldwin), Fisher
Heat 2 – Crapser, R. Viltz, S. Halopka, Smith, K. Halopka, Ecklund, Chaplin Jr

WISSOTA Street Stocks
15 lap Feature – Cody Kummer(Medford), Doug Wojcik(Ladysmith), Sam Fankhauser(Cameron), Danny Hanson(Alma), Simon Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Nick Wojcik(Ladysmith), Joel Hinrichs(Chetek), Mike Knudtson(Osseo), Jay Kesan(Weyerhaeuser), Ralph Stark(Withee), Adam Soltis, Collin Graves
10 lap Heat 1 – D. Wojcik, Kummer, Wahlstrom, Knudtson, N. Wojcik, Hinrichs
Heat 2 – Fankhauser, Kesan, Hanson, Graves(Lake Nebagamon), Stark, Soltis

Pure Stocks
12 lap Feature – John Erickson(Cameron), Jeremy Dahl(Knapp), Bob Thompson(Cameron), Nick Traynor(Barron), Dustin Doughty(Ladysmith), Jared Amundson(Barron), Chad Eastman(Rice Lake), Jay Folz(Rice Lake), Jamey Fisher(Rice Lake), Mike Schnider(Rice Lake), Kolby Kiehl, Jesse Tripp, Josh Bach, Jon Wigchers, Gunner Watkins, Kendall Grover, Brandon Davis
8 lap Heat 1 – Jason Havel(Rice Lake), Darwin Brown(Cumberland), Dahl, Fisher, Davis(Chetek), Kiehl, Wigchers
Heat 2 – Erickson, Thompson, Doughty, Tripp(Spooner), Eastman, Bach
Heat 3 – Folz, Watkins(Elk Mound), Amundson, Traynor, Schnider, Grover