Four More New Winners in Rice Lake Speedway Action

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (June 2) - As a new month of racing action starts, the number of different winners continues to grow at Rice Lake Speedway. Four more first time winners at the track in 2012 emerged on Saturday, with one driver winning his first-ever main event. The new winners included Jason Forehand, Ryan Viltz, Doug Wojcik and Kolby Kiehl while Kevin Adams became the first repeat winner in the Modified class after executing a last-lap pass for his second win at Rice Lake.

The biggest field of Super Stocks at the track to date this season was on hand, with a number testing out the track before the George Rhoe Memorial Super Stock special this coming Tuesday. Forehand, who has missed a number of races this season due to travel commitments associated with his employer, was on his game and he pulled away from the big field to win the nonstop Super Stock main event.

Forehand drew the pole position and immediately jumped into the lead in front of Cory Karshbaum, looking to be the first repeat winner in the class.

While Forehand put distance on the field, Wayne Harris, Jr. and Shane Kisling battled for second ahead of Mike Keller and Tommy Richards.

Forehand maintaind his lead while the Harris, Jr./Kisling battle turned into a dandy; they raced side-by-side for a number of laps. Kisling nearly got by on several occasions, but Harris fought back and continued to hold second. Meanwhile, Richards picked up the pace; he raced past Ben Hillman and Keller to move into fourth. Kisling dropped back in line, but then again moved to the high side.With just a few laps to go, Kisling got a good run off turn four and edged into second.

Forehand had no challengers and drove on to the win while Kisling fought off Harris, Jr. for second with Richards and Hillman trailing.

Wojcik led from start to finish to win the Street Stock feature after a bad crash on Friday night at another track that forced him into his back up car. Wojcik beat Butch Madsen, who was driving Josh Amans’ car, into the first corner to take the early lead. Two consecutive yellows slowed the action after lap one, but then the rest of the race went nonstop. Madsen held second while Cody Kummer moved to the high side and challenged Madsen for the spot. There was a wild scramble behind them between Sam Fankhauser, Jimmy Randall, Eric Olson and Adam Soltis, who raced hard for position and swapped places on the track in nearly every corner. While Wojcik led, Madsen fought off every challenge for second. Olson moved to the high side and made a late charge to move up a couple of positions before challenging for second. At the line, Madsen held off Olson while Kummer and Randall rounded out the top five.

Viltz put together a solid run to take his first Midwest Modified win of the season; he held off a late charge after a yellow bunched the field. Viltz jumped ahead of Joe Chaplin, Jr. to take the early lead while the battle for second was intense. Travis Anderson, Nick Koehler, Grant Southworth, Paul Harelstad and Shane Halopka all battled for the spot and were later joined by Tyler Viltz as the group of cars ran in tight formation, jockeying for position. Anderson held the position briefly, but then Southworth and Koehler traded the spot with Harelstad, who was making his first start of the season, working the cushion and flying up on the outside to challenge on several occasions.

Viltz maintained a few car lengths lead on the field, but a lap 11 spin bunched the pack and led to a four lap sprint to the finish. Viltz continued to hold the top spot back under the green, but the jockeying behind him continued as the white flag waved. Southworth found an opening on the final circuit and he shot into second while Harelstad blasted off the cushion to nip Koehler for third with Halopka completing the top five.

Harelstad, however, was later disqualified during the post race inspection, which moved Tyler Viltz into the top five.

The nonstop Pure Stock feature produced the first ever feature win for Kolby Kiehl; he fought off the late challenges from Bob Thompson and Joel Hinrichs. Kiehl jumped into the early lead while John Erickson moved into second. Erickson took a rap in the trunk, which moved him up the track and allowed Jason Havel to slip into second. Havel then closed on the leader before he got crossed up in turn four and lost several positions which allowed Thompson, Chad Eastman and Jay Folz to move past him.

Hinrichs gradually worked his way up to third, then closed on Thompson. Both drivers gradually closed on the leader, and as the white flag waved, Thompson was within a car length of Kiehl with Hinrichs riding right behind him. However, Kiehl didn’t make a mistake and he drove a solid last lap to earn the initial win of his racing career. Eastman finished fourth ahead of two-time winner Mike Schnider.

Adams broke the logjam in the Modified class by becoming the first repeat winner of the year, but it took a thrilling last lap pass of Jerry Weigel to get the job done. There was a huge swarm of drivers battling for the lead during the early stages of the race; Aric Lindberg and Pat Hoffman each showed the way while Weigel and Tim McMann were also in the lead pack. Adams, who started seventh on the grid, was not making much progress.

The lead group raced in a cluster and they traded the lead back and forth. Weigel found room on the inside and drove into the lead while Paul Brust and Adams started to move up; Brust worked the low side and Adams raced off the cushion.

Weigel continued to look strong up front and Brust and Adams found their way into the next two positions. Weigel maintained a couple of car lengths on Brust with Adams trailing when the lone yellow of the race waved with four laps to go for a spin in turn one.

The top three were in a swarm on the restart and Adams slipped past Brust for second, then closed on Weigel, who was protecting the low side. Adams drove up beside Weigel and, as they crossed the line for the white flag, they were side-by-side. Both drivers threw their cars hard into turn one and Adams found the most traction; he edged into the lead by a car length down the back chute. Weigel gave it his all, but Adams maintained his advantage and drove home for the win with Brust a very close third. McMann and Lindberg completed the top five.

On Tuesday, the George Rhoe Memorial Super Stock special will be one of the featured attractions of the race season. Besides Super Stocks, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks will also be in action. The event is offering the Super Stock drivers one of the top prizes of the season with nearly $3,000 earmarked for the winner of the 30-lap feature. Drivers are expected to be on hand from all over Minnesota and the Dakotas as well as all the area drivers. All positions will pay extra money and a large number of contingencies will be available to the drivers in all three classes as the many friends of George come together to celebrate his life and the many gifts he bestowed to the racing community. Race time is 7:00 p.m. with Wednesday being reserved as the rain date if necessary. On Saturday, June 9, all five classes will be back in action for a complete race program starting at 6:30 p.m.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:
Feature - Kevin Adams, Jerry Weigel, Paul Brust, Tim McMann, Aric Lindberg, Pat Hoffman, Matt Leer, Scott Miller, Buddy Mayala
Heat 1 - Adams, McMann, Hoffman, Shaun Kreyer, Wayne Poteet, Mayala
Heat 2 - Leer, Weigel, Brust, Lindberg, Miller, Mark Hessler

WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature - Jason Forehand, Shane Kisling, Wayne Harris, Jr., Tommy Richards, Ben Hillman, Mike Keller, Cory Davis, Aaron Wilson, Cory Karshbaum, Rich Bishop, Josh Rodewald, Andy Grymala, Willie Johnsen, Jr., Jim Harris, Jeff Heintz, Kirk Bogdanovic, Marcus Simonson, David Pospyhalla, Cody Campeau, Eric Olson, Shawn Kammerud
Heat 1 - Keller, Simonson, Karshbaum, Bishop, Wilson, Bogdanovic, Kammerud
Heat 2 - Hillman, Kisling, Harris, Jr., Johnsen, Jr., Campeau, J. Harris, Pospyhalla
Heat 3 - Forehand, Davis, Richards, Rodewald, Grymala, Heintz, Olson

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
Feature - Ryan Viltz, Grant Southworth, Nick Koehler, Shane Halopka, Tyler Viltz, Mark Thomas, Al Stettner, Kerry Halopka, Joe Chaplin, Jr., Travis Anderson, Mitch Weiss, Doug Toepper, Scott Meeds, Cody Cimfl, Joe Eckland, Terry Sirek
Heat 1 - Harelstad, R. Viltz, Koehler, S. Halopka, K. Halopka, Thomas, Weiss, Meeds, Cimfl
Heat 2 - Southworth, Anderson, Chaplin, Jr., T. Viltz, Sirek, Stettner, Eckland, Toepper

WISSOTA Street Stocks:
Feature - Doug Wojcik, Butch Madsen, Eric Olson, Cody Kummer, Jimmy Randall, Sam Fankhauser, Adam Soltis, Jay Kesan, Marcus Simonson, Josh Wahlstrom, Andy Cimfl, Steve Karshbaum, Heidi Karshbaum, Simon Wahlstrom
Heat 1 - Fankhauser, Soltis, Wojcik, S. Wahlstrom, Kesan, Simonson, Cimfl, H. Karshbaum
Heat 2 - Kummer, Randall, Olson, Madsen, S. Karshbaum, J. Wahlstrom, Jamey Fisher

Pure Stocks:
Feature - Kolby Kiehl, Bob Thompson, Joel Hinrichs, Chad Eastman, Mike Schnider, Jay Folz, Jason Havel, John Erickson, Brandon Davis, Dan Fisher, Randy Graham, Talon Laabs, Mike Grover, Jimmy Holden
Heat 1 - Thompson, Hinrichs, Folz, Kiehl, Holden, Fisher, Grover
Heat 2 - Erickson, Schnider, Havel, Eastman, Davis, Laabs, Graham