Forehand and Adams Repeat at Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert

RICE LAKE, WI (June 9) – Regular racing action returned Saturday night to the Rice Lake Speedway and in two tough, challenging contests, Jason Forehand and Kevin Adams became repeat winners, backing up victories earned just one Saturday ago. Other winners included Grant Southworth with his first ever win at Rice Lake, Cody Kummer and Joel Hinrichs.

Jim Harris and Eric Olson shared the front row for the Super Stock main event with Harris taking the early lead. Only one lap was completed before the leader went for a spin off turn two and the yellow flag waved. On the restart, Olson tried to challenge but Forehand made a great move from the second row, changed lanes and moved to the high side and blasted into turn one side by side with the leader. Down the back chute Forehand took over the top spot and became the man to catch.

As Forehand put some distance on the field, Ben Hillman and Shane Kisling both also moved to the top side and took over the second and third spots. After battling each other for second, Hillman assumed superiority and then took off after Forehand. He was able to catch Jason, but making a passing move was another thing. Hillman to race off the low side of the track and scoot under Forehand, but Jason would have none of it and continued to fight off the challenger.

In the late going, Forehand really got in a groove and while Hillman could stay close, he wasn’t able to mount a serious challenge for the lead and Forehand drove on for his second straight win of the season. Kisling faded in the late going and became involved in a good three car battle for position with Shane holding off Olson by half a car length for third with Aaron Wilson right behind them.

For the second straight week, Adams caught Jerry Weigel near the end of the race to take the Modified feature win. As happened last week, Weigel took the early lead after coming off the top side of row one and immediately opened up a margin on the field. There was jockeying in the field behind him with Matt Leer finding an opening from the fourth row as he shot into second with Mike Anderson and Adams working up to challenge him. Leer and Adams chose the high side and drove into second and third as they edged past the low riding Anderson. As the race stayed under the green, Leer and Adams slowly started to reel in Weigel with Adams also trying attempt after attempt to get past Leer for second.

Leer slid a little high in turn one and Adams was able to duck past him and take over the second spot. He then set off after Weigel who was about a half a straightaway in front. Adams began to reel in the leader and caught him with five laps to go. After trying the high side to no avail with both drivers riding the cushion, Adams was able to get a good run off turn two and dive to the inside of Weigel as they raced into turn three. Weigel caught across the front of Adams’ car and they raced side by side down the front chute wheel to wheel, only to see the yellow flag as there was a car spun in turn one. It was a near miss, but both cars were able to shut down and avoid striking the stalled car.

With only four laps remaining, the race restarted and on the green, Weigel spun his tires and lost traction and Adams was able to drive inside of him down the front chute and power into the lead off turn two. Anderson now became a factor again as he challenged for second and took the spot when Weigel slid high in turn four while trying to challenge for the lead again.

One more lap produced the second yellow of the event and a two lap sprint to the finish. Adams got away clean but Anderson began to put the pressure on the leader and Adams dropped low on the last corner to protect the lead and take his third win of the season at the track. Weigel held off Leer for third with Scott Miller cracking the top five.

In a repeat battle of Tuesday night’s epic struggle in the Street Stock feature, Cody Kummer once again held of Jay Kesan to earn his second win of the week and year at Rice Lake.

Doug Wojcik had the pole position and battled in the early going with Simon Wahlstrom for the lead. Only one lap was completed before challenger Adam Soltis rolled to a halt with sparks coming from his left front wheel. He would be done for the night.

Wojcik grabbed the lead on the restart but Kummer moved to the cushion and began to challenge him for the lead. Cody was able to drive hard into the corners and took over the top spot with Kesan then racing into second. He was joined by Sam Fankhauser, Jimmy Randall and Eric Olson as there was quite a pack of cars battling for position. Kummer continued to maintain the slightest of leads but Kesan was challenging him on every lap with another swarm of cars right behind him.

Just at the halfway point of the race, there was a jam up in turn four among the leaders with Kesan going for a spin and bringing out the yellow. Kesan was returned to second spot but unfortunately, both Olson and Fankhauser were done with damage to their cars in the fender bender.

Kummer continued to ride the cushion but Kesan was right under him and nipping at his heels. Lap after lap this scenario played out and while Kesan could get ever so close, he was never able to complete the pass and at the line, it was Kummer by a car length for his second win of the week. Randall came tearing back up through the field after going to the back and he finished ahead of Wojcik in third place while Josh Wahlstrom got his best finish of the year and completed the top five.

Southworth got his first ever feature win at Rice Lake, holding off the constant pressure from Shane Halopka to take the prize. The first lap of the event produced much drama as the pole sitter spun in turn four, triggering a multi car pileup that eliminated both Viltz brothers as as Jake Stai.

The restart saw Southworth jump into the lead with Halopka close behind. Travis Anderson was also challenging for position as the top three raced away from the pack. Southworth continued to lead, but Halopka would not let him get away and Anderson was a constant threat. Unfortunately for Travis, he would hook an infield tire and spin with only four laps left, and the damage would end his night.

Southworth maintained his groove on the green and he held off all challenges by Halopka to take the win. Bryce Johnson, in his first appearance of the year, finished a strong third and was followed by Joe Chaplin Jr and Jr. Anderson.

A good Pure Stock feature saw Hinrichs fight his way up from the fourth row of the field to win his second main event of the season. For many laps it looked like C.J. Wagner was going to take the win, as he led from the green flag and was withstanding some strong challenges from Chad Eastman, who was running a strong line on the high side. As Eastman continued to challenge for the lead, both Jason Havel and Hinrichs moved up through the pack. Unfortunately for Havel, following a lap six restart when Randy Graham hit the front stretch wall, Havel spun in turn four and was done.

This opened the door for Hinrichs and on the green, the leaders went three wide with Eastman charging past Wagner on the high side and Hinrichs on the low side. They then battled briefly for the lead before Hinrichs was able to edge away with the point.

In the last few laps, Joel was able to extend his margin by a couple of car lengths and he raced home for the win with Eastman trying to catch him. Bob Thompson had another consistent run as he came up to third with Mike Schnider and Wagner completing the top five.

Next Saturday, June 16th, another five class program of racing will kick off at 6:30 p.m. On June 23rd, it will be Kid’s Night with all the cars on the track before the show for the kids to check out and there will be a large number of bikes given away. Any fans or drivers that would like to donate bikes should bring them to the track this Saturday in preparation for that event.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds
20 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Jerry Weigel(Jim Falls), Matt Leer(Bruce), Scott Miller(Rice Lake), Steve Hallquist(Eau Claire), Brent Prochnow(Colfax), Tim McMann(Duluth MN), Buddy Mayala(Barron), Adam Hensel(Baldwin), Pat Hoffman, Wayne Poteet, Destin Lorimor, Paul Brust
10 lap Heat 1 – Anderson, Leer, Hallquist, Weigel, Lorimor(Superior), Hoffman, Hensel
Heat 2 – Adams, Miller, McMann, Brust(Rice Lake), Prochnow, Mayala, Poteet
 
WISSOTA Super Stocks
 
20 lap Feature – Jason Forehand(Eau Claire), Ben Hillman(Menomonie), Shane Kisling(Sarona), Eric Olson(Ladysmith), Aaron Wilson(Menomonie), Wayne Harris Jr(Bloomer), Jim Harris(Menomonie), Cory Karshbaum(Chetek), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Kirk Bogdanovic(Phillips)
10 lap Heat 1 – Hillman, Olson, J. Harris, Karshbaum, Steffen, Andy Grymala
Heat 2 – Kisling, Forehand, Wilson, Harris Jr, Bogdanovic

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
15 lap Feature – Grant Southworth(Bloomer), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Bryce Johnson(Barron), Joe Chaplin Jr(Cameron), Jr. Anderson(Duluth MN), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Tito Viltz(Rice Lake), Ryan Viltz(Chetek), Jake Stai(New Auburn)
10 lap Heat – R. Viltz, Halopka, Stai, Southworth, T. Viltz, T. Anderson, Chaplin Jr, Johnson, Jr. Anderson

WISSOTA Street Stocks
15 lap Feature – Cody Kummer(Medford), Jay Kesan(Weyerhaeuser), Jimmy Randall(Rice Lake), Doug Wojcik(Ladysmith), Josh Wahlstrom(Menomonie), Simon Wahlstrom(Rice Lake), Jamey Fisher(Rice Lake), Jim Miller(Hayward), Steve Karshbaum(Chetek), Heidi Karshbaum(Chetek), Ralph Stark, Sam Fankhauser, Eric Olson, Adam Soltis
10 lap Heat 1 – Kummer, Kesan, Olson(Ladysmith), Fankhauser(Chetek), Miller, S. Karshbaum, Stark
Heat 2 – Soltis(Ladysmith), Randall, Wojcik, S. Wahlstrom, J. Wahlstrom, Fisher, H. Karshbaum

Pure Stocks
12 lap Feature – Joel Hinrichs(Chetek), Chad Eastman(Rice Lake), Bob Thompson(Cameron), Mike Schnider(Rice Lake), C.J. Wagner(Hayward), Kolby Kiehl(Cameron), John Erickson(Cameron), Dustin Doughty(Ladysmith), Brandon Davis(Chetek), Talon Laabs(Stetsonville), Mike Grover, Jay Folz, Jason Havel, Randy Graham
8 lap Heat 1 – Havel(Rice Lake), Hinrichs, Erickson, Doughty, Davis, Laabs, Folz
Heat 2 – Schnider, Thompson, Eastman, Wagner, Kiehl, Grover, Graham