Landyn Randt Tops Rice Lake Speedway MidMods For First Win

By Ed Reichert

Rice Lake WI, June 17 – The Rice Lake Speedway was back in action after taking a ten day break for Aquafest in Rice Lake and racing returned Saturday with three new winners ending up in victory lane. The most significant was in the Midwest Modified division where sixteen year old Landyn Randt from Siren Wisconsin won his first ever feature race, not just at Rice Lake but at any track for the rookie driver in the division. Other first time winners for 2023 included Ryan Olson in the Pure Stocks and Danny Richards in the Street Stocks. The lone repeat winner was Mike Anderson who topped the Modified main event.

The special attraction on this night was the UMSS Sprint Cars with both the winged and Traditional Sprints running a full program. The Winged Sprint feature would see Chase Viebrock from New Richmond start in the fifth position and make a late race pass to gain the win as he topped Mike Mueller and Austin Phillips to gain the honors.

In the Traditional Sprints, point leader Nick DaRonco from Britt Minnesota would make a lap two pass to grab the top spot after starting in the second row and fight off all challenges from Cam Schafer to take the win. Mueller would have a consistent night as he would finish third in this race.

Randt, a graduate from the Mod Four division where he spent the last couple of years, would start on the pole for the Midwest Modified feature and lead all fifteen laps to take home the meaningful win. Early on he would be chased by Josh Wahlstrom who moved up from the second row and got past Mitchell Larson to take over runner up honors as Will Moelter was also on the move.

Two early yellows for spins kept the field bunched with Randt able to fight off challenges following each restart. Wahlstrom would continue to hold down second and put the pressure on Randt as the race reached the halfway point with Moelter sliding into the third spot.

The last eleven laps of this race would click off nonstop and after challenging for the lead, Wahlstrom would start to lose ground as Randt was driving a flawless race, hitting his marks and starting to pull away from the pack.

There would be no let up in his charge as he continued to stretch his margin and he would drive on for the win relatively uncontested. Wahlstrom would finish a solid second with Moelter next in line followed by the Larson brothers, Mitchell and Brady. Only two drivers would not finish the event. The victory lane celebration was resounding and the large crowd gave the winner a hearty greeting in victory lane.

Two time and defending track champion Olson would gain his first Rice Lake win of 2023 as he took the lead on lap two and then held off the competition to top the Pure Stock feature race. Trenten Holub would take the early lead but Olson snuck inside of him on lap two to take over the lead and he would go on from there to finish strong and take the win. Two minor yellows would keep the field bunched in the first half of the race as there was plenty of fighting for position behind Olson. Holub and Austin Fencl would have a good battle for second before Fencl would take over that spot by the halfway point of the race.

Fencl was pushing very hard as he continues to seek his first ever Rice Lake win and keeps getting closer and closer. He was running second with just five laps to go and trying to catch Olson when he lost control and spun in turn two, slowing the action on more time.

Olson woud control the last five laps with Bob Wahlstrom in second and challenging until he pushed up the track on the final lap and opened the door for Rob Grabon who would shoot through and take runner up honors ahead of Wahlstrom.

The Street Stocks continue to provide by far the largest entry list of drivers each week with twenty four of them taking the green for their main event. And another first time winner would be produced as current point leader Danny Richards would take the win in what was a wild and crazy event that was finally ended a lap early due to the time limit after a number of extended yellows produced a overly long race.

For much of the race it looked like Sam Fankhauser would be the one in victory lane claiming his first win of the year as he made a terrific opening lap charge and came from the outside of row two to move into the lead by the end of the first lap. Two other drivers, Jeff Ekdahl and Jeff Nowak followed Fankhauser's outside line around the track and by lap five they had moved into second and third fter starting in rows four and five respectively.

The first few laps of this race were terrific with some three and four wide racing that produced some wild action but then things started to bog down as the yellow started flying far too often for a series of spins. During these starts and stops, Ekdahl put heavy pressure on Fankhauser and near got by on at least two occasions with Nowak also almost taking over the lead too.

Richards started ninth on the grid and slowly worked his way to the front and by the halfway point of the race was up to fourth. Then the leader got turned around and the yellow flew once again with the field finally getting settled in for the restart.
Then Richards made the move of the night. With the top three leaders running nose to tail on the restart and they all racing the low side of the track, Richards gave it the gas, pulled to the outside lane and before the top three could realize what had happened, in the course of just two laps he moved from fourth to pass them all, finally passing Fankhauser on the back chute to take over the lead.

Sam would try to fight back but Richards would hold him off and the race slipped back into the start and stop pattern with the yellow waving three more times in the last three laps. A final attempt to fiinish with a one lap rush again failed due to another spin and the race was called complete with Richards topping Fankhauser and Nowak in the final rundown.

The balance in the Street Stocks continues as Richards now becomes the fourth different winner in four nights of racing as record car counts comtinue in this class.

Anderson put on a whale of a show in the Modified feature as he came from the fourth row to top the nonstop twenty lap main event and become the first repeat winner in the division this year. Simon Wahlstrom continued his quest to get his first Modified win in this his rookie year as he took the lead on lap one, only to see Austin Ellis come charging up and take over the top spot one lap later from him. However, Wahlstrom wasn't done as he turned right around and retook the lead as the battle for the front continued.

Wahlstrom would then have to fight off a challenge from Kevin Adams who moved past Ellis and then began to challenge Wahlstrom for the lead. Several times Adams got close but each time Simon would fight him off for the lead.

Then Anderson began to pick up the pace. Starting slowly at first, by the halfway point of the race he had moved into third and then quickly picked off Adams for second. Wahlstrom had built up a good sized lead by this point but Anderson was flying and quickly cut into the advantage. He was markedly faster than anyone in the field as he cut quickly into the lead and on lap seventeen he flew by Wahlstrom to take over the top spot.

The last three laps of the race, continuing under the green flag, saw Anderson quickly put distance on the field as he was clearly the class of the field on this night as the track came to him. He would have a comfortable lead as he took the checkered with Wahlstrom settling for second and Adams home third. For the likely new point leader in the division after his win, it was his fifty second career Modified win at Rice Lake, topping all but Adams in that category.

The speedway will be back in action on Saturday night, June 24th. It will be one of the highlight events of the racing season as it will be Kid's Night. The drivers will have their cars on the track before the program and fans can go down on the track and meet the drivers and get treats that most of them provide. It will also be the traditional bike giveway night and many bikes are expected to be passed out to the kids on hand. If anyone would like to donate a bike for the kids, check the speedway face book page for information on who to contact. Race time will be 7 pm next Saturday with the Super Stocks returning for a five division program.

Results

14 entries

WISSOTA MODIFIEDS

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[7]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[2]; 3. 40-Kevin Adams[4]; 4. 20-Austin Ellis[1]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[5]; 6. 308-Pat Hoffman[3]; 7. 12-Jason Gross[6]; 8. T40-Danny Thomas[9]; 9. 10-Kyle Helling[12]; 10. 343-JD Ford[10]; 11. 18S-Kennedy Swan[8]; 12. 3-Bryan Hessler[14]; 13. 28-Don Gleason[13]; 14. (DNF) 204-David Mayala[11]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[3]; 2. 37-Travis Anderson[2]; 3. 20-Austin Ellis[6]; 4. 18S-Kennedy Swan[5]; 5. T40-Danny Thomas[1]; 6. 204-David Mayala[4]; 7. 28-Don Gleason[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 308-Pat Hoffman[1]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[4]; 3. 40-Kevin Adams[6]; 4. 12-Jason Gross[2]; 5. 343-JD Ford[3]; 6. 10-Kyle Helling[5]; 7. 3-Bryan Hessler[7]

15 entries

WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 11R-Landyn Randt[1]; 2. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[3]; 3. 87-William Moelter[4]; 4. 63L-Mitchell Larson[2]; 5. 63JR-Brady Larson[11]; 6. 1-Jake Stai[8]; 7. 68-Shadow Kitchner[5]; 8. 40D-Blake Adams[6]; 9. 24M-Adam Martinson[15]; 10. T25-Mark Thomas[13]; 11. 19A-Aiden Hoffman[9]; 12. 18-Tacoma Randall[12]; 13. 19H-Kevin Herrman[10]; 14. (DNF) 88K-Donavan Knutson[14]; 15. (DNF) 7-Mike Schnider[7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[4]; 3. 63L-Mitchell Larson[3]; 4. 87-William Moelter[6]; 5. 19A-Aiden Hoffman[5]; 6. 63JR-Brady Larson[7]; 7. T25-Mark Thomas[8]; 8. 24M-Adam Martinson[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Jake Stai[2]; 2. 19-Josh Wahlstrom[6]; 3. 11R-Landyn Randt[3]; 4. 68-Shadow Kitchner[5]; 5. 19H-Kevin Herrman[1]; 6. 18-Tacoma Randall[4]; 7. 88K-Donavan Knutson[7]

24 entries

WISSOTA STREET STOCK

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards[9]; 2. 11-Sam Fankhauser[4]; 3. 79N-Jeff Nowak[10]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[3]; 5. 9-Adam Soltis[12]; 6. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[8]; 7. 82-Kevin Bogdanovic[7]; 8. 10B-Dylan Baskin[16]; 9. 71H-Ron Hanestad[18]; 10. 66-Eric Haupt[2]; 11. 11X-Levi Randt[15]; 12. 79-Joseph Ott[19]; 13. 10-Derek Baskin[11]; 14. 92R-Courtney Rose[22]; 15. 19H-Kevin Herrman[24]; 16. 19J-Jenna Herrman[20]; 17. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[14]; 18. (DNF) 37-Aric Lindberg[17]; 19. (DNF) 19C-Cody Cimfl[5]; 20. (DNF) 52-Aden Saunders[21]; 21. (DNF) 7-Caiden Engel[6]; 22. (DNF) 17-Zach Beaulieu[1]; 23. (DNF) 9K-Kolby Kiehl[13]; 24. (DNF) 40-Travis Loew[23]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 82-Kevin Bogdanovic[1]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[2]; 3. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[5]; 4. 79N-Jeff Nowak[7]; 5. 9K-Kolby Kiehl[8]; 6. 10B-Dylan Baskin[3]; 7. 79-Joseph Ott[6]; 8. 92R-Courtney Rose[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Sam Fankhauser[2]; 2. 19C-Cody Cimfl[1]; 3. 7-Caiden Engel[3]; 4. 10-Derek Baskin[4]; 5. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[5]; 6. 37-Aric Lindberg[6]; 7. 19J-Jenna Herrman[8]; 8. (DNF) 40-Travis Loew[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3R-Danny Richards[3]; 2. 66-Eric Haupt[2]; 3. 17-Zach Beaulieu[4]; 4. 9-Adam Soltis[6]; 5. 11X-Levi Randt[7]; 6. 71H-Ron Hanestad[1]; 7. 52-Aden Saunders[8]; 8. (DNF) 19H-Kevin Herrman[5]

9 entries

WISSOTA PURE STOCK

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 1-Ryan Olson[3]; 2. 16-Rob Grabon[6]; 3. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[5]; 4. 15H-Trenten Holub[1]; 5. 52W-Austin Fencl[4]; 6. 18M-Leo Moos[8]; 7. 17G-Chris Gross[9]; 8. (DNF) 23R-James Rahn[2]; 9. (DNF) 95F-Devin Fries[7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[1]; 2. 1-Ryan Olson[3]; 3. 15H-Trenten Holub[4]; 4. 23R-James Rahn[7]; 5. 52W-Austin Fencl[6]; 6. 16-Rob Grabon[5]; 7. 95F-Devin Fries[9]; 8. 18M-Leo Moos[8]; 9. 17G-Chris Gross[2]

16 entries

360 SPRINTS - NON-WINGED

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8-Nick DaRonco[3]; 2. 54-Cam Schafer[4]; 3. 87-Mike Mueller[11]; 4. 10Z-Zach Widdes[6]; 5. 99-Bryan Roach[8]; 6. 7-Scott Brandt[1]; 7. 5J-Chris Lewis[7]; 8. 20L-Lucas Logue[2]; 9. 55-Joseph Kouba[16]; 10. 11J-Jori Hughes[9]; 11. 135-Joshua Hulberg[10]; 12. 2C-Brad Cunningham[5]; 13. 25A-Ashley Williams[12]; 14. 17-Erik Bjorklund[15]; 15. 7X-Dan Atchison[13]; 16. 57-Ryan Buck[14]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10Z-Zach Widdes[2]; 2. 99-Bryan Roach[4]; 3. 20L-Lucas Logue[6]; 4. 2C-Brad Cunningham[8]; 5. 135-Joshua Hulberg[1]; 6. 87-Mike Mueller[5]; 7. 57-Ryan Buck[3]; 8. 17-Erik Bjorklund[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Nick DaRonco[1]; 2. 7-Scott Brandt[3]; 3. 54-Cam Schafer[6]; 4. 5J-Chris Lewis[7]; 5. 11J-Jori Hughes[5]; 6. 25A-Ashley Williams[2]; 7. 7X-Dan Atchison[4]; 8. (DNF) 55-Joseph Kouba[8]

16 entries

LIMITED SPRINTS - WINGED

A Feature 1: 1. 50-Chase Viebrock[5]; 2. 61-Mike Mueller[7]; 3. 17-Austin Phillips[2]; 4. 2V-Zach Widdes[9]; 5. 13-Patrick Heikkinen[8]; 6. 85-Matthew Jasper[11]; 7. 28-John Breitenfeldt[1]; 8. 62-Ronnie Erickson[12]; 9. 07-Owen Carlson[6]; 10. 03-Jamey Ogston[3]; 11. P1-Mark Chevalier[4]; 12. 9C-Cole Stella[10]; 13. 42X-Brett Peterson[14]; 14. 4-Mitch Hagen[13]; 15. 44-Dani Aldrich[15]; 16. (DNF) 53-Dustin Pittman[16]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-John Breitenfeldt[2]; 2. P1-Mark Chevalier[5]; 3. 07-Owen Carlson[8]; 4. 50-Chase Viebrock[7]; 5. 9C-Cole Stella[4]; 6. 85-Matthew Jasper[6]; 7. 42X-Brett Peterson[3]; 8. 44-Dani Aldrich[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 03-Jamey Ogston[1]; 2. 61-Mike Mueller[3]; 3. 13-Patrick Heikkinen[4]; 4. 17-Austin Phillips[2]; 5. 2V-Zach Widdes[5]; 6. 62-Ronnie Erickson[6]; 7. 4-Mitch Hagen[7]; 8. 53-Dustin Pittman[8]