2/3/2025
Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake Speedway Celebrates 24' Season with Annual Banquet
Rice Lake Speedway Racers Celebrate
By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI – Drivers, families, pit crews, fans, track employees, sponsors and others all gathered at the Rice Lake Elks Club on Saturday night, February 1st to celebrate the 2024 racing season at the Rice Lake Speedway with the annual racing banquet.
This year's banquet was the first hosted by the new owners of the speedway with Kolby and Dean Kiehl along with Dick Kalow having purchased the track early in 2024 and making vast improvements for the 2024 racing season.
Honored at the banquet were the top five drivers in each of the five divisions that race weekly at the track along with the Rookies of the Year in each class.
Track announcer Ben Brost was the Master of Ceremonies for the event and introduced the track owners to the crowd. Promoter Kolby Kiehl spoke to the crowd, updating them on more improvements slated to be made at the track and highlighting the newly shaped racing surface which drivers are eagerly awaiting testing out and also previewed the 2025 racing schedule which will see the track hoping to open on Saturday night, April 19th. Special events have been scheduled for all five classes that race at the track along with special events featuring the WISSOTA and USRA Late Models and both Winged and Traditional Sprint Cars. The annual Fireworks display will be on Thursday night, July 3rd and the season will conclude with the second annual Dairyland Dash on Friday and Saturday nights, August 30th and 31st following a very successful first event in 2024.
The top five drivers in each class were introduced by Brost with them receiving trophies.
Winning his first ever Modified point title was Joe Chaplin Jr. from Cameron. He was followed in the standings by Kyle Helling from Rice Lake, Travis Anderson from Colfax, Aiden Hoffman from Rice Lake, Austin Ellis from Rice Lake and Madison, Brent Prochnow from Colfax, Dave Mayala from Barron, Kevin Adams from Cameron, Nick Oreskovich from Mason and Pat Hoffman from Rice Lake. Aiden Hoffman was the Rookie of the Year.
Breaking a three year string of point title won by Eric Olson, Curt Myers from Cameron was the Super Stock point champion. Olson, from Ladysmith, settled for second in 2024. He was trailed by Alex Myers from Cameron, Ryan Olson from Ladysmith, Randy Graham from Trego, Simon Wahlstrom from Mikana, Clay Albrecht from Cameron, Josh Cappo from Almena, Mickey Anderson from Dallas and Austin Tilton from Turtle Lake. Second generation driver Alex Myers was the rookie of the year in the Super Stocks.
Winning his first ever point title in the Midwest Modified class was Mike Schnider from Chetek. He was followed by Jake Stai from New Auburn, Mike Grover from Chetek, Cody Cimfl from Chetek, Kenny Kincaid from Shell Lake, Rusty Taber from Sheldon, Bently Prochnow from Colfax, Travis Anderson from Colfax who finished in the top ten in two different classes , Brady Larson from Amery and Nick Traynor from Barron. Grover was the Rookie of the Year.
Winning his second straight Street Stock point title was Danny Richards from Mondovi. Cody Cimfl, from Chetek, was the other driver to finish in the top ten in two different classes as he took runner up honors in the Street Stocks. He was followed by Cole Richards from Mondovi, Dylan Baskin from Arkansaw, Shawn Amundson from Rice Lake, Nolan Brown from Barron, Conner Franson from Conrath, Jay Kesan from Weyerhaeuser, Jenna Herrman from Barron and Cody Kummer from Medford. Brown was the Rookie of the Year.
Bob Wahlstrom from Chetek won his first ever Pure Stock point title at the track. He edged out Charlie Pitcavage from Menomonie to win the award. They were followed by Bob Thompson from Cameron, Dusten Holub from Chetek, Austin Fencl from Bruce, Terry Kemp from Barron, Aaron Holmberg from Rice Lake, Brent Mindock from Prentice, Trevor Phillips from Eleva and Rob Grabon from Rice Lake. Brian DeNucci from Centuria was the Rookie of the Year.
The Unsung Heroes award, presented by the promoters, went to Jen Stovern and Colleen Bender for their assistance behind the scenes to the new owners
Upcoming dates to keep in mind for the 2025 season include the annual car show at Rice Lake's Cedar Mall slated for March 21-23. The first practice on the newly shaped racing surface is scheduled for April 16th before the opener three nights later.
A new event on the schedule, the Race Fever Party, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, March 8th at the Tree Stand Tavern in Barron, will feature numerous activities, prizes and raffles and serve as an opportuniy for racers and fans to gather to get ready for the 2025 racing season. Tree Stand owners Courtney and Jodi Rose have generously stepped forward to host this event which is designed as an opportunity for race folks to gather in anticipation for the 2025 racing season. The Rose's will use any proceeds from the event to purchase more merchandise for the Kid's Night at the speedway, scheduled for May 17th.
Watch for much more information on this event along with other news for the 2025 racing season on the speedway website and face book page and think Spring!
You can view event photos at the following link https://www.ricelakespeedway.net/gallery/?g=28877
Article Credit: Brent Creaser