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Adams and Crosby First Time Winners as Rice Lake Speedway Opens

Rice Lake WI, April 26 – After a one week weather delay, the Rice Lake Speedway held their seventy third consecutive opening night event on Saturday night, April 26th under sunny skies and cool Spring temperatures. The highlights of the opening night of racing action found both Blake Adams and Eric Crosby winning their first ever feature races in their particular division while two other feature races were settled by less than a half second as eighty nine drivers from both the U.S. And Canada raced for the Swant Graber Auto Group opener.

Blake Adams has had success racing in the Midwest Modified class over the last couple of years at the Rice Lake Speedway. Never mind that the sixteen year old had only driven a Modified once before at the Rice Lake Speedway last Fall. That mattered little to the smooth young driver as after he redrew the pole for the twenty lap Modified feature, he would dominate the race from green to finish, leading all laps and never allowing a challenge to the top spot.

Adams grabbed the early lead by getting the jump on defending track champion Joe Chaplin Jr. and while Chaplin Jr. tried to stay with him, Adams quickly opened up a several car length advantage. As Adams started to pull away, Chaplin Jr. got involved in an excellent battle for second as he was challenged by Austin Ellis and Michael Truscott. The three of them diced for the runner up slot as Adams started to stretch his advantage.

The first yellow waved with thirteen laps completed but on the return to green flag racing, Adams was again able to pull away as the battle for the second spot got even more heated. Mike Anderson has started eighth and was only able to just crack the top five by the midpoint of the race, but once the green came back out for the last seven laps, Anderson kicked his car into action, quickly moving to third and then challenging and passing Chaplin Jr for third.

While Adams continued to build on his lead, Anderson completed his charge, taking the second spot but finding himself well back from making a run at Adams, who drove on for his memorable win. A late rush found Ellis driving up to third, ahead of Truscott and Chaplin Jr.

Crosby has had much success at area tracks recently, winning a number of features and titles but a feature win has so far eluded him at Rice Lake. However, the Amery driver would scratch that off his “bucket list” following Saturday night's races as he came from the third row to win the Pure Stock feature. Austin Fencl took the early lead over Devin Fries but it took Crosby only three laps to motor up the inside line and take over the top spot. And once in front, he managed to pull away to a comfortable lead, despite two yellow flags during the second half of the race.

Fries and Fencl battled hard for second with Fries easing into that position by the halfway point of the race. Rob Grabon had started twelfh on the grid but was making big strides to the front and had just moved into the top five when he got turned around in turn three, triggering the first yellow of the race.

Grabon continued his charge, moving up to third by the time the second and final yellow waved for a spin with thirteen laps completed.

This set up a two lap dash to the finish and while Crosby again pulled away from the pack, the battle for second continued strong with Fries nipping Grabon at the line for second. And while Crosby was the uncontested winner, inspection by the track tech crew found two cars that finished in th top five to not be racing under required rules. The adjusted finishing order found Grabon still second but he was followed by Fencl, Steve Karshbaum out of a long retirement in fourth and rookie driver Mark Barta completing the top five.

The first of two finishes that was settled by a razor thin margin was the Midwest Modified feature race. And not only was the finish in this race close, there were also three different leaders during the course of the event and nearly a fourth.

Simon Wahlstrom and Brady Larson shared the front row but Blake Adams, looking for a double win night, came charging up from the second row and snuck past the leaders to win the opening lap. However, Larson came right back at him and grabbed the lead one lap later. These two put on a show in the first half of the race, running side by side and swapping the lead several times, although Larson continued to be scored the front runner. Also on the charge were Nick Koehler and Cody Cimfl as they moved up from the third and fourth rows respectively.

As the two leaders remained wired to each other and charged down the back chute to come to the halfway point, Larson suddenly slowed on the back chute with mechanical issues, his great run ended. Adams inherited the lead for the restart but he was also having problems as a broken suspension part was causing him to struggle in the corners and emit a cloud of tire smoke down the straightways.

Adams led as the green flag waved but his prognosis was not good and three laps later, as he tried to fight off Koehler and Cimfl, he suffered a flat tire, triggering the yellow and ending his night short of that double feature win goal.

Tyler Vernon has been quietly moving his way to the front after starting seventh and his time came following the last restart with just two laps to go. As Koehler took off the leader, Vernon closed to his low side and tried to make a late move for the lead. Ducking inside Koehler on the final corner, Vernon made a strong run for the lead but came up just .052 seconds short of his goal, settling for second.

For Koehler, the Bloomer driver recorded his fifth career Midwest Modified feature win at Rice Lake. Cimfl settled for third, ahead of Jake Stai and Cory Jorgensen.

However, the closest feature finish was yet to come. Twenty six Super Stocks would take the green flag. Former area driver Shane Kisling, driving the Larson 2 4/7 car, took the early lead over Eric Olson. Curt Myers started third and wasted no time challenging the top duo, and was soon all over Kisling for the lead. Myers moved up the track and found success and on lap six was able to drive past Kisling to take over the lead.

Myers was not out of challengers to the lead though, as Matt Deragon, who had started sixth, drove in to challenge the leader, and two laps later he ducked under Myers to take over the top spot. However, Myers was not done yet. He fired back, pushing even harder in the middle groove of the track and two laps later he would regain the lead, just as the field reached the halfway point of the contest.

Terran Spacek had started tenth but by the halfway point he had worked his way up to third ahead of Dalton Truchon and Kisling who was struggling to keep up at this point.

Myers continued to lead but as the laps started to be completed, Spacek was challenging Deragon for second. A late yellow for a spin set up a two lap sprint to the finish. Spacek drove ahead of Deragon for second on the green and this set up another is what has been a series of battles for Super Stock mastery here between Myers and Spacek in recent years.

They went at it again and on the final corner as Myers slipped just a bit high, Spacek made an all out rush for the inside to try and slip past. They crossed the line so close it needed the electronic timing and scoring to determine the winner and it was Myers by the slim .029 second edge over Spacek. Deragon finished up third with Shawn McFadden , who started nineteenth and Olson completing the top five. The win was the fifty fifth Super Stock feature win of Myers' successful career at Rice Lake, as he closes in on Don Drew's all time record for the division.

The Street Stock feature would be the only nonstop main event of the night and Nick Traynor scored an impressive win to open up the Street Stock season at Rice Lake. He started on the inside of the second row but with an opening lap rush, he managed to pass both Caiden Engel and Tom Treviranus before the first lap was scored and take the lead. And there would be no catching Traynor once he got in front as he quickly put distance on the field and with no yellow flags to bunch the pack, he was quickly gone from the field. A good battle for second developed though, with Cody Cimfl moving into the second place by the halfway point of the event. Both Andrew Hanson and Sam Fankhauser were on the move, charging from deeper in the pack toward the front.

But Traynor as gone up front and continued to hold a comfortable lead over the field. He drove on for the win, his eighth overall Street Stock win at Rice Lake. Hanson completed his charge as he was able to get past Cimfl for second in the late going. Travis Loew was in the top five the whole race, finishing fourth ahead of Fankhauser.

The opening night program was a smooth running affair with all racing completed well before 10 pm. Next Saturday night, May 3rd, the first special event of the 2025 racing season will already be held. The first of five appearances of the USRA Late Models will see that division in action along with the normal five class program of WISSOTA auto racing. The Late Models put on a good show in their appearances at the track last year, resulting in them being booked five times in 2025. Fans should also note that it is only two weeks until the Springtime Mod Spectacular for the WISSOTA Modifieds presented by Henry Repeating Arms. All WISSOTA classes will also be in action on that night also.

The first green flag on May 3rd flies at 6 pm and for the latest in racing news from the speedway, check out the website at www.ricelakespeedway.net or the track's face book page.

Results

10 entries

WISSOTA Modifieds

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[8]; 3. 20-Austin Ellis[4]; 4. 22T-Michael Truscott[3]; 5. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[2]; 6. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[7]; 7. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[6]; 8. 10-Kyle Helling[9]; 9. (DNF) 3-Bryan Hessler[10]; 10. (DNF) 204-David Mayala[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[1]; 2. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[3]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[4]; 4. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[2]; 5. 10-Kyle Helling[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22T-Michael Truscott[2]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[3]; 3. 204-David Mayala[1]; 4. 20-Austin Ellis[4]; 5. 3-Bryan Hessler[5]

26 entries

WISSOTA Super Stock

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1M-Curt Myers[3]; 2. 22T-Terran Spacek[10]; 3. 27-Matt Deragon[6]; 4. 51JR-Shawn McFadden[23]; 5. 1E-Eric Olson[2]; 6. 14X-Leslie Leu[11]; 7. 01-Michael Anderson[15]; 8. 245-James Cimfl[12]; 9. 90-Adam Pratt[14]; 10. 62-Dalton Truchon[4]; 11. 75-Scott Geiger[20]; 12. 21M-Alex Myers[22]; 13. 22-Clay Albrecht[24]; 14. 25X-Chad Johnson[13]; 15. 22AT-Austin Tilton[18]; 16. (DNF) 247-Shane Kisling[1]; 17. (DNF) 1-Ryan Olson[7]; 18. (DNF) XJR-Austin Harris[25]; 19. (DNF) 7B-Jason Melton[8]; 20. (DNF) 57-Randy Graham[5]; 21. (DNF) 44-Trenton Bond[9]; 22. (DNF) 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[16]; 23. (DNF) 9-Jakob Bond[17]; 24. (DNF) 02-Travis Anderson[19]; 25. (DNS) 21-Mike Siewert; 26. (DNS) 28-Josh Cappo

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Curt Myers[8]; 2. 27-Matt Deragon[1]; 3. 1-Ryan Olson[2]; 4. 22T-Terran Spacek[7]; 5. 25X-Chad Johnson[9]; 6. 12K-Duane (DJ) Keeler[6]; 7. (DNF) 21M-Alex Myers[4]; 8. (DNF) 51JR-Shawn McFadden[5]; 9. (DNF) XJR-Austin Harris[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1E-Eric Olson[2]; 2. 44-Trenton Bond[5]; 3. 57-Randy Graham[6]; 4. 14X-Leslie Leu[3]; 5. 90-Adam Pratt[7]; 6. 9-Jakob Bond[1]; 7. 02-Travis Anderson[4]; 8. 21-Mike Siewert[8]; 9. (DNF) 28-Josh Cappo[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 62-Dalton Truchon[8]; 2. 247-Shane Kisling[3]; 3. 7B-Jason Melton[5]; 4. 245-James Cimfl[4]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[6]; 6. 22AT-Austin Tilton[7]; 7. 75-Scott Geiger[1]; 8. (DNF) 22-Clay Albrecht[2]

19 entries

WISSOTA Midwest Mods

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[6]; 2. 41-Tyler Vernon[7]; 3. 19H-Cody Cimfl[8]; 4. 1-Jake Stai[12]; 5. 16-Cory Jorgensen[3]; 6. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[1]; 7. 89-Kolby Reed[10]; 8. 37-Travis Anderson[9]; 9. 1848-Matthew Findley[16]; 10. 410-Jesse Young[19]; 11. 101-Michael Grover[14]; 12. 10Z-Cade Johnson[15]; 13. R1-Robert Crust[17]; 14. (DNF) 7-Mike Schnider[5]; 15. (DNF) 40D-Blake Adams[4]; 16. (DNF) 09-Skylar Findley[18]; 17. (DNF) 00-Joseph Swearingen[11]; 18. (DNF) 63JR-Brady Larson[2]; 19. (DNS) 47-Tad Schoonover

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19H-Cody Cimfl[4]; 2. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[2]; 3. 16-Cory Jorgensen[6]; 4. 89-Kolby Reed[3]; 5. 47-Tad Schoonover[7]; 6. 1848-Matthew Findley[5]; 7. 09-Skylar Findley[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[2]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[1]; 3. 63JR-Brady Larson[5]; 4. 00-Joseph Swearingen[3]; 5. 101-Michael Grover[6]; 6. R1-Robert Crust[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Travis Anderson[1]; 2. 41-Tyler Vernon[3]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 4. 1-Jake Stai[2]; 5. 10Z-Cade Johnson[6]; 6. (DNS) 410-Jesse Young

17 entries

WISSOTA Street Stock

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 40T-Nick Traynor[3]; 2. 20-Andrew Hanson[8]; 3. 19C-Cody Cimfl[4]; 4. 40-Travis Loew[5]; 5. 11-Sam Fankhauser[10]; 6. 7-Caiden Engel[2]; 7. 3R-Danny Richards[6]; 8. 17-Zach Beaulieu[7]; 9. T20-Michael Tuma[12]; 10. 31-Tom Treviranus[1]; 11. 3RR-Cole Richards[17]; 12. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[14]; 13. 20F-Connor Franson[11]; 14. 10-Dylan Baskin[16]; 15. 19H-Kevin Herrman[9]; 16. 19J-Jenna Herrman[15]; 17. (DNF) 86-Layla Chaplin[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40T-Nick Traynor[1]; 2. 19C-Cody Cimfl[5]; 3. 20-Andrew Hanson[4]; 4. 31-Tom Treviranus[2]; 5. 19H-Kevin Herrman[6]; 6. 20F-Connor Franson[7]; 7. 86-Layla Chaplin[8]; 8. (DNS) 10-Dylan Baskin

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Zach Beaulieu[2]; 2. 40-Travis Loew[4]; 3. 7-Caiden Engel[3]; 4. 3R-Danny Richards[6]; 5. 11-Sam Fankhauser[5]; 6. T20-Michael Tuma[7]; 7. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[8]; 8. 19J-Jenna Herrman[1]

17 entries

WISSOTA Pure Stock

Lakes Gas A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 28-Eric Crosby[5]; 2. 16-Rob Grabon[14]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[1]; 4. 89-Steve Karshbaum[9]; 5. 78-Mark Barta[4]; 6. 47-Anthony Schultz[13]; 7. 7D-Trevor Phillips[3]; 8. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[7]; 9. 925-Dnae Rose[15]; 10. 9M-Marlene Lannet[10]; 11. (DNF) 55-Caleb Duffie[12]; 12. (DNS) 23R-Jimmy Rahn; 13. (DNS) 4K-Terry Kemp; 14. (DNS) QQ-Shane Strenke; 15. (DNS) 17-Brian DeNucci; 16. (DQ) 95F-Devin Fries[2]; 17. (DQ) 15H-Dusten Holub[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[3]; 2. 15H-Dusten Holub[8]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[9]; 4. 7D-Trevor Phillips[4]; 5. 89-Steve Karshbaum[6]; 6. 4K-Terry Kemp[5]; 7. 55-Caleb Duffie[2]; 8. (DNF) 925-Dnae Rose[7]; 9. (DNF) 17-Brian DeNucci[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Eric Crosby[4]; 2. 95F-Devin Fries[8]; 3. 78-Mark Barta[3]; 4. 23R-Jimmy Rahn[7]; 5. 9M-Marlene Lannet[1]; 6. (DNF) 47-Anthony Schultz[6]; 7. (DNF) 16-Rob Grabon[5]; 8. (DNF) QQ-Shane Strenke[2]

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