7/13/2025
Rice Lake Speedway
Parker Anderson DRC Winner at Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake WI, July 12 – Parker Anderson made a triumphant return to the Rice Lake Speedway on Saturday night as the former WISSOTA Street Stock National Champion made his first start of the year a great one, topping a strong field of Street Stocks to win the Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour event at the Rice Lake Speedway. Anderson topped a thirty one driver field in a race that saw the top four competitors cross the finish line under the proverbial blanket in what was certainly one of the most exciting races of the year to date.
A push from fans and competitors less than twenty four hours before race time saw the Pure Stock drivers racing for the most money they ever had at the speedway before and when Austin Fencl took the checkered flag for the win, he ended up with somewhere in the neighborhood of two thousand dollars for his winning efforts in what has been labeled the first ever “Bomber Bash” for the Pure Stocks.
Shane Halopka scored a thrilling win in the Modified feature after exchanging numerous slide jobs with Blake Adams over the last half of the feature race while Nick Koehler won his track best fifth feature win of the year in the Midwest Modifieds.
Tommy Richards came from third on the final two laps to win a hotly contested Super Stock feature to conclude what was certainly an eventful night at the track.
Twenty four drivers started the Street Stock DRC Tour event and it was Justin Vogel using the cushion to edge past Andrew Hanson and lead the opening lap. Anderson started fourth in the event but had moved up to second by the time the first yellow waved with three laps completed.
Anderson then put the pressure on Vogel on the restart and slipped past him one lap later to take over the lead. Vogel wasn't done yet, as he charged back and raced side by side with Anderson. The lead group also included five time winner here this year Nick Traynor and Hunter VanGilder as at least the top five drivers were running in a very tight pack.
Two more yellows in the first half of the race kept the field bunched with different drivers putting the push on Anderson as he continued to hold off the pack. By the halfway point of the race, VanGilder was up to second and using the low line, nearly slipped past Anderson at that point while Vogel and Traynor were still right in the mix.
The pressure continued on for Anderson with those following him varying up their strategy and using different lines on the track to challenge him. Traynor picked up speed and then challenged Vogel, who was now back up to second when the last yellow appeared following an incident where Bryar Zimmerman suffered a leg injury that stopped the contest for several moments.
The last three laps were a racing war, with Anderson continuing to hold the lead but now it was Traynor attacking him from the inside lane. On the last two laps Traynor came shooting up the track as he attempted to get under Anderson but Parker fought off all challenges. They raced out of the final corner side by side with Anderson holding off the pack to get the win. Traynor settled for a very close second with VanGilder rounding out the podium finishers.
It was the first race in 2025 for Anderson and he made it a good one, winning for the fifth time in the Street Stocks at Rice Lake but his first win here since the 2021 racing season.
A last minute idea that was picked up on by fans, businesses and racing teams, the Bomber Bash for the Pure Stocks sported a largely increased purse thanks to all the contributors with the race track management also contributing extra cash. For Austin Fincl, it was a great night as he led from start to finish to collect all the bonuses and earn his first feature win at the track this year.
He started on the pole and took off from the pack and he took advantage of the big battle for second that saw several drivers jockeying back and forth for position to open up a good sized lead in a race that went green to checkers.
Fencl had nearly a full straightaway advantage when George Richards finally broke through into the runner up slot and he then took off after Fencl but without a yellow flag to slow the action and bunch the field, it was tough to make up that much distance.
Fencl continued to run a smooth race and successfully navigated his way through several slower cars. Richards continued his charge and did narrow the gap down to several car lengths but could never quite get close enough to provide a stiff challenge as Fencl drove on for his second ever feature win at Rice Lake. Trevor Phillips had by far his best run of the year as he came from ninth to finish a strong third.
While the total amount won by Fencl was still being calculated at press time, it was believed that between cash and products won, Fencl went home with about two thousand dollars for his win.
For most of the race, it looked like Alex Myers was going to be the victor in the Super Stock feature race. He took the lead from the pole and despite strong challenges from several drivers, he still seemed to be in control until a fateful late yellow completely changed the course of the race.
In the early going Myers was challenged by Tommy Richards, who had started fourth. But then a couple drivers, led by Leslie Leu and Andrew Davis, both found the cushion of the track to be fast and they began to move up, challenging Myers as they moved to second and third. By the halfway point of the race, Richards had slipped all the way back to fifth as Kyle Copp was also on the move.
However, Richards continued to work the low line and he edged back up to third as Myers now fought off Davis who had taken over second.
The yellow flew for a stalled car on the front chute just as the white flag was set to be waved and this required a two lap reset for the race. On the green, Myers got a bit high in turn one and this opened the gates for the other competitiors close behind him. Richards shot up on the inside line and stole the lead and as the top four raced to the finish, it was Richards that edged the others out for his second win of the year here. Leu got a great run off the final corner and nipped Davis for second with Myers slipping all the way back to fourth in what was quite a shocking finish.
It was a two car battle all the way in the Modified feature but what a show Shane Halopka and Blake Adams put on. Brent Prochnow took the early lead but shortly after that Halopka got past him to take over the top spot. Prochnow had an incident with a ute tire that ended his night with Simon Wahlstrom then moving into second.
As Halopka continued to lead, Adams tracked down and passed Wahlstrom just at the halfway point of the race and then started to catch the leader. The last half dozen laps were classic dirt track racing with Halopka and Adams executing slide job after slide job on each other with the lead being exchanged at least four times over that period of laps.
One last slide on the final lap gave Halopka the advantage and Adams' last corner charge came up a car length short as Halopka drove on for the win. Wahlstrom had a fine run for third, trailed by Mike Anderson and Aiden Hoffman.
It was Halopka's first win of the year at Rice Lake, his fourth ever in a Modified but his fifty second overall at Rice Lake following many years of success in the Midwest Modifieds.
One of the bench marks of the 2025 season to date has been that it is very difficult to beat Nick Koehler in the Midwest Modifieds. That proved to be the case once again on Saturday as the Bloomer driver came from fifth on the starting field to edge past Jake Stai at the halfway point of the race and then drive on to what would be his fifth feature win of the season at the track, trying him for overal honors with Traynor.
Stai had started on the pole and took off to hold the early lead with Mike Schnider and Travis Anderson battling hard right behind Stai. Koehler had moved up to third when the race stagnated for a time with the yellow waving three straight times as lap four proved to be a tough one to complete.
Finally, everyone settled in and the race continued with Koehler moving to his customary high side line on the cushion and then driving his way forward. He has proved this year that strategy to be successful and he was able to drive around Stai down the back chute to take over the lead. He then began to draw away from the field while a good battle for third saw Adams get past both Anderson and Schnider to move into the third spot. And that would be the way they would finish up the race, with Koehler again visiting victory lane.
There will be no racing at the speedway on Saturday night, July 19th with everyone encouraged to enjoy the Barron County Fair. The track will next be in action on Saturday night, July 26th when the USRA Late Models make their third visit to the speedway this year. The Street Stocks will not be in action on that night as they all make last minute preparations for the race that the speedway is famous for, the The Street Stock Little Dream that will be held on Tuesday night, July 29th. Last year Cody Kummer took home thirty thousand dollars for his win and it is hoped and anticipated that the top prize will grow again in 2025 as perhaps as many as sixty Street Stocks from surrounding states and Canada battle it out for the big money. Watch the speedway website and face book page for further announcements about that race and the entire speedway schedule.
Results
10 entries
WISSOTA Modifieds
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka[4]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[5]; 3. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[3]; 4. 57-Mike Anderson[8]; 5. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[6]; 6. 308-Pat Hoffman[7]; 7. 3-Bryan Hessler[2]; 8. 204-David Mayala[9]; 9. (DNF) 55-Taylor Olson[10]; 10. (DNF) 78-Brent Prochnow[1]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3JR-Shane Halopka[1]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[2]; 3. 3-Bryan Hessler[4]; 4. 78-Brent Prochnow[5]; 5. 204-David Mayala[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[1]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[3]; 3. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[5]; 4. 308-Pat Hoffman[2]; 5. 55-Taylor Olson[4]
19 entries
WISSOTA Super Stock
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[4]; 2. 14X-Leslie Leu[2]; 3. 20*-Andrew Davis[5]; 4. 21M-Alex Myers[1]; 5. 26-Kyle Copp[6]; 6. 17-Mike Loomis[9]; 7. 207-Jesse Redetzke[10]; 8. 49-Thomas Hauert[3]; 9. 245-James Cimfl[8]; 10. 57-Randy Graham[15]; 11. 75-Scott Geiger[13]; 12. 01-Michael Anderson[14]; 13. 28-Josh Cappo[11]; 14. (DNF) 02-Travis Anderson[12]; 15. (DNF) 14L-Dylan Leu[7]; 16. (DNF) 247-Jackson Larson[16]; 17. (DNF) 22AT-Austin Tilton[18]; 18. (DNF) 1-Ryan Olson[17]; 19. (DNS) 21-Mike Siewert
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21M-Alex Myers[5]; 2. 17-Mike Loomis[1]; 3. 14X-Leslie Leu[7]; 4. 207-Jesse Redetzke[6]; 5. 75-Scott Geiger[2]; 6. 57-Randy Graham[4]; 7. 247-Jackson Larson[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Kyle Copp[5]; 2. 20*-Andrew Davis[2]; 3. 49-Thomas Hauert[4]; 4. 28-Josh Cappo[1]; 5. 01-Michael Anderson[6]; 6. (DNF) 22AT-Austin Tilton[3]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7R-Tommy Richards[3]; 2. 14L-Dylan Leu[4]; 3. 245-James Cimfl[6]; 4. 02-Travis Anderson[1]; 5. (DNF) 1-Ryan Olson[5]; 6. (DNF) 21-Mike Siewert[2]
17 entries
WISSOTA Midwest Mods
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[5]; 2. 1-Jake Stai[1]; 3. 40D-Blake Adams[7]; 4. 7-Mike Schnider[2]; 5. 37-Travis Anderson[3]; 6. 19H-Cody Cimfl[6]; 7. 11R-Landyn Randt[9]; 8. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[4]; 9. T25-Mark Thomas[8]; 10. 23DD-George Dalbeck[10]; 11. 09-Skylar Findley[11]; 12. 101-Michael Grover[13]; 13. 5-Rory Taber[16]; 14. (DNF) 88K-Jason Knutson[15]; 15. (DNF) 11K-Chase Brown[17]; 16. (DNF) 10Z-Cade Johnson[12]; 17. (DNS) 00-Joseph Swearingen
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4K-Kenny Kincaid[1]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[3]; 3. 19H-Cody Cimfl[4]; 4. 13-Nick Koehler[7]; 5. 11R-Landyn Randt[6]; 6. 09-Skylar Findley[2]; 7. 101-Michael Grover[9]; 8. 88K-Jason Knutson[5]; 9. 11K-Chase Brown[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[4]; 2. 37-Travis Anderson[2]; 3. T25-Mark Thomas[3]; 4. 1-Jake Stai[5]; 5. 23DD-George Dalbeck[7]; 6. 10Z-Cade Johnson[8]; 7. 00-Joseph Swearingen[1]; 8. 5-Rory Taber[6]
31 entries
WISSOTA Street Stock
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 27-Parker Anderson[4]; 2. 40T-Nick Traynor[3]; 3. 84-Hunter VanGilder[5]; 4. 10-Justin Vogel[2]; 5. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[8]; 6. 20-Andrew Hanson[1]; 7. 12-Cody Kummer[16]; 8. 11X-Levi Randt[13]; 9. 4-Trey Hess[9]; 10. 3R-Danny Richards[10]; 11. 11-Sam Fankhauser[18]; 12. 7-Caiden Engel[12]; 13. 20F-Connor Franson[17]; 14. 16-Warren Bartelt[23]; 15. 19H-Hunter Carter[21]; 16. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[15]; 17. (DNF) 12R-Kammron Rose[11]; 18. (DNF) 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[22]; 19. (DNF) 20T-Michael Tuma[14]; 20. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[20]; 21. (DNF) 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[6]; 22. (DNF) 40-Travis Loew[19]; 23. (DNF) 17B-Rachel Boston[24]; 24. (DNF) 79N-Jeff Nowak[7]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 19H-Hunter Carter[1]; 2. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[2]; 3. 16-Warren Bartelt[3]; 4. 17B-Rachel Boston[6]; 5. 19J-Jenna Herrman[8]; 6. 24-Ashley Wampler[10]; 7. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[5]; 8. 80-Tony Miller[7]; 9. 92R-Courtney Rose[9]; 10. (DNF) 24K-Derek Posto[11]; 11. (DNS) 42K-Mike Knudtson
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11JR-Jeff Ekdahl[1]; 2. 11K-Kyle Dykhoff[4]; 3. 4-Trey Hess[3]; 4. 11X-Levi Randt[6]; 5. 20F-Connor Franson[7]; 6. 19H-Hunter Carter[8]; 7. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[2]; 8. 92R-Courtney Rose[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Hunter VanGilder[1]; 2. 40T-Nick Traynor[7]; 3. 3R-Danny Richards[2]; 4. 20T-Michael Tuma[4]; 5. 11-Sam Fankhauser[8]; 6. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[6]; 7. 17B-Rachel Boston[3]; 8. (DNF) 24K-Derek Posto[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Parker Anderson[1]; 2. 10-Justin Vogel[3]; 3. 12R-Kammron Rose[2]; 4. 1R-Cole Richards[7]; 5. 40-Travis Loew[6]; 6. 16-Warren Bartelt[4]; 7. 80-Tony Miller[5]; 8. 24-Ashley Wampler[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Andrew Hanson[4]; 2. 79N-Jeff Nowak[7]; 3. 7-Caiden Engel[1]; 4. 12-Cody Kummer[2]; 5. 9-Adam Soltis[3]; 6. 42K-Mike Knudtson[5]; 7. 19J-Jenna Herrman[6]
18 entries
WISSOTA Pure Stock
Lakes Gas A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 52W-Austin Fencl[1]; 2. 5R-George Richards[5]; 3. 7D-Trevor Phillips[9]; 4. 31T-Tom Treviranus[4]; 5. 93-CJ Wagner[6]; 6. 89-Steve Karshbaum[11]; 7. 55-Caleb Duffie[3]; 8. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[12]; 9. 16-Rob Grabon[8]; 10. QQ-Shane Strenke[14]; 11. 231-Trevor Treviranus[10]; 12. 1-Carsyn Olson[16]; 13. 3D-Sean Duffy[15]; 14. 925-Dnae Rose[13]; 15. (DNF) 78-Mark Barta[7]; 16. (DNF) 9M-Marlene Lannet[18]; 17. (DNF) 88-Robert Wahlstrom[2]; 18. (DNF) 47-Anthony Schultz[17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 31T-Tom Treviranus[2]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[5]; 3. 93-CJ Wagner[7]; 4. 16-Rob Grabon[6]; 5. 7D-Trevor Phillips[9]; 6. 89-Steve Karshbaum[8]; 7. 925-Dnae Rose[4]; 8. 3D-Sean Duffy[3]; 9. (DNF) 47-Anthony Schultz[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 78-Mark Barta[2]; 2. 5R-George Richards[7]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[3]; 4. 55-Caleb Duffie[5]; 5. 231-Trevor Treviranus[6]; 6. 83-Tyler Wahlstrom[1]; 7. QQ-Shane Strenke[9]; 8. 1-Carsyn Olson[8]; 9. (DNF) 9M-Marlene Lannet[4]
Article Credit: Ed Reichert