8/24/2025
Rice Lake Speedway
Season Champions Crowned; Myers Breaks Record at Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake WI, Aug. 23 – It was Season Championship night on Saturday at the Rice Lake Speedway with five drivers earning the title of 2025 Season Champions. Winning feature races and accepting their honors were Blake Adams in the Modified class, Curt Myers in the Super Stocks, Nick Koehler in the Midwest Modifieds, Nick Traynor in the Street Stocks and Mark Barta in the Pure Stocks.
And along with winning the title in the Super Stocks, Myers broke one of the longest standing track records with his win moving him into first place in all time victories in the division, topping the long held record by speedway Hall of Famer Don Drew.
Along with the other activities on Saturday night, it was also Hall of Fame night at the track with four new members added to the Rice Lake Speedway Hall of Fame. The 2025 inductees were Darwin Brown, Dave Havel, Rick Kurshinshy and the late Brent Laursen.
A surprise rain shower hit the track just as the first Super Stock heat race began and while it rained moderately for a few minutes, once it stopped track promoter Kolby Kiehl and the speedway track prep crew reworked the track and racing resumed. With the cooperation of the drivers, the rest of the program continued smoothly with all racing completed before 10 pm.
Adams started on the pole for the Modified feature race and led all twenty laps to get the win but he was challenged hard by Mike Anderson who started right behind him and chased him for the entire distance. Two early yellows slowed the action but once all was sorted out, the final nineteen laps went green to checkers.
Adams had Anderson close behind him for the first half of the race with Adams finally breaking loose and gaining some ground when he adjusted his racing line on the track and found the top side of turns one and two to be the fast way while hugging the inside line on the North end of the track.
In the later portion of the race, Adams was able to gradually pull away from Anderson to a more comfortable lead. Aiden Hoffman had an excellent run, starting on the outside pole and racing with the leaders throughout the event, finally finishing in the third position. One driver that raced the lip of the track from start to finish was Matt Leer and he made it work as he marched up to fifth at the finish behind Brandon Copp.
For Adams, it was his sixth Modified feature win at the track in 2025 to go along with his track point title and his thirty first feature win of the year between the two open wheel classes that he runs on all speedways.
Myers tied the record for all time feature wins in the Super Stock class held by Don Drew earlier this year and Saturday night be broke that tie by winning his fourth feature race of the year at the track.
In order to claim the win, he had to beat his son Alex who perhaps will be the next one to challenge the new record in years to come. Alex started on the pole with Curt flanking him and for the majority of the race, they battled for the lead with much of that battle seeing them race side by side around the third mile oval.
Alex led the opening two laps before Curt edged in front and officially, Curt would be scored the leader for the rest of the race but for much of the contest, they were side by side with Curt just edging ahead at the start finish line.
Terran Spacek moved into third by lap five and he closely followed the lead group, until he was then challenged by Tommy Richards for that spot with the leaders going side by side while the battle for third looked much the same way.
As the fast cars were moving through traffic on lap thirteen, one of the slower cars lost control and spun, clipping Spacek which triggered the yellow and unfortunately, ending the night for Spacek with damage from the collision.
The restart found Curt picking up speed and he opened up his biggest lead of the night at that point and maintained a two car length advantage to the finish of the race. Alex finished a strong second ahead of Richards with Patrick Beeksma and track point champion Leslie Leu trailing.
The Super Stock record had been in place since 2005 when Drew retired after earning his fifty seventh feature win. Myers win now gives him fifty eight and the record in one of the speedway's most competitive classes.
Adams was going for a double dip of feature wins as he also started on the pole for the Midwest Modified main event. And he did lead the majority of the contest with first Mike Schnider and then Nick Koehler providing the challenge to him. Schnider moved into second quickly and followed Adams in the early going with Travis Anderson and Koehler trailing.
Koehler continued his charge as he took over second by lap eight and then closed on the leader. A couple of yellow flags near the halfway point of the race kept the field bunched and allowed Koehler to put the pressure on Adams for the lead.
The halfway point saw yet another yellow wave but as the field went back to green flag racing, Koehler got a great run off the second turn, closed up on Adams down the back chute and slid up under him in turn three to take over the lead.
The final few laps saw the race remain under green flag conditions and Koehler was able to maintain his slight lead over Adams which he carried to the checkered flag. Schnider had a strong run for third with Dave Baxter and Jake Stai completing the top five.
With his win, Koehler maintained his position as the top feature race winner of the season at the track as Saturday night's victory was his seventh of the year at the speedway.
Nick Traynor has not raced weekly at the speedway this year, but when he has been at the track the results have often been positive for him. That was the case again on Saturday as he came from the second row to pass Cole Richards just past the halfway point of the Street Stock feature to get the win.
Richards was the early leader of the race with Traynor and team mate Travis Loew moving into the challenging position while Shawn Amundson and Parker Anderson were also moving up through the pack.
Just at the halfway point of the race, Adam Soltis rolled to a halt with a significant mechanical issue that slowed the race. Traynor was now in position just behind and to the outside of Richards for the restart and one lap later, he passed Richards with a bold outside move that saw him squeeze between Richards and the outside wall to take over the lead. Just seconds later, Richards lost power and slowed dramatically and the yellow flew once again.
Traynor then took off and pulled away from the pack while Anderson was making significant progress, getting past both Amundson and Loew to move into second and he began to close on Traynor.
However, Traynor had a solid lead and despite Parker getting within a couple car lengths, Traynor maintained his advantage and drove on for the win which was his sixth of the year at the track. Anderson finished a close second and was trailed by Amundson, Loew and track point champion Danny Richards.
A surprise upset ended the evening's action when rookie Pure Stock driver Mark Barta picked a very good night to earn his first ever victory at Rice Lake when he drove around Bob Wahlstrom and then held off a pack of fast cars to get his memorable win.
Wahlstrom led the opening lap but Barta was fast from the start and just one lap later, he was able to pass Wahlstrom for the lead. Wahlstrom tried to fight back and regain the top spot but he lost control in turn four, did a wild slide across the track with everyone fortunately able to avoid him. However, Wahlstrom's car suffered a flat tire in during the incident and he called it a night.
Barta then had Austin Fencl and Jake Smith close behind him for the restart but he took off strong and maintained his advantage. By the halfway point of the race, Eric Crosby was up to fourth with Trevor Phillips next in line.
The final twelve laps went green to checkers with the top five maintaining about the same distance between each other. Fencl drove hard into the corners along with Smith, trying to narrow up the lead but Barta continued to run strong and they weren't able to cut into his advantage. Barta, a veteran of kart and ice racing but a rookie to the dirt tracks, continued to maintain a smooth line and the challengers had nothing for him as he crossed the line a winner for the first time.
Fencl ended up second and was trailed across the line by Smith, Crosby and Rob Grabon. The track point champion had a tough heat race but Grabon then drove up from fifteenth to crack the top five in the feature race. The Pure Stocks proved to be the most balanced division at the track in 2025 with eight different winners during the season.
The 2025 regular season at the Rice Lake Speedway in now complete. Only one weekend of racing remains for the track, but it will be a big one. The second annual Dairyland Dash will be held at the speedway this coming Saturday and Sunday, August 30th and 31st . All five WISSOTA sanctioned classes will be in action both days with a full program of heats and features each night. The Modifieds will be racing for a top prize of two thousand dollars to win each night with the Super Stocks racing for fifteen hundred dollars, the Midwest Modifieds and Street Stocks a thousand dollars and the Pure Stocks for four hundred dollars.
Also on the program will be the USRA Late Models, making their fourth appearance at the track this year. They will also be racing both nights with full programs and the winner each night will go home with twelve hundred dollars. A number of generous sponsors have joined the event, both in sponsoring the program and also individual classes next weekend.
Race time is 6 pm on Saturday night and one hour earlier on Sunday night. Breakfast will be served at the track on Sunday morning and a number of other activities are scheduled for the fans to join in on.
For more details and further updates as the week progresses, follow the speedway website at www.ricelakespeedway.net and the speedway face book page.
Results
13 entries
WISSOTA Modifieds
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 2. 57-Mike Anderson[3]; 3. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[2]; 4. 22-Brandon Copp[6]; 5. 30-Matt Leer[7]; 6. 18S-Kennedy Swan[4]; 7. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[9]; 8. 20-Austin Ellis[10]; 9. 204-David Mayala[13]; 10. (DNF) 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[12]; 11. (DNF) 13H-Mark Hessler[11]; 12. (DNF) 32III-Cody Carlson[8]; 13. (DNF) 27H-Steve Hallquist[5]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Matt Leer[6]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[2]; 3. 32III-Cody Carlson[3]; 4. 9MM-Aiden Hoffman[5]; 5. 38-Simon Wahlstrom[7]; 6. 13H-Mark Hessler[1]; 7. 204-David Mayala[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Mike Anderson[5]; 2. 22-Brandon Copp[1]; 3. 27H-Steve Hallquist[2]; 4. 18S-Kennedy Swan[6]; 5. 20-Austin Ellis[3]; 6. 5-Joe Chaplin Jr[4]
20 entries
WISSOTA Super Stock
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1M-Curt Myers[2]; 2. 21M-Alex Myers[1]; 3. 7R-Tommy Richards[7]; 4. 21C-Patrick Beeksma[8]; 5. 14X-Leslie Leu[10]; 6. 20*-Andrew Davis[3]; 7. 5-Jason Havel[16]; 8. 62-Dalton Truchon[6]; 9. 1-Ryan Olson[13]; 10. 14L-Dylan Leu[5]; 11. 245-James Cimfl[17]; 12. 57-Randy Graham[14]; 13. 01-Michael Anderson[12]; 14. 28-Josh Cappo[18]; 15. (DNF) 22T-Terran Spacek[4]; 16. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[20]; 17. (DNF) Y22-Codii Young[19]; 18. (DNF) XJR-Austin Harris[11]; 19. (DNF) 00-Joseph Swearingen[9]; 20. (DNS) 8-Jim Harris
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21C-Patrick Beeksma[2]; 2. 20*-Andrew Davis[1]; 3. 22T-Terran Spacek[3]; 4. 14X-Leslie Leu[5]; 5. 1-Ryan Olson[4]; 6. 5-Jason Havel[7]; 7. 28-Josh Cappo[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21M-Alex Myers[2]; 2. 14L-Dylan Leu[4]; 3. 7R-Tommy Richards[6]; 4. XJR-Austin Harris[5]; 5. 57-Randy Graham[1]; 6. 245-James Cimfl[3]; 7. Y22-Codii Young[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Curt Myers[4]; 2. 62-Dalton Truchon[6]; 3. 00-Joseph Swearingen[2]; 4. 01-Michael Anderson[3]; 5. 8-Jim Harris[5]; 6. (DNF) 17G-Chris Gross[1]
20 entries
WISSOTA Midwest Mods
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[5]; 2. 40D-Blake Adams[1]; 3. 7-Mike Schnider[3]; 4. 35B-David Baxter[8]; 5. 1-Jake Stai[4]; 6. 37-Travis Anderson[2]; 7. 21-Jimmy Latvala[10]; 8. 31J-Mike Jacques[7]; 9. 23KR-Les Duellman[19]; 10. 01C-CJ Hedges Jr[12]; 11. 88-Jacob Toepper[16]; 12. 10Z-Cade Johnson[6]; 13. 24-Liz Toepper[15]; 14. 88K-Donavan Knutson[18]; 15. 5-Rory Taber[17]; 16. (DNF) 00-Joseph Swearingen[13]; 17. (DNF) 79-Bryan Lund[14]; 18. (DNF) 31-Jason Vokovan[9]; 19. (DNF) 19H-Kevin Herrman[11]; 20. (DNF) 410-Jesse Young[20]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Nick Koehler[3]; 2. 10Z-Cade Johnson[1]; 3. 31J-Mike Jacques[5]; 4. 21-Jimmy Latvala[7]; 5. 00-Joseph Swearingen[4]; 6. 88-Jacob Toepper[6]; 7. 88K-Donavan Knutson[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40D-Blake Adams[3]; 2. 7-Mike Schnider[4]; 3. 35B-David Baxter[7]; 4. 19H-Kevin Herrman[1]; 5. 79-Bryan Lund[2]; 6. (DNF) 23KR-Les Duellman[5]; 7. (DNF) 410-Jesse Young[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Jake Stai[2]; 2. 37-Travis Anderson[6]; 3. 31-Jason Vokovan[5]; 4. 01C-CJ Hedges Jr[4]; 5. 24-Liz Toepper[3]; 6. 5-Rory Taber[1]
15 entries
WISSOTA Street Stock
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 40T-Nick Traynor[4]; 2. 27-Parker Anderson[8]; 3. 19H-Shawn Amundson[7]; 4. 40-Travis Loew[3]; 5. 3R-Danny Richards[10]; 6. 20F-Connor Franson[2]; 7. 12K-Jay Kesan[12]; 8. 86-Layla Chaplin[13]; 9. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[9]; 10. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[5]; 11. 19C-Nolan Brown[11]; 12. (DNF) 1R-Cole Richards[1]; 13. (DNF) 9-Adam Soltis[6]; 14. (DNF) 19J-Jenna Herrman[15]; 15. (DNS) 60-Mike Pratt
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40T-Nick Traynor[4]; 2. 40-Travis Loew[5]; 3. 20F-Connor Franson[3]; 4. 81-Charlie Pitcavage[6]; 5. 00Z-Bryar Zimmerman[8]; 6. 19C-Nolan Brown[7]; 7. 86-Layla Chaplin[2]; 8. (DNF) 60-Mike Pratt[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19H-Shawn Amundson[3]; 2. 1R-Cole Richards[5]; 3. 9-Adam Soltis[1]; 4. 27-Parker Anderson[2]; 5. 3R-Danny Richards[4]; 6. 12K-Jay Kesan[6]; 7. (DNS) 19J-Jenna Herrman
16 entries
WISSOTA Pure Stock
Lakes Gas A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 78-Mark Barta[2]; 2. 52W-Austin Fencl[4]; 3. 86J-Jake Smith[6]; 4. 28-Eric Crosby[5]; 5. 16-Rob Grabon[16]; 6. 55-Caleb Duffie[9]; 7. 89-Steve Karshbaum[10]; 8. 7D-Trevor Phillips[3]; 9. 1-Carsyn Olson[12]; 10. 24-Dylan Helget[7]; 11. 12-Aaron Holmberg[8]; 12. 47-Anthony Schultz[14]; 13. 925-Dnae Rose[13]; 14. 9M-Marlene Lannet[11]; 15. (DNF) 88-Robert Wahlstrom[1]; 16. (DNS) 70-Bob Thompson
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Eric Crosby[4]; 2. 78-Mark Barta[1]; 3. 52W-Austin Fencl[6]; 4. 7D-Trevor Phillips[8]; 5. 55-Caleb Duffie[2]; 6. 9M-Marlene Lannet[5]; 7. 925-Dnae Rose[3]; 8. 47-Anthony Schultz[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 86J-Jake Smith[2]; 2. 88-Robert Wahlstrom[5]; 3. 24-Dylan Helget[3]; 4. 12-Aaron Holmberg[4]; 5. 89-Steve Karshbaum[6]; 6. 1-Carsyn Olson[1]; 7. (DNF) 70-Bob Thompson[8]; 8. (DNF) 16-Rob Grabon[7]
Article Credit: Ed Reichert