Davis Leads Assault of Two Time Winners at Rice Lake Speedway

By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, August 1 – Second time feature winners seemed to dominate the landscape Saturday night at the Rice Lake Speedway as Cory Davis, Jared Loos and Dusty Brown all visited victory lane for the second time during the 2009 racing campaign. Kevin Adams added to his win totals in the Modified class while Ron Hanestad won his first Street Stock feature of the season at the Rice Lake oval.

Davis has been red hot on area ovals recently and he backed up a win Friday night in Menomonie with another dominating win tonight. Tad Schoonover and Donnie Lofdahl shared the front row but it was Davis who quickly moved up to engage in a battle with Lofdahl for the lead. They raced side by side around the Rice Lake third mile for two laps before Davis was able to edge into the lead.

What started out as a closely contested contest deteriorated into a crash filled, yellow flag plagued event however. Davis was one of the few that managed to avoid the carnage as he made sure he was the leader while the action continued to fester behind him. A six car pileup in turn two slowed the action with three more yellows also needed before the event could be scored complete. Shane Kisling worked his way up to second but no one was able to close on Davis. Scott Zitelman made a charge during the second half of the race and was able to get by Kisling following the last yellow with five laps to go and while he cut the advantage Davis held, Cory still drove home easily for the win. A last lap tangle found Kisling coming up short of the finish line, with Jason Forehand getting the third spot over Scott Lawrence and Eric Olson.

Loos used a great restart following a yellow flag slowdown early in the contest to move from fourth into the lead and once in front, he held off all challenges for the win. Brad Hudson got the early jump and led the first few laps until he was challenged by Matt Leer and Shane Halopka. When a spin brought out the yellow and bunched up the field, it was Loos who found the opening on the restart to dive low when the top three runners pushed up the track. The stunned Loos took full advantage of the opening and once in the lead, extended his margin as the rest of the pack played catch up.

Leer banged the wall one lap later and while he was able to continue, right side damage eventually caught up with him as he started to slow and lost several spots. Halopka was eventually able to move into second but he wasn’t able to cut into Loos’ lead and had to settle for second. Ronnie Rihn was the hard charger of the event as he started thirteenth on the grid and raced into third near the end of the event, leading Ryan Viltz and Leer home to complete the top five.
The Pure Stock feature was a Brown family battle for most of the contest as Dusty took the lead right from the start and had to fight off Uncle Darwin as the twin Thunderbirds fought it out lap after lap. Eventually George Richards was able to race his way past Randy Connor and he then joined the fight in the late going.
With about three laps to go, Darwin was putting extreme pressure on Dusty when they got together in turn two. However both were able to straighten out their cars and the race continued. Dusty maintained the lead and was able to drive home for the win. Richards made a last lap charge to nip Darwin by inches for second with Joel Hinrichs and Connor also in the top five.

The Street Stock feature was probably the best main event of the night but unfortunately, it was ultimately decided at the tech building and not on the race track. Ron Hanestad had the pole position and he took the early lead over Sam Fankhauser. Hanestad was soon challenged by Danny Richards however, and the Mondovi native looked hard to the inside of Hanestad. Scott Clark was also on a tear and it soon became a three car battle for the lead. Richards was able to get under Hanestad in turn one and he took over the top spot but Hanestad refused to fold, and he was right back challenging Richards for the lead. Clark had somehow flattened a left front tire, but it wasn’t slowing him at all as he kept right with the leaders.

Richards slid out a little as they came for the white flag and the top three raced side by side down the back chute. Going into turn three, Richards slid to the top groove so Hanestad dropped under him while Clark went to the very low side of the track. They raced three wide to the finish with Richards winning by half a car length while Hanestad edged Clark for second by mere inches.

Unfortunately, in post race inspection Richards was found to have a carburetor issue and he was disqualified from the win which gave Hanestad the victory, his first at Rice Lake since the 2004 racing season. Clark was awarded second and was trailed by rookie Adam Delfosse, Fankhauser and Jay Kesan.
Adams won his fifth Modified main event of the season but he was hard pressed to hold off Scott Duval for the win. Dave Mayala took the early lead but Keith Tourville ducked under Mayala early to take over the lead. Tourville continued to maintain the lead as Adams worked his way up after starting ninth on the grid. Finally moving into second, Adams made a move under Tourville and took over the lead.

Tourville tried to stay with Adams, but Keith’s car, which had been making nasty noises from the driveline during yellow flag situations, started to slow and he ended up pulling into the infield. Duval now found himself in second and after a lap twelve yellow for debris on the track, he picked up the pace and began to challenge Adams for the lead. Looking both high and low, he found Adams to have developed a wide car as he tried to squeeze past. Scott got beside Kevin with four laps to go but Adams fought back and regained the lead. On the final circuit, Duval tried on the low side but he came up a haft car length short as Adams drove on for the win. Mayala had a strong third place showing with Luke Schilling edging out Scott Miller for fourth on the final go round.

Next Saturday night racing action continues with all five classes in action with the first green flag dropping at 7 p.m. There are only two more point nights before the Season Championships are contested on August 22nd .

SUMMARY

Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake WI
August 1, 2009

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Kevin Adams, Cameron; Scott Duval, Bloomer; Dave Mayala, Barron; Luke Schilling, Granton; Scott Miller, Rice Lake; Jerry Weigel, Jim Falls; Buddy Mayala, Barron; Larry Prochnow, Menomonie; Pat Hoffman, Rice Lake; Tim Van Meter, Luck; Mike Anderson, Dallas; Aric Lindberg, Dallas; Keith Tourville, Star Prairie; Paul Niznik, Medford; Tim Shackleton, Dallas; Bruce Tourville, Star Prairie; Steve Hallquist, Eau Claire; Brent Prochnow, Colfax; Ken Kinkaid, Trego.
10 lap Heat 1 – Adams; B. Prochnow; K. Tourville; Schilling; Hoffman; Kinkaid; Lindberg.
Heat 2 – Duval; D. Mayala; Miller; Hallquist; Anderson; B. Tourville.
Heat 3 – B. Mayala; L. Prochnow; Van Meter; Niznik; Shackleton; Weigel.

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20 lap Feature – Cory Davis, Turtle Lake; Scott Zitelman, Taylors Falls MN; Jason Forehand, Eau Claire; Scott Lawrence, Superior; Eric Olson, Ladysmith; Randy Spacek, Phillips; Art Hyde, Washburn; Marcel Hoaglan, Hudson; Andy Grymala, Superior; Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne; Jim Harstad, Amery; Jeff Heintz, Turtle Lake; Shane Kisling, Sarona; Willy Johnsen, Superior; Donnie Lofdahl, Proctor MN; Aaron Wilson, Menomonie; Wayne Harris Jr, Bloomer; Tad Schoonover, Eagle River; Cy Hoaglan, Ashland; Jim Harris, Menomonie; Paul Erikson, Abbotsford; Mike Siewert, Rice Lake.
10 lap Heat 1 – Wilson; Kisling; Lofdahl; Spacek; Olson; Johnsen; Harstad; Treviranus.
Heat 2 – Davis; J. Harris; Forehand; Hyde; M. Hoaglan; Heintz.
Heat 3 – Zitelman; Lawrence; Schoonover; C. Hoaglan; W. Harris; Grymala; Erikson.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Jared Loos, Loyal; Shane Halopka, Eau Claire; Ronnie Rihn, Bloomer; Ryan Viltz, Cameron; Matt Leer, Bruce; Mark Gerth, Menomonie; Tito Viltz, Cameron; Randy Smeltzer, Colfax; Terry Sirek, Rice Lake; Josh Amans, Rice Lake; Aric Lindberg, Dallas; Brad Hudson, Chippewa Falls; Reid Teigs, Dallas; Bryce Johnson, Barron; Scott Erickson, Barron.
10 lap Heat 1 – Erickson; R. Viltz; Johnson; T. Viltz; Teigs; Amans; Rihn; Lindberg.
Heat 2 – Hudson; Leer; Smeltzer; Halopka; Loos; Gerth; Sirek.

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15 lap Feature – Ron Hanestad, Glenwood City; Scott Clark, Cameron; Adam Delfosse, Cumberland; Sam Fankhauser, Rice Lake; Jay Kesan, Weyerhaeuser; Simon Wahlstrom, Cameron; James Vought, Hudson; Gary Jones, New Auburn.
10 lap Heat – Danny Richards; Fankhauser; Hanestad; Clark; Delfosse; Kesan; Vought; Wahlstrom; Jones.

Pure Stocks

12 lap Feature – Dusty Brown, Rice Lake; George Richards, Mondovi; Darwin Brown, Cumberland; Joel Hinrichs, Cameron; Randy Connor, Seeley; Doug Wojcik, Ladysmith; C.J. Wagner, Hayward; Kyle Hunter, Luck; Nick Wojcik, Ladysmith; Bob Thompson, Cameron; Zach Fisher, Rice Lake; Matt Larson, Rice Lake.
8 lap Heat 1 – Da. Brown; Du. Brown; N. Wojcik; Connor; Hunter; Larson.
Heat 2 – D Wojcik; Richards; Hinrichs; Wagner; Thompson; Fisher.