Track Champions Crowned at Red Cedar Speedway

by Ed Reichert
The rains that caused a lot of tracks to cancel Friday night missed the Menomonie area, and it was a pleasant night to crown Season Champions in all five divisions that routinely race at the speedway. The proud winners who can call themselves Red Cedar Speedway 2011 Season Champions include Chad Mahder, Mark Gerth, Tom Karis, Matt Leer and Gunnar Watkins. Mahder, Gerth and Leer were also point champions at the track while the other two victors were upset winners.

For Mahder, despite being the point champion, it was his first win at the track in 2011 but he made it definitive as he dominated the Late Model main event from start to finish. He sat on the pole and jumped into an immediate lead over Ashley Anderson in what turned out to be a nonstop twenty lap contest. Anderson tried to stay with Mahder but he slipped up the track and Mike Prochnow was right there to take advantage and move into second. Prochnow tried to stay with Mahder, but Chad had his car hooked up Friday, and he drove away from the field, eventually stretching his lead to nearly a straightaway. The best race was for the fourth spot where John Kaanta dogged Jake Hartung lap after lap before finally ducking under Jake on the last corner of the race to take the position. Prochnow settled for a strong second place finish with Anderson third as Mahder’s decision to pull his old car out and run that proved to be a wise one. The Late Model division has proved to be the most competitive in 2011 with Mahder becoming the seventh different feature winner in the division at the speedway.

Gerth held the pole for the Modified main event in what turned out to be another nonstop feature race. While Gerth held the pole, and jumped into the initial lead, Kevin Adams used the high side to race past Gerth and lead the first couple of laps. Gerth remained solid in the low groove however, and as the outside groove gradually went away, Gerth steadily moved back beside Adams and gradually drove under him for the lead. Adams tried his best to stay with Gerth, but the low groove was the place to be and with Gerth a master of the low side, he gradually extended his advantage over Adams. As the leaders fought for position, Mike Anderson and Ross Prochnow also ran side by side as they fought for the third spot. They jockeyed for the position back and forth with them trading the advantage for most of the race.

Gerth continued to stretch his lead as he built it up to half a straightaway with his only worries coming when he got into lapped traffic and he had to change his line. Adams was able to close the gap then, but Mark was able to get past the back markers and once in open traffic, he again stretched his margin as he drove on for his second Red Cedar win of 2011. Adams settled for third with Prochnow moving ahead of Anderson in the late going for third. Brandon Jensen completed the top five.

The third point champion to also claim a feature win Friday was Leer and he had to withstand the race long challenges of Shane Halopka to claim the title. Leer started on the pole but had Cory Crapser immediately challenging for the lead. However, Crapser tried the high side and that didn’t work for him, as he gave the second spot up to Halopka before he could get back in line. The one driver seemingly able to make the top side work was Clark Swartz who came up to challenge Halopka for that spot.

The Midwest Modified feature was plagued by five yellow flags, four of which came in the second half of the event and kept the field tightly bunched and the drivers anxious. On each restart, Leer would continue to protect the bottom lane with Halopka trying to get a nose under Matt and sneak into the lead. With all the yellows in the late going, Halopka continued to press for the lead but Leer was able to repel his advances. On the last sprint to the finish , Shane gave it his best effort and nearly got under Leer, but Matt once again fought him off as he drove home for his fourth win of the year at Red Cedar. Crapser was able to fight his way back up to third at the finish while Mark Thomas gradually worked his way up after starting eleventh on the grid to get past Swartz in the late going for fourth.

While most of the racers found the low groove to be the best way around the track Friday, the Super Stocks somehow managed to make the high groove the best route. At least Tom Karis was able to do that and the result was a track title for the Menomonie veteran.

Ben Hillman was scheduled to start on the pole, but the point champion hurt his motor while winning a heat race and he had to scratch out of the main. This moved Steve Thomas up to the pole and he took the early lead. However, Karis , who started outside row one moved to the cushion and he was able to keep his car straight and tight up agains the wall and gain the momentum he needed to drive past the sliding Thomas and take over the lead. Thomas tried hard to fight back, but when he started to slide out of his groove, Karis was able to edge away from him.

The second half of the race got bogged down, and also had the biggest crash of the night by far. Following a slowdown for debris on the track, the restart saw a tightly packed field thunder into turn one. At a most unfortunate time, Shane Kisling was reported to have broken a brake rotor, and he crashed at full speed into the car of Aaron Wilson, shoving Wilson into the first turn wall where his car climbed high in the air and then flipped. With no where to go, several other cars on the high side of the track plowed into the wreck, creating a massive pile up. While Luke Plank limped away from the scene with minor injuries, no other injuries were reported but the cars of Wilson, Kisling, Jesse Redetzke, Plank, Brad Johnson and Brad Edington were all eliminated.

The three lap sprint to the finish saw Thomas continue to press Karis for the lead while Jason Forehand, who started sixteenth on the grid, slipped past Mike Keller to take third and was on the charge.

Thomas gave it his best effort to try and get under Karis at the end, but Tom continued to work the high side and he drove on for his second win of the year at Red Cedar. Thomas’s all out effort on the final corner left the low side open and Forehand ducked under him to steal second at the line, with Keller and Bart Steffen completing the top five.

Watkins finished eighth in track points in the Pure Stock class and started in the third row of the Pure Stock championship run, a race that was ultimately decided in the tech area following the contest. Jason Havel sat on the pole but in a great move on the opening lap, Bill Skoug , who started in the second row, moved to the high side and drove around Jeremy Dahl, Chaz Ducommun and Havel as the leaders went four wide to take the top spot.

Havel fought back and led briefly , but Skoug continued to drive up the track and was able to again move past Havel who slid out in the turns. Havel continued to press for the lead, and when he again slid up the track, Watkins was right there to take over the second spot. From this point, Watkins tried to track down the leader, but Skoug had his car in the groove and drove away from the pack for the apparent win.

However, in the tech inspection following the event, Skoug’s car was disqualified for unauthorized springs and shocks on the car, handing the track championship and his second win of the year at Red Cedar to Watkins. Havel settled for second with Ducommun, Dahl and Brandon Lofgren completing the top five.

The speedway will conclude the 2011 regular season next weekend. On Friday, August 19th, a regular program with racing in all five classes will be held with the lineups based on point average. Then, on Saturday, August 20th, the second enduro of the season will be held at the track. The racing season will conclude on Friday and Saturday, September 23-24 with the annual Punky Manor Challenge of Champions race sponsored by Budweiser and Tim’s Automotive Machine. The exact format and competing classes for that weekend have yet to be determined with an announcement expected within a week.

SUMMARY

Red Cedar Speedway
Menomonie WI
August 12, 2011

WISSOTA Late Models

20 lap Feature – Chad Mahder(Eau Claire), Mike Prochnow(Menomonie), Ashley Anderson(Elk Mound), John Kaanta(Elk Mound), Jake Hartung(Elmwood), Scott Gilberts(Menomonie), Rick Hanestad(Boyceville), Jake Redetzke(Eau Claire), Cory Mahder(Elk Mound), Greg Nippoldt(Roberts), Chris Oertel, Kerry Hanson, Todd Frank
8 lap Heat 1 – Ch. Mahder, Prochnow, Hartung, Hanestad, Hanson(Baldwin), Redetzke, Frank
Heat 2 – Anderson, Gilberts, Kaanta, Co. Mahder, Nippoldt, Oertel

WISSOTA Modifieds

20 lap Feature – Mark Gerth(Menomonie), Kevin Adams(Cameron), Ross Prochnow(Boyceville), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Brandon Jensen(Hammond), Dave Baxter(Eau Claire), Cory Williams(Spring Valley), Brent Prochnow(Colfax), Jesse Glenz(Cadott), Mark Hessler(Menomonie), Jay Richardson, Wayne Stricker, Mark Hanson, Paul Niznik, Don Brightbill, Bryan Hessler, Robbie Johnson, Steve Hallquist
8 lap Heat 1 – Gerth, R. Prochnow, Jensen, Hallquist(Eau Claire), Niznik(Medford), Brightbill, Rich Anderson
Heat 2 – Adams, Glenz, B. Prochnow, Baxter, Hanson(Chippewa Falls), Johnson
Heat 3- Anderson, Williams, M. Hessler, Richardson(Spring Valley), B. Hessler(Chetek), Stricker

WISSOTA Super Stocks

15 lap Feature – Tom Karis(Menomonie), Jason Forehand(Eau Claire), Steve Thomas(Menomonie), Mike Keller(Menomonie), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Rick Hallquist(Eau Claire), Ben Hanke(Hudson), Tony Falkner(Menomonie), Wayne Bignell(Menomonie), Jesse Redetzke(Eau Claire), Aaron Wilson, Luke Plank, Brad Johnson, Brad Edington, Shane Kisling, Cory Davis, Tommy Richards
8 lap Heat 1 – Ben Hillman(Menomonie), Karis, Kisling(Sarona), Plank(Eau Claire), Redetzke, Davis, Hanke, Bignell, Forehand
Heat 2 – Thomas, Wilson(Menomonie), Richards(Mondovi), Keller, Hallquist, Steffen, Johnson, Edington, Falkner

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Matt Leer(Bruce), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Cory Crapser(Chippewa Falls), Mark Thomas(Menomonie), Clark Swartz(Bloomer), Jake Smith(Eau Claire), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Kerry Halopka(Wheeler), Kevin Smeltzer(Menomonie), Grant Southworth(Bloomer), Jake Smeltzer, Scott Guthrie, Dan Svea, Brad Spence, Zach Manley, Ryan Johnson, Shawn Carlson, Nick Koehler, Justin Supri, Scottie Schoettle, Mitch Anderson
8 lap Heat 1 – Leer, Manley(Cameron), Koehler(Bloomer), Southworth, K. Halopka, Guthrie, Spence
Heat 2 – Crapser, Swartz, Smith, Thomas, Supri(Eau Claire), Carlson, Schoettle
Heat 3 – S. Halopka, T. Anderson, K. Smeltzer, J. Smelter(Menomonie), Svea(Colfax), Johnson, M. Anderson

Pure Stocks

10 lap Feature – Gunnar Watkins(Elk Mound), Jason Havel(Rice Lake), Chaz Ducommun(Chetek), Jeremy Dahl(Knapp), Brandon Lofgren(Taylor), Kory Hathaway(Elmwood), Chris Wert(Roberts), Jason Supri(Chippewa Falls), Randy Burton(Menomonie), Jesse Bryan(Menomonie), Dustin Doughty, Ron Hoffman, Gunnar Zurek
6 lap Heat 1 – Havel, Dahl, Watkins, Hathaway, Supri, Lofgren, Wert, Hoffman
Heat 2 – Ducommun, Bill Skoug(Osseo), Doughty(Ladysmith), Burton, Bryan, Zurek, Jason Stevens