Hanson New Winner In Red Cedar Speedway Finale

by Ed Reichert
Mark Hanson in the Modifieds and Brent Voeltz in the Hornets became first time winners at the Red Cedar Speedway on the final night of the regular season at the Dunn County oval. Other winners on a cool and breezy Friday night included Ashley Anderson, Shane Kisling and Matt Leer.

Wayne Stricker and Dave Baxter paced the field for the Modified feature race with Baxter edging into the early lead. However, Hanson quickly moved up from his second row starting spot to challenge Baxter, and following an early yellow flag, Hanson swept past Baxter on the cushion to take over the lead. Brandon Jensen and Jesse Glenz also moved into contention but when Glenz was turned around in turn three, the yellow flew again.

Hanson continued to show the way as he powered around the high side of the track and he gradually pulled away from the field. Craig Thatcher was also working his way forward after starting in the fourth row and he closed in to challenge Jensen. Brent Prochnow was also flying to the front after starting deep in the field. While the battle for second and third continued, Hanson was long gone as he had nearly a straightaway on the field at Rick Cook’s checkered flag. Jensen fought off all challenges to hold on to the second spot ahead of Thatcher with Prochnow and Mike Anderson completing the top five.

Voeltz stopped the five race winning streak of Eric Schultz in the Hornets, driving past Brenden Uetz on the first lap and then leading the rest of the race. Uetz held on for second at the finish with Jay Welk, Dave Clausen and Tracy Hallquist completing the top five.

Action got hot and heavy in the Late Model feature race, with a midrace collision eliminated the top two runners and opening the door for Anderson to take his second Red Cedar win of the year. Scott Duval and Kerry Hanson battled in the early going for the front spot in the main event, with Duval eventually using the high side to edge past Hanson. Once in front, Scott opened up some distance on the field as a good battle raged for position behind him. Jake Redetzke picked up the pace from the second row, and moved into the runner up slot. He then began to gradually reel in the leader, as Anderson, Jake Hartung and Scott Gilberts also battled for position.

Redetzke caught Duval for the lead near the halfway point of the event, and Jake made several attempts to pass Scott, only to be turned back. Finally, Jake was able to get to the inside of Duval and dive into the lead, only to slide up the track in turn four. Duval dove to the inside of Redetzke down the front chute in and attempt to reclaim the top spot, and as they attempted to set their cars for turn one, they came together with Redetzke spinning backward up the track and slamming into the turn one wall. Redetzke was done with front end damage, and Duval, judged to be at fault was sent to the back of the back but he opted to pull into the pits instead.

This gave Hanson the lead on the restart but Anderson used the top side to blow past Kerry and take over the lead. Once in front, Ashley pulled away in the final laps to record the win. The battle for second remained spirited with Hartung edging Chad Mahder, Mike Prochnow and Gilberts.

Kisling won his second Red Cedar feature of the season in a hard fought battle with Jesse Redetzke and Ben Hillman. Redetzke started on the pole and battled with Luke Plank before he was able to claim the top spot. Kisling started right behind Redetzke and after passing Plank, he moved to the high side to challenge Redetzke for the lead. They raced side by side for a couple of laps before Kisling was finally able to edge past and take over the lead. Hillman was also heading to the front after starting in the third row, and he took over the third spot and moved into to challenge Redetzke. Kisling had opened up some distance on the field, but as the laps started to wind down, the second and third place cars started to close on him. Hillman made an attempt to get under Redetzke for second but was repelled. The pack was within a car length or two by the final lap, and when Kisling jumped the cushion on the final corner, it made for an exciting scramble to the line, but Shane prevailed over Jesse and Ben to take the win with Plank and Steve Thomas completing the top five.

The nonstop Midwest Modified feature saw Leer come from the fourth row to take his fifth Red Cedar win of the year, tying him with Kevin Adams and Jason Havel as the biggest winners at the track in 2011. Clark Swartz made a great move on the opening lap as he moved from the second row to take the lead before a lap could be completed. Justin Supri, Grant Southworth and the Smith brothers were all battling furiously for position but both Leer and Shane Halopka were able to navigate through the traffic and move into the second and third places eventually. When Swartz left the bottom side open, Leer was able to drive under him and take over the lead.

Halopka was really moving up also, as he took second and began to challenge Leer for the lead. However, when the top runners got into traffic, Leer was able to take advantage and open up some distance over the pack. Halopka cut the lead down again, but Matt had enough cushion to drive home for the win. Swartz held on for a strong third, with Supri and Jake Smith next in line.

Havel started on the pole of a short field of Pure Stocks and quickly established a comfortable margin on the pack. Jeremy Dahl drove as hard as he could, but he wasn’t able to close the distance as Havel went nonstop for the win. Chris Wert raced home third with Jason Supri and Jason Stevens chasing.

On a season when the speedway suffered through six rainouts, the track will now be silent until September 23-24 when the grand finale will be the annual Punky Manor Challenge of Champions race. Under a new format initiated this year and only announced this week, classes have been added to this year’s show and the order of events has been changed. For the first time ever, the Late Models will run two full shows at the Punky, having qualifying heats and feature races on both Friday and Saturday night. The Midwest Modifieds, Super Stocks and Modifieds will run their qualifying events on Friday and the B features and feature races will be contested on Saturday night. Also, the WISSOTA sanctioned Street Stocks will run a full race program on Friday night and the Pure Stocks will run a full program on Saturday night. Race time will be 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. More details about the purse structure and admission prices will be announced shortly. Check the speedway website at www.redcedarracing.com for that information.

SUMMARY

Red Cedar Speedway
Menomonie WI
August 19, 2011

WISSOTA Late Models

20 lap Feature – Ashley Anderson(Elk Mound), Jake Hartung(Elmwood), Chad Mahder(Eau Claire), Mike Prochnow(Menomonie), Scott Gilberts(Menomonie), Steve Isenberg(Marshfield), Kerry Hanson(Baldwin), Rick Hanestad(Boyceville), Greg Nippoldt(Roberts), Chris Oertel(Marshfield), Justin Ochsner, Jake Redetzke, Scott Duval, Cory Mahder
8 lap Heat 1 – Redetzke(Eau Claire), Duval(Bloomer), Ch. Mahder, Anderson, Hanestad, Isenberg, Nippoldt
Heat 2 – Hanson, Gilberts, Hartung, Prochnow, Co. Mahder(Elk Mound), Oertel, Ochsner

WISSOTA Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Mark Hanson(Chippewa Falls), Brandon Jensen(Hammond), Craig Thatcher(Knapp), Brent Prochnow(Colfax), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Dave Baxter(Eau Claire), Ross Prochnow(Boyceville), Wayne Stricker(Highbridge), Jesse Glenz(Cadott), Robby Bunkelman(Abbotsford), Mark Hessler, Mark Gerth, Cory Williams, Bryan Nayes, Bryan Hessler, Don Brightbill, Robbie Johnson, Jay Richardson
8 lap Heat 1 – Williams(Spring Valley), Baxter, Stricker, Nayes(Chippewa Falls), R. Prochnow, Brightbill, Johnson
Heat 2 – Thatcher, Jensen, M. Hessler(Menomonie), B. Prochnow, Richardson(Spring Valley), B. Hessler
Heat 3 – Glenz, Anderson, Hanson, Gerth(Menomonie), Bunkelman, Steve Hallquist

WISSOTA Super Stocks

15 lap Feature – Shane Kisling(Sarona), Jesse Redetkze(Eau Claire), Ben Hillman(Menomonie), Luke Plank(Eau Claire), Steve Thomas(Menomonie), Tom Karis(Menomonie), Mike Keller(Menomonie), Jeff Brauer(Rochester MN), Brad Edington(Elk Mound), Rick Hallquist(Eau Claire), Jason Forehand, Bart Steffen, Jim Harris, Bernie Christiansen, Tony Falkner, Brad Johnson
8 lap Heat 1 – Kisling, Forehand(Eau Claire), Keller, Redetzke, Christiansen(Menomonie), Edington, Falkner, Harris
Heat 2 – Hillman, Plank, Karis, Thomas, Brauer, Steffen, Hallquist, Johnson

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15 lap Feature – Matt Leer(Bruce), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Clark Swartz(Bloomer), Justin Supri(Eau Claire), Jake Smith(Eau Claire), Grant Southworth(Bloomer), Josh Smith(Rice Lake), Kerry Halopka(Wheeler), Jake Smeltzer(Menomonie), Kevin Smeltzer(Menomonie), Scottie Schoettle, Mitch Anderson, Ben Schultz, Travis Anderson
8 lap Heat 1 – S. Halopka, Leer, Jo. Smith, Southworth, T. Anderson, K. Halopka, Schoettle, Schultz
Heat 2 – Ja. Smith, J. Smeltzer, Swartz, Supri, K. Smeltzer, M. Anderson

Pure Stocks

10 lap Feature – Jason Havel(Rice Lake), Jeremy Dahl(Knapp), Chris Wert(Roberts), Jason Supri(Chippewa Falls). Jason Stevens(Menomonie), Taylor Hoffman(Ridgeland)
6 lap Heat – Dahl, Havel, Wert, Supri, Hoffman, Stevens, Gunnar Zurek

Hornet

6 lap Feature – Brent Voeltz(Glenwood City), Brendan Uetz(Menomonie), Jay Welk(Cadott), Dave Clausen(Mondovi), Tracy Hallquist(Chippewa Falls), Nate Richards(Eau Claire)