Menomonie Racers Dominate Red Cedar Speedway

 

By Ed Reichert

 

Menomonie WI, July 24 – It was a great night for the local racers as four of the five feature winners came right from the Menomonie area tonight with the fifth making a ten minute pull from the nearby town of Knapp. Mark Gerth, Steve Thomas, Mark Hessler and Scott Gilberts are all from the Menomonie area and all found victory lane tonight while Nick Field, who leads all feature winners here this season, comes from the nearby town of Knapp. For Thomas the win was especially satisfying as it was his first of the year here, while the other winners made a return to victory lane on Jam The Stands night at the track.

The Modified feature was perhaps the most thrilling with Hessler holding off the intense pressure of Craig Thatcher to take his second open wheel win of the year here. Hessler got the jump early but it was Robby Bunkelman who moved up from the second row to quickly challenge Hessler for the lead. Bunkelman made the low groove work as he drove under Hessler to take over the top spot, but Hessler refused to wilt and was soon joined by Thatcher and Ron Schreiner is a four car battle for the lead. Hessler got going again on the cushion and retook the lead but Thatcher was pushing hard on the bottom and pulled up beside Mark as they continued to battle. As the laps ran down, they remained side by side, with first Thatcher and then Hessler edging into the lead. Hessler had a car length advantage as they entered the final lap, but Craig drove up beside him as they raced out of the final corner. With the crowd on their feet, Hessler was able to edge out the former national champion by half a car length for the win. Bunkelman finished a solid third with Schreiner and Brent Prochnow trailing at the line.

The Late Model feature was nearly as close where Gilberts almost lost a race long lead following a late restart. Scott had started on the outside pole and quickly jumped into the top spot with Jake Hartung racing past Brent Larson to take over the second position. Ashley Anderson and Justin Ritchie were moving up from midpack also but up front, Gilberts had a solid lead.

Following a lap eight yellow when Duane Mahder stalled, Gilberts once again pulled away from the challenge of Hartung to maintain the lead as Anderson began to pressure Hartung for second. Once more the yellow flew for debris on the track and Gilberts had to again build up his slight advantage. However, with only a couple of laps left, Scott pushed up the track in turn two, and Hartung was right there to pull up beside Scott as the battle for the lead flamed up. They raced side by side for one lap before Gilberts was able to edge his nose into the lead. The last corner saw all three of the frontrunners hanging it out with Gilberts able to hold off the persistent rookie by one car length for his third win of the year here. Anderson was tucked right under Hartung for third while Jimmy Mars made a late push to get past Ritchie for fourth.

Thomas has been struggling so far this year but tonight he made have shook off the demons and he dominated the Super Stock field to take his initial win here in 2009. He started on the outside of row one and quickly pulled away from Ryan Olson and Aaron Wilson in the early going. As Thomas continued to open up his lead, the battle was at midpack as Tom Karis, Mike Keller and Cory Davis were all trying to free themselves and move to the front. Karis made a strong charge to get by Wilson and move into second and he set about trying to track down Thomas, Meanwhile, Keller and Davis were also having some success as they began to charge toward the front. However, with the race remaining under the green, Thomas continued to sail along unabated and he took the win relatively easily. Karis maintained his strong second with Keller, Davis and Wilson filling out the top five.

Gerth made quite a remarkable drive as he came from the eighth starting spot to make a late push that saw him claim his fifth Midwest Modified win of the year here and solidify his point lead. Randy Smeltzer also had a very strong run and he positioned himself to win his first feature of the year as he fought off some intense challenges from Jake Smith, Michael Truscott and Jesse Glenz early and then started to stretch his lead. With the race remaining under the green following a hard first lap crash between Tony Schill and Eric Herbison, Smeltzer was able to stretch his lead over the pack as the top ten cars fought hard for position.

Gerth really picked up the pace though, and when he made an adjustment and moved up the track he really started to pick off the competition. He powered past both Truscott and Smith to move into second and then quickly reeled in Smeltzer. Continuing his use of the second lane, he blew past the leader and stretched his advantage in the last couple of laps as he continued to gain on the rest of the pack to the finish. Smeltzer finished off a strong drive with runner up honors ahead of Smith, Truscott and Shane Halopka.

The Pure Stock feature had a wild aspect, with a big crash eliminating most of the leaders in a race that saw high attrition. Field started on the pole but it was Ashley Husby who powered into the early lead. Husby, Field and Luke Plank became locked in a big battle for the lead as Husby fought to hold off the competition. Field looked to the inside of Husby and things got wild in turn two with Husby sliding into the concrete wall and being collected by Plank who had no where to go. Husby’s car ended up lying on its side with Plank slamming into her hard. Both were eliminated from the race along with fourth running Chris Wert.

The restart saw Field pull away from the diminished field and drive on for an easy win. Austin Schultz, making his first run of the season, moved all the way up from tenth to finish second. Chad Tarvis crossed the line third but was docked two positions for jumping a restart which moved Willy Hughes and Eric Burton ahead of him in the final rundown.

Next Friday night, July 31^st , will be Baxter’s Speed Shop night at the track. The Northern Vintage Cars will be on hand for an exhibition run while the Late Models will take the night off. On August 7^th there will be no racing due to the Dunn Co. Fair.

 

SUMMARY

 

Red Cedar Speedway

Menomonie WI

July 24, 2009

 

WISSOTA Late Models

 

20 lap Feature – Scott Gilberts, Menomonie; Jake Hartung, Elmwood; Ashley Anderson, Elk Mound; Jimmy Mars, Menomonie; Justin Ritchie, New London; Brent Larson, Lake Elmo MN; Cory Mahder, Elk Mound; Chris Oertel, Marshfield;  Jesse Redetzke, Altoona; Mike Prochnow, Menomonie; Ronnie Rihn, Bloomer; Randy Gullixson, Baldwin; Duane Mahder, Eau Claire.

8 lap Heat 1 – Anderson; D. Mahder; Oertel; Larson; C. Mahder; Prochnow; Gullixson.

Heat 2 – Mars; Hartung; Ritchie; Gilberts; Redetzke; Rihn.

 

WISSOTA Modifieds

 

15 lap Feature – Mark Hessler, Menomonie; Craig Thatcher, Knapp; Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Ron Schreiner, Hudson; Brent Prochnow, Colfax; Scott Duval, Bloomer; Keith Tourville, Star Prairie; Jay Richardson, Spring Valley; Steve Lavasseur, River Falls; Rich Lofthus, Bloomer; Mike Anderson, Colfax; Mark Hanson, Chippewa Falls; John Hazelton, New Auburn; Bryan Hessler, Chetek; Don Brightbill, Hudson; Bruce Tourville, Star Prairie; Bryan Nayes, Chippewa Falls; Steve Hallquist, Eau Claire; Cory Williams, Spring Valley; Ken Kincaid, Spooner.

8 lap Heat 1 – Richardson; Schreiner; Prochnow; Nayes; Williams; Lavasseur; Hazelton.

Heat 2 – Thatcher; M. Hessler; B. Hessler; Anderson; Hallquist; Brightbill; Kinkaid.

Heat 3 – K. Tourville; Bunkelman; Duval; Hanson; Lofthus; B. Tourville.

 

WISSOTA Super Stocks

 

15 lap Feature – Steve Thomas, Menomonie; Tom Karis, Menomonie; Mike Keller, Menomonie; Cory Davis, Turtle Lake; Aaron Wilson, Menomonie; Ryan Olson, Chippewa Falls; Shawn Huse, Bloomer; Joe Rhead, Menomonie; Lance Leu, Medford; Bernie Christianson, Menomonie; Brad Johnson, Wilson; Rick Hallquist, Eau Claire; Jim Harris, Menomonie; Ajay Christianson, Menomonie; Dan Preston, Baldwin.

8 lap Heat 1 – Wilson; Leu; Olson; Thomas; Rhead; Hallquist; Harris; A. Christianson

Heat 2 – B. Christianson; Huse; Karis; Keller; Davis; Johnson; Preston; Jason Forehand.

 

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

 

15 lap Feature – Mark Gerth, Menomonie; Randy Smeltzer, Colfax; Jake Smith, Eau Claire; Michael Truscott, Chippewa Falls; Shane Halopka, Eau Claire; Jesse Glenz, Cadott; Mark Thomas, Menomonie; Jim Bourn, Menomonie; Clark Swartz, Bloomer; Justin Supri, Eau Claire; Travis Anderson, Colfax; Mark Hessler, Menomonie; Robbie Johnson, Wilson; Mike Knudtson, Osseo; Kevin Smeltzer, Menomonie; Jason Swan, Chippewa Falls; Ben Johnson, Wyoming MN; Cooper Dohms, Menomonie; Eric Herbison, New Richmond; Tony Schill, Oakdale MN.

8 lap B Feature – Herbison; K. Smeltzer; R. Johnson; Hessler; B. Johnson; Wayne Bignell; Bob Wood; Shawn Wehren; Reid Teigs; Rich Anderson.

8 lap Heat 1 – Gerth; Thomas; Halopka; Schill; Dohms; B. Johnson; Bignell; Teigs; Anderson.

Heat 2 – Glenz; Swartz; R. Smeltzer; Supri; Knudtson; Herbison; Wood; R. Johnson; Don Craig.

Heat 3 – Bourn; Smith; Truscott; Anderson; Swan; K. Smeltzer; Hessler; Wehren; Kyle Johnson.

 

Pure Stocks

 

10 lap Feature – Nick Field, Knapp; Austin Schultz, Chippewa Falls; Willy Hughes, Arkansas; Eric Burton, Menomonie; Chad Tarvis, Chetek; Kory Hathaway, Elmwood; Rob Lawrence, Eau Claire; Rick Williams, Spring Valley; Ron Hoffman, Ridgeland; Travis Hazelton, New Auburn; Mike Liphardt, Elk Mound; Luke Plank, Eau Claire; Chris Wert, Roberts; Tony Falkner, Menomonie; Nate Spence, Spring Valley; Ashley Husby, Menomonie; Tyler English, Anoka MN.

6 lap Heat 1 – Plank; Wert; Spence; Burton; Falkner; Hoffman; Lawrence; Hazelton; English.

Heat 2 – Field; Tarvis; Husby; Hughes; Schultz; Hathaway; Liphardt; Williams.