Menomonie WI, July 8 – It was a great night for Mike Anderson at the Red Cedar Speedway Friday. Not only did he win the Modified Race Of Champions qualifier for the WISSOTA 100 at Huron South Dakota in September, he also dominated the Modified special that was completed after being rained out three laps into the event last Friday night. Other feature winners in the WISSOTA classes Friday night also qualified for the AMSOIL Race of Champions at Huron and they included Jimmy Mars, Shane Halopka and Ben Hillman while other feature winners included Jason Havel in the Pure Stocks and Eric Schultz in the Hornets.
Anderson totally dominated both Modified feature events; in fact he led every lap of feature racing that the Modifieds had on Friday. In the RoC qualifier, he started on the outside of row one and powered away from Steve Hallquist in the beginning, quickly opening up a large lead as he ran the cushion on the extremely slick race track. As Anderson pulled away from the pack, the battle was for second with Hallquist trying to hold off Mark Hanson, Mark Gerth, Jesse Glenz and Brandon Jensen as there was a swarm of about ten cars in a tight pack jockeying for position.
Anderson was long gone up front, with Gerth eventually moving into the second spot. With the racing running nonstop however, Anderson had nearly a straightaway on the second place runner at the end. Jensen held off a late charge by Kevin Adams for third with Glenz completing the top five.
The Modified special was restarted on lap four, right where the competitors were shut down last week when the rains started. Glenz was in the lead but when he chose to guard the low side on the lap four green, Anderson, sitting on the outside on the double file restart, blew right past him to take over the lead. Once in front, it looked like a replay of the first feature as he disappeared into the night, leaving the rest of the pack to battle for second. Glenz held the spot stubbornly for a number of laps but Adams was finally able to wrestle the position away from him.
The yellow flew for the only time with seventeen laps complete and the rest of the field got their only shot at Anderson. However, on the green Mike once again pulled away, this time from Adams who was struggling to hold off Glenz for second. Anderson established about half a straightaway lead on Adams, who could do nothing to catch the flying Colfax resident. Late in the race Gerth made a charge from the fourth row, and with only a couple of laps left used the low side to edge past Adams and take over second. Behind those three at the finish were Glenz and Craig Thatcher. Anderson’ wins were his second and third of the year at Red Cedar and he went home with a nice $2,000 check for his evening’s activities.
Mars eased his way to his second feature win at Red Cedar as he made a late move to take over the top spot in the Late Model event. Kerry Hanson had his best run of the year for a number of laps as he held the top spot with Mike Prochnow, Cory Mahder and Scott Duval battling back and forth for second. Mars started seventh on the grid and didn’t crack the top five of the race until it was half done. Meanwhile, Prochnow had managed to take over the lead as he looked for his first win of the year at Red Cedar. In the second half of the event, Mars seemed to find another gear on the field as he drove under Duval, Hanson, Mahder and then Prochnow to take over the lead with five laps to go. Once in front, he pulled away from the pack to score a comfortable win, his second of the year at Red Cedar as he became the first repeat winner of the 2011 racing season. Prochnow hung on for second ahead of Mahder, Duval and Jake Hartung.
Hillman punched his ticket for a trip to South Dakota with a dominating performance in the Super Stock main event. He started on the second row and quickly moved to the cushion where he blew by Jim Harris and Aaron Wilson and quickly opened up a big lead in the main event which went green to checkered nonstop.
As Hillman pulled away, Wilson also found his way to the top side which helped solidify his second place position. Jesse Redetzke gave the Arneson #20 car a good ride, and despite the fact that he beat on the concrete wall on nearly every lap, he turned in a solid performance to finish third ahead of Ashley Anderson, again driving the Quilling #33 and Luke Plank. Hillman’s win was his second of the year at Red Cedar.
Halopka came back from a big crash at another track on Sunday night to win his second Midwest Modified feature event at Red Cedar and also pack his bags for Huron. He had a tough battle though as Kevin Smeltzer gave him everything he wanted and more before finally taking the checkered flag. Smeltzer took the early lead running the cushion as Halopka moved to the low side of the track and while Shane was eventually able to edge into the lead, Smeltzer never gave up and continually pulled up beside Halopka down the chutes after getting a strong run off the banking.
Near the end of the race, Cory Crapser picked up the pace and after a tough battle was able to edge ahead of Smeltzer into second. He threw everything he had at Halopka on the final laps, but Shane held tight as he took the win. Behind the top three, Clark Swartz and Zach Manley completed the top five.
Havel took his third Pure Stock win of the year in a race that featured a wild last lap that had to be sorted out by track officials. Scottie Schoettle had been the leader for most of the event until Havel picked up the pace near the end and drove under first Jeremy Dahl, then Chaz Ducommun and then Schoettle to take the lead. Ducommun moved into second and then made an all out blitz to try and take the win on the last lap. He made contact with Havel on the last corner and both cars spun, with the rest of the field taking evasive action as the finish was scrambled with Schoettle crossing the line first.
However, track officials ruled that Ducommun was the offender on the final lap, the race was scored complete on the white flag lap and Havel was awarded the win. Schoettle was recorded second, but apparent third place finisher Tony Dubois failed to pass tech inspection. That gave Jason Supri the third spot ahead of Randy Burton and Dahl.
Schultz blew away the Hornet field as the division was making their third appearance of the year at Red Cedar. Schultz won by a considerable distance over Mark Ryskoski and Rocky Kempe.
Next Friday night all five classes will be in action again on Dean & Sue’s night at the Red Cedar Speedway. Race time is 7 p.m.
SUMMARY
Red Cedar Speedway
Menomonie WI
July 8, 2011
WISSOTA Late Models
20 lap Feature – Jimmy Mars(Menomonie), Mike Prochnow(Menomonie), Cory Mahder(Elk Mound), Scott Duval(Bloomer), Jake Hartung(Elmwood), Scott Gilberts(Menomonie), Steve Isenberg(Marshfield), Kerry Hanson(Baldwin), Chad Mahder(Eau Claire), Greg Nippoldt(Roberts), Justin Ochsner, Ashley Anderson
8 lap Heat 1 – Hartung, Prochnow, Duval, Mars, Anderson(Elk Mound), Isenberg
Heat 2 – Gilberts, Co. Mahder, Hanson, Ch. Mahder, Nippoldt, Ochsner
WISSOTA Modifieds
15 lap Feature – Mike Anderson(Colfax), Mark Gerth(Menomonie), Brandon Jensen(Hammond), Kevin Adams(Cameron), Jesse Glenz(Cadott), Eric Pember(Pittsville), Mark Hanson(Chippewa Falls), Craig Thatcher(Knapp), Brent Prochnow(Colfax), Steve Hallquist(Eau Claire), Cory Williams, Ross Prochnow, Dave Baxter, Wayne Stricker, Luke Schilling, Kent Baxter, Bryan Nayes, Jason Swan, Bryan Hessler, Don Brightbill, Robbie Johnson
40 lap Make up Feature – Anderson, Gerth, Adams, Glenz, Thatcher, B. Prochnow, Williams(Spring Valley), Jensen, Stricker(Highbridge), Johnson(Wilson), K. Baxter, Nayes, Hallquist, R. Prochnow, Hanson, Swan
8 lap Heat 1 – Glenz, Jensen, Hallquist, Williams, Thatcher, Stricker, Schilling, Johnson
Heat 2 – Adams, Pember, Hanson, D. Baxter(Eau Claire), Swan(Chippewa Falls), Nayes, Brightbill
Heat 3 – Anderson, Gerth, B. Prochnow, R. Prochnow(Boyceville), K. Baxter(Elk Mound), B. Hessler, Mark Hessler
WISSOTA Super Stocks
15 lap Feature – Ben Hillman(Menomonie), Aaron Wilson(Menomonie), Jesse Redetzke(Eau Claire), Ashley Anderson(Elk Mound), Luke Plank(Eau Claire), Jim Harris(Menomonie), Wayne Dean(Fall Creek), Mike Keller(Menomonie), Brad Johnson(Wilson), Tom Karis(Menomonie), Bernie Christiansen, Steve Thomas, Jason Forehand, Shane Kisling
8 lap Heat 1 – Anderson, Hillman, Wilson, Kisling(Sarona), Keller, Thomas, Dean, Christiansen
Heat 2 – Redetzke, Forehand(Eau Claire), Plank, Harris, Johnson, Rick Hallquist, Tony Falkner, Karis
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
15 lap Feature – Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Cory Crapser(Chippewa Falls), Kevin Smeltzer(Menomonie), Clark Swartz(Bloomer), Zach Manley(Cameron), Josh Smith(Rice Lake), Matt Leer(Bruce), Grant Southworth(Bloomer), Mark Thomas(Menomonie), Kerry Halopka(Wheeler), Travis Anderson, Bill Stettner, Nick Koehler, Mark Clements, Shawn Carlson, Brad Spence, Ben Schultz, Justin Supri, Jake Stai, Jake Smeltzer, Mitch Anderson, Jake Smith
8 lap Heat 1 – Supri(Eau Claire), Leer, Swartz, Manley, Anderson(Colfax), Dan Svea, Southworth, K. Halopka
Heat 2 – Clements(Bloomer), S. Halopka, Koehler(Bloomer), J. Smeltzer(Menomonie), Schultz(Menomonie), Ja. Smith, Spence, Carlson
Heat 3 – Crapser, Stai(New Auburn), K. Smeltzer, Jo. Smith, Thomas, Stettner, Anderson
Pure Stocks
10 lap Feature – Jason Havel(Rice Lake), Scottie Schoettle(Osseo), Jason Supri(Chippewa Falls), Randy Burton(Menomonie), Jeremy Dahl(Knapp), Kyle Hallin(Lino Lakes MN), Justin Rick(Maplewood MN), Kory Hathaway(Elmwood), Chaz Ducommun(Chetek)
6 lap Heat 1 – Dahl, Ducommun, Burton, Hallin, Rick
Heat 2 – Havel, Tony Dubois(Cottege Grove MN), Supri, Schoettle, Hathaway
Hornets
8 lap Feature – Eric Schultz(Downing), Mark Ryskoski(Medford), Rocky Kempe(Chippewa Falls), Brent Voeltz(Glenwood City), Brendan Uetz(Menomonie), Chris Rick(Hugo MN), Greg Hallin(Andover MN).