Menomonie WI, July 22 – Scott Gilberts won a nearly race long battle with Ashley Anderson and claimed his first Late Model feature win of the 2011 season Friday night at the Red Cedar Speedway. Gilberts was joined in victory lane for the first time also by Pure Stock driver Gunnar Watkins while Kevin Adams, Steve Thomas, Cory Crapser and Eric Schultz all returned to the winner’s circle.
Gilberts and Caley Emerson battled in the early laps for the lead with Gilberts finally using the outside line to take the top spot where he was quickly joined by Chad Mahder and Anderson in a continued battle for the lead. Mahder took a shot at the leader but couldn’t complete the pass and that gave Anderson his opening to drive to the low side and move into second. He pulled up beside Gilberts on several occasions but just couldn’t complete to move into first.
Yellows for minor spins on lap eight and eleven broke up the battle briefly but once under green again, Anderson would pull up beside Gilberts in turn two on every lap but Scott was superior on the cushion in turn four and would again edge back in front. This continued throughout the race but late in the contest Mahder would rally to close and make it a three car duel. Anderson gave it his best shot on the final lap, but Gilberts held him off. Mahder also blasted the cushion on the final corner and was able to edge Anderson by inches for second with Cory Mahder and Mike Prochnow also in the top five.
Watkins has had a whole season’s worth of mechanical issues already this year, and the second year Pure Stock driver was looking to turn around his bad luck with a front row starting position Friday. He fought off Jeremy Dahl to take the early lead and then had Dahl struck to his rear bumper the rest of the way. Dahl continued to pressure Watkins through two yellow flags but Gunnar continued to hold the lead. Storming up through the field was rookie driver Tony Dubois and he got under Dahl to take over the second spot. Watkins was fighting a badly overheating car in the final laps but he managed to stay in the groove and fight off the challenges of Dubois to take his initial win of the year at Red Cedar. Dahl settled for third in the running order while Krysta Swearingen charged up from the sixth row to take fourth ahead of Kory Hathaway.
Adams became the top winner at the speedway in 2011 when he won his fourth feature event in the Modifieds, in a tough battle with another rookie, Mark Gerth. Gerth had taken the lead for the green as fought off Luke Schilling and Craig Thatcher to run up front in the early laps. Adams was on the charge from the start, quickly moving up from the fourth row into contention with Tony Bahr close behind.
Gerth continued to hold the top spot as Adams moved into third and a yellow came out for a spin. Adams was able to slip past Thatcher on the green and when the yellow came out one lap later for a stalled car, that put Adams right behind the leader. Adams got a great run off turn two and ducked to the inside of Gerth to take the lead, but Mark wasn’t ready to give up and he returned the favor on the next lap as he reclaimed the top spot.
Adams kept persisting though, and down the back chute he was able to edge past Gerth and slide up in front of him to claim the lead. Once in front, he was gradually able to edge away and increase his margin. Bahr had charged on the bottom on the last yellow and had moved into third, but in the late going he faded somewhat with Thatcher and Mike Anderson able to pass him in the final standings.
Steve Thomas won his second Super Stock feature event of the year but first since opening night as he got to the front early and fought off a tough challenge from Ben Hillman for the win. Thomas rode the cushion and built up a big lead over the field while Hillman fought his way into the second spot after starting in the third row. Thomas’ big lead evaporated due to a mid race yellow flag and he was in for a battle the rest of the way.
Both the leaders were high on the cushion with Hillman dogging Thomas’ every move. Meanwhile, Luke Plank and Jason Forehand had found the low side to their liking, and they started to close the gap the top two runners had built up. Late in the race, Thomas felt the pressure as Hillman attempted to stick his nose under the leader, but Steve held tough in his line to take the win over all efforts by Hillman. Cory Davis worked his way into a top five finish late in the contest.
Travis Anderson led the majority of the Midwest Modified feature but in the late going he fell victim to the pressure of Crapser as Cory took his third win of the year at Red Cedar. Anderson was up on the cushion and led a trio of Bloomer drivers, Grant Southworth, Clark Swartz and Nick Koehler in the early going. After a lap one spin slowed the action, the rest of the race went nonstop and there was some wild battling going on in the pack as drivers threw caution to the wind in an effort to get to the front in the balanced field. Anderson continued to hold off the pressure as Swartz moved into the second spot and took a run at the leader.
Suddenly, Crapser, who had started in the fifth row, came charging up using the low side of the track. Making his car work where the others couldn’t his “hell for leather” charge on the low side got him into second, and from there he drove under Anderson to take over the lead.
Crapser then pulled away and Anderson started to struggle in the corners on the last few laps, surrendering second to Swartz and then third to a late charge by Matt Leer while Southworth completed the top five.
The Hornets have raced at Red Cedar four times this year and every one of those races have found the #7s car in victory lane. Friday Eric Schultz drove the car and led from virtually the start to record an easy victory over Jeremy Johnson, Jay Welk, Jerry Zebro and Brent Voeltz.
Next Friday the Dunn County Fair will be on at the Rec Park and for the first time in a number of years, stock car racing will be a part of the Fair. A full, five division race program will be held on Friday, July 29th and it offers a great economical bargain for race fans. Everyone that enters the Fair will be charged $1 but then tickets to the race program will be only $5, a great savings for the fans. A big crowd is expected so race fans are encouraged to get to the track early and enjoy the Dunn County Fair before the first green flag flies at 7 p.m.
SUMMARY
Red Cedar Speedway
Menomonie WI
July 22, 2011
WISSOTA Late Models
20 lap Feature – Scott Gilberts(Menomonie), Chad Mahder(Eau Claire), Ashley Anderson(Elk Mound), Cory Mahder(Elk Mound), Mike Prochnow(Menomonie), Jake Hartung(Elmwood), Steve Isenberg(Marshfield), Scott Duval(Bloomer), Greg Nippoldt(Roberts), Caley Emerson(Forest Lake MN), Chris Oertel, Neil Eckhart, Justin Ochsner
8 lap Heat 1 – Gilberts, Emerson, Ch. Mahder, Duval, Isenberg, Nippoldt, Ochsner
Heat 2 – Co. Mahder, Prochnow, Anderson, Hartung, Oertel(Marshfield), Eckhart
WISSOTA Modifieds
15 lap Feature – Kevin Adams(Cameron), Mark Gerth(Menomonie), Craig Thatcher(Knapp), Mike Anderson(Colfax), Tony Bahr(Eau Claire), Brent Prochnow(Colfax), Brandon Jensen(Hammond), Ross Prochnow(Boyceville), Luke Schilling(Granton), Jay Richardson(Spring Valley), Cory Williams, Rich Lofthus, Jesse Glenz, Dave Baxter, Bryan Hessler, Don Brightbill, Robbie Johnson, Bob Wood, Steve Hallquist
8 lap Heat 1 – Thatcher, Gerth, Bahr, R. Prochnow, Eric Pember(Pittsville), Lofthus, Hessler
Heat 2 – Anderson, Adams, Schilling, Williams(Spring Valley), Wood(Cadott), Brightbill, Johnson
Heat 3 – Glenz(Cadott), B. Prochnow, Jensen, Richardson, Hallquist(Eau Claire), Baxter
WISSOTA Super Stocks
15 lap Feature – Steve Thomas(Menomonie), Ben Hillman(Menomonie), Luke Plank(Eau Claire), Jason Forehand(Eau Claire), Cory Davis(Turtle Lake), Andy Grymala(Superior), Jesse Redetzke(Eau Claire), Aaron Wilson(Menomonie), Bart Steffen(Eau Claire), Brad Johnson(Wilson), Jay Quilling, Jim Harris, Rick Hallquist, Bernie Christiansen, Marcus Simonson, Mike Keller
8 lap Heat 1 – Thomas, Forehand, Hillman, Plank, Redetzke, Hallquist, Christiansen, Johnson
Heat 2 – Davis, Keller(Menomonie), Grymala, Steffen, Quilling(Menomonie), Harris, Simonson, Wilson
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
15 lap Feature – Cory Crapser(Chippewa Falls), Clark Swartz(Bloomer), Matt Leer(Bruce), Travis Anderson(Colfax), Grant Southworth(Bloomer), Zach Manley(Cameron), Shane Halopka(Greenwood), Jordan Hessler(Elk Mound), Josh Smith(Rice Lake), Nick Koehler(Bloomer), Jake Smith, Dan Svea, Kerry Halopka, Mark Thomas, Kevin Smeltzer, Jake Smeltzer, Bill Stettner, Scottie Schoettle, Brad Spence, Mike Truscott
6 lap B Feature – Thomas(Menomonie), Stettner((Inver Grove Heights MN), J. Smeltzer(Menomonie), K. Smeltzer(Menomonie), Spence(Spring Valley), Shawn Carlson
8 lap Heat 1 – Anderson, Koehler, Southworth, S. Halopka, Svea(Colfax), Stettner, Carlson, Spence
Heat 2 – Hessler, Leer, Jo. Smith, Ja. Smith(Eau Claire), K. Halopka(Wheeler), Justin Supri, Ben Schultz
Heat 3 – Swartz, Crapser, Manley, Truscott(Chippewa Falls), Schoettle(Osseo), K. Smeltzer, Mitch Anderson
Pure Stocks
10 lap Feature – Gunnar Watkins(Elk Mound), Tony Dubois(Cottege Grove MN), Jeremy Dahl(Knapp), Krysta Swearingen(Little Canada MN), Kory Hathaway(Elmwood), Bill Skoug(Osseo), Jason Supri(Chippewa Falls), Nick Traynor(Barron), Jesse Bryan(Menomonie), Chaz Ducommun(Chetek), Randy Burton, Dave Nogle, Kyle Hallin, Mike Schnider, Justin Rick, Jason Stevens, Dustin Doughty
6 lap Heat 1 – Dahl, Ducommun, Watkins, Traynor, Dubois, Burton, Bryan, Hallin, Stevens
Heat 2 – Supri, Hathaway, Skoug, Doughty(Ladysmith), Nogle(Hastings MN), Swearingen, Rick, Schnider
Hornets
8 lap Feature – Eric Schultz(Downing), Jeremy Johnson(Elmwood), Jay Welk(Cadott), Jerry Zebro(Ridgeland), Brent Voeltz(Glenwood City), Jake Cormican(Glenwood City), Brenden Uetz(Menomonie), Katie Lebeis(Cottege Grove MN), Duane Cormican(Glenwood City), Tracy Hallquist(Chippewa Falls).