Four New Winners as Red Cedar Speedway Returns to Action

 

By Ed Reichert

 

Menomonie WI, May 22 - The Red Cedar Speedway held stock car racing Friday night after a two week, weather induced hiatus and there was action galore on the dirt track at the Dunn Co. Rec Park. Scott Gilberts, Ron Schreiner, Greg Nippoldt and Chaz Ducommun all visited victory lane for the first time at Red Cedar in '09 while Mike Anderson won for the second time in one of the two open wheel divisions that he competes in regularly.

It was also an important night as the first five members of the Red Cedar Speedway Hall of Fame were announced tonight. They are: Rich Creaser, Dean Lechler, Ben Mizer, Deb Weinfurtner and Roger Cummings. They will be officially inducted into the new Hall of Fame next Friday night.

Scott Gilberts finally got his new MasterSbilt from Mars Late Model sorted out and earned a hard fought victory in the nonstop Late Model headliner Friday night. He was pressured continuously however by Kerry Hanson who actually edged into the lead on a couple of occasions but was never able to finalize the move and secure the top spot.

They started side by side in the front row and spent the entire contest either racing side by side or nose to tail. Gilberts held the low line while Hanson worked the high side and every time it appeared that Kerry would slide back, he would hammer the cushion even harder and draw back up beside Gilberts.

While those two battled for the lead, Mike Prochnow and Cory Mahder had the same kind of battle for third before Cory took the spot and started to move in on the top runners. Hanson made an all out attempt on the final lap but when he slipped high out of the groove, Mahder snuck under him to earn the second spot as everyone chased Gilberts home. It took Pat Doar a long time to get free from traffic but when he finally did he made the most significant advance of the night, coming from fourteenth to round out the top five.

Veteran Schreiner, an infrequent competitor here in recent years, and particularly in the Modified class, made a pass on Brent Prochnow with two laps to go to secure the win in the open wheel cars. Mark Hanson was the early leader as he fought off Bryan Nayes but both Prochnow and Schreiner were on the move and took over the top two spots. Prochnow had built up a considerable lead by the time Schreiner took second but Ron was on the move as he worked the low side and closed in on Prochnow. With time running out, Schreiner continued to work under Brent and was able to take over the lead which he extended to a car length on the final tour. Perhaps faster than both the leaders at the end was Mark Hessler, who came from the sixth row and raced his way into third before he ran out of time. Mike Anderson and Robby Bunkelman completed the top five.

Dominating the Super Stock class Friday was Greg Nippoldt who started on the pole and ran away for the feature win. In the early going he was pressured by Aaron Wilson but he gradually pulled away from him and by race end, was running alone in front. There was a heavy battle for position going on behind him however, as Wilson battled with Darrel Hazelton, Shawn Huse, Mike Keller, Shane Kisling and Jason Forehand for position. Hazelton was having a very strong run and he took over the second spot with only two laps to go, only to have overheating problems slow him drastically on the final lap. Wilson took advantage of the situation to return to second with Huse following, as Hazelton limped across the line fourth ahead of Keller.

The Pure Stock feature got off to a rocky start as Ron Hoffman and Nate Spence both piled into the wall in turn one on the opening lap which necessitated a yellow flag. Lucas Plank moved into the lead on the restart and led a few laps until the hard charging trio of Dusty Brown, Nick Field and Chaz Ducommun overtook him. Field tried hard to get past Brown, but Dusty had the Thunderbird humming as he withstood the challenges from behind. Ducommun picked up the pace near the end and edged past Field for position. This turned out to be the winning pass as in post race inspection Brown was disqualified for a technical violation. This elevated Ducommun to the winning position with Field, rookie Tony Falkner, who led his first feature laps tonight, Plank and Mike Harshman trailing.

Mike Anderson, who continues to drive his brother Travis' Midwest Modified on occasion as Travis gets acclimated to the open wheel cars, scored his second win of the year here Friday. Despite being a reluctant driver for the #37 car, once behind the wheel he becomes a terror as he tore his way up through the pack after starting eighth on the grid. The first few laps saw a series of wild scrambles for position with Anderson taking over the top spot from Justin Supri. Mike then had to deal with Jim Bourn who came up to pressure him for the lead. On several occasions it looked like Bourn might take over the point, but Anderson was able to adjust his line and fight off the Menomonie veteran. Bourn continued to try and get under Anderson on the final two laps, but Mike ran his line and held on for the win by two car lengths. Shane Halopka ran a strong race for third with some hard charging going on behind him. Mark Gerth went to the tail of the field after an opening lap spin and he was able to fight his way all the way up to fourth while Mark Thomas, who started scratch in the nineteen car field, completed the top five.

Next Friday night at 7 p.m. will be the first annual Citi Financial Red Cedar Speedway Hall of Fame night. The first honorees for the Red Cedar Speedway Hall will be introduced and a Legends Race will be part of the celebration.

 

SUMMARY

 

Red Cedar Speedway

Menomonie WI

May 22, 2009

 

WISSOTA Late Models

 

20 lap Feature - Scott Gilberts, Menomonie; Cory Mahder, Elk Mound; Kerry Hanson, Baldwin; Mike Prochnow, Menomonie; Pat Doar, New Richmond; John Kaanta, Elk Mound; Joel Cryderman, Thunder Bay ON; Brent Larson, Lake Elmo MN; Jake Redetzke, Eau Claire; Ashley Anderson, Elk Mound; Chad Mahder, Marshfield; Keith Foss, Winona MN; Steve Laursen, Cumberland; Eric Breeschotten, Buffalo MN; Kevin Kuehn, Winona MN; Bob Slater, Thunder Bay ON; John Meeds, Spooner; Ronnie Rihn, Bloomer; Chris Oertel, Marshfield; Justin Sass, Rochester MN.

8 lap B Feature - Kuehn; Slater; Sass; Rihn; Meeds; Lucas Peterson; T.J. Adams; Jesse Redetzke.

8 lap Heat 1 - Kaanta; J. Redetzke; Prochnow; Foss; Ch. Mahder; Kuehn; Slater; Peterson.

Heat 2 - C. Mahder; Cryderman; Hanson; Oertel; Doar; Meeds; Adams; Rick Hanestad.

Heat 3 - Gilberts; Larson; Anderson; Breeschotten; Laursen; Je. Redetzke; Rihn; Sass.

 

WISSOTA Modifieds

 

15 lap Feature - Ron Schreiner, Hudson; Brent Prochnow, Colfax; Mark Hessler, Menomonie; Mike Anderson, Colfax; Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford; Craig Thatcher, Knapp; Jay Richardson, Spring Valley; Mark Hanson, Chippewa Falls; Bryan Nayes, Chippewa Falls; Pat Doar, New Richmond; Rich Lofthus, Bloomer; Don Brightbill, Hudson; Cory Williams, Spring Valley.

8 lap Heat 1 - Thatcher; Prochnow; Anderson; Doar; Richardson; Brightbill; Steve Hallquist.

Heat 2 - Schreiner; Bunkelman; Nayes; Hanson; Lofthus; Hessler; Williams.

 

WISSOTA Super Stocks

 

15 lap Feature - Greg Nippoldt, Roberts; Aaron Wilson, Menomonie; Shawn Huse, Bloomer; Darrel Hazelton, Chippewa Falls; Mike Keller, Menomonie; Jason Forehand, Eau Claire; Shane Kisling, Sarona; Tom Karis, Menomonie; Jake Redetzke, Eau Claire; Ben Hillman, Menomonie; Charley Obermueller, Menomonie; Ryan Olson, Chippewa Falls; Bernie Christianson, Menomonie; Joe Rhead, Menomonie; Brad Johnson, Wilson; Rick Hallquist, Eau Claire; Ajay Christianson, Menomonie; Dan Arneson, Eleva.

8 lap Heat 1 - Hillman; Wilson; Karis; Hazelton; Olson; B. Christianson; Obermueller; Hallquist; A. Christianson.

Heat 2 - Huse; Kisling; Arneson; Nippoldt; Keller; Redetzke; Johnson; Rhead; Forehand.

 

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

 

15 lap Feature - Mike Anderson, Colfax; Jim Bourn, Menomonie; Shane Halopka, Eau Claire; Mark Gerth, Menomonie; Mark Thomas, Menomonie; Justin Supri, Eau Claire; Ronnie Rihn, Bloomer; Randy Smeltzer, Colfax; Jeremy Houle, Forest Lake MN; Kevin Smeltzer, Menomonie; Clark Swartz, Bloomer; Robby Johnson, Wilson; Frank Soucek, Chetek; Jason Swan, Chippewa Falls; Kevin Knudtson, Osseo; Barry Johnson, Nelson; Scott Erickson, Barron; Wayne Bignell, Menomonie; Gary Sorenson, Eau Claire.

8 lap Heat 1 - Anderson; Bourn; Erickson; R. Johnson; Houle; Sorenson; Cooper Dohms.

Heat 2 - Gerth; Supri; Rihn; Halopka; B. Johnson; Swan; Jesse Glenz.

Heat 3 - Swartz; K. Smeltzer; R. Smeltzer; Soucek; Knudtson; Bignell.

 

Pure Stocks

 

10 lap Feature - Chaz Ducommun, Chetek; Nick Field, Knapp; Tony Falkner, Menomonie; Lucas Plank, Eau Claire; Mike Harshman, Chippewa Falls; Chris Wert, Roberts; James Gregory, Baldwin; Mike Liphardt, Elk Mound; Willy Hughes, Arkansas; Eric Burton, Menomonie; Chad Tarvis, Chetek; Rob Lawrence, Eau Claire; Kory Hathaway, Elmwood; Brad Spence, Spring Valley; Ashley Husby, Menomonie; Nate Spence, Spring Valley; Ron Hoffman, Ridgeland.

6 lap Heat 1 - Plank; Wert; Gregory; Hoffman; Liphardt; Burton; Tarvis; B. Spence; Husby.

Heat 2 - Dusty Brown; Ducommun; Field; Falkner; N. Spence; Harshman; Hughes; Lawrence; Hathaway.