Prochnow
and Gerth are Late Race Red Cedar Winners
By Ed
Reichert
Menomonie
WI, July 31 Brent Prochnow and Mark Gerth both made late race
charges to get to victory lane once again at the Red Cedar
Speedway Friday night. Meanwhile, Cory Davis won his first
feature win of the year here while Nick Field continued the beat
in the Pure Stocks with another feature win to add to his track
leading total for 2009 in what was the last point night for the
Modifieds and Midwest Modifieds of the 2009 racing season.
Mark
Hanson led the first seven laps of the Modified feature as he
looked for his first win of the season. He had built up a nice
sized lead using the cushion while Jay Richardson, Mike Anderson
and Scott Duval battled behind him. From farther back in the
pack, Craig Thatcher and Ron Schreiner were also on the move
with Schreiner especially strong as he worked his way into a
challenging position. A Bryan Nayes spin bunched the field and
on the green, Schreiner went to the cushion and blasted into the
lead as Hanson got hung up and dropped about four positions
quickly. Schreiner continued to hold the
lead as Prochnow took over the second spot and looked for more
as Duval was also climbing in the standings.
A two car
tangle set up a two lap sprint to the finish and on the green,
Schreiner went to the cushion again but Prochnow was on the low
side and pulled up beside the leader. They circled the oval in
that formation as they saw the white flag. Schreiner was pushing
very hard on the high side as Prochnow edged ahead by inches
down the back chute. Ron tried to get the advantage off the last
corner but he slammed the wall hard and lost some momentum as
Prochnow edged ahead by a couple of car lengths and drove on to
his third win of the year here. Duval finished a strong third
with Anderson edging out Thatcher for fourth.
The
Midwest Modified feature was probably the most hotly contested
event of the night with four different leaders and another late
race pass for the win. Justin Supri took off from the pole and
led the first half of the race with first Randy Smeltzer and
then Matt Leer trying to track him down. Leer looked like he
might get the job done until Shane Halopka went to the cushion
and really started to pick up the pace. He blew by Leer on the
high side and closed on Supri. With a strong move off turn two,
he used the same maneuver to pass the former leader and Halopka
looked like he might run away with the contest.
However,
yellow flags played a part in this race also as a lap twelve
spin bunched the field and Halopka got a poor restart with Leer
ducking under him to take over the lead. As Halopka and Supri
tried to stay with Leer, Gerth suddenly emerged from the pack
and was on the move. Despite starting ninth on the grid, Gerth
turned up the power and drove by first Halopka and then Leer to
take over the lead. The yellow flew again but before the race
could be restarted, it was determined that the field had seen
the white flag and the race was scored complete, despite there
being just a bit of confusion before the checkers were indeed
waved.
Gerth won
his sixth feature event of the year here with Leer, Supri,
Halopka and Smeltzer trailing.
Davis has
really picked up the pace recently on the area tracks and he
continued his recent strong runs with his first Super Stock
victory at Red Cedar this season. Steve Thomas and Tommy
Richards went wheel to wheel in the early going with neither
being able to establish superiority. However, after a couple of
laps it was Davis who put the hammer down as he moved in on both
of the frontrunners, and quickly put both in his rear view
mirror as he took over the lead. With Davis moving away from the
field, the battle shifted to the second place race with Darrel
Hazelton and Paul Erikson both charging to the front. Erikson
was very strong as he passed Thomas to take the second spot and
then took off after the leader.
However,
the race ran nonstop and without a yellow to slow Davis charge,
he continued to pull away from the field for a relatively easy
win. Erikson continued his strong run also with a second place
finish and Hazelton, Jason Forehand and Richards completed the
top five.
It took
Field only a lap to split early leaders Nate Spence and Chad
Tarvis and once in front, he was gone as he steadily pulled away
from the pack for an easy win. He continued to build up his
lead, despite one yellow flag for a spinning Ashley Husby.
Husby, by the way, recovered nicely from her spin as she charged
all the way back up to third at the finish behind Spence. Kory
Hathaway and Tarvis completed the top five as Field drove on for
his track leading seventh feature win of the year.
Friday was
the last point race of 2009 for the Midwest Modifieds and
Modifieds and unofficially, Gerth and Thatcher were crowned
point champions in those two divisions.
There will
be no racing next Friday, August 7th as the Red Cedar
Speedway is off due to the Dunn County Fair being in town.
Racing will resume on August 14th which will be
Season Championship night for the Modifieds and Midwest
Modifieds while the Late Models, Super Stocks and Pure Stocks
will run their last point night of the year on 24-7 Telecom
night. Then, on August 14th ,
those three classes will run their Season Championships with the
Mods and Midwest Mods running a regular race program. The
regular season will conclude on August 28th with a
regular program for all five divisions. Race time for all these
shows is 7 p.m.
SUMMARY
Red Cedar
Speedway
Menomonie
WI
July 31,
2009
WISSOTA
Modifieds
15 lap
Feature Brent Prochnow, Colfax; Ron Schreiner, Hudson; Scott
Duval, Bloomer; Mike Anderson, Colfax; Craig Thatcher, Knapp;
Mark Hanson, Chippewa Falls; Jay Richardson, Spring Valley; Mark
Hessler, Menomonie; Larry Prochnow, Menomonie; Bryan Hessler,
Chetek; Don Brightbill, Hudson; Ken Kinkaid, Trego; Cory
Williams, Spring Valley; Bryan Nayes, Chippewa Falls; Bill
Stettner, Inver Grove Heights MN; Steve Hallquist, Eau Claire.
8 lap Heat
1 Thatcher; Richardson; Duval; B. Prochnow; L. Prochnow; M.
Hessler; Hallquist; Williams.
Heat 2
Hanson; Schreiner; Anderson; Nayes; Stettner; Brightbill; B.
Hessler; Kinkaid.
WISSOTA
Super Stocks
15 lap
Feature Cory Davis, Turtle Lake; Paul Erikson, Abbotsford;
Darrel Hazelton, Chippewa Falls; Jason Forehand, Eau Claire;
Tommy Richards, Mondovi; Joe Rhead, Menomonie; Aaron Wilson,
Menomonie; Tom Karis, Menomonie; Steve Thomas, Menomonie; Mike
Keller, Menomonie; Shawn Huse, Bloomer; Donnie Lofdahl, Proctor
MN; Charley Obermueller, Menomonie; Bernie Christianson,
Menomonie; Brad Johnson, Wilson; Ajay Christianson, Menomonie;
Tom Treviranus, Hawthorne; Rick Hallquist, Eau Claire.
8 lap Heat
1 Davis; Rhead; Keller; B. Christianson; Huse; Karis; Lofdahl.
Heat 2
Erikson; Richards; Thomas; Johnson; Treviranus; Obermueller;
Wilson.
Heat 3
Hazelton; Forehand; Hallquist; A. Christianson; Wayne Harris Jr;
Shane Kisling.
WISSOTA
Midwest Modifieds
15 lap
Feature Mark Gerth, Menomonie; Matt Leer, Bruce; Justin Supri,
Eau Claire; Shane Halopka, Eau Claire; Randy Smeltzer, Colfax;
Jeff Marshall, Thunder Bay On; Clark Swartz, Bloomer; Jim Bourn,
Menomonie; Travis Hallquist, Eau Claire; Jake Smith, Eau Claire;
Jesse Glenz, Cadott; Jason Swan, Chippewa Falls; Kevin Smeltzer,
Menomonie; Cooper Dohms, Menomonie; Mark Hessler, Menomonie;
Travis Anderson, Colfax; Ronnie Rihn, Bloomer; Kyle Johnson, Eau
Claire; Mike Knudtson, Osseo; Wayne Bignell, Menomonie; Mark
Thomas, Menomonie.
8 lap Heat
1 Rihn; R. Smeltzer; Leer; Johnson; Bignell; Swan; Hallquist.
Heat 2
Gerth; Bourn; Supri; Knudtson; Hessler; Smith; Thomas.
Heat 3
Halopka; Swartz; Anderson; Glenz; K. Smeltzer; Dohms; Marshall.
Pure
Stocks
10 lap
Feature Nick Field, Knapp; Nate Spence, Spring Valley; Ashley
Husby, Menomonie; Kory Hathaway, Elmwood; Chad Tarvis, Chetek;
Tony Falkner, Menomonie; Willy Hughes, Arkansas; Ron Hoffman,
Ridgeland; Jason Williams, Baldwin; Luke Plank, Eau Claire.
6 lap Heat
1 Field; Spence; Hathaway; Husby; Hughes.
Heat 2
Plank; Falkner; Hoffman; Tarvis; Williams.
