Keller and Hanestad Win Their First of 2009 at Eagle Valley Speedway
By Gene Harmelink
May 17, 2009

                With clear skies, warm temperatures, a nice car count, and a nearly full grandstand, racing resumed at Eagle Valley Speedway on Sunday, May 17.

                Sunday’s racing saw three racers get their first Eagle Valley Speedway win of the year and three racers earned repeat wins. 

                In the WISSOTA Midwest Modified division, Travis Anderson started on the pole only to pull off the track just two laps into the race with what appeared to be mechanical problems.  With Anderson out of the picture, Michael Truscott, who had started fifth, moved to an early lead, leading for the first three laps.  After lap three, Jesse Glenz spun in turn four and he was sent to the back.  On the restart an additional caution occurred when Bob Wood spun in turn three and Wood was sent to the back.  Once racing resumed, heat winner, Matt Leer, shot to the lead from his previous fifth-place running spot and took the lead with Truscott settling in for second.  Leer and Truscott ran first and second for four laps.  Mark Gerth then moved into second after starting ninth and replaced Truscott in second.  By race end Leer had completed a sweep for the night and a back-to-back feature win, after winning last week’s feature, in his American Family Insurance-sponsored number 30.  Gerth finished second with Truscott, Southworth, and Thomas rounding out the top five.

                The WISSOTA Super Stocks put on a good show with the top five spots being fought for all race long.  Mike Keller started on the pole with Mark Stender to his outside.  At the drop of the green, Keller quickly moved to the lead with Stender following in second, Darrel Hazelton in third, Eric Olson in fourth and Paul Erikson in fifth.  Eight laps into the race, Tommy Richards spun between turns three and four and heat winner, Aaron Wilson, was credited with the caution, sending Wilson to the back.  When racing resumed, Keller once again assumed the lead with Hazelton giving chase.  Despite the best efforts of the remaining field, Keller hung onto the lead by a car length or two until the end of the race, taking his first 2009 racing win in his number 31, Keyes Chevy Town-sponsored car.  Rounding out the top five were:  Hazelton, Olson, Erickson and heat winner, Shane Kisling, who passed Richards late in the race.

                It was all Kevin Adams in the WISSOTA Modified division.  Heat winner, Adams, took an early lead after starting on the outside of the front row.  With Adams in the lead, pole sitter, Bryan Nayes, settled into second with Kent Baxter who had started third, running third, Mark Hanson running fourth and heat winner, Craig Thatcher, running fifth.  By lap ten, Adams was stretching his lead, even though he had slowed the pace some in an effort to save his tires and Thatcher ran second after making a series of passes during laps two through eight to move from his eighth-place starting spot.  With Thatcher on the charge, Adams once again turned up the wick and puts some additional space between his car and the hard-charging Thatcher, but Adams just had too much momentum and Thatcher had to settle for second.  Rounding out the top five were Baxter, Robby Bunkelman who had started seventh, and Jay Richardson who had started ninth.   Adams win in his Bill’s Distributing-sponsored number 40 was his sixth feature win of the year.

                After starting on the outside of the front row, Danny Richards assumed the number one spot in the WISSOTA Street Stock feature and led for the first four laps as pole sitter, Jason Lang, began dropping in the field, pulling off by the end of lap three.  By lap five, a hard-charging Ron Hanestad had moved up to take the lead from his fourth-place starting spot with Richards falling to second.  Back in the pack, heat winner, Cory Crapser, had moved into third after starting fifth, heat winner, Gary Kasperek, ran  fourth after starting third, and Henry Peters of Morden, Manitoba, ran fifth after starting seventh.  Hanestad continued to run strong, put some distance between himself and the rest of the field and came home the winner in his self-sponsored car.  It was Hanestad’s first win of 2009 and his first in a couple of years.  Rounding out the top five were:  Crapser, Peters, Kasperek, and Richards.

                Nineteen Eagle Valley Pure Stocks once again put on an excellent show with pole sitter and heat winner, Doug Wojcik, taking an early lead.  Simon Wahlstrom ran second after starting third.  Wojcik led all but two laps of the feature, unfortunately for him those were the last two laps, when he was passed by heat winner, George Richards, who had been working his way up from his eighth-place starting position.  Richards had been running second from laps five through ten.   Richards picked up a sweep and his third feature win of the year in his Richards Repair sponsored 5R.  Rounding out the top five were:  Wojcik, Simon Wahlstrom, Mike Harshman, who had started second, and Cody Kummer, who had started sixth.

                The Flying Four-Cylinder Eagle Valley Hornets were led to the green flag by Matt Marvin who led the feature for the first two laps.  Heat winner, Mike Krause, who had started fifth, had quickly worked his way up through the field and took over the lead by the end of lap three.  In the end, it was Krause taking the win in his River Valley Storage-sponsored number 02.  Rounding out the top five were:  Mike Peters, who had started second, Mark Ryskoski, who had started fourth, Rocky Kempe, who had started third, and Matt Marvin.

                There will be no races at Eagle Valley on Sunday, May 24.  Racing resumes on Monday, May 25, with a Memorial Day Special.

 

  

SUMMARY

Eagle Valley Speedway

May 17, 2009

WISSOTA Modifieds

20-Lap Feature:  Kevin Adams, Cameron, WI, Craig Thatcher, Knapp, WI, Kent Baxter, Dorchester, WI, Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford, WI, Jay Richardson, Spring Valley, WI, Bryan Nayes, Chippewa Falls, WI, Steve Hallquist, Eau Claire, WI, Mike Bauer, Marshfield, WI, Mike Anderson, Colfax, WI

Heat 1:  Thatcher, Anderson, Hallquist, Nayes, Richardson

Heat 2:  Adams, Baxter, Bunkelman, Hanson, Bauer

WISSOTA Super Stocks

20-Lap Feature:  Mike Keller, Menomonie, WI, Darrel Hazelton, Chippewa Falls, WI, Eric Olson, Ladysmith, WI, Paul Erikson, Abbotsford, WI, Shane Kisling, Sarona, WI, Tommy Richards, Mondovi, WI, Rick Hallquist, Eau Claire, WI, John Feirn, Chippewa Falls, WI, Mark Stender, Holcombe, WI, Terry Kroening, Colby, WI, Ryan Olson, Chippewa Falls, WI, Aaron Wilson, Menomonie, WI, Lance Schilling, Chilli, WI, Matt Eathron, Wausau, WI, Cory Davis, Turtle Lake, WI

Heat 1:  Kisling, Erikkson, E Olson, Keller, Davis, Kroening, R Olson, Eathron

Heat 2:  Wilson, Feirn, Hazelton, Stender, Richards, Hallquist, Schilling

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15-Lap Feature:  Matt Leer, Bruce, WI, Mark Gerth, Menomonie, WI, Michael Truscott, Chippewa Falls, WI, Grant Southworth, Bloomer, WI, Mark Thomas, Menomonie, WI, Ronnie Rihn, Bloomer, WI, Scott Erickson, Barron, WI, John Moravec, Ladysmith, WI, Nathan Thums, Dorchester, WI, Nick Koehler, Bloomer, WI, Jesse Glenz, Cadott, WI, Bob Wood, Cadott, WI, McAdam Kensmoe, Strum, WI, Chad Kallenbach, Eau Claire, WI, Paul Sockwell, Stetsonville, WI, Mike Knudtson, Osseo, WI, Travis Anderson, Colfax, WI, Shane Halopka, Eau Claire, WI, Wayne Dean, Fall Creek, WI, Dalton Yohnk, Galesville, WI, Brad Hudson, Chippewa Falls, WI, Jason Swan, Chippewa Falls, WI, Jake Smith, Eau Claire, WI

Heat 1:  Leer, Southworth, Truscott, Erickson, Moravec, Thums, Wood, Kallenbach

Heat 2:  Rihn, Glenz, Hudson, Thomas, Dean, Swan, Smith, Yohnk

Heat 3:  Halopka, Gerth, Anderson, Koehler, Knudtson, Kensmoe, Sockwell

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15-Lap Feature:  Ron Hanestad, Glenwood City, WI, Cory Crapser, Eau Claire, WI, Henry Peters, Morden, Manitoba, Gary Kasperek, Tigerton, WI, Danny Richards, Mondovi, WI, Marcus Simonson, Milltown, WI, James Wall, Winkler, Manitoba, James Vought, Hudson, WI, Shaun Mann, Buffalo City, WI, Scott Miller, Stanley, WI, Jason Lang, Sheldon, WI

Heat 1:  Crapser, Peters, Simonson, Lang, Vought, Miller

Heat 2:  Kasperek, Richards, Hanestad, Wall, Mann

Eagle Valley Pure Stocks

12-Lap Feature:  George Richards, Mondovi, WI, Doug Wojcik, Ladysmith, WI, Simon Wahlstrom, Cameron, WI, Mike Harshman, Chippewa Falls, WI, Cody Kummer, Medford, WI, Mitchell John son, Bloomer, WI, Ron Hoffman, Ridgeland, WI, Kyle Bitney, Chippewa Falls, WI, Zach Manley, Cameron, WI, Jay Folz, Rice Lake, WI, Josh Rudd, Osseo, WI, Tony Falkner, Menomonie, WI, Chad Tarvis, Cheteck, WI, Pat Smith, Eau Claire, WI, Dalton Hazelton, New Auburn, WI, Rick Weir, Mondovi, WI, Josh Wahlstrom, Cameron, WI, Lucas Plank, Eau Claire, WI, Nick Wojcik, Ladysmith, WI

Heat 1:  Richards, Kummer, J Wahlstrom, Hoffman, Folz, Hazelton, Rudd

Heat 2:  Wojcik, Plank, Harshman, Johnson, Smith, Tarvis

Heat 3:  Manely, S Wahlstrom, Wojcik, Weir, Bitney, Falkner

Eagle Valley Hornets

12-Lap Feature:  Mike Krause, Buffalo City, WI, Mike Peters, Whitehall, WI, Mark Ryskoski, Medford, WI, Rocky Kempe, Chippewa Falls, WI, Matt Marvin, Whitehall, WI, Shawn Warner, Bruce, WI, Bo Verbick, Chippewa Falls, WI, Ricky Hoffman, Wheeler, WI, Adam Hover, Holcombe, WI

Heat:  Krause, Kempe, Peters, Ryskoski, Marvin, Warner, Hoffman, Verbick, Hover