Adams, Keller, Gerth and Swartz Winners at Jim Town

By Gene Harmelink
Photos By Chris Burback

                What a difference a week makes—welcome to summer and shirt-sleeve weather at Eagle Valley Speedway near Jim Falls, WI!  A capacity crowd enjoyed excellent racing on Sunday night on what many drivers described as an awesome track.  A visiting driver, Wyatt Wolfe, Jr., remarked, “I forgot just how fast this track is, it’s incredible!”

                The WISSOTA/Amsoil Midwest Modifieds were the first division to take to the track with Cole Neitzel (127) and Travis Krause (01) on the front row.  Neitzel was off to a quick lead with a very fast Dalton Yohnk (94) hot on his heels.  With two laps into the books, Yohnk, who had started fourth, took the lead with Neitzel dropping to second and Mark Gerth (2), who had started sixth, Jared Loos (44), who had started eighth, and Shane Halopka (3jr), who had started ninth, battling for third.  With six laps in, Travis Krause (01) spun coming out of turn one causing the caution flag to come out.  When racing resumed Gerth took advantage and shot to the front with Halopka and Yohnk close behind.  A caution after lap eight for debris realigned the field.  With Gerth leading the way, the field once again took the green, this time with Halopka and Loos in hot pursuit.  Gerth was obviously the dominant car and went on to take the win.  Rounding out the top five were:  heat winner, Halopka, Loos, heat winner, Brad Hudson (49), who had started fifth, and Yohnk.

                The WISSOTA/Amsoil Super Stock feature was up next with Jeff Dregney (44D) and Mike Keller (31) on the front row.  At the drop of the green flag, Dregney was off to a quick start, but had the unfortunate luck to spin causing a caution prior to completion of the first lap.  On a total restart, with Dregney in the back, Keller took the lead with Eric Olson (1e), who had started fifth, close behind.  Fighting for the third spot were Shane Kisling (6), who had started fourth, and a hard-charging heat winner, Curt Myers (91), who had started seventh.  Nine laps into the feature, Olson drove into the infield and his night was done.  With Olson out of the picture, Keller continued to lead with Myers, who had moved into second earlier, Kisling, Wyatt Wolfe, Jr. (60jr) and Mark Stender (27s) giving chase.  With four laps to go Stender drove into the infield with his night done and Keller continued to lead.  Keller proved to be the strongest car, taking the win.  Rounding out the top five were:  Myers, Kisling, Wolfe, Jr., and Chad Johnson (25) who had started sixth.

                A strong field of WISSOTA/Amsoil Modifieds next took to the track for their feature with a pair of rookies, Cory Crapser (07) and Keith Tourville (11jr) on the front row.  Crapser immediately took charge and was off to a nice lead with Tourville and heat winner, Mark Hanson (18), who had started third, close behind.  Hanson passed Tourville four laps into the race and Tourville at that point began to fade a bit with heat winner, Kevin Adams (40), taking the third spot.  There was a quick caution for a spinning Tourville, prior to the completion of lap eight, reset the field with Adams snatching the lead on the restart.  With Adams in the lead, Hanson gave chase, closely followed by Crapser and a hard charging Rich Loftus (11x) who had moved up from his fifth-place starting spot.  Another caution after lap fourteen, for a spinning Jake Hartung (05), reset the field again, and at the drop of the green flag, Adams was again off to the lead.  At this point, Loftus took the second spot away from Hanson and Bruce Belland (22b) moved up from his starting spot, well back in the field to take fourth.  Despite the best efforts of Loftus to get the lead, Adams proved to be too strong and went on for the win.  Rounding out the top five were:  Loftus, Hanson, Belland, and last week’s winner, Mike Anderson (57) who had started sixth.

                With Matt Wolfe (67w) and heat winner, Mike Conrad (M76) on the front row, the WISSOTA/Amsoil Street Stocks took to the track for their feature.  Conrad was off to an early lead, but as lap one was completed, there was a caution for Adam Soltis (9) as his car had come to rest on the track.  With the Soltis car off on the hook, the race continued with Conrad again taking the lead.  Clark Swartz (18) moved up from his fourth spot to take second while Jay Kesan (12k) maintained his third-place starting spot and Chanda Fjorden Nord (5f), who had started fifth, and Jim Randall (15), who had started eighth, fought for fourth.  A caution for a spinning Crystal Hanson (90jr) after the completion of lap three, reset the field.  On the restart, Swartz, who had just captured the first spot on the lap prior to the caution, was again off to a quick start with Fjorden Nord giving chase.  By lap five Swartz was still in lead, Fjorden Nord was still running second, but Jim Randall had captured the third spot with Conrad and Kesan fighting for the fourth spot.  The field remained virtually the same until, with three laps to go, Randall faded and Tommy Richards (7r) came up to take the fifth spot.  Swartz dominated and took the win.  Rounding out the top five were:  Fjorden Nord, Conrad, Kesan and Richards.

                The Eagle Valley Pure Stocks were next up on the racing program with a typically strong field of cars on hand set to do battle.  As is often the case, the Pure Stock feature sees its share of cautions and Sunday night proved to be no exception.  That doesn’t mean that the racing was subpar because the racing was competitive and the fans could not complain that there was lack of action.  Danny Richards (3r) proved to be the strength of the field as he dominated the race, but young, Cody Kummer (12), and Jason Lang (61) gave Richards all that he could handle as there was seldom more than a car length or two separating the top four or five drivers.  Richards went on to win with Lang, Kummer, Jay Fotz (14) and Mike Knudtson (42k) rounding out the top five.

                The Eagle Valley Hornets saw a nice spurt in growth this week, doubling the field to a total of ten cars.  There was some spirited competition going on during this feature, some of it including a little “bump and run” action especially toward the end of the feature.  Travis Anderson (37) once again was the strength of the field, but Brittany Olson (08) wasn’t going to just let him walk away with the win.  Try as she might, however, Olson couldn’t overcome the early lead that Anderson had built up.  Anderson won and Olson settled for second, followed by Jerry Zebro (4z), David Sykora (69f) and Mackenzie Olson (25).

                Racing actions continues on Sunday, June 8, when the races will be presented by Adams Automotive.   The pits open at 4:00, cut off time is 5:30; with hot laps at 5:30 and racing at 6:00.  Be there when “The Valley Heats Up”!

                 

               

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Eagle Valley Speedway

Jim Falls, WI

June 1, 2008

WISSOTA Modifieds

20-Lap Feature:  Kevin Adams, Rich Loftus, Mark Hanson, Bruce Belland, Mike Anderson, Paul Knauf, Bryan Nayes, Cory Crapser, Bill Stettner, Cory Williams, Keith Tourville, Mike Bauer, Jake Hartung, Adam Eckes, Darrell Hazelton

Heat 1:  Hanson, Anderson, Loftus, Tourville, Nayes, Bauer, Williams, Eckes

Heat 2:  Adams, Knauf, Crapser, Stettner, Belland, Hazelton, Hartung

WISSOTA Super Stocks

15-Lap Feature:  Mike Keller, Curt Myers, Shane Kisling, Wyatt Wolfe, Jr., Chad Johnson, Steve Hallquist, Jeff Dregney, Ryan Olson, Rod Dregney, Mark Stender, Rick Hallquist, Eric Olson, Chad Zastrow, Cory Davis

Heat 1:  Myers, J. Dregney, Kisling, Zastrow, Wolfe, Jr., Stender, Hallquist

Heat 2:  R. Dregney, Johnson, E. Olson, Keller, S. Hallquist, R. Olson, Davis

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

15-Lap Feature:  Mark Gerth, Shane Halopka, Jared Loos, Brad Hudson, Dalton Yohnk, Josh Smith, Ronnie Rihn, Michael Truscott, Travis Krause, Jesse Glenz, Matt Leer, Matt Steffen, Cole Neitzel, Bob Wood, Scott Erickson, Dennis Haines, McAdam Kensmoe, Jason Swan, John Moravec, Alan Broker, Josh Appel, Edward Appel, Dan Svee, Nate Szymoniak

Heat 1:  Kensmoe, Neitzel, Krause,Haines, Szymoniak, Wood, Broker, Moravec

Heat 2:  Halopka, Rihn, Gerth, Smith, Leer, Erickson, Steffen, Swan

Heat 3:  Hudson, Yohnk, Loos, Svee, Glenz, J. Appel, E. Appel, Truscott

 

WISSOTA Street Stocks

15-Lap Feature:   Clark Swartz, Chanda Fjorden Nord, Mike Conrad, Jay Kesan, Tommy Richards, Jim Randall, Matt Wolfe, Scott VonHaden, Butch Kummer, Jeff Antezak, Cory Hanson, Crystal Hanson, Adam Soltis, Don Perdue

Heat 1:  Randall, Swartz, Soltis, Cory Hanson, Kummer, Antezak, Perdue

Heat 2:  Conrad, Kesan, Wolfe, Fjorden Nord, Richards, Von Haden, Crystal Hanson

Eagle Valley Pure Stocks

12-Lap Feature:  Danny Richards, Jason Lang, Cody Kummer, Jay Fotz, Mike Knudtson, Dusty Brown, Ron Hoffman, Kyle Bitney, Jeremy Staves, Nick Wojcik, Jeremy Robinson, Chad Tarvis, Ben Giles, Pat Smith, Doug Wojcik, George Richards, Mitchell Johnson

Heat 1:  Fotz, Lang, Kummer, Wojcik, Knudtson, Wojcik, Bitney, Smith, Tarvis

Heat 2:  D. Richards, Robinson, Brown, G. Richards, Staves, Johnson, Giles. Hoffman

Eagle Valley Hornets

12-Lap Feature:   Travis Anderson, Brittany Olson, Jerry Zebro, David Sykora, Mackenzie Olson, Lance Hofer, Davey Sapinski, Rocky Kempe, Michael Hofer, Matt Marvin

Heat 1:  B. Olson, L. Hofer, M. Olson, M. Hofer, Sykora

Heat 2:  Anderson, Kempe, Zebro, Sapinski, Marvin