<-- BACK TO NEWS Thatcher
and Richards Sweep Eagle Valley By
Gene Harmelink
After his car was damaged badly in last week’s racing action, Craig
Thatcher debuted a new J-Car, winning his heat race and the WISSOTA/Amsoil
Modified feature. Tommy Richards found similar success in the
WISSOTA/Amsoil Street Stock division, while Curt Myers and Shane Halopka
settled for feature wins in the Super Stock and Midwest Modified divisions
on Sunday, June 29, 2008. George Richards swept the Eagle Valley
Pure Stocks while Brittany Olson did the same in the Eagle Valley Hornets.
Other folks may have found Country Fest; just fifteen miles down the road,
to their liking, but the stands were full at Eagle Valley Speedway near
Jim Falls, WI, on Sunday night. You couldn’t have asked for more
perfect weather for the racers, 96 of them, and for the fans to enjoy an
excellent night of racing presented by River Country Coop.
Racing action began with a full field of WISSOTA/Amsoil Midwest Modifieds
taking to the track. Heat winner, Nathan Thums, and Jesse Glenz were
on the front row as racing began. Glenz jumped to an early lead with
Mark Gerth, who had started fourth, hot on his heels. Glenz led for
the first two laps, but Gerth shot past Glenz during lap three to take the
lead with Dan Svee, who had started third, Bryan Bisonette, who had
started fifth, Ronnie Rihn, who had started sixth, and Shane Halopka, who
had started ninth, showing the way for the rest of the field.
Gerth’s car suffered transmission failure near the end of lap seven and
Gerth’s car came to a halt in the front stretch bringing out a caution.
Bisonette then inherited the lead and led for the next two laps until
there was a caution for a spin by heat winner, Brand Hudson, who was
running fifth after starting eighth, as he came out of turn one.
Hudson collected a number of cars in the process with Hudson, Thums, and
Nick Koehler retiring their cars to the pits.
On the restart Bisonette resumed the lead, but that lead was short-lived
as Shane Halopka came on strong near the end of lap eleven to take the
lead. Halopka proved to be too much for the rest of the field and
came home the winner with Bisonette finishing in second. Svee, Rihn,
and Glenz rounded out the top five.
The WIISSOTA/Amsoil Super Stocks came to the track next for their feature
with heat winner, Rick Hallquist and Chad Zastrow on the front row.
Zastrow was off to an early lead with heat winner, Paul Erikson, who had
started fourth, in second. Zastrow led for the first two laps, but
Erikson made a pass during lap three to take the lead with Zastrow
trailing in second. A caution for debris after lap four reset the
field with Erickson still in the lead. Another caution, after lap
five, for a spinning Rick Hallquist saw Hallquist leaving the track
with apparent damage and Eric Olson, who had started third, being sent to
the back. Olson would make one or two more laps and then pulled off.
Erikson resumed the lead with five laps complete and held onto the lead
for two more laps until he was passed by Curt Myers, who had started
fifth. Myers took command and stretched his lead over Erikson and
the rest of the field to a full turn by lap thirteen. By lap
fifteen, Myers was leading by a full front stretch and Erikson and the
rest of the field were a distant memory. By lap seventeen, Myers was
long gone, Mike Keller, who had started eighth, had passed Erikson for
second, Erikson was running third, Zastrow was in fourth and Mark Stender,
who had started seventh, was in fifth.
Attrition played a big role in this feature with just six cars remaining
by race end. Myers came home the victor with Keller, Erikson,
Stender and Zastrow filling out the top five.
Robby Bunkelman and Bryan Nayes led the WISSOTA/Amsoil Modifieds to
the starting line for their feature. Bunkelman was on the move
early, shooting to the lead with Nayes in second. Bunkelman
continued to lead, but there was plenty of shuffling around in the field
behind him as Rich Loftus, who had started fifth, moved into second and
heat winner, Craig Thatcher, who had started fourth, moved into third by
the end of lap three.
By lap six Bunkelman was still leading but Thatcher had moved into second
with Loftus settling into the third spot. Meanwhile, heat winner,
Mike Anderson, had moved from fifth to take over fourth with Nayes running
fifth. By lap ten, Kevin Adams had moved up to fifth, from eighth,
replacing Nayes in the top five.
Lap twelve saw Bunkelman hanging onto the lead with Thatcher threatening.
Thatcher made good on his threat by the end of lap thirteen, taking the
lead and relegating Bunkelman to second. While this was going on,
Adams had moved up to third and was showing signs of wanting to pass
Bunkleman. Anderson was running a strong fourth and Loftus was
running fifth. With
one lap to go, Thatcher led, but Adams had moved past Bunkelman and was in
hot pursuit of Thatcher. Thatcher proved to have the momentum and
won the feature with Adams ever so close. Rounding out the top five
were: Bunkelman, Anderson and Loftus. Where
are the WISSOTA/Amsoil Street Stocks? On Sunday night there were
seventeen at Eagle Valley Speedway ready for action. Dave Keyeski
and Matt Wolfe led the Streets to the green flag for the start of that
division’s race. Jay Kesan , who had started third, led the first
lap of the feature with Tommy Richards in second. Richards didn’t
stay in second for long as he passed Kesan during lap two to take the
lead. After
Wolfe, Keyeski and others spun coming out of turn one during lap three,
bringing out a caution, Richards resumed the lead on the restart with heat
winner, Clark Swartz, moving into second and Kesan into third. Gary
Kasperek, who had started fifth, was running fourth and Ron Hanestad, who
had started sixth, was fifth. By
the fifth lap, Richards maintained his lead, with Swartz in second, Kesan
in third and Hanestad in fourth after passing Kasperek. By lap ten,
Kasperek had passed Hanestad back again for fourth, but that was
short-lived as Hanestad resumed in the fourth spot once more at the end of
lap twelve and Kasperek moved to fifth. At
race end, Richards had the rest of the field covered with Swartz still
giving it a shot, but having to settle for second. Rounding out the
top five were: Hanestad, Kesan, and Kasperek. The
Eagle Valley Pure Stocks were up next with Jeremy Staves and Lucas Plank
on the front row. Heat winner, George Richards, would lead the field
to the flag stand at the end of lap one with heat winner, Zach Manley, in
second. Richards led the first two laps of the feature, but was then
passed by Manely who led the next seven laps while Richards ran in second.
Meanwhile, Cody Kummer, who had started fourth, Jason Lang, who had
started eighth, and Danny Richards, who had started eleventh, were
fighting over third. By
lap ten, George Richards had regained the lead with Manley dropping to
second, Lange won the battle for third, Danny Richards ran in fourth and
Cody Kummer in fifth. By race end, the order had not changed and
George Richards came home the winner. Manley was disqualified during
post-race inspection for a suspension infraction and so the four filling
out the top five were: Lang, Danny Richards, Kummer, and Dough
Wojcik, who had started seventh. The
race night ended with the Eagle Valley Hornets with Rocky Kempe and
Mackenzie Olson leading the field to the green flag. There was a bit
of a problem getting this one going with two early cautions occurring
prior to the first lap. Once racing got under way, Bob Anderson, who
had started third, was off to an early, but short-lived lead. By
the end of lap two, Kempe inherited the lead from Anderson as Anderson’s
car slowed and Anderson pulled it off into the infield. With Kempe
in the lead, heat winner, Brittany Olson, took over second, Jonah Smith,
who had started fifth, was running third, Mark Ryskoski, who started
seventh, was fourth and Mackenzie Olson was fifth. Brittany
Olson passed Kempe for the lead by the end of lap six. Sister,
Mackenzie, had enough of the fifth spot and was running fourth.
Kempe settled for second as Smith maintained third and Rykoski ran fifth. Lap
nine saw the Ryskoski car slowing, but still maintaining fifth. All
other cars remained as they were. By race end it was Brittany Olson
completing a sweep, Kempe in second, Smith in third, Mackenzie Olson in
fourth and Ryskoski a distant fifth. Racing
resumes on Sunday, July 6, when the WISSOTA/Amsoil Late Models return to
Eagle Valley Speedway for a Dart Challenge Series race. You won’t
want to miss this one as the Valley Heats Up-- Big Time! On that
night the races will be presented by:
Coca-Cola, Miller Lite, and "The Carp" 99.9 / 92.9. Sunday,
July 13 will be a special night as Eagle Valley is “Racin for a
Reason” in support of breast cancer awareness. July 19 and 20
Eagle Valley will host a two-day special sponsored by Baxter Engines and
Baxter Speedshops. Also, keep Sunday, July 27 open on your calendars
because on that night the IRA Sprints invade Eagle Valley Speedway . Hot
laps are at 5:30 with racing starting at 6:00 and as always there’s a
two bike giveaway every Sunday night, sponsored by
Kelly Oium Well Drilling & Pump Service and Chris Oium Blacktopping. Further
information can be found at: http://www.eaglevalleyspeedway.net
with full results, including point standings, etc. at: http://www.speednetdirect.com SUMMARY Eagle Valley Speedway June 29, 2008 WISSOTA Modifieds 20-Lap Feature: Craig
Thatcher, Kevin Adams, Robby Bunkelman, Mike Anderson, Rich Loftus, Jay
Richardson, Bryan Nayes, Mark Hanson, Scott Duval, Cory Crapser, Shaun
Kreyer, Luke Schilling, Keith Tourville, Kent Baxter Heat 1: Thatcher,
Adams, Bunkelman, Loftus, Crapser, Richardson, Duval Heat 2: Anderson,
Kreyer, Nayes, Hanson, Tourville, Schilling, Baxter WISSOTA Super Stocks 15-Lap Feature: Curt
Myers, Mike Keller, Paul Erikson, Mark Stender, Chad Zastrow, Wyatt Wolfe,
Jr., Brad Johnson, Eric Olson, Rick Hallquist, Shane Kisling, Steve
Hallquist Heat 1: Erikson,
Myers, Keller, Stender, Kisling, S. Hallquist Heat 2: R. Hallquist,
Johnson, Olson, Zastrow, Wolfe, Jr. WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds 15-Lap Feature: Shane
Halopka, Bryan Bisonette, Dan Svee, Ronnie Rihn, Jesse Glenz, Scott
Erickson, Wayne Dean, Michael Truscott, Chad Manor, John Moroavec, Grant
Southworth, Josh Smith, Brandon Larson, Alan Broker, Bob Wood, Nick
Koehler, Nathn Thums, Jason Swan, Brad Hudson, Mark Gerth, Dalton Yohnk,
Bill Retzloff, Robbie Johnson, McAdam Kensmoe Heat 1: Hudson,
Halopka, Svee, Larson, Swan, Johnson, Retzloff, Kensmoe Heat 2: Smith Rihn,
Bisonette, Wood, Moravec, Truscott, Broker, Koehler Heat 3: Thums, Gerth,
Glenz, Erickson, Dean, Manor, Southworth, Yohnk WISSOTA Street Stocks 15-Lap Feature: Tommy
Richards, Clark Swartz, Ron Hanestad, Jay Kesan, Gary Kasperek, Matt
Wolfe, Ajay Christianson, Dan Bork, Ryan Linder, Cory Hanson, Dave Keyeski,
Sam Averbeck, Toby Jahnke, Kim Korstad, Crystal Hanson, Donny Ganz, Mike
Conrad Heat 1: Conrad,
Wolfe, Richards, Kasperek, Bork, Linder, Hanson, Korstad, Jahnke Heat 2: Swartz,
Hanestad, Kesan, Keyeski, Christianson, Averbeck, Ganz, Hanson Eagle Valley Pure Stocks 12-Lap Feature: George
Richards, Jason Lang, Danny Richards, Cody Kummer, Doug Wojcik, Lucas
Plank, Mitchell Johnson, Kyle Bitney, Jeremy Staves, Nick Wojcik, Austin
Galloway, Chad Tarvis, Mike Harshman, Jeremy Robinson, Zach Manley, Pat
Smith Heat 1: G. Richards,
Lang, D. Wojcik, Galloway, Tarvis, D. Richards, Pat Smith, Robinson Heat 2: Manley,
Plank, Kummer, Staves, Johnson, Bitney, Harshman, N. Wojcik Eagle Valley Hornets 12-Lap Feature: Brittany
Olson, Rocky Kempe, Jonah Smith, Mackenzie Olson, Mark Ryskoski, Bob
Anderson, Travis Anderson Heat:
B. Olson, T. Anderson, B. Anderson, Kempe, M. Olson, Smith, Ryskoski
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