By Ed Reichert
Menomonie WI, Sept. 26 – A. J. Diemel, continuing his domination of area Late Model racing that started last week at the WISSOTA 100, powered past early leader Nick Anvelink and ran away with the thirteenth edition of the Punky Manor Challenge of Champions Saturday night at the Red Cedar Speedway. Other winners included Dave Cain, Shawn Huse and Shane Halopka.

After rain washed out the preliminaries on Friday night, the entire program was run on Saturday, with the qualifying events contested on Saturday afternoon and the feature races run in the evening.

Anvelink won the dash which gave him the pole position for the fourty lap Late Modle headliner with Ashley Anderson to his outside. Anvelink took the early lead but Diemel was quickly on the move after starting in the second row. He drove past Brent Larson and then Anderson and closed on leader Anvelink. While the majority of the field were riding the low line, Diemel was able to move up to the middle groove and he powered past Anvelink through turn two to take over the lead.

By Ed Reichert
Menomonie WI, August 14 – It was season championship time already at the Red Cedar Speedway with the first two titlists crowned Friday night. Winning season championships were Craig Thatcher in the Modifieds and Mark Gerth in the Midwest Modifieds. The last point program was run for the other three classes with feature winners in those divisions being Ashley Anderson, Mike Keller and Jordan Johnson.
Thatcher has had another successful season in the Modifieds, winning yet another point title at Red Cedar. But the one thing he hadn’t done yet this year at the Menomonie oval was to win a feature race. He took care of that item tonight in a wire to wire win as he earned the Red Cedar Speedway season championship cup. He started on the pole and opened up a small margin over Brent Prochnow before the lone yellow flag flew with three laps scored for a spin in turn four.

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.

By Ed Reichert
Rice Lake WI, July 11 – Darrel Hazelton and Luke Schilling, two drivers that while never regulars at the Rice Lake Speedway have raced many times here over the years, both recorded their first ever feature wins here Saturday night to highlight the racing action. Other winners tonight included Shane Halopka, Scott Clark and Doug Wojcik.

Both Hazelton and Schilling earned their feature wins in a similar manner as both took the lead early in their respective main events and led all laps before visiting victory lane.

Hazelton started in the second row of the Super Stock finale but he found an opening on the low side of the track and drove beside pole sitter Butch Madsen who then went three wide with Marcel Hoaglan. Hazelton was able to ease into the lead but multiple early restarts kept the pack bunched and Hazelton’s job a hard one.

By Ed Reichert
Menomonie WI, July 10 – All five feature race winners Friday night at the Red Cedar Speedway were dominant in their performances as there were no photo finishes in the racing action on a night when race officials hustled through the program as lightning flashed in the western skies and quickening breezes arose from the approaching thunderstorms.

Luke Plank, Shane Halopka, Mike Keller, Keith Tourville and Mike Prochnow all led the majority of their respective feature races as they kept the pedal to the metal and the competition in their rear view mirrors with Prochnow and Tourville recording their first wins of the year to boot.

By Ed Reichert
Menomonie WI, June 26 – Kevin Adams, visiting the Red Cedar Speedway when his regular Friday night track was off due to weather related issues, recorded an exciting and somewhat controversial win in the Modified main event as racing continued at the Red Cedar Speedway. Luke Plank and Chad Mahder visited victory lane for the first time this season while Mark Gerth and Shawn Huse were also winners in racing action.

Steve Hallquist was the early leader in the Modified feature which was slowed down twice by early yellows. The first one, on lap two, saw second running Mark Hessler sent to the tail of the field while several cars suffered body damage.

Hallquist continued to lead but only one more lap could be completed before second running Rich Lofthus also went for a loop in tricky turn two. Under the yellow, both the leader Hallquist and then second running Mike Anderson both retired to the pits with mechanical issues and Adams, who started eighth on the grid, found himself in the lead when racing resumed.

By Ed Reichert
Menomonie WI, June 19 – Mark Thomas, coach of the U.W. Stout Women’s Basketball program, has on occasion gotten a bit agitated over some officials calls, and has received his share of technical fouls. Tonight the rest of the Midwest Modified field was screaming for a technical when Coach T left them in his rear view mirror as he drove on to a decisive victory and his first feature win of the year at the Red Cedar Speedway. Joining him in victory lane for the first time this year was Modified driver Brent Prochnow while the beat went on for both Mike Keller and George Richards as they added to their win totals.

By Ed Reichert
Jimmy Mars made a rare visit to his hometown race track, the Red Cedar Speedway, Friday night and when he was done, the Midseason Championship was his as the rest of the field was left on another planet. Other winners of Midseason Championships included Mike Anderson, Shane Kisling, Mark Gerth and George Richards.

By Ed Reichert
Menomonie WI, June 5 – With three make up feature events to complete from last Friday night’s rain shortened evening plus a another full show for the five classes that compete regularly, it was a busy night at the Red Cedar Speedway. However, no complaints will be heard, particularly from Pure Stock driver Nick Field who swept both the feature events he entered to dominate the racing action. Other winners Friday included Mark Gerth, Mike Keller, Cory Crapser, Mike Anderson, Steve Laursen and Ashley Anderson.

By Ed Reichert
Menomonie WI, May 29 – On a night when the Red Cedar Speedway was battling the elements, track officials were able to get two of the feature races completed before the rains stopped the action for the second and final time of the evening. Earlier, four heat races had been completed before light rain fell which delayed the action by nearly an hour before the track was rolled back in and the racing resumed. The races clicked off after this, with Jim Bourn and Mike Keller able to earn their first Red Cedar Speedway wins of the year before the rains started to fall again. With the rain continuing to fall at an intermittent pace, and the track curfew starting to become a factor, it was decided to postpone the Modified, Late Model and Pure Stock features to next Friday night, which will be an added bonus to next week’s action.