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.