5/12/2019
Eagle Valley Speedway Season Opener
Jim Falls, Wisconsin --The Eagle Valley Speedway and River Country Coop presented the 2019 season opener as the WISSOTA Pure Stocks, Street Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Super Stocks, Modifieds, and EVS Hornets were in action. It was a beautiful early season night and the crowd was greeted to good racing action in each class. The feature winners were Jake Hartung, Tommy Richards, Nick Koehler, C.J. Wagner, George Richards, and Jason Junker.
Mike Anderson won the WISSOTA Modified heat as Justin A-Strike and Anderson sat on the front row for the feature. A first lap scramble found A-Strike in the lead as Jake Hartung drove to second and Michael Truscott moved to third as Anderson found himself shuffled out of the top three. A-Strike drove the high groove in the lead but Hartung drove low and closed in. Hartung was able to drive under the leader for the point but A-Strike did not go away immediately as he continued to scorch the upper line trying to regain the position.
Hartung was able to establish control and began to drive away from the group as Truscott began to work on second place and was able to power under A-Strike making the pass. As the laps clicked away, Hartung stretched his advantage to a straight away he dominated for the win in his SSR chassis. Anderson took over third and closed on second place Truscott but followed him to the finish line. A-Strike finished fourth ahead of Cole Varsho in fifth.
Tommy Richards and Terran Spacek won their respective heats in the Super Stocks and Kevin Burdick and Jeff Brauer led them to green in their main event. From the drop of the green flag, it was clear the racing action was going to be intense. They were three-wide at the end of lap one and two-wide after two. It was Brauer coming out on top after the third circuit and he looked very good in the high line as he led the pack. Myers had made his way to second as Burdick ran third and Tommy Richards sat in fourth.
The upper groove began to fade to a favored lower line and Myers was able to drive under Brauer for the point. Richards began to battle Brauer as the two drove side by side for a few laps before Richards slipped into the runner up position. Myers ran low as Richards began to search the track and found the outside to his liking. Behind him, Burdick and Brauer were caught in a side by side battle of their own and Dexton Koch was closing the gap in fifth.
Richards slowly reeled in the leader and moved beside him on the backstretch. Myers led at the line, but Richards again challenged down the backstretch and moved into the lead at the white flag. Richards drove the final lap to the checkered flag out front as Myers came home immediately in tow in second. Burdick finished in third as Koch took over fourth late from Brauer.
CJ Wagner swept the night with the heat and feature win in the Street Stocks as he continues his torrid pace in his Grocery Getter station wagon appearing racecar. He has been fast everywhere, and it was no different tonight as he started on the front row of the feature outside of Dan Svee. It wasn’t easy though as he took the lead at the drop of the green and they raced three-wide behind him. It was Danny Richards taking over the second position and Michael Knudtson settled into third.
A Dan Svee caution slowed the pace, but it was back to intense racing as they restarted thereafter. Richards and Knudtson were busy with each other as Wagner led the way. It was Richards regaining second on his own and he began to hound Wagner. As Richards continually looked to drive below Wagner, Parker Anderson overtook third and closed on the leaders. Lap after lap, Richards drove under the leader in the corners, but Wagner powered out front on the straights as Anderson lurked in their shadows. It was Wagner flashing under the checkers with Richards and Anderson closely behind. Knudtson too was just in their wake finishing fourth comfortably over Braden Bauer who drove home fifth.
Nick Koehler and Calvin Iverson won their Midwest Modified heats and it was Koehler going on to score sweep on the night. Alex Williamson sat on the pole flanked by Dan Larson Jr. at feature time. The green flag fell but a breakdown on the front stretch by Derek Haas forced a compete restart. The second attempt saw Williamson take the lead as Koehler closed in the high groove. Williamson battled hard but Koehler on the cushion is an awful tough thing to overcome, and true to his high side flying driving style, Koehler forged into the lead.
One more caution for a car unable to clear the backstretch on a breakdown grouped everyone back together. It was Koehler as Halopka moved to second and Calvin Iverson to third. Williamson moved up behind them and the top four drove away from the remaining cars. They entered lapped traffic, but each negotiated well and drove to the finish against the cushion. Larson finished fifth on the night.
The winningest driver in Eagle Valley history has simply dominated the Pure Stock division over the last several years. Tonight, it looked as if he wasn’t going to win. Yet again, In the end, he did just exactly that; George Richards won the Pure Stocks. It was Dean Pronschinske winning the heat and he started the feature on the outside of Nevan Bucholz. It was Pronschinske to the lead and he looked stout as Richards had moved to second and chased him. Eight laps into the books, Richards found an opening and drove to the lead. Pronschinske drove hard and applied pressure back on the leader but was forced to take second at the finish. It was Travis Hallquist, Nicholas Hazelton, and the rookie Cole Richards rounding out the top five.
Jason Junker swept the night in the EVS Hornets, but it was Armond Love leading lap one of the feature event. Lap two saw Jake Halterman in the lead, but by lap three, Junker had found the point. The top four at the finish line drove in a group throughout the race as Junker won followed by Halterman, Bauer, Love, and a fifth-place finishing Dean Butler.
The Eagle Valley Speedway returns to action on Sunday, May 12, 2019, as JP Mechanical sponsors the WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks, and EVS Hornets. Once again, a boy and girl in the crowd will win a bike sponsored by Oium Well Drilling and Oium Blacktop.
Article Credit: Brad Erickson